Week 21 + 1 29/05/11 onwards

It is strange how much I couldn’t remember about Northern Ireland when I thought about it Finland, now that I’m home it seems like I never left.  My and I were discussing the Isle of Man TT as soon as he picked me up from the bus depot.  The 21 weeks went so fast that it seems like only yesterday he dropped me off.  Riding in a car as a passenger does seem very strange after walking or getting the bus and driving is even stranger, especially when the drivers here are so bad compared to in Finland or maybe I should say the drivers in Finland are more considerate.  I also find it strange that everyone is speaking English and I knew most people who spoke English in Turku so I keep hearing bits on the language and looking to see if I know them.  There is a huge difference in the way people talk, back in Finland it was very quite on the streets and in stores however here it is almost the opposite with people talking all the time and very very quickly making it even more difficult to pick up what people are saying when we are speaking.  Having missed five months of life in Northern Ireland it is difficult to follow and conversations about current affairs or about what my friends did in April.  It’s a bizarre situation so not only am I telling my stories of life in Finland but they are telling me the goings on of Belfast or university or whatever they have been up to, it is very exciting hearing what others have been getting up to.  The returning week has been mostly meeting up with the friends and family I haven’t seen since Christmas and getting back into the habit of watching motorcycle racing.  It is strange watching television after not having one for so long and seeing the different adverts and shows.  But I think that I did not miss much when I went without a TV.  One think I did miss a lot when I was in Finland was my guitars and after five months of not playing my fingers need to be rebuilt to a standard to play again.  Nonetheless I it is super being back in Belfast with my family and now the next thing to do is to visit all the international friends I have made.

Week 21 22/05/11- 28/05/11

Week twenty-one, the last week in Turku.  It seems anyone who is left in Turku from the Erasmus exchange is leaving this weekend or at the start of next week.  I am no different ton Saturday I fly home from Helsinki.  I am more excited to see my family and my home than I am sad to leave all my great international friends.  I think this is because for most of them I will see them again at some point, especially when we all exchanged email addresses and offered each other a place to stay if or when we visit.  Having never been to many European countries I will be making use of this invite, and I hope they make use of theirs too.  This week I have packed in the mornings and spent as much time as I could with the wonderful people I have met.  With countless goodbye parties it is difficult not to get emotional about leaving however my eagerness to see my family has slowly grew over the last few weeks.  It has also been difficult to keep track of who is leaving and when and at the same time make plans to meet up with my friends back home.  But I felt it was more important to see the great Erasmus people before they left.  Looking back I think the people I have meet have made the last twenty-one weeks unforgettable.  I don’t think I will be able to tell my family stories of the places I have been without telling them about these magnificent people.  I feel ready to return home as twenty-one weeks is along time and now I can see the end coming closer I get more and more excited to be back in Northern Ireland.  It has become clear that I would not be able to travel home wearing my coat and jumper like I did when I arrived.  Even though I am not retuning two parts of shoes, one was ruined walking around Russia and the other did not survive the Finnish winter, my student overalls take up a lot of room in my suitcase. However I did mange to squeeze all my belongings into my before so I can now relax until my bus to Helsinki.