quick update from Saturday, June 2:

I'm waking up in New York City for the first time, looking at the pleasant blue sky through the curtains. Yesterday afternoon, I spent over 12 hours in transit. A 2-hr train ride from Tampere to Helsinki, 45-min bus to the airport, 3-hr flight to Reykjavik and 6-hr flight to JFK. Since I didn't know how to navigate New York transportation, I lugged two heavy suitcases and a bag with me for two hours trying to find my destination. It was weird to hear so many American accents, and weirder to understand the English all around me. Unfortunately, I heard mostly complaining and personal gossip. For the past year, I have been unable to pick up conversations in buses and cafes and on the street. Israel, Finland, Norway, Germany, Estonia, Sweden and Russia -- the voices in these countries were just background noise to my day. I got used to being surrounded by international people and other languages. Now I have this overwhelming feeling of being able to read other peoples' private thoughts. I'm also used to the stereotypical Finnish silence in public places. My arrival in the Iceland airport was met with American tourists chatting loudly. I just stood still, not wanting to speak to someone or for someone to speak to me. Oh, Finland. In the line to the bathroom, an American girl started talking to me. I was stunned, forgetting how to continue small talk. The few times Finns initiated conversations with me were mostly in sauna. But throughout the evening, I started to be immensely thankful that people would start talking to me or asking if I needed help. Moreover, there was no language barrier, and if there was, it would be Spanish, which I needed to use twice to get help. Finally, there was some comfort in being back in my home country.

There are so many more important things to write, but my days are so busy and limited, that my blog may take a hit.