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Notes -
Moving to a small town can be tough if you don't know anyone, even if you're a native. I know plenty of people that did their residencies and law clerk service out in the sticks in Sweden and they sounded about as miserable as you.
Keep your chin up, It'll get better once you get to a city!
Also, get season appropriate clothing if you haven't already. I've seen so many Indian tech workers over here that are underdressed come winter and I know how miserable it can be, even if it's just walking to and from the bus. Just go to a goodwill if you don't want to buy something new.
Thank you, I'm certainly looking forward to the big city, albeit everyone here has been so lovely that I'll miss them when I'm gone. I never expected to make close friends up here, I just opted for the closest place I could find to somewhere that's rather out of the way, if I'd decided to commute from said big city, I'd be looking at an hour and a half of travel time every morning and evening, whereas it's as simple as a 10 minute bus now.
I did let my mother coax me into packing heavily for the winter, so I won't outright freeze, but as much as I abhorr the horrendous heat at home, I'm a creature of different climes, and it'll be a while till I adjust.
I'd bet, while I don't think I'll suffer too much from SAD (a serendipitous acronym, if not one intentionally named) due to my shunning of the sun, it's going to be an adjustment to waking up in the dark and stumbling home when it's dark at 4. I can only imagine it's even worse in Sweden!
Seeing as Stockholm is north of Kirkwall, I'd say so. But then again we're used to walking to school/work in the dark and walking home in the dark as well.
I have some family living up north though and they note that most of the people who move there move away again and it's never due to the cold. People just don't understand how oppressive it can be that the sun barely comes up above the horizon for months at a time (or at all). People think they know but they don't.
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