X-mas is just around the corner

First, shortly some words in Finnish and after that in English, enjoy!

Ensialkuun nyt vähän juttua suomeksi, kun joillakin tuntuu olevan hankalaa tuo englannin ymmärtäminen ;D
Nyt sitä siis ollaan takaisin Suomessa ja valmiina joulun viettoon! Olin täällä viimeksi lyhyellä visiitillä tuossa loka-marraskuun vaihteessa, jolloin minusta tuntui etten olisi ollut poissa edes viikkoa. Palasin tänne lauantaina ja silloin kyllä tunsin sen, että olen ollut poissa jonkun aikaa. Enkä itse asiassa oikeen vieläkään ole ihan täysin tänne asettunut. Ajatukset kun pyörii edelleen englannin kielellä ja loppujen lopuksi kaikki on kuitenkin sen verran erilaista täällä, että tottumiseen varmasti menee vielä tovi.
Ja vaikka suomea on siis tullut höpöteltyä jo pari päivää, niin sen kirjoittaminen tuntuu todella hassulta (ja vähän myös vaikealta) eli anteeksi jo nyt, JOS JA KUN huomaatte joitain kielioppivirheitä tai omituisuuksia sanajärjestyksessä! Sitä se ulkomailla asuminen teettää, että alkaa vähän tavat ja tottumukset muuttumaan, vaikka itse ihmisenä en ole muuttunut mielestäni lainkaan. Olen ihan se sama henkilö kuka lähti tuon rapakon toiselle puolelle silloin elokuun lopulla. Nyt olen vain entistä itsevarmempi ja rohkeampi toteuttamaan asioita, joita itse haluan.

Päätös lähteä ei ollut helpoimmasta päästä ja joudun luopumaan monesta asiasta, mutta kun ihmisellä on unelma, haave tai mikä tahansa juttu, jonka on halunnut toteuttaa jo usean vuoden ajan, niin ei siinä auta muu kuin elää omaa unelmaansa ja tehdä toiveista totta. Aluksi tuntuu pahalta, mutta ajan kanssa kaikki helpottuu ja uskon, että palkinto odottaa tuolla jossain tulevaisuudessa. Uskon myös, että kaikella on merkityksensä tai jos ei vielä ole, niin ne kyllä sieltä muodostuvat. Tavalla tai toisella.

Tämä syksy oli ehdotta yksi elämäni parhaimmista kokemuksista, jota en tule ikinä unohtamaan. Kavereita jäi suurin ikävä, mutta onneksi tässä on vielä paljon elämää edessä. Heidän kanssaan tulee pidettyä paljon yhteyttä (kiitos netti, some ja skype) ja aiomme myös nähdä aina kun se on vain mahdollista (toivon mukaan ainakin kerran vuodessa).

---

I'm finally back in Finland and it's time for Christmas holiday! This time it really felt like that I'd been away for a while. Last time when I was here for my holiday, around month and a half ago, I felt that I haven't been away even for a week. It was really hard and felt so sad to say goodbye to all my friends, but we'll meet again.  

"One way or another I'm gonna find you
I'm gonna get you, get you, get you, get you
One way or another I'm gonna win you
I'm gonna get you, get you, get you, get you.

One way or another I'm gonna see you
I'm gonna meet you, meet you, meet you, meet you
One day, maybe next week
I'm gonna meet you, I'm gonna meet you, I'll meet you!"

  

It was snowing in Uppsala just few days before I left from there, but the in the very next day everything was already melted away. At least I had a chance to see the city a bit whiter for a while.   

I had such a great time during my exchange and I wouldn't chance a thing. It was definitely my best autumn so far, even with all the ups and downs. 

An experience, that I will never forget. Experience, that helped me to grow as a person. It didn't chance me, so I'm still the same person that I was half a year ago. The only difference is that now I'm more confident and braver to do things that I really want to. I had to gave up so many things to make my long-time dream come true. The decision was the toughest one so far, but in my opinion people need to live and fulfill their own dreams. 

In the end, everything will be worth it and generate even more greater matters. You only need to wait for them to happen.     

Now, it is snowing outside and everything looks so pretty in there. Finally, we're gonna have a white Christmas! 

There  is hope in dreams, imagination and in the courage 

of those who wish to make those dreams a reality. 

- Jonas Salk

Week 14: The end is near but so is Christmas

I'm so sorry that I haven't been writing for a longlong time. I've just had so much unfinished things to do and there's still huge pile of school works waiting on my desk. 

At the beginning of this second part of autumn semester I really felt that I'm gonna have plenty of free time, but the reality has been far away from that. I had two re-exams from my previous courses that I didn't pass. And along those I really needed to focus on my current course where we have had different teacher for each week. So, you can only imagine how confusing it has been and how blurry my head is feeling right now.

Then I'm just wanna tell something really shortly about this another re-exam of mine. So, I put all my efforts and tried to do my best in the written exam, that I actually did twice but failed them both. Deep inside of me I believed that I knew a lot of that course and its topics, but still I just couldn't do it. If there's someone or something to blame, the blame should put on me (of course) but also to the language barrier.

I have to admit that finding the balance between three languages has sometimes felt really difficult and even insurmountable. But after all the hard work (and few tears) that I've done I must say that it has been worth it. Every single day.

And yeah, last month I even celebrated my very first Thanksgiving! It was a really nice: lots of food and international students. I'm grateful for the good company that we had in that day and all the new people I meet and new friends I get every single day!

Then few pictures from one weekend trip to Stockholm. Me and my friends went to check the Christmas markets because it's getting closer and closer every day! 

One market was in the Old city and another one in Konstfacks: University of Arts, Crafts and Design. 

The queue was so loooong...

...that we had to waite over hour to get in.

When we finally got in we're so amazed. Every stuff and thing were made by the students in that particular univeristy and they were so nice! But bit too expensive for me and my student budget.

Gamla stan

Always do your best. What you plant now, 
you will harvest later.

- Og Mandino

Week 13

After my long lasting holiday, I've finally returned to school desk and started my last course here as an exchange student. The course is about Sustainable Natural Resource Management and it's actually pretty close to the degree that I'm studying at my home university. 

Nevertheless, the course contents is totally different from the one that I've had in my uni, that was also called Natural Resource Management. But there's still a lot of similarities between these two and I believe that through this new one I'll get plenty of new information about Natural Resources all around the world. 

During the course we will debate and discuss (among other things) about the interactive connections between Sustainability and Natural Resources. 

We had this dinner for international students in one day in our campus, and it was held in potluck style. So, that everyone that came there, came with some dish from their home country. Most of the dishes were from Asia, Germany and Spain because of that simple reason that most of the students come from those places. But all the food was amazing and really delicious! Thank you all for your efforts! 

Then we have finally find the best fika place in the city. It's the most cozy one, and as usual (but only here in Sweden) you'll get a free refill when you take a regular coffee. It's the perfect place to hang out with your friends 'cause there you can sit for hours and it feels like you're at your own place. 

Then my homies from Finland came to see me! Group of ladies who are one of my dearest friends <3 I had been waiting for them ever since I saw them during my holiday.  

We had a lot of fun and I shew them some culture things such as the castle, cathedral and few museums. 

At some point we started to feel hungry and ended up in Chinese restaurant for lunch. That food was so yummy! Chicken in peanut-butter-sauce, sushi and vanilla ice-cream with fruits for dessert.

<3

Feelings change, memories don't.

- Joel Alexander