I dreamt of this sentence last night. I actually had a really crazy dream: I was at my parents place in France and should
go out for a run with my dog (which is dead since 2002 if i remember well) and i was looking forward a 14 km pass in the sun on the early morning. But when i woke up, it was not early, my dog was still dead and i was in Eskilstuna, willing to take a run though. So i went out and fought against the rain/ice/snow/slask during one hour and 10km. It was not the best run of the year, but i feel good now. So good that you cannot guess what i did then: yes, i cleaned my flat. I feel so serious, this is a shame.

When i was putting some order in the pappers here, i found a rapport that i wrote in mars 2004, when i was just finishing
to study in Darmstadt. I got some money from the region to study abroad at this time and i had to write something about how my stay was and what i learnt and so on. In this rapport, i wrote following conclusion:

“Après six mois passés en Allemagne à l’heure de l’écriture de ce rapport, je suis en tous points comblée et souhaite
poursuivre ma découverte allemande et pourquoi pas européenne, suivant les opportunités qui se présenteront. Mon objectif à l’heure actuelle est de trouver un emploi, de préférence Outre-Rhin et dans mon secteur d´activités mais si la recherche est trop longue, je suis prette à faire mon sac à dos et partir à la conquête d’une nouvelle culture, d’une nouvelle langue et repartir à zéro. C’est dans ce genre de situation, face à l’inconnu que l’on se révèle et le contact avec des personnes également expatriées est très riche. Chacun est parti pour dépasser ses frontières, qu’elles soient bien entendu matérielles ou psychiques. Il n’est pas facile de mettre ses préjugés sur les autres nationalités de côté mais les anti-stéréotypes nous réconcilient avec la diversité et la multiculturalité qui composent l’Europe dans laquelle je suis heureuse de vivre.”

which is approx in english:

“After six months spent in Germany at the time of writing this report, I am very pleased and whish  of my discovery of Germany and why not Europe, dependending on the opportunities. My goal for now is to find a job, preferably across the Rhine and in myline of business but if the research is too long, I‘m ready to pack my bags and to conquer a new culture, a new language and start from scratch. In this kind of situation, you show yourself while  facing the unknown and the contact with other expatriated people is also very rich. Everyone went behind its borders, whether material or psychological. It is not easy to put the pre-ideas aside but the anti–stereotyping reconciles us with diversity and multiculturalism that make up Europe in which I am happy to live in. “

I was young, like 22, i was just discovering the life abroad but now, almost 7 years later, i can tell that i did do some of the things i wrote there, like discover another country, langage and try to integrate myself there. Thank you Sweden and all the Swedes i met for making this possible!

I am still happy to live in Europe, even if the benefices are not that big here at the extrem north of Europe than they were in Germany, at the borde with France. But who knows where i will land later? This is very comfortable though to
stay in Sweden. To move abroad in another culture asks kind of a little courage, and i feel a little too old for that now. But at the same time, I have nothing that keeps me glued here in Eskilstuna. I am still free as a bird and should fly as long as my wings do not turn into bingo wings.