So I am in Finland staying with a host mommy. This is the first time all tour I've stayed with a host parent and not a hostel. It is just me and her and her two little terriers that I sort of love and hate at the same time but really I love them because they remind me of my dogs.

Some highlights and opinions of my trip so far...

First of all my choir director is incompetent and irresponsible. We've had a lot of problems with money and scheduling and general organization. It's very frustrating, and I don't think I am one to get frustrated easily. We do have a tour manager who also did a half-assed job of planning and scheduling. It is a lack of money and communication that has resulted in some adventures, some of which I would not wish to repeat any time soon.

London...I love London still, but I think I loved it more last time because my mom was so in love with everything, and seeing London with Chris jsut wasn't the same. He doesn't care for big cities I guess. But we both enjoyed the sites and stuff. It is so expensive...the £ is pretty much double the $. HA I CAN TYPE BOTH OF THOSE SYMBOLS WITH THESE KEYBOARDS! Anyway London was super and I was really happy to go back. Heard some great music too.

Norway: Some beautiful scenery, such as the mountains and waterfalls. But Norway is also REALLY expensive, and not all that exciting. You can really do most everything you want in a couple days. I liked it a lot though.

Sweden: I did not like Sweden. I mean we started off on the wrong foot...getting in to Stockholm too late and not having a hostel that we had planned for and ended up sitting around the train station until 1:30 AM. But in general I thought the people were rude, the city was pretty ugly and I was just not impressed at all.

Finland: I love Helsinki! I wish we could have been there longer. I like Finland. They really have their shit together with education and taxes and health care and stuff. There are not very many people at all...like 5 million in the whole country. I'm looking foward to singing (sort of) and to hearing a bunch of choirs in this festival we are participating in.

I am pretty much ready to go home, or at least go somewhere where I don't have to be with Chamber Singers. In a way I am glad this is my last thing with the group. I am looking forward to Paris, even though I know it is kind of dirty with mean people. I am brushing on my french but I stink. Mon francais e mal. After Paris I will be really ready to be home and read English and understand what newspapers and menus say and pay in dollars and eat American food and see everyone that I really really miss. Well, almost everyone.

My computer will probably freak out and shut down in the middle of this. So it will be fast and short. While I am excited to go to Europe, I am sad to go too. I wish so much that I could be with Mike and the Viscos for the next few days. Timing doesn't seem to be the best thing lately. I know that my family will be there for you. (e:mike) I will only be gone until mid-June. You will barely notice I have left. I know this is a really hard time for you right now but even if the three of us won't be here, you do have other people here to entertain you and keep you going!! I love you and I'm going to miss you while I am overseas and therefore I will write to you a lot. I will sure to fill you in on lots of good stories for when I'm there, well, if I feel like getting through the whole thing...


Vivere lungo il Centro Commerciale di Colline Orientale! La vedrò quando ritorno!


(I hope free translation.com is correct and I didn't just write something ridiculous.) :)

Good luck and I will be thinking about you a lot!

I love when I start writing an entry and AOL decides to randomly shut down for no reason.

So anyway, I am home for the summer and pretty darn happy about it. Graduation was a nice time, nothing too emotional. I guess because it was only a half graduation for me ;) And most of the friends and the boyfriend (haha) that I've had at the school didn't even graduate with me. But some did, so that was a little sad. Anyway so more about that later. Outback is scrumptious, even though it overrode my Perkins vote. I still need some Perkins ASAP. Today I am going with Mike to buy an iPod mini. I'm so excited : ) It will be so much easier for my trip.

This summer should be interesting...everything seems to have two sides. Jill, Teres and Jen won't be here all summer, and Jesse leaves in July. And I don't know about Mo. So all of that is no fun : ( But I will get to see the people who are here a lot, and Mike and I may even make a trip to NYC just for fun. I'm going to Europe for almost a month, which will be undoubtedly great. And in that time I could be making money or hanging with people here. Chris is freakin 4 hours away again, and since we are going to Europe for so long together we probably won't see each other much. So I guess there's really nothing good about that haha.

Don't know what else to say. I am looking forward to this summer. I hope I can make a decent amount of money, do some good travelling and stuff. Ok Mike ishere. bye

I love Fredonia, obviously. But sometimes I get really sad about how disconnected I am from where I grew up and everybody who I grew up with. We're all doing different things and have grown apart in so many ways and sometimes I think, well that's just life, but sometimes it makes me really sad. And no matter what, that's how it's going to be...different. So much has changed, but we always end up where we started, and maybe that won't happen anymore. And if that's the way it is, I have to be okay with it. But I don't know if I am. I just know that right now I'm sad too.

Is there a song that has that name? No, that's Joaaaaanna. Maybe?

So here's my answer to whether or not I'm looking forward to being home this summer...I've been in a computer lab working on one worksheet for my theory class for two hours. I was asked to sing in 2 concerts this week and I got the music...this week. I have a 15 page paper to finish...and start. I have to finish a big research project that I've been planning for the whole semester, and I have a grand total of 2 paragraphs written. I recieved mail from the Commencement Committee addressed to 'Mary Jane Maloy', leading me to believe my diploma may be printed with that name...

So I think I'm ready to be finished.

And yes I will be in Buffalo this summer, yessss. I really hope I get to teach lessons for work and not have to do anything else. Cuz that would be okay money. : )

Want me to teach you to sing??????

Let me know!


MMMM CHEESE BREAD

ps everyone check out for shakespeare in the park cast lists!