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..