  I went into Göteborg yesterday and spent 24 fully packed hours with my friend L. Going back to my mom's today I took the tram from her house to the bus station and on the tram I overheard this girl talking to two friends.
It was a good conversation, she was talking about two books she had read recently (The DaVinci code and Oryx & Crake) which happen to be books I read pretty recently as well, so it was interesting listening to what she had to say about them.
Then she went on to talk about the previous night and going to some bar. What was so weird was that I could totally relate to what she was saying and particularly HOW she was saying it. It felt like I was listening to myself - she was talking about stuff I would talk about in the same kind of way I would talk about them and she reminded me of myself.
I found myself sitting there wishing I could get to know her because she seemed like the kind of person I would be good friends with. It was a bit strange but it felt good. I looked at her when I got off and she wasn't particularly attractive, not the kind of person I would find attractive anyway, so that wasn't it. It was more that from the 20 min I heard her talking it seemed like we thought about the same kind of stuff and in about the same kind of way.
Last night I went out with L. It was fun but it reminded me about how differently Swedish and Australian people 'go out'. We went to a party, which wasn't that fun in itself but it was still fun because it was like a high school party. It was actually exactly like a high school party even though I'm guessing the youngest person there was about 22 or so.
I didn't envy the people who lived there - there would have been a shitload of beer cans to clean up the next day, the living room table was just covered, not to mention the kitchen. There wasn't an empty surface. Very high school. Everyone was doing their uttermost to get as loaded as possible and me and L just kind of fell into it as well, it was weird.
She pulled out this bottle of whiskey or whatever kind of vile yellowish stuff it was and started mixing it with Pepsi and when that was gone she pulled out some beers (this after we had polished off a bottle and a half of red wine with dinner at her place and a couple of shots before going out). I couldn't remember a time in Melbourne when the focus was so squarely on drinking but it was so easy to fall into, like I knew all the social codes and I knew exactly what we were doing and why and what my role was at this party (i.e.
find someone else who also didn't know anyone and start a conversation with them). Man, I felt so much like I was back in high school and it felt really safe and secure in a way, because I knew exactly what was expected from me, at the same time as I kept thinking, This isn't really something I would choose to do normally or something I enjoy that much. Talking to L was great as well. Before she leaves the house she has to do her hair and her face for like 45 min and every time it makes me laugh because I take 10 min tops to get ready but she has to look pretty before we go.
But for some reason it doesn't bother me, again it just makes me feel safe and like I know the codes and what's going on. I feel so relaxed here and I wish I could feel this way in Melbourne. We talked about stuff like that - her bf is British and he's wanting to maybe move back there, and she totally doesn't want to at the moment.
Anyway, what she's worried about if they do move to Britain is that she wouldn't have anyone there except her bf that she felt 100% connected to and whom she knew well, kind of like my situtation right now. It's so great being around people I know well and who know me and who know what I did 10 years ago and what my life has been like up until now. I don't have to explain myself all the time. It's really relaxing. 
