Behind the Scenes

Introduction:

When I was really young, I hated public bathrooms. I hated how the floors would be wet with indiscernible fluids, how there were crumpled up wads of paper towels and tissues scattered everywhere, and how overflowing the trash bins were. My family used to go shopping in San Fransico's Chinatown a lot and so these city bathrooms, along with the dirty streets, have implanted themselves in my memory. (As a disclaimer, I don't want this to cast a bad image of S.F. It's really a great place with lots of good food, scenic sites, and fun things to do!)

In general, big cities in California are not particularly "clean". Honestly, you can't expect too much when thousands and thousands of people are packed into one area. But as the welcome/reception bus from KTH drove us from the airport to the university, I couldn't help but marvel at how beautifully well-kept Stockholm was. In this article, I will be taking a look at the people and the community that has made this city an exception to the norm that I am used to. 

What community need did I learn about?:

I learned about the people and the resources Stockholm has dedicated to keeping its city clean! This was one of the first things that stuck out the most to me when I first arrived in Sweden. The streets here are kept in pristine condition— sparkling clean, with sidewalks devoid of those annoying little dark spots from discarded chewing gum.

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