...You are braver than you believe...

Hyvää Iltapäivää,

     I'm on the train on my way to Jyväskylä from Helsinki.  I survived the first part of my trip, probably the most stressful.  I was submerged into a foreign country, not knowing the language, completely on my own.  I'm just a country girl who likes wide open spaces and doesn't like to cross streets in Granby, CO because it's scary.  (Ask my brother, Jace, about this).  Not only did I go to a foreign country, I went to a city in a foreign country. I am completely out of my comfort zone.  Or maybe I'm not.  The Winnie the Pooh quote, "...You are braver than you believe..." is applicable here.  I'm only this brave because I have to be.  I couldn't navigate my way through airports, bus routes, city centers, shopping centers or anything if I weren't brave enough to take steps to get there.  You can't go anywhere if you don't go.  If you stay, that is where you will always be.
    Don't get me wrong, I was scared.  I still am a little afraid.  There is so much uncertainty and even less reassurance that IF something goes wrong, it can be fixed.  We all fear the unknown and when there is a lot of unknown it is unpleasantly nerve racking.  I know very little Finnish, maybe a total of ten words. No doubt, I was/am scared but hey, one step at a time and so far so good.
     Let me just throw some clichés in here: you are braver than you believe, YOLO (You Only Live Once), YOYO (You're Only Young Once), The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page,  If God brings you to it, he will bring you through it, put one foot in front of the other.  This is real life and I'm in Finland.  I can still hardly believe I'm actually here.  It just so amazing!
       If there is anything you would like me to address or write/talk about leave me a comment or e-mail me.  I would gladly accommodate your requests.  Questions?

Cheers,
McCall