There’s snow in Sweden? Really? Wow, I never knew that.

Monday this week was absolutely horrible for me. (Stop reading here, if you like, major rant ahead.)

I woke up at 6 and couldn’t go back to sleep. I should have been able to sleep until ten but of course I couldn’t. There was this exam I had to go to in another town. To get there I had to go by train and change trains in the middle. Well, going there was ok, but since I always try to be such a good girl, I decided to take the last train back, one that left forty minutes after the exam ended (not that we have to stay that long if we’re already finished).

Guess what? I didn’t need to stay the whole time, I was done after an hour and a half. To save money I had bought a ticket that I couldn’t rebook. So when I got to the station, I asked if I could anyway and a real prat of a rail employee told me I could always buy a new ticket, without even looking at me.

Then I waited for nearly four hours, the last hour or so for a train that was delayed and the time of arrival kept getting updated, mainly online (I don’t have one of those phones so I had to keep calling home to my sister). Getting on a train that was late made me miss the connecting train, and the one after that because hey, holding a train for about a whole minute is way too much trouble for them, apparently.

Then there was the cold. Did I mention the cold? I was so cold I almost broke my teeth. Couldn’t control my jaws. It was so cold, my sister and my mom could hear it in my voice over the phone.

Where was I? Right. Missing my connecting train, meant going on a long detour to the coast, where we were supposed to rebook our tickets, because the railway people had forgotten that here in Sweden we get snow every year. This being such a tropical paradise, of course that’s a natural mistake. NOT!

Someone must have complained, because later the guy came on the loudspeaker sounding a lot more sympathetic, saying we needn’t bother about the rebooking, and just go on to the connecting train. (It might have had something to do with the fact that it was now close to 10 pm and customer service closed at 8 pm, but who knows?) All this was about half an hour after I should have been home.

So I got on the last train, without a valid ticket, but apparently someone had informed our conductor (or train host as they’re called now, apparently) that there would be victims of the snow delay on her train, so she basically just checked I had some kind of ticket and that was it. Back again around 11.30 pm. Then a lovely brisk walk in the snow, on slippery streets to get home to a very late dinner.

On the bright side, I saw a very cute dog (a puli?) at one of the stations and a very cute and charming little girl of about two, and I won’t have to study any more this year. It would be even better if I pass, but I won’t find out for at least three weeks so I’ll just focus on getting through the days without studying and worrying (about the exam anyway).

I’ve been so tired today I haven’t felt up to doing any of the things I looked forward to doing, when I was studying every evening. I promised myself I’d read, write, translate, watch tv, listen to music… Now I almost (not quite) miss the studying, because it was something to do. I can always read, write (and so on) some other time.Which means I don’t do it. I just sit, trying to keep warm. Did I mention the cold? I mean the cold inside the house, not outside. It’s freezing in here. Oh, and the washing machine is probably broken, and we can’t afford to buy a new one. Hello, the joys of learning to hand wash, like – well, a hundred years ago, or sixty.

Just a little reminder. The things I said in my last whiny post still go. It’s just become a tiny bit easier to think about it.

Don’t worry, this will probably take care of my need for whining until, at the very least, next year. LOL.