Week 4 and 5

So I made it three weeks before I got too busy and too lazy to keep up.  Luckily I have this upcoming week off because I finished my first placement (WOO HOO!!!!) and they don't have a placement for me until the following week.  That means I actually have time to update this and hopefully update my pictures too.  But you can't be too upset because the reason I didn't get around to updating last weekend was because I was actually OUT!  For part of the weekend anyway.  So lets start there.

(My week was uneventful so I'm going to skip that). Friday night we went to something they do here a few times a year called Night of the Cats. It takes place at their zoo, which we have to take a ferry to because its an island.  Pretty much it's just a special day where the zoo is open until midnight. It's done because cats are nocturnal, so they sleep during the day and are awake at night.  It's a night where you can go and watch the cats (lions, tigers, leopards, etc) roaming about in a way you wouldn't see during the day. Unfortunately we didn't see much of that, because 1 I think we went too early (around 6ish) and two, it was PACKED and we couldn't get in close. We saw a bit of it at the end of the night though, so that was interesting. I think if there is another one while I'm here (this is the second since I got here) I might go again, a little later, and maybe see more. They also have face painting and entertainment and such as well.  The weather was crappy, rainy and cold, and I haven't gotten into the habit of taking my umbrella with me everywhere yet so I was SOAKED. However, I realized that once you get wet to a certain point, you stop caring about trying to keep dry anymore!  Because of the rain, I wasn't able to get many good pictures, but the ones that I did get will be posted in my photo album once I update it. I know I said in the last blog to check it out, but it hasn't been updated yet! This week, I promise!  I can't let myself get too far behind or it'll get to a point where I don't even want to keep up with it anymore, and this experience is something I want documented (in writing and pictures!). Anyway, that was Friday. Oh, and on the way home we went to McDonald's!  I have a picture or two of the menu there, the couple I got in before I got yelled at for taking pictures lol. The menu is almost the same but not as many options. The prices are WAY higher, 6.50 euros for a Big Mac during the day and 7.50 after 11 pm (they up the price and limit the options to four different meals at night). That's equal to around 10 dollars.  The meal was pretty much the same, the fries were a bit bigger than ours surprisingly and the pop almost as big as our (regular size, not super sized).  However, I went again today and got the day time meal and the fries and drink were smaller.  I guess when they up the price they also up the size? So yeah, quite a bit smaller and more expensive during the day. One last thing about Friday, I asked for a root beer with my meal and the response I got was "we don't serve beer here". Really, they don't have root beer in Finland? CRAZY!!!  Their pop options here are coke, diet coke, sprite, and fruitopia. That's it. Although today I found a dr pepper at the grocery store, and of COURSE I bought it. Not at restaurants though apparently.  NOW I think that's all about Friday.

Saturday was the best day of the weekend I think.  First of all the weather was GORGEOUS!  Sunny and warm. Of course, because I actually wore two sweaters AND brought my umbrella for once!  Anyway, we went to Porvoo, which is a city about an hour bus ride from Helsinki. It's a historical city. I won't get into it, but its a really interesting story if you want to google it, for those of you who Are interested in history.  Anyway, it's an old Swedish city, and although part of it is modern, part of it has been left as the old town, so the roads are narrow and the buildings are tall and close together and wooden and quaint.  Like movies often portray Europe as.  It was so beautiful!  And right on the river, which made it that much better.  We looked around the souvenir shops, and we did a walking trail which pointed out important historical places.  Again, if you're interested, google it, it really is cool!  I will have pictures of this in my album as well, but unfortunately since I was wearing my jacket the night before at the zoo and had my camera in the pocket, when I wore only two sweaters to Porvoo I forgot my camera!  I was able to find a few on Facebook that girls I went with took, so all credit goes to them!

Sunday was a no go. The girls went to Suomenlinna, which is Finlands Fortress island. However, since they didn't leave until 12:30 and we were doing our hot air balloon ride around 4, I didn't go.  Unfortunately, due to the wind, that was postponed, so I skipped the trip for nothing.  I do plan to get there before I go home though, even if its on my own, so you will for sure hear more about that!

So that takes me to this week.  Again, nothing eventful, except Friday was my LAST day of my second last EVER work rotation.  I have 5 weeks left starting October 1st, and by the end if the day November 1st, I will be done school!!!!!!  I can't believe it's been 4 years already!  At the same time though, I've felt like it would never end! Lol.  It's kinda scary when I think about it though, since I've been in school every year for the past 18 years of my life, I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to do with myself after its all done.

That leads me into what I've done this week.  Aside from finishing and submitting my last assignment for this rotation, I started studying for my registration exam, which I write in February and need to pass to call myself a registered nurse.  The last four years leads up to this exam. I have three chances to write and if I fail all three, I can't practice as a nurse anywhere in Canada.  I can't imagine these four years of stress and blood and tears, and all the money I have and then some, going to waste. So I better pass!!!  That was Saturday.

Today is Sunday.  I went with a girl I met that's from the states to McDonald's for lunch and then to a shopping mall.  I bought a bag that says Helsinki all over it.  Paul may have been able to convince me to buy a small purse for this trip, thinking my big one wasn't safe while traveling, but it didn't take me long to realize I can't live with a purse that small! So although I don't need another purse, a souvenir bag you can never go wrong with!  So that's what I'm gunna use as my purse from now on. I also bought a scarf. Not a winter scarf, but a fancy stylish one that seems to be popular nowadays. My first one, cuz we all know I'm not big into trends!  But I thought its about time I try it out.  I also bought a couple headbands, since my hair is now too short to put up and sometimes the bangs just get in the way.  And I bought a knitted headband for outside as well.  Not overly warm, I have one already for when its cold.  This one looks nice though, and will be good for windy days.  I've noticed that with my ear problems, the wind here really causes problems when I'm not covered.
So now it's 10:19 PM Sunday evening (I've been home since six and just chillaxin since then).  I've been wearing my rider shirt all day today, and since I don't have to work tomorrow I can actually stay up to listen to the game on 620 (thank god for iPad apps cuz I don't think the station would make it this far lol) for the first time since I've been here. The game is at 11 pm my time, so staying up to listen when I need to be up at 5:30 to get to the hospital just isn't an option usually!  So with just over half an hour to go, I'm gunna go get cozy in my bed (as cozy as I can in a crappy student apartment bed) and get ready to listen.  I need my blankets cuz it's freezing in here. The first day I've felt like I could use the heat on. Unfortunately, I have to wait till they turn it on from the main place so no heat yet!

Anyway, have a great week, and keep an eye out for picture updates as well!  The link is in my previous blog if you haven't gotten to it yet.  I'll be adding new pages to the old one, so again, don't forget to flip through the pages to see them all!  Until next time, GO RIDERS!!!!

(I wrote this in a document before I posted it so it will be posted Monday but was written Sunday night).