Momentous days

Last week's word would probably be self-reflection. As pointed out by fellow wayfarer Melissa, it's in the air. Well, but I won't bore you with more of that. You know what I mean!

Last weekend, Carlos, Dea and I flew to Germany to my cousin Andy's wedding. Finnair cancelled the flight about two hours before we headed to the airport, and we were, as it so wittily said on our new ticket, "involuntarily rerouted" via Frankfurt, that absolute monster of an airport. While us aviation freaks kept gaping at the machinery outside, Dea almost made us miss our connecting flight trying to find the right lip-gloss from the duty free. After a 25-minute hop to Nürnberg, our traditional race against time began as we made a dash to the U-Bahn and arrived at the Hauptbahnhof five minutes before the train to Bamberg left the station with us panting and sweating inside it.

Frankfurt, seen from the plane.
The wedding was a huge family event, and on Saturday there were no less than nine people with the surname Juris scurrying around a lawn outside Lichtenfels, frantically photographing each other and sobbing their hearts out as Imke and Andy got hitched. The "Jesus loves you" -guitar-accompanied communal songs (swaying optional) were accompanied by some Bavarian drinking songs when an Oktoberfest-barge sailed past us on the river. After the essential steps, a dash was made towards the tables, which were heavy with delicious cakes (I think I tried about six of them). Imke M. Be...x, welcome to our family! I haven't managed to update the family tree yet.

Hark to hear this blissful sigh, expressed by my very romantic sister.
I suppose weddings are typically places for single people to make some serious catches, but apart from a constantly giggling nurse with a scary tattoo on her neck, I was pretty much left to myself. Dea, on the other hand, had her hands full escaping from one of her same-aged fellow visitors, who was brave enough to come and ask me whether my sister had a boyfriend.

On our way back on Monday, we managed to do some hit'n'run-shopping in Nürnberg, and a couple of hours later we were back at home. On Tuesday, I secretly celebrated the anniversary of my departure to Graz. This would probably go under our word of the week. And maybe it's a coincidence that about six people from my second hometown have contacted me since Tuesday. Or maybe not? My year there seems a frighteningly perfect cycle (perfect in the sense that it is logical, not that it always felt perfect), that maybe it's no surprise that, exactly a year after starting it, I still feel something like ripples hitting me after my most memorable plunge yet. But I am very lucky, because I am happier than ever in Helsinki.

What else has passed through my mind this week? I need a haircut. I want to learn the names of all my singers by next week. At Wednesday's rehearsal, I could identify 20 people out of 35, and that's only two weeks after taking over the choir. I'm very pleased! I still need some furniture, and I also want to start decorating my walls. Somehow, a packet of chocolate biscuits has been annihilated while writing this entry. I also just threw some sheep at friends in Facebook - somehow my evenings just don't seem right without this dubious activity anymore.