Night and Day Difference

No, anteeks en ole kirjoittanut, pitkään aikaan. Se on vähä nolostuttava, kertoa miks en ole kirjoittanut....mutta, mun täytyy kertoa miks haha. ;) Mä oli vähä surullinen, pitkään aikaan, koska mulla ei ollut ystävät tai jotain tehdä. Nii, mä oli yksin, kanssa ei mitään tehdä mun aikaani.

Se on nolostuttava myöntää, mutta se on totta...emmä tiedä miks, mutta joo haha. Ehkä se on koska se oli pimeä, pitkään ajan haha. Emmä tiedä! MUTTA...nyt se on jännittävä sanoa, että, mä oon tosi onnellinen. ;)


So, unfortuantly- I did NOT translate that before posting...so hopefully my Finnish didnt fail me haha. ;)

Back to the beginning; I guess I should translate and kind of talk more about what has been going on. I mean, its been awhile! :D

Unfortunatly, what I say stands true. Part of the reason why I hadent been posting for a long time was because I was just kind of having a hard time. It wasnt that I was homesick, or any of that stuff...it was just that things were the same everyday. (And I dont mean in an ordinary, "im used to this", boring sort of way...)

I mean that I didnt have anyone to sit with at lunch very often, my language skills were still on the rocks, I had TOO much free time on my hands that I spent alone, and it was dark and cold all the time.

At a glance, I just really wasnt having the HAPPIEST time on my exchange. It was super dark outside, it was COLD...and I think the darkness sort had a lot to do with it, as embarassing as it is for me to admit!

To ANY exchange students who come to Finland, I absolutly recommend vitamin D suppliments, as cheesy as that sounds! I didnt think I would need them at all, (sorry, mom.) and I sort of regret it. I thought it was cheesy to take them, and even though I had them on my bedside table- I never really picked them up. I thought that the darkness wouldnt get to me, and wouldnt bother me at all...but really, it sort of did, without me even realizing it!

I guess that as an Exchange Student, you just have TOO much going on at one time- and a little boost of happiness never hurts anyone. ;) (And yes...Vitamin D makes you happier haha...and I had to find that out the hard way.) :)

Once I actually STARTED taking the suppliments that I brought with me, I started noticing a HUGE, HUGE difference. And I was pretty embarassed about it too, because it was SUCH a little thing! Unfortunatly, when I started taking them, it was starting to get light again- and so I felt like I had lost a lot of the time on my exchange...and there was no way to get it back again! So that was pretty sad...

But fortunatly, I think its just a "Finland Exchange Student" thing, because I KNOW I wasnt the only one. When all of the Exchange Students in Oulu hung out together, we all seemed pretty blue and depressed...and I think NONE of us wanted to admit it! 

Its not that we wanted to feel that way, or that we just let it happen...I cant really explain it. There IS no way to explain it...but you could for sure see the difference in all of us Exchange Students. I think it was just that the weather was so extream and dark, and we just werent used to it being so dark and cold and silent all the time...

Once it started getting lighter, things REALLY started to look up. And this is actually something that is SUPER embrassing to post about! But I feel as though since this is a blog about my exchange in Finland, that I need to include all the little details and such that go along with what an Exchange in Finland is like.

I am not trying to say that any exchanger that comes to Finland will be a little depressed during the darker months in Finland, but this is just the experience that I personally had, and that I saw other Exchangers in my host city have. I think its normal, and there are for sure ways to distract yourself from the darkness and create other ways to boost your happiness. :)

Currently, things have SERIOUSLY looked up- and I am literally having the time of my life! I guess the darkest part of the Finnish winter was just a little bump in the road for everyone. ;)

It sort of actually reminds me of the song, "Here Comes The Sun" by the Beatles, as cheesy as that sounds. :)

I kind of look at it as an interesting experience though, to tell you the truth. When I picked Finland, I wanted a challenge. A different sort of challenge that I would battle by going to a country with a more reserved culture and a difficult language. I guess that this little bump in the road was just part of that challenge, and im actually really glad that I expienced it, even though I wasnt expecting it! I guess I SHOULD have seen it coming when I found out how little sunlight there was in the winter in Northern Finland...but it REALLY didnt cross my mind that it would effect me at all. I thought it wouldnt effect me what so ever, and I didnt even REALIZE it did until after some time! But man, am I glad that that little bump in the road is past; because its sure good to feel amazing again! :D


“You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.”



“Maybe the paths that you each shall tread are already laid before your feet though you do not see them”