Päättäväisyys

As mentioned in the previous post, a week or so ago, i purchased.... er, went into debt for a new MacBook. It was a really tough decision, because i'm trying to save money for Finland, but my old one had completely died, and school blows without a computer. Another motivating factor was the sweet education promotion Apple is doing right now. I got a free iPod (which i named "Anteeksi, en ymmärrä") and a free All-in-one printer. Both are killer. In addition i got a couple hundred bucks off the MacBook itself. An added bonus is the built-in iSight it came with. That means i'll be able to video chat my friends and family back in the ATL once i'm moved to Helsinki! Hooray! (My new AIM name thing is "benexhale" just, FYI.)

As most of you know (or may not know), my current dream about this whole thing is too be able to work at a coffee roasters in Helsinki. I've been going to as many cuppings as i can, started a coffee journal, etc. I'm trying to get my skills and knowledge up. One source of anticipation is that my friends M'lissa (a.k.a. Octane's Coffee Boss) and Chris (a.k.a. M'lissa's boyfriend and Customer Relations Master of Awesomeness in Atlanta for Counter Culture, Octane's roaster) are going to Copenhagen and Oslo in a few weeks for some specialty coffee industry fun. There they will probably meet some Finnish roasters, and hopefully put in a good word for me and see if any of them want this awesome American dude to work for them. Or at least get me some contact info.

While i'm not banking my whole move on Chris and M'lissa being able to get me some conacts, i am hopeful. I'm going back to Helsinki hopefully in December for a week or two to apartment hunt and check out the contacts i might have. I'm nervous, but at the same time, pretty damn determined. I'm going to make it happen.