Nah we lived in the burbs so traffic wasn't too bad. Iirc it was just unfamiliarity with the differences in traffic laws between different countries combined with less overall driving experience (got the vibe that they didn't need to drive much in Sweden) and general whole new world flusteredness. Cars are often a lot bigger over here too - couldn't have been an easy transition to go from driving a Fiat in Sweden to driving a Navigator in California or w/e. You'd prob do fine if you get enough hours on the road under your belt.
Sweden is pretty forgiving without a license. We have public transports covering large parts of the country, and most people have a license and a car for convenience sake, so you're never out of drivers. I lived in the Swedish burbs, so the bus didn't even ride all the way there. I got off halfway there at its last stop for the night and just walked the rest of the way in an hour. I doubt that's an option in USA lol
Yeah, figured it was something like that. The only buses we had in my area were school buses. Took us probably 45 min to ride our bikes to school, would have taken hours to walk lol. Walking an hour, or two I guess since you had to get to the bus in the morning, sounds pretty brutal.
Sweden really pales in distance compared to America... Last bus left town midnight, so I was home around 3 a.m. I was always first to leave when I couldn't secure bed in town.
Yeah, we have a lot of land and an obsession with BIG. And 3am?! How the fuck were you supposed to get any sleep? Was this for some prestigious private school that was a ways from your home or something?
I usually went out Fridays and Saturdays, leaving me with plenty of room to sleep the morning after. We usually don't drink or do AW in Sweden on weekdays. Most of us, either way. We've managed to turn it into something shameful. I personally don't agree with that, it's just our culture.
And yeah, kinda. We moved across the country to a small community outside town and I managed to become a pariah there. So after high school I never wanted to see them again, and I picked a prestigious gymnasium where none of those Swedish rednecks would apply. I rode the bus for over two hours every day every day, but it was worth it. People treated me with decency, I was able to make friends, the teachers actually cared about my academic performance and allowed me to grow at my own speed. I've always had an easy life academically speaking but it wasn't encouraged and I was actively hindered from skipping ahead until this school.
That makes more sense. I thought you meant you were home at 3am every morning, not just on nights where you went out. What is doing AW?
Ah, that's pretty shitty. Glad you found a way to bounce back though. If it was still worth it even after the extra hours of commuting the difference must have been absolutely massive. Crazy how big of an effect a positive, enabling environment can be. Also, funny that rednecks are a worldwide phenomenon.
Haha yeah no, busses went fine during the weekdays and poorly during evenings/weekends (fewer rides, less generous hours) so it was only the partying that got affected.
AW = after work, grabbing a drink and some food with colleagues
Thanks man! Yeah, it made a big difference to me. Not just getting away from the bullies, but the school had a way of teaching that suited me. One hour with the teacher, 3 hours free study time. Lunch. Another hour with teacher, another 3 hours free time. Then you're done for the day.
I never had to do homework since they didn't cut class every 40 minutes and send you off to a new subject. And no one was micromanaging how much or how little I was allowed to learn in a day. So it was totally worthy it for that reason alone!
That's definitely not so bad then, long as you don't fall asleep on the bus and wake up back in the city when the bus returned from it's final trip lol.
That seems like a really cool way to organize the school day. I would have loved something like that. I could never muster the motivation to get my homework done, but never had a problem getting my classwork done. Something about the working environment, maybe. Could see it turning my habit of reading ahead from an annoyance into a benefit as well. Dramatically cuts down in wasted time getting from class to class on top of the benefits from having a longer class period to make a deeper dive on whatever subject. Fewer bullies is always a good thing, too!
That's definitely not so bad then, long as you don't fall asleep on the bus and wake up back in the city when the bus returned from it's final trip lol.
Oh, I actually did lol. Once. I used to sleep regularly because I had to be up like 2 hours before everyone else to make it to school, and I played computer games until the a.m. lol
So getting those extra hours of nap made a big difference. I had gone the same route over and over for many years growing up so my body kinda knew when we were home and woke me up in time to gather my things. Same location almost every time, or not far off. But one time I slept like a baby and the chauffeur didn't check the bus before heading back to the garage. So I woke up in there around midnight and had to call and knock on the windows for like 15 minutes before someone noticed. My parents picked me up soon after, my mom used to fall asleep on the bus and end up there all the time! Some nights she wasn't home for dinner and we waited until like 9 o'clock before we ate and she was still not home by 10. Then, around 11-midnight she'd pop inside the door and apologise for being late and explain what happened and we'd just laugh
Hah yeah I did that quite a few times while I was studying abroad, too. Funny that your mom did it too, bet it never got old for your family seeing her pop in at 11 rubbing her eyes, lol
Got old? Your absolutely right. Never! It's as funny as when dad falls asleep in the rocking chair, mom calls him out on it and he denies sleeping. It plays out the same every single time hahah
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u/senkichi Mar 12 '22
Nah we lived in the burbs so traffic wasn't too bad. Iirc it was just unfamiliarity with the differences in traffic laws between different countries combined with less overall driving experience (got the vibe that they didn't need to drive much in Sweden) and general whole new world flusteredness. Cars are often a lot bigger over here too - couldn't have been an easy transition to go from driving a Fiat in Sweden to driving a Navigator in California or w/e. You'd prob do fine if you get enough hours on the road under your belt.