I finally got up the nerve, and bought my ticket to Stockholm. The return fare wound up being a little bit more than the outbound, which was rather annoying, but whatever. I’m going to Sweden! Woo hoo! (Of course, there’s a little timid part of me that’s thinking, “Holy crap, what the fuck have I just done?” But we won’t listen to that corner of my brain.)
It’s a bit worrying that my confirmation e-mail bears the subject line, “Airline confirmation for Arlanda-Stockholm, Sweden trip,” but one hopes that is just a typo, and that I’ll be able to fly out of Atlanta, and not have to figure out where the heck the “Arlanda” airport might be.
So. Things I must do now to get ready:
Transfer money from savings so I can pay off ticket charges as soon as the bill comes in.
Buy book/audiobook to learn basic conversational Swedish — at least enough to navigate and be polite. (Switching Gmail to Swedish kind of helps, but I can’t very well ask people if their Inkorgen is cluttered with Skraeppost. For that matter, I’m not even sure whether those nouns should be capitalized in a sentence, or whether Swedish substitutes an extra e for an umlaut when you don’t know how to typeset one. Yipe.)
Buy winter coat. Must go to secondhand shops and/or army surplus, because I’m not about to pay full price for a new proper winter coat when I live in this godsforsaken oven of a city.
Figure out how to finance buying a notebook. (Trip to Mac store has been rescheduled for this Wednesday, because last week was just too insanely busy.)
Make hotel reservations (thankfully, the site I plan to use doesn’t charge your card until your stay is over), making sure to find a place that either has WiFi or at least broadband connections. I want to be able to blog and Flickr while I’m abroad.
Buy adapter so I can recharge gadgets and batteries. Assuming I manage to swing the MacBook, I’ll be bringing along at least five items of electronics, and I don’t want them to starve.
(Of course, this whole thing also brings up the Great and Vitally Important Question: do I e-mail the really cute guy I met who used to live in Stockholm, and ask for ideas for places I should visit?)
I have a black winter coat if you wish to borrow it. E-mail me if you want me to bring it to work.
Arlanda is Swedish for Atlanta. Maybe.
I’m so excited for you that you’re going to such a neat place. What fun!
August 13th, 2006 | #
Thanks for the coat offer! I’d like to look around a little, but if everything is ugly, animal-based, and/or expensive, I’d like to borrow it, if you don’t mind. I’ll bring you back Lush goodies as a thank-you.
Dunno about the spelling. I suppose I’ll find out eventually.
August 13th, 2006 | #
Of course, Arlanda could also possibly mean Orlando…and here’s a tune for your head…”It’s a small world, after all/It’s a small world, after all…” };-)
August 14th, 2006 | #
::groan:: Just kill me now.
August 14th, 2006 | #
Arlanda is a main Swedish airport. It is about 40km north of Stockholm.
Basic Swedish?
(In phonetics)
Hey son - hello
Hey door - goodbye
Her store de till? - How are you?
Ya hair ta (insert name) - My name is…
September 14th, 2006 | #
Thanks, R! This is my first trip to a non-English-speaking country in yonks, and I’d forgotten how much preparation is involved. o.O I’m grateful for all the help I can get!
September 14th, 2006 | #