Of homecomings and adjusting
Home sweet home. I've been back for a couple of days now, but was too tired and lazy to update until now. I had a major case of jet lag, but I'm mostly over that by now.
My flight home was absolutely horrible, due to PMS pains, nausea, tiredness, uncomfortable plane seats, a screaming baby that sounded more like a cat being tortured, and me sitting between two guys who talked to each other through most of my flight from London to Helsinki while I tried to sleep. One of the guys was from Texas and the other one from Helsinki and they apparently discovered during the flight that they worked in the same field and that they both loved blues and played in underground bands. It might have been kind of interesting to listen to if I hadn't been feeling so awful at the time. I actually talked to the guy from Texas for a while before the other guy got there and he was really interested in knowing things about Finland. Can you believe that the first American to ask me what "thank you" and "hello" are in Finnish is someone I meet on my way back home? During the last nine months no one else asked me that. Anyway, I was so happy when I finally arrived in Helsinki where my mom was waiting for me. By the time we got home I had been awake for around 30 hours (I slept a bit on the plane but that wasn't proper rest) and I just crashed into bed.
I woke up pretty early the next morning, still feeling extremely tired but not really sleepy so I got up. This is basically what happened when I got downstairs and saw my mom:
Me: *in English* Man, I feel so disoriented!
My mom: *looks at me weird*
Me: ... I said that in English, didn't I?
My mom: You know, I wouldn't even have commented if I had understood what you said.
Me: But I don't remember what that is in Finnish!
In other words, I'm having some major trouble switching back to Finnish. I keep using small English words and phrases in the middle of conversation and I don't always even notice it. My Finnish grammar is odd at times and I keep making stupid mistakes. I also still easily slip back into using English if someone surprises me. The books I sent through the mail arrived two days ago, but since I wasn't expecting it so soon I was surprised to see the package delivered to our door and when I opened the door I said "Hello?" in English. I really need to start reading those books in Finnish soon...
Other than that, I haven't really experienced a reverse culture shock yet. Of course, I'm starting to pay attention to some small differences between Finland and America, but it hasn't really been anything that shocking. Maybe the cultural differences will hit me when I start classes again in September. We'll see.
It's annoying that I bought lots of new summer clothing in America, but lately it's been so cold in Finland that if I want to wear them, I also have to put on a warm jacket (which effectively hides my new clothes).
Oh, I also got a new phone and a new number. I would've sent some text messages around notifying people of it, but apparently my sim card hasn't been activated yet (that's what you get when you try to get a new number right before the Midsummer holiday, I suppose...) so I'm still waiting... I like my new phone though. It's at least a lot more modern than my old one that I had bought in 2002.
My flight home was absolutely horrible, due to PMS pains, nausea, tiredness, uncomfortable plane seats, a screaming baby that sounded more like a cat being tortured, and me sitting between two guys who talked to each other through most of my flight from London to Helsinki while I tried to sleep. One of the guys was from Texas and the other one from Helsinki and they apparently discovered during the flight that they worked in the same field and that they both loved blues and played in underground bands. It might have been kind of interesting to listen to if I hadn't been feeling so awful at the time. I actually talked to the guy from Texas for a while before the other guy got there and he was really interested in knowing things about Finland. Can you believe that the first American to ask me what "thank you" and "hello" are in Finnish is someone I meet on my way back home? During the last nine months no one else asked me that. Anyway, I was so happy when I finally arrived in Helsinki where my mom was waiting for me. By the time we got home I had been awake for around 30 hours (I slept a bit on the plane but that wasn't proper rest) and I just crashed into bed.
I woke up pretty early the next morning, still feeling extremely tired but not really sleepy so I got up. This is basically what happened when I got downstairs and saw my mom:
Me: *in English* Man, I feel so disoriented!
My mom: *looks at me weird*
Me: ... I said that in English, didn't I?
My mom: You know, I wouldn't even have commented if I had understood what you said.
Me: But I don't remember what that is in Finnish!
In other words, I'm having some major trouble switching back to Finnish. I keep using small English words and phrases in the middle of conversation and I don't always even notice it. My Finnish grammar is odd at times and I keep making stupid mistakes. I also still easily slip back into using English if someone surprises me. The books I sent through the mail arrived two days ago, but since I wasn't expecting it so soon I was surprised to see the package delivered to our door and when I opened the door I said "Hello?" in English. I really need to start reading those books in Finnish soon...
Other than that, I haven't really experienced a reverse culture shock yet. Of course, I'm starting to pay attention to some small differences between Finland and America, but it hasn't really been anything that shocking. Maybe the cultural differences will hit me when I start classes again in September. We'll see.
It's annoying that I bought lots of new summer clothing in America, but lately it's been so cold in Finland that if I want to wear them, I also have to put on a warm jacket (which effectively hides my new clothes).
Oh, I also got a new phone and a new number. I would've sent some text messages around notifying people of it, but apparently my sim card hasn't been activated yet (that's what you get when you try to get a new number right before the Midsummer holiday, I suppose...) so I'm still waiting... I like my new phone though. It's at least a lot more modern than my old one that I had bought in 2002.