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1340--Wrapping it up11 Aug, 2009 | Posted by: person63

So I will be boarding a bus at 4AM local time on Saturday morning (9PM Eastern time) to the Helsinki Airport. Finally this step in my life is coming to a close. I packed everything I could pack last night, and it looks like I may have some extra room. Fortunately Lufthansa is giving me a very generous baggage allowance (32 kg per bag, 2 bags), so I am not worried about the weight this time.

I am extremely busy with a lot of work this week (approximately 9 hour days), and then there is a lot of stuff I need to take care of for Fulbright too. I really don't have much energy now between these two, so this is probably the last entry I will write from Finland.

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1339--Der Berlin-Urlaub31 Jul, 2009 | Posted by: person63

My friend Dror, who I met in Hong Kong, spent two months in Berlin this summer to learn German. He learned I was in Finland and so the natural thing was to invite me down there for a short trip, since Finland really is harder to get to than Berlin. So I took off on Friday to visit him, and I am glad I did. My first night in was rather low-key because I arrived about 6PM on Friday, so we went out to dinner and then to have some drinks. They had 5€ white Russians that were excellent at a local café, so we made sure to enjoy one of those.

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1338--Back to the Finnish Doctors27 Jul, 2009 | Posted by: person63

So I returned to the Finnish doctors because of the lovely pain I was feeling in my throat. Woo! However this time I had a doctor who actually cared, so she was able to help me a lot. I am going to Turveystalo, the work clinic through my University, which has doctors meet you in their office rather than an examination table. Whenever you are set for a test, you will meet with a laboratory specialist who has another office, so you go to the provider/nurse rather than them coming to you. But all I need to say is that this trip was much more productive than my last.

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1337--The frustration of vacations23 Jul, 2009 | Posted by: person63

So at first 5 weeks of vacation for solely the summer sounds really nice. It's tempting since in the United States, one needs to accrue a lot of vacation and is luck to even have four weeks of vacation after decades of being at the same job. However when an entire company or an entire country takes off essentially the same five weeks, it's a problem. And that's what I am facing now.

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1336--Trip to Mariehamn, Åland21 Jul, 2009 | Posted by: person63

The trip to Åland started with me almost missing my ferry. I need to take two buses in order to get from my apartment to the ferry terminal. However the first bus did not show up, so I was panicking for about 45 minutes as I was waiting for the next bus. Fortunately I had made it with just enough time, so I didn't have to wait 12 hours and then take the ferry that would arrive at Åland at 2AM. These ferry rides are always interesting, although the one there went without any major events.


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1335--And so the Countdown begins16 Jul, 2009 | Posted by: person63

So with less than a month to go (I arrive in Atlanta on 15 August at 4PM after traveling for around 19-21 hours, based on connections) here in Finland, I now get to start another countdown. This one is bittersweet because there is still a lot to do before I go:

-Get some results, hopefully
-Go to Åland
-Go to Berlin
-Go to Budapest
-Take the GRE
-Buy gifts for people--yes this one still needs to be done
-Relax and recover from this summer before one of the toughest semesters yet starts
-Make it home, which will be an interesting journey

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