Back home

On all of my previous trips of several moths I've reached the point when I've got tired of travelling. When I've been ready to go home. On this one it didn't happen. There was always something new and exciting. I didn't mind the lack of hygiene, hassle with the money or any other inconveniences. I enjoyed being on the road and there was so much to see that I felt like I didn't have enough time. But as I had my return flight booked and my room as well as my job waiting for me, I came back.

On my return I was curiously looking around with my eyes wide, like I had been observing everything as a foreigner in South America. I noticed a lot of clichés, such as the blond air hostesses serving Fazer's blue chocolates on my Finnair flight or a woman with a fair-skinned baby with bright blue eyes at a bus stop in my home town. It was summertime; the weather was warm and everything was green. But watching the fields and forests pass by on the way from the airport to Tampere I still didn't get the same immensely nostalgic feeling I had when I returned from New Zealand in June 2003 or from my trip to Europe in June 2007. In Tampere I realised how clean and tidy the streets of the city are. I had never thought about it before. But what would Finland be without alcoholics? Of course there had to be two drunk men arguing on my way home in Pispala, the most beautiful and bohemian part of Tampere.

I'm lucky that I share my home with other people. If I had had to come back to a lonely apartment, I would have escaped right away. In Finland I couldn't hear Spanish around me anymore, nor did I have the challenge of learning new things of everyday life, so I felt like it was a bit boring. But my house mates welcomed me with their stories, questions and a lot of jokes and laughter, which made it much easier to settle back. The view to the lake from my window is not the same thing as the snow-capped Andean mountains, but it sure is a view to enjoy and be grateful of.

On my first day home I bought rye bread for breakfast, ate it outside in our garden and felt like being home was actually much more of a holiday than travelling had been. From the local newspaper, Aamulehti, I read an article written by my great idol, Matti Kuusela, a skilled journalist. Here in Finland I can understand the ideas of other people, develop my thinking and enjoy the varied tones of my mother tongue. Another enjoyable cultural experience was watching the film called Miesten vuoro (Men's turn) outside at the oldest public sauna still in use in Finland. The film shows Finnish men sit in the sauna and talk about their lives, sometimes with tears in their eyes - which is traditionally not typical in our culture - if the memories and feelings are painful.

I had a short holiday in Finland before I started working again. Most of it I spent at my parents' place in the countryside; picking berries and going to sauna & swimming.

Now I've been back to work for a month. It's been surprisingly easy and pleasant. I had been looking forward to it, but part of me had also been horrified if it would be difficult to lose my freedom. But adapting to working life hasn't been a problem. This life has its advantages, too. I can bump into my friends and acquaintances in town, and I can continue my regular hobbies like going to yoga, language courses and lectures.