Hei (means hi)! Yo (means yes)! Kiitos (means thank you)!

Hello everybody! I am now in Finland! Crazy eh? I am living in a great guest house on site and we are 5 km from Suonenjoki, a very comfortable bike ride away.

Today I ran my first RNA gel. It is very similar to the work I have done two summers ago and so I feel quite comfortable so far. The lab is clean and spacious and my supervisor is incredibly caring and nice. I am really grateful for that.

Today I swam in the pond...it still had ice on it. Cool eh? (excuse the pun...teehee) Everyday 5-10 people do this and all it involves is them slipping into the water, paddling for maybe 20 seconds and then hopping out. It is quite invigorating I must admit, but whether or not I pick this up as an everyday routine thing is yet to be determined.

Tonight we are going to go orienteering. This is where they give us a map and a compass and we have to figure out how to get to predetermined checkpoints. My sense of direction is atrocious but hopefully with the help for my housemates, we won't get too lost...unlike yesterday. Yesterday, our one hour hike turned into a three hour hike as we desperately tried to find our way through thick forests and snowed-in paths to get back to METLA (where our house is). But it was an adventure!

This weekend I think I will lie low and get more settled, perhaps read. The library in Suonenjoki is really really nice. Very modern actually. But next weekend perhaps I will start my travels. Any suggestions on where to go? Oulu has Nokia in it, and Tampere has a castle. Choices, choices, choices! (to quote my dad)