Coming Home

Early - Very Early - Saturday morning felt like the end of a long day and the beginning of another long day. Over the previous few hours - it would be lying to say "the previous night" since that hadn't finished - I was able to enjoy every moment of my last hours in Finland hanging out with my host sister and new friends all around Helsinki. I don't generally sleep well on planes, so I was probably setting myself up for some dramatic jet lag, but I had no regrets. Once home after venturing the city, Anna and I enjoyed some coffee and looked at pictures while chatting the last remaining time away. I got the last of my luggage together and before long, it was early in the morning, yet, time to head to the airport for my long journey back home. My luggage checked in successfully - no stressful dejavu's this summer - yet, rushed like always, it was time to say goodbye to the Kiukkonen's.

Even in a short week's time they had truly welcomed me with excitement and so much planned and that made my final travels in Finland very special. Anna was an especially important part of my summer and her enthusiasm to show me her home city was reflected in our exciting tours. We always had great things to talk about and she has given me many inspirations to experience and learn new things around the world.

Anna, and my other family members from the Kiukkonens, had made my summer extremely memorable as well, and I have a deep gratitude for what they provided me with as well as a great satisfaction that I have another connection, family, and trust, in yet another part of Finland, and part of the world. Saying goodbye was special because I knew that the special bonds that were created in the week past were not always easy to come by, and I had acquired another international family that meant so much to me.

The planes rides themselves were a little dizzying and left us feeling delirious. Our flight to Frankfurt came quickly in only a mere few hours and once again we were overwhelmed by the expansiveness of the International airport abounding us. Herding as a group we all arrived through and made our next flight which would have us crossing the Atlantic during a never ending morning ( as we would arrive in D.C. still early on in the same day).

The flight was really a lot of fun, since the really close friendships that were made throughout the whole summer between us American travelers gave us hours of talking and laughs.

We had been able to do really so much together and shared some great experiences at each others sides.

Although stated many times, it was really so unique that we all came from different backgrounds from around the country, yet we had the special unity of being Americans. One of the embassy workers applauded that are group was exactly what the embassy tried to explain and instill in their foreign visitors : 'Americans' defines groups of all types with such a proud diversity of all different backgrounds, and our group exemplified that.

Once back in D.C. many of us had long layovers before going home and we were able to spend our first hours back in America appreciating our last hours together. For many of us we planned to keep in touch and even visit each other, but it was depressing having so many goodbyes in one week, let alone, one day. Throughout the afternoon we clustered around the airport wishing everyone farewells and enjoying each others company.

We had to laugh since we had the reverse feeling coming back that we were like foreigners - around the airport feeling like ' those American kids that lived in Finland'. We were almost in a state of denial, since we had challenged ourselves all summer to blend in with the Finnish lifestyle, and now back in the comforts of our own home - there was nothing more comfortable than laughing as a group of 'adopted Finns' with all of our culture clashing jokes that would only make sense to us, along with our random Finnish words and phrases that unanimously flowed into our average speech.

Our little group had really become tight knit largely to the fact that we felt and pronounced each other nonverbally: Our homes away from home.

Coming back to Michigan I had the great thoughts of my associations around the globe and even in my own country with so many really close friends that I had experienced so much with. We all shared the same struggles and bonds and that immediately connected us in ways that others couldn't comprehend. That comprehension being what it really felt to live in Finland, and ultimately abroad in a foreign situation, that is largely difficult to even begin to express in words. Finland had impacted me immensely and I had gained so much out of the experience - even new friends and 'family' in my own home country. It is that what had really made the final moments of my YFU FUSYE experience incredible. The day had been long - and I had been even longer with out sleep - but the excessively long day had been filled with so much emotion, excitement, fun, and compassion and the only thing ahead of me was the readjustment to the my 'normal life' aside from my connections to my home, friends, and families abroad --- and probably a lot of jetlag.