I was thinking about writing a blog to just write about my experiences moving from Finland back to the states.
So, I started. I was going to make it more personal, just for myself and maybe publishing it later... but fuck that.
The first day of the rest of my life.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
I just bought my flight tickets to go back to my hometown, Savannah, GA, last night.
When I was riding the bus back home on a brisk autumn evening in Espoo, Finland, I watched everything fly past me at 30kph.
It dawned on me that in 5 weeks I will no longer see these things again for a long time.
Something which has become a part of my daily routine will be no more in my routine.
I almost cried a little bit.
Change is a really scary thing. Although this change will be easier for me than any other change. It's also far more interesting and more preferred than no change at all.
Over two years ago I made a decision which will change my life. I made the decision with the intentions that it will change my life for the better.
I put on my big girl pants and set off to Finland. I wanted to find my roots and hopefully discover what it is I would like to do for the rest of my life.
I never expected it to work so well.
My first six months in Finland were like a vacation. I spent my summer in Lohja at my parents' summer cottage. We were doing repairs most of the time; scraping and repainting doors, tons of yard work, a lot of cleaning. We went to the dump so many times. Which I was ok with because it was called, "Rosk and Roll". (The word "trash" in Finnish is "roski").
My best friend, Thomas, came to visit me in September and then he traveled Europe for some time and came back to visit for another week or two before he left back to the United States.
It was when Thomas was visiting when I unknowingly met my future husband.
I had opened up an account on an online dating site in hope of meeting some people to be friends with in the Helsinki area.
I had received a message from a handsome man offering to show me around Helsinki, as a tour guide. In a partially inebriated state, I agreed, informing him of Thomas' presence. Which was fine.
We met the next day, and I was compelled to hug him, but I resisted. That's just creepy in Finland. You don't hug strangers or people you just met.
His name is Lauri. Not to be confused with the American woman's name, Lauri. It sounds more like "dowry".
I was instantly comfortable with Lauri. After Thomas left for Europe I spent almost every evening with Lauri.
Going out for dinner, stopping by a café to get hot chocolate and looking over my Finnish homework together.
He invited me over to his place one night for his famous hamburgers and to watch The Orphanage. He's not a fan of scary movies, so I offered to hold his hand if The Orphanage got scary for him.
There was some serious sexual tension between us, but I didn't want to seem like a slut and make with the sexy times so soon.
Eventually I was staying almost every night at Lauri's house, dropping by my parents' house to pick up clean clothes and what not. They didn't seem to mind, although they kept asking when they get to meet him.
When they finally got a chance to meet him, they loved him.
Lauri was frequently invited over for Dinner and became a part of the family almost instantly.
Lauri and I did have our differences quit often. Especially since I was depressed due to the culture shock and adapting to a new place. I went to the doctor and was put on medication and went to therapy two or three times.
I did cheer up, but I think it was more psychological than the pills, only because I felt like I was finally battling a problem I was sure I had for years. Eventually the combination of antidepressants and birth-control fucked me up royally and I was worse than before. I quit taking anything which had hormones in it.
I had quit the antidepressants too quickly, rather than wean myself off of them, I pretty much stopped cold turkey. I was in bad condition for a few weeks. I recovered slowly and was eventually in a much better state of mind.
After dating for a year, we got engaged. A few months later we decided we were going to move back to the United States. We needed to save up money and figure out the Visa situation for Lauri.
We got married in May 2010.
We've been saving up money.
I've been attending hair school to become a hairdresser.
Things have been quite magical.
I'll now be moving back to my hometown in November 2010.
My husband wont be coming with me, as he will still be working in Finland, saving more money.
I'll be going home to get a job to save up money as well and will be meeting Lauri in California when the time comes.
Although we have been married since May, once we finally make it to California together, we can finally start our life together.
The moment we confirmed the payment for my flight ticket to my hometown was the beginning of the rest of my life.
