Finland Deceber 9

Well, its been about a million years since i posted on my blog. I go home in 2 days. I am excited, but sad at the same time. I've met alot of really cool people and I'm really going to miss them. I'm happy that the school aspect is finally over, I actually didn't do too bad grade wise. I still need to pack, and finish a paper for my literature class, but I can do that later. I can't believe I'm leaving soon. This semester has flown by. Our last study trip up to Lapland was so much fun! Definitely the best trip. So much snow, and it was so cool learning about the Sami people. I'm gonna miss Finland, but I'm not going to miss the 4 hours of sunlight per day. It gets kind of depressing when there is no sun. It'll be weird being home when the sun is still up at like 7 pm. Here it goes down at 2 pm. Well, it doesn't exactly go down, because it doesn't exactly ever come up. It just gets light outside, but you never really actually see the sun. I feel like I have learned alot here. I've practiced my spanish a little, learned alot about australia, learned how to cook, learned that money is just money and nothing important. I've really just learned alot about so many different cultures and stuff.. It has really been a rewarding trip and an amazing experience. I'm sad to be leaving all my Oulu friends behind :(

Finland November 3rd

Well, I'm sitting in my politics class. It's kinda boring and my back hurts really bad for some reason. I maybe slept weird, idk. So Halloween here was super lame. I went with jack to this really lame party. We thought it would be good because it was all hyped up on facebook but it was super lame. And it was really icy outside when we went home and I fell on my bike twice :(. It hurt. But oh well. I changed my flight for when I come home so I'm pretty excited now. I'm kinda over this, I'm just ready to be home.

Finland Triptober 26

Well, Triptober has come to an end, and let me just say that it was exhausting! I just got back from Berlin last night. Before I get into that though, I need to talk about my roadtrip to Nordkapp, Norway.

I went on a road trip from the 16th until the 19th. It was alot of fun. I went with Gordon, Kristo, Daniel, and Charles. Charles and I were the only Americans, the others are all from different parts of Germany. We rented a car and started heading north. Westopped in Rovaniemi and saw the santa claus village and where the arctic circle is. Along the way we stopped at the most northern point of the European union, inari and ivalo, parts of the Norwegian fjords, and then finally Nordkapp. When we got there is was very rainy and windy. It was nice though. The mist everywhere was awesome and you could look over the cliffs into the arctic sea. There was a big monument that marks it as the most northern point of Europe. After Nordkapp, we drove down through hammerfest and some northern parts of Sweden. It was really pretty up there and we saw alot of reindeer and some moose. It was a really fun trip :)

My trip to Berlin was alot of fun, but definitely too short. The city is so huge! I saw all the major stuff like the Berlin wall, holocaust memorial, Brandenburg gate, humbolt university, the cathedral, 3 museums, checkpoint charlie and some smaller statues and monuments. The first day Charles and I were there we met a guy from Belfast, ireland who gives free tours of berlin and then you can give him a tip if you want. He was awesome and full of energy. He showed us where hitlers bunker was, all the major sites, recommended a good microbrewery, and even showed us the hotel where Michael Jackson held his baby out the window. It was awesome. He knew alot about thecity and it's history so it was really nice to have a guide. The other days we just went to museums and then the last day we were shown around by a local. We saw some cool parts of town that the average tourist probably wouldn't see. It wad really awesome, I had a great trip :)

Well, I guess that's all for now. I have my first exam this week and I am not looking forward to it at all!

Finland Triptober 18th

Well I haven't posted in a while, I kind of forget that I have a blog sometimes. Unfortunately, I'm in a car right now so I won't be able to put this up for a few days or a week when I'm back in oulu and have wifi. I have renamed October to be Triptober because I am going so many places this month. From the 9th to the 14th I was on a study trip for my architecture class.

We left Oulu by train at 11:50 pm. The train was really cool because I had never been on one before. We got to sleep in these cool cabins that had bunk beds in them. We were all on the same hall so we were all loud and stuff, It was like being on a high school trip. We got to Helsinki at like 9 am or something like that. We stayed in a hotel called Omena Hotelli (Apple Hotel). It was pretty weird there because there was no front desk. You just go in the building and book a room on this computer that's in there. And there is a phone in there that if you pick it up it calls the front desk somewhere else in town. It was weird. I don't know where you'd go if you needed more towels or something. The bathroom had a towel warmer. I guess it's a Scandinavian thing because they had it in sweden too. The hotel was weird too because sarah and i got stuck in the elevator. We were screaming and stuff, it was scary, but there was a sign about what to do if it gets stuck so it must happen all the time which i thought was kind of scary. While in Helsinki we walked around and looked at these old buildings and talked about the architecture and stuff. It was interesting. We saw the old university building, the library, the cathedral, the art museum which had a really cool Picasso exhibit, the house of estates, an old fire station, Eliel Saarinen's house,and an artists museum (see facebook for pictures).

After our second day in Helsinki we got on the ferry to go to Stockholm. I was expecting a small boat, but the Gabriella was a huge cruise ship. It was awesome. We ate Swedish meatballs on the ship and everything. We also bought a bottle of wine each (bad idea in hindsight) and had a little party. At some point, I got separated from everyone and I ended up meeting a bunch of really crazy characters while I was trying to find my friends. I finally just went back to my room though and they came back shortly after. We got to Stockholm around 830 am I think.

Once in Stockholm we took our luggage to the hotel (which was really nice and amazing) and took off to explore the city. Stockholm was really cool because they have alot of streets and buildings left over from medieval times. Stockholm is also a really pretty city because it is right on the water (like Helsinki). The first thing we did in stockholm was buy metro tickets and go to Drottningholm palace, which is where the Swedish royal family lives. It was pretty cool. We also saw a theatre that one of the queens had gotten built. After walking around on the cobblestone medieval streets, we went to the cathedral. That was pretty cool too, although the churches did get old after a while because they all just looked sort of the same. We saw stockholm's city hall after that. That was interesting too, especially the room where the town council meets because the ceiling is modled after the benches Ina Viking ship because Vikings used to turn their ships over and hold council under them. I thought it was pretty interesting.

We took a ferry again from Stockholm to Turku, this time it was the Amorella. This ferry ride wasn't as nice because we were on the 2nd floor and could hear the engines and stuff all night. We were also right by the water because I could hear the waves and feel the boat rocking and I was feeling kind of seasick. It was ok though.

Once we got to Turku we ate breakfast at a hotel across the street and then we took a bus tour of the city. I would have rather done a walking tour, but oh well. We did get to get out of the bus though and tour the important things like the cathedral, Turku castle and a handicrafts museum. I took alot of cool pictures during the trip, Scandinavia is really beautiful :). I think Norway is the most beautiful place I have seen so far, but I'll save that for another post!

Finland October 5th

So I woke up to see it snowing pretty hard outside. It was cool seeing snow in October. It's not too cold outside though so the snow is kind of slushy and melting. Not very fun to walk in, my shoes are wet.

The trip to Ranua Zoo was alot of fun. The drive up was really pretty because all the trees were covered in frost so thy were all white. I saw alot of cool animals, but the reindeer were the best. On the drive back there were about 20 reindeer standing in the road and then they all ran off into the woods. It was awesome. I'll upload pictures once facebook stops being lame. I got some cool souvenirs to bring home from the zoo, and lots of chocolate. Exciting stuff.

The weekend was fun, after the zoo I had dinner with Jack and we drank a bunch of wine and sang really ridiculous songs. Then there was a party upstairs in our building so we went up there for a while and we me some really cool Finnish guys. we ended up going to their apartment and hanging out until like 630 in the morning. It was a really good night, but the next day wasn't so fun, it was raining And cold so we just stayed inside and did nothing. It w as relaxing. Well, I guess that's all for now, I leave for my study trip on Friday, and then it's on to Norway and Germany! I can't wait!!!

Finland- October 3rd

Well, I'm about to go to Ranua Zoo, and I'm pretty excited. Getting to the bus was kind of scary because it's 27 degrees and there is ice everywhere. I slipped on some black ice on my bike and fell, it was scary and now my hand hurts, I'm gonna have a bruise :(. I couldn't imagine dealing with this all the time. Some Finns were saying that this cold has caught everyone by surprise because it's not usually this cold this early. Some people haven't been able to drive because they don't have their snow tires on their cars.

September 28th

Well, the past few days have been good, nothing too exciting. Friday we had the last party in Tellervontie because everyone is moving :(.
It was alot of fun though. Today I paid for my trip to Turku, Stockholm, and Helsinki. It is during the middle of October and I'm pretty excited about it. After we get back I'm rode tripping with some people up to Nordkapp, Norway, which is the most northern place in Europe. Were stopping at some places along the way. Then, I am flying to Bremen, Germany with another American named Charles. were going to spend a few days in Germany and go see Berlin. Then at the end of October I am going to go to St. Petersburg with the ESN. This is why October will henceforth be known as Triptober. I can't wait, it's going to be alot of fun! I have one more class today and then I'm done for the day so that's good. I'm going to get all signed up for my Russia trip later. The visa is most expensive for Americans, it sucks. It's 125€ and everyone else only has to pay like 45€. Oh well, thank you scholarship. Well, I don't know what else to write right now so I'll write more once something exciting happens.

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Finland September 24th

Wow, Ok, its been over a week, hopefully I can remember all the interesting stuff that has happened recently. It shouldn't be too hard, I'll just go through all the pictures from the past week. And here we go..well, I think the past week has just been a string of parties for the most part. I had the whole week off, and I spent most of it sleeping and feeling sick (im still not quite better, but hopefully soon). Also, like four days ago now I pinched a nerve or something because I havent had complete feeling in my pinky and ring finger of my left hand since. Its pretty annoying, im hoping it will go away soon. We had a spaghetti party at Giuseppe's house which was alot of fun. We also had a pajama party, and a birthday party for 3 different people. The cops showed up to that one. But it was at like 3 am so most everyone was getting ready to go anyways. I went downtown recently and took alot of pictures of the city (see snapfish or facebook). It is really beautiful down there because it is right on the water. We also went to the beach but it started pouring rain when we got there so the pictures were kinda dark and gloomy. We all had a nice bike ride back in the rain though (perhaps this is why im still not better). I also read a book this week, "From Finland, With Love". Its about finnish culture and stuff like that but it is a really funny book. The guy who wrote it is actually German.

On Monday I started classes. My history class sucks, its so boring and its all over the place so I have no idea how the timeline goes or anything. She'll talk about Denmark for a while and then switch to Norway or Sweden, so its really hard to follow. No one really knows whats going on in there. My music class is really cool though. We talked about traditional finnish music and Sami music. The Sami are like these indigenous finnish that live in the far north. They have a style of singing called a yoik. It is just syllables and sounds and you kind of chant it. It sounds really beautiful I think. (they have it on youtube) We sang some in class, it was pretty cool. We also learned how to play the Kantele, which is a traditional finnish instrument that has 5 strings and you pluck them like a guitar. That was alot of fun. I really like my language class too. We learned basic stuff like "My name is.. " "How are you?" .. all that stuff. I need to review it though cause its pretty hard. Mitä kuuluu means "How are you?" and Mina olen Meagan. Its pretty interesting, i like it. Well, thats all I can think to write right now. I go to the zoo the weekend of the 3rd (seafood fest :( ) so that will be fun.

Finland, September 13

Well, I havent posted in a couple days so here goes. I'm sick, so that sucks. Yesterday my throat started hurting and then by the night i was a little sniffly, and now I just woke up and feel worse, my head hurts a little. But i guess its good that I dont have class for a week so i can just lay in bed. I finally spoke with Kevin about coming to copenhagen but he said its not a good week so maybe I'll go for fall break if im not going somewhere else.

I went to the Alko the other day, which was kind of fun. I think its hilarious that I can buy alcohol here. I just got a bottle of sparkling wine, but I dont know when ill drink it because we've been going out like every single night. We went to a place last night called Kantis. It was ok. The music was pretty shitty and it was more of a pub then a club, but it was fun, the beer and stuff was cheap. I had an early night (like 2am) so that was nice. I think once everyone has class and assignments and stuff that the partying will calm down a little. I dont mind it too much though cause I dont really do it at home so its a nice change of pace i guess.

The other night Paivi (shes one of the other kummis) had us over for dinner and to play singstar. It was really fun. Her house is like a cat paradise. She had this column installed and covered it with rope so the cats could climb on it. She also had a zipline in the backyard and the cats had harnesses and they would just go run around in the backyard. It was so cool. Gambit needs one. It was nice getting to play with her cats cause i really miss Gambit :(



I found the Botanical Gardens the other day too. The university owns them and they have all kinds of cool plants and stuff in there. I need to go check them out cause I think it would be fun. But they're shaped like pyramids and they are named Romeo and Juliet. Its really cute :) I have had alot of fun just riding my bike around and seeing different stuff. Today I went to a burger place and got the biggest hamburger i have ever seen in my life. I should have taken a picture of it cause it was huge. it was delicious though. On the way I passed a big lake and I took some pictures. There are also mushrooms everywhere here so I've been taking some pictures of them too. It is really beautiful here. I cant wait until it snows so then i can get some more awesome pictures :)

Finland 4

Well, I keep discovering differences between Finland and the US. I noticed that the milk and eggs and everything dont last very long before they expire and i thought that was kind of strange. Apparently the milk here isnt pasteurized, its all fresh, so it only lasts like a week. They do have pasteurized milk, but its not as common, and when its in the store it isnt refrigerated. The eggs arent refrigerated either, so maybe thats why they dont last that long. The people in Finland are so friendly. Its really nice. I cant tell you how many random Finns have just started having a conversation with me about anything. I met a few at Vulcanalia last night and we were talking about Jagermeister and the 56 herbs that are in it and we were talking about germany and clubs in Oulu. It was funny.

So last night we all went to Vulcanalia. Its this kind of venue where they have bands I guess, or maybe the band was just there for last night. But it was a big start of the semester party. It was alot of fun, but it was really cold cause it was outside.
There was a big building you could go upstairs in though and everyone was dancing up there. That was fun. I noticed that uhh.. well, I know plenty of guys who do like, slightly gay things and just joke about being gay, but Finns take their gay jokes like.. way too far hah. I saw one guy practically humping another dude on a table and like dancing all up on him, but they were laughing and joking around. It was interesting. The Finns dance really funny sometimes so I dont feel so bad about being a shitty dancer.

So i went to the sauna yesterday and it was AMAZING. It was just really relaxing, i almost fell asleep in there. I think it is going to be really nice in the winter. I'm excited to see some snow and everything. I have a week off of class next week so i might try to do some traveling or something. I could go north to lapland and see the ruska (changing of the leaves) or i was thinking about going to see kevin in Copenhagen if i could find a cheap plane ticket or something. I dont know yet, i havent really started planning anything. I definitely want to do some traveling while im here though. I found out yesterday about my class schedule so that was good. And ill have about 11 days in Finland after classes end before i go home so that will be good :) If i really want to stay a little longer i may push my plane ticket back, but I'm definitely going home for Christmas to see my Thomas!!! Well, I'm about to go shopping with Lea and Joana (they're from France and Portugal, respectively). Maybe I'll post again today.

Finland 3

Well, i think i need to post on here more. Today was pretty good, i got up early and made breakfast (eggs, toast, milk, nutella type stuff), it was good. Finns eat lunch very very early, usually like 10 am. I didnt have much at lunch cause i was still full from breakfast. I had my last day of orientation today so that was good. I found out that I start class on friday. My first class is a Scandinavian Literature class. I am doing a Scandinavian Studies program. It'll be fun. I don't have class at all next week because there is a study trip to a research station. I'm not going on that trip though because I'm not taking the Nordic Nature and Environment course. So it'll be nice to have a week break I guess. I'll just be bored. Maybe i'll try to go somewhere? I dont know. I'll have to ask some Finns what i should do. I sent out some post cards today at the Posti. I also put some more money on my prepaid phone so thats good. I met some kids from Greensboro College today. They know some people i went to high school with so it was nice having some common ground. Tonight we are all going to a big party downtown. Its like a start of the semester kind of party. Its cool going downtown and to the university because the students wear these overalls that have a bunch of patches on them that say different things. And the overalls are different colors depending on which department you study in. I'm not sure if all of the students have them or just some because only some people wear them, but its cool because when you're downtown you can see who is a student and what department they are from (except i dont know what all the colors mean). I'll have to take a picture of some people wearing them. Right now it is raining pretty hard. THe weather has been kind of crappy since i got here, maybe its like this all the time? Its been cloudy and windy, but at least its like 70 so its not too cold. It gets maybe in the 40s at night, but it will get much colder in the winter. I'm supposed to have a roommate here, but she still isnt here? I dont know what her story is. Her bill for rent is in the mailbox though, so maybe she'll be here soon. This blog is really random and ramble-y. maybe i should try to organize it a little.. nah, thats ok. haha. sauna is really big here, i dont know if ive mentioned that yet, so i might try to go later. there is one in the apartment next to mine. i dont know if i want to just be sitting in the room all naked with other people though. so, maybe ill wear a bathing suit. i dont know if ive mentioned this either but i live in Yliopistokatu 16 (it basically means university street, i think), but its nicknamed "Club 16". Everyone here is always throwing parties and is really loud. Ill see how i like it once i have to do work and study and stuff, but right now its fun. Well, i guess ill try to organize my blog a little, and figure out how to put pictures in it...

Finland 2

So, i've learned a little about finland so far. apparently finnish guys are really shy and rarely make the first move so all the girls here have to do it and theyre all like independent and stuff. beyonce would like it. also, finns hate the reindeer cause theyre really dumb and just stand in the middle of the road. so it sounds a little like our deer. i just made breakfast, scrambled eggs, milk, untoasted bread (not delicious) and some turkey. weird, but i bought food so i figure i should eat it so it doesnt go bad. today i have orientation and then im going to a department store to try and find a step down transformer for my hair dryer and stuff. dumb european plugs and 240 volt power.

Finland

So, I'm in Finland finally. This has been my third day here. The weather isn't too bad yet, about 60 during the day and maybe 40 at night. Last night was really cold and I don't think I had enough layers on. My first day here was busy, I had to go get a student card from the university, sign my lease, get internet hooked up, buy a phone..and some other things. Yesterday we went and bought bikes. Everyone here bikes and not many people have cars so its pretty much the only way to get around town. There is good public transportation too, but most people ride the bus when it starts to get cold. I feel like Ive been here for a week because I've done so much. Last night we went out to a club called Amarillo. It was interesting because right when you walk in the door there is a roulette table. Upstairs was like a restaurant, and downstairs was a bar and club. The music was all American, so that was pretty cool. They played Thunderstruck, Disturbia, Push it.. and a bunch of other stuff that i recognized. A fight broke out like right next to us and we got pushed around a little but it wasn't too bad. The guys were actually fighting because one guy had pushed us and the other guy got mad because he had bought some drinks for the girls i was with. So, it was nice that he was sticking up for us. I did laundry today which was kind of a disaster, unfortunately. My new Victoria's secret bra got ruined in the washer, so i went ahead and ordered a new one and got it sent to thomas's house. I turned my white sweater slightly blue, so ill have to get bleach. but i guess it wasn't too bad. the machine was all in Finnish so maybe i did something wrong and that's why my bra got ruined, idk. Oh well, not a big deal. Ive taken lots of pictures so far. I'm kind of excited for the snow, even though it will be super cold! my apartment is pretty cool. i have my own room with a desk, dresser and bed. there is a kitchen and bathroom and then another room. I'm supposed to have a roommate but she isn't here yet so idk. the bathroom is interesting because the shower isn't its own separate thing. there is just a shower head and a drain on the floor but the shower is level with the floor under the toilet so, idk, its different, but there is at least a curtain to keep everything from getting wet. i still need to find a transformer so i can use my hair dryer and stuff. ill have to do that tomorrow though because most stores are closed on sunday. so far im having a pretty good time here. Ive met alot of other international students. they re from France, Italy, Germany, Slovakia, Spain, Portugal, Russia, china, japan, Mexico, and Australia. so that's really cool to learn about other countries too. im a little homesick but i guess i wont be gone for too long. Europe is definitely alot different from America. they are very conscious of the environment here. they pay you to recycle, and the lights in the hallway turn off after 5 minutes or so and then you have to press a switch to get them to turn back on. well, i don't know what else i feel like saying right now. i might go hang out with some people soon or something.