Living the Finland life

Finland, Helsinki, Sanoma House in the night... After my student organisation's wonderful sauna evening walking back.

Walking along Baana from my student organisation's christmas party... Bad picture, but I needed something to remember this by, since this was the first time I ever walked this lane :D 8 years and always the road right next to it

Finland, Lappeenranta, Uus-Lavola. Night. Without the snow it would be pretty much pitch black

Evening. I didn't change the color settings per se, the snow mode emphasizes the whiteness and brings out the reflections of all the street lights against the dark night/evening sky. 

Greetings from Finland again. First days here were a bit surreal to be honest. The last time I was here was in June, so I had succesfully alienated myself from about everything here. The buses, the darkness, the dryness of the air...Well, I had already booked my calendar to the max - I wanted to meet as many people as possible. And so I did. And it was wonderful. First day I spent just feeling the Finland - making Presidentti coffee for breakfast, eating all the delicacies I only eat in Finland... And going to my house's gym. In the evening I went to see my cousins/friends. We had a so-called book club meeting although I hadn't read the book. Next morning I spent with Saima, we had a "traditional" breakfast buffet meeting which also made me abundantly happy. These meet-ups really take me back to so many things and so many feelings. Breakfasts remind me of the time when I was care-free and had all the time in the world in my hands... Some exams every now and then but that was easy to handle.
In the evening we went to a pre-christmas party, had some pre-drinks at her place... And finally I had a chance to dance a bit. So nice. The day after that I met up with my friends from my own student nation WiO. They also had a pre-christmas party, so traditional rice porrige and other treats, dance floor and the quarter game.. You name it, they were all there. Like nothing had happened in between. Then I met up with Samuli and Saila, then there was a sauna evening above the roofs of Helsinki. And I had been without sauna for 6 months. So I definitely made the most of it :D And we played Alias and some other quality games. The coziest feeling in ages.

On Wednesday it was time to go to Lappeenranta to my parents. Onnibus (a bit like Meinfernbus but better) took me there in 3 hours, and almost right after getting my stuff to my old room, me mom and dad went to an ice hockey game. The local team played its last game before the christmas break. And during the intermission I got a chance to eat the traditional egg-ham-meat-pie "vety". You don't always realise having missed something until it's brought in front of you again... If I had to eat one sole food for the rest of my life, it would be vety.
This house is amazing in December. My mom and dad somehow manage to make everything here christmasy. And I do love Christmas. The smell of candles, glögi (our mulled wine, although alcohol free) and just everything here make these days restful. As a politican whose-name-mustn't-be-mentioned has stated, my energy levels are somehow recharged. And that's what I need. I know many people can't be100% relaxed  at their parents' but for some reason I can. We are all adults, and we give each other a lot of space when we are not together, but when we are together like this, the whole family, I realise the kind of a tight bond we have. And it's great. I think the fact that we have space in our own private lives really contributes to the fact that when we are together, we have no frustrations going on, just happiness. It's always good to hang out together again.

Ah, peace, love and Christmas