resan till norge
hi. i'm in norway! i'm sitting in my tiny hotel room., with wet hair, watching swedish tv. but let's start at the beginning.
thursday morning i got up early as usual. i had lots to do before going to the airport at 12:30, including a bit of running around, like dropping off cheques, buying smoked salmon, and touques, buying cat food, etc. i was also looking for a full bobbin. you see, i've been meaning to patch my jeans since the spring but couldn't figure out how to fill up the bobbin on my sewing machine, and since i wasn't wearing full pants... the pants in question stayed the last six months draped over my kitchen chair, occasionally scratching me when i ran my hand along the pins unknowingly. but...pants have become necessary. anywho. i didn't find any. so then i had a video with karey to try and figure it out and i think there is something wrong with my machine. but i got a little thread on the bobbin and then in a desperate search for something else, found one last full bobbin and used that. so i patched 3 pairs of jeans as speedily as i could. but then it was time to catch the taxi to the airport and i hadn't finalized my packing... the taxi came too early then talked to me like a douche on the phone and left me and then i finished packing in a panic and may have brought like 25 tops... and called the taxi again and waited outside. it was a gorgeous fall day. sunny and cloudy with big gusts of wind. so taxi guy came and i got to the airport only 2.5 hours before my flight, but that turned out to be fine. my suitcase which was chockoblock full, weighed 24.5 lbs. whew! i made it to my gate without any issues.
oh i forgot to say that when i was packing in the morning i stepped weird in some minuscule way and suddenly sharp extreme pains were flashing up my heel in my old injury spot. seriously foot?? so i found my gate and then walked back to the closest food court area and bought some pizza. it was my first meal of the day. then i limped back. i plugged in, took off my runners, repacked my backpack so everything better. i tried to buy some sour candies but i couldn't figure out the vending machine. british mom and her blonde little girl watched me silently and then turned away. a blonde girl sitting beside me coughed a lot.
on the flight to iceland i had a window seat over the wing. this required me to look over my shoulder and down to see the world below. an older man and his wife sat beside me. they looked indian but they sounded like they were talking icelandic. i watched the blind side which gave me the feels, of course, and then isn't it romantic, which was funny, and then marvel. i filled up the rest of the time with tv shows. the couple beside me had the most tortuous time. he tried to sleep by resting his forehead on the screen in front of him. they were both very sleepy. when we arrived in reykavik it was only 10:30 pm or something for me.
then began the part of the journey that was yuck. we had to all squish on a bus to get the the terminal. i felt very unsteady and had not much to hang on to. then the gate was weird. it seemed to end at some emergency doors in the food court. i was the first one to get there and i stood looking at it trying to make sense of it. reassuringly everyone who came up behind me did the same thing. meanwhile on either side of us people were eating and laughing. it was weird. so i stood for over an hour trying not to put weight on my bum foot. meanwhile the line started filling up with chinese people. then an official guy came and opened the emergency doors and you could see that you go down some stairs, but he put a barrier up. he came and went a couple of times and then this girl came. she didn't say anything to anyone. she just walked through the barrier and left it open. we stood there like...are we supposed to follow her? finally the guy in front of me went forward and we all went forward with him. down the stairs we went then stood for a while in this hallway waiting waiting. the girl started scanning our tickets and then we were farther down the hall that ended at glass doors to the outside. i knew another bus was in our future. she kept asking us to move down but most of the people were chinese and they didn't understand. waiting waiting waiting. finally a bus came and people were like zoom to get on. i was going for a back seat and i didn't care if i had to sit squished next to some people. i wanted a rest for bumfoot. so i squished next to this guy who was sitting on two seats and he moved over. we were then bused to our plane and we boarded up stairs from the front and back. this time i was in the very back almost. window seat. this flight was the torturous one for me. it was basically midnight to 3:30 am. i listened to a book on tape while closing my eyes and dozing on and off resting my head against the window. there was less leg room in this seat. like not as wide because of some weird thing with the leg of the chair. it cramped my legs and the arms dug into my hips mercilessly. my bum went even flatter than it is. it was a relief to arrive to rainy stormy oslo.
i ate nothing on the flights because you had to pay and i forgot i could have used my work credit card. doy doy. i also drank nothing. double doy. nevertheless, after disembarking i went to the washrooms to pee for the first time since thursday morning and peed for what seemed 5 minutes straight.
then i bought a train ticket and waited another 20 minutes on the rainy platform. it was there that i noticed that my suitcase was bust. norway or bust! like there was little hole in the seam before. now the whole bottom section of the seam was ripped and my clothes could be seen puffing out. that's what you get for packing almost your whole wardrobe rather than decide on some outfits. i want possibilites ok?!
no luck getting a seat on the train. lilleström was the 1st stop though so i only needed to stand for 12 more minutes. i spent the time looking at the countryside we passed and trying to focus my ears on what the girls behind me were saying. at the lilleström train station i saw a phone card place so i went to get one. the 3 guys in there were a little bit doofy but i think they were a little intimidated in speaking english to me. then i had to go to a conveience store to put money on the card. then i walked in the rain to the hotel. i was waiting to check in behind this group. i recognized the girl. she was sitting in my row on the flight from iceland. then i realized the lady just in front of me was chris h. the ed from progress place in toronto. well i realized when she turned and started talking to me. then it all came together. my room was on the 3rd floor and so was chris'. i was so tired by this point that i couldn't figure out how to use my key card. i couldn't open my door. so i walked all the way back down. and the lady at reception gave me a new one and i went to the eleveator and coudlnt' get it to work, so i went back to the desk and then when talking to the girl she told me i had to hold it there and not swipe it. i was swiping it like a fob. what a jetlagged dolt i was. so then i trudged back to my room. my part of the hallway stays dark unless you move...yes motion sensor lights. but the rest of the hall is always on, so it's kind of creepy and makes me think i'm the only one here.
my room is really cute with gold and turquoise wall paper with jaguar silhouettes, suns and jungly ferns etc. hard to describe. i'll take a pic. the curtains are gold and there is a gold chair and a toik one. the bed is probably smaller than a twin and the whole room is a long narrow closet typ feel. a soft and airy white folded duvet is on the bed.
i tried to do different things and get my new sim card in and stuff but i just couldn't forcus on anything. so i said, self, i'mma let you have a nap. don't sleep all day!!. i slept about 2 hours, which with my nap record is quite good. then much more alert, i could do my sim card, get ready and go find some food. i walked in the dark in the pouring rain, not caring about getting wet, back to the train station and bought a hot dog from the convenience store. it was the last hot dog. i was talking to the guys in swedish and it was fine until they asked me what salad toppings i wanted on it and i really didn't understand them and we turned to english. salad on a hot dog? they just meant toppings. i chose shrimp because that seemed odd and scandinavian. i also bought a beef kabab.
now i've watched a little tv and it is a proper sleeping time and i'm going to sleep! dave and hope and mike (my group from pathways) get here late tonight. we meet up at breakfast.
thursday morning i got up early as usual. i had lots to do before going to the airport at 12:30, including a bit of running around, like dropping off cheques, buying smoked salmon, and touques, buying cat food, etc. i was also looking for a full bobbin. you see, i've been meaning to patch my jeans since the spring but couldn't figure out how to fill up the bobbin on my sewing machine, and since i wasn't wearing full pants... the pants in question stayed the last six months draped over my kitchen chair, occasionally scratching me when i ran my hand along the pins unknowingly. but...pants have become necessary. anywho. i didn't find any. so then i had a video with karey to try and figure it out and i think there is something wrong with my machine. but i got a little thread on the bobbin and then in a desperate search for something else, found one last full bobbin and used that. so i patched 3 pairs of jeans as speedily as i could. but then it was time to catch the taxi to the airport and i hadn't finalized my packing... the taxi came too early then talked to me like a douche on the phone and left me and then i finished packing in a panic and may have brought like 25 tops... and called the taxi again and waited outside. it was a gorgeous fall day. sunny and cloudy with big gusts of wind. so taxi guy came and i got to the airport only 2.5 hours before my flight, but that turned out to be fine. my suitcase which was chockoblock full, weighed 24.5 lbs. whew! i made it to my gate without any issues.
oh i forgot to say that when i was packing in the morning i stepped weird in some minuscule way and suddenly sharp extreme pains were flashing up my heel in my old injury spot. seriously foot?? so i found my gate and then walked back to the closest food court area and bought some pizza. it was my first meal of the day. then i limped back. i plugged in, took off my runners, repacked my backpack so everything better. i tried to buy some sour candies but i couldn't figure out the vending machine. british mom and her blonde little girl watched me silently and then turned away. a blonde girl sitting beside me coughed a lot.
on the flight to iceland i had a window seat over the wing. this required me to look over my shoulder and down to see the world below. an older man and his wife sat beside me. they looked indian but they sounded like they were talking icelandic. i watched the blind side which gave me the feels, of course, and then isn't it romantic, which was funny, and then marvel. i filled up the rest of the time with tv shows. the couple beside me had the most tortuous time. he tried to sleep by resting his forehead on the screen in front of him. they were both very sleepy. when we arrived in reykavik it was only 10:30 pm or something for me.
then began the part of the journey that was yuck. we had to all squish on a bus to get the the terminal. i felt very unsteady and had not much to hang on to. then the gate was weird. it seemed to end at some emergency doors in the food court. i was the first one to get there and i stood looking at it trying to make sense of it. reassuringly everyone who came up behind me did the same thing. meanwhile on either side of us people were eating and laughing. it was weird. so i stood for over an hour trying not to put weight on my bum foot. meanwhile the line started filling up with chinese people. then an official guy came and opened the emergency doors and you could see that you go down some stairs, but he put a barrier up. he came and went a couple of times and then this girl came. she didn't say anything to anyone. she just walked through the barrier and left it open. we stood there like...are we supposed to follow her? finally the guy in front of me went forward and we all went forward with him. down the stairs we went then stood for a while in this hallway waiting waiting. the girl started scanning our tickets and then we were farther down the hall that ended at glass doors to the outside. i knew another bus was in our future. she kept asking us to move down but most of the people were chinese and they didn't understand. waiting waiting waiting. finally a bus came and people were like zoom to get on. i was going for a back seat and i didn't care if i had to sit squished next to some people. i wanted a rest for bumfoot. so i squished next to this guy who was sitting on two seats and he moved over. we were then bused to our plane and we boarded up stairs from the front and back. this time i was in the very back almost. window seat. this flight was the torturous one for me. it was basically midnight to 3:30 am. i listened to a book on tape while closing my eyes and dozing on and off resting my head against the window. there was less leg room in this seat. like not as wide because of some weird thing with the leg of the chair. it cramped my legs and the arms dug into my hips mercilessly. my bum went even flatter than it is. it was a relief to arrive to rainy stormy oslo.
i ate nothing on the flights because you had to pay and i forgot i could have used my work credit card. doy doy. i also drank nothing. double doy. nevertheless, after disembarking i went to the washrooms to pee for the first time since thursday morning and peed for what seemed 5 minutes straight.
then i bought a train ticket and waited another 20 minutes on the rainy platform. it was there that i noticed that my suitcase was bust. norway or bust! like there was little hole in the seam before. now the whole bottom section of the seam was ripped and my clothes could be seen puffing out. that's what you get for packing almost your whole wardrobe rather than decide on some outfits. i want possibilites ok?!
no luck getting a seat on the train. lilleström was the 1st stop though so i only needed to stand for 12 more minutes. i spent the time looking at the countryside we passed and trying to focus my ears on what the girls behind me were saying. at the lilleström train station i saw a phone card place so i went to get one. the 3 guys in there were a little bit doofy but i think they were a little intimidated in speaking english to me. then i had to go to a conveience store to put money on the card. then i walked in the rain to the hotel. i was waiting to check in behind this group. i recognized the girl. she was sitting in my row on the flight from iceland. then i realized the lady just in front of me was chris h. the ed from progress place in toronto. well i realized when she turned and started talking to me. then it all came together. my room was on the 3rd floor and so was chris'. i was so tired by this point that i couldn't figure out how to use my key card. i couldn't open my door. so i walked all the way back down. and the lady at reception gave me a new one and i went to the eleveator and coudlnt' get it to work, so i went back to the desk and then when talking to the girl she told me i had to hold it there and not swipe it. i was swiping it like a fob. what a jetlagged dolt i was. so then i trudged back to my room. my part of the hallway stays dark unless you move...yes motion sensor lights. but the rest of the hall is always on, so it's kind of creepy and makes me think i'm the only one here.
my room is really cute with gold and turquoise wall paper with jaguar silhouettes, suns and jungly ferns etc. hard to describe. i'll take a pic. the curtains are gold and there is a gold chair and a toik one. the bed is probably smaller than a twin and the whole room is a long narrow closet typ feel. a soft and airy white folded duvet is on the bed.
i tried to do different things and get my new sim card in and stuff but i just couldn't forcus on anything. so i said, self, i'mma let you have a nap. don't sleep all day!!. i slept about 2 hours, which with my nap record is quite good. then much more alert, i could do my sim card, get ready and go find some food. i walked in the dark in the pouring rain, not caring about getting wet, back to the train station and bought a hot dog from the convenience store. it was the last hot dog. i was talking to the guys in swedish and it was fine until they asked me what salad toppings i wanted on it and i really didn't understand them and we turned to english. salad on a hot dog? they just meant toppings. i chose shrimp because that seemed odd and scandinavian. i also bought a beef kabab.
now i've watched a little tv and it is a proper sleeping time and i'm going to sleep! dave and hope and mike (my group from pathways) get here late tonight. we meet up at breakfast.
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