I took a trip to Norway and Sweden a couple weeks ago that I would love to recap, as it was a small moment that made me feel more connected to home than ever here in Europe. I had started my trip in Oslo, exploring as much of the city as I could in 36 hours. The people were some of the friendliest I’ve met thus far in Europe, and I had plenty of fun conversations as they were uniquely curious about the geopolitical situation in the United States.

After Oslo, I took the SJ train to Stockholm. This originally was supposed to be while the sun was up, which I splurged on a first class ticket to enjoy the scenery of Norway and Sweden. Unfortunately, it was cancelled, leading me to scramble and find a night train that got me into Stockholm after 11pm. My first impression when disembarking was less than glamorous, with a nice mix of wind, sleet, and rain on the walk to my hotel that felt far longer than the 15 minutes it took. Once checked in, I knew I wanted to go out and explore the town a little. Dinner was the priority, but to my surprise the restaurant selection at that hour was quite bleak. Who knew even fast food restaurants had good work-life balance in Scandinavia? A nice kebab had me sorted, and I soon turned to finding some entertainment for the evening. I was already in Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s old town, and frankly just turned into the first bar I found to see if the locals were as friendly as in Oslo.

What I found instead were the sounds of a jazz band coming up a stone staircase near the back. I descended down to investigate. I found a group of musicians barbelled to the ages of high school and 60 plus, taking turns jamming on a couple of instruments set up in a dusty corner. It felt intimate and personal, like a practice session where different teenage musicians could try out their new solo idea or jazzy chord progression alongside some old cats (who I couldn’t quite pin down if they were instructors or just part of the scene). It strongly reminded me of my high school days, hanging with my friends writing music or shooting films and photos. While obvious that teenagers around the world cluster to these hobbies, seeing it first hand was a truly unique experience that reminded me how similar we all are.