Stockholm has attracted many foreigners in the past sixty years. Sweden being a neutral country in the WW2, attracted many who settled in Stockholm, to escape the war. As the economies of the western European countries became better, many of these returned to their homelands. The refugees of the Eastern Europe remained in Sweden. From 1960 onwards, there was an influx of refugees, some for economic, some for political reasons, who chose Stockholm as their "new" home. Today, one can see people from all around the world in Stockholm.
Life in Stockholm, though materialistically more satisfying than most of the world metropolises, and though Stockholm is a good, orderly City, lacks in its "social" aspects.
People of Stockholm, both Swedes and foreigners are lonely. The ease of social encounters one finds in the U.S.A. or the Medierannean or the Middle East or in the eastern European countries, does not exist so much in Stockholm. To meet a person to get to know him and her, is not a popular trend in Stockholm. People usually go to the pubs to drink, rather than to meet and talk with someone. One Swede said to author Askin Ozcan , " To talk, we go to a psychiatrist."
Thirty years ago only a very few pubs and cafes existed in Stockholm. Though they mushroomed in the recent years, the culture of "meeting people" in them is yet to come.
Author Askin Ozcan, whose books have been popular internationally in a short time, says in his book, " After one year of living in Cambridge, Massachussetts, I had hundreds of names in my address book; after seven years in Canada, roughly a hundred. After thirty years in Stockholm, I have only ten phone numbers, in my address book : The number of the police, of my doctor, of my dentist, of the fire department, of the social bureau, of a French friend and of two Swedish and of two Turkish friends...
Yes, there are many discoteques, but firstly I go to a discoteque to dance with the girl I go with , not to dance with the wives and girl friends of the others as this is the fashion in Stockholm. Secondly, discoteques are not the places to talk and exchange views in , as they are very noisy. One can meet many people on the beaches of the Medterannean or in the pubs and cafes of Berlin or in any eastern European city or in any American city, or in the trains of Italy or Spain or Turkey or Greece... This does not happen in Stockholm. The life is dull and boring in Stockholm.
Perhaps this is why Swedes are so interested in travelling abroad. To live the "life" which they do not find in Sweden.
In his book "STOCKHOLM STORIES' , Author Askin Ozcan delineates many aspects of Stockholm, as well as relates his personal encounters in it, his business adventures, his
interesting memoirs, his happy moments and misfortunes. The book is unbiased, very interesting and unique and colorful.
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Books web/page: http://www.xlibris.com/
Author/s webpage: http://www.xlibris.com/
