Just wanted to say:

Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays to you all! :)

Only a week and a half until we're on a jet plane to the frozen, fantastical land of Finland.

Apartment!

I was so happy to receive pictures of the place in which we'll be residing. It's truly like a mansion compared to the closet-sized apartment we had in France. I swear, the Fins are just constantly impressing me with their happy, helpful demeanor and their awesome country. My student tutor is worried my hopes are up too high, haha. But I'm honestly just glad that through communication alone, a lot has been covered about our S.A. experience to come.

Anyway, here is the place. It's merely a 2 minute walk from my actual school; this is a "dorm" located in their vocational school. It was the best thing they could give us, as a couple, and I'm glad they could. It's only 217 € a month, with a small water fee between us.

For the first time ever, we'll have a dinner table, haha.

I think there is another bed somewhere.

I can't believe we have all that!!.

Bathroom

The drive there, look at that snow!

I am just so excited! My semester is finally over, and I'm just a few days away from relaxing at home with my family for Christmas. My mom makes excellent Christmas dinner, including one of my favorite things of all time: shrimp cocktail, only the sauce is deliciously made of ketchup + mayonnaise + sprinkle of paprika, all topped on a sliver of smoked salmon and lettuce. Mmmmm... my mouth is watering.

This does make me begin to wonder how the food over there will be like...

The scoop...

Laura here. This is going to be the simple blog for my study abroad experience in Finland. I'll be studying art at Satakunta University of Applied Sciences, located in Kankaanpää. Patrick's going to tag along for the ride, take a nice little break from American capitalism and the exploitation of the car business. I'm taking a break from hectic deadlines and stress of trying to make A's.

The semester will be from January 10th to May 31st. I'm not exactly sure what I'll be taking class-wise... I think I figure that out when I arrive. I'm already in contact with my student tutor over there. Her name is Nettis: she is a great gal, very helpful, and assures us that we're going to have a wonderful time exploring, making art, and partying. :)

Tickets have been purchased. On January 5th, we'll fly out of West Virginia (very close to his mother's house, where we'll leave our cars) to Chicago, then Chicago to Denmark. A little delay, and then off to Helsinki. We'll hopefully be picked up by Nettis and be taken to our little cozy apartment that is 2 minutes away from the school. The description says it is twice as big as our crappy closet in Nantes, France. Overall these people seem like they know what they're doing, and this will be nothing like France.

Anyway, we fly back June 8th. Instead of Denmark, I think we'll have a layover in Sweden (Stockholm). I'm keeping my fingers crossed that somewhere in between I'll throw a visit in to Wales to see my family again!

Visas aren't an issue this time: I'm an E.U. citizen, and Patrick is going to be considered a "tourist" for 90 days. After a trip out of the country, he can simply return.

So yes, this will host what goes on, pictures, possibly video, and more. Stay tuned!