I found myself thinking about that image above last night while I was riding my bike through Vaasa. I was riding alongside a new friend that I barely knew to a place I've never been in a foreign country whose inhabitants speak two languages that are not my own. I was taking in all of the new things I'm doing in Finland, and realizing that, wow, this is amazing.
In the U.S., I probably wouldn't . . .
. . . sled down an icy hill on a bed frame with skis nailed to the bottom holding onto six other people, shrieking with adrenaline and praying that the sled doesn't slide onto the harbor.
. . . spend a Friday night sewing until 2 am.
. . . ride my bike on icy and slushy roads. Or in the winter at all actually. Or ride 10 km on a Saturday night in general.
. . . pay so much attention to the differences in the people I meet. There is so much to learn from the people here, especially in the ways they differ from me.
. . . go out on a Tuesday night. I haven't seen a stressed-out student here yet.
. . . dance on an almost-empty dance floor and not care who's watching.
. . . enjoy the sauna so much and want to incorporate sweating in a 180 degree F room into my weekly routine.
. . . play soccer with a group of international students who are way better at it than I am and want to do it again.
. . . appreciate my accent, even it means that some words in Swedish sound silly when I say them.
. . . live alone and kind of like it.
It is so wonderful to be in this new place experiencing all of these new things. I really believe that spending time abroad is all about putting yourself in these new situations, making the best of them, and then watching yourself grow from them. I have a feeling that Vaasa is going to feel like home by the time I have to leave it in June, and I am so happy that I am here. In the meantime, I'm going to keep seeking those magical moments.
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| Showing off the fruits of our labor after the sewing night |
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