Growing Up Everywhere at Once

I don’t really have one place that feels like “home” in the way people usually mean it.

When people ask where I’m from, I never know how to answer it quickly. I was born in London, my parents are Swedish, and I’ve gone to American schools in different countries. None of those things feel wrong, but none of them fully explain it either. So usually I just say one thing and move on.

But the reality is more complicated than that. One of the things I’ve been lucky to experience is being around a lot of different cultures from a young age, not just learning about them, but actually being part of them in small ways. I remember going to Diwali celebrations with friends and not really understanding everything that was happening, but still feeling the energy of it… the lights, the food, the sense that it meant something important to the people around me. And then other times, celebrating Chinese New Year, where everything felt completely different again: different traditions, different rhythms, but the same kind of significance.

At the time, I didn’t think much about it. It just felt normal. Looking back now, I realize that not everyone grows up like that. A lot of people experience one main culture and maybe learn about others from a distance. For me, it was always more mixed. You don’t fully belong to any one thing, but you’re exposed to a lot.

I think what that’s taught me more than anything is how to pay attention. When you’re in different environments all the time, you get used to noticing small differences, like how people communicate, what’s considered respectful, what matters in that space.

You learn pretty quickly that what feels “normal” to you might not be normal somewhere else, and I think that changes how you move through the world. You become more aware, but also more open, and you don’t assume that one way of doing things is the only way. That’s something I’ve started to appreciate more recently. Because for a long time, it just felt like a lack of a clear answer.

Now it feels more like a different kind of perspective.