The train from Arlanda pulls into Uppsala Centralstation and from that moment I was lost, no clue where to go and could rely only on the stars, a Google map printout and the friendliness of Swedish people.
Ironically, on my way out of the station, a guy was playing ‘Fear of the dark’ on his acoustic guitar, whilst people shuffled by and went out into the icy darkness of the 5pm night.
After getting the right bus in the wrong direction, I doubled back and luckily heard some English speakers, I was overjoyed.
I found out that the guy I spoke to was also an exchange student, from Canada, but he had the good idea of signing up for the ‘buddy scheme’ something I had heard about but forgot to apply for.
Once signed the contract and picked up keys I was told that my accommodation was only 10 minutes’ walk away and that there were no buses I could have taken.
I got given a map and explained how to go, great.
Picture this: it had been a long day, with an early start and delays in Heathrow that did not help and I was expected to find my way at night (6pm) in -15 degrees in an unknown city/country? Surely not, but here are the instructions to get home:
‘Cross the road, pass the main library, then through the cemetery and it should be there. It takes 10 minutes, if you know the way…’
Oh yeah the main library of course, it’s all clear now..Cheers mate! That will help a lot…
In the end I found myself dragging 2 heavy suitcases down an icy path through the middle of a cemetery. Felt a bit eerie as nobody was there, or if they were they were tucked beneath a tomb stone. The scene reminded me of a horror film I saw quite a long time ago, luckily in this version the killer lost his way, can’t blame him, so managed to get to my student room safe and sound.
A cup of tea and an episode of ‘Mrs Brown’s Boys,’ was the perfect ending for the long day.