Leave with a bang

The anticipation of eurovision very succesfully drew away the attention from the fact that I will be leaving Maastricht on saturday. In fact, my parents and my sister will join me here in Maas tomorrow for a few days; after which we will start our drive back to Finland.

So the days leading to Eurovision were spent very succesfully, meeting up with my friends every single day. There was the gala which was a lot of fun, I've been told. I "lost track of time" once we got there. And then Eurovision was also a success. But then it hit me that I'm leaving so I'm not really sure how I feel. Yesterday I took a day off so to say and stayed home aside from seeing Star Trek at the cinema.

Today I've organised to go out with a group of my friends and have a drink or two before my family arrives. So hopefully this night will be a lot fun and won't turn into a sad goodbye, not the way I want to go. But admittedly I have never been this sad to leave a place. So many nice people here. Though, granted, the likelihood is that I'll cross paths with most of them later on in life when we all will proceed to take over Europe and the world.

Plans back in Finland include hanging out with the girls, meeting up with all my friends that I have not seen for months and so forth. I'm even organising a reunion for my elementary school people in July. Sometime over the summer I should fit in visits to Outi in Cyprus, holidays with Minna, holidays with Suvi, visiting Silvia in Italy and so forth. Where on earth will I get the money is beyond me but perhaps I'll get so many stories published that I'll be able to live off that. Hah!

Eurovision

It's only 9 days away. And I have the fever already. I keep listening to past and current entries, following news about Finland's Eurovision entourage's adventures, talking about it to every single person I meet, posting links on my facebook page. Essentially I'm so immersed in it that everybody must hate me. You can't get me to talk about anything else these days. With my head injury and everything everybody has been really nice. I've had visitors come over and to keep me entertained they've watched videos with me. I bet most people thank heavens that Eurovision is only once a year.

The whole head-thing has provided plenty of amusement over the week. Admittedly I may have over-dramatised it, I have lived a cushioned life and have only broken one toe and had a few stitches in my head once before. Like a friend of mine pointed out, we Europeans have it easy. And aside from the few days of discomfort that immediately followed, the only nuisance about it now is the disgusting state of my hair. I can't wash the hair around the cut so as to not to dilute the glue until saturday so it's nasty. But for example yesterday we had our last tutorial and needed to present an article that I had not read. So I gave a presentation on it and when I felt that I was not making sense anymore I just said "I have a head injury, I cannot be held accountable". Works like a charm.

But once this week is over I will have finished my last remaining uni assignments aside from my thesis and can resume my normal hair-styling routine. Next week we have the two Eurovision semi-finals, Gala for the European Studies students, Bachelor party for a friend of mine and then to end a brilliant week, the Eurovision final. A brilliant last week in Maastricht I tell you. Then the week after that my sister and parents are driving here to pick me up and I'll be leaving Maas for good. So I'm making the most out of Maas while I still can.

How it all went down ... literally

So yesterday was one eventful day. I was a bit upset so Barbara invited me to her place for some fun time. I had a lovely time with her and Marius. Then things got exciting. We were waiting for the bus and decided to play hopscotch to pass the time. I go last and with my enthusiasm I really go for it with speed and end up head first on the ground. I didn't even realise at first that I was bleeding but then it becomes apparent. Barby and Marius take me back home, Barby cleans the wound and even makes me drink water with sugar to prevent the shock. Love her, a proper angel.

We then take the bus to town (quicker than getting a taxi to Smeermaas) and on our way Barbara tries to keep we awake and talking, and I just try to breathe. She asked me when I was born to determine how sane I am and I could not remember for the life of me when I was born! You have no idea how scary that was. I could not remember who some people she was talking about were and when we finally get to the hospital I couldn't remember my home address. I like to think I was calm and I think I did all that I could at that point but I was pretty worried when I was forgetting things.

We were then received by a Dutch doctor who did not really speak English that well. She first tried to apparently tie my hair to close the wound (Barby was holding my hair and witnessed this) but then resulted to glueing it shut. Yes, apparently this is the new alternative to stitches. Finally she did her thing and gave us a note that had all the instructions. Too bad it was in Dutch. Nevertheless, Barby had to come and stay at my place because I needed to be woken up every hour to check that I'm still up and running and not taking a turn for the worse.

We then take a taxi home, on the way there I hear Turkey's entry to Eurovision this year and I mention it to Barbara who sighs of relief because apparently that is a sign that I'm getting back to normal. We get home, settle down on the couch. I was still nauseous and couldn't get much sleep before 4am but then me and Barby both fall asleep and wake up at 6am to check I'm still among the living. And then around 9am Kalina comes and Barby can go home and rest. Kalina kept me company all day, got me food and provided some TLC. And then when Kalina went home Francesco came by to say hi.

So apart from my disgusting hair that will remain disgusting for a week before I can wash it, good things have come out of it. All my friends are showing how lovely they are and really love is in the air, they're so amazing. And I know never to play children's games anymore, I'm officially too old.

Odd reasons to be excited about moving to Cardiff

1. Tesco home delivery - I can do my groceries online, have the benefits of a huge selection, compare prices and finally have someone else deliver it to my door. Saves time and money.
2. Moving into student halls - If I get my first choice I will have my own bathroom, have a person cleaning the kitchen and the common areas, a reliable landlord and should something go kaputt, there would be someone to fix it! Oh the luxury of a working fridge and freezer and cupboard space!
3. English - People will speak English, even the teachers. No longer will I have to consider whether an idiom is familiar to people outside the island and can once again become fluent in the language I adore. Say no to Euro-English and embrace the one and only genuine one!
4. Travelling - Easy transportation where ever I want! And cheap as well.
   
5. Learning - I will learn new skills, actual skills that will benefit me in my choice of career. No longer will I have to not study for exams because it's about a topic that I could not care less about but will still get a good grade. I miss going to the library just because I wanted to learn more.