2/10
One week of Civil Service has passed, and it looks good so far. Report follows ...
The week started in a manner a bit too exciting for an early Monday, halfway to the train station, and with not too many minutes to spare, I realized my ticket was left on my desk at home. Thinking about it still makes me feel shaky. We got home and back in time, but the train got moving before I had found my seat. I don't feel good at all thinking about it ... Luckily, the rest of the trip passed without any furhter incidents, not sure I could have taken any more excitement ;-) ... We reached Södertälje South and went by bus from there to Almnäs. The weater was gray and rainy, and would remain that way for the rest of the week.
Once at the school, we were given nameplates and were instructed which rooms we were to sleep in, eight people in each room. There was a lot of waiting during the first days, but you didn't reallly mind being allowed a short rest every now and then. Eventually, we gathered in our classroom to get introduced to eachother and our teachers.
Any worries about too much discipline or military "feel" was largely dispelled by Sebastian, a guy from a previous class who was there to help us get into everything. After seeing this military-feeling area with guards at the gate and people clad in green wandering about, the sight of a relaxed person clad in dark blue with his hands in his pockets and with long black hair felt very good. Our teachers seemed nice too, and that impression lasts. Not worrying amounts of discipline, as long as you show up on time and in the proper clothes, everything's just like being back in school.
Our clothes, which we got the second day, are mostly dark blue and look a lot more civilized than camouflage green ;-) ... Somehow, the make me think about NOD, the only thing missing is the logotype ...
Appearantly, the people doing military service don't like us too much. The reason is simple, we "civil servicers" have too many priviliges. Compared to them, we're on holiday. We only do three months, we don't have to follow as many rules (they can't leave the area for the first two weeks in order to learn "discipline", half my room had a hangover the second morning ... :-), we don't get shouted at all the time but we still get paid as much as the military service people do. As one of my classmates put it:
"I don't think many commanders cook sausages for their conscripts." That says it all really ...
I have a feeling making fun of the "greens" (we're the "blues") might become a major entertainment with time. The second day, we saw a group of uniformed people practise for guarding the royal castle out in the cold, wet rain. Somehow, it's easy to make fun of dead serious uniformed people marching around on a huge field of asphalt, occasionaly shouting orders at eachother, all the while becoming soaked to the bones. Sebastian was afraid we wouldn't get to see fresh recruits marching though, that was supposed to be a real sight. All we have to do is watch and make comments. No wonder the greens dislike us ...
My class seems nice enough, and a lot of people seem to remind me of people I've met earlier. Some are easy to place, Karl-Oskar always makes think of my former classmate Daniel, while others just seem strangely familiar yet unplacable, like one of the Johan's. Considering that most of us are from Örebro, the reason may well be I've simply seen them some time.
Food is plenty and good. Two cooked meals a day, plus breakfast and some sandwiches in the evening if you feel like it. I'll either have to restrict my eating or start getting some exercise, or my weight will rocket sky-high in no time at all ...
Best of all, the computer network is easily accessible and there are no restrictions against playing games! Now there's a nice change from previous educations! I've already played more deathmatches than ever before, and this is just the first week. One person from each class will be given a key to the computer room and put in charge for it, I wouldn't say no to that responsibility ... When the train goes back tomorrow at 17:08, I'll bring Tiberian Sun along with any other multiplayer game I can think of ... Merry evenings await :-) ...
