This weekend officially rounds out one month in Stockholm for me. Wow time is flying by!!
Looking back, there seems not to be a leading man in my newly single life, but rather a leading 'bar' if I may. Incredibly, I have spent the past 3 Fridays at Berns Bar! Located in the heart of Stureplan, Berns is known for its grand decor, upscale crowd and late night basement dance party.
I had initially gone to Berns because there was a Expatriate Meetup event being hosted there. Unfortunately I was a couple hours late(as usual) and could not find anyone. It didn't help that the meetup was actually on the very top floor and I thought the event was on the main bar floor. I tried in vain to search for people that were speaking English except everyone was speaking English! Then I tried identify non-Swedish looking people, and I approached the one other Asian person at the bar who turned out to be adopted and completely Swedified. Sooo I spent two hours standing alone at the bar sipping my 295kr(45USD) Long Island Iced Tea and making friends with the bartender, who eventually felt so sorry for me that he gave me a free drink. Not a single Swede talked to me in those entire two hours. I could feel people looking at me but when I looked back they either started texting on their iPhone, aggressively drinking their beer or even walked away! Gah! Am I a M*ONSTeR?? It's safe to say that by the end of the night my self-esteem and wallet had both taken a major beating. :(
So, you ask, why do I keep going back? For the 295 kr drinks? For the men that stare at me all night but never talk to me until they are past blackout?? But when in Sweden, one should do as Swedes do, so I guess I had to try?! Maybe I am a hopelessly optimistic and stubborn American, because each time I keep thinking that if I approach people first, order a cheaper drink, drink more, drink less, go earlier, go later, just try something, anything different, that maybe I will finally have an AMAZING night! But now it's been three atempts in a row and I am not sure the last shards of my dignity and my much abused debit card can withstand another outing at Berns.
But hey! a brand-new-spanking Friday is just a week away...
Dear Berns, will you ever love me back? -Ran- A Masochistic Nomad
Song of the day:
"Phoenix - If I Ever Feel Better"
