Nordic Adventures!!! (part 1)

For any of you who don't know, my brother is studying in Stockholm, Sweden this year. Being of Swedish heritage, I have always wanted to visit Sweden (I even took some Swedish language classes in undergrad), and this was my big chance! What better excuse than to visit my beloved little brother? So, at 4:25pm on Saturday, November 21, I boarded a plane to Stockholm!

It was a nonstop (8.5 hours) flight on SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System). I was at once dreading this flight (I don't do well when I have to sit still for long periods of time, I get stressed out and anxious--thanks, ADHD--and I have always had difficulty sleeping on planes), and also looking forward to it. You see, SAS has these cool touch-screens at every seat where you can watch movies or TV shows, listen to music or even play games! Also, there was going to be an in-flight meal, and I've never had one of those before. Now, I know that airline food is reputably terrible, but it wasn't the gourmet taste that I was looking forward to so much as the experience.

Anyway, I found my seat on the plane and started looking through the movies that would become available after takeoff. I was excited to see various new movies which I had not yet seen, including G.I Joe, Julie & Julia, Transformers 2, and many more older favorites. It was at this time that a young man who had been chatting with the people in the row in front of me asked me politely if I was alone and wouldn't mind switching seats with him so he could be closer to his friends. Being happy to oblige, I said yes, and moved several rows back. It wasn't until after takeoff that I noticed my fancy TV screen wasn't on. I glanced over to the lady on my left and saw that hers was on. However, the gentleman on my right was having the same problem, pushing the on/off button to no avail. Apparently the two people in front of us were having some trouble too, because they flagged down a flight-attendant, who assured us that once we had reached cruising altitude, ours would work again. About an hour into the flight, after we had hit 37,000 feet, our screens were still blank, and the attendant was summoned again. She looked puzzled, and said she would get someone. She came back with a technician, who said it might be trouble with the circuit, and walked off with a purpose. A few minutes later, an announcement came on over the intercom that simply stated "Ladies and Gentleman, in a moment, I will be flipping the circuit breaker, and we might experience some problems." Not the greatest announcement to make on an airplane... There were some concerned looks from many of the passengers! Fortunately, nothing happened. Unfortunately, nothing happened. Our screens were still blank, and remained so for the rest of the trip. Also, the problem was that our seats had no power, which meant that our reading lights were also non-functional, leaving us in the dark with nothing to watch for much of the trip. I was pretty bummed, especially since I wouldn't be having this trouble if I hadn't been nice enough to switch seats!

HOWEVER, I am also thankful that this happened, because I made a new friend! The gentleman sitting to my right was Swedish, and very considerately translated for me, since all of the exchanges about the TV and power and such were in Swedish. He gave me all the updates on what was going on. He even talked the stewardess into giving us extra treats to compenate (we got as many drinks as we wanted, and a handful of chocolates that everyone else had to pay for)This silly ordeal was enough to break the ice, and we got to chatting--something we probably would not have done if we had been staring mindlessly at a TV screen! We had a delightful conversation as he told me about his trip to Chicago, talking about all the stuff you can get in Chicago (apparently jeans are terribly expensive in Sweden), laughing about the terror of the glass ledge on the Sears Tower Skydeck, remarking on his first trip to the United States when he was in high school (he was an exchange student in Nebraska, of all places--He said the terrain was the least interesting he had ever come across, but it was one of the best years of his life!), and all manner of things. It turned out that he had graduated from the Royal Institute of Technology, where my brother was studying. In fact, he even had the same major! He told me all about Stockholm, what to see and do, and all in all it was great fun! He even gave me directions when it came time to navigate through Stockholm's airport.

But I haven't told you about the FOOD!!! It was good! I mean, it wasn't the greatest food I had ever tasted or anything, but I quite liked it. For dinner, we had roast chicken with peas, a small salad, dinner rolls and butter, brie and crackers, with a lemon bar and coffee for desert! hard to complain about that! Also, I was surprised to find that, about 90 minutes before we were to land, they gave us breakfast! I had orange juice, strawberry yogurt, and half a ham and cheese sandwich. I have to say, I was very happy with the food. And the whole flight, for that matter! SAS won me over, for sure!

Okay, one last flight detail to share, then I'm done! The flight attendants were all fluent in Swedish and English, and were pretty good at figuring out which language to speak to whom. But every time they got to me, they would address me in Swedish. For the most part I could bluff my way through using context cues (if they have a drink cart, ask for "kaffe!"), but occasionally, I would need help from my neighbor (especially when they were talking about the TV screens and such). When he would turn to me and translate, they would always apologize profusely, saying "Oh, I'm so sorry, I thought you were Swedish!" Needless to say, I was delighted.

The flight arrived on-time at 8:50 am (local time) Sunday morning, and I made it through customs and such with no problem. It was great to see my brother waiting for me beyond the gate, and we headed off for a full day of sight-seeing, which will have to wait for another time!!!