First Day (continued)

OK. I lied. I hate the bitter cold here. It was enjoyable initially but as time wore on, it simply felt terrible, especially when the wind blows. It gets so chilly, that on my way back, my ears almost freezed. Then again, I was inappropriately dressed. Left the room with the Professor without the right gear.

It's 0300hrs local time and 10am back in sunny Singapore. I'm having trouble sleeping. Woke up at 1200hrs and couldn't fall back to sleep after that. No wonder. It would be 0700hrs in Singapore and by then I would already be wide awake. My sleep on the plane was short and intermittent. Shoot. Jet lag.

The sun hours here are few. Depressingly few. It was dark by 1630hrs and when I left at 1800hrs, it felt as though it was 2000hrs back home. It was that dark. I miss the warmth of the sun.

Anyway, the people whom I've met here are friendly. Even total strangers off the street. If I were back in Singapore, I'm sure I would be met with an 'idiot-why-are-you-bothering-me' look. No smiles, no niceties.

The bus system here seems highly inefficient when compared against the high standard back home. I'll never complain the busses at home are slow. Busses here run at about half hour intervals, so it takes some planning to get to the final destination. The fare is a little high too. Depending on the time of the day, it ranges from 13 to 20 kronors, which is about S$3 - 5 dollars. But one ticket allows you any number of trips on any of the busses. The ticket runs by time. So long as it's within the one and one half hour limit, you can get on any bus, any where. Cool, isn't it?

Uppsala is a biking town. Saw tons to bicycles at the lab and it seems like everyone has bike here. But given that the streets are icy now and I'm not used to riding on such conditions, I better not try.

So I didn't take the bus back, nor did I use a bicycle. Instead, I walked back to the apartment. Heck, S$5 is too much to pay! Think I'll be getting a monthly bus card in the near future. It took me 45 minutes to walk from the laboratory/office to my apartment. It wasn't tiring at all. The only problem I had was the cold. My ears, as mentioned earlier, became slightly numb. After all, it was below O Celcius and the wind was blowing. Good thing I didn't get any frost bite. Shoot, it's so cold here. I wonder if I have enough sweaters. The cost of living here is too high for me to want to get a whole set of clothes.

Anyway, I wanted to take a look around the place and I thought that walking back would give me a chance to get a feel of the area. Heck, it was so cold that the only thought in my mind was to find the apartment as quickly as possible. The place here is not marked very well. I didn't see many street signs, or maybe it was because I was not along the main roads. So after some time of walking, out of desperation, I finally stopped someone along the street to ask for directions. Funny thing though. The kind lady mentioned that I was already on the street that I was looking for and the apartment would only be a few blocks away. After thanking her, I walked up the same path, and saw the supermarket at the block where I was staying only 50 metres ahead. I must have been trying too hard to get out of the freezing cold and warm my poor ears, that I didn't think straight.

There's a supermarket! Yay! I don't have to go too far for food. I doubt it'll be the cheapest but for certain things I guess it beat lugging them back from the central square where the shopping district is located.

There are some things I still need to locate though. Places such as the hairdresser, ATM machines for me to withdraw cash, and a post office. More exploring to do. It's only my first day here. I'm sure I'll find my way around. Wish me luck.