1.

Rotterdam gave me a warm welcome today with lots of snow and slippery sidewalks when I was on my way to school to catch up with some of my classmates.

Newyearswishes all over when I bumped into some schoolmates, how nice to be back! I can't wait to start again, to get some work done. But first..another three non-school weeks for me, gives me time to adjust a little. Organize my room, read all the mail that came in and stay warm. I forgot how cold our little house gets during winter. Sleeping in an icehotel seems a piece of cake compared to my room.

Sometimes flashbacks of my life in Helsinki hit me. Then I miss it. The city, the sea, the parcs, the fresh crisp air, the school and above all my friends. And with the friends, the Gin Tonic's, the pulla's, the tramrides, the endless discussions, the trips to Russia and Lapland, the hot chocolates, the Kipsari lunches.., the wake up songs, the grrrreeat cool 'Germans are coming' and cats called Sputnik.

My first week in The Netherlands was filled with visits from friends and family. Right after all that a white Christmas at last, we've been hoping for this for as long as I can remember. Paris (from 26th to 28th with Omar) wasn't white at all. But it was cold, really cold. Especially up in the sightseeing over the top tourist bus tour! Yes, we did. We're more than guilty. But it was really worth it, because we saw everything there's to see in Paris. We also pushed ourselves into a ferris wheel to have a nice view on the city. After three rounds also Omar was comfortable to peek outside a little, but lucky enough I made some pictures for him to see when we were back on solid ground.

During a new years-party me and my friends gave away a show for my friends' mother. She turned 50 a couple of days before and for that occasion we wrote her a song. There were some high notes, but luckily everybody joined in. The glasses of champagne we drank before also helped us getting over stage fear.

Happy new year!