We Love Katuit

Just thought I'd share the coolness of a Belgian street parade with you quys.

... All good things have to come to an end. Thank you.

Finns

I would've liked to write about my time in Finland this summer, but I didn't take almost any photos in there! Stupid me... Just writing is too difficult for me, I don't remember what I did and I don't know what to write about it. I know that I met many very dear friends again and for my great relief realized that nothing in our relationship had changed even though I'd been away for a year. Thanks guys, I love you all :)

The best of the best of the best! A courageous boy leaving for Brazil, I'm so proud of you Roni <3 Oot paras muista se!

Mainoskuvia Helmistä ; D

My sister's off to Belgium as well, just a different region.

Kiitti ja kuulemiin :)

Stay tuned!

Hello everyone. 

I'm sorry for not writing anything in here since... Well, since I left France. A lot has happened in the meantime, I spent a little over a month in Finland during the summer holiday and moved to Belgium. I lived here for about two weeks now and everything is going well. I will soon write about everything that I've done.  I decided to keep writing this same blog even though I'm no longer on exchange. If anyone who's now far away from me, or close even, wants to know how I'm doing, it's now possible again. I'll probably be writing mostly in English because it's more widely understood than Finnish or French. It depends.

Stay tuned!

To add something cheerful: an amazing ice cream by my sister ^^

You're welcome.

Fin

Qu'est-ce que je dois penser? Qu'est-ce que je dois dire? 

Vai pitäiskö sanoa enää mitään?

What did I learn? What did I teach? What did I accomplish?

Viime vuoden elokuussa istuin olohuoneessa yksin, yöllä. Laukut eteisessä odottamassa.

Last august I spent the night of the 27th-28th in the living room alone. Didn't know what to think. Didn't know where I was going. 

The same feeling is here. I'm leaving tomorrow. 

Where?

I'm going home, they say. 

But I feel like I'm leaving home behind.

Même si je reviens, ca sera jamais le même...

I will never again be a Rotary exchange student.

 The adventure of D1790 2012/2013 is over. For most of us.

"Il y a deux escargots sur le mur. Il y a l'autre qui tombe...

Et l'autre qui s'appelle Robert."

I will do a video/diaporama summary of my year later. I will not bother talking about all the things I've done during this year. I don't feel like it now. Just thought I'd write down some thoughts.. But this is not working so well. I feel empty and overwhelmed at the same time. And I'm too lazy to translate everything to three languages so everyone shall be happy with english for now. 

But really -that was a year?

I remember my arrival like yesterday. But on the other hand it feels like it's been an eternity. I was another person then, it was another time. In another life. 

At this time of my life people are asking "so how was it?" and "are you happy or sad to go home?"

That feels like... They don't understand at all. How was it? How was the last year of my life? How was it -the most difficult, stressful, amazing and strange year of my life. It's not any tourist trip. It's not just "stepping out of your comfort zone" as some describe it. It's throwing away the whole idea of having a comfort zone, forgetting everything you know about life, being a child all over again, building a new life. 

Am I happy to go? Yes. Am I sad to go? Yes.

Am I going home? I don't know. But I'm going, and I'll see where it takes me from there.

Would I do it again? Yes. 

How difficult may it be, it's worth it. That's all I can say. 

I learned more that anyone could imagine.

As you've all heard, as they say all over again:

 "exchange is not a year in your life, it's a life in a year".

I've found that to be the best sentence to describe this experience. You may or may not understand why.

At this point, I can just say: thank you.

Merci.

Kiitos.

À bientôt.

Just Paris

Yes, I know, it's been a long time since I wrote anything here... Or anywhere. Or did anything. At the moment I'm really stressed about my final exams in here. I know, exchange is not supposed to be just studying or caring about school, but this opportunity was given to me and it would open so many doors to the future if I succeed in it. So, I'll try. I might fail, but at least I've tried. These are some photos from my trip to Paris a while ago, to see my mother and my sister and the Järvinen girls. It was awesome to catch up since a very long time!

Feeding birds ^^

I like this picture. I like this country.

The line to go to Versailles was something like this. You can't even see it all in the photo... But still, we waited. It was interesting to see how the royal people lived, in a summer place! Think about it.

See you all soon!