first 3 days in finland

it's 7:04am now, i woke up at 5:30am today. slightly better from yesterday as i woke up at 5am. still trying to get used to the time adjustments here.

day 1: i was at Helsinki airport, doing the excess baggage for my domestic flight to Oulu.. they told me that i had to pay excess for the 33kg i had. that's like almost 200euros.. way too ridiculous i thought. then they were nice enough to charge me 120euros because they think i had too much to pay. i figured i should be using cargo when i'm back in SG, and i seriously can't wait to be back. I need to do very well in school. so i settled my excess and it was about 4 hours before i go on board again.no internet, no books.. i was just observing people in the airport.

So i reached Oulu and I must thank Ms Tiia for picking me up. Seriously, it would have been alot of hassles for me if i were to go on myself. I reached Oulu at 6pm, and the accomodation office closes at 4pm. I needed someone to pick my keys up from the office. IF NOT, i have to stay in a hotel, get all my luggage to the office to collect the keys and get to where i'm staying. cab fares here are not for the peasants in SG. it cost about 34euros just to travel 14km, from the airport to where i'm staying.

So i settled in my place, changed out and went walking to the city with Tiia. Bought some groceries, familiarize with the place abit and took a bus home. it's 3euros. I alighted and i got lost again. thankfully, i found someone at the petrol station.
I asked him about the place on the map; he wasn't sure. But he was kind enough to drive around that area to see if it's correct. before that, i was feeling so sad and depressed. carrying my bag of groceries and getting lost and the locals here don't seemed to know their maps too well. But i felt the hand of God intervening this process and i was brought home safely.

there was no internet connection just yet, and i was really missing everyone back in Singapore. it was getting dark, at around 10pm. So i decided to sleep after such a long day.

day2: i was awake at 530am. boiled some water with the kettle, made myself some breakfast and set out to the city on foot. navigating around wasn't easy at first, because their road names are really long and the locals themselves aren't too familiar with the place. I set foot from 8am.. getting the paper work done for my accomodation, getting a bank account, tried to get a bike but the prices are just too ridiculous.. it's around 140euros to a 2nd hand one.. 300euros for a new one.. i'm stll weighing the costs between getting a bike or getting a bus concession because i don't think i would be able to ride in the winter.
finally got the internet connection down, and i skyped with my parents, esther and jolene.
thanks so much. phone calls matter alot to me than just seeing texts on the screen. i'm feeling a lil better now.

i'm still trying to find a church. there's a cathedral in the city. but i'm afraid that it's gonna be in finnish. anyhow, we'll see.