The new Star Trek movie is fantastic. It is therefore logical you all go watch it. That is all.

Live long and prosper.

From the Helsinki Airport.  One hour till I"m headed to Germany.  About 14 until I'm in DC :/.  I love free WIFI though :).  Happy Holidays to Everyone! 

So I've noticed very thematic tendency of reoccurance in my life.  Especially in regards to exams. I once again need to study for an exam tomorrow.  I am once again procrastinating.   I also once again just found out I need a 56% on a final to get the B I need for the class to transfer to my Uni.  Exactly like the other final I posted about.  It's also a class for the same teacher.  *boggles* ok weird.  Though the exam tomorrow isn't the one I need a 56% on, I took that this morning and think I did fine.  I'm quite happy about it at the moment.


One down, one to go.  T-minus 5 days.  I like to borrow trouble as they say and have moved on to fretting about packing everything -_-;


I went to the sauna tonight and it was niiiiiiiiice.  There are very few opportunities to feel hot here (in the thermal sense anyways).

So, today was my last day of classes.  It feels really nice to be done with the cases and homework and presentations and stuff.  Now I just have 2 exams next week and then a few days to putz around Helsinki and then it's time to head back to the US.

I can't believe it's pretty much over.  I'm 8 days shy of 1 year outside the US.  It's been quite a ride.  It's had it's up and downs like all of life and I think it's made me stronger and taught me a lot about life, myself, and what I want and need.

One semester left.  No idea what I want to do, much less any job prospects....*Sigh*...I might be more lost than before in that respect.  I'm sure I'll figure something out though.

Grade wise I think I'm okay.  I've gotten high enough grades that my first half semester classes will transfer.  As long as I get a B in one of the two I'm in now I can keep a 4 class schedule and be fine. otherwise I'll have to take 5 classes, but that's still doable.  I'm pretty confident I'll get a B in at least one and I think both, but either way I'm ok to graduate so far.  


I think I have a pretty promising apt lead so that's good.  I should decide by tomorrow.  I might have to agree sans pictures, but since I'm getting it from and IMBAer that is going overseas for spring and before that it was another IMBAer's I think, it should be okay.  Most importantly, it's affordable so that's good.  That was the one thing left that was a bit stressing.


Less than 150 days until I graduate.  Where does the time go?

( snipity snipity )   Over half...not bad I guess, though I feel like I had the more unusual ones...and there are some I might have done but don't remember.

So I'm currently avoiding studying for an exam and this is my favorite past time it seems. That, or I'm just desperate. I'm not looking forward to this exam because it requires A LOT of memorization and my brain is full. It's also worth 80% of my grade :( Though with the extra credit and stuff I think I only need to get a 56% on the exam to get a B in the course and have it transfer to my Uni so I suppose it's doable. Still....not happy about it.

Speaking of my school, the dean is being wierd and giving shit on credit abouts based on class time. This is silly since Finland's system is not nearly as class heavy as the US and credit amount is based on work, not the amount of class hours....Oh well, the grad school is on my side which is nice. Hopefully it will work out.

Tomorrow is the Arena career fair. Here's hoping I can perhaps get a lead on a job. I won't hold my breath, but it would be nice. I just signed up for all the consulting company presentations. I suppose I should head out and buy some resume paper and print out my resume. I hope it stopped raining...it was nasty today!

Okay, going to go try and be productive. Hopefully this weekend I will type up what happened on my trip to Russia.

So today started out a bit late for me and I went to return the crappy hair dryer that lasted all of a minute before blowing out. They would only give store credit so I ended up with a vitamin hair spray and a new brush...I lost 50 cents in the deal, but anything else would require me to spend more money since it was so expensive a store and I'd be damned before I gave them another cent.

I then headed to the immigration office (ended up riding the metro illegally which is actually quite easy to do...even by accident). I am now a proud owner of a Finnish Residence Permit. I then high tailed it outta there as it was raining and I wanted to get back to my area.

Why is it that when you go looking to buy something specific you always end up buying everything else BUT what you went for? Does this happen to anyone else or just me. I told myself to just pick up an umbrella and go on my way. I ended up going to the supermarket (at first to just check it out), but then it occured to me that I did need more food and this market was bigger. I ended up spending 28 euro. I didn't buy a lot, but shit are groceries EXPENSIVE here. I suppose it doesn't help that Finland has a 22 percent vat and it applies to FOOD! It's crazy. I do think I have enough to eat in for the rest of the week though...barely. I realized today I've already spent over 60 euros in like 2 days so that has to stop. Once school starts I'll probably eat at the student cafs since I think you can get a meal for like 2-2.5 euro. Man I need to hit a gym soon!

Not sure what the rest of the week will hold. Most likely some laundry, searching for a cell phone, and watching a lot of movies/tv online. Is it sad that I can't wait for school to start? I'm hoping my tutor can show me the cheapest places to go get things. I've been pretty lucky in that I don't need to buy any bedding or dishes excpet perhaps a spoon, fork and frying pan.

I'm going to have to keep a tight rein on my budget here...either way I have a feeling I'll be broke by the time I get back to the US. All well, I suppose I should make the best of it. I suppose it was a good thing that Rwanda wasn't cheap in a way. This way it's not as big of a shock as it would have been. I actually miss French prices...which is sad, really.

update: I'm back dating this entry. Later this day, I went down to the tennant building party for about 4 hours. I met some very interesting people and chatted; including my first American here. He mentioned there are a lot of Americans here, but I seem to be the only American exchange student I think.....which is a bit weird actually. We Americans are usually all over the place, like overzelous fruit flies. It's not a bad thing...just different.

So when we last left off I was newly arrived and installed in my Hesinki apartment. I immediately started to hook up my computer so I could inform people I had arrived safely. I then proceeded to unpack (impressive for me) and make the bed, take a shower, etc. After a couple of hours I decided to head out in search of some dinner. I was physically tired but not sleepy really. I suppose I had gotten enough sleep on the various flights I took.

I went for a walk and ended up heading to the direction of the Kamppi Mall/Bus/Metro Station. The first store I saw was the a "professional" hair products store....the prices were certianly of that quality, though I don't know about the products. I ended up not getting the conditioner I needed because it was all too expensive. I did buy a small portable hair dryer (that I returned later).

I then wandered around a bit and found section of nicer than food court looking resturants....they were expensive -_-;...it's like you can't get a meal here for under 12 euro! I ended up going to a small fairly crowded looking italian place and order Mama's Meatballs and a cider. Both were delicious and out to me in under 10 minutes. I might have paid 17 euro (19 with tip since it was so fast I was generous), but it was delicious! Best spagetti and meatballs I've ever had really. I then went home and putzed around a bit more before heading to bed.

The next day I woke up, showered and headed out to the immigration office to get my residence permit put in my passport. I got to the right metro stop alright. Incidently their metro is a bit odd in that there are no people and nothing to stop you from entering on the metro without a ticket....the tickets for people without a card is just a reciept...no scanner or anything. After I got off I had to figure out how to get to the address. I spent about 10 minutes lost in what looked like an eastern european soviet block industrial nightmare. I finally found the street I wanted which was appreviated on the map (the appreviate after about the 10 letter otherwise it won't all fit) and got to where I needed to be. I had to hang out for an hour and wait for the guy who knew my situation. I got to see some interesting characters come in :). I then basically gave him my passport and was told to come back tomorrow to pick it up.

That done, I headed back to the apartment . On the way back I stopped to pick up some groceries at a small market by the metro stop. 17 euro later I had managed to buy the cheapest perpared sandwhich I could find (tuna) and some conditioner (finally) some bananas, a yogurt drink, bread, peanuts, cookies, a coke zero, a shopping bag, toilet paper and possibly something else I'm forgetting. Needless to say it wasn't cheap, but I needed some groceries.

I went back to the apt, had lunch and did some internet surfing and then decided to head to the school and check out the campus since I was planning on meeting up at the tram in front for a helsinki tram tour later that evening and I wasn't sure where it was. This turned out to be both a good idea and bad idea. I spent at least a good hour getting lost and thinking I was on the right street when names changed or numbering got wierd...and it was raining so the whole time I kept thinking...damn I need to buy an umbrella! Eventually I found it (it's so close to my apt it's crazy). I then had an hour and some I went back to the apt (the long way) and came across a gas station called ABC!Burger....I kid you not it was like a smaller sheetz. All of the sudden I was transported to the US, except for the Finnish speak of course. It even had that gas station type smell of stale donuts and linoleum with the ever present hum of multiple refrigeration untils working hard to keep your beverage of choice as cold as possible. I grabbed a water and a snickers and headed up to the register. The image was perfected when a foreigner came in for help with the gas pump and a Finnish girl switched to english easily with barely any accent detectable *face vault*.

After that wierd geographical warp I headed back to the apt to kill an hour until the tour. When I headed back out and found the tour in the nic of time it occured to me that this was the tour for the freshman finnish students and was therefore going to be in Finnish. Some young Finnish boys were nice enough to translate a bit. I didn't think about that since I had read about it on the english student union site. It wasn't a very good tour and the Finnish guys assured me that it was pretty bad in Finnish so I wasn't missing much. I did get to see some of the city I hadn't before though so that was nice.

At that point I was wiped so I came back to the apt and had a dinner of peanuts, yougurt and banana, read for a few hours and went to bed.

Next post will be about today and how the hell I'm not going to broke in this country?!?

but at 30+ hours of travel to reach Finland; I'm not quite sure I agree with them this time. Yes. I've finally made it to Finlandia! I arrived at 5:30pm the 26th and have been here a little over 24 hours. Before I get to that, however, I must detail the journey. If I had to suffer a 30+ hour trip the least you all can do is read about it :P.

So it all started at around 11am August the 25th when I got ready to leave to pick up my bags and head to the Kigali airport. My flight wasn't till 2 but I figured early is better. I was right. It of course took at least 30 minutes to get us on the road to the house to pick up the luggage (I went with my roommate and a co-worker who were going to pickup the co-worker's replacement that was arriving that day at 11:45am). We get there a little before 12pm and I go through security to check in (you check you bags after going through a set of metal detectors and an X-ray machine. I check in without a hitch and make the decision to check my second carry-on as it weighs a ton and I'm allowed to check two bags on this flight. This proves to be a good move since I don't have to drag it around for hours in the Nairobi airport.

After an uneventful (no books so I just watched a bit of the premier league game) wait in the Kigali waiting area (nothing like gates here since you just walk to you airplane) it was time to board. It was open seating and the flight to Nairobi was pretty fast and before you know it we are touching down.

Now comes the rather horrendous 7.5 hour wait. I was told there was a coffee shop at the end of the terminal. I headed it what I though was the direction and see the Simba kenya airways transit lounge. It looks marvelous and I'm a little skeptical. Turns out I was right to be, it's of course the first class/business class lounge. They direct us the the other transit lounge (for those mere mortals that can't afford the expensive business class seats). It's a rather smelly cafeteria feeling nightmere. After a coke, some sudoku and an hour I'm off to explore the rest of the airport. Thus commences the rather long ritual of ducking into expensive duty free shops that have books I haven't heard of for like 25$ a paperback. There are two little "cafes" if you can call them and so I buy a soda and some samosas and pop a squat on the recessed floor in the hallways. You see you can't enter the gate seating areas until your flight is about to go and there isn't a lot of seating outside it )plus the seats are about as comfy as the floor, which you can at least stretch out on). I play a lot of sudoku, power up my laptop for a few games of spider solitaire (which I've gotten very good at), but have to shut down since I don't have a british style plug adapter which they use in Kenya.

After a very long weight, 3 samosas, 2 sodas, a choclate bar, a bag of chips and a pair of Kenyan sandal/flip flops I was able to enter into the gate for our flight. I got there early which is really good because the room became packed with people just sprawled everywhere and exaughsted as the it was around 11:30pm and I'm sure many were like me and had been there for a bajillion hours. We finally borded the plain and got seats. I was lucky to get an aisle seat since there was no changing to be done. I was unlucky enough to get a seat that constantly moved back and forward as I leaned or sat up (even without pressing the button) and also, our rows entertainment systems didn't work, which meant no movies :(. Luckily it was a night flight and I was wiped so it was probably for the best as I just did my best to doze through everything...though they did take their sweet time shutting off the lights. I debated getting a bunch of alcohol which they give for free! and are very generous with, but decided against it as I was rather intensely dehydratred and it was only going to get worse...not to mention I wasn't sure if I started drinking I'd be able to stop, which would be bad since I still had a long way to go.

Hours of uncomfortable shifting and struggling to get comfy we finally land in London. I then head to customs, get stamped and head to pick up my bags to change terminals and recheck them. This goes rather smoothly, though I had to track down someone to tell me where I needed to be. I get to terminal 1 and they check me in and give me my ticket but tell me they can't take the bad until 2.5 hours until the flight since there is no one there to load it. They tell me to come back and just drop the bag off later...no need to wait in line since it's ticketed and everything. Thankfully I have a trolley so I just wheel around for a bit. I'm in a bit of culture shock as I enthuse about the stupendiously clean and completely automated bathroom. A newspaper, mocha coffee, choclate muffin, chocolate bar and bottle of water later I drop my bag off and go through security. OMG SHINY! Everything is so clean and purdy and OMG CHAIRS! tons of them...and with actual padding! Crazy!

I go over to a book store and just stare....so.much.choice. *cue mental stupor* I'm not sure what to do with all this choice. I pet the books like lost fond pets. I decide against buying a book because while more reasonably priced they aren't cheap and I'm too dead to read and god how am I supposed to choose? what is this choice you speak of? So I go and sit in the lounge middle and stare off into space as I wait for my gate announcement (which they don't announce until 45 min before the flight?!?) They finally announce and I go to the gate (gate 5) which is like in BFE next to gates 74-76? After like 12 turns two flights of stairs (one up and one down) I finally get there and people are already lined up to board!?! The plane is BA and the seats are pretty nice; though at this point my ass is about to rebel and is telling my body to go F itself because it's sick of being sat on (I really need more padding; my ass is waaaay too boney). We get a sandwhich lunch and I doze until we land (FINALLY)

I get off, collect my bag and meet the tutor who picks me up and takes me to my apartment which is amazing! The rest of the day is another story so stay tuned for "First Night in Finlandia: A Tale of Meatballs and Hair Driers".

So this will probably be a rather pathetic entry as I'm rather exaughtsted and hungry I think...not eating enough protein I suppose.

I did finally hear back from the school so things are better. I'm just waiting for login info so I can register for classes.

I have 12 days left! well, more like 11 since today is close to being over. Perhaps I'll more to say in these entrys by then since not much changes here.

In many ways this has been both a really long and really short expereince. It's wierd really.


I can't believe it's almost already time for me to go to Finland. I remember that seeming so far away when I first started thinking about exchanges and then Finland back in SC, before I went to France even. I moved down to SC 425 days ago ...I'm been outside the US for the past 239 days. Totally weird!

That said, I'm sad I won't see the olympics really. We don't have cable at the house and the end the day before I leave. I suppose I look up clips of the highlights on the internet. The swimming win for the 4x100 relay was craaazy.

So this is a post on my determination to keep loosing weight and eat healthier overall. Since I've been in Rwanda I've lost quite a bit of weight. In fact, my roommate who just came back from a month abroad mentioned it and was like...those pants are like 2 sizes too big now (cue internal squee of joy). This makes me extremely happy obviously. I was getting a bit overweight before. The reason I've been loosing weight is 2 fold. One is that I have been going to the gym pretty regularly, though last week was a wash between not feeling well and traveling. The 2nd and probably bigger reason is that there just isn't anything to get super excited about eating over here. The food isn't bad but it's not like in western countries where the is a combination of easy access and cheap junk food. I actually love this fact since I don't eat tons of crap that's bad my health. At the same time the diet here can be...unfufilling. I'm not really eating that healthy really...though more vegetables so that's good...but I eat a lot of white rice which isn't particularly good for you...and if I'm honest, I really only want to sacrafice the calories if it's in relation to asian food which I'm addicted to.

So what it comes down to is me being afraid it will all reverse when I leave Rwanda which is definitely something I don't want. This means I'm going to a) have to keep up the exercise b) be very careful about eating habits. I had taken to eating this really good brown jasmine rice from trader joe's in the US that doesn't taste that different from normal rice. Did you know that potatoes are actually better for you than white rice? (provided the potatoes are real I think and not instant). So I'm gonna try and be better and eat things that boost my metabolism and so on. If any of you have ideas or reciepes I'd love to hear them! Right now looking at starch free side dishes since that seems to be the hardest thing to get rid of and still feel like you've eaten.

Well, wish me luck I guess!

Well I must unfortunately report my stomach ache came back with a vengeance yesterday, though I'm much better today. I am also slightly less thrilled with Opera as it constantly shuts down when I load streaming video to watch and of course you can't set the cache higher than 400mb which is annoying. I guess that just means I'll have to stick to Firefox for videos...all well, it could be worse I suppose. That is all, please return to your regularly scheduled programming..

So I just had to geek out here about Opera.

No not the musical form.

I've been having some wierd connection issues. Just more evidence that I need to flip to mac soon. Because of this I decided to download Opera since firefox has been unreliable (randomly closes) and IE doesn't work on my computer (not that I'd use it even if it did).

I had used Opera some back in the day when it and Firefox were new. They weren't that different back then. This is no longer true. Opera is freaking awesome! I am so completely converted!

Byebye evil failing firefox! It's Opera now baby. I suggest you try it out, it's really cool. I'm particually happy because it has a built in mail property that WORKS with my school email which means NO MORE EVIL SCHOOL INTERFACE! my schools web interface is horrendous! I defintely recommend everyone try it...they also have a version for mac so don't let that stop you!

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Underline the books you LOVE.
3) Reprint this list in your own LJ  and add a few more books

So I'm leaving France tomorrow to head to Scotland for a few days and then off to Rwanda. I packed (I brought way too much crap) and can't wait to just be in the airport already. I'm afraid I'm going to have to pay more for my suitcases because I think they might only let you have 20 kg total and not per bag like most international flights, but I suppose there isn't much I can do at this point.

GSK is evil. The French doctor here gave me a prescription for Malarone (anti-malarial medication) and even the French health care won't cover it so you know it's expensive (45 euro for like 12 pills so for 4 months 450 euros or 675 dollars). Suffice to say I didn't buy it and I talked to my boss and the previous intern (who had the same issue and didn't get it either) and they basically told me not to worry about it too much and that there is cheaper stuff in Rwanda. Just seems like complete highway robbery to me!

In good news (the only bit I got yesterday) I was chosen as one of the 8 journalists for my school website blog which is not only cool, it means I don't have to do the writing assignments for my internship (the blog replaces it).

Ok time to watch some tv and distract myself from my nervous energy!

So I know it's been way too long since I did a real life update...but well life doesn't really wait for you to update your blog unfortunately. I suppose I've been too intimidated by the amount of time and stuff that's happened since then. I am currently still in Clermont-Ferrand for the next 9 or so days. I've been in France for the past 5 months and it's rather unbelievable that everything has gone so fast. It's weird how slow and fast life goes in the same breath. I'm extremely happy with my French (which has gotten so much better-not that it could have gotten worse). On the 24th I'll be heading to Scotland for a bit to see Edinburgh and hang out with the moms and then it's off to Rwanda for the next part of my adventure. I'll be there till around the end of August then it's off to Finland. I still have about 8 months until I get back to the good ole US of A but I'm going to do my best to take advantage of everything I can and I'll know it'll be nothing but love when I get back (which it certainly wasn't when I left ;P). Then it will be time to freak out about the job search but that's waaaaaay far off.

France has been awesome. Clermont isn't bad and has it's qualities that are better over Paris (like the prices) but yeah I do regret not living in Paris some. We got an awesome French education though so I can't complain too much and I can always go to Paris later. It's probably the most likely place for me to go visit. France is always a love/hate thing much like anywhere you live. I hate the service here (if you can call it that, it's more like lack of) but I love the food and culture. Every time I speak or understand French I feel such accomplishment because it's a damn hard language. I was very proud of myself for calling up the hospital and arranging my appointment for vaccinations I need to go to Rwanda.

We took the TCF on the third of april and I got a B2 which is awesome! The description is below. I was the only beginner to get that high and no one in either section got above that level so I'd say that's quite an accomplishment.

B2-Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialisation. Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party. Can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.

I hope to someday be even more fluent and at least I'll get to use French in Rwanda.

I'll try to be better about blogging but who knows if I'll succeed. I'll at least try and get some photos on here if possible. I seem to have lost my camera cord....

J'espere que tout va bien avec vous! tout le monde me manque!

Instructions
by Neil Gaiman

Touch the wooden gate in the wall you never

saw before.

Say "please" before you open the latch,

go through,

walk down the path.

A red metal imp hangs from the green-painted

front door,

as a knocker,

do not touch it; it will bite your fingers.

Walk through the house. Take nothing. Eat

nothing.

However, if any creature tells you that it hungers,

feed it.

If it tells you that it is dirty,

clean it.

If it cries to you that it hurts,

if you can,

ease its pain.

From the back garden you will be able to see the

wild wood.

The deep well you walk past leads to Winter's

realm;

there is another land at the bottom of it.

If you turn around here,

you can walk back, safely;

you will lose no face. I will think no less of you.

Once through the garden you will be in the

wood.

The trees are old. Eyes peer from the under-

growth.

Beneath a twisted oak sits an old woman. She

may ask for something;

give it to her. She

will point the way to the castle.

Inside it are three princesses.

Do not trust the youngest. Walk on.

In the clearing beyond the castle the twelve

months sit about a fire,

warming their feet, exchanging tales.

They may do favors for you, if you are polite.

You may pick strawberries in December's frost.

Trust the wolves, but do not tell them where

you are going.

The river can be crossed by the ferry. The ferry-

man will take you.

(The answer to his question is this:

If he hands the oar to his passenger, he will be free to

leave the boat.

Only tell him this from a safe distance.)

If an eagle gives you a feather, keep it safe.

Remember: that giants sleep too soundly; that

witches are often betrayed by their appetites;

dragons have one soft spot, somewhere, always;

hearts can be well-hidden,

and you betray them with your tongue.

Do not be jealous of your sister.

Know that diamonds and roses

are as uncomfortable when they tumble from

one's lips as toads and frogs:

colder, too, and sharper, and they cut.

Remember your name.

Do not lose hope — what you seek will be found.

Trust ghosts. Trust those that you have helped

to help you in their turn.

Trust dreams.

Trust your heart, and trust your story.

When you come back, return the way you came.

Favors will be returned, debts will be repaid.

Do not forget your manners.

Do not look back.

Ride the wise eagle (you shall not fall).

Ride the silver fish (you will not drown).

Ride the grey wolf (hold tightly to his fur).

There is a worm at the heart of the tower; that is

why it will not stand.

When you reach the little house, the place your

journey started,

you will recognize it, although it will seem

much smaller than you remember.

Walk up the path, and through the garden gate

you never saw before but once.

And then go home. Or make a home.

And rest.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UnfyoTSZZw

So I am finally in France and where I'll be studying French. Unfortunately where I am right now doesn't have internet and so I'm at the school using q lab computer because I'm too lazy to plug my laptop in and charge it. This will be a short entry as the French keyboard is evil and I am being punished for actually knowing how to type(since the keys aren't the same as the US keys).

I think I'll just write this offline later and post it cuz this is so annoying!