I made it!

I arrived in Oulu last night and was welcomed by my beautiful host family! It was amazing to see them again, and by some miracle I still possess the ability to speak Finnish! I've forgotten a lot of basic words, but I'm sure I'll get them back very quickly.

I would have checked in sooner, but I fell asleep almost instantly when I got back and slept for a good 11 hours. I wanted to sleep more, but I figure I should attempt to be remotely on Finnish time.

I wrote this little post during my travels, mostly killing time in the London Gatwick airport and on the train in Finland. I figured I'd just add it on here so the post is a little longer:

There's a special place in hell reserved for people who look good at the airport. Seriously. This is an airport people, not a fashion show. I look like crap compared to the average traveller, I don't need you beautiful models dragging me down any further. I haven't slept on anything remotely shaped like a bed in 50+ hours; I look like an oversized rat dressed in baggy people-clothes, and it's not really my fault.

I mean, I don't really care all that much. I highly doubt I'll meet the love of my life at Gate B26, but still. I'm exhausted, I need something to complain about.

I arrived in Helsinki in one piece and almost cried when I heard random people speaking Finnish! Hey, it's been 448 days since I've heard a real person speak the language, give me a break. I'm currently sitting on a train to Oulu, from which I'll be picked up by my host father and get to sleep in a real bed. I've spent about... *pulls out calculator*... 55 hours travelling.

Ew.

Before I go I'd like to share one of the highlights of my trip as all of us sardines were fit into that can they called an airplane that left Vancouver to London: I found my seat, sat back, and prepared to be lulled into the calm of Pink Floyd's Animals when I hear "My god, they've got Downton Abbey on the Tele!" exclaimed in a thick British accent and, I'm not even kidding, at least ten people squealed. It was majestic.

Hope you enjoyed my scatter-brained post! I will try to keep you all updated, but keep in mind I haven't seen these people on about a year and a half!

~Klaara

They Speak English in What?

So I woke up this morning, turned off my alarm, walked to the bathroom and almost vomited. I'm sorry if that's a little graphic, but I want to give you guys an idea of how nervous I am.

I'm not sure why I'm so scared, but I hope the feeling goes away soon. I feel like I'm carrying 20kg of rocks in my chest in addition to my equally heavy backpack.

I'm not afraid of arriving in Finland. Not even remotely. I'm afraid of navigating London to get to Finland. It's strange, they speak English in London - THEY SPEAK ENGLISH IN WHAT?!?? - but I'm going to feel like an alien. A legal alien. A Canadian in London...

God, I hope someone gets all my references.

Although my first bus was mega late, I managed to not miss my second bus and made it to the ferry in one piece. Once arriving in Vancouver I jumped on the bus and promptly fell asleep. I like to live dangerously.

Do not fret, my good lady, for I made it to the Vancouver International Airport five hours before my boarding time. Wow, rebel.

So I'm just chilling in the airport at this point. This post is mainly for me to try out the Blogger phone application and get used to the fact that I'm going to have to type on a stupid touch screen keyboard instead of my laptop's beautiful keyboard with real buttons and clicky sounds... But alas, the laptop did not meet the space or weight restrictions I placed upon myself, so I must live with the consequences.

So yeah. Hope you enjoyed my pointless ramble. I'm going to edit this a couple of times and mess with the layout, and I really hope those of you who have subscribed via email aren't emailed every time I update. If you are, I'm sorry.

Carl out. »»»»»»»

Hello Everyone!

This is my blog, welcome! This page on the interwebs will help inform you, the reader, of my travels around the beautiful continent of Europe!

I highly recommend reading my "What Are Dis?" page, which can be found in the toolbar beside "Home", just under my 80s-style, mega-ugly banner thingy. 

As I say in the "What Are Dis?" page, my posts will be sporadic, and unpredictable, and irregular, and random, and scattered... So I recommend putting your email into the "Follow by Email" box, just on the left here. I will try to put a little post on Facebook whenever I post something new, but I make absolutely no promises at all. 

I'm leaving Canada-land in less than a week, and I'm actually terrified. I've never not planned something so, well, important as this. I mean, I'm going to a whole other continent and just going "hmmm, I guess I should find a place to sleep tonight!" It's a terrifying idea, but I'm actually really excited. My new years resolution in maybe 2012 was to be more spontaneous. I of course, like all other new years resolutions I've ever had, did the exact opposite of that for the rest of the year. Maybe this trip will make up for that failure. Let's just say it does, to make me feel better. 

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, places I can stay... please leave me a comment on these posts! I would give out my email, but I'd be afraid of being flooded with unreasonable amounts of fan mail *tosses hair in the best Justin Bieber impression you've ever seen*

ANYWAYS, I think I'm done talking for now. Talk to you soon!