To Helsinki!

I just finished watching Garden State, a film I’ve seen once before. There is a large selection of movies on this plane! I can’t go from one movie right to another though, so I’m taking a break. Perhaps I will get distracted from the movies and study Russian, which was my original plan for this flight.

We are flying on FinnAir, so all announcements are in Finnish and English. I was seriously hoping that our meal would consist of Finnish fare, but I’m pretty sure the chicken, salad, and mushrooms were not particularly Finnish. Alas.

We are a little less than halfway to Helsinki. Right now, we are flying over the tip of Greenland! I think I might be looking at a vague outline of Greenland in the distance, but there is considerable cloud cover and the pre-dawn light is minimal. However, about an hour ago I saw icebergs! At first I thought they were just ice chunks, but then I remembered that we are flying at ~35,000 feet (11,277 m).

The group seems really friendly. We spent a long time together in the airport before departure which was good for some preliminary bonding. Proto-bonding. I’m sitting next to Clare Browne, a girl from Hamilton College who lives in a town not far from Niskayuna! Though our last names are spelled differently, they have the same pronunciation.

I should take a moment to outline terminology. The program we’re in is called SLI (Summer Language Intensive). The college we’re studying at is Smolny College, established only a few years ago with support from Bard College as “the first liberal arts college in Russia”. So, eight weeks of language courses, cultural excursions, and exploring the city. All the while attempting to speak Russian.

Greenland! We can see Greenland out the window! I’ve definitely never been this close to the North Pole.

I think I might buy some overpriced Finnish food in the Helsinki airport. I really don’t know what Finnish food consists of. I’m guessing fish. If I ever make it back to Russia on my own after this summer, I’m definitely going to make some time to hang out in Helsinki. I hear it’s hopping.

I am without a cell phone for the first time in a really long time. I left it with my parents at the Albany Airport because it won’t work abroad and they’re giving us phones for Russia. I could have kept it with me and just left it in my luggage, but then I probably would have lost it. Anyway, it was fascinating to be sitting in JFK for a few hours with no chance of receiving an incoming text or call. Imagine ten years ago, they didn’t give everyone cell phones during abroad programs. They just kept track of each other, somehow, perhaps with less freedom and more planning. Or maybe more freedom and less planning.