Breakthrough

Oh I forgot to mention on important thing that happened in New York: In the middle of Manhattan I hear the words "hissun kissun", which basically is itsy bitsy version for walking slowly in Finnish! There was this elder couple and I was so astonished to hear Finnish in a place where you possibly can't hear anything anyway! :D

I also got C from the (again) impossible Neurobiology exam (46% God I just love stupid people again!!) and I'm happy, it should've been D at most... Also had my last midterm yesterday ^^ So now it's just two weeks plus final exams!!! And I thought that if I would work hard this and next week, I can have the last weekend off ^^

I had something else in my mind too that I had to mention...

Oh, you must've heard the new breakthrough in the field of stem cells??!! SO COOL! Though it still isn't efficient method enough to abandon embryonic stem cells, it's certainly a way towards that! Which means that some religious people can stop whining :> I don't need to be cruel, just wanted to say something... stupid. And it was so cool to have a real conversation about this yesterday at the Global Buddy meeting and I noticed that hey, I really know something as Cory asked some quite hard questions :) Few years in University not in vain! Yey! Though I still need to rehearse some words as I get excited, I forget how to pronounce some words... Not that I do that only in English, I can't speak in Finnish either :D

Ashleigh left to NYC for the weekend, so I got the "house" ^^ That means that if my neighbors mind to be quiet, I can read upstairs ^^ Oh but I really should read some Developmental Biology but I decided to find some old friends from Facebook and to polish my nails (haha) and then I needed to wait for the nailpolish to dry so I couldn't read :> Well, I could read but can't take notes... Anyway, there is no good reason not to read now, so I guess I need to do something...
Early morning tomorrow, I got a permission to go and listen one of Kaisas classes where they study cancer now :) And as my thesis has something to do with cancer and as it's not taught in our university (!!!) it can't do any harm to go there :)

ps. I miss Tarmo. A lot! Three more weeks!!!

B-!

I got B- from the impossible Developmental exam!!!

65/100, I love stupid people as they make me look smart ;D

And funny story from last night:

It was really hot inside so we kept our window open for the night. At 2 am I woke up to this BOOOORRMMM (really low and loud noise)
"What the hell is that??"
"What? It's a motorbike"
"Oh God!"
"It's every night, you're just a sleep already the and can't hear it, what did you think it was??"
"I don't know, I was still asleep, it could've been anything!"
"Well don't worry, it's just a motorbike, not a space ship! It just makes me laugh 'cause you just laid there and didn't move at all."
"I was too afraid to move..."
*lauhgter*
... 10 min...
BEEP BEEP
*burst of laughter*
"Definitely the mothership..."
*car alarm*
"For God's sakes!!!"
...
"Someone's doing laundry at this time of the night??"
"Oh c'mon!"

:D I really didn't know what I thought it was and as I do have quite strong imagination and I was still half asleep when I woke up, it could be anything! And yes, I do have go-go-gadget ears (Ashleigh nominated that) but obviously they don't work when I'm sleeping :>

Don't Know What to Think

Quite long time since I last wrote in here but I've been too busy... I have lot to write about and first comet the update of my life :)

So I was supposed to have Endocrinology exam week ago but as we waited it to start the lecture room filled with strange people and eventually there was no space for all. It turned out to be some other exam and our exam was canceled. It was supposed to be today but the lecturer decided to put half of it to next exam and half on final. Which is good because I had Neurobiology exam today... But the weekend first. On Friday I was home early and went to Kaisas place to see some movie (Mean Girls) and drank bottle of wine (was one glass only because the bottles are small... :P) with sparkling water. On Saturday I had really lazy day. I watched the game (again at Kaisas, and we won!), after that we watched Devil wears Prada (rented it on Friday but didn't watch it and it had to be returned by 5pm). After that it was too late to do anything (not that I really had any motivation to do anything...) so we just watched tv (Pirates of the Caribbean I). And talked with Tarmo <3 On Sunday I got some work done and ate pancakes which Kaisa made for us ^^ They were soooooo good! And of course on Sunday it's Desperate Housewinves day too :) I also heard that dad lost his job (though we knew to expect that, they had a new boss and they had to let people go, and he actually wanted to quit but it's not good to quit your job on your own or you don't get any money). So now he has no job but he still gets money. But he's too old to get any job anymore and he's been sick a lot so I hope that he retires... Or that he can retire. We'll see...

On Monday it was my birthday!!! So I'm 22 :> In the morning my parents called and I even got a card from Ashleigh! (A cat card and it was red! Am I really THAT obvious??? :D) I got a funny power point from friends from Finland and many congrats via Facebook. On my first lecture Meike gave me a smoothie and a Birthday Girl badge I had to wear the whole day :D It was fun and quite embarrassing, especially when I was alone :D At Burge a girl who swipes our ID said Happy Birthday and a group of exchange students started to sing but I quickly left :D After my lectures I came home, talked with Tarmo and Saana (haven't talked for so long time!!!). Meike and Paola invited me to their place in the evening and I had such a big surprise waiting for me! The second I stepped inside there was Seminaarimäen Mieslaulajat - Taina playing, there was a birthday cake on the table, red lights and Happy Birthday band hanging on the couch!!!! OH MY GOD! I was so touched that I had to cry! It still gets my eyes wet :) I can't say how touched I was... I did know to expect something but not anything like this... Oh... It was so nice! And I got beautiful earrings and a Hello Kitty towel :D And when I finally came back home I had a packet of Finnish chocolate and Salmiakki waiting for me from my parents :)

And on that night I had a dream where I was sleeping next to Tarmo and it felt so warm and nice, and Pollo walked there too <3

And something about the weather has to be mentioned too... it's been really windy and in the mornings (and nights) there is already minus degrees! Trees have lost most of their leaves but the grass is still green. Still feels like Finnish Spring.

Today I had my Neurobiology exam (no more night exams!!!) and the professor said that the exam is harder than the last exam was... I don't know how that's possible... There were couple of questions I didn't know but I answered to everything... I did all I could, it didn't go well but then again that doesn't tell anything. As I have said so many times, even though you get bad points, you can get a good grade... Last time I got like 66/100 and I got B... So stupid...

But now to serious things. I heard this morning some awful news from Finland. About the massacre in Jokela high school. Oh my god... I feel so bad... And the most shocking part of this is that it was in news even in here! I really don't know what to think! And I've been thinking about it the whole day! I don't know why it touches me this much. I didn't know any of them, it was far away from where I live but still I feel awful. Maybe it's because it was even in here in news and it was said in news too, that schools have always been considered as a safe place in Finland and I myself have always felt that when I'm in school, I'm safe. Lucky me that I'm not in school anymore, I don't know what I'd do... I'm afraid of mentally unstable people, have always been, but somehow I'm even more afraid now... I can't understand how no-one saw this coming??? Please do believe that when a young people say that they feel bad, they do feel bad and it's not just a puberty!!! (That's what it was considered when I was in high school...) We really need to take some serious actions... Oh I still can't believe this happened! I don't know what to think... I'm mad that he died and he don't need to face his action, he got away from this too easily! He killed young people who had their whole life ahead and a woman who possibly had children! This is so unfair! Then again it's good that he died so that the government doesn't need to take care of him (which costs a lot money). And even though I don't believe in God, I want to believe that he won't get away from this this easily. There's got to be something waiting for him. Hell or something as bad. This is stupid, stupid, STUPID! I feel so sorry for all the parents and friends. As my worst fear is to lose my loved ones, I can only imagine what they feel like if I feel this bad :(

I don't know what to say about this anymore... I don't know what to think. I'm so glad no-one asked my opinion about this today. I might have bursted into tears...

Not So Good Week

Finally I have the mood to write here. This week was pretty shit. But luckily it's over. After Mondays bad news I suddenly got in the middle of a "fight" of friends and my friendship was questioned. I felt so upset though I blame myself too. If I had kept my eyes open, I had seen this coming and wouldn't been so upset. But unfortunately I've been living inside my head and didn't see what I was supposed to see. And I usually see those things! I know I'm confusing but I don't want to get into details. So I felt miserable. Then I got sick. What a perfect week.

But I feel a lot better, we figured out the fight and hopefully that was the last time... And I think I had some fever last night too... But I feel a lot better in that field too. Today we cooked with friends in my place (and I had to clean the kitchen, again :F). It was fun and refreshing. But I still need to read something for Animal Behavior, I'll have exam on that on Tuesday. And then I'll have exams every week again until December.
So no rest for this girl until Thanksgiving week.
And it's two months even to see Tarmo!

My roommates were out last night and brought some friends with them but luckily they were here only about an hour. On Saturday I went to bed already at six! I didn't sleep but I felt so bad. And on Friday I tried to go sleeping early too but my roommates went shopping and came back and wanted to show what they had bought :)

Eight weeks... I've been just studying and living inside my thoughts. Tarmo said that our home doesn't feel like home because I'm not there :) I feel quite weird too. I feel like I'm here only like a week or so but the week is never ending week. This feels so temporary (though it is that :D)

But I don't have much to write. Just wanted you to know that I'm still kicking :)

Two Months

Two months! I've been here for two months! And still 71 days left until I see my babe...

AND, I did something radical today! We didn't get any place to stay at Tennessee so we're going to leave two weeks earlier than we were supposed to leave. I just changed our flights from 18th to 4th January! We still need to book a hotel... But anyway, we're going to save quite a lot and I get home earlier!

AND, my connection is working!

AND, I had exam today and I will not have exams for two weeks!

Oh happy day!

So, connection problems solved and I can relax a bit. Though I talked with my parents this morning using Ashleighs computer. They were a bit concerned already... And I got yesterday this wonderful reflector from my mom! It's so cute ^^ What else has happened? I had long day, just got home and I'm quite tired... Oh yeah, I saw my global buddy, I haven't seen her for such a long time... We had fun time :)

ps. Tarmo said something wonderful to me this morning and I was one big smile for the whole day ^^

Working Hard

And it's weekend again.

morning I talked with Tarmo before leaving to my class. After my first class I went to the library to read for my Neurobiology exam and Kaisa came there too. We were supposed to go to Kalona Fall Festival later that day (at 6 pm) but Kaisa said that she'll go with the earlierOn Friday I had the most hectic day ever. In the group (3 pm) to there so that she wouldn't miss the homecoming parade. Meike had already said that she'll change the group too but I had my Endocrinology until 3:20 pm. But I started to think that I don't want to miss the parade either. So after lunch we went to ask if there still was seats left on the first group and half an hour before we were supposed to leave, we found out that there will be two cars going so we can go with the earlier group! So we went home to get our school stuff off and change bags because we were going straight from Kalona to the parade. So we left and on our way we visited a cheese factory. There we saw the only Amish people, there were no Amish people at the Kalona festival. The area was small and reminded me of Finnish markets, there was food and antiques. We were ready to leave after 1,5 hours but we had to wait for the others. So we made it just and just to the parade and after that we went to see a free concert. In the middle of the concert we left to eat something and after that we met the others and listened other concert. There was Minus Six again at the town so we went to Q-bar to listen to them and I was back home at 2 am.
I put my eye pads on my eyes so that I could sleep late the next day.

So I woke up today at 9.30 am when Ashleigh left to the game. I went to watch the game at Kaisas place (we lost). After that I came back home, talked again with my mother in law (they showed their new home via webcam!) and took a nap because I was really tired and my head ached. I really appreciate the Finnish bars now, the smoke makes my head ache, I drank only one drink and it took 2 hours for me to finish it so I didn't have a hang over! :D But after napping I felt better, made some food and actually managed to read some Neurobiology ^^

I had a dream few nights ago that my mom cried a lot. I need to ask if she's okay when we talk next time.

And I've been missing home. Sometimes I feel like I would just like to crawl in my bed, go under the blanket and be there in warm. I feel like I would like to be alone, curl up in to fetus position and be in my own thoughts. But I know that's not a good thing to do so I don't do that. Instead I study hard and try to be social. Though being perfectionist (and not so sure how much I need to study to get good grades), studying takes now time from my socializing. But I heard that local students don't take many science courses at a time because they require a lot work (which I've noticed) and that the basic courses are harder in grading so that the people that are not smart enough will drop. But luckily working has always been my way to "grief". If you can call this grieving :D



82 days and I see my baby again. And two days for our half a year anniversary (from our engagement)... Kalona was hard place, there were babies all over! And they all were behaving and so cute :> I need to write an e-mail to my professor and ask about my graduation... I need to ask if I need one course and when do I need to apply for the PhD place... I am beginning to realize that I am actually going to graduate. That's quite scary! I remember the time it seemed that I would just study forever... Though after graduating I will still study :D But at least I get some money.

I love the peace in here. Everyone is partying after the game.

Expressing Mother Genes

Okay, this is the thing I was moaning yesterday:

I read the whole weekend to the developmental biology exam (and not to the behavior exam because developmental biology is more interesting, though I had the behavior exam today...) and learned the major things we've gone through so far. And I learned those things so that I really understood them but then I saw the last years exam and I got depressed and angry! The exam was full of details! And only details! Well okay, mainly details but still! You can't measure your BASIC knowledge by asking questions about little details, the course is INTRODUCTION to Developmental Biology! Details are for more advantaged people (and obviously for smarter people than me...)
But anyway, that was the thing blogger.com decided to delete last night... And so I had my Animal Behavior exam today and it actually went better than I expected (because I lost my motivation for reading because of the detail questions). Though I didn't answer for two questions (I just couldn't remember two terms and I had absolutely no clue about C. elegans mechanoreceptors molecular basics and how touching with eyelash affects ti those molecules... though I do remember the professor mentioning researchers without eyelashes... :D). And I wasn't sure about few of the questions but mainly I knew the answers, so at least I passed (I hope). I actually heard some guy complaining about the exam on neurobiology discussion after the exam :D
And yeah, in here you write only your student number on the exam, no names! And you don't need to show any ID when you return the exam...

And I started menstruating today! Two days earlier than normally! I think it's because of my mother genes are expressed more actively than normally (yes, I've been reading genetics :D) No but really I think it has something to do with my mental disorder I've had lately...

I talked with my mom today and she sounded a bit worn out... I wonder what's wrong... It might be because of the water damage that stresses her and it starts to get dark in Finland now and people get depressed... I hope she'll get better! It was raining the whole day today and when I came back home, it was already dark and the streets were wet and full of yellow leaves, Fall, just like in Finland! And it was quite cold!

I need to start to go through my notes for the damned INTRODUCTION to Developmental Biology exam... I have the exam on that on Thursday, then I have to start go through my Neurobiology notes and read the chapters and after than exam (next Wednesday) I need to catch up everything and then (or even before I finish catching up...) it's time for Chicago! We even bought tickets for a ice hockey game there! And we're going to stay at Melissas relatives :) and on this Friday we'll go to Kalona Festival! It's kind of Amish festival that's near here. And on Friday night we'll go to see Minus Six again!

And I got a letter from my niece today! She's like 12 or something (I'm sos bad with ages, I can't even remember how old I am!) and asked what's my favorite food and when am I coming back ^^

Stupid Introduction

I got Finnish candy today! Never ever has salmiakki tasted this good <3

(part of post deleted because blogger.com didn't know how tho handle my pic and decided to erase half of my text and ARGH and I'm too tired to do that again... So it just continues from here and no pics this time :P)
...
because I felt that I should had learned only details and not the basics in detail...) Well I just need to see how it goes. And about the Animal Behavior course, since I spent so much time in developmental biology, I didn't have enough time to read for this course and I lost my interest because of the detail thing... Luckily I have some time to go through my notes tomorrow morning... And luckily I can take my classes as passed and not with grades... I just hope that I pass! I really prefer Finnish system. We have usually only one exam during the course and by knowing the basics you pass and by knowing details you get an A. But in here you have three to four exams in a course and they seem to ask mainly details... In Finland we have few questions where we have to define some things plus two to four essays (real essays, you need to write two to four pages!) and it usually takes two hours to complete the exam. In here you have ten pages of multiple choices, some defines and short essays (meaning sentence or two!) and you complete the exam in an hour. And did I already mention the details??? In my opinion you can't measure your knowledge by details, you need to know the basics and big concepts and by details you show that you are smart and interested in that thing... It might seem easy but it's not, you really need to understand the big concept before you can understand the details! And what's that about grading people with Gaussian function??? That does not measure knowledge, if people are stupid, they are stupid and still get A's! (I just chatted with my suite mate for an hour so I lost my thoughts.) But I think that was enough anyway. And I'm starting to miss home. I've chatted with my mother in law and she sent me nice pictures of their new house and I'd just like to visit there... I'm starting to miss my own bed, my own kitchen... And I'm starting to miss Tarmo so much that occasionally it makes me depressed. I really need to keep myself busy now so that I don't get time to think too much. I still love Iowa City and I don't want to leave yet but this is getting worse... Maybe it's because now I have only my courses and I really don't have time for socializing anymore, at least not as much as I'd like to have... My normal day begins at 7:30 am (and I really wake up without alarm clock), I get up, make breakfast and back my bag and get ready, then I come to talk with Tarmo and then I go to my classes, after that I study and I get home at 8 pm. And by that time I'm just so tired that I'd just like to sleep but I try to do things and get bed at 10 pm. I don't like being at home because I don't like this room as much as I like my own house and I have my computer in here so I really can't concentrate in here. And it's noisy. Moan moan. Not really. I got chocolate and salmiakki!! But now I got stuck with my mouth again. And it's late enough so that I can go bed again! I have the same thing my dad has, if he's sad, he sleeps. Maybe that's why I'd just like to sleep.. Though I love sleeping :>

I've been thinking about future a lot. I've kind of started to realize that I'm going to graduate next Summer. And then I get money, at least a lot more money than I get now, and then I'm able to save some money! I already planned that I'd get my drivers license next Spring. I just need to start saving which means that I need to save in here too, but that's not hard, I don't have the time to do any shoppings anyway! And I could ask some money from my parents as my birthday and christmas gift... And then I'm graduating and we need to start planning ti get a car because we don't get the discounts anymore so it'd be worth of buying a car... And then... some family things I've been thinking... Oh I hate this baby boom! And then again I love it :D I'm crazy, I know.

But the bed. It calls me.

I Know What Sunlotion Is

Something to report again :)

I had my first exam and it went ok. The professor asked some questions I didn't really expect but I knew the answers for most of the questions. At least I think so... We had 5 pages of questions on both sides of the papers, multiple questions, true/false or short answers. I was done in half an hour though I didn't believe it, so I checked my answers, didn't change anything and watched someone else to return their paper first. It was funny that people kept asking questions about the exam during the whole exam time (like some details about the questions or asked some clarifications), in Finland what you see is what you get. If there is not some mistakes about the question and you ask something about it, the professor just says that you see the question, answer to it...

I also had my first "proper" lab in animal behavior. Last time we just watches the March of the Penguins and wrote short proposal for that, today we played with zebra fishes. We had a male zebra fish alone in a tank and we were supposed to tease it with a fake female/male fishes and write down its behavior. In the end we wanted to repeat the trials but our fish got tired and was only interested in me :D (it stayed only in the corner that was on my side) I laughed that even the fish is interested in European girl :D

And I felt really special at the beginning of the week when people came to say to me that "Oh we missed you!" I was away only one weekend :D Tymon was best when he said that "Oh, the Asians are no use, you need to come to the bar with us!" I also talked with my mother in law today! She was visiting Tarmo today and we talked via Skype and webcam :) So I saw our kitties, Tarmo and my mother in law <3 It made me happy but it also made me miss home. Talking by just writing is easier though I love to hear Tarmos voice, but it makes me miss him and home more. Though time still goes by so fast, it's already Thursday night!

People are still teasing me about my red face. "You know what sunlotion is? You know, S-U-N-L-O-T-I-O-N." "Yeah, I thought you were red! You want me to get you some lotion?" Thanks, but I can handle this and believe or not, we do have sunlotion in Finland too :P I just supposed that we were going to bar to see the game but we didn't, so we stayed outside and it was cold and and... Which reminds me that I'm kind of waiting for the colder weather. It's windier now so it's not that warm even though the temperature is close to 30C. And the trees are dropping their leaves... I want to wear my winter skirts and boots :P And many people have asked me if the girls in here are like in every American movies: all made up and fresh and beautiful 24/7. No they aren't. I leave out the sorority girls ;) They're just like we normal people ;D But I hate the water in here, it's so hard that it makes my hair so dry...

Oh I should do some vacuuming to our floor but we don't have a vacuum cleaner... And I never hear anyone to do any cleaning (vacuuming), now I've just picked up the trash every time I see one... Though I don't really spend that much time at home, I mainly sleep in here and I am keeping my laundry clean ;) And I keep my side ordered (most of the time...).

And some random things: people in here don't really know how to drive. They just get their drivers license. Well they know how to drive but they can't back up the car... In Finland we really need to learn how to do the backing up in small places before we get our license :P And Aston Kutcher and Elijah Wood have studied in the University of Iowa ;) And I had a troijan horse in my computer. The virus detector was funny, it gave this alarm (and scared me) but it said "there is no reason to panic..." Well that's a program for women! Because if it hadn't said that, I would've panicked :D And oh yeah, I bought Windows Vista and Office 2007, for total of $20 :P

We're going to Chicago in two weeks! We need still find a place to stay... And after that it's not long for out Thanksgiving trip and after that it's not long for finals and after that it's not long for me to see my love!