Coming home!

As someone might have noticed I changed the name of this blog since I got feedback for the old name being politically incorrect and I don´t want to insult anyone so I decided to change it.

Otherwise it will be the same as previously: random stories of my life while I am in exchange in Germany.
Today I am going to write about my journey from Göttingen to Espoo. Since I bought the cheapest flights to Finland the connections were not the best ones, but it was an interesting experience for sure! I wrote about the happenings to a notebook almost minute by minute so here we go! Had to cut the long story short(er) since I got inspired and wrote four A4 pages of text…. :D At least I didn´t have the time to get bored ;)

Keeping busy...

21.35: My journey back home to Finland starts as I close the door behind me in Studentendorf and step into the dark and rainy winter weather in Göttingen. I have to drag my old suitcase behind me all the way to the train station and I cross my fingers that it will last all the way without braking down. It looks really beaten up and I can be heard coming way before I can be seen since some parts of it touch the ground. I really blame myself for being so stupid when I didn’t buy a new suitcase earlier today, since I spent almost an hour in tk-maxx measuring two suitcases with my eyes just to tell myself hundreds of times that the other one is too small and the other one too big. But now while hurrying to the train station (again without a reason since I know i´ll be there at least 10 min or maybe even 15 min in advance) being almost as wet (from sweat) as my suitcase (from the rain) I decide that the first thing i´ll do when I´m back is to buy a suitcase – if this poor one will last all the way back to Göttingen of course.

I don´t know if it´s the noise that my suitcase makes or the fact that I look like an eskimo (yes, I am going to Finland, have to be prepared!!) but people give me weird looks. But it´s obviously too hot to wear my warmest winter jacket and the fur shoes in this rainy +12 c weather so I put my jacket in the backpack. Now I look like it´s +18 degrees outside and for some reason people still give me weird looks.

A pick nick in the train :) 

23.53: Finally at the airport! So, this is where I am going to spend the night and it´s actually pretty cozy! The warm air embraces me and the Christmas trees in front of the windows look welcoming. Even the homeless woman in the “Christmas red” jacket and her two bags (probably her whole property) look nice, reminds me distantly of Santa Claus. I find benches where I see other people sleeping too. Actually I don´t only see them, I can also hear them: that approximately 4-year-old Russian girl is crying. Seriously?!

00.03: since I can´t sleep because of that girl screaming I decide to stay busy:  I bought a screen guide to my phone earlier today since the screen is in pieces now and the guard is too big so I have to cut it, because I just randomly chose one. It is for another model because there is nothing for my old (but absolutely good!) Nokia (just kidding, I didn´t choose it randomly, I bought the cheapest one and hoped for it to fit). Well, I did not bring scissors with me so nail clippers will do for now, I mean what else could I do here at 00.03 at Hannover airport where I’ll spend the night with a screaming Russian girl, this homeless woman and a couple of other budget travelers?

00.14: Noo! My favourite nail clipper decides to break down in 3 pieces! Hey, when did that homeless woman sneak pass me to those massaging chairs? Oh all of a sudden my stomach reminds of its existence by making loud noises. Seriously?! I really can´t afford my effective metabolism here at the airport, not that anything would be open at this time either. So I try to fool my stomach by filling it with water.

The red spot on the right hand side is the homeless woman

The nail clipper :(

00.31: fixed the nail clipper – it looks ok even though it is a bit loose... Well, I guess it´s enough for this night; I’ll fix the screen guard at home when I have access to decent tools (scissors :D). Hmm why are those two young men walking around here without any suitcases not to mention bags? They are clearly not traveling anywhere.... I don´t trust anyone anymore after hearing about so many incidents here in Germany where everything from a camera to a whole suitcase have been stolen…

00.56: I notice that the first hour has passed! Wow, so fast! I guess it´s not only the planes that flies here, also the time seems to fly! Hoho, bad joke, jeez I can´t think clearly anymore so should I try to sleep a little? I don´t know if I’ll feel safe enough to sleep so I’ll try to hang on a little bit more.

01.04: Oh no! I sneeze and at the same time a fart! Soo embarrassing even if it was only a small harmless one… There might be a chance that the guy sitting two rows away from me didn´t hear it since he is talking on the phone… I don´t know and I don´t want to know it either so I make sure to avoid his look and try to act cool like nothing happened. Not cool!!!

01.21: I am really tired and everyone is sleeping. I decide to do that too, but I set my alarm to wake me up 30 min later not to really fall asleep.

01.51: I hear my alarm. I feel a lot fresher now even if my stomach really hurts – I am so hungry again! I eat the two clementines I brought with me and go to the restroom. I drag my suitcase with me and I probably wake up everyone on my way there or at least on my way back since the noise really echoes in the big aula. Well, I didn´t want to leave it there all by itself in case someone would be so desperate and want to steal my suitcase that looks shabbier than the homeless woman in the corner. And I mean I have bottles of German beer in it! I even have to tell myself not to drink it so I’m sure someone else would also be more than happy to enjoy the German elixir.

I happen to see myself in the mirrors in the restroom. I decide to avoid them the rest of the journey.

Restroom slefie. The only representative part of me at this time of a day :D

02 something – 04 something: I sleep, but I set the alarm to ring every 30 min. It´s probably very healthy… Sometimes I hear the girl crying and I curse her family for bringing her here. If you have the money to take your whole family to a vacation you might also have the money to book at least a hotel for it too! It´s not very responsible of the parents to stay the night at the airport with poor young students and homeless people! Sometimes I also wake up because I’m so hot! I notice my jacket is embracing me, no wonder it´s hot! Every now and then the fur in the hood is also trying to sneak in my nostrils and it tickles. I try to change my position; maybe I’ll fit under the armrest? No, I definitely don´t. Damn it, the mirrors in H&M made one look thinner after all…

5.00 --> : the airport is opened for the day; Cafes open their doors, people wandering around and staff has appeared behind the check-in desks. Everyone else is awake apart from the homeless woman who desperately tries to squeeze her eyes wide shut. Time to wake up I guess.

I go through the security control and to the smallest gate I’ve probably ever seen not to mention the airplane where I with my 170 cm body can barely stand straight! The staff speaks Danish and suddenly it hits me and I can´t stop smiling - I’m definitively on my way home! The small plane takes us safely to Copenhagen where I have 35 min time to catch the connecting flight to Helsinki where my dad is waiting for me. As I finally arrive in Finland I mentally clap myself on the shoulder congratulating from a good choice of staying the night at the airport instead of taking myself through the city in the middle of the night only to stay in a crappy hostel for a couple of hours. It all went well and it wasn´t that bad at all, I made it even if my suitcase didn´t. Well, I’ll get it later I guess (I was told it will be brought to my home). I can´t get bothered now, I´m just sooo happy to be back!!! <3

Home sweet home!

I had a lot of space in the airplane

Ps I got a text message at 12:18 that said that my suitcase is now on its way and it´s 15:56 now (hmm it´s approximately a 40 min drive so I hope they got me right when I gave my two addresses, the one in Finland and the one in Germany…!) :D.

Mmm traditional Finnish Christmas delicacies, definitively worth the travel :)