And So It Ends...

It all started with a dream. A dream of a successful exchange experience. The top pick for me was Queens and I havent' regretted my decision once I got to know the wonderful people who live and do their exchange here. Kingston will never be the same for us, because a big part of the exchange magic was in the people that were there with you! From the initial orientations to Niagara; from Montreal to the "soccer dome of Kingston"; from Princess to Collingwood; from Boston to New York, I've been able to share these experiences with wonderful personalities.

The many wonderful people I've met and been fortunate enough to call them friends have taught me new things about life and about myself. To them, I now salute and take a bow.

I'll be heading to Boston next Wednesday morning to spend the Christmas holidays with my American relatives. From Boston I'll continue my trip to the West Coast to hook up with the Abu, the metrosexual member of the Pussikaljahukka organization, and to wreak some havoc in Las Vegas, San Fransisco and Los Angeles, at least. Ilkka already has some plans lined up, and I can't help but feel a great roadtrip coming up!!!

Hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas and a successful next year! Enjoy the holidays and I'll be seeing ya. Sooner or later, that is... :) To everyone I know through my exchange period, have a good life and hopefully this isn't the end of beautiful friendships! :p

P.S. Kristiina, I pass the baton to you now. Rock Kingston next fall like we did this year! Holla, if you need any assistance with your exchange organizing. I've gone through the process here, so I'll know how to help you out, if needed. Babas are resiliant and resourceful individuals, but... "kaveria voi aina auttaa mäessä".

146 And The Case Of The Confused Mutt

After returning from the bar Saturday night a few girls living on our street came on by and left a dog for us to take care of. The girls had found the dog, which was quickly named Chuck Norris, running rampant on our street, so they decided to take care of him and thought that he was from our house, due to the fact that our house was the only one up at that late hour. After a peaceful night with a new and confused member at 146, a Swedish exchange friend of ours found a note portraying the dog at the Stauffer Library. A phone call later the actual owners were on their way.

And as it turned out, the mutt's name wasn't Chuck Norris, but rather ...Taz. Needless to say, Taz has been reunited with his family and we were treated with yet another weird story to tell to people later on in life, concerning what actually went on during the exchange.

Just finished packing. Soon it'll be "Kingston no more".

An Example of Kingston Drive-By Sweatering?

Honestly, who shoots through windows with bebe-guns on Collingwood? I mean, how lame can you possibly be?!

The Jamaican Party (Before the Cops Arrived...)

The farewell party for all exchange friends new and old was held this Wednesday at 146. The theme was picked after heated debates over the topic "Who's stinking up the house?", with the concept of Kingston, Jamaica compelling us to go out and get trashed. Jamaican style. Suffice to say, this was easily achieved and the house that became the symbol and cornerstone of exchange activity here in Kingston this past fall gave everyone the royal farewell only 146 can deliver.

Me, Martin, Dan n' Dan getting into the Jamaican feel of things.

More and more people just kept on coming in...

...And the house was full yet again due to a final drunken exchange escapade! :p

...And like everything sweet and tasty in life, all good must come to a screeching halt! I thought it was just a cab waiting, but as it turned out, I was mistaken. The dutiful Kingston police had arrived.

...On a sidenote, the partying didn't stay in the house, but was gradually pushed outside as well. The carnival feel of shredded paper on the street obviously got someone off big time.

The Big Apple

As I've mentioned on a couple of occasions, the Big Apple was conquered last week by the reckless n' flamboyant road trip crew of K-town. We departed Kingston last Wednesday just after six o'clock in the morning and got back home late into the night on Saturday. The trip can be summed up as being awesome, a success, and a perfect choice for us seasoned road trip veterans! :p

We were able to squeeze in a lot of activities and by the end of the third day everyone's legs were beginning to feel the endless walking that had occured ever since we got ourselves into the beacon of mixed things on the Atlantic coast. From seeing art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA for short) to shopping at a discount department store situated only a block away from the WTC-hole (they're just making the foundations for the future buildings, so it's merely a gigantic hole in the middle of the finance centre of NY), and having an oriental dinner at Chinatown (...and an Italian dinner in Little Italy:), our trip was a flexibly structured mixture of everything the city had to offer. And to think that we barely scratched the surface...

Leaving Aman hang to dry at the UN Building (sorry, mate!), we headed to the Brooklyn Bridge and enjoyed the wonderful views the structure had to offer. A breathtaking walk indeed. On our way we were able to eat lunch at a traditional American diner and see the Gotham-cityish City Hall.

After seeing the same facilities that top politicians use, e.g. the General Assembly Council, we decided that it was time to enhance the relations between India and Finland. After many bottles of consumed Bacardi 151 and Canadian Sola white wine, the successful and warm-hearted negotiations between the two middle-sized nations came to a happy end in front of the UN emblem.

Chillin' in da Big Apple.

Some of the veterans of road trippin' pose in front of the New York Stock Exchange. The weather was beautiful during our entire trip which meant that no umbrellas that had been forgotten in Kingston were missed. One cell phone, on the other hand, was left behind. No one will ever know where it was lost, but to our knowledge, it's still out there. Someday, Kaisa, it'll find its way back home.

One is a bit in awe of Times Square, when they're introduced to it for the first time. It's a good mixture of pop culture icons as well as everything superficial in America. Other places which we we're able to visit and experience included a bar called "Off The Wagon" in Greenwich Village, where you basically go just to fall of the wagon with 7$ pitchers *enter drum solo*, Fifth Avenue, a surprisingly bad Broadway show called Christmas Spectacular (for me the show was a spectacular piece of sh*t!), and the soothing atmosphere of Central Park.

Kings of Queens

http:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=51tZmg_Xo0A

Nothing much to it, the video will speak for itself of how wonderful the exchange has been for me and my new friends. We truly are the champions of something spectacular and unforgettable. Mucho cheerios for Dan the Skipper for providing us with such a blast of entertainment!

Got my bus ticket to Boston and my plane ticket to LA today. Tomorrow we're having a final theme party at 146, this time we're going all out Jamaican on everyone's ass!!! :p

A post from our trip to the Big Apple will also continue, so stay tuned, kiddies...

On Wednesday: NYC ; In two weeks: Boston

Well, kiddies, how is everyone? Anyone fancy a pint? I'm feeling a bit strange since I've finished all my classes, our trip to NYC is in two days and I'll have to pack up my belongings here within the next two weeks. Then that'll be it. Exchange, no more!!! Oh, how will my life change...?

We'll have none of that.

No hockey, but floorball instead.

Indoor soccer is always a possibility. Maybe the Ehawk organization will have me, no one knows. I'm off now to write my last individual assignments. After them I'll have one exam on the 19th and that's it. Catch ya laterrrrr!

And the award goes to...

At the Farewell Exchange Gala which was held last Friday, I was presented with this award. And obviously this certificate is going up on the wall in my future executive office. Three more weeks left in Kingston. Got some actual school work to attend to this week in the form of three group presentation, but I'm not worried. Mikkeli has prepared us all into making presentation even whilst "green-faced" during the Orientation Week of 2005... x)

Got to do some preparing so, later... Congrats to Ilkka W for turning a bit older today! :) I'll be having those cases of beer once I return, mate! *can you spell paaarteeee!?*

The Daytrip to Ottawa

Here I am, again, posting new stories from my exchange in K-town. Another week has gone by so fast, and new stories and legends have been forget! Other issues concerned, I have under a month to go in K-town, so I'll be saying farewells to a multiple of different friends I've come to know, honor and party with during my exchange. But there's no hurry yet to bidding farewells, so might as well let you the basic rundown on what happened on our daytrip to Ottawa.

Just as before visiting the parlament of Canada, including the House of Commons and the Senate, I stumbled across a familiar sounding word on a street poster... The poster was an add of a loungebar called Helsinki, located on 15 George Street. Naturally we tracked the place down, but to our unfortunate luck, it opened up after 8:30, which was sadly too late of a time for us to be in Ottawa.

Here's our roadtrip crew, Max being excluded from the picture because he's... well, French. Yuvon, Kaisa, Dan and me all we're excited to visit the capital. Why wouldn't we be? :p I drove us to Ottawa, and discovered that a speed limit had been put on the Buick. Dammit, this was the SECOND time this happened!!!

After visiting the Parlament of Canada (which can be seen in the background, behind Dan's new, Men-in-Blackish shades!), we headed over to the National Museum of Canada, which is apparently the most visited museum in all of Canada. Of course we got there 20 minutes before closing time, so we were able to get a general glimpse of the bottom level (the tour reminded me of the one, which Janne took us on at the Louvre in 2002:). After our tour of the capital, we headed back to our dear hometown of Kingston. Bacardi, Absolut Vanilla, Cutty Sark Scotish Whisky and beer were all served on the way back home.

After getting back to Kingston and receiving a delicious buffet dinner from Henna and Kristin, it was time to shake our communal asses off at Alfie's, where the monthly Indian Hip Hop night was held. The night was full of great dance moves and awesome music. On Sunday, FC Beercelona (my team, word!) won their game over some dodgy, Spanish-speaking a-holes in the indoor soccer league.

An awesome cinematical sweetspot!

A brilliant script, a realistic villain, sizzling hot ladies and of course, one of the most debatable castings for Bond (Hasn't everyone of them been...), Mr. Daniel Craig. The end result? In my opinion one of the best movies I've seen in the last few years. I mean, who could've ever known that parcour would translate into such an entertaining rat race on the silver screen?! And the new Bond is a perfect fit in portraying the on-going transformation from a rugged blunt instrument into the Vodka Martini sippin', Aston Martin drivin' cool cat of the MI6. Daniel Craig truly makes a forgettably strong debut as Bond. Naturally there'll always be Sir Sean Connery, but Daniel Craig is definitely a runner-up in my book after this movie.

Well kiddies, I'm off to Ottawa tomorrow for a daytrip and it'll be an Indian Hip Hop night at Alfie's (one of the school bars) later on in the evening. Tough luck, gotta go parteeee! :p

Bhangra night, here comes 146 Collingwood!

"We're gonna party like it's ya birthday..."

Being 25 years doesn't mean that you have to act like an adult, does it? Say, spending time chillin' on the road is not forbidden... In the middle of the night, before heading to bars? Didn't think so.

What a blast I had celebratin' my birthday this year! Don't have the memory capacity to go through what happened between Wednesday and Sunday, but a whole lot. Drunkenness and major hang-overs. Thanks for the presents!!! :)

Random events and moments in K-town

About a week ago we went to the Pearson International Airport to pick Henna's friend Satu. She was going to stay in K-town for a week, enjoy a break from reality and get some schoolwork done on the side as well. On our way to Toronto we came upon a Volvo with a surprisingly ghettoish licence plate. It read "NOLIFE", which when combined with the safety-orientated Volvo brand quite puzzled me. One would think that Volvo driver's would actually have lives, no?! As it turned out, the driver looked like one of the stand-ins from the movie "Boyz In The Hood"... He was dark and he was mean looking. And driving the safest car Scandinavia has to offer.

Amongst all of the partying Kaisa's bed caved in. Literally.

Henna was celebrating her coming of age... erm, I mean, her 22. birthday a few weeks back and for everyone to get into the paatii, paatii -mode, we went to eat at a Greek restaurant with foul-mouthed waiters and a wonderful atmosphere. After a good dish of salmon and potatoes the main partiers of 146, continued their wild night at the Stauffer library studying and typing assignments...

Even found one of the most anchient bowling establishments in North America, where the burgers were not that brilliant and the settings were straight from a Soviet nuclear plant. Nonetheless, we had fun bowling and being hungover from last night's partying. Mika was the surprise winner of the event and received nothing for it! :p

Henna had the wonderful idea of raking their entire backyard. Actually, she's been acheing to do some raking ever since autumn arrived in Kingston. So, after me, Kristin, Aman and Kaisa had arrived last Saturday to be part of this überwonderful "Operation Rake", and Henna was all psyched up to finally rake, we threw her into the kitchen to make us pancakes. Meanwhile we raked the sh*t out of that backyard, leaving behind only confused badgers and bedazzled squirrels. Maybe next fall Henna can rake. Just maybe.

The 80s Party

146 Collingwood threw one of those unforgettable theme parties ever held in Kingston. The night was full of house-trashing, broken wine bottles, cheezy wardrobe usage as well as good tunes. Right on target was this party, here are the photos to prove it:

Getting in the party spirit gradually with Milwaukee's Best.

Yup. The Finns are havin' a smashin' ol'time!

Getting there gradually, spectator-wise...

This was the situation in the living room, 146 was packed from top to bottom that night!

Four fashion statements of why the 80s should never entirely come back.

November's here already!

Gosh! November crept up on me like a bedazzled mining engineer before the Bostonathon road trip! This is definitely the turning point of this trip, it's been a wonderful experience so far and I'm still in for some fascinating events, experiences and parties!! :) Just to recap, of what's happened within the last few weeks here in K-town, I'll post a few more pictures and some text to go along with them, so you'll grasp the general consensus of what living's been like in these parts of the world.

Ottawa Senators vs. Calgary Flames

The NHL game trip was organized by our commerce exchange and transfer committee. A committee, which in my mind has been easily the most active in making exchange students feel welcome in Kingston. By far the commerce program here is the most vibrant, say compared to the law departments own hassles. It pays off to be a commie! The game in itself was an awesome experience, more sport than entertainment, just the way I like it. The Scotiabank Arena is the Senators' home lair and was almost sold out, which gave us a good sense of the feel to an all-Canadian NHL-game. (For those of you who didn't GET it, both teams are Canadian...:)

Party on a school bus, when the exchange students hadn't intervened yet. (Yes our bus was one of those cheesy-looking, yellow school busses!). Go, Sens, go! Yes, but not for long... :p

Party on a bus, take two, after the exchange students took command!!

Due to the simple fact that one of Finland's most successful goalies, Miika Kiprusoff, plays for the Flames, was all that I needed to pick my side once the puck was dropped on the ice. Kiprusoff made some dazzling saves and really was the backbone of the Flames! The game was great entertainment, even if scoring for both teams seemed to be awfully difficult.

Let me present to you the official mc/dj/crowd pleaser/troubadour of the Ottawa Senators.

Even though Allie and Brian shouted their heads red, with the "Go Sens Go" -chant, the Senators weren't able to bypass Kiprusoff. The end result? 1-0 to the Flames. On the way home my main aim was naturally to piss off all the Senators' supporters. Needless to say, it was an easy and successful task! Go Flames Go!!

Niagara Falls

Ta-taa, once again!! In addition to being in Montreal, Ottawa and Boston, our crew of eclectic exchange students also ventured to Niagara Falls to see, well, the Falls of Niagara! We took a bus early in the morning and were back in K-town late in the evening. For those of you, who might be travelling to the Falls later on in life, pack an umbrella or a raincoat with you. Niagara Falls provides a constant cold shower of rain all day for everyone. We noticed that quite early on...

Due to the fact that we left towards Niagara by bus early Saturday morning, everyone was pretty worn out due to prior night's engagements! Daniel, being the seasoned veteran of bus travel, was in the forefront showing us amateurs how one effectively sleeps on a bus. That was until the hit movie "Finding Nemos" was shown. And yes, according to the announcer, the movie WAS called Finding Nemos... :p That's what you get, when you give the mic to an Asian wannabe comedian!

Max and Robbie had a moment on the way to the falls. How cute. The way back was a bit more energetic, maybe thanks to a few wine bottles, which were smuggled on to the bus.

On our way towards the falls. Daniel was excited to see the Finn take pictures of the stairs, Chavaun wearing the shades like a true Hollywood celebrity, and Hailie wasn't wearing her trademark raincoat yet, but later on you couldn't have taken it off of her even with force. I on the other hand threw away my raincoat. Not that I'd needed it. Which I didn't. Well, maybe just a bit.

The titular Finns at the falls. It might have been cold, windy and wet, sort of like being back home! The falls in itself were a breath-taking sight, the pure size of them is inspiring and truly gives meaning to the term "nature's wonder"!

Because the Falls are such a formidable sight to see, we decided to take the Maid of the Myst -boat cruise just beside the falls. What a thrill, thank god I was wearing contact lenses, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to see nothing but raindrops on my eyeglasses! :p Kudos for everyone NOT using the hoods of the raincoats. Big ideas always pop up group situations! :) All in all, the cruise was a magnificent experience, and ,at the same time, the most expensive cold shower I've ever paid for! :)

Bostonathon! Part Deux

So this being the second revelation of our Bostathon roadtrip, I thought I'd try to cater for a wider variety of readers. Not that I have a wide variety, but everyone's entitled to their own dreams and misperceptions concerning my blog's reader base... Without further delay, I present the second batch of pictures from our wonderfully organized Boston roadtrip. Once again, it was a totally succesful roadtrip and I'd like to thank everyone who contributed their own part during this Thanksgiving Weekend, it wouldn't have been the same trip without you! :)

So here are almost everyone of our Boston entourage, quite the colorful bunch! In the photo are Laura (again, from the Netherlands), Elleke (Belgium), Svein (Norway), Colin (Scotland), Öystein (Norway), Kaisa (Finland), Daniel (Australia, mate!), Henna (Finland), Céline (Belgium), Kristin (Norway), Robbie (Australia again, mate!), Maxime (France), Aman (Singapore/India) and Frauke (Germany).

And by almost I mean almost, there are roundabout seven people missing from this picture. What can I say, we Queen's exchange students love to travel with our own, huge posse!!! :p

Laura, me and Daniel trying to act cool n' relaxed on the podium of a Boston night club. The name of the club escapes me, can someone refresh my memory? See, this is what you get, when you just dance around a.k.a. do some heavy kairaus -movements... The little things tend to get lost in the beat! :)

Batter up! Aman decided that he was way too tired to attend our late night/early morning -after party. I on the other hand was dressed for the night, went to bed after six (me being the last one up, who turned the light off...) and woke up with three other people on the same bed. Quite the normal day for me, eh?!

I do have a goatee, and still hold the record for driving the fastest to and from K-town! I've now been able to drive long distances in the Canadian- and American highways. Not that it's a huge thing, but it really is. Seriously. Respect. I'm beginning to become a big deal around Kingston.

Bostonathon! Part Un

Hello once again! Now that I got into the spirit of writing, might as well post some other events that I've attended and places I've visited in October. The first picture will most definitely bring memories to my relatives back in Finland, mainly due to the fact that most of them have (hopefully) visited the establishment in question. The place I'm referring to is in Cape Cod, and houses my aunt and uncle. Wohoo!! I made it all the way from Kingstoooon to Cape Cod during my exchange! What a dream come true!

So there I was, in the middle of Osterville, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Thankful for Riitta and Raj for having me as their distinguished guest all the way from Espoo/Kingston, I slept in a luxurious bed, which actually had a proper mattress. Not that I'm *bitchin'* about my current bed in Collingood... :p

Here we are, my uncle Raj, my aunt Riitta and me of course, having dinner at a Greek n' American restaurant. I spend most of my Thanksgiving weekend with them and was able to see Meera and Roy's respective families as well, which had to be one of the highlights of my trip to Boston! Best wishes to all of you in Boston, Mass!!! Hope to see you again soon!!!

That was our ride on this roadtrip; the white Pontiac didn't have a chance when compared to the black Buick we had in Montreal... Notice the apparent professional parking by yours truly! The cars are big here, so are the parking spaces. The Pontiac was a middle-sized car, but still, I wasn't able to park it in within the white lines. How sad is that?! :p