It’s good to be home

What a way to start the year: Los Angeles is on fire, the Oompa Loompa is back in the White House, and Elon Musk greets the minions with a casual Nazi salute.

We moved back to Europe last summer. And while I didn’t need reassurance that our decision to leave was the right one, the USA is willingly offering it.

People here sometimes ask why we moved back. Why we left the land of plenty, the Californian sunshine, our house, our business. And all I can do is stare blankly, maybe blink.

I remember a conversation I had with someone just after we had moved to California. That was in 2018, right after the Woolsey fire had decimated large parts of our new neighbourhood. A causal conversation at a community pool quickly offered a deep view into the American psyche (of course, not everyone’s, but let me remind you that almost 50% of votes went to the orange nightmare in the 2024 general election).

“Why don’t you all go home to where you came from?”

It was one of those questions that hit you unprepared. Especially coming from a Karen type, a woman as white as a glass of milk with visible Eastern European roots. It was at that moment that I first asked myself when the penny will drop that we are all sitting on stolen land in one way or another. Large parts of what is called the Southwest of the USA today used to belong to Mexico until 1845 – it’s not that long ago. Without wanting to dig deeper into the history books, this is what it meant for the native population.

When will the penny drop that everyone is an immigrant in the US? Unless you are native American or hail from a family whose ancestors had been forced into slavery, please STFU about immigration.

It seems to me that in the US, there is no such thing as collective responsibility, let alone collective guilt. Mexicans that want to live on the land of their ancestors? Build a wall! Hundreds of thousands of people homeless? Destroy their camps and put them on a bus (or in jail)!

It’s survival of the fittest and every man for themselves. Somewhat understandable, knowing that no one will come to your rescue should you trip and fall.

I have zero regrets about the six years I spent in California. I have learned so much, I have made friends (yes, 2!), and I do not think that the journey my husband and I have been on would have been possible anywhere else.

I am not the same person I was when we left Sweden. I have grown in confidence, learned how to make my ask, and realised what I am capable of, because I had to. They say ‘If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere’, and they are right. No one does hustle culture like the Americans, and I believe a little more drive wouldn’t hurt for a lot of Europeans.

The political development in Europe is concerning in its own right (no pun intended), but I can’t stress this enough: It’s good to be home.