Echo breaks

It is just exhausting. Physically, mentally, often both. I packed nearly everything my modest apartment (well, just a room) contained into very trustworthy Danish cardboard boxes which have been around for nearly twenty years. Those are relics from times when my folks were moving around Scandinavia because of dad's job assignments. I tell you, those Danes know how to make a cardboard box. They take around four seconds to assemble from their thin, room saving appearance to their full fledged, sturdy-as-a-tank-with-impressive-storage-capacity glory.

So those excellent Danish cardboard boxes were manhandled into a rented trailer and hauled across Finland to be stored. I just wasn't able to find a good and affordable storage for the stuff from Vaasa, so my belongings switched from West Side to East Side over a weekend. I didn't want to pay extra rent for my exchange period, and I didn't really want to eventually return to this very apartment either. Knowing that Iceland will stretch my financial ability quite a lot, I refused to stretch it even further by paying for a place where I'm not living and I wouldn't want to either.

But it was exhausting. I do a terrible job at moving. I hadn't even really started when dad arrived, so everything had to be packed and disassembled together. I wasn't really enjoying it, especially getting to witness how lazy a cleaner I can be at times. I don't know which made me feel more guilty, the fact that dad saw how I hadn't properly even started the process beforehand and had to help, or the fact that I found lots and lots of spots in my room where I should've cleaned regularly. It was something like the mental version of the feeling you get after excercising yourself harder than you should, when you find new aching muscles in places you didn't know of.

All I have now left in this room is me, a laptop, a borrowed matress, a little clothes, a carpet which I forgot to pack, a lot of paperwork, some dust gatherings and a few memories. It's quite interesting to notice how similarly I've spent this day, compared to when I had this room fully furnished. What do I need that trailerful of stuff actually for? I can sleep here, use the computer, eat, perform certain bodily functions and read in a non-furnished room just as well. Still I know I'm putting everything out again when I move back somewhere, but at least I'm one step closer to realizing why askesis has been practiced.

I've also managed to get pretty far without any overly emotional bye-byes, whether that's a good thing or not. In fact a couple of those would've probably meaned that the distant return might've been easier. I think it's a nice feeling to miss, to know that there are certain people, certain moments and certain things you'll be longing for.

Another good feeling is knowing that most work for your future move is now done, and there are fairly little things to do anymore than kicking back, relaxing and enjoying the ride, whatever might come across. I also made the decision of taking a little less used route from Helsinki to Reykjavik, so instead of Copenhagen I'll go via Oslo. My previous experience with Oslo airport was somewhat memorable, so it's fun to see if the Norwegians can put up a show this time around too.

When I last was there, maybe five or six years ago, their new airport had just opened a couple of days earlier. When we got off the plane, we discovered that parts of the terminal floor were made of glass slices, dimensions perhaps something like 20x150cm. They were arranged in patterns, so that there was nearly as much glass as the more solid looking floor. A Japanese businessman before us apparently didn't apparently see glass as a viable floor material, so he didn't step on them. The resulted step dancing was something between penguins wobbling forward and Fred Astaire high on life and substances that would be deemed illegal in most countries. But he avoided all the glass.

The baggage claim area was also full of surprises, as it was literally flooding. Apparently the opening of the new airport wasn't going as smooth as people were hoping for. Thankfully several friendly Norwegian officials were instructing us to the parts of baggage claim where you didn't need a kayak to move in.

It is a funny thing. In ten days I'll complete one circle in my life. I've got no clue what life in Iceland will bring, but I know I'm motivated to make the most of it. And from what I hear, it ought to be quite a show on New Year's Eve!