The Concord

Issue date: 11/7/07 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Contributed Photo Vaxjo University in Switzerland

BY PAUL MORGAN

The most defining part of my trip to Sweden was how I got there. The adventure started by leaving my family in Cincinnati. This was difficult enough, knowing that I wasn't going to see them for another 6 months. However, this was also my first time traveling by myself, and I wasn't sure how that was going to go.

Upon making my connecting flight to Chicago, I realized that I would be hard pressed in making it to the connecting flight, feeling as if had to walk clear across the city in order to get to the next terminal. Yet all of my doubt and worry was for naught when I found out that the flight had been delayed for two hours. Instead of feeling relief however, I nearly panicked, knowing that I had my ticket for a train in Copenhagen and the new time of departure left me little precious time to get to that train.

The flight itself wasn't horrible--being able to sleep most of the way--but the worry of not catching my train was still there, mixed with a certain excitement that I was finally going on my adventure and that every choice, every turn, was in my control. I was more thrilled and terrified during these moments than any other time in my life.

When we were finally landing in Denmark, nine hours later, I was able to ask for directions and help on how to get the luggage and how to get to my train. Following the course of things thus far, the luggage was late, intensifying my fear of missing the train which was scheduled to arrive in less than fifteen minutes. Grabbing the bags and a trolley cart, I rushed to the train station and presented my receipt, only to be told that I could only redeem the ticket in Sweden. With a quick question of my time left (six minutes), I rushed to the exchange station, cashed in the money my grandmother had given me before I left and grabbed another ticket (now with only two minutes to spare). I made it downstairs in just enough time to ask a pretty girl my own age if I was getting on the right train.

Hopping on, I felt a final sense of relief knowing that this would be the last hurdle in getting to my new school in Sweden, but I wasn't quite so lucky.

Everything presented to me was in Swedish and after checking with several people to see what was being said, I was told, as if an afterthought, that I needed to be on a different part of the train, otherwise I would be taken to Malmö.

Continued...

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