hey everyone... thank you so much for all the sweet birthday wishes! i missed all of you as i celebrated my bday, but am thankful for my new friends in oulu who made it a special day!
this week has been super busy, school is picking up speed and i had to get 2 presentations ready for the day after my birthday...so i spent lots of long nights trying to get those finished so that i could celebrate on my actual birthday! i did get them finished and had quite the birthday celebration.
so wed. i had class all day from 10-6 and then i went to my french friend´s (anaïs, juilette and emilien) apartment where they had a birthday party for me and fernando (a guy from spain who has the same bday)... the invited all of our design friends as well as our friends from campus, so it was quite the party. a bunch of the spanish girls made tortillas de patatas (spanish omlets with potatoes..very tasty) and they also made 2 homemade chocolate cakes and sang to us in english,spanish, french, italian and german! i received lots of chocolate presents and a beer bottle opener that is made out of a reindeer antler..very finnish... i also got all the different cultural bday wishes (a lot of the european countries give kisses on your cheeks for your bday..in belgium 3, france 4 and italy 2... and in spain they pull on your ear for as many years old you are..) later we went to our favorite dance club and danced the night away. it was a great way to celebrate 23, and i am glad that i made my goal to make good friends by my birthday...
so thursday and friday i had presentations and lectures all day, but on friday night i went to the exchange student dinner! it was super fun because each person brought something from their country...there were literally over 100 things to try.. from chinese dumplings to spanish omlets to austrian pastries to indian chicken..there was a little bit of everything. my favorite dishes were a tasty risotto made by my friend filippo from venice, and then a tiramisu made by another italian guy. björn, you would have loved it! it was a really sweet night and i was much too full when i left!
yesterday, i met my kummi family and went to the oulu history museum... the museum started with the beginging of civilization in this area during the stone age and went through to modern time. it was a nice museum with lots of artifacts from the area and interesting facts about the city´s history. there used to be lots of industries here in oulu, like a glass factory, candy factory, ship building and a tar factory... the tar smells really strong, and still today finns use tar in their shampoo, soap, candles and even candy! i am not such a huge fan of the candy but finns can´t live without it...maarit and jarkko were very excited to explain their heritage to me and luckily could translate everything for me, too... in the basement of the museum was a really cool travelling exhibit from a man born in oulu who was a missionary in namibia during the 1930s..it had a lot of the local basketry, tools, instruments, jewelry and even bugs that belonged to his collection. it was a fitting exhibit
after the museum, i went with friends to the oulu kärpät (kärpät=ermin) hockey game!! we were playing the pelicans from southern finland and it was quite the match. they were really good players and the game was the most exciting hockey game i have been to.. we won 3-2!
after the game a big group of us went to relax in the sauna.. it was very hot and very relaxing...the temperature gets to around 80 C, and afterward you feel completely relaxed, warm and ready for bed!
today, i went and had lunch at my french apartment in the center, and am now just trying to catch up on life here in the computer lab. i miss my computer! i am still waiting to hear from dell..but will try to contact them again today. tonight, i have lots of work to do for my 2020 project...but i hope i can skype some of you soon. it is always good to connect to home.
peace.
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