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