Today marks one month since we arrived in Finland. In the first days, small tasks were overwhelming...simply reading a street sign seemed to be an insurmountable task. But somewhere along the line, it stopped being overwhelming. Now, it feels familiar.
In this new mindset, I feel ready to learn. I no longer feel the need to struggle against and worry about the things that I do not know. Instead, I'm ready to embrace every opportunity to learn and grow. I know that I'll continue to stretch myself past the point of what is comfortable, but I think that might just be the point of why I'm here.
Last week in Helsinki, I had the chance to visit an arts lukio (high school) where our group was able to hear performances from many of the student ensembles. The choir sang a beautiful piece, and the lyrics stood out to me:
Sweet is the sound of my newborn wings
I stretch them open, and let them dry
I haven't seen this world before
But I'm excused, I'm a butterfly
This place...the culture, the language, the research...it's a whole new world to me. My goal in the next three months is to keep stretching.