Well I have to say, I've completely forgotten about this blog, and basically neglected to even post about the end of my year in Finland. In short, it was great. I had finally made friends and felt as though I belonged there. But all good things must come to an end.
On the fourth of July (I know, happy birthday, America. My gift to you is me.) I got on a plane and flew home to see my family and friends after nearly a year of separation. The return phase was much more difficult than I had anticipated, my mind often wandered back to my time in Finland, my friends, etc. So I was pretty down about all that for quite a while. I even often wondered if I had peaked, like the people from high school who never realized high school would end eventually. I had just finished one of the most exciting things I'll probably ever do, and now I was just another kid who has a European sense of style, knows some Finnish, and starts a majority of his sentences with, "When I lived in Finland..." I was going to attend Michigan State University in the fall, but leaving for uni won't make you stand out, you're just another kid in a school of 50,000. I was wrong. Once I got to MSU, I joined the rugby team, quickly making some of the best friends a guy could ask for, and eventually found my place in it all. Sure I was just another kid trying to navigate campus and get to class on time, but I thought of it as another adventure. My time in Finland led me to Michigan State to study international relations, and now my time at MSU will lead me who knows where, the world really is your oyster, you just have to get your head out of the box once and a while to realize everything available to you.
So I've been in East Lansing for two years now, returning home to Traverse City each summer to work at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. But I'm happy with it all, and thats what matters.
My time at state has given me another adventure, somehow I managed to secure an internship in Dusseldorf, Germany, working in a field I'm hoping to go into. The pay isn't great (there isn't any), but hey beggars can't be choosers, and plus, it should look good on paper (next time I go to a career fair, maybe the person looking at my resume won't just tell me to switch majors while I still can). And so at some point in time in the coming months, I'll be leaving for Germany for about ten weeks, then (pending funding from my two jobs) traveling around Europe a bit before heading home.
I'm still not too sure whether or not I'll continue to update this, but there you have it. Two years after my return from one adventure, my wanderlust has led me to take up another.
On the fourth of July (I know, happy birthday, America. My gift to you is me.) I got on a plane and flew home to see my family and friends after nearly a year of separation. The return phase was much more difficult than I had anticipated, my mind often wandered back to my time in Finland, my friends, etc. So I was pretty down about all that for quite a while. I even often wondered if I had peaked, like the people from high school who never realized high school would end eventually. I had just finished one of the most exciting things I'll probably ever do, and now I was just another kid who has a European sense of style, knows some Finnish, and starts a majority of his sentences with, "When I lived in Finland..." I was going to attend Michigan State University in the fall, but leaving for uni won't make you stand out, you're just another kid in a school of 50,000. I was wrong. Once I got to MSU, I joined the rugby team, quickly making some of the best friends a guy could ask for, and eventually found my place in it all. Sure I was just another kid trying to navigate campus and get to class on time, but I thought of it as another adventure. My time in Finland led me to Michigan State to study international relations, and now my time at MSU will lead me who knows where, the world really is your oyster, you just have to get your head out of the box once and a while to realize everything available to you.
So I've been in East Lansing for two years now, returning home to Traverse City each summer to work at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. But I'm happy with it all, and thats what matters.
My time at state has given me another adventure, somehow I managed to secure an internship in Dusseldorf, Germany, working in a field I'm hoping to go into. The pay isn't great (there isn't any), but hey beggars can't be choosers, and plus, it should look good on paper (next time I go to a career fair, maybe the person looking at my resume won't just tell me to switch majors while I still can). And so at some point in time in the coming months, I'll be leaving for Germany for about ten weeks, then (pending funding from my two jobs) traveling around Europe a bit before heading home.
I'm still not too sure whether or not I'll continue to update this, but there you have it. Two years after my return from one adventure, my wanderlust has led me to take up another.
