Erilainen.

I want this post to be different than the rest. Usually, I write random things and I may refer back to them to either remember what I wrote about last time or to show someone pictures of Finland or the apartment. But I want this post to be something that I refer back to whenever I need to remind myself of what I've accomplished here.

It's no secret: moving to a different country is really hard and really scary. But I, like 99% of people [I'm convinced that made-up statistic is correct] was expecting the hard and scary but without actually thinking too much about it because then that fear might hold you back. In any case, I just wanted to make a list of the things I've accomplished so far in my time here and of the things I'm most grateful for.

But first, a short note on goals. For as far back as I can remember, I've been in school. I do not remember a time when I wasn't. Or if I have distant memories of that time, they don't factor in a whole week's worth of events. Studying shapes up in a very specific way. There are lessons, homework, group assignments, presentations, grades, results and of course, summer vacation. None of this is new to any of you, I hope. That system gets you in the habit of always knowing what to anticipate. It might be a dreaded result, I remember being in grade 4 and feeling pretty discouraged about the EIGHT remaining years of school. Still, imagine kindergarten kids! They don't even realize that they likely have as many as 22 years of school ahead of them. Some people become academics, teachers, professors and, in a way, always revolve around a school calendar. Others don't. What you don't anticipate though is the big black void of nothingness that follows the end of your life in school. And although I did get accepted to study for my Master's in September, that void is something I've now learned more about and will know to anticipate again, while I figure myself out in the next 2 years.

Things I've accomplished so far...
- Learned about big black void.
- Narrowed down some career possibilities [this had previously been done by the process of elimination so it was horribly slow and inefficient.]
- Learned to cook!
- Learned to eat healthy food!
- Stayed away from sugar, white flour, alcohol and bread for 3 months. [Don't think this is a big deal? You try.]
- Made friends in a completely foreign place.
- Learned to plan a day out of completely nothing! [Mind you, I haven't mastered this quite yet.]
- Got accepted to a Master's of Science in Marketing at a Swedish-speaking university in Helsinki.
- Scored a 650 on my GMAT.
- Learned how to say interior designer in Finnish. [Sisustussuunnittelija]
- Learned my way around Tampere.
- Learned how to ask questions in shops in Finnish... without being afraid.
- Provided e-support through Skype or phone whenever the occasion arose.
- Organized a Finnish language summer class for people interested. [Although the idea wasn't mine, it was Anne's. And I really hope people show up next week!]
- Speak Finnish with Juha, so long as we don't need to tell really long stories.
- From Start to Finnish by Leila White.
- I can follow along with the Finnish subtitles while watching Cold Feet and if I don't understand what they say in English [because their accents are so thick at times] I sometimes understand the Finnish translation. And the general gist of the subtitles makes complete sense to me now.

...
I can't think of other stuff right now but I'll can always come back later.

Things I'm really grateful for...
- My parents, family, friends [from all over] and Juha for continual support.
- Finnish summers.
- Finnish winters.
- The light after dark.
- Our apartment.
- Hanken.
- H&M [haha!]
- Pyynikin näkötorni.
- Canada.
- pretty much everything in between...
...
And again, I can't think of much else.

So thank you for listening, even though this post was written more for myself than for anyone else.

Last week in Canada.

Alright so I have a few things to write about today.

First of all, I got my top wisdom teeth out this morning and it involved a lovely high due to laughing gas and all my other anesthetics. The procedure was quite pleasant actually and I feel sooo much more relaxed than I did yesterday.

I'm wondering if any of you have ever immigrated to somewhere before... because let me tell you, I've never been so stressed in my life! Except not right now... due to my meds hehe. I called the airline yesterday to find out that I'm allowed to pack 20kg and anything over that will cost 11 euro/kg. And for the first time in a long time, I had all my clothes in one space and now have to decide what's important and what's not. And shoes are awkward to pack and I can't bring my awesome cookbook... so there's just a lot of decision making to done!
Additionally, you'd think finishing school would make life stressless, but the opposite is true. But with a little help from my mom yesterday, we really got somewhere with the entire operation so from now on, it should be much easier.

Departure to Europe: December 25th, 10pm.
Arrival in Austria: December 26th.
Arrival in Finland: January 3ed, around 10pm at night.

Finnish word of the day: matka = trip, journey, voyage... etc.

Christmas is coming up, woot!!!