Onnellista uutta vuotta ja myös viimeinen viesti vuoden

Translated: Happy New Year and also the last post of the year".

It's the day where everyone traditionally complains how bad the year has been. My facebook feed is already full of it. Though I don't agree, this last year has been great, of course there has been ups and down's but such is life. The down's make the up's all the more wonderful.

I have also lived here in Finland over a year now and I still think it is the best decision of my life!!! Not to mention the sacrifices Eero makes to put up with me and supports my wild ideas... mostly!

He starts his new job next week so as he can work from Jyväskylä a few days then in Tampere the others which is great!!! We also have the new car which I love and I am allowed to drive lol!!!

We also have 34cm of snow!!! Jen is coming over for NYE!!! and Ep's is coming home!!! I have no idea which to be excited over first!!!!

I am also excited about what the new year is bringing, sadly I am also excited about the Finnish grammar course which will kill any gremlin's left in my sometimes humorous outbursts! There are a lot of courses in Spring that are exciting with my course but it will be more hardwork! Suomi 3 begins too!

Snow go in the UK

My flight was Friday 17th and the chaos unfolding in Europe was just a bad dream as I started traveling to Tampere on the Thursday evening to overnight at äiti's. Friday was a strange day as mom called in the morning saying that dad was ill with flu and I had to badger him into the doctor's. It also meant my lift would change but Dean said he would pick me up from the airport.

So later in the evening Eero dropped me at the train station and the journey began with the train being 25 minutes late. I arrived in Tikkurila where Hanna and Kaisa were waiting to drop me at the airport. All was looking well, the train meant I would arrive at the airport as soon as check in opened so no waiting around! There were a lot of people waiting around in the queue so it was obviously a full flight. I got talking to two older guys (50's) and it turned out they had been working in Pori doing similar things to me so we were all talking for ages.

Then no delays on screen, we were 15 minutes late for boarding but that's no real issue or difference to normal. Here is the fun part... at the time we are due to land the pilot says: Manchester airport is closed due to heavy snowfall, we are going to Newcastle." So I think, that's ok it will be on the board and I can call mom when we land and tell here everything is fine. Of course you get all annoyed inside, I was tired and hungry. But we didn't even know then that after the 2.5hour flight we would still be on the plane four hours later. We spent 2 hours at Newcastle waiting for fuel then flight confirmation. Mom and Dean were stressed as the airport said my flight had landed no mention of where. MY phone battery was on the last bar as I had been messing with it on the train...

After 2 hours in Newcastle we flew back to Manchester, landed. And thought "Yes, mom is waiting with food and drink" looking out the window there was hardly any snow... alas we still had to sit waiting to taxi in an empty airport for 2 hours... first we got the stairs, then we had to wait over an hour to get a bus... then the baggage was delayed.

In the end we sat (with the older guys) waiting on the airport floor for the bags... I was due at 10.30pm, I left the airport at almost 4.45am... got home at 6.25am... exhausted I spent my first day asleep of a very short visit. But amusingly, I meant a lecturer from my University on the same flight and it was funny that everything kept getting delayed, there was no arguing or anything. Nor was there any offering of food or water 6 hours 45minutes into being on the plane. Someone had a panic attack.

But at least I was back....