Thanksgiving Trip

So, it was awesome!

On Saturday we woke up very early and I didn't sleep well since my throat was really sore. But so we went to Boston via Chicago, walked the Freedom Trail, visited Harvard campus area and walked through Newsbury Street which is "European shopping street". Our hostel was great. It was clean and we had total of six girls in our room. Also breakfast was included! We also could sleep well since the girls were quiet :) We also went to eat some sea food (Boston lobster) to a restaurant that was recommended for us. The food was good and we had some wine with it too. Though I now know that I'm not that big fan of sea food. It was ok but now that I've tasted it, I don't need to taste it again. Plus it was quite expensive :P

After Boston we headed to New York where our hostel was in Harlem. Though it was easy to get in there, metro was close. On the first night we went to see Broadway and it was overwhelming. Bright lights all over. We also went to see the city from heights (Empire State Building) at the night. It was beautiful. We came back to the hostel and we had this obnoxious woman in our room. She was in her 40ies and for some reason she had all her stuff all over and a dog at some of her friends place and it seemed that she just had gotten some new job and left there early making a lot of noises, swearing in the middle of the night to some girl who snored (snoring really bothers me but I woke to her shushing, not to the snoring). She was really annoying. We also had a mouse in there (it ate Paolas milkyway bar and chips) and ten girls in one room. It wasn't that nice place but it was cheap. The next morning we headed to see Wall Street (ate our breakfast at Dunkin Doughnuts where there was nice and friendly men who laughed at us) and the Statue of Liberty and all that stuff. Unfortunately it was raining and we got wet though it stopped raining after we got to Ellis Island. After that we went to see WTC (really not much to see) and what else? We went back to the hostel quite early to pack our stuff and go to shower... We slept a bit better the next night. In the morning we went to see Central Park (it was really beautiful!) but I got really cranky as I didn't get my morning coffee. So we went to get my coffee and ate lunch. After noon we headed to the airport to go to Washington.

Kaisas friend Ingrid picked us up and we drove to Charlottesville to her place. On our way we ate at IHOP (international house of pancakes, what was the international? Maybe the Swedish pancakes??). Next day we just rested (our feet were screaming some rest) though we went to see the university and helped a bit with the Thanksgiving dinner the girls made. We spent most of the day watching Gilmore Girls :) The dinner was at the next door apartment and it was really good. Kind of Christmas. We ate a lot! Finally after the dishes were done we got to bed. One day rest was really nice since my feet were really sore for some weird reason. I've walked great distances before and it's never been like this. And I had good shoes! But anyhow, on Friday morning we got Greyhound bus back to Washington DC.

calling there a weird looking man opened the door, he was talking in theAnd oh my god but the driver was annoying! He got lost!!! And we arrived over an hour late to Washington since he drove really s l o w l y on the town area. Annoying! We kept swearing to him in Finnish with Kaisa (I really will get in trouble after I get back in Finland as I really need to remember that people CAN understand what I'm saying :D). So we went to eat some lunch and headed to our hostels. Paola slept in different hostel as she booked her stuff later than we did so there was no space left. In the bus we seemed again to be the only white people... We found the hostel (it was someones house!) but the door was locked. We tried to open it but nothing happened. There was a sticker that said that we should call someone... Just when I was phone. For some reason he didn't have our reservation but we finally got a bed for us (it was king size so we shared it and it was cheaper than the original reservation!). He showed us the place and he was really nice and sweet (though still looked weird...). So we left our stuff there and headed back to downtown to see all the sightseeings. White House etc... We were already quite tired and mine and Kaisas feet were still not playing with us and they really hurt. So Paola saw a bit more than we did since we really couldn't walk anymore that much. We got something to eat and headed back to our hostels. The keeper was sitting on a sofa and said "Welcome Home" when we came in :) There we watched some tv and some South Korean guys tried to get us in the bar but we had to get up at 5 am the next morning so we said thanks but no thanks. Again we slept badly (it was really cold since someone left the window open!). So we got up and got a bus. The hostel keeper waited at the door watching us to depart safely. He was really sweet! Even though we were first a bit worried, he was really nice and the place was the comfiest place of all the places we stayed :) There was even a cat there and he was so cute! Made me miss our cats really much...

So we headed to Amtrak train and to airport and came back to Iowa City via Chicago. The week war really hectic though we got one day "off". But we saw a lot. And it was an awesome trip! So fun! And every evening we got hot chocolates from Starbucks so I don't know how I can now cope without it!!! Need to drink some tea...

Today after I came home I just unpacked my stuff, cooked some food and did laundry. I also talked with Tarmo (he had his birthday today!). And in a half an hour I'm going to Kaisas to see some movie.

It's so quiet in here! Everyone's somewhere else and it's nice. I plan to sleep late tomorrow. Though I need to read tomorrow... I have an exam on Wednesday... It's under month left! Cool! I really miss everyone. And I'm starting to be more than ready to leave back home.

Under one month... Time has gone by so fast. It's been awesome time though it hasn't been easy. But I'm happy I came here, I've learned a lot from myself and the world. But it's not time to talk this talk yet, that comes in a month :)

But I'll head downstairs to see the movie. Oh how nice it's to be back home again :)

I bet I forgot thousand things to mention but as the week was hectic I can't remember everything :D And if I wrote everything this would be a book... :P

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 :)

Wannabe European Guys

Oh I've been so busy, as usual. On Thursday I started to write my animal behavior cricket lab report, on Friday I read some neurobiology and today I did some statistical analysis for the report. Though otherwise this day was quite waisted but maybe it's good once in a while...

We went last night to Piano Lounge to listen this guy play piano and he was so good. And I had one glass of white wine, so elegant! Though before going downtown we drank one glass of Kaisas white wine :) And we missed the first bus because we couldn't fit in. So we waited for the second one and because the bus ran on "wrong direction" (i.e. it when to other side of the river first) it was empty. And the bus driver had some candy for us and he played music really loud. He also drove really fast and because the benches are quite slippery, Kaisa almost fell on the floor because she didn't hold on :D I had such a good laugh! And the funny thing was that I imagined myself falling on the floor because if I hadn't had a hold of the edge of the bench, I'd have been on the floor because my feet aren't long enough to stop myself on the opposite benches :D It was funny.
And back on our way home there were these three guys and we kept teasing them with Kaisa while waiting for the bus (45 minutes, after that we decided to walk back home) :D They tried to pretend to be from somewhere else (from Europe) but somehow we knew they were from US :D

But today I was sleeping too late, I missed the first 30 minutes of the game! And that means that I slept until 11 am! I can't even remember when I did that last time! So I made some coffee and went to see the game (and we won, finally!) and after that I went to HyVee to do some grocery shopping (Kaisas roommate gave us a ride there). I tried to buy all the food I need (and I can buy beforehand) for the last two moths so that I wouldn't have to do any food shopping anymore.

But now that I'm done with my statistical analysis (I'm too lazy to continue on writing them on the report) and my laundry is done too, I'll go and do something not so useful so that I can be all energized tomorrow.

And I'm almost half through my studies in here! And we rebooked our flights, we'll be back in Finland in 5th January. We didn't get any place to stay in Nashville so we decided that we'll leave earlier. We can't afford to pay for any hotel for three weeks!

Missing My Babe

I had such a fun night last night :) But unfortunately I can't (still!) post any pics because they just won't upload. :(

But anyway, yesterday morning we went to the Farmers Market to get some fresh food. And we also found this organic food place and I bought some fruits there. Then we got back home and Meike reminded me that the church had a give way day and so I headed back to downtown, almost missed the transportation there but thanks to Paola and Meike we (Kaisa and I) got a ride there. I found night table and small shelf plus some kitchen items. Then I got back home again, waited for the items to arrive and headed to City Park for FIS (Friends of International Students) picnic. We ate a lot and had a good time. When it ended I once again headed back home to change my clothes because we went to see this free movie at Old Capitol. After that we headed to Brothers, were there until 1:30 am and after that we went to Nathaniels place and had some vodka. I was back home at 5 am and talked with Tarmo for a while and finally got some sleep. Though I slept only like three hours because it was getting so light that I just couldn't sleep anymore.
And I've just been listening to Tori Amos and chatted with friends. In a couple of hours we're going to IMU to get some free lunch and maybe after that see another free movie.

But I had such a good time last night. We had some deep discussions with Nathaniel and he also offered me to stay the night at their couch but I wanted to come home because I knew my love would be already wake and I really missed him. So Nathaniel walked me home because it was night and little girls aren't supposed to walk alone at night time :D But yesterday was the first day I missed Tarmo really badly. I do miss him all the time but last night was just overwhelming. I know that alcohol had something to do with that :P And I've just been listening Tori Amos with my Kisu (Kittie) and my head aches a bit because of the vodka (Russian one!) and because I didn't sleep enough, I think I'm still a bit drunken :>

Americans are so funny. Yesterday we were wondering how to get to the super WalMart and this church lady said that she could take us there some time and she actually gave us a call today and asked if we would like to go shopping :D And yesterday I would've had a car taking me home but I preferred walking because it sobers me up. And then Nathaniel walked me home. I can't understand why they are so friendly. :D Not that I don't appreciate that! I do! But for a Finn friendly people are just fantasy. And yet again I always fear that people get the wrong impression of me because being a European woman in America seems to make me interesting and I love chatting with people. And all the other exchange students are so nice too! I just need to always first make clear to them (well, to all the guys) that I'm engaged and I'm not planning to have any kind of messing around in here because I love him so much and I'm only one mans girl. (There is actually one guy that is engaged !! but says that she doesn't need to know, want to mess around with me? I don't care if you have a boyfriend. And that's just awful! So that makes me a bit cautious.) But it's kind of complicated. Because I try to be friendly to all and you really can't just say "Hi I'm Taina and I'm engaged, how are you?". You have to chat first for a while and I always try to bring up this thing in a subtle way because I don't want to be rude. Oh this is so difficult to explain what I mean. I can't explain it even in Finnish either but I hope you get the idea what I'm talking about. But I'll drop this thing now before it gets too long. I just needed to get this off my chest :)

Oh yeah, and I met at the picnic this guy who loves HIM and he had a HIM shirt! That was cool! And he said that people from Finland always speak perfectly English :D I also met my other "roomies" on the other side of kitchen and bathroom. They were really nice.

And I have this huge pimple on the side of my nose and it hurts so much and I hate it!

ps. edited: I added pics finally in here too ^^

Spilled Shampoo

So I got my computer in order thanks to Tarmo :)

There are so many things I’ve wanted to write, so here it comes.

Here they refill your glass for free! It’s so nice because it’s hot and one glass of lemonade (which I love) isn’t enough. So, when they ask want it refilled, say yes! And all the workers, no matter where, are really friendly (expect the bus driver, he/she never says anything). Sorry my love, it’s nothing darling… So sweet! When I was sitting at the airport and the cleaning lady hit my bag accidentally, she said “Oh I’m so sorry my dear”. Who could ever be mad at them when they are so sweet :) Not that I had been mad anyway. And in Chicago in toilets they have this sanitary pad on the toilet eat which changes every time when someone comes in the toilet, so handy! And you didn’t need to flush the toilet, you just waived your hand and it flushed. So hygienic!

And the mall we went with Kaisa was Coral Ridge Mall. There we were at Target and our hands were already full of stuff, so we went to get a basket. Kaisa loaded her things on my things in my hands (because I had more stuff) and her shampoo (or conditioner) fell of, its cap fell too and the floor was full of shampoo! Well there wasn’t that much of it but anyway. There was this man who came immediately to help us, he got the bottle, gave it to me and went to get paper to wipe the shampoo off the floor. He was so friendly! I could never imagine something like that to happen in Finland. We also took pics at Target of the shampoo bottles, they’re like 1l!!! Huge! And their packing system is quite handy too. When you go to pay your stuff, they pack them right away in bags that hang on the wall, so you just need to take the already packed bag.

And on Sunday we went to see where Mayflower and Slater Halls are and walked by the river. It was really hot and I got some tan too! And didn’t even burn (thanks to the 30spf sunblock).

We went to the Mall again yesterday and we went to Victorias Secret! I just love that shop! I bought panties and bra from there and they weren’t really expensive. The panties were 5 for $25, same as in any other shop and the bra was -40%. I’m definitely going to buy some nightshirts there before Tarmo comes ;) I also got new mobile phone number, I bought this prepaid thing. It’s much cheaper than circle all my messages and calls from Finland. And it was easy to get it too. And on our way back I saw this green colored ground and I was wondering why on earth do they color it? Do they think it looks like a lawn? Then I saw this worker who was spraying this colored thing on the earth and pointed that to Kaisa and Paola and we laughed about it, and then this lady behind me told that it’s not really just color, it will grow grass soon. So not that hilarious after all.

And last night we had this salon night with Paola, we did our nails, ate ice cream and chips. And watched TV of course.

Today our orientation will begin. We’ll check in at 1pm and after that we’ll go and eat at Buffalo Wings (again). I should buy some Iowa shirts too (there’s this discount, buy one get two or buy one, get three), they’re really popular in here. And I thought that I’d buy some sweater from there too because they’re comfortable and warm (not that I’d need one now). By the way, we still haven't managed to find any food store around here...