.::. Rush Hour .::.

I have two 8 o'clock lesson this week and I have to get up at 6am, so you can imagine how much I dislike it.

For some reason, the train was ridiculously crowded today. It's worst than Singapore's rush hours! Because the lecturer is very anal about lateness, I squeezed up the train which stops at 3 different stops before reaching Lund. I didn't wait for the direct train, fearing that I might miss the connecting bus or couldn't squeeze up the bus. I reckon that there are too many students rushing for lesson and they seriously do push their way up the train though there was hardly space when we started the journey from Malmo. Given the Swedish's reputation for keeping their distance, you can imagine that this is totally unlike them. I can't blame them though, since the next train is 30 minutes later - not to mention having to wait in the cold and be late for lessons and whats-not. Buses are equally annoying, you have to try and squeeze to the front of the queue or the bus will simply leave once it's full and you have to wait for 15minutes for the next bus. *sigh. Arduous journey to school!

It's quite interesting to observe various differences between the Swedish and Singaporeans. While Swedish are rather 'cold' people who tend to keep their distance and take some time to warm up, there are some things which they speak up for often.

Swedish people would take up every seat in a bus, even if you put your things on the seat or take up more than a seat. They would ask you to more over and let them have the seat. It's alittle different, for most Asians would take the hint and simply stand instead of confronting that person for that seat. Sometimes we don't even want to sit beside someone with 'uninviting' body language. Swedish people would also tell you off right into your face often. There was once when I got down my bike and was pushing my bike, walking on the biking path. A Swedish man walking beside me rudely pointed to the walking path and gestured for me to walk over to that side! This was when the pathway was so big and there wasn't anyone else around. I almost felt like asking him to mind his own business.

When it was really crowded in the train this morning, I was standing beside this ridiculously tall guy - my head barely reached his shoulders and my shoulders barely reached his waist. He was carrying this slim backpack, but he was so tall that the backpack was rather near a woman's face. Well, it's that croweded, there's nothing much you could do but tolerate it. But no, that Swedish woman asked him to take off his backpack (in Swedish which I didn't understand). He awkwardly took off his backpack when we barely had space to stand and practically shoved his butt into my face when he tried to bend down to put his backpack on the floor.

Swedish people might not take the initiative to talk to you, but they sure ain't afraid to speak up when they feel like it.

Perhaps I'm only experiencing these because I'm not staying in Lund, the school town with mostly students. People staying in Lund probably have very different experiences with Swedish people there, who should be used to or curious about international students. It's different staying in a bigger town.

Oh well, rush hours are really bad during winter. I need Spring to come.