One might think that after living such a long time abroad it would be more or less difficult to adapt to the "new" culture of Finland. Well, all I can say is that now I know how those poor exchange students feel when they first step out of the aircraft at Kuopio airport... -29 degrees celsius felt pretty hardcore after the mellow Dutch weather, where the coldest day of our stay was the final day with -8 degrees celsius.
The comeback could have been a bit smoother, but on the other hand, I like it spicy and exciting! That excitement began already on Dutch soil: the freezing weather caused traffic jams and delays in train services, which on the other hand was not surprising at all... The trip to Schiphol airport took us almost twice as long as normally, but we were there on time after two hours of furious monitoring of the current traffic situation.
We first flew to Stockholm and oh boy it was nice to see snow! I know, the winter has not been favorable in terms of snowfall, but the feeling when the plane descended from the clouds and the wintery landscape opened up before our eyes, was something that I cannot describe.
From Stockholm we flew to Helsinki, where we spent a couple of hours before our connecting flight. It was strange, at first even a bit scary to notice that I could understand every overheard conversation. It felt like I had been granted with a superpower! (Speaking Finnish kind of classifies as a superpower anyways... so they say). Talking to fellow people felt also strange, but in a good way. Effortless, so to say. Anyways, I think that for the first time I actually enjoyed spending time at Helsinki Airport (although the food there was super expensive, BUT THEY HAD RYE BREAD!)
As I said earlier, the weather in Kuopio was arctic, but I didn't mind. We drove to Miisa's family's place and went to sauna for the first time since mid-August! The next day we were supposed to go to my parents' place to get my trusted Volvo back, but we never got too far because Miisa's sister's Opel was completely frozen (the temperature was still below -25 degrees). Finally we managed to get the car and drove straight away to Kuopio to deliver my visa application to Russia. More about that later.
The next day we were supposed to go to school for the first time, but Volvo didn't agree with us. After working properly the day before, the car just wouldn't start after spending the night in the cold. It had never been malfunctioning in the cold before, but we didn't mind, because it just meant that we could have a day off with the cats and Netflix.
As if the weather and the car weren't enough trouble, my tooth that had been treated about a year ago, started to hurt like hell. It felt like getting punched in the face over and over again. With scissors. Apparently it didn't like that the temperature was changing repeatedly from -30 degrees to +80 degrees in the sauna. Now this is the part of the story where Finland is at its best. I called the municipal dentist of Kuopio around 8'o clock, but they were busy and I had to wait for them to call me back. My phone rang at 9:45 and the lady told me that I could have and appointment at 11:00!! On top of that, the whole trip cost me 43 euros, with the treatment and antibiotics included. High taxation apparently has its good sides as well...
After living with Miisa's parents for over a week, we were finally able to move back to our old apartment in Kuopio, where our friend had been residing for the time we were away. Thanks for keeping the flat in such a good shape!
The first couple of weeks might have been a bit rough, but that doesn't take away the overwhelming feeling of happiness that comes with the ice and snow, friends, familiar food, language and Koskenkorva, of course. Netherlands was awesome too and I really could see myself living and working there in the future, but it's just not the same as here.
I thought it would be a proper way to end the final post by expressing my gratitude to the people that made my time in the Netherlands so special and memorable. First of all, thanks to all my fellow students at NHTV. I never knew I could learn so much just by hanging out with this international bunch of intelligent and friendly people! The same goes to the people of FC Breda, thanks for having me! I hope you learned something from me, because I sure did learn a lot during the season. I hope we'll play together again someday.
Danke schön Felix for being so friendly all the time! I hope you buy that camper and pay us a visit sometime in the future. And thanks also for introducing us to your raclette grill, we became the best of friends! The last but not least, Victor, thanks for everything! I can't even express how thankful I am of all the stuff you did for us. Just keep doing what you do, because the Dutch floorball needs people like you to develop, people who just love the sport!
Okay, I think that's it. The end of a great adventure. But certainly not the end of adventures for me!
I mentioned earlier about the Russian visa I applied for. Well, I got it a few days ago, which means that just after a few days of "normal life" I get to pack my bags again. This time I'll be heading south, all the way to the Black Sea and the city of Sochi! I got accepted to a short exchange period in Russian International Olympic University and the trip starts on Saturday. For two weeks I'll be studying sports branding and PR in an environment that is pretty much one of the best places in the world for that. I'm kind of excited and kind of terrified at the same time, since the programme is meant for students who aim for master's degree and who have been working in high ranking positions in national Olympic associations and even in the Olympic Games! And then there is me, just a poor Finnish lad whose work experience is basically from driving a tractor and serving wine. At least I've been watching the Olympic Games on TV... It'll be interesting to see how it goes! I may post some stuff from Sochi to this blog as well, but that remains to be seen... Until then!
