My trip to Finland to visit him was a fruitful one, not only did I get a taste of his daily life, we toured Stockholm together. We learnt a lot more about each other through constant quarrels. For one major quarrel - He went on his own to explore Vasa Museum after he knew I was joining the guided tour. After the tour, I immediately spent the next hour trying to locate him as I was worried if he was looking for me. I even went outside of the museum with 2 tickets for re-entry for both me and him in case I find him outside waiting for me. At the same time, I was raving mad as I could not believe that he had just taken off without a word, leaving me all alone in a foreign land. Eventually, I found him at the place where he had originally left me an hour ago. To my horror, he assumed I knew he was not going for the tour and that we would meet each other again somehow. Thereafter, he offered his service as a personal tour guide, to take me around the museum, showing me what I have missed. I rejected the offer as the thought of walking through the place again reminded me of my foolishness in trying to locate him the whole time.
Anyhow, I am truly appreciative of him as a person. The top five things I would want to remember about Daniel and his goodness are these:
1) Before I came, he was saving up coins for me to take buses around Finland.
2) He picked me up from the airport and sent me back, helping to lug my luggage around.
3) He let me sleep on his bed while he slept on the living room couch.
4) He took me to places that he had already visited in Helsinki and Estonia and accompanied me on most of my shopping trips. He wrote me a map like this when he couldn't come along due to classes.
5) Many a time, he was tired from walking in Stockholm and had wanted to return to the hotel. He hung around still coz he was worried about my safety.We took turns to cook for each other though most of our meal times were spent in school. His house mates were extremely uncooperative when it comes to kitchen hygiene. They left used pots and pans and dirty dishes lying for days in the sink. Other than that they are pretty nice people.
On the day before the flight home, he took me to Tokyo 55 because he didn’t me to be cooking at home. He said it wouldn’t do me justice. We decided to try reindeer meat in the end. I didn’t feel bad eating it after I found out it was not an endangered species. If given the chance, I will eat it again without qualms. Apart from that, the sushi tasted really fresh and the rice tender; all made possible with the special touch of the chef’s delicate hands. Together, we splurge over a hundred and yet we were unable to fill our stomach. Since the food was fucking good as Daniel had described, it was money well spent. Unknowingly to Daniel, I shed a few drops of tears during the meal as I was reminded of it being our last dinner in Finland.
My returns for my family this trip: Shoes for each of my brothers, a bag for my mom, a massager for my dad and most importantly a beautiful memory.