Saying goodbye to Sininen Talo

Well, I am officially done with my nursing clinical hours (cough: slave labor), and I couldn't be more excited! I've done 270 hours here in Finland over the course of these three months, and even though I am leaving a wonderful country and experiences, I am very excited for the next stage in my life. On that note, I might as well announce that I'll be working on the Renal/Organ Transplant unit at the University of Kansas Hospital AKA KUMed! Hooray!

Celebratory picture outside my last clinical place!

Back to today. On my last full day in Savonlinna, we had so much planned! We went to dinner over at another member of our church's house. I made quiche :) with salmon. That's the first time I've ever made quiche, or salmon. I'm definitely learning to "extend my horizons." I had never touched raw fish before this trip...but Savonlinna is most definitely a fishy area, so I have had to adjust! So we ate there and the missionaries came, too, and it was a great farewell to Finland where we listened to Finlandia, by Sibelious (the national composer).

Then we ran over to a men's chorus concert at the town's cathedral. I fell asleep (oops), but it was only because the music was so good.

And lastly, we went to the pool for the last time. Leena and I have gone pretty faithfully every Wednesday and Friday. I will miss swimming and sauna and Leena's company there. I had forgotten how much I love swimming. It helps calm my mind from worries, and actually, all those laps help me think and sort out my problems. And the sauna helps, too!

And now, I'm just finishing up my packing. (Clearly it's going well....since I'm blogging now instead)

Leena and I leave tomorrow afternoon to go to Helsinki, where we will stay until my flight early Monday morning. I don't expect to write again on here until I'm home. We are going to Estonia, and all around Helsinki. It's going to be a blast :)

This is my last night in the Blue House. The last night in Savonlinna. It was really hard to say goodbye to friends, places, ect. "See you later" takes on a whole other meaning. I don't actually know when that later will be, and that is something that is really hard to come to terms with. I've met some of the greatest people here that I love, respect, and look up to so much. I've learned a lot about nursing, and I've learned how universal human nature is. I've learned ways to try to break down cultural barriers, and  have learned to love so many people here.

A few days ago, I took a walk behind the castle (I know...again), and captured some of my thoughts on this experience in Finland.

See:

Fun fact: this was the first time I had blow-dried my hair in three months!

Just be aware this is super, duper, cheesy nostalgic. Don't judge me for it :)

Final Thoughts

I don't really think I have a full understanding yet of what I have gained here, and I think that will come as I adjust back into my normal life again. But that was the tip of the iceburg for ya.

Blue House Bakery

I'm very pleased to announce the opening of the Blue House Bakery! We've decided that we don't care about our weight, and so we've made many goodies these last few weeks. So here's a small sampling of these goodies. Keep in mind that these were all gone almost the next day we baked them. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to bake. And to eat.

First,

Pulla of course

These are the next creation that Saarika and I did. They were delicious!

Vanilla cupcakes with lemon frosting

And finally, this weekend Leena said that she was craving some apple pie. Now, did we settle for just one type of apple dessert? No, we had different ideas of what apple pie was, so I started making my version and she started hers and we ended up with three varieties!

Yum!! How many calories is that? I don't care

And we destroyed the kitchen while we were at it!

And now, because I rediscovered these that we made my first weeks here:

Bread Pudding

And for your own enjoyment, this lovely gem:

If you want to stop by the Blue House Bakery, please do! But don't expect there to be anything left!

Cinema Club at Sininen Talo

So earlier this week Leena and I were sitting doing some work (me homework, her bills) when she got a "plan" as she likes to call them. She light up and told me that she wanted to start a Cinema Club once a week so we can become more cultured. She was so excited. So yeah, this happened today. It was my Saturday night. We watched classic James Bond with Sean Connery. We ate oatmeal, candy, and drank hot chocolate. It was awesome.

Cheers for the inaugural event for the Cinema Club at Sininen Talo!