When it comes to moving abroad, especially as an adult, what nobody will ever tell you is the fact that it is tough. It is difficult enough for people moving for jobs or studies. And here I was, moving with my husband, at the ‘tender’ age of 30-plus-something, leaving my job, and basically everyone and everything I knew, behind.
Starting a
new life in a different city is not easy. Imagine what it would be like, to
move to a new country altogether, where even the photocopy (Xerox) shop doesn’t
work like how we are used to. As an adult, making new friends and acquaintances
is not a cakewalk. And to me, a self-designated ambivert, it was no different
either. Let me tell you something about my experience of moving from Bangalore
to Stockholm.
Our journey:
We had been
sentenced to a 20-hour journey (which got extended to a good over 35 hours; I
will tell you how) to Stockholm from Bangalore via Abu Dhabi and London (the
rest of my husband’s team members got a 12-13-hour flight schedule). We got
only an hour to change our flight from Abu Dhabi to London. Only a miracle
would have got us on that flight on time. And as luck would have it, we landed
in Abu Dhabi at 8am instead of 7, just as our ‘preordained’ flight to London
took off.
Thus
started an unending wait for our next flight. We were redirected to Stockholm
via Zurich (I must say I was disappointed. I was really looking forward to that
8-hour halt at the London airport) for a 3am flight the following morning. So
now we had nearly 24 hours to kill.
Since it
was not our fault that our flight got delayed, thus resulting in our missing
the onward flight and so on, we were to be offered bedding and lodging by the
airlines, according to airline regulations. Here we were given two options:
either pay a certain amount for visa-on-arrival to get your visa immediately
and check in at the hotel (Ramada, no less!), or wait for an indeterminate time
while the embassy gets your visa ready, and THEN get to the hotel. We opted for
the latter and decided to while away our time at the Abu Dhabi airport. It took
them a good 7 hours for them to give us our visa which would otherwise have
taken only minutes, if we had paid (wink, wink).
We finally
got our visas about 6 hours later, at around 2 pm, and we were bundled off in
style by the airport employees/officials/drivers to the Ramada, Abu Dhabi no
less!!! After enjoying a hearty buffet (lunch and dinner were free!), and
dipping ourselves in a hot tub, we lay down for a short siesta till midnight
when the driver would come to pick us up for a ride back to the airport.
Two hours
later, at around 6pm, we decided to venture out for a short walk. This was to prove
to ourselves, that we did visit a new country, no matter how brief the stop. It
was really hot and humid and without incidence.
We waited in our room for our airport pickup after dinner (the free buffet, remember?).
And, oh yes, we did make a group of friends in this manner. It so happened that
some 6-7 other people had missed the same flight that we did! Some things do
happen for our good!
Anyway, the
ride back to the airport and the flight to Zurich were uneventful. We planned to
watch a movie on the flight but ended up sleeping the whole way instead (hola
jetlag!). At Zurich, we took the 2-hour flight to Arlanda airport (Stockholm),
the last leg of our journey.
So,
finally, after a 35-hour journey, we finally landed in Sweden! Whew! And from
there started a series of ups and downs of trying to adjust to a new country, its
different food, climate and basically different everything! It was a brand-new
start and not always a pleasant one. I have my share of experiences for you all
to read and make note of. Tune in for more…
How a tulsi plant proved that the world is a really small place...
