The clock is ticking.

Just under two weeks before the end of my adventure, I am finally checking in again!

Although I have been immersed in university stress in recent weeks, this is also a memory that helps me anchor all my experiences in my brain. That's why I want to take the time to provide a few updates.

Just now, I wrote my exam in the course 'Finnish for exchange students.' That's one less stress factor. For the remaining days, there are 'only' 2 assignments, the final part of an online course, and the complete online course on Organizational Psychology 😖.

In Kajaani, it is quite white at the moment, though not as much as we all hoped for at the beginning of December - oh my God, it's almost Christmas already?! The snow only came recently and there isn't much of it, although it snowed a bit yesterday, so at least the slush is covered and everything looks a bit powdery again.

We also experienced the real cold for a while. At the beginning of last week, it was around -14 degrees outside. I found it less bad than expected, especially because there was snow at that time and the sun was shining, which created a really beautiful atmosphere.

Here are some corresponding impressions, taken during a walk on the mountain at sunset (which currently happens at 2:19 PM 🙄).

(Some funny videos were made on this box while sliding over it 😅)

Barefoot in the snow after the Monday sauna.

When it was so cold, we also went out on the lake, which was completely frozen 😋.

And yesterday, late at night, we (my apartment) went outside again, throwing snowballs at the windows of other exchange students and building two small cute snowmen 😊.

Here is the sad attempt by Chrisi, Tiana, and Massian to hit my window 😅

By the way, since a few weeks, there has also been a cross-country skiing track right behind our campus, which is used permanently by Finns, no matter what time of day. I didn't expect that at all.

But still, a little more snow would be nice in my last days!

Then at the end of November, I went to Rovaniemi for a weekend with 9 others, where we had a very nice time. I will do a separate post about that :)

Yes, time is slowly coming to an end, but my mind has already been prepared for it for some time now because everyone has been talking about not wanting it to end for what feels like ages. That's why I'm already looking forward to going home again!

Karina, one of my Russian roommates, will already leave the day after tomorrow evening, and the two Germans, Viv and Yli, will leave the day after that. Unbelievable, then Ann and I will only be two here and I think then the sense of departure will be really noticeable. That will be strange for sure. In fact, I will be completely alone here for the last two days because Ann leaves two days before me.

But now, I don't want to think about it anymore. Until then, I still have a lot to do and will have a good time. And then I will also spend two more days in Helsinki, where I will meet my dearest Sibell from Germany 😍.

Goodbye,

I will check in again soon.