A Few Small Adventures

Well my friends, the past few weeks have been pretty crazy. Not everything's been good, but not everything can be. Rather than talk about the bad things, I want to focus on the good things. AND THERE'S A LOT OF THEM!

First off, I saw the northern lights. THAT'S RIGHT! A large solar storm made it possible to see the Aurora Borealis in almost every part of Finland. Seeing the Northern lights was my exchange dream. I had started to think it wasn't going to happen, but then the world surprised me! They weren't super strong, but they were still absolutely magnificent.

A nice, shitty picture of the Northern Lights

Just a few days later I was able to experience another worldly wonder. A solar eclipse. In Lappeenranta, the eclipse was about 80% which is pretty good! I had these special SUPER nerdy glasses so I could stare at the sun for an hour. My art teacher (who is super cool) let us stay outside for the whole class so we could watch it! I was able to take several pictures by holding up my camera to the nerdy glasses to show the progression of the eclipse.

Nerded- Out

My last little adventure was a trip to the Russian border. I didn't cross it... yet. I did visit the border (I could have jumped to Russia, but I decided not to illegally cross that border). I learned a lot about the way customs works. Most the borders in Eastern Finland are pretty important as they are European Union borders as well as Finnish borders. I forgot my camera for this trip, but hopefully soon I will get some pictures.

Tomorrow, I will embark on the adventure of a lifetime. A four day Rotary trip to Saint Petersburg. Russia here I come! Check back soon to see more :)