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i have finally settled at home here in iowa after coming home from finland on dec. 17th! my last week in finland i really enjoyed time with all of my friends and on my last night stayed up all night with everyone at our favorite disco, and then went back to the french apartment and just hung out until my train left at 6am. around 5am my two italian friends filippo and martina whipped up a randomly delicious batch of pasta for my last meal and then everyone walked me to the station. immediately after leaving i was aware of just how amazing my experience was. the friends, the places the moments will always be an important part of who i am and i know the entire impact of my experience will only fully reveal itself with time.

with tearful goodbyes on the train melanie (a girl from north carolina who was in my program) and i headed to helsinki and then caught a ferry to stockholm. i spent 4 days exploring stockholm and enjoyed all of the museums like the moderna museet, nobel museum, vasa museet and of course just walking around in gamlastan (old town). stockholm is a beautiful city and was especially delightful with all of the jul (christmas) markets everywhere. randomly on the ferry back to helsinki i met a girl named anu who let me leave all of my luggage at her apartment for the day so i could explore helsinki before my plane took off the next day at 6am. i walked around the city all day and then met anu at the art museum, from there we picked up some groceries and then went back to her place and made dinner. it was really awesome to become fast friends with a native finn (not all that common) and we got along excellently. after dinner we just hung out for a bit and then made some traditional finnish xmas cookies, i showered, took a nap and then took the last bus to the airport at 1:20am for my 6:00am flight.

i made it home safe and sound and have now been living at home since then. the first few weeks were rather hectic with graduation on the 20th, and then christmas with the whole family home, and new years! lately, i have been busy preparing my resume, portfolio and cover letters to begin my job search. it is very exciting indeed. i hope you all are enjoying the new year. i am hopeful that things will begin looking up in a couple of weeks and am looking forward to watching the inauguration! let me know what you are up to.

peace.