January 6th. 2013.

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”

It's already the sixth of January, which of course doesn't seem so far into the year but if you put yourself into my shoes you would see what I mean when I say "time fly's by." Today was yet another great day filled with friends, life conversations, and good food. The morning started off in such a beautiful way with the golden sun shining through all the windows of the house... and by living in Finland, having this happen so early into the year immediately lifts up your spirits no matter what side of the bed you woke up on.

Today our dear oldie Jeremy left Finland to go back to his home in New Zealand. Many of us are rather sad to say our goodbye's to him, as it will be the same way with all of our oldies. There's now less than a week left before we say goodbye to the rest who will all be returning to Australia on Saturday. One in particular, my dear oldie Lu-Wei has become very dear and close to my heart and it's definitely going to be hard when she leaves. I have been so blessed to have had her in my life these past 5 months. I've learned so much these past few months and I am so thankful for her and all the others who've made it that way. I remember the first day that I arrived, following with camp in Karkku, meeting my first host family, the first day of school, and then meeting Lu-Wei and all of the other oldies. This first half of my exchange has truly been priceless and I wouldn't have chosen to do anything different if I could. I just want to say a great big THANK YOU to absolutely every single one of you who have made this all happen. I love you guys.

Eventually, I'll find inspiration to go through and edit all my photo's from the past week... along with writing the stories that come with them. Until then though, I'm just writing this post to say a quick hello. Tomorrow is the first day back to school after holiday breaks -- and although I've enjoyed the time off, I'm looking forward to having a regular schedule once again, along with seeing friends daily. Also, check out this beautiful song by a band I just recently discovered! (thank you Australian friends!)

Xx, 

   alisa nicholle