One Monthiversary

Hello! As of today I have officially been back in Finland for a whole month! It's been a month of nostalgia and new discoveries. I remember everyday how freaking lucky I am to have been able to come back here to study and, in a way, start a new chapter of my life.

We've finally been seeing some proper autumn weather here in Tampere, after about 3 gorgeous weeks of sun and cold in the morning but then being hot by afternoon temperatures. Now we've got chilly temperatures and it's been rather moist (ugh, what a horrible word). But it's making for some lovely picture taking weather and I'm loving it!

School has been going swimmingly. I have Finnish language class 4 days a week and while it's basically all the same stuff that I learned for the half year that I took Finnish at HYU, it's a really good course and my teacher is adorable, unlike the ice queen that was my last Finnish teacher. I only have class for my actual Masters program one day a week, but boy do we have a lot of work! I've got one 5 minute independent presentation next Wednesday, for which I've gotta read a whole book which I should be doing right now since Im less than 30 pages in and have got about 200 pages to read. Then I've got a group presentation for next week and then another group presentation for November. Also add in the fact that I need to start thinking about thesis ideas and do any other work he sends our way in the mean time. But I do really love my program and it's EXACTLY what I wanted.

While Im procrastinating actually doing important work, I wander around Tampere. Like yesterday, my friend and I (Hi, Fede!!) went to Messukylän vanha kirkko (but I honestly think it just gets called kivikirkko. Which makes sense since it is a stone church). It's the oldest church, and building, in Tampere. It was built in the 16th century to replace a 15th century wooden church dedicated to St. Michael. I pass it every time I take the bus to school/the city center and I've been dying to go check it out and snap a few photos. Unfortunately, we couldn't get inside, which is very unfortunate because I later saw pictures of the inside and HELLO GORGEOUS. But it's a really beautiful church from the outside and really unique compared to other buildings in Tampere and Finland. It also made me really sad I didn't see any Stave churches while I was in Norway in 2011.

All photos were taken by me, lilacviking at Messukylän vanha kirkko in Tampere, Finland on September 20, 2013

I'm hopefully gonna go to one of the lakes close to my apartment soon and then to my favourite cemetery AND Im in Helsinki in less than 2 weeks. More adventures and pictures to come!!

Remember to follow me on Tumblr under the same name, lilacviking!