Strangers on a Train*

In the last two days I’ve spent in trains about 10 hours. I am not complaining, not at all! Just the opposite! I literally love all means of transportation. Starting from a common car (I compare driving to eating chocolate and you need to know I found Theobroma cacao one of the few wonders of this planet that bring happiness) through buses and trams in the city and bikes on the countryside to my beloved trains. Every single thing that can transport me from one place to another brings a smile on my face and a joy to my heart, no matter if it is skateboard, tractor or a barrow (that’s actually fun!).

Today I woke up with some kind of dysphonia. I reacted with excitation! I suppose I caught cold and this is why my voice sounds so silly. I’m impressed with this effect. I enjoy the sound of myself now. I wonder what should I do to make it last longer and without destroying my throat completely. You should hear me laughing, though!

Back to the train topic…
Today I found really comfortable place to sit. There were just a few passengers so I could choose a place wherever I wanted to and nobody bothered me. I don’t mind company but I also enjoy the silence (Words are very unnecessary – yup, Depeche Mode).

Now, imagine this: you are looking for a nice place to sit in a train and you hear extraordinary noises. You are intrigued by them, so you approach to the source of the unusual sound. You are confused coz you could swear you have heard it before… in a forest, but not in such place like train! And here it is! A silly girl who got cold and can hardly speak is sitting alone, staring through the window. She’s trying to talking to herself and she’s laughing like crazy because of the sound of her own voice. Cute picture, but kinda creepy! And awkward a bit…

Well, a smile is the best solution for this kind of situations while a blush is a side effect… Although I had fun listening to myself, however I changed the way to entertain myself during my 5 hours trip.

Yeah, five hours. I am always prepared for a long journey. Food – checked! Tissues – checked! Book – checked! Notebook – checked! Pen(cil) – checked! I am not able to read anything without a pencil and a sheet of paper – there is always a risk (or a chance) that a great idea will come to my mind and I can’t just let it disappear!

It can be tiring to read a book for a few hours nonstop therefore I came up with an idea how to keep myself busy and entertained. When a stranger (let’s call him Steve) is sits in front of me I like to imagine his biography. What are his flaws? Advantages? What does he like for a breakfast? Who is he? Does he have a family? Where is he going? And why? And what makes me think about certain answers? It’s fantastic when you can compare your vision to the reality later.

But sometimes it can be rude to play that game, especially when you are not discreet enough or if you lost yourself and you can’t even control it anymore. Staring at people ain’t polite. I hate the situation when the only empty place is in the middle of the couch. You don’t have easy access to the window (in a moment you will know why it’s important to me) and you have no idea what to look at to not make it awkward for anybody. The great option is to talk to people. From my experience I can assure you there are a significant number of people that will hate you for bothering them. However I encourage you to try it anyway.

What if there is no Steve to stare at? Well, I have my traditional “games”. I don’t remember when did it start, but I feel like since forever I’ve been searching for a wild animals through the window. The journey without seeing deer, rabbit or a fox is not a journey. I feel so lucky I was blessed by Mother Nature. She shares her secrets with me because I can appreciate it. I enjoy the views of wild nature, forests, single trees, and meadows. It makes me calm and safe. Thanks to that I can rest from a city life.

…to be continued.

*The title refers to the Hitchcock’s movie. And don’t worry, I am not going to kill anybody ; )

Home Sweet Home

This is a story about how much I love my family and what I am able to do for them.

Long story short: After a long and tiring journey without a sleep for 33 hours I found myself in crazy circumstances – I walked into my house through the window. I wanted to stay for Christmas in Tallinn, but finally I decided to go home and surprise my family. That time, in a warm and comfortable room I thought it was a great idea.

Well, after couple of hours I had second thoughts… But let me start from the very beginning.

My expectations: bus trip for 16 hours, one hour break, then change to a train for 6 hours, than another train trip for 30 min and a walk (2 km – nothing, right?) to my uncle house. Knocking to his door and enjoying his happiness after seeing me. Resting all night. Visiting parents in the next day. Easy as that.

Reality: Sigh…

In Estonia everything went smoothly. I just needed to re-book my ticket from 6.30 am to 2 pm bus. It facilitates the connection between bus and a train I was supposed to catch later. After I crossed Polish-Lithuanian border it started to snow so there was a delay of arrival to Warsaw. I missed the train obviously. I took into consideration all circumstances (Polish realities and the wintertime) to think about the best solution. It seemed reasonable to take a direct train to Opole or Brzeg so that I didn’t have to freeze at the stations.

For the next train I waited four and a half hours. Silly as I am I didn’t even bother myself to check the weather in Poland. I assumed it’s much warmer there than in Estonia. How wrong I was. I didn’t prepare myself for that. I really considered drinking beers to warm myself up, even it’s only an illusion of warmth. I know myself so well, after one sip I would fall asleep immediately. I needed to stay focused or at least awaked. After 5 hours of sleeping I was awake for 21 hours, so I was pretty tired, especially when I thought about the next couple of hours without a sleep. A blessing in disguise I found a working heater in a waiting room and I almost hugged it. It became my friend. I was checking the clock from time to time and I realized it’s my enemy for a change.

Damn you, Time! Why do you run when I need you to stop and stop when I need you to run fast? Anyway…  I tried to find any undemanding activity to kill time. I read a book for a while but I didn’t really help. It made me sleepy actually. Then I paid my attention to the people in the line. I heard what tickets they needed, where they were going and how much they paid and what platforms they were looking for. After some time I was able to answer all their questions. I could easily replace the lady who worked in a Information Office. It bored me, too.

Then I focused on pigeons. (Something is wrong with my interest in pigeons lately). I didn’t register too many noticeable events: one footless pigeon, one poo – not much really happened. While “admiring” the pigeons I looked at the ceiling. It simply hung there and threatened to fall down.

An interesting observation about homeless people: Most of us are afraid of them, but they are more afraid of our intentions. They keep their bags so tight as if somebody wanted to steal it from them. I don’t think they have any valuable things there, but well… it’s all they have. And the discussions between them are simply hilarious. They consist mainly swears, but that only gives an emotional character to the speech.

In a magical way I had one hour left to start my trip again. In my head I counted how much time it takes to transport my heavy bag down stairs and up stairs to the right platform. Fortunately there was always a nice gentleman to help me to carry my bag. No wonder why… I had to look pitiful pulling the bag up the stairs (this direction is much more demanding for me). Probably he saw my misery and had a mercy on me. I had a nice chat with him. In 3 minutes he told me the story of his life. Amazing person. He defeated the cancer and now he lives his life to the fullest. Every time I meet an inspiring person I am truly amazed and it changes my life somehow. I am really lucky if it comes to meeting wonderful individuals. Or this is only my attitude toward people and I can find all good features in them. I believe it’s both.

The time to go home had come. I expected train to be full because of the coming Christmas, but it was almost empty. I met a very nice couple which helped my with my bag. People here are always so helpful and kind. In Częstochowa I had all free places for myself. I could get some nap, but I was too tired to go to sleep. Silly, but true.

After a few hours I saw my sister waiting for me at the station. Finally! She took my bag and took it to the car. I hide myself behind the tress to surprise my uncle who thought he is here to take a package that my sister need to pick up. Yeah, he was surprised! After a moment of joy and happiness we went to my parents’ house. My uncle and my sister went to the kitchen to hold my parents there so that I could walk into a house unnoticed. I walked there through the window and sat down on the couch in the living room as if nothing had happened. Then my parents walked into the room and stood still for a few seconds. They didn’t know what’s going on. They were so happy! In that moment I saw in their eyes the whole trip was worth it!

Good to be home.