And when your fears subside
And shadows still remain
I know that you can love me
When there's no one left to blame
So never mind the darkness
We still can find a way
'Cause nothin' lasts forever
Even cold November rain...
*The Twenty Seventh*
At least, I hope it's the 27th. Yeah. I think it is. Another Mondag. Still going on with the test week. Not much new has happened... went to an interesting party on Friday. There was an equal ratio of exchange students to native Finnish people... No snow. No rain. Not cold, exactly. Supposed to go to Lapland this weekend, and there isn't any snow up there, either. It isn't even that cold yet, that far north. This election is becoming a nightmare. More court issues. I don't like either enough to care anymore. There has to be a point where it ends, right? I am going to update the site a little bit. I have to include a whole Finland section... just cos I have all of these nice pictures of Finland now. They're quite postcard-esque, but Finland is very much like that all over. So... off I go.
*The Twenty First*
No more rain. Very sad. I am eating wheat flavoured yogurt and watching the sky go from white to grey in a matter of seconds. I have no school this week. I am trying to find ways to make myself look busy so that I don't get on people's nerves. One way is to sleep until eleven. Out of sight, out of mind. There is a cat in our yard- the neighbour's cat. It just jumped at a bird, but missed it. It is certainly aiming high this morning- it is eyeballing a bird twice as big as it is. Cute cat. Sometimes it gets into the house when the door isn't shut properly. Then Barbro starts having allergic reactions. I have a Rotary meeting today in fifty minutes. That should keep me occupied. Maybe go somewhere to write. I miss my library in Carmel. It was big enough to lose yourself in, and you didn't have to spend money to do so. I haven't been watching my money closely enough. Oops. It has been difficult with Christmas gifts, and then sending them off. I sent a meager Christmas, and it makes me feel a little sad. But my family knows I am thinking about them. And we still have birthdays, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day... Sigh. Should probably go get dressed now. Hafta look decent for these nice old guys...
*The Sixteenth*
I am sitting in school right now, but I have finished my essay so I came into the lab to work on this journal thing. The rain hasn't really eased up, though it isn't raining right now. It will be, though. Just give it a few hours... A cup of tea sounds wonderful right now, but I am limited to the pop machine selection- this crazy stuff called POMMAC- white grape flavored soda. I have found a place to get my tea, if ever I want to be alone. It is in this old market hall- a restaurant that has a section of seating set up to look like an old train car. I take the back booth and watch the people passing by. There are a lot of older people in Finland, I have noticed. On the bus, in the city, in the market hall. They're all either older than 65 or in between nineteen and twenty-five. Åbo is a college city... I haven't been as into the poetic mood lately for some reason. I get scared during these dried out periods. It happens every once in a while and then BAM! I am back to writing verses on my homework and in notebooks just to get them out of my head. Those are happy times. Right now I can only take everything and be the one witness to the thoughts swimming around in my head. This computer keeps freezing up, I am afraid it will crap out completely before I get a chance to add anything else... Life is alright for now. I am still in good health- my foot is all better. I was skating around in my new cool black tights the other day on the wooden floors, so it must be healed...
*The Ninth*
Right... so I thought it would be a good idea to explain to inquiring minds that I am in the middle of making a mess of this site. It used to be terribly organized... and terribly boring. So... don't get scared yet. It should all be ready for take-off sometime before the end of this month... Hmm... while I am here I also want to say that I miss hand drums. And I wanted to say that I love Florida. This is the most fun I have had watching an election. (Considering I have only lived through 4.) I don't like Gore or Bush, but I really like Florida. Right... so... there you go. (I said "so" too many times.)
*The Eighth*
It is already into the second week of this month. I know I marvel at the time a lot, but really, it does kind of go by too fast. It has been raining nonstop, but I am not complaining. No thunder or lightening- just rain. I fall asleep listening to the sound of it and am usually awake early enough to hear it still. Beautiful. It is drizzling as I type... Hmmm... Lots of new stuff has happened... I tried Blood Sausage. Actually, I got one chew into it- after a major pep talk, and felt I would puke all over the table. I will never understand the good in eating another animal's blood. Pretty Vampy, if you want to know. It smelled of cheap lipstick... We had Halloween. I passed out candy, which was fun. I don't really take much stock in the holiday anymore, but while I am here I feel this need to magnify every little American gritty detail... including the elections. God. Students were really following this American election closer than most Americans, I think. In History I learned of Bush's victory and felt like keeling over. "Noooo!" We still love you, Ralph... Tomorrow I have to make another presentation... I am supposed to make American food, but I really don't know what American food is. So, I am either going with our pancakes or our smores. I can teach some of the Finns how to watch a marshmellow blow up in the microwave...
