Where were you 5 years ago?

It's funny how human memory works. I can't really remember what I did last week but I can surely remember what happened and where I was on 11th of September, 2001. I had a pretty normal school day at Senior High. We had an American exchange student in our class, Lisa, and she came to my place after school. I remember giving her some black currant juice to taste, my mom had made it herself. Then we talked how funny word "hoovering" is.

Around 3pm our time I took her to the local bank where her host dad worked. I got back home and my mom came from shopping and said that something had hit the Pentagon. I turned on the TV and saw it live: an airplane hitting another one of the Twin Towers. At first I thought it was a movie but no, it was true. It was 4pm. I watched all the news that evening and it was so unreal..

That day changed the history completely. The way I feel about the change is quite critical. It might be a bit cruel to say that the Americans were not only victims but they deserved it in a one way. The world is too America centered and not all people like it. I don't support terrorism but I think all the people should have a right to live in their way. If Americans had left Muslim countries be in the first place, maybe they had never attacked. Maybe nothing like this had ever happened and the world would have been left without another misery. We wouldn't have lost all the people that were in the building or got killed while rescueing. I would have forgot the day in the following week and never thought about it again. Now I'll remember it better than any other day in my youth...Picture was taken from here.

Silence

Sorry for such a long silence. My life has been pretty hectic for the past... well, a few weeks. First I had to calculate first results of the inventory we made in Iceland. Then I left to Lapland (Northern Finland) for a week. It was a course for school, to get to know forestry and its unique features in Northern Finland. I had never been to Lapland before so it was cool. :) Well, it involved a lot of sitting in a bus but still, it was great to see places I've never seen before. It was interesting to see the tree line: where there were no more trees, just tundra. We even made a small trip to Norway and saw the Arctic Ocean. Now I've been to all the Nordic Countries. :)

After we came back to Joensuu, the new students started their studies and I was tutoring them together with four other older students. It was nice to meet new people. :) And a shock to notice how young the new students are! I'm not old either but been here for quite a while... Then I started to work as an assistant in the field course of forest planning. It started on Monday. Actually, I've liked it a lot although I feel quite tired after the day. :) I've learned to much more myself while guiding others. There're still two weeks left, we'll see how it goes when all the counting and making plans start.

So, hectic time. :) I got back my flat and decorated it a bit different. There's still something undone 'cos I haven't had time.. But it's nice to be back in Joensuu, and to start normal life again. How normal it will be, I have no idea. :) Still, I miss my time in Prague and everyone I met there, it was great spring! :)

A couple of photos from the trip to Lappland...

Northern Lapland - looks kinda cruel.. but it was beautiful in its own way.

A coffee break. The men were diving old (several thousand years) trees from the lake to define what the climate has been like.

Forest fire in Kemijärvi, Northern Finland. The dry summer caused this and it was so hopeless sight. Someone said that it was a berry picker who lit the fire.. Poor man/woman must be feeling so guilty..