Guest from Esslingen!

Dear blog,

last week I got a guest from Germany to visit me in Jyväskylä! Sina came to Finland for the first time and stayed at my place. It was so nice!

In the picture we are in the tower at Harju, enjoying the view over the town. During the week we also did some shopping, ate at grilli, went for lake Päijänne cruise, went to the movies, swam in Aalto Alvari, danced all night long and saw all the planes in Tikkakoski Aviation Museum.

Naturally Sina also tasted all kinds of Finnish specialities, such as rye bread, oat bread, unleavened barley bread ("rieska"), Karelian pies, lingonberry porridge ("vispipuuro"), blueberry pie, Finnish squeaky cheese ("leipäjuusto") with cloudberries and some Finnish candies as well. :P

Kärsämäki

Dear blog,

I don't know how to stop writing and updating this blog. :(
I like it too much! haha! Well, I'll have to find a solution to this problem soon, but on the mean while I'll write you what I have been doing in the country side.

I have met a lot of relatives and people I know. It's so funny to say hello almost to everyone you see after stepping out of the house. My cousin Sini has jogged with me every evening and I have been in sauna already three times during these four days! :D

In the picture you can see Sini's family's sauna and pool, where I swam yesterday. The sauna is really, really cozy and neat. I just love it.

Flashback from Esslingen

Deag blog,

I want to add some pictures from Essligen that I have not yet published.

In this one you can see my door from the inside. Well, you can't really see it, because it was covered with tickets, adds, flyers, brochures, recipes, drawings, and other stuff! :D

Day 2: Kärsämäki

After traveling 22 hours I was extremely tired.

My mum came to pick me up from the train station with homemade Karelian pies. =) It was only 6:30 in the morning, but the sun was high up already. I wasn't sure if I could sleep in the daylight, but after one hour I fell asleep and woke up late in the afternoon. I had a little bit sleep debt I guess..

Day 2 in Finland

From Helsinki I continued by train to Kärsämäki.

The night train took 7,5 hours and the first two hours I had to sit on the floor because there was no seats left! The train was so full of people. I didn't sleep much during the night and around 4 am the sun was up and the sky was colored beautifully pink and orange.

Day 1 in Finland

My flights to Finland went all right.

My cousin Satu came to meet me at the airport in Helsinki. It was so nice to meet her after the half a year and we had a lot of catch up to do. We had coffee outside in the garden and she was just telling me about a hedgehog who was visiting her almost every day, when we heard this noise. It sounded like someone was approaching through the bushes, and there he was: Suhonen! Satu had named the hedgehog, that was his name. :D

Day 141: Farewell

So now I have packed my stuff and cleaned the room and everything is ready.

It's time to leave Esslingen. On the other hand I am happy to see my family and friends again, but on the other hand I would like to explore more Germany! Oh well, I just have to come back someday. :)

I did it. I actually did it! Study exchange in Germany, just what I had always dreamed about. And I also kept my own promise: to report about it almost everyday in my blog. 141 days, 142 posts.. That's quite a few! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Ok, so now it's time.
Goodbye Esslingen,
goodbye my new friends,
goodbye other exchange students,
I'll miss you all.