I WAS HERE!

Jason:

Three months and 10 days of Finnish living and I'm practically a native! And if by "native," I mean "completely out of step, but loving it all the same," I am inarguably correct.

Finland has proved, as I had known it would, to be everything I had hoped for and everything I had feared. I've met countless fascinating and exciting people, learned as much if not more than I did in 20 years of formal and informal education, and had more fun than... to put it in good old "American," a barrel of monkeys!

There have been baking parties and long nights of Skyping (an even more modern form of IMing for those of you not quite there yet). There've been nights spent dancing to anything from the Grease soundtrack (yes, in a club) to 90’s techno and days of not just walking, but living in a winter wonderland.

But, as with all good things, there have been down times as well. There were times when I just didn’t think I could stand the people I was interacting with on a daily basis anymore. The cultures were too different, the rituals and traditions too strange and unknown; imagine living with someone who grew up in essentially the same culture as you. You think about and react to different situations in generally the same manner, but still there are thousands of roommate horror stories roaming just about every campus I’ve encountered. Now imagine you’re living with and interacting with people from not just a different city or state, but a completely different country. They don’t have the same rituals as you, they won’t act and react in ways you consider "normal." But it was really this strangeness which made this whole adventure all that it was.

Stepping outside of my box and treading waters I never even knew existed has led me on an adventure I'll never forget. And one which will, sure as the day is short (here, anyways), leave me questioning if not completely reforming my old ways of handling life.

A year ago the international relations advisor suggested I go to Finland for my study abroad trip. I balked at her apparent insanity; I never would have thought that a place as distant and foreign and, well, cold could possibly have anything I’d want to experience. It struck me as a desolate, boring and lonely place and, honestly, I had never really thought there was much living going on there. Slowly, however, I came around to Brandi's way of thinking and set about the task of convincing my parents that sending me to what they considered the barren tundra was a good idea. They let me have my say, gave me push back, but as they always have, left it up to me to decide.

And what a decision it was. Had I never come here, never allowed my preconceptions/misconceptions to be completely torn down and ripped to pieces, I would never have experienced living. I'm now completely convinced that this is a society which appears to have it more "together" than anywhere I've ever seen in the States. These people, with such honor for their country that it's hard to find a piece of trash on the ground, may be shy and may appear stand-offish at first, but, that was only my introductory lesson in a series of such lessons I've titled "Never Judge a Book." I've never met such fun, exciting, enthusiastic beings. They've got a love for life and living and simply being that never seems to quit.

I’m completely baffled and I find it entirely unbelievable even now with just one week to go that this adventure of outstanding magnitude is really happening to me. I feel like I’m sitting at a desk with twenty other normal, middle class American students watching a video about a girl having the greatest time of her life. She’s always ecstatic and amazed, sometimes she’s confused and a little lonely, she’s really opening her eyes for the first time, and she cannot understand how to truly appreciate all that she’s experiencing.

When Friday finally rolls around and I leave Oulu for the last time I know I’ll find plenty to pine for. I've no idea if I'll ever return, but whether that’s the case there is a lot I'll take with me where ever I do go.