Merry Christmas! I just got back from the annual Welti hike up to the Len Foote Lodge in the north GA mountains. It is one of the best kept secrets in GA, I think. You have to hike 5mi to get there and its an eco-friendly lodge, complete with the same composting toilets as I have on the island in Finland. So you know its a place fit for the Weltis. Its always nice to get away and just do the dorky family thing. We really don't get to just hang out together without stress so its a good thing we do this hike every Christmas. I feel more relaxed and ready to take on the world. Thats something my family is great at: motivation. If you're ever unsure of your plans for the future, or need a cheerleader, just call up my family, they'll sort you out. I now feel like I can take on the world!
I think I was a bit harsh in my last entry, but I was just frusterated and disappointed with the changes that had occured in my absence in Atlanta. But leading up to Christmas, I was able to deal and understand it all. Things change all the time, and I realize that I've probably changed alot too. No one has said anything to me, but I know (hope)its happened. With all this in mind, I called up one of my best friends from high school who I haven't talked to since before we graduated high school. The evil ex put a wedge between us so we weren't friends by the time we graduated. That was the one friendship that I really missed having. I was so nervous calling him up because I thought that he wouldn't want to speak with me at all. But, tomorrow we're meeting up to catch up. I'm really excited. Its been over 5 years since we actually had a proper chat, so I wonder how we'll both be around each other. I hope we can fall back into our old friendship, that would be the best Christmas present ever. Being back at home brings back all the high school memories for me. Funny that my brother is graduating this May. I definatly want to come back for it, I just hope my schedule will allow it.
Speaking of schedules, I've offically, 100% decided to do the Peace Corps after I finish school in Finland. So that means entering either summer or winter of 2006 (depending on how long school takes). Its nice to have a goal after school. I think taking the time off before the PhD will be useful. I'm pretty sure that I don't want to study for a while after I finish, unless I get offered some amazing opportunity. But, its something I've always had in the back of my head and I think its a great opportunity to help in the world. Who knows where I might land! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and has a happy new year.
My home is getting quieter. Erin left on Sat and Sam is packing to leave today. How sad. It was incredibly stellar to have the both of them around all the time. We were a roving party all the time!
Too bad there was lots of disappointment regarding "friends" of ours. I just don't understand how people can let friendships fade for no reason except that you're not in their daily lives. Maybe because I've had friends my whole life that I used to only see every few years (see Sam) I just don't see the reason. Afterall, a friendship is just people keeping up with one another. This can be done in person just as well as through emails and correspondence. So there is ABSOLUTLY no excuse for letting friendships fall by the wayside. Its just sheer laziness and immaturity, in my humble opinion. Don't get me wrong, there are still wonderful fanstastic gold-star friends in Atlanta that will never disappear, but its these others that just suck. Its a slap in the face to come back excited and then have no reaction to getting together. For crying out loud, this will probably be the last time I'm in Atlanta for a long time. My parents are moving to FL next summer and I plan on doing my thesis in Finland as well this summer, which means I probably won't have the time/money for a flight here. And next Christmas when I'm in Vienna, my brother will be in Bern so my parents will come out to us, so no Christmas trip. So there. This is it. When I'm gone Jan 7th, if you haven't seen me, you won't. This is a great wake up call to weeding out process of true friends. Its just sad that it had to happen. From where I sat, I didn't think that any friendships had ended, but apparently they had. Well, c'est la vie, I suppose.
But, I'm here for another few weeks and if you want, you can try and grab me from the woods. According to my social calander, I will be spending the next week and half hiking throughout GA, which will be stellar. We have great cold clear weather, which is my favorite. Oh yeah, there is a Christmas Laser Show Spectacular if anyone else is interested. You know where I'll be if you can't find me! I was sooo happy when we went to Stone Mt and I found out about this holiday gift. I couldn't speak and I think I stunned Erin and Sam by my sheer joy. Whats great about this is that now I can do everything that I want to do regardless of what anyone else says. I have my freedom! Time to take Sam to the airport...We'll see if she actually makes it onto a plane.
Ahh, Atlanta. How I love it here. Its great to be home, thats for damn sure. I know where everything is like the back of my hand. Driving 80 mph on I-85 brings me such joy. There's nothing like weaving in a out of traffic in the little Focus nimbly dancing around the giant SUVs. And the food. Yesterday I had the nectar of the gods, also known as sweet iced tea. I forgot how good it tastes on my lips. Its like heaven in a glass. But most importantly, I've been reunited with the most important person in Atlanta...BIGGA! Its lovely how friendships last and grow despite being physically separated most of the time. Its like I never left, its great! Hanging out with him has made me realize that there is no viable excuse for not keeping in touch with people over long distances. It doesn't require much effort, but is very important. And now Sam is in town!!!!!!! YAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYAY Its gonna be so rad to finally be able to show her around my 'hood and meet my real friends and prove they actually exist. Tomorrow Erin is coming in town and its gonna be nuts! The next week is going to be very hectic, so if you want to hang out, please call or email me ASAP so I can fit you into the social events calander of Nina/Sam/Erin.
STARTING MY JOURNEY TO ATLANTA TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited its nuts. I finally finished all my school stuff and now I can be excited and think about my trip. Tomorrow all I have to do is take a field trip to the water plant, buy my bus ticket and all my Finnish goodies, do a German oral exam, pack, and leave town. For all of you that are waiting impatiently, my flight info is as follows: arrive ATL on Luftansa #444 from Frankfurt at 2.35pm. My mom is gonna pick me up from Hartsfield, so I've got that covered, but I have no clue as to what I'm doing afterwards. Since I'll be traveling for over 24 hours, I'm gonna stink and be hungry. I don't know yet if I'll be too tired to go out, but call my house anyway. I don't know if I'll have a cell, but my home number is still the same (770.448.4608) so ring me up. Sam is coming in town on Sunday and Erin on Monday so its a full house (minus the annoying middle child that no one liked). Things are going great in Finland which rules hard core. Margit and I bought each other the same Christmas present because we're just so cute like that (most rad Giant Robot album). I had a meal planned with the Boy, but it got canceled, which bummed me out, but we turned it into immediate coffee, which was nice. I always have fun with him and Mike. The three of us make the most noise of any three people in Finland. Ok, so thats not much of an accomplishment, but its still hella fun. JP got a huge snowball in his lovely mug today, which was hysterical (at least for Margit and me). This is what happens when we're the first to finish our Finnish exams and have an hour before Queer Eye starts. Idle hands creates worries for JP. My water lab group is great and I met a cool guy who has turned my onto a bunch of finnish punk bands. Finally, someone over here appreciates Bad Religion, Air, Placebo,Fugazi, The Jesus Lizard, Porcupine Tree and my other eclectic musical tastes. Its great to have someone around to have a proper musical conversation. All in all, I'm glad to be coming back to Finland. I've realized in these past few busy weeks that I've managed to set up a nice life for myself here. Of course the ATL is great, but I have no current life there. No job prospects or school or anything really to keep me there. Its the best feeling to be able to say that I'm 100% happy with my life. :) Birthday props to both Lilly and my aunt! Funny, they're both the same age!!
The number for the day is 10. 10 as in: Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Even though its a non-issue here, I'm still happy that its time for my favorite holiday. Sat will be the most excellent Thanksgiving meal Kuopio has ever seen. I'm already drooling thinking about it. In proper Welti Family Cheese tradition, I've made up my list of things I'm thankful for. So instead of spaming everyone, here it is:
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This past week has been full of answered questions. For example, why is it that the more I have to do, the less I want to do it? Why did we elect Bush again?My Dad's Bible study group is debating creationism and evolution and somehow I've involved myself into that one as well. How come adding 10 times as much water to brownie mix changes the taste so dramatically? But, the MOST important debate has been running through my head for the past 2 days. I was happily sleeping one night until BAM! at 5am I was awoken to find this question running through my head, begging to be answered. I've been trying to wrestle with it alone, but now I know I need help. I just can't figure it out. So please, help me. Here it is: If they attended high school together, who (during their peak) would have been the coolest kid in school, Zach Morris or Ferris Bueller ? If you don't know who these important characters are [only 2 valid excuses 1. You grew up under a rock 2. Are Austrian] Zach was the coolest kid at Bayside High from Saved by the Bell and Ferris took the best Day Off. So far I've come up equal. Zach definatly got away with more during his tenure as the cool kid, but he had competitiong (see AC Slater or other random kids) but Ferris was 100% the coolest kid in his school (Rooney's secretary said it best). Both were kinda squeaky clean, but I think Zach was a bit more than Ferris. At least Ferris drank wine, whereas Zach had a crisis with Jessi over (OH NO!) caffiene pills. Right now, I'm edging towards Ferris having the ability to be cooler than Zach, but I think we'd need a competition at the Max to prove it once and for all. Any suggestions? By the way, I want to know which character you are from Saved by the Bell. Take this quiz and tell me in my new guestbook.
Still at school, not studying like I should be. But, I don't feel like writing a lot here, I just wanted to let you know that if you're wondering why I'm not online ever, its because my internet at home will be down until Nov 24. Sucks....a lot. So if you want to get in touch with me and find out if I'm suriving this gray Finnish Nov, you'll have to bust out those email/letter writing skills. So, I figure my inbox will still be just as empty as usual, but at least you know that I'm not frozen....yet.
Its the middle of the day, which means I'm procrastinating at school. I should be writing an essay on the evolution of seeds, but I really can't get into it. Its at these moments that I question my desire to continue school. Actually, I don't, but thats because I don't want a job. Whats more important than the evolution of seeds (I know, you can't believe that anything else would take precedence) is the flurry of activity thats still going on in all of my political organizations despite the election being over. Its wonderful to read that these groups (like PunkVoter or DIY politics and many others) are still continuing to fight the good fight. Maybe they just haven't gotten around to taking down their sites, but a recent article on Salon.com makes me feel that that's not the case. What a world it would be if all these new young voters took what they learned in this election season and kept it going to the midterms and every election following. Imagine what could happen! Change in America isn't going to happen overnight, but I think that the seeds have been planted. No longer will people complain about the youth of today being apathetic. NO! Instead, we, the youth, will complain about older people being apathetic. I can see it now, an America where the two biggest voting blocs are the elderly and the youth. Imagine the debates then. All of us young punks could kick the walkers out of those Social Security, Medicare sucking oldfarts and we could take back prescription drug coverage and give it to those people that need it in the form of a new MedicAid. Ok, so its still far off, but a girl can dream, can't she?
I get so hopeful when I can spend an hour (I was also writing an essay at the same time, I promise!) looking around the internet and finding all these great images and ideas floating around. I can't help but think that maybe this will happen. It makes me happy to be an American, thats for sure. I do feel a bit guilty that I am living in Finland. I'm not there to help the cause any, all I can do is give lip service to it while I'm here. I wish that there was something more I could do. I am happy that finally there is a movement in America that I can let my inner '70s radical get excited about. There isn't much to get roused about in Finland. Everyone is pretty complacent because life works here. No one is disinfranchised enough to give a shit. Besides, they are all concerned about Bush being president for 4 more years. The Finnish media is so biased against Bush its incredible. I think that if something pro-Bush ever made it onto the airways of Finnish TV, heads would explode. It kinda makes me want to try, just to stir shit up. So, here is a call to my conservative friends (all 3 of you). Give me your best response to groups like PunkVoter or MoveOn.org and let me see what I can do over here with them. There are new questions in the guestbook, so sign it, dammit! I know there are more of you out there.
The news is in, Bush won his re-election. My first immediate reaction was disbelief. I watched the election coverage and I sincerely thought that Kerry could pull it off all the way up until his concession speech. Call me an idealist optimist, but I tried. I tried really hard to convince myself that this was all a bad dream. That the last 2 years working against Bush were not all lost. That the efforts of youth voter movements would work. That finally, people were taking an active roll in politics. But, as it seems, I was wrong. My hopeful optimism is destroyed. I've really lost faith in the efforts of people. What happened with this election? Basically, Kerry was unable to connect with the moderates. These people who were undecided all the way until election day did not support Kerry, as I would have thought. Not all supported Bush, but nevertheless the Democrats failed to connect with them. Why? Well, 85% of people who thought terrorism was the biggest issue were Bush voters. Bush was able, due to all the recent 9/11 rememberance day activity, to rally support around him and show that he was the safer candidate when it comes to terror threats. Is this reality? I suppose it depends on how you look at it. In my opinion, I don't think his record is that good, but Kerry is an unproven leader. Regardless, terrorism isn't my biggest concern ( even though earlier this week all Americans in Scandinavia and the Baltic States were put on higher alert ). I think that living in Finland, I'm a bit isolated in my opinion of the current political situation. I'm on many email lists, but these are all left-leaning liberal hippie type lists (except for the American Family Association, but I just read that to be scared). The news I get over here doesn't focus on domestic issues at all, instead the news that concerns the US over here is basically about Iraq and forgein policy. Hell, they even interviewed me today on the Finnish news for my perspective on the election! But, I am an educated person and I do try and get a fair and balanced (I read Fox sports!) perspective on the situation back in the states. Who knows, though. I thought that because of all the groundswell of activity that Kerry would pull it off, but I was dead wrong. At least I can console myself in the fact that Kerry only lost by about 3% and that Bush can't run again in 4 more years. Hopefully (this word gets me in trouble) in 4 years we won't go through this again. Hopefully, this will be a wake up call to the Democratic party that they need to get their shit together. Hopefully, Bush won't view this as a mandate to move the country further to the right. Hopefully, Bush will take full responsibilty for Iraq and actually fix things over there. Hopefully, I'll get back to sleep and stop worrying about the state of the old country. But one thing is for sure, I'm damn happy that I'm living in Finland right now. At least here, my reproductive rights, the environment, and civil liberties will be protected. In other political issues, the thing that disturbs me just as much as Bush being re-elected is that 11 states, including GA, consitutionally banned gay marriage and civil unions. Why? Who the fuck knows. But its abhorrent, if you ask me. People should just let other people live in peace. I'm hoping (again, probably just setting myself up for more disappointment) that they will be declared illegal based on the convaluted language that was used so they won't go into effect. OK, I really have to get over this election stuff, even though everyone is IMing me like never before, which rules. It consumed my life for the past year and now I have free time again. My trip to England was GREAT! I'm in the process of putting up my pictures. I was so happy to get out of Kuopio for a while and sort out my head. There is nothing better to cure all of my girly issues than 2 weeks with Sam. Her friends were also excellent. They all were super nice and warm to me which made me realize that I'm not a social leper in Kuopio, just that the pickin's are quite slim here. I ate so much wonderful ethnic food (all-u-can eat style!) and listened to excellent music and watched hours of TV. It was just what the doctor ordered. So, I think I'm rejuvinated enough to last until I go back to Atlanta in Dec (only 1 month away!!). Also, pictures from Vera's going away party are coming soon too.
So, England is great. Is, as in the current tense. Yes folks, I'm still here. I was supposed to be in Finland by now, but as the traffic gods decided that they hate me and Sam, I'm still here. Its not such a bad thing. I love hanging out here and I don't get to see enough of Sam, so I'm not really that upset. But, if you are excpecting me to be in finest costume tonight at K-18, you're going to be disappointed. It sucks that I'm going to miss the Halloween party tonight. It was my baby and I had a great costume planned out (now you'll never know...). But I have faith that it will still be a great party, so get out there and do the Monster Mash at K-18 tonight regardless of my presence. When (if) I get back to Finland, I'll post about my most fanstically excellent trip over here along with the pictures. While you wait, sign my guestbook, dammit! Also, if you're living in the US right now, don't forget to vote. I'll kick your ass in December if I find out that you didn't vote (I'll kick it twice if you voted for Bush).
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