This morning started off sunny but ungloriously normal, with the forecast of a drizzly day looming just at the edge of that unpredictable Finnish sky, but I had gotten enough sleep for the second night in a row and managed to get up early enough to throw together some sandwiches and pay the housing manager. I was late in catching a bus to lab, but I managed to connect quickly to my second bus and so was not too late.
The first really sweet surprise happened at the bus stop, while I was waiting for that bus to lab. I was feeling fairly impatient, as I had already missed the two previous ones, but suddenly I thought I heard a strange, small voice calling my name. "Naaann. Naaann." Thinking I was hearing things, I ignored it for a second before looking up in the direction of the sound. It ended up being Samuel! He is a little boy that I "mind" once a week - the cutest baby boy - and he was saying hi with his dad Mark from Mark's apartment balcony.
Later in the evening, I went to Mikko and his girlfriend's housewarming party. I really appreciate Mikko. A few days ago, we left lab at the same time, and it made me unreasonably happy. :) It's funny. Perhaps because it takes so long to get to know Finns, when a Finn starts to open up, it feels really worthwhile and special. At the party itself, I had a good time talking and joking with people from lab. Now that my time in the lab is almost at an end, I'm becoming more reluctant to go, when I see the progress that I have finally made in building some of these relationships... and just how wonderful the people in my lab are.
After the party, I headed to the city center to wait for Mark below the Torni - with it's pretty tower that glitters at night - where Mark has been interning this summer. It was around 11.30pm, and the city was absolutely beautiful. There's something about summery Friday evenings in Helsinki that makes one indescribably... content. Perhaps it's the peacefulness that surrounds all the bustle; perhaps it's the still visible hint of a fading day that gently fills the air with a deep blue glow. Just beautiful. When speaking about Finland, both Erika and Elliot have said things along the lines of: you don't realize how much it's grown on you until you leave, and then you really miss it. I think I'm already starting to miss this place.
After I found Mark, we went to Molly Malone's, his part-time place. We grabbed a drink with a couple of his co-workers there, including a British guy who reminds me a little of a tall hobbit. We talked about his love for his family, building a life in Finland, his enthusiasm for his summer job and Torni, and me becoming a part of the Irish family, at large. :P
I think Finland has grown on me, especially now that I finally feel like I'm building a life for myself here.
A view from Erika's apartment, at around 11.30pm.
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