My Life As A Swede’s 1st Birthday.

As of today I have been living in Sweden for exactly one year. I’ve been a bit slack at updating this blog of late but I’m still persisting with it and as I look back on the past 12 months I am proud of my achievements.

I’ve managed 50 posts (nearly 40 of which consist of me paraphrasing articles from thelocal.se). I’ve had close to 2000 hits. According to the cluster map on the blog I’ve had visitors from every continent on the planet. My blog has been read in countries such as Peru, Benin and what I think might be Mauritius (or someone with wireless internet connection stuck in the middle of the Indian Ocean). I’ve recorded many hits from America yet barely any from Canada indicating north of the border they're far more discerning about what they read on the Internet. I’ve even recorded hits in China meaning my blog has sneaked past the watchful eyes of the Chinese state censors (Free Tibet!)…until now. As I look towards the next 12 months I can only expect my hit count to increase further, especially now that I've insert the words “Porn”, “Free”, and “Download” into one of my blog posts.

Looking back it has been quite a year. The experience has really opened up my eyes and I’ve learnt many things. I’ve learnt that fish tastes much nicer when its been cooked. I’ve learnt that there are people outside of Australia who listen to John Farnham. I now know how to spend 8 hours sweeping the same floor. I know that you only bother going to Denmark if you want to buy cheap booze. I’ve discovered that sticking tobacco under my lip makes me dizzy. I’ve learnt there is still a country in this world that shows episodes of “Cops” and “Married With Children” during prime time, AND that there is a television station showing more episodes of “The Simpsons” than Channel 10. I’ve discovered that despite five years at university and a degree in Journalism I still struggle the basic principles of English grammar such as differentiating between “its” and it’s”, “then” and “than”, etc. I’ve learnt you should always check your pockets before washing your clothes. Finally I've learnt that slacking-off isn't a pass time, it's a life style. Yep, it has been a real journey of self-discovery and when I return to Australia it will be as a much wiser person.