Wait, we have to go back to America?

Well, we're down to the final stretch here in Finland. After 7 weeks of Euros, Finnish, 24 hour time, metric system and constant daylight, the thought of leaving to go back home is strange. I'm sure many of you saw the amazing traveling we all had the opportunity to do, and I am so grateful for all the experiences we had, both abroad and here in Finland.

One of the highlights of going on our trip to see other countries was that got to stay with the family that hosted me when I went to Norway 4 years ago for a government exchange. It was so great to see them all again and they were just as kind and caring as they were the first time I stayed with them. I have been in contact with Stine, the girl I stayed with, since I went to visit the first time and while she has had the opportunity to come visit me, I never thought I'd be able to go see her again! It was so hard to leave a second time, but we have already made plans for her to come visit me this Christmas (:

One of my favorite things that I got into on this trip is biking. I haven't been on a bike in a long time, since I didn't really want to or have the need to bike at Drexel. I really enjoy going into town or to the grocery store or wherever I have to go by bike. It's much more relaxing then driving, but still is good exercise.It's been in the 80's temperature wise and we rode our bikes to the beach when we had time. Now we are all so busy finishing everything up we don't have much time for that.

My research went well, and now I'm finishing up my review paper on the Bioremediation of Sulfur in Mining Waters. Basically I've been reading paper after paper after paper on this topic and have learned so much. Now I am composing a summary of everything I learned. This paper will be in my advisor's final research paper after she conducts her research on this topic. She will read over my paper and then begin her work in the fall. It's kind of frustrating because most summary papers like this are worked on for 6 months or longer, not just 7 weeks. So I'm frustrated because I know there is more out there that I didn't have the time to read, but she wouldn't have assigned me this project if she had a problem with that.

I'm very excited to see what everyone has to present in Germany. We have all been working so hard here, it will be great to have the chance to talk about what we have been doing and what we have learned.

Thank you!!