There is so much to talk about. I didn't even realize it has been almost 5 months from my last post. Time goes by so fast and school has kept me busy. The major news from the past 5 months is that I finally got my driver's license on the 4th attempt. To those of you not from Finland, it's not easy to get one here. It took me 4 months, but is has totally been worth it. I have been able to drive quite a lot during the past 3 months. It's much easier to arrange this and move around now that I can drive myself.
Second big thing is that I sent my universities applications a few weeks ago. I'm applying to study International Relations in different combinations. I decided on St.Andrew's, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee in Scotland and then SOAS in London. I'll be extremely delighted if any of them offer me a place with realistic conditions. Since I haven't graduated from the IB yet, I'll only possibly get conditional offers. I somehow can't believe that after all this time and setbacks I'm now applying to unis. I have a few possibilities in Finland where to apply, but I feel that I don't have enough time to study for the entrance exams to get in. The degrees in Finland are either in World Politics or Societal Politics (Yhteiskuntapolitiikka) in Helsinki and Jyväskylä. So I'll definitely be leaving Oulu once again to study where and what I want.
My life has been filled with plenty of volunteer work for Women's Bank. The volunteer work has strengthened by determination to work in the future for nonprofits or then in organizations where I can have an impact on social issues. The major effort this fall for WB was to organize a book collection. I was astonished by the amount that we received in just 4 days. Our garage was filled with books and that was just a small fraction of all of them. Then we sold the books and made gathered very many occupations (we count donations/sales as occupations). My bookshelf grew a lot larger thanks to the collection and being at the POP-UP shop for 2 full days. I think that the best part of working with WB is that I am considered equal to others even though I am half of their age. This is certainly something when I leave Oulu.
We spent Christmas in a traditional way with having my grandparent's come over to our home for the eve. We ate typical Finnish Christmas Food and enjoyed the evening. The next day the only thing I did was read books. I first finished Divergent (I was on page 150) and then started reading Insurgent (which I got as a present). During the weekend I finished that and started the last of the trilogy Allegiant. I am surprised how much I enjoy these books. I bought the first one because I liked the movie and thought that I should read at least this series (I haven't read Hunger Games or Maze Runner). Even though I don't typically enjoy young adult fiction, these have so many different levels to read them from. I'm personally not that interested in the story itself but more the society that it portrays and the human characters in them. Okay, have to admit the story is also quite nice.
School has kept me busy to the extent that I haven't had enough time to keep in touch with friends from RCN. I have become closer with friends from school and now that last years IB2s have left I feel more like I belong in this group. There aren't reminders of how I should have graduated last year anymore all the time around me. When looking back to last year it's hard to imagine that I'll probably miss over half of the people in my classes after this year.
I finally visited Italy for the first time in my life this October. Before Italy I had visited most other larger European Countries (and some several times), but now Italy can be crossed off my list of countries where to visit. During Autumn Break me and my dad spent 5 days in Italy. We went first to Florence, which I just loved. All the old buildings, history, atmosphere and food were amazing. After Florence we took the train back to Rome, which was also a great city to visit. Still I enjoyed Florence more than Rome. Although the food in Rome was also extremely delicious. One of the best parts of the trip was that we got to see Dante's death mask and Duomo. We originally got the idea to visit also Florence from reading Dan Brown's Inferno and in the book the Death Mask is a crucial element. In Rome the most impressive buildings were St.Peter's Basilica and Pantheon.
In general this has been a very interesting past 5 months and I am waiting for the New Year to begin and what it brings to my life.
- Anniina
Second big thing is that I sent my universities applications a few weeks ago. I'm applying to study International Relations in different combinations. I decided on St.Andrew's, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee in Scotland and then SOAS in London. I'll be extremely delighted if any of them offer me a place with realistic conditions. Since I haven't graduated from the IB yet, I'll only possibly get conditional offers. I somehow can't believe that after all this time and setbacks I'm now applying to unis. I have a few possibilities in Finland where to apply, but I feel that I don't have enough time to study for the entrance exams to get in. The degrees in Finland are either in World Politics or Societal Politics (Yhteiskuntapolitiikka) in Helsinki and Jyväskylä. So I'll definitely be leaving Oulu once again to study where and what I want.
My life has been filled with plenty of volunteer work for Women's Bank. The volunteer work has strengthened by determination to work in the future for nonprofits or then in organizations where I can have an impact on social issues. The major effort this fall for WB was to organize a book collection. I was astonished by the amount that we received in just 4 days. Our garage was filled with books and that was just a small fraction of all of them. Then we sold the books and made gathered very many occupations (we count donations/sales as occupations). My bookshelf grew a lot larger thanks to the collection and being at the POP-UP shop for 2 full days. I think that the best part of working with WB is that I am considered equal to others even though I am half of their age. This is certainly something when I leave Oulu.
We spent Christmas in a traditional way with having my grandparent's come over to our home for the eve. We ate typical Finnish Christmas Food and enjoyed the evening. The next day the only thing I did was read books. I first finished Divergent (I was on page 150) and then started reading Insurgent (which I got as a present). During the weekend I finished that and started the last of the trilogy Allegiant. I am surprised how much I enjoy these books. I bought the first one because I liked the movie and thought that I should read at least this series (I haven't read Hunger Games or Maze Runner). Even though I don't typically enjoy young adult fiction, these have so many different levels to read them from. I'm personally not that interested in the story itself but more the society that it portrays and the human characters in them. Okay, have to admit the story is also quite nice.
School has kept me busy to the extent that I haven't had enough time to keep in touch with friends from RCN. I have become closer with friends from school and now that last years IB2s have left I feel more like I belong in this group. There aren't reminders of how I should have graduated last year anymore all the time around me. When looking back to last year it's hard to imagine that I'll probably miss over half of the people in my classes after this year.
I finally visited Italy for the first time in my life this October. Before Italy I had visited most other larger European Countries (and some several times), but now Italy can be crossed off my list of countries where to visit. During Autumn Break me and my dad spent 5 days in Italy. We went first to Florence, which I just loved. All the old buildings, history, atmosphere and food were amazing. After Florence we took the train back to Rome, which was also a great city to visit. Still I enjoyed Florence more than Rome. Although the food in Rome was also extremely delicious. One of the best parts of the trip was that we got to see Dante's death mask and Duomo. We originally got the idea to visit also Florence from reading Dan Brown's Inferno and in the book the Death Mask is a crucial element. In Rome the most impressive buildings were St.Peter's Basilica and Pantheon.
In general this has been a very interesting past 5 months and I am waiting for the New Year to begin and what it brings to my life.
- Anniina
