Epilogue

As I have a week left in Leeds I have mostly been thinking about my life and where I want to be. England and Finland both have its weaknesses and strengths. Obviously I am going back to Finland and I'm going to work and study there, my friends and family live there. It's home. Simple as that. To be honest I couldn't be happier to go back home, however the semester has been really short, it has still given me enough time to start seriously missing home. I've always had a bit of mixed feelings about the country where I was born but I still love that place.

But England.... Everyone seems to hate it, at least everybody keeps telling me how they hate English weather, people, food, culture and everything. I see their point, meaning it rains a lot, it's gray all the time, houses are cold and falling apart, some people are hopeless (this is the part I don't really agree with at all though, hence "some"), food is awful, chips and chips and chips with beans and chips with peas, and chips with bacon, but that is why you can cook for yourself, and why would people eat in a pubs if they don't like pub food? Oh and the culture, I see what they mean. Living in a student city that is known for the night life and partying, one street full of horrible places where the young naked girls go, too drunk to walk on their high heels, feeling like they have to go crazy or they will actully go crazy, it is a bit sad, but who am I to judge them anyway. What I think as English culture is something totally different, it's bands, music, art and all that stuff. Someone once told me that there's nothing to do here, and I am just wondering how would this person survive in Helsinki. And there's a lot to do there too!

I don't know if most kids here are depressed or what's going on. They seem to get too drunk, take too many drugs, do stupid things. Everyone is taking drugs! They do in Finland too but not to the amount when watching it closely would make you get used to it. But I think that's only cause it's easy, why wouldn't they... (living in a street where there's more than one dealer neighbour). Again, who am I to judge.

I still think that the English people have grown into being really pessimistic. They have their own kind of humour to survive, and sarcasm is highly developed. I like it, but sometimes it is a bit too much, still i've gotten really fond of it. Also people don't really mind anything but their own business here, the famous politeness is a habit and something that comes quite naturally. Northeners do it better though, or at least that's what they say. In London it's a totally different thing since it's packed with tourists that creates certain kind of tension between locals and them. In Leeds people are more likely to behave more openly and as they really feel, in both good and bad ways. I appreciate that a lot. I would love to live in London, but from what I've been told and what I've figured out myself I think I would be happier in the north.

I did have kind of lot to say before I started, I mean it's just a bit overwhelming when the end is near. But I think the most important thing is that all the "bad" things I have to say about England are exactly the things why I like it here. It's honest in its brutality. I guess the major difference between them and us Finns is honesty, and being open about how you feel and who you are, and less of that shutting off of everything and suffering alone like we Finns tend to do.
And also, I do not regret for a second that I chose this place for my exchange, it suits my mentality perfectly and I would not be any happier in Bali or Spain.

I don't want this to get too depressing now so I think it's a picture time! This week I mean to go into a tourist mode again, take a lot of pictures and go to places I've wanted to go but always thought there's still time to go there next week or the week after that. Probably going to stay in the West Yorkshire however I would love to have a last look at London...

Oh forgot to mention that last Friday it was our first and last exam, held in Gandhi Hall in Headingley Campus, Uni is over and it's been interesting journey. The exam was about who has the best notes (4 A4 pages allowed to bring to the exam) and who had best quotes. Name dropping seemed to be the most important part of doing the test. Well, I managed to drop a few. 

Food, or something that resembles it. I love cheestrings.

 Another brilliant example of how healthy my diet has been in Leeds :D Cheap and tasty. Or at least cheap.

 Best Fish'n'chips in Leeds, Nation of Shopkeepers. That I would recommend to people who are not friends of English cuisine. Look how happy I am!

A trip to London, that was the first time. Still I think this place is gonna be my future home, Camden Town!

Random picture from my neighbourhood. Was it really that dark? No, it wasn't.

A bad picture of my tattoo(s) that I also took in Camden Town, at the same place where I got the previous one. The tattooist guy had learned almost fluent English in 2 years! This time he was only part of desinging the tattoo though.
  

I had a visitor, a picture of at the Carnaby Street. We saw The Used in Manchester and Placebo in London, The Pouring Rain in York and Leeds.

 Piccadilly Circus.

 Big Ben.

 Look right!

The Millennium arena, at the same time there was playing Backstreet Boys and New Kids On the Block, and at the smaller Indigo2 it was something really special, Placebo. High expectations and all of them met! I will never forget that night!

Anyway, the next time I'm gonna post here is probably in Finland. Now it's time to go to the cinema and have a nice dinner at some nice restuarant. Cheers!

This is probably my last post from England because I am going back home to Finland at the 29th of May, which is in a little bit more than a week. I have promised to show pictures from our house, and that I will do. Right now I am sitting in my room listening to the sounds of a drill coming from the other side of the wall and eating some cookie grumble Galaxy and cheesestrings. Two Northerners are fixing our bathrooms. About 4 months ago the Sunday night when I arrived here my roomies told me that the following monday these maintenance guys would be coming, and now for months later they actually did! Impressive!

Talking about the house, it is falling apart, toilet has (or had) a massive hole on the floor, bath is leaking, livingroom has two wet walls, moldings coming off from the ceiling to name a few. I really love all the noises the house is making, taps and some unidentified objects. The house is covered in mold! Black spots everywhere, but I still can't help it, I really feel like home here! As we all think, the house has character of its own! And of course Judita, Louise, Ula, Sebastian and Oliver! I'm going to miss all of them! Even Sebastard!

 This is our kitchen and a back door to our lovely garden. Mostly we just hang out here and sit on the table, sometimes even drinking wine as can be seen in the picture. Here the magic happens when my room mates is cooking, best English home made food you can think of!

 

We like peace, love is alright and harmony only a little bit over estimated!

 Our living room. The Christmas tree is unfortunately gone, but our little piece of art is developing into a masterpiece! We encourage everyone to have a go and make art! The comfiest sofa ever! And also have to mention the little heater that has kept us alive during the cold winter and rainy spring.

 

Sofa and the corner my roomies keep their bikes, also Oliver's cage is there.

 And there the little beast is having one of his many naps. For one I was able to get a picture of him. The beast moves quicker than Jagger, or something...

 And finally, my room! It isn't as close as comfy as my roomies, but I really like it! Always warm and always messy! 

Another entry coming up soon, I'll make this in 2 parts! Tonight is all about relaxing at home and I was thinking about telling more about England, what I love here and what I don't, and why is it that I wanna come back as soon as possible. Mark my words! One day I will be living in this gray, rainy and windy country! Cheers!