Life is beautiful

I'm in Helsinki waiting to board my plane.  So, I apologize for the order of the pics again this week.  Here's a quick run down of my last week in JYV til May.  These are fishing flies that are on display at the Craft Museum in JYV.

These guys set up lights and were filming jumps from the snow pile onto the railing which they would slide down on their skies.  I'm so glad their moms weren't there watching.  Helmets, anyone?

Dr. Kati Kauppinen after defending her thesis.  Sorry Kati, it looks like you are wearing the coat rack.  :)  We are all so proud of her!

This is the Seminarium building where all of the Ph.D. defenses in our department are held.  This is the back of the room.  An organ!!

The front of the room.  Kati sat on the right, her opponent on the left, and Sari (Kati's supervisor) in the middle.  An explanation of the rituals of the public defense will have to wait for another time...

The party that Kati hosted in the evening after her defense.  Her opponent is on the left and Sari (my professor as well) is on the right.

Singing along to the music during the party.  They sang Alanis Morissette which was a total blast from the past.  I'm amazed at how nearly everyone sang along to all of the songs.

As part of the evening's program, Katja (on the right) and Niina (second from left) had the brilliant idea of putting together a folk dance program where we invited Kati to come dance with us.  SO FUN!  Everyone clapped along, we paused twice during the dance to give her some words of wisdom.  Definitely one of the highlights of the evening.

Helsinki's claim to fame...

"Life is beautiful."  This is the first written text I had seen in Eija's house and it is placed right above the bed in the room where I stayed.  Pretty much sums up these last 3 1/2 months.

Joni!  I will miss her dearly.  She's soon to head back to Holland and I'm headed back to Texas. 

The tax office.  This week I was issued a Finnish social security number and tax card.  My official residence is now Finland.  Crazy.  As one of my colleagues said, "You are quickly becoming Finnishized!"

Um...Alice and Wonderlandish...

Need I say more?  This is why I LOVE Finnish museums. 

Ski jump in JYV.

Eija and I went sledding...except we didn't have any sleds.  Drawing on the resources in her trunk, we tried sledding in an old hockey bag.  After pushing ourselves halfway down the hill, we gave up.  Such fun nonetheless.  There was a family there who was kind enough to lend us their sled.  Woohoo!

Eija invited me to the spa (indoor heated pools, saunas, etc.).  Sooo relaxing!

Christmas gifts.  Thank you Eija!  This week was my last full week in Jyvaskyla (until next May) and has been the best week yet.  Ok, so maybe every week has been the best week of my time here.  :)  So that means that this week was no exception.  This week as I've been wrapping up the semester and preparing to return home, I've been reflecting on the miracle it is that I ever came to learn about the program at JYU, and then the even greater miracle that I actually made it here.  I'm grateful for those miracles.  I would have missed out on incredible friendships, experiences and personal growth had I chosen to play it safe and pursued other paths back home.  I'm truly indebted to those individuals whose encouragement and counsel helped me muster the faith and courage to take the road less traveled.