I left the YWAM base in a taxi at 3:15 in the morning.

I made it to the platform with no problems and found my train car. On to the train I climbed and I went off to find my bed. Now, I did hear the lady say bed 23... but I thought that I knew better then her... but in listening to myself I found that there was a man sleeping in what I thought was my bed! I was a little shocked and confused and not sure what to do... so I sat there... put my luggage away and waited for the lady to come along and check my ticket again. She came, shook her head at me and again told me that my bed is number 23! I listened to her the second time round!!
I was pleasantly surprised as I made my way to my new bed to find some unexpected passengers riding above me - pigeons! I could hear them softly cooing and rustling around in their boxes... I thought it was really quite cute! BUT, it was only a few hours later when I was suddenly awoken by those same "cute" pigeons squawking as loud as they could! I was shocked at how loud they could be... I was not the only one to notice and quite quickly they were removed and taken to another area of the train where it would not be so hot for them - for that was the reason they were so loud I was told.
The train ride was uneventful after that... I caught up on sleep and finished 2 books.

I was so excited to be going to St. Petersburg, my first time to the city! Nadia met me at the train and we had a great day together as we saw the major sights. I had been told that the general bad weather and freezing cold temperatures are normal so even that I tried to enjoy :)

Again, the alarm went off to soon as I rolled out of bed at 2:30 in the morning to pack up my things, have breakfast and wait for the Marshuka driver to call. I was going by Marshuka to Turku, Finland. Finally at almost 4:00 I climbed into the back and thought to get comfy and hopefully do some more sleeping... I had been pleasantly surprised to find that there were only 2 of us in the van and I thought it was going to be a great ride to Finland!! I was not so impressed to realize we took the next 2 hours going around St. Petersburg picking up more and more people! It was a full vehicle but once we got on the highway I was at least able to get some needed sleep.

Up to the border crossing I had been focusing on sleep... not on making practicing my Russian. So, when we stopped and I someone shook me awake and told me to get my passport they all got a surprise when I lifted up my Canadian passport which was immediately grabbed by the guard and looked through suspiciously. I wanted to laugh as he stood there looking through it seemingly carefully... he asked me a question, I asked him to say it again as I did not fully understand the first time but instead of repeating himself he just looked me over shaked his head and said "I understand!" I was not sure what he understood... but he gave my passport back and we continued on to the proper border crossing. At that point I gave up on trying to speak Russian with the officials and I went with the trustworthy no questions asked way of saying "I don't speak Russian" with my eyes wide and innocent looking. I made it through without incident and the through the Finnish line in the same way... I made it to Finland!

At first I was really excited but I was quickly lulled back into my dream world as all I could see was snow and trees - I love snow and trees but it was not to different from Russia so far.
Once we got closer to Helsinki things got much more exciting to look at though... the language and my very poor attempt to imagine what it could sound like... the cars, the people, the buildings and houses. Something I noticed almost immediately in the city were all the people riding bikes. Bikes - but the ground was covered in ice and snow - I thought that this was something very interesting!! (and this would be something I would learn about later)
After dropping off half of the people in Helsinki we continued onto Turku another 2 hour drive.
Our first stop in Turku was the airport - its really small! I handed my address over to the driver along with another lady and we ventured further into the city... I was a little surprised to find it not looking at all like what I thought a city should look like - I was thinking that I should not have such presupposed ideas when going to a new country... the lady got out and only I was left and on we went.I was happy to realize we had only been on the outskirts of the city and really cities here in Finland do basically look the same as anywhere else I have been in the world :)
I jumped out of the van, excited to be venturing into Finland for the first time, excited to see and spend time with Eveliina. BUT first things first - I need to find the exact address - all the driver did was drive me the general vicinity - which was fine. I ventured down the road with all my luggage being dragged behind me through the snow. I found the right number but as I had been told "apartment" I was rightly confused when I looked down the driveway to a pleasant little green house. I did a full 360 degree turn on the sidewalk to make sure I was not missing anything and then promptly decided I would ask the next person to walk by just to make sure I had the right place! A man came by and was more then willing to help - he looked at the address and then up at the house a few times and said "Yes". I thanked him and ventured forth into the not plowed driveway... I had hardly gone 2 steps when the man said "WAIT!" I turned, surprised and he asked to see the address again... and then confirmed for me for the second time, that yes it was correct... again I turned and with deep breath I plowed ahead looking forward to my coming..."WAIT!" the man yelled again - I who had almost fallen into the snow that time, turned and again showed him the address and now for the THIRD time he confirmed that it was the correct address. I turned again and much more timidly started moving ahead... I was waiting for the moment when he would yell again at me to "STOP!" BUT he did not!! I made it up the driveway and had just started looking around when I heard Eveliina call out my name - yeah! i though, there is nothing like traveling and once there at the end to have someone meet you, expecting you... a time to rest... or so I thought... but that can be left for another blog!!