#tehcapn

Additional notes:  I've managed to figure out my luggage.  I will be staying longer while in Finland, and I have to bring winter clothes, so I am definitely packing more than my trip to Japan.  

Also, only the plus side of being nervous, at least I'm not sick this time!

1.)    Finland is located in the easternmost part of Scandinavia, bordering Sweden, Norway, and Russia.

2.)    The official language of Finland is Finnish, which belongs to the Uralic language family as oppose to most of Europe, which belongs to the Indo-European language family.  Minority languages include Swedish and Russian, although many Finns are also fluent in English.

3.)    Approximately one third of Finland is located north of the Arctic Circle.  This means they can witness the Aurora Borealis, or "Northern Lights", as well as experience days of complete darkness in the winter, and complete daylight during the summer.

4.)    There are over 188,000 lakes in Finland, hence the nickname "The Land of a Thousand Lakes", and 179,000 islands, both of which are world records.

5.)    Finland has only been an independent country since 1917, belonging to either Russia or Sweden beforehand.

6.)    Finland's capital, Helsinki, is the second most northern capital city in the world. 

7.)    Finland is ranked one of the highest countries in the world in regards to education based off international standardized tests.

8.)    Nokia Corporation is based in Finland, where it was started in the town of Nokia.

9.)    Finns are the world's biggest coffee drinkers.  It is estimated that the average Finn drinks at least 12kg of coffee annually.  That is twice as much as Italians, three times as much as Americans, and four times as much as the Brits. 

10.) Most Finns have a sauna in their home, and roughly 80% of Finnish families own a private lakeside cottage.

11.) Santa Claus, known in Finland as Joulupukki or "Yule Goat", officially resides in a house built right on top of the Arctic Circle, near the town of Rovaniemi, Finland.

My name is Tyler.  I am from West Virginia, born and raised.  I have lived a rather sheltered and isolated life up to this point, but that ends very soon!  I have never flown on a plane before.  I have never left the country before; I have barely left the East Coast!  And on September 7th I will be flying to Japan...

And I have no idea what to expect along the way.

Why don't you join me?

The purpose of this blog is to catalog my trip to Japan, and hopefully any future travels that I make (whether big or small).  Time permitting, I will be including useful information that I gather in preparation for my trip, or any other curiosities that I stumble upon along the way.  I will be bringing a camera with me, so expect to see many pictures.  Be forewarned, however, that I am no photographer, and I barely know how to snap a photo, so don't expect National Geographic quality work here.