My year through the music that reminds me

I know I know..a long loong time again, but totally worth the wait I promise you:D
My dear friend once said to me that there is always a song that reminds you of a certain time, so I decided to gather my whole year together for you via music!

Honestly speaking I still can't get the hang of the fact that this amazing year is over and more specifically that I really got to experience all that I did in these past 12 months. A pile of memories, amazing friends that you will have for the rest of your life, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and so much more has made my year a never ending dream:) Please enjoy the ride: 

One year ago (5.1.2013) I left to Belgium, Ghent, the second home of my heart and I know for sure that I will return one day<3 Therefore I give you the Absynthe Minded-Envoi, a band from Ghent<3
Belgian Culture Studies;) See... I learned something in school during my Erasmus;D

For you my dear Vesalians will.i am-Scream and Shout feat Britney Spears and you know exactly why;D

After 6 months of Erasmus life was the time to start the long waited InterRail journey! July 2013 conquering Belgium, France, Spain and finally the amazing Italy.
Memorable trip with my best friend<3 Always reminding me of our trip together this summer Avicii-Wake me up. 

And cause I already got introduced to the Spanish music during my Erasmus we sure enjoyed it on the road. Daddy Yankee-Limbo A huge thanks to my friends from the south<3 

Internship in Washington DC straight after returning from the Euro-trip. A long flight to The United States on the 2.8.2013 and the perfect ending for this year<3 Switchfoot-Souvenirs <3

Living the life my loves! Marc Anthony-Vivir mi vida. It's for you my ISHers<3

And of course I have always the Winter Wonderland called Finland and the people back home in my mind where ever I am! This is for you<3

Kyl mä teistäki tykkään niin että halkeen<3;P

One hell of a year I must say! 

À bientôt mes amis<3

Washington DC - Embassy of Finland - The International Student House

 

 
5 months of pure happiness and high speed of continuous experiences just to not miss anything important! The funny thing that I've learned in these past months about living abroad is that there is just a limited time to do everything so everyone, including you, is trying not to waste a minute of it. Every day you try to take advantage of the hours, minutes, seconds as well as you possibly can. Every weekend you go around visiting new places and end up spending the whole weekend kind of "running around" feeling super active. Sleeping on the sofa the whole day and watching movies isn't an option, don't get me wrong it happens sometimes(especially after the Saturday nights in El Centro:), but after; the guilt of doing nothing that hunts you down cause the number of days is decreasing, you think twice the next time when the sofa calls you.

 As a result of all this running; one day it just hits you: It's time to go home already!
And it brakes your heart!</3
5 months gone in the wind..and now what?
Who knows... tears, goodbyes and a new beginning again I guess.

The BIG American dream they say;
and it truly felt like one!
No words will ever be enough to sum up these past five months, but here it goes....

As a city Washington DC was the perfect choice! Center of business and capital of the USA so enormous opportunities everywhere. Everything you could imagine just there, waiting for you and ready to take you into the ride.  Easy access, multiple choices, free cultural possibilities, active nightlife, diplomatic environment and internationally populated. What else could you hope from a home. They told me that DC is the most European city in the US and I think that's also one fact why I really felt like home there. Definitely going back some day, even if it would be just for the cheap sushi...who knows;)

When it comes to my internship I worked as an assistant in the Administrative Affairs department of the Embassy of Finland for these 5 months. This internship is included in my studies (mandatory for us to be able to graduate) and I had the opportunity to choose to either complete this internship in Finland or go abroad. One word: Abroad;) I applied for this specific internship to be able to see and understand what my future degree might be like. The opportunity provided/obliged by the school to get an idea of the future job before actually applying for one is in my opinion extremely beneficial for the students.

My internship at the Embassy was an opportunity that I could only imagine of! I gained a priceless combination of working experience and international knowledge. I learned a lot about the whole functionality of the Embassy as well as the daily duties concerning my position. It's rewarding to be able to work among things that you have been taught at school and really realize that the education you have, equals the needs of the organization. I noticed that the work in my field contains an indefinite range of duties depending of the day. Honestly speaking this really fits be, cause I kind of get bored easily:P Sitting behind the computer 8 hours a day can be depressing if the work doesn't keep you on the move and awake:D Adaptation becomes extremely important and common sense highly appreciated:D Also working under pressure is part of the every day life. The level of stress can be extreme from time to time and therefore the importance between the working life and the free-time becomes crucial!

I think that this work experience at the Embassy really taught me a lot and also grew me as a person. Of course I also consider this extremely beneficial when it comes to my future. To my mind the Embassy was the perfect choice to really see what my future job could be like. I enjoyed my time at the Embassy and especially was blessed to be part of the amazing crew that they have in Washington DC. Keep up the spirit you guys!

And here comes the hardest part....;(

Without a doubt the thing that I will miss the most about DC is going to be the International Student House. The place I called HOME for these past 5 months. 90 residents from 46 different countries,  a house like the castle of Harry Potter, three buildings with 5 floors (main building, 4th floor<33) , a gym 3 minutes a way from my room, a kitchen with own cooks making omelets, movie nights in the TV room, barbeques in the garden, parties in the Great Hall,  meetings in the lobby (from which I was always late I know!), pre-drinkings in Marpat continued by the numerous parties that are worth to remember, music moments and the marvelous dinners together ect. etc. etc. I told you.... it's impossible to put all the adventures into words;)

But the home itself is nothing without the people ...
The family you grew to love so much that leaving them behind really brakes your heart.

It comes with the travelling I know, but it's like... in this house you truly share everything! In America the residents are know for sharing the rooms with another person which obviously means that you share things like your privacy, silence and freedom! Living alone is not an option in this house.  And yes, of course, I was horrified in the beginning to know that I have to share my room with someone 24/7. I was sure I will become crazy! But you know... it's funny how the thing that is the scariest in the beginning actually becomes the fact that you start to depend on. Suddenly living without these people feels like your all alone and it's too quiet without the daily dose of reggaeton, latinos, spaniards and italians around you, you know:D The only thing you hear are your own thoughts and that is scary my friends... The first day back home was like being brought to a mental hospital and locked into this kind of isolated room where there are only you and the walls...:/ A sudden change like this takes  time to adapt back to the normality.

 All I can say is that I'm blessed to have spent this time with these amazing people, with sparkling personalities and even more blessed to be able to call them my friends for life. The things that I learned about them and their countries will forever stay in my heart and I want to thank everyone for being so generous of sharing their life in our loong discussions together<3 These interesting conversations are in my opinion exactly the point of an international house and my friends, we took everything we could from it! I know for sure that even if it might take years; we will see each other again. The sad thing is that this time the goodbyes were not as easy as  "See you soon my love, thank god we have Ryanair right?"since not everyone lives anywhere near to me and I am talking about different parts of the world here;( But anyway I'm gonna make sure that it happens someday!

Forever grateful for everything and just happy to have these people in my life<3
 

NEW YORK CITY

New York city,- "the Big Appel"- times two. Wonderful and worth to remember!

There has always been this big fuss about NYC, " a city that one must visit at least once in their life!" All the famous movies are made there and TV programs like "Sex and the City" already built up certain expectations towards the city. I for example, was never too interested about NYC cause I only had the idea of a city fully crowded, busy with enormous amount of people, tourists, business men running around in endless hurry...movies I know:P I still think New York is too crowded for my taste, but I saw a lot and to be honest it really is as glorious as it seems in the movies;) Perhaps also the fact it's so far away for Finland makes it so fascinating, but now- since the distance was only a few hours by buss- we decided to see the city and what it had to offer.

First time when we visited NYC we were with a big group and decided to more or less divide into two groups to save time and nerves:P no no just kidding! Big groups also works for us, but this time there were people who had already seen NYC and people that hadn't, so we divided. I obviously belonged to the people visiting it for the first time since this was my first time in the USA also.

My weekend went practically running around the city sightseeing and enjoying the atmosphere as much as we could. We managed extremely well to discover the touristic view of New York City and made many wonderful memories. During our stay we lived in a hostel in Brooklyn so we also saw the other part of the Brooklyn Bridge! A place worth visiting and especially Williamsburg was amazing!
I give you New York City in the eyes of Suvi;)

The second time exploring the city was in December when me and two of my friends decided to see NYC in Christmas time, to see the highly praised decorations and to complete the sightseeing started the last time (museums etc.). I really have to say that there, if somewhere, they really put a lot of effort money to the decorations and it's completely mesmerizing!!! Magical times<3

 

 

All in all I'm so happy to have seen the famous New York and I will always carry the memories in my heart. I owe a huge thank you for the people traveling with me for making these two times so memorable. Love you all<3 Happy girl from New York City:

November's thoughts and more cultural events in DC

I found this written on the 10th of November.
Just added a few points about cultural events in DC and here you go.:)

"It's November!
Means that my time here is almost done and after two months I'm flying back to Finland. I question myself: "Really? I've been here already for three months?" I've really enjoyed my time here, but to be honest something has changed while I've been here in DC. Remember how I always claimed before that I never miss home and I'm not really waiting to go back to the freezing Finland called home?... Don't get me wrong; I still don't miss home exactly, but now I'm actually looking forward to go home for Christmas and to see everyone close to me!<3" I think that this is result of the so called "luggage-life". I need a pause from the packing and the continuous thought behind you back of: "Is this all going to fit the back, do I have to start shipping something before hand or will I just trow it away?" The idea of having your whole life and the things belonging to you in one place at the same time sounds comforting:)  

The past months I've again done a lot of new things. Visit to the Big Appel on the top of my list. I will write a separate post about the great NYC after December cause we are already planing another visit there;)So you will hear about these later on..:)

In addition to the NYC excursion we've also done a lot in DC the center of cultural events and business life. A while ago I got the opportunity to visit the small city of Harper's Ferry in the West Virginia and learned a little about the time of the war. This small city used to be a harbor and the storage for guns. Very small, very interesting history and very beautiful surroundings for a Finnish girl enjoying the nature<3 See for yourself:

Followed by the Harpers Ferry I visited a vineyard in the West Virginia too. Virginia is known for the good vines in the United States:) Beautiful environment and such a lovely place. Unfortunately the vines are too young to be in the same level with the European ones, so nothing compared to the French vines, but all in all a nice experience!

Other cultural events that I attended were of course the ones at the Embassy. The work has to be done:D I was privileged to work at the various events helping in the arrangements and assisting in the parties and receptions.

Also living in the house with many talents (writers, musician, future politicians, presidents even, who knows;P,) we were invited to a reading from one of our residents. First time for me and very nice time in the Goethe Institute.

When living in DC I also have to mention the monuments of course. There are a lot and I remember when I first came to DC a girl in the plane asked me if I was going to visit the city for the first time. I told her yes, and she made me swear that I'd go and see the monuments by night cause it was the thing to do apparently. I we did! Amazing. Really. The lights and the enormous monuments with the special meaning behind them...:) Just make sure that you go and visit the monuments by night if you ever end up in DC ok?;) It's an experience you'll never forget<3

Then! The  famous news museum "Newseum" that lies in the center of the capital.
Eyeopening, I must say! First of all a 7 floor museum that requires two days of its viewers attention. This is also the reason why the tickets are for two days in a row;) At first I was like "what kind of a crazy person spends their whole weekend, both Saturday AND Sunday, in a museum?" I my myself am not a real museum person as many of you know, quite the opposite actually, and for this specific reason I was stupefied that I actually was there spending both my Saturday AND my Sunday, voluntarily!! So not me... And I even forced my friends to go with me, which is totally me btw :P Hahah,  so yes it's so enormous that there is no way you have time to see everything in one day. Totally worth spending the weekend though. See for yourself...

One whole exhibition about JFK, two floors I mean! R.I.P. John<3

 
For my big surprise I found also Finland on the daily covers. Iltalehti, the most important news in my country???:O

Social media section and the top YouTube videos:

The Scateboarding dog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8XAlSp838Y 
And here is also a video on how to train your dog to do that, cause who wouldn't what a dog that skateboards:DDD Internet has everything you need in life;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG1UFLBNHyA

Chinese Boys singing Backstreet Boys:) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2rZxCrb7iU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2rZxCrb7iU

Found some familiar faces from the cyber internet:P

Touching 9/11 section with a movie and tissues provided by the museum;(

Can you imagine: "Only one person in six lives in a country where the press is free."
Finland in the top 5! Can be proud of my country<3

And the most hilarious moment of my life. We found Finnish sentences on a book in the gift shop.
"Kuse muuntajaan!" = "May you piss into a transformer! In other words: electrocution!"
Hahahahahahaha! Hilarious:DDD and nobody says that c'mooon..:D

Being a real business orientated city DC holds the habit of  happy hours and after works. Following the proverb "when in Rome do as the Romans do" we also participated in a couple of happy hours and sort of created a nice tradition of a sushi happy hour on Fridays:) For real, in DC the sushi is SO cheap! At this place where we found ourselves the loyal customers mostly every Friday, the sushi was from 4-7pm only $4 per roll. So 6 pieces! Plus cocktails also $4! C'mon who wouldn't want to have a habit like this!:D Two rolls and a cocktail to celebrate the end of the hard week. Sounds like a good deal to me!

A lot of culture as you can see and this is only a small part of it all:P Gotta love DC<3

Waiting for Christmas, the special time in Finland. <3