The Finnish way

I'm getting back to the life in Finland. It's cold outside, light in the night and not a soul anywhere. The only sign of life outside of your house is the occasional nordic walker passing by.

I have eaten rye bread, potatoes, salmon soup, vispipuuro, salmiakki ice cream, Finnish chocolate, drank milk and apple cider.

I have gone to sauna and swam in a lake.

I have walked the dog in the woods.

On a walk with Donna.

I have learned to dress warm before going outside. It's summer after all...

I have explored the bookshelf, where there are such books as: Marriage - the Estonian way, Happy pregnancy, Introduction to Feng Shui, Russian sayings in pictures, and Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Långstrump from 1969 where Pippi's dad is on an island with negros, and he's a negro king.

I have also had a good time. After all, I have spent time with my little sisters whom I have missed so much. We have played airplane, foot game and boat in a storm. These are their favourite games, but so exhausting for me... We have also:

Had ice cream in the marketplace after looking at hamsters in the pet store.

Read childrens books in the library.

And had even more ice cream...

Even though it's energy consuming to bustle around with the girls, it's also rewarding... They're so sweet!

Here Carola is singing a song about the animals in the book. It ends to the words "my song was like this". So cute!

Back home

After 5 months, 8 countries, dozens of parties, heartful of friends, millions of laughters, and countless good memories, I'm back in Finland. Life is bitter.

I expected some sort of grand feeling of home when coming back to Finland. I thought everything will be easy - well everything is, nothing is hard or anything - but there's something missing. There are people. There is a language I speak. But I realized what home is made of. It's not necessarly a piece of land or a certain society. Home is where the people you love are. Home is a feeling.

Do I have a home-feeling here? I do. But I don't need to be here to feel like home. And that gives me courage to travel in the future. Which I can't wait for! :)

Anyway, what is good or bad here?

Cons:

There is no one anywhere. At least compared to the 10 million people cities I just came from. It feels almost scary to look at the empty streets...

It's cold! Having spent months in 25 + degrees with humidity getting close to 100 %, stepping out of the airplane in Finland was almost shocking. It's July and people here have to wear jackets!

Stores close in the evening. Why, oh why?? Why can't I go to the store around the corner at 3 am to buy strawberry milk, beer and a microwave burger?? Who are that kind of regulations for? Stores closing... The world would be a lot better place if I had a chance to buy whatever I want even in the night...

Everything is soo expensive!! Again whyy... Imma have to go to work now, because the student money aint enough for anybody with these prices!

Pros:

The air is clean. It smells good. Most of all it's fresh. I could go outside just to breathe. Yesterday (when I had to run to the grocery store before it closed...) I almost needed a paper bag to keep me from fainting because I was gasping for air trying to get one more smell of the fresh, evening breeze with the scent of green grass and flowers.

And most of all, all the people I'm gonna meet. Mum, dad, little brothers and sisters, friends whom I love and have missed.

Now I have to go to sleep, because I'm still in Asia time - a bit ahead of the clock.