Hei, Moi, Terve, Whaddup?!

I'm alive! I'm here! I made it safe and sound. One little hiccup in the Helsinki airport. Went back in when I should have gone out. Ooops! Call it my blond moment, had to have one at least once this year. Thought I was going to be like Tom Hanks in that movie and have to live in the airport!

Other than that, everything has been nothing short of wonderful!

But you knew I was going to say that. How could I have been so excited about something and it turn out bad?? (knock on wood, knock on wood!)

It has been a whirlwind and a half. Between meeting everyone, partying it up Finn style (these kids know how to party!), unpacking, getting the apartment put together and trying to adjust to the 8 hour difference, there has been little down/boring time. Just perfect!

A quick top 10 of why I'm already so stoked about Finland: 

1) Awesome people. Seriously, so friendly and nice. Everyone here has been absolutely so wonderful and welcoming to us. We have both had a great start to our Finnish adventure!

2) All stores open on SUNDAY. You better believe this is a huge one! And it means no more Zombie Sundays.

3) Great American food selection at the grocery store. Plus lots of things from Germany, so we feel right at home. 

4) Real, American stick deodorant, not just the icky, leave your pits cold, roll-on type. Real, American tampons. Sorry, cringe-worthy for some of ya, but they were scarce to come by in Germany. 

5) English movies at the theater, no dubbing. Already went and saw a movie last night. Something we NEVER got to do in Germany, because they dub all the movies over in German. 

6) Most programs on the local TV channels are from America or Britain. Even Infomercials this morning showed up in English. Can't wait to see what I impulse buy in Finland! Ab Roller, Paint Zoom, Genie Bra?!? So much to choose from! haha. 

7) Great internet, so fast. We have been loving our SlingBox and Skype quality!

8) Beautiful weather, but then again ask me about that in December. Oh wait, nope, everyone here keeps telling me I don't even have to wait that long to see winter. Try October! Eeek. 

9) Morning kid's cartoons to help me pick up Finnish vocab. Although it might be pointless, seeing that everyone speaks very, very good English. 

10) This:

Ignore his squinting, indifferent look. He is happy to have me there!

There are so many lakes in Finland, that I think every town, big and small, must be situated on some sort of water. On Saturday, we walked down to the little harbor (Oh yeah, that should have been #11: Our apartment is within walking distance of everything!) and sat on a dock/boat thingy and had these delicious drinks called "Long Drinks" or "Lonkero Drinks". Gin and sparkling grapefruit juice. Delish!! And can kill a hangover pretty quickly. We are determined to bring these back to North America!

Beautiful sunny and comfortable weather (didn't have too much of that in Texas in August) and that view. Heaven! Have to soak it all in. I know it won't last, so have to make the most of it all now. 

It's great to be here with the hubs, it's oh-so-good to be back in bloggyland. As usual, I have some catching up to do. But now that I am in the know with Google Reader, this should be a snap. 

Hope ya'll are having a great Monday already. And thanks a million for all the safe travel wishes! It really does mean so much to me :)