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

Chicago Baby!

Our weekend was so amazing, I had such a good time!

The city and our hosts welcomed us warmly with hot weather and a cold glass of wine. We were at Chicago at eight and after some chatting we went to downtown to Hancook Center to see Chicago at night time. We were there just in time because it closed just after we were ready with our tour. After that we spent some time trying to find some place to eat and finally went to small pizza/bar place and ate traditional stuffed Chicago pizza and were back home about at one am. We were supposed to get up at seven on the next morning but finally got up at eight and had some breakfast. After that we headed to the Shedd Aquarium, missed our stop and walked all through Millennium Park back to the aquarium. And it was huge and so beautiful! We spent there like four hours, went through all the displays and watched a dolphin show. And I loved the sharks! The wall of that aquarium was curved so that it was on you too! And the sharks were BIG!
After that we walked again through Millennium Park and got to Navy Pier. There we ate good ice creams and continued our trip to the NHL hockey game! Chicago Blackhawks against Detroit Red Wings. And it was so easy to yell "GO HAWKS!" :D Oh we were so excited about the game with Kaisa, there was Tuomo Ruutu playing too! And he made a goal too! And of course we won (though Iowa Hawks didn't win, they had game too that day). The game had some different rules from Finnish hockey, after first 20 seconds there was a fight between two players and the judges didn't do anything! And of course there were all kind of shows in American style. But it was fun to yell PERKELE! And to see hockey, which is kind of the only sports I get excited.
After that we went back home and it was again after midnight and we were so tired after all the walking. Oh yeah, and I almost forgot!! Before the game we went to the beach and took some really nice pictures from there! I just have to get them from Meike first.
On Sunday we got up at nine and had some really good breakfast our host family made (stuffed pancakes) and at 11 am we left again to downtown just to walk around and see the Chicago marathon. There were a lot of people and the weather was hot. We browsed some souvenir shops (and the only thing I bought from Chicago was a Chicago magnet where you can put a pic or card...) and headed back at 2:30. And finally left back to Iowa City at 3:30. So I was in time to see Desperate Housewives!

And the host family was so nice! And oh my god their apartment! It was so beautiful and big! We're going to get some gift basket for them. I really felt welcomed!

So the weekend was really nice, I'm glad we went there. But back to reality, I have Endocrinology exam on Wednesday and I really haven't had time to read for it yet, so I'll have to live at the library again for a few days. And then I need to start to catch up everything else. But then it's no exams in two weeks! And on Tuesday morning I have the appointment. Blah. But I really hope that we can figure out things so that I could talk with my parents again!

On our way back home I listened to Poets of the Fall and dreamed about Tarmo. When we were at Savolinna for the first summer we dated, he took me to a rides and showed me all the pretty places there and we listened to Poets of the Fall then. So it always reminds me of our first summer ^^ And when we were at the beach, I drew his name on the sand <3

ps. I'll post the pics when I get them out from my camera... I was lazy now, sorry! And here's an article about the marathon, someone actually died (there were ambulances running all the time...) http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071008/ap_on_sp_ot/run_chicago_marathon

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 ^^

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!