so it's over. the study experience, the life and the days in lulea. it's been a wonderful and sensational experience. we had a farewell dinner before we left and on the day itself we had nguyen and eli sending us off. with tears in our eyes(and theirs) it was. everything seemed so surreal on our way to the airport. this may sound cliched but it really seemed like we just touched down not too long ago and memories were still fresh and vivid. it was sad to see the empty room before i locked the room. exactly the same condition as when i first arrived but entirely different emotions.
by some freak coincidence, we got onto the same plane as the lulea hockey team to stockholm. we had more than 20kg of bags on each of our poor backs and we had to trek quite a distance to the jetty to board the cruise to finland after our last MAX meal. first time on cruise! the cruise was nice although we didn't really get to enjoy it as we concussed late into the night once we got onto the ship haha. we chilled out at the pub and irish bar where we were entertained by this canadien-french singer.
arriving in helsinki at 10am was great. we managed to get the big bright sun and it was a first time on the tram for me(lots of first time, quite a mountain-tortoise ha). our apartment was great with a sauna, kitchenette and lan connection! awesome. we didn't have much time to settle down before we headed out to the nearest shopping centre to have lunch and buy flowers for THE PRESIDENT OF FINLAND! wooHoo. her name is Tarja Halonen and so happened she is the aunt of our australian-finnish exchange mate, eva. we went to see the president with eva and fiona and had a tour of the palace. a little coffee break with the president was the highlight and she was so down-to-earth. no airs and she certainly went out of her way to make our stay pleasant, booking a bus tour for us on xmas day. awesome lady. we gave her orchids! she knows that the orchid is the national flower of singapore. woohoo. we walked out through the front gate of the palace and people were giving us that "why are these people walking out of the palace" look haha.
things are cheaper in euro than in kroners. especially food! buying groceries was so much much much cheaper la. sound like some auntie already. we enjoyed a great sauna session at night before going to sleep.
