There's a certain anxiety that comes with moving to a new country where the native language is different from your own. Going to Berlin a few times in the past few months reminded me of what it was like when I first came to Stockholm.
To be fair, an English speaker experiences far less anxiety in Stockholm, due to the fact that Swedes in general are just about fluent in English. But there's an anxiety nonetheless. It manifests itself in the form of reading menus, going shopping, or getting asked for directions. Perhaps you're at a party in Sweden, where most people are Swedish. They'll often speak Swedish with each other then have to switch over to English for your sake. This gets especially awkward when you're the only non-native speaker in the place. You often find yourself left out of conversations, not purposefully, but just because people will always default to what is socially comfortable for themselves. Drinking and translating on the fly for a native speaker is simply not comfortable. In a public place, such as a restaurant or sandwich shop, someone will start speaking their native language with me.
Having gone to Berlin a few times in the last month, I feel myself thrust back into this slight discomfort. As a college student traveling through Europe I could never recall having had this anxiety. This was likely due to the fact that I was energetic and only in these cities temporarily. I was also often times blind drunk which assists in eliminating the language barrier anxiety.
But now as an old, sober guy with a bit less energy and an inherent inability to consume/absorb/learn as quickly and easily as I once could, I find it tougher. I still have the same enthusiasm, but it is coupled with a bit of frustration at not being able to communicate. I also lack the the patience I once had.
I'm excited at the prospect of learning another language. I could never get quite as good at Swedish as I would've liked. I think another couple years here and I would've nailed it. In Paris, I became fluent in six months (then again, it was my college minor and a language I had already been speaking proficiently for a number of years). In Berlin, I fully expect that I'll be proficient in a short period of time and fluent within a couple years.