Friday, July 25

Final moments in Finland

Less than two weeks left until take off! I woke up in a sweat on Wednesday morning, and not just because of the heat wave. I realized we had exactly two weeks left in Finland, and while we've pretty much gotten everything sorted, I started panicking that maybe there was something we'd completely forgotten?! In a way I feel too well prepared. There are a couple things to take care of still, I need to go to the bank to sort out my insurance and student loans. And then the packing of course... What the hell do I pack?! I need both summer and winter clothes, and shoes....? I've planned what snacks I'll bring on the plane better than what items I'll actually pack in my suitcase, ha.

My last weeks in Finland have mostly revolved around work, which in a way is good, because I really do need to save up money for the next half year. At the same time though, the weather is so nice, I really feel like I should be taking advantage of it! I had the past two days off, and went to our summer house for (maybe) the last time this summer. It was nice to see my parents and (two of) my sisters. Last night we got to go see a sneak preview of a new Finnish movie called Kesäkaverit (Summer Friends) produced by my dad's cousin. The movie is set and filmed in Hanko, which is where our summer house is located as well, and where the screening took place. It was such a cute, summery, easy-going film. :) Definitely a nice contrast to many Finnish movies that tend to be sort of dark and depressing for some reason......


I also realized I never actually posted a picture of my tattoo, which I got in October, done by Leena Lumilampi @ Bonafide Helsinki. I guess I could add that to this mismatched post as well :)


I leave you with this. My own little wind-up bird in it's natural habitat (my back, ahhah).

Wednesday, July 9

Arkansas Adventure Begins



With less than one month left until we fly out of Finland, I thought now would be the proper time to revive this blog yet again. On August 6th Joel & I are flying through Oslo and on towards Fort Lauderdale. The first week of our adventure we'll spend in Florida, most likely Fort Lauderdale and Miami with a short trip to Key West (which I could not be more excited about). The weather in Finland has honestly been shit so far, so hopefully we'll get to enjoy some actual summer still. ;)

A week later we'll head on towards Arkansas, which is where we'll be spending the next 5-ish months, at Hendrix College. The tiny campus of just under 1,500 students will be quite a change to what we're used to here in Helsinki. Arkansas wasn't our top choice initially, and we ended up being placed there by chance after not getting in to any of the West Coast schools we were hoping for. In the end though I'm pretty excited to be going, Arkansas will be a completely new experience, and I feel like we're going to see a lot of places I would have otherwise never really had the chance to visit.


A few weeks ago I was still feeling completely chaotic and all over the place with out preparations before leaving. At this point though I can say that finally I think we're about ready to leave! My visa is sorted and Joel should be getting his soon, we've booked flights and hotels and signed up for courses, gotten our health checks and necessary vaccinations sorted. Now we really just need to worry about packing anymore. August can't come soon enough!