ISU Campus Area |
As my time on exchange here at Iowa State University winds down, it is now time to look back on the things
that this truly amazing year brought along. It has been much fun to write this
blog and notice that there are actually people following my blog in addition to
those russian hackers that make regular visits to this site every month. And,
believe it or not, in March my blog reached a benchmark of 2,000 pageviews
(Thanks mom <3 ). Hurray!
ISU Campus Area |
I started to write my blog
in the beginning of last August and, at first, mostly in Finnish. At that point
the return date was set to be May 20, 2012, which I eventually changed to this
saturday (May 5, 2012). Before coming to the US, the only places I had
travelled to were the Baltic countries, and I also had never been on a plane.
The school year started with an orientation week where I also met most of my
international friends. As expected, the first thing I was forced to adjust to was
the food. I wrote in Finnish about the food
shock that I had to encounter (:
Small gym in the dorm |
Walking around the campus and getting to know people and places was
everyone's first priority during the first two weeks of the school year. I made
a lot of new friends while also finding my second home, Beyer Hall and
State Gym. Especially for the Fall semester Beyer Hall was the place where I
would spend most of my spare time by playing
basketball and working out.
My second home - State Gym |
My first trip to anywhere in the US was a visit to Iowa
State Fair. Last week I went through the videos I recorded during the Fair
trip and it's funny how many people, with whom I would later on become good
friends, were on that same trip but whom I didn't know at the time. A few weeks
after the Iowa State Fair I also went for another (shopping) trip to Jordan
Creek Mall. There I would get my first chance to try the
original cheesecake by the Cheesecake Factory. I can tell you, the
cheesecake, it's unbelievably good!
Minneapolis Road Trip |
In the early September we went for a road
trip to Minneapolis with a group of eight exchange students that would
later be the core group of another trip to Miami in late November. In
Minneapolis we got to see a little
bit of the downtown, Mississippi river, the NBA, MLB and NFL stadiums as
well as the night life of the city. For a novice traveler like me, arriving in
Minneapolis and seeing an actual skyline for the first time, was an
unforgettable moment. Although, there were many more impressive skylines to
come on my way.
Cyclones vs Hawkeyes |
Later that month I would go to see
a long-awaited college football game, a rivalry between Iowa Hawkeyes and Iowa
State Cyclones. This game was to be one of the highlights of a pretty
successful NCAA football season for Iowa State Cyclones that would end it's
season with the greatest game for decades when it beat #2 ranked Ohio State
Buckeyes in late November. Too bad, however, that I was already in Miami when
the Buckeyes were in town (; Anyway, during the Fall Semester I went for
a total of three football games and had the chance to experience the incredible
atmosphere like no other that the game days here in the United States have. It
is definitely something that we, Finnish people, could learn a lot from. If you
ever have a chance to attend to any NCAA football or basketball game I
urge you to go. It something you shouldn't miss!
@ Badlands |
The most brutal road-trip I was part of has to be the trip to Mount
Rushmore in mid October. Ten hours of driving in both directions in one
weekend was absolutely worth it, but there's no denying that all the driving
was... well, brutal. Nevertheless, seeing famous monuments such as Mount
Rushmore and Crazy Horse, as well as Badlands National Park, was mind-blasting
and tons of fun! Thanks to the Singaporean and Malaysian road warriors that
made the road trip possible!
In the end of October it was time for a traditional American holiday,
Halloween. Obviously, it was appropriate to find a costume for Halloween
parties, so, I was feverishly looking for something to wear but had a hard time
of finding anything. It was easier said than done but eventually, almost in the
last minute of course, I managed to find a proper costume. From Walmart I found
a nice fairy costume with a pair of wings and a nice headband that would be the
foundation of my sweet fairy costume. However, it turned out to be quite
difficult to get the fairy wings on since they were actually a dog's costume.
Ultimately I was able to get the wings on, and with the help of Red Bull and
maybe something else, even fly for a moment that night!
Thanksgiving Break -Chicago |
In November we headed out for another road trip with almost the same line-up
as we had in Minneapolis. This time we had more time for travelling since it
was also Thanksgiving Break from school. The first weekend we stayed in Chicago
and after two days there took a plane to Miami and South Beach! The weather in
Miami was just perfect, neither hot nor cold and almost no rain, and we took a
full advantage of it by spending most of the time by the beach and swimming in
the ocean! I also had my birthday while we were in Miami and obviously it was a
B-Day that is going to be hard to beat anytime in the near future :D
Good
friends, South Beach, Sun = neverforget!
Chinese Restaurant either in LA or SF :D |
Next in turn was the longest road-trip I would be doing in the US, the
California Road Trip, which took place during the winter break. In our group we
had ten people and seven different nationalities represented ( from Taiwan,
South-Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Spain, France and Finland). The greatest advantage of
having such a multicultural group was that there's always someone who could use
their mother tongue if knowing English just wasn't enough for some reason. The
road trip included four cities: Las Vegas, San
Diego, Los
Angeles and San
Francisco, in three weeks. There are so many great memories from California
Road Trip that I recommend you to read all the parts I wrote about it to my
blog. Some of the highlights of that trip were the Casinos in Las Vegas,
Coronado Island in San Diego, Hollywood and Lakers game in Los Angeles and the
Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, just to name a few. ...By far the craziest
road-trip I've ever made in a way that how much we travelled during those three
weeks (:
In spring I finally had a chance to go for Iowa State Cyclones
men's basketball games. I was lucky since the two games I went to were
arguably the best games of the season: vs. Kansas State Wildcats and Kansas
Jayhawks, which actually made it all the way to the NCAA finals this year. In
the Cyclones team we had one
potential NBA draft pick who, not surprisingly, declared himself for this
years draft that is to be held on June 28.
Spring Break Trip - Philadelphia |
After having travelled already through California and to Chicago and Miami,
there were only three must-see places for me in the US that I had to visit
before the year would wind down: New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC. On the most recent
trip that took place during the Spring Break we had a group of three where
Finnish people, surprisingly, were a majority. In New York we basically spent
time only in Manhattan but still, thanks to a hectic schedule, had just enought
time to see almost all the most popular attractions, for example Statue of
Liberty, Ground Zero, Rockefeller Center, Empire State Building and so on.
After New York on our way to Washington DC we quickly stopped at Philadelphia
for five hours. The visit turned out to be priceless because I finally achieved
a long-time dream of mine: Run the Rocky Steps at Philadelphia Museum of Art!!!
There's now one thing less in my bucket list for sure ;D In Washington DC we
spent one whole day for seeing all the famous monuments and buildings like the
White House, the Lincoln Monument, the Washington Monument and Pentagon.
After Spring Break Trip there was six weeks left of this semester, which now
is in its final week. In only a couple of days I will be flying back home and
leaving Ames, Iowa and the United States. At least for now. This year has
taught me a lot about different cultures and people as I've made friends with
so many great people from different backgrounds. It is possible that I might
come back to the US someday, and this year has given me lots of reasons to
think about the possibility of coming back, but right now my focus is on this
moment and these few days that I still have (time) to spend with my friends here
in Ames.
Thanks to all the people that were part of this amazing year, we sure had fun and lots of great memories!
Thanks to all the people that were part of this amazing year, we sure had fun and lots of great memories!
And, for all my people back home, can't wait to see you guys again!