Welcome back to Sweden!
I’ve been back in Piteå for two days now, and I am truly happy to be back. My head is racing with ideas and motivation to practice and “do something”. I hope that this positive energy lasts, because I forgot what it feels like for the sun to set at 3pm!
Most of the flights here went just fine. I had a layover in Iceland that I almost missed because of security, but the best story was during the last leg from Stockholm to Luleå (naturally). I had to spend 5 hours at Arlanda, which I was not excited about. Fortunately, I did get to chat with Anders and take a nap. When I finally went to my gate to wait even more, I realized that there were two destinations on the screen: Skellefteå and Luleå. Hum.
I started to talk to the woman next to me (who was from Holland and going to Skellefteå to visit her daughter who had a baby that morning!) and found out that they were combining two flights into one. So, we would be taking a pit stop in Skellefteå.
Not a big deal…it would just add another 30 minutes or so to the journey. When we landed in Skellefteå (which is south of Piteå), half of the passengers got off the plane, and another batch of people boarded. The funniest thing was that a young, good-looking guy sat next to me! That never happens! Good thing I had been traveling for HOURS and looked FABULOUS (sarcasm). I was just going to sit there and not talk (which is hard for me anyways), but then...the plane just sat there…and just sat there…and just sat there!
The captain made an announcement that we were somehow missing a passenger or had too much luggage or both. I’m pretty sure the crew was just really confused. So, they counted us about 10 times. Then they took roll call. They literally went up and down the aisle calling our names and we had to raise our hand. Just like kindergarten.
Since we had been sitting there forever I decided it wouldn’t hurt to strike up a conversation with the dude next to me. I asked him if he spoke English and it’s like a light bulb went off! We chatted and chatted and chatted (and, no worries, I actually let him talk too!) It was nice to be entertained because we sat in the airplane for about an hour and a half. At one point they unloaded all of the luggage and we had to go outside, claim what was ours and then get back on the plane. Finally, they just had us all write our names on a piece of paper and we took off. It’s still a mystery as to what the problem actually was, and if it was even resolved. Regardless, I made an attractive friend! woohoo!
When we landed in Luleå I ran into Sven-Åke, who hired me at the Medbörgarskolan, Sebastian, who is the first student I met in Piteå, and Joseph, another friend from school. We were all in the same taxi back to Piteå and it was fun chatting and laughing with them about the holidays. How crazy that we were all on the same flight!
I can’t decide if I feel jet-lagged or just tired at this point. I haven’t really rested yet, so hopefully I will over the weekend. Yesterday I did all my laundry, and then attended a dinner/hang that the Student Union group threw for all of the bartenders and workers at Kåren. It was a fun night and an easy way to see everyone right away! Feels like we never left…
Today I practiced a ton, which felt great. Most of the time was spent trying to get my hands to feel warmed up…I didn’t play at all while in NYC, so it’s been like TWO WEEKS! Ugh. That’s such a long time to not play!
This evening we had the reunion of the Brit, the Swede, and the American. :) Anna and Lou came over for dinner and had a good time sharing stories and catching up. I missed them a lot! Now I need to go to bed to try and get my system back in Sweden time!
No comments:
Post a Comment