Back From Finland

I got back successfully from Finland on Monday. Unfortunately I had to spend a total of 5 days because of the weekend. The fastest that the Embassy is able to process a visa is 3 days and since I wasn't able to file until Thursday, that meant it wouldn't be done till Monday. I say unfortunately, but really it wasn't that bad. Of course it cost me more money, but I was able to really relax and see the nice little city of Helsinki. Next time I plan to leave on Sunday, file Monday and come home on Wednesday, we will see.

Finland is actually a relatively new country, their history has been one domination after another by the Swedish then the Russians. It wasn't till 1917 that they became an independent nation. So there is a lot of cultural influence there. However Finland is coming into itself and maturing into a nice little nation with Helsinki as the cultural, artistic, and actual capital. It is a small city, I would say the city itself probably doesn't spread much farther than where I used to live in Minden-Gardnerville, Nevada. I liked that in the city center, where a lot of the sightseeing in Helsinki is, everything is close enough that you can walk. They also have a great public transportation system, so getting around is really easy. The only negative thing I can say is that everything is expensive. Of course the Euro is a kick in the pants, but from what I heard from my German friend, everything is just more expensive.

I had a great time taking a lot of pictures, there were tons of interesting sights and the weather was pretty beautiful most of the days. My favorite place was the Fortress Island of Soumenlinna. There are some people who live on the Island and I think there is a naval academy of some sort there, but mainly it is just an abandoned fortress. It takes a short ferry ride to get there and then you have all day to check out the cool old artillery guns, even older walls and bunkers, and great ocean views. I got most of my best pictures on the Island. I think next trip I will be back there again, and there is another island that has a zoo on it, I think I will check that out as well. There is supposed to be this cool lookout tower thing I really want to see. Though I would rather not have to make these visa trips, because they cost time and money, I view it as a blessing from the Lord that I have such a cool place to renew my visas.

Things are starting to come together for my permanent residency. I am starting to collect all the papers and documents I will need. I hope to be filing everything in a month or so. I need to get the papers filed for the private visa in time for me to be able to get the letter of invitation back by June so I can get my visa, file and wait for the temporary residency. I am hoping to move to Cherepovets by June as well. I just found out I might have to move my plans up a week or two, because if I want to stay in my apartment into June I will have to pay for the whole rent because my roommate is leaving June 1st. No big deal. I hope to move everything in increments over the month of May. We will see. Once in Cherepovets I hope to be teaching much more again, and to really get involved at the city shelter. Until then I am focusing on getting everything together for me to go, getting as much training as I can, and learning as much Russian as I can. I hope to get to a point in my language skills so that when I move to Cherepovets I will be able pick things up very quickly. I am praying for the Lord's hand to be in all this and that I will be sensitive to his leading. Praise the Lord. I just can't get over what has gone on over the past year or so. I would have never imagined this is what God would have for me, and I am almost clueless as to what is ahead. That is scary at times, but cool most the time, even comforting sometimes to know that the Lord is in control and though it will be quite the ride, He will not fail.