Viking Diaries #1 : Bieber there, Done that

I landed up in Stockholm right after my 2^nd year endsems, a horrendous week of exams, ending with an Machine Drawing anticlimax. But glad to run away from all that torture, here I was! Unknown land, not a single familiar face, clutching two heavy bags at the Arlanda Airport. The land of the Vikings. Sverige. 

It was thankfully all smooth in the airport. Come out of it, and a breeze hit me so hard, that I actually dropped one of the strolleys. I froze. Both in awe and cold. In front of me, World Trade Center, a majestic building, and in sight was road traffic as well behaved as I’ve ever seen. I actually stood there for a couple of minutes, regardless of the cold.

From here on, it was a quest on my own, or so I thought to myself. Little did I know how damn helpful these Swedes were. It was a wonderful start in itself, at the accommodation center at KTH, my to-be university. It barely took 20 seconds to track my file, hand over keys, and a couple of words of advice. Wow. Here I was, already feeling at home!

My prof did guide me around a bit, helping me to learn the intricate, yet simple public transport system. They have buses, trains, commuter trains, metro, trams and boats. Complex as it sounds, its simpler than a BMTC network! 

My first week was spent in getting to know the suburb I was living in. The hostel, the shops nearby, etc. It was all as quiet as anything ever. Ok one thing, there might be a lot of “firsts” or “as anything seen before”, forgive me for the clichés, but trust me its all true. Even now I can clearly hear myself type out every word loud and clear, and I hadn’t heard my first human voice till I went looking. Whatta change!

Move over, week 1. Settling into the university, again for some reason it felt good. Much better than back home. Maybe its all the hype around Europe, or plainly my feel-good factor about it all, but every step seemed better. The university looked stunning, and the labs better. Settling into the rigor of university did take some while, especially the part where I’d to pack lunch!

 
My first weekend, I went to the old part of Stockholm city, Gamla Stan. Finally, a place where I felt the desi buildings had come out trumps. I mean, this was the most exquisite part of Stockholm architecture it seems. Bah. We’ve better to offer back home! Still, not taking anything away from it, it was a wonderful street of buildings, lined with souvenir shops (which openly rip tourists off), I’ve seen only a third of this old part of the city. Still more surprises to come.
That evening, at the end of the Gamla Stan street, I can swear it'll happen nowhere else. Ok save Canada, or some dirty part of the US. Here were 50 odd thirteen year olds, at the heart of the world’s finest cities, staging a rally. In support of Justin Bieber. KMN. I took videos, pics, because I realized this was a phenomenon. BIEBER COME TO SWEDEN. JUSTIN WE LOVE YOU. Ok let the pics talk now.

It felt really funny. If you had two bullets with Osama, Saddam and Justin, who’d you shoot? Justin. Twice. These were the kind of jokes earlier, and here I was. WOW. Life has funny things to offer.

Other pics from Gamla Stan, and the shops. The backdrop of this blog right now is at one of these shops.

 I shall wrap up now. It’s the beginning of this journey, and a lot more to come. I shall update, for sure, as often as possible. Thanks for reading!