Kathleen's Adventures

January 30, 2015 - the day my boss took me to lunch and asked if I wanted to move to Finland...aka "the day my life turned upside down."  Note: upside down isn't necessarily a bad thing...it is just entirely different. In the ~ 22 months since that date:  114 - number of flights taken 22  - countries visited (21 of those new) - Finland, Norway, Estonia, France, Singapore, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, UK, Peru, Panama, Hungary, Indonesia, Iceland, Sweden, Portugal, Ireland, Czech Republic, Spain, Scotland, Russia, Thailand. 15 - number of times I crossed "the pond" (I went the other way once) 6 - number of trips to Amsterdam to see Caitlin (and most recent two trips to see her adorable baby, my Godson, Theo.  And Peter, let's not forget Peter - my Amsterdam running buddy.) 5 - number of trips to France and Norway, including a tour of the American D-Day beaches that for me can only be described as indescrible.  4 - number of trip...

I've written a million blog posts in my head over the last year plus, but none of them have made it out of my head.  This one is finally going to make it to print though!  I've been writing over several weeks, adding to it when I think of something. Hopefully down the road it will help me look back on my time here with fondness, and also to remember to appreciate the conveniences and comfort of  home. Things I'll miss about Finland: Instant hot water from the faucet, and reasonably cold (tasty and refreshing) water after a short wait The sauna in my apartment Riding my pink piece of shit Jopo bicycle around town.  I realized approximately 2 seconds after handing a guy way too much cash that the bike was mostly likely stolen and in way worse shape than advertised.  I wrote it off as an insurance policy - as in if it looks like a POS, hopefully no one will steal it.  So far, so good.  It also still works just fine after being outside all winter ...