Maria from Sweden

Name: Maria Näslund
Age: 19
City and country of origin: Gothenburg, Sweden


1.When, where and for how long did you live or have you been living in Barcelona?
I lived in Barcelona for six months. I went in june 2009 and came back to Sweden in december the same year. My intention was to just stay for two months during the summer. I had a really good time and decided to stay another four months.


2.What made you move here?
It was pretty much a coincidence. I wanted really bad to get a way from Sweden for a while and saw an ad where a swedish company were looking for staff for their office in Barcelona. I like Spain a lot, I had never been to Barcelona, but it seemed like a really nice city. So I applied for the job, got it, and went shortly afterwards.


3.What made you leave / stay?
Even though I really wanted to get to know the Spanish culture, I found it a bit hard to do that because of all the Swedish people in Barcelona. The fact that I was living with four swedish friends didn´t really help either. It was more like being on a vacation, even though I was working, and not really living in another country. I had a feeling that I was standing still, I didn´t like my job, and wanted something more. It wasn´t a life I wanted to live forever, even though I had a really good time. I also wanted to study in Sweden for a while, which was a reason for me to go home.


4.What you like the most about Barcelona.
I like the atmosphere, the weather, people that seemed happier and more open compared to Sweden. Barcelona felt a lot more relaxed than what I am used to.


5.What you dislike the most about Barcelona.
That there were so much tourists (I know that I was one of them in a way, but still!), I didn´t like the attitude a lot of men seemed to have towards women. It was also difficult to see so many poor people; beggars and prostitutes.


6.Name a special place in Barcelona.
I loved to take the train out to the small beaches just outside the city. Beautiful!


7.Name one word you would relate to Barcelona.
There are so many things I think about when I think about Barcelona, if I can only choose one word I think it will be happiness. Simply because I was almost always happy when I lived thereJ.