Still learning.

I am still learning so much.  Today I started the last week of work with SveDem and Karoliska Institutet.  Wow. I can’t believe six weeks could go so fast and so slow at the same time.

Today was SveDem’s Annual Meeting, which I attended and listened SO hard to try and understand what was going on.  I figured out that I understand Swedish when there are pictures associated with the words.  Context gives you hints!  I won’t be fluent in Swedish when I come home, but I’ll know some, although my vocabulary will be a lot of medical words, and mostly to do with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.  

I went to a fika last night, and went a little early to try and find my way around T-Centralen – it’s huge, and I’m always lost. I was wandering around Drottninggatan and I found where I was my very first day in Sweden.  I stood on a street corner looking at a coffee shop thinking back to when I had just entered the city.  I remember all of the hesitance and the anxiety and how small and unprepared I felt.  I stood there yesterday feeling completely different, feeling sure of where I was and how to get around, and all in all, about six weeks older.

My life has changed drastically. I’ve met people and experienced things that no one will experience the way I have.  I’ve been able to ask the questions I’ve been curious about and explored a city on my own.

Today on my way home I found a train going to Hökarängen!  (That’s where I’m living here, it’s on the green line towards Farsta Strand.) For the first time I understood why I had to get off at Hökarängen my first day and WALK to Farsta station.  For the first time I didn’t feel bad that I was so confused that day.  I was exhausted, overwhelmed and in culture shock.  Above that, I had no idea how trains worked. (I know, I know, it sounds silly, but honestly I grew up in farm country.)

All in all, I’m still learning a lot. 

Friday I visited a memory clinic in the Huddinge Sjukuset (hospital) and spoke with a Kurator (Social Worker!!) about how patients are diagnosed with AD and Dementia disorders in a specialist unit.  There were two Polish geriatricians also meeting with us and they asked some very interesting questions, and I got to learn a little bit about the Polish system as well!  

Saturday was Cinnamon Bun Day.  If you missed it, celebrate today! :)

On Sunday, I was on my way into the city on the tunnelbana and two pidgeons strolled right on down the centre aisle. I had to look twice, but they were just minding their own business, looking like they ride the train every day. 

I’ve got a busy week ahead of me, I’m visiting Silviahemmet tomorrow – a Day Care center founded by the Queen of Sweden, and I’ve still got to prepare a presentation for our staff on Friday!

Hej då från Sverige!