I'm here!

Moi! (meaning hello in Finnish, not me in French, lol)

So, here I am in Helsinki...not much time to talk right now, but just wanted to let everyone know that I made it...was a very long flight (10 hours in total) and I am exhausted, but Europe is awesome, and I still can't beleive I am here.

Tonight I went out for dinner with Kaisa and a few of her friends who were all very friendly and welcoming! We then headed over to a park here in Helsinki for a free concert featuring some of Finland's most popular bands...unfrotunately it started raining hard (apparantly this happens all the time here) and we decided to leave and head over to a bar for some cider (the best alternative to beer ever!) Now, it's 9:30 and I am ready for bed after all that travelling! Tomorrow I leave for Tampere and hopefully to my apartment!

Something to get used to: Finns walk around the streets drinking beer which is socially accepted...everyone at the music festival was walking around the streets with a beer in their hand...even on the street car...

More later when I get settled!

Love, Jules :)

I'm Leaving!!!!

This is it! August 26th is finally here! I have been talking about this trip, literally all year since I was accepted for exchange in January and now the day to leave is today! I'm a bit frazzled, trying to get everything done last minute, but I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!

Wanted to say thanks to the fond farewells and great going away/birthday gifts! I'm going to miss everyone so much, but 4 months is not a long time, and I'll be back to my Ottawa antics in no time!

Last night I went out for dinner with some close friends. The pic above is Aaron, Andrew, Me and Ehsaan (aka, My Boys!). The pic below is myself and Anny-Fanny (aka, Anne Murray). Thanks for coming out kids! It was a good way to spend my last night in town!

So that's it for now....last post until I get to Finland!!!!

Stay tuned...

Love, Jules :)

Mixed feelings...

So today begins the 10-day countdown until I leave. As excited as I am, I know this next week and a half will be extremely emotional. I won't lie--I HATE saying good-bye...to anyone. I usually am pretty good at keeping it hidden, but saying good-bye to people kills me...yikes.

On a happier note, my good friend Kaisa is going to meet me at the airport in Helsinki when I arrive on the 27th, which is a releif. It's going to be so good to see her again after a year, and even better to have a familiar face waiting for me in Finland!

Time to go home, now and work on packing! There is so much to do!!!!

Cheers!

Love, Jules :)