Leaving behind a few things such as my friends, family and old job at Hatcher Press. Almost didn’t make the trip, as I found out 45 mins before my flight left that it was canceled due to mechanical problems, so I had to find another flight through Delta Airlines to make my connecting flight with Finnair to Helsinki. I made it with roughly 2 min. to spare. Thank you Delta Air Lines! (free plug for my friend BETH!)
The flight to Helsinki was so enjoyable as I flew Business Class and let me tell you people, IT ROCKED! If you ever have the opportunity to either upgrade your ticket or you have the money to do it, it’s worth every penny you pay for it. Plush seats that recline all the way back to sleep horizontal instead of the way you sleep in coach. (you really don’t sleep in coach). Nice food, and all the personal viewing with your very own tv monitor of any movie that you have to select from. I had a total of 5 different movies that i could have chose, which i watched a total of 3 movies. The flight was very enjoyable and Finnair has a customer for life.
Landed and went through passport control with ease, and customs had no problems with me. It is always better to fly during the week before the weekend as they tend to be more relaxed during that week than the weekend. (best day to arrive is Thursday mornings) Met with Hanna’s father and and her sister (Tiia) and he took me the Maistraatti (registration office) to be included into the population and become a registered person living in Helsinki and also they issue me a ID for me (same thing as a Social Security Number in the US). Hanna took care of my tax issues and declaration of how much tax needed to be taken out of my pay checks, and was also registered at the apartment building where I live at in Hertoneimei (area name where I live within Helsinki). I got most of the things that I needed to get done within the week of my arrival done in one day.