A (LOOOOOONG) Day In Stockholm

00.20 a.m. Time to go to the ferry. For the first time in history I see my mum driving over 100 km/h, she’s usually the one causing the traffic jams.

01.10 a.m. Ferry leaves, I find my cabin and jump into bed.

05.45 a.m. Time to get up, get dressed in the darkness, grab some breakfast and head to the duty free shop for some battery (which keeps you going).

06.30 a.m. Ferry arrives in Stockholm, I decide to walk to the city centre (takes about 30-40 minutes) even though it starts to rain.



7.10 a.m I order a big cup of green tea at a coffee shop in the train station and start preparing the presentation I’m going to give in the afternoon. The task is to present a classmate’s essay: the topic is actually quite interesting – the girl has analyzed Google’s decision to withdraw from China by using something called value focused thinking.

8.00 a.m. Stockholm is still rainy and grey but that doesn’t stop me from doing some window shopping. I also go to a super market to look for something that a lot of Swedish fitness bloggers have written about. I don’t find it, but instead I’m offered a date by some random guy on the street. I kindly decline and hop on the metro.



9.00 a.m. The university is almost empty at this early hour, so after spending three moments (or five) feeling very melancholic nf front of the boards at the Institution of Slavic Languages (they are offering a course on Czeslaw Milosz… AND lots of language courses), I eat my morning snack (not only battery – there was some cottage cheese with nuts as well) while reading the newspaper. Apparently they’ve caught Radko Mladic. A classmate lives in Belgrade so surely she will give me a more detailed account of the events in Serbia. And surely she does - and apparently Serbia needs money -> has to make the EU happy -> finds Mladic. (surely nobody had a clue where he had been hiding for the past x-years in a country like Serbia - just saying that it's not very big)



This is also when I realise that I look like a scary ghost – it’s time to beautify myself!




This is our last meeting (this spring), so the whole day will be dedicated to presentations. Mine is in the afternoon so I lean back and listen to some really fascinating discussions on how to apply decision analysis on various kinds of problems.

Noon: it’s time for lunch –  each time we meet, one of the professors book us a table at one of the fancier restaurants at campus. The food is always delicious, and there is an ample supply of veggies and dessert too. On the way to lunch I get lost (even though I’ve walked the path to the restaurant many, many times). During this little adventure I find my dream house and smell some flowers, too.




At lunch we discuss babies because one of the girls in my class is pregnant…
 
After lunch a guy called Andreas presenta my essay, and the feedback is good. (I’m especially flattered that he thought my essay was good – nevermind the teachers – because he is working as some kind of security specialist for the Swedish army- yes, Sweden has an army – so he knows quite a bit about international conflicts). I get a good grade, try to hide a wide smile and then it’s already time for me to give my presentation.

15.45 p.m. I leave a bit early because I will be returning to the island with my dad and his friends (they’ve been to Italy), and we have a ferry to catch.



16.30 p.m.  I run up a hill in Lidingö to make it on time. There have been a lot of problems with the metro and buses, but fortunately everyone is waiting for me. I get into the car, and everything is black until…

19.30 p.m. ...I wake up from my nap. Sleeping in a car is soo uncomfortable, but who cares when it's an emergency. We get onboard, eat dinner and go shopping in the duty free.

23.40 p.m. after dropping everyone off, we are finally home! And now the bed is calling!