Procrastination. I cant deny that. In my defense, I’ve made an effort to pack early and pretty much finished packing before lunch. Just the nitty gritty bits, which i completely forgot during the usual last minute packing. It was until I saw them on the shelf of the convenience store did i realize about it. Although Sweden emits an old and cosy vibe, things here cost a fortune. A small 300 ml body soap that I use cost 3 times the price of those sold in Singapore. Luckily, I was warned about that and I’ve brought my own. *grinx But not so lucky as the little stuff that i forgot to bring were priced many times more than they deserved. *boohoo.
Frankly, I’m neither brave nor adventurous. I’ve thought about returning to Melbourne instead of venturing into the West alone. But Hey~ Why Not? There’s always a first to everything. Here I am, presented with this golden opportunity. I’m sure I’ll regret it the first hour I arrived in Melbourne. Sure, it’ll be good to be surrounded with good company once again. But this is the last exchange program in my education life~ Plus, although i dragged about it before leaving Singapore, it will definitely be one of the highlights of my life be it a pleasant experience or not. Mind over matter.
Things went pretty smooth in the Airports. Singapore to Bangkok took ard 4 hours - reached Bangkok at ard 11pm (Singapore time). The service in Thai Airways weren’t those that I’ve expected. When I requested for warm water, the lady actually sighed... erm... and my warm water never came. -_- The next flight to Stockholm was at 2.10am (Sg time) So i spent 3 hours walking ard the airport. I’ve visited nearly every other store. Luckily, l’ve no spare cash cos after the next 10 hours or so, I could have thrown away everything i bought there in frustration. The flight to Stockholm in Thai Airways was much pleasant than the one from Singapore to Bangkok. The air stewardess were a grade better and the air steward were just as good in both flights. O.o Is it because of the whites??? aH~ no tv in front of the seat... I was planning of spending the next 10 hours of so watching all the movies that i’ve missed. sigh. Towards the end of the journey, we (the person beside me and i) started chatting. And once again... I’ve to acknowledge that I am a conversation Killer.. muahahhahahaaa... Anyway, the 10 hour flight to Stockholm wasn’t as draining as a 7 hours flight to Melbourne. Maybe a good book explains it.
It’s around 7am when i arrived in Stockholm. Arlanda International airport is quite small. There are only 6 counters at the exit and the space for the queue is so crammed. Even the belts are half the size of those in Singapore or Melbourne. Hmmm.. Maybe that’s not the main airport. But even those in Tasmania seems bigger.
Anyway, I took a 40 mins bus ride to the city and transfer to the subway and took a short ride to the train station outside KTH - the uni I’ll be studying in the next 4 months. I wanted to faint when I saw the 4 flights of stairs leading to the subway underground. As I was struggling to carry my luggage down the stairs. 2 very kind souls offered to help. And one of them ask “ Why dont you use the lift?” and my response was “Huh? Where’s the lift?” and he pointed in front. I have to say that IT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE A LIFT. It’s like some metal door to a lab or something. -____- anyway, they still helped me down the initial 2 steep flights of stairs. I intended to carry all my luggage down the next 2 flights after I’m very sure that’s the correct way. The person whom i asked from direction saw me once again struggling to lug my luggage down the stairs and offered to help. The way to the accommodation counter in the library was up a slope. It’s not a steep slope but after lugging my luggage and carrying 2 bags for such a long time, this slope proved to be another challenge. I took some time but managed to do it anyway. On the way back down, i wanted to just push my luggage downslope but it wasn’t possible cuz mine, unfortunately, was 2 wheeled. The journey back to my hostel should be ard 20 mins but i took more than an hour with all the luggage and the resting intervals. I have to stop every 10 metres cuz my luggage were too heavy and the fiction was hurting my palms very badly.
The trip back to the hostel was torturous. At the train station from the university, the gate was so small that i was stuck and had to drop everything on the floor in order to pass through and turn around to get my luggage. Okie, yes. It was a bad execution but hey.. i tried to get out of it as fast as i could. Nonetheless, the guy behind me gave me an irritated stare. I’m sure i din take that much of his time... o wellx, the initial plan was to take a bus down to the hostel but somehow... i walked all the way there pulling and stopping, pulling and stopping. Even I felt embarrassed and weird, even more so if you’re a bystander.
In the Subway platform
and that's not the end of day one
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