Malmo to Gavle

adventerous trip with out company seems a bit boring afterall. u get tired of running around and worrying all by urself.
i booked the ticket to stockholm - gavle yesterday. there was a 19 mins gap between 2 trains.
"will that time be sufficient"
"ma'am, u have 20 mins in between!"
"do the trains get late here?"
and i got a look of disgust. yeah right!
so i was pretty confident i'd make it. the train left on time, and i had full 4 hours to enjoy the ride in X2000. extremely fast. AMAZING.
surprisingly, since i was going north, i was expecting a lot of clouds, darkness, fog. but there came the sun, beautifully bathing everything in its golden warmth. it just felt good. there was little wind (guessing because the trees were still) and there were these puffs of clouds. it felt nice.
then, it was time to reach stockholm. and it didnt. it was exactly 20 mins late. i didnt even have the time to run and catch the train (bollywod style).
i went to the ticket window and asked them to reschedule. luckily they didnt make a fuss. lucky for them as i was ready with a fuss bigger than they wud make. so i got exactly 10 mins to catch the next train. hmm. interesting. i did run for this one. and they had booked me in 2nd K. it was frustrating. but, here too, u recognise the difference immediately in first and second Klass. its too obvious. something similar to what we have in india. the people, dressing style (i cant say languge because i didnt understand shit of that!). it was very very differentiable.
3.30 p.m. and it was already dark outside. there was a lot of fog. and the entire train route was through the pine forest. it was a bit scary. luckily, i understood when they said Gavle, and the train was on time, so i didnt have any problem getting off the train. then came the intense cold. there is a huge difference between cold of Malmo and that of Gavle. unluckily, for me, it isnt snowing! i wud have liked the snow better than the cold.
hotel was not so difficult to find. it is ok. yeah. ok cauz i compare it to Radissons. but i have to stay for just the night, so it is okay. tomorrow morning i am off to see the most talked about paper mill in our factory. i should have been 2 days. but i got only one. its okay. so again, tomorrow night i travel to stockholm, park myself there for a night and get to Lund next day morning. Urgh.
and then again, park my self in malmo for a night and start back to india. finally. i am waiting for wednesday.
Sweden is a beautiful country. but it is lonely to be alone. and with this fiasco, i feel more alone by the minute. there are people around me, who are friendly, but who speak different language. are more beautiful (:P) and have a different culture. so in the end, i am alone, here. but there are people, my people waiting for me back there. now i know what people dont like to live outside their own country!
i loved the idea of staying abroad. but with these 10 days, my perception has changed. ofcourse there is difference being on a business trip alone, and being together with ur family. it is a decision which is not required now.
anyways, so i am waiting for this trip to get over soon..

something more on sweden..

arrival in malmo from Stockholm was totally uneventful. yes, how boring!
my taxi was waiting for me. and luckily for me i was wearing thermals, so it wasnt so bad to enter into malmo.
sweden at night, was nothing special. we do have that kind of roads in India now as well. journey to hotel was about 20 mins. and that was uneventful also.
one problem was that i had secured my luggage with a very reliable lock, and i had lost the key..both the keys... (did i just say smthing like uneventful..?)
so then, i checked in and call in for the housekeeping to help me break my lock.. and then my lock was too thin for their equipment.. wow!
but finally, together we did manage to break that lock and i breathed another sigh of relief. and then i went to my room, which was good. took a luke-warm water bath (no hot water) and then re-arranged my stuff and finally slept for a couple of hours..
it was time immediately to get up and go for breakfast..
first breakfast in Sweden. it was not so bad. i met 3 guys from India. it was good. and then Sam was there. and then i had hired a taxi because i had all my luggage with me and i didnt have time to buy a ticket for the shuttle which had already left.
so we reached our main office in about 20 mins. Met the person there who made all the arrangements for me. and thanks to him i was able to reach malmo on time..
bus was waiting and we were off to Markaryd.
People.. umph..all were staring in the opposite directions.. 'well this is going to be fun!'
but then, when we were in the training center, everything was just fine...
the people from bast mat whom i knew, had arrived, everyone was being friendly, i liked the place (ofcourse those were the photographs i published already!) and i liked my room as well
so, all in all, i was settled!
only regret - when my flight from Mumbai was cancelled, i was being booked in Hyatt! free of cost!!! i missed that.. and i dont know if i will be able to afford a stay in Hyatt in the near future!!
anyways,
so we went for this walk around the lake. it was so peaceful. the silence was defening at first, but then the sounds came.. of the wind, of the water, of the trees.. it was something close to heaven!
and then, we had these evening activities, which was fun ofcourse - self introductions, treasure hunts, games, singing... it was cool. and then ofcourse there was this handsome bloke around for smtime! :)
i really really feel like a stupid, idiot person. anyways,
so all in all, it was great till now. now am back in Malmo and awaiting my next travel on sunday.. will keep posting...

Life in sweden...

ummm.. it has been hectic since the time i left home on last saturday night. we made it to the airport quite on time with about 4 hrs to spare (we need to check in 3 hrs early) and then i found the airline counter all right and i waited in the line..
waited and waited and waited... sm problem
"excuse me, what is the problem? why is the line held up?"
"umm.. sorry maam, the flight that was supposed to take off from here, hasnt taken off from Istanbul"
wow! "ok, when will it take off?"
"we are not sure maam, there is zero visibility"
yeah right!!
i waited till 3 in the morning (the flight was supposed to take off at 0525 but it was not there are the Mumbai airport.
"look miss, i have to reach copenhagen today night"
"we are trying to transfer people to another airlines maam. please bear with us"
another half hour. nothing.
i went to the counter and waited there (ofcourse there was a throng of people) and then she gave another booking to smone going to stockholm..
bingo..
"hey, i am ok to go to stockholm too"
"oh, ok.. i will just send u to the counter"
and then i was there waiting. the flight was to leave at 0500 hrs and we were there at the counter till 4.30 doing nothing.
there was this firang girl from stockholm who got really pissed off with them. and then finally they processed our documents, gave us the boarding passes and we went thru the immigrations and security real fast. we made it to the plane ofcourse in the typical bollywood movie style, running!
atlast we were off.. where to?? yeah.. Doha..
then we landed there and took a flight to venece.. Venece.. i was blank. where was that.. and then zap.. it is in switzerland, idiot!
hmm.. swiss chocolates.. and 6 hours of waiting to get to stockholm.. next connecting flight to Malmo, my final destination was at 10.45 and this flight was to land at 9.30.. barely enuf time. and then this flight to stockholm got delayed... ummm.. why with me???????????????
but anyways, i did finally reach to stockholm on time to catch the flight to Malmo. and reached at my hotel at 1.00 p.m. in the night swedish time - same as 5.00 a.m. in India..
aaah.. so in short i travelled mumbai - doha - venece - stockholm - malmo instead of
Mumbai - istanbul - copenhagen
next day we started for Markaryd in a bus from lund. the people were .. well.. umhmmm...
but once the training started, the things changed. i am in sweden at the worst possible time i suppose. winters. it is dark most of the time. when it is light, it is gray light and it is raining. i wont talk about the wind.
three days have passed now. and today i met one more person who is working in Tetra Pak. he is .. AMAZINGLY HANDSOME!
My sweetest, darling husband, you will read this and u will laugh. but after a long time, i have met some one as handsome, so please let me write it so that i can remember. i will show you pictures..
i have a lot of travelling to do before i come back to my home town. and then there are a whole lot of people to meet. so i am going to be darn busy over the next few days.
some pictures i have clicked...

Dont tell me..

borrowed from http://makennahope.blogspot.com/

Please don't tell me you know how I feel,
Unless you have lost your child too,
Please don't tell me my broken heart will heal,
Because that is just not true,
Please don't tell me my son is in a better place,
Though it is true, I want him here with me,
Don't tell me someday I'll hear his voice, see his face,
Beyond today I cannot see,
Don't tell me it is time to move on,
Because I cannot,
Don't tell me to face the fact he is gone,
Because denial is something I can't stop,
Don't tell me to be thankful for the time I had,
Because I wanted more,
Don't tell me when I am my old self you will be glad,
I'll never be as I was before,
What you can tell me is you will be here for me,
That you will listen when I talk of my child,
You can share with me my precious memories,
You can even cry with me for a while,
And please don't hesitate to say his name,
Because it is something I long to hear everyday,
Friend please realize that I can never be the same,
But if you stand by me, you may like the new person I become someday.