Day 6: Lunar New Year

Happy New Year! While all of you are enjoying yourselves with good food and company, what am I doing here in cold Uppsala?

I've finally met the first unkind (or rather unfriendly) Swede at the supermarket yesterday. It was at the supermarket near my apartment (but not the one I frequent), and the person was manning the cashier (Whatever do you call them?). Anyway, I noticed that there seems to be some form of rounding up of the bill by usually 10kr. But to my knowledge from what I read, this is NOT a tipping country, so I'm not obliged to leave tips. Then again, I must confess that I don't know much about this country or its culture. And so yesterday, in search of happy food, my bill came up to 197kr. I looked into my wallet and found two 100kr notes that I proceeded to hand to her. Nothing wrong so far, I feel. I gave 200kr for a 197kr bill. I'm giving excess, damn it! Instead of handing me the receipt nicely, she simply threw it back with a really sour look on her face. The look could freeze, as if the place wasn't cold enough. And all without the 3kr change I expected. Hey! 3kr comes to less than one Singapore dollar, but it's still change nonetheless. What happened to it. Given her cold stare, I decided not to ask, and beat a hasty retreat.

What, what? Did I do something wrong here?

I miss home. I miss seeing my family up close, and everyday. I miss the endless food I get back home and the wonderful smell of my bed and the warmth of my blanket. I miss the comfort of knowing exactly how things are done. What am I doing here in a foreign land, here in cold, cold Uppsala, Sweden? I wish I could just put everything down, say I quit and head back home to sunny Singapore. If I only could, I would pick up the phone now, call Air France in Stockholm-Arlanda Airport (It's 0600hrs. Their office would already be open for a half hour by now.), confirm my open dated booking and make a reservation back to home-sweet-beautiful-home.

Maybe it'll get better with time, once I get to know more people and make more friends. Or maybe it'll simply get worse. Maybe, maybe...