Towards America's Dairyland

Well, all packed now. I've checked and re-checked all the important documents I have to have with me at least a dozen times already. There's really not much else to do than... go.

The last two days I've been living in Raisio with my dad and Sirpa. You know, because I had to give the key to my appartment to the subtenant. She seems quite all right and I believe she won't turn the place upside down during the summer. Yeah, I trust her.

Dad left to some fishing trip to Oulu yesterday. He's all excited about the hard earned media attention that he and his company have received lately. I'm happy for him, and I think that there's more to come. Anyway, Sirpa will take me to the bus station tomorrow. Hmm... "tomorrow" in about three hours. The bus leaves Turku at 3.00 am and arrives in Helsinki-Vantaa airport at 6.25 am. From there, a three hour flight to Heathrow, changing planes and an eight hour flight to Chicago, where I'll be at 14.10 local time. That's 22.10 in Finland. And at that time I should be alert enough to find the right bus from Chicago O'Hare airport to Madison, WI. No, actually that's not a challenge at all. Getting off at the right bus stop and finding the representants of my employer in Madison, that's the challenge. Tell you later how that goes...

Come to think of it, I don't have any clear or even sensible picture in my mind what Wisconsin is like. The state is, or has been, known for it's dairy industry and products. So a lot of barns, corn fields and factories? And herds of cows roaming around? Maybe it's like Selänpää in Valkeala. OK, maybe not. But I think that most of the excitement and energizing anticipation I feel for having it as my destination stems from me knowing so little. It feels like for the first time in my life I'm going somewhere without any expectations. Of course I have all these stereotypes of the American people, of the culture, the values and so on, but I don't have any expectations of the place itself. And I think that's a good thing. Badger State, here I come!