I have three love affairs; London, San Francisco and my girlfriend/fiance Anna (guess which order!).

I am in London right now, I am getting ready for my big move from Europe to San Francisco, I setup my new US company and I am working on getting the E-2 visa organized, and I got rid of my London apartment… God how I will miss London…

Being a Swede, but not much much of Swedish in culture, London is all I never knew I wanted. London is nothing like Sweden; it’s multi cultural, people come from all over the world and opportunities are plentiful for everyone that want a go at them.

But don’t be mistaken London is tuff, but the rewards and people are great, the Swedish way of easy wins and low rewards, and uniformity is not my cup of tea. Keep in mind that the british myth of “stiffness” is far away from reality, just think about the multi-cultural society London has been for hundreds of years.

I know for sure I will miss London, and in particular the feeling I get whenever I am “home” (I am a busy traveller…), which is what London emotionally has been for me for quite some time. A number of Swedes I know living abroad for years are still felling home in Sweden, but thrive wherever they are.. I feel home here in London, to paraphrase JFK; “I am a Londoner”.

I went to the Oriental Club with a friend today. This might be a way for me to keep a connection to my emotional home, and a home here in London, when moving to San Francisco.

So this is my oboe the one of my loves; London, another of my loves is San Francisco, so I think I will do well over “there”, but I will for sure miss London.

Nicolai – The Franciscan Londoner.