There are many things, which I miss, and that's what this post is all about. There are a few things, which I didn't think of missing before coming here, and some things I knew already when thinking of applying for an exchange. However, my aim is not to list down every single thing that I miss. heh.
Home:
I miss being at home, and not needing to worry so much about grocery shopping, laundry, washing dishes, cooking, etc. I mean I don't mind doing these things, as it's called living, but I'd prefer doing them with someone. Besides, home is always home!!
I miss the possibility of drinking the water that comes from the tap, as it's rather annoying to carry drinking water from a store. Another thing related to water is taking a shower - I can't wait to get to a shower, where the water temperature doesn't change all the time from freezing cold to extremely hot! As a Finn, I miss taking a sauna! I miss the relaxing atmosphere in a sauna and the relaxed feeling afterwards.
Naturally, I miss my room, which I just renovated before moving to Greece. As a snail mail addict I miss coming home and going straight to the mail box to see if I got any mail today - now I don't even have a mail box.
It's annoying not to be putting Christmas lights all over our home at the moment and trying new Christmas recipes! I miss having an oven and proper kitchen equipment! Here I don't have an oven, nor a microwave, and to top this all I don't even have a pot for cooking.
What else, oh yeah, I hate having shoes on inside and the fact that my bathroom ain't connected to my studio apartment. At home I don't need to walk on public halls after taking a shower!
Finland:
What first comes to mind is everything being well-organized as in Greece everything feels so not organized! I miss not having people everywhere, empty buses, empty streets and the nature. What also annoys me is the timing, as the timing issue doesn't seem to be very strict here.
I miss the weather! I mean the weather in Greece is alright, in October it was very warm and now it has been rather gloomy and not cold, but not warm either. I just like cold autumn mornings, when the temperature is just under zero. I'm also waiting for snow, so I hope it snows a lot during the Christmas vacation, when I will be in Finland.
The darkness of the fall is somewhat nice in Finland as well. It's perfect for lighting candles and putting Christmas lights inside and outside.
I also miss cheaper milk products! All yogurts, milks, cheeses and such are expensive here, and I like drinking milk with every meal and I also put quite much milk in coffee. Well, I do miss Finnish coffee as well, not that I would particularly like the flavour, but still.
The air is fresh in Thessaloniki as well, but here you can see much many smokers as it's so crowded everywhere. So I miss emptier streets, where I can walk without people smoking around me. In Finland I can pass a person who smokes while holding my breath, but here it's not possible.
People:
Mainly I miss my family, people that are close to me!
I miss waiting for mom to come home from work, and then drinking coffee together. This same applies for weekend mornings; waking up and having breakfast together. I also miss some crazy things that we do, digging birch roots from our back yard, for example. hehe.
I miss going to granny's place for lunch. I used to go there once or twice a week before coming to Greece, so not seeing her for months is rather difficult. She is one of the most important people in my life! When going back to Finland, I will surely go see her straight away.
I do miss the relaxing evenings at my dad's place, going jogging with him and then perhaps watching some TV while having a fire in the fireplace. Luckily, my dad is coming here for a visit soon! I do miss my brother as well, not that we would talk a lot!
To sum up, I miss many things! However, I believe living abroad teaches me to appreciate these things more when going back to Finland. Soon I will be in Finland for Christmas, which will be amazing! :)
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