Moi! (That means, Hello!)

I have realized that I have yet to explain exactly where in Europe I will be at this time next week, why I will be there, what I will be doing, and who I will be seeing.

For a brief warm-up, I am going to share this music video that I happened upon one day while using the magical land of YouTube to procrastinate on my homework. It is called Suomi, which is the Finnish word for Finland-- the country I will be living it up in before I know it! (Please know that this is probably the most ridiculous song I have ever heard in my life, and if you make it all the way through the video without dying you're a better (wo)man than I am ;D)

Alright, so now that you all have that stuck in your heads and are hopefully laughing as hysterically as I am, it's time to get serious ;)

When I was a senior in high school my family welcomed someone into our family who changed my life forever and filled my senior year with fun, wild, and wonderful memories. In the spirit of adventure my family decided to host an international exchange student, not having the slightest clue what it would bring. Luckily for us it brought bubbly Sanni Hoikkala; a friendly, laughing, fun-loving girl who became my Finnish sister for nine months and who brought all kinds of excitement not only to our home, but to all of Madison! Sanni dived headfirst into enjoying every American high school experience-- from pep rallies and football games to homecoming and prom to Halloween parties and New Orleans Spring Break trips to the beach vacations and amusement parks... the list goes on! She even gave my family a great excuse to head out West at Christmas time and enjoy some California sunshine for a week. Of course during her time in America Sanni helped to fuel my curiosity for the world around me and bury the seed desire for travel even deeper into my heart. I always told her that one day I was going to go to Finland and see what life was like on her side of the ocean. I still remember when we were killing time in Chick-fil-a while waiting to see a 9:45 p.m. showing of Dear John, and as we ate our ice cream we talked about everything we would do and everyone I would meet when I went to Finland one day.

Guess what? Only 2 short years later all of those aspirations discussed over a couple of Ice Dream cones in a small town, Mississippi fast-food joint are about to be lived out. I will be arriving in Finland just in time for the Mid-Summer Holiday-- a four day weekend when the sun never sets and the Finns go out to their cottages to celebrate the summer and the warmth. (As anyone who is aware of where Finland lies in the hemisphere, these are two very rare things in this part of the world!) One of my dearest friends from Madison, Lauren Thompson, will be there to experience life in Scandinavia with me. When my wobbly, jet-lag infused legs stumble off of the plane in Helsinki, Finland I will see my Finnish sister Sanni again for the first time since May 30th, 2010. And we will pick up on our adventures together right where we left off.

3 more days.
That's it.
And then my life will never be the same.