"Was it this easy?"
There are many cool things in life, but more than that, there are also things that will drive you crazy. So many people go to work everyday thinking that the only positive side is the pay day. Same story everytime you wake up, you hear the ringing sound wishing that it would not wake you up, knowing that there is another day at the work that will crawl forward while you look at the blades of the clock in the wall, knowing that they won't exactly go blazing fast. Sleep, work and start it all over again. I believe there is more than this to life. There has to be a way to live a life of economical steadiness while doing something real, waking up every morning knowing that it is going to be an another awesome day in the field. Of course there has to be money too, I want to buy all the things my loved one wants and not having to think if I'll survive the next wave of bills. I know, sometimes you have no option than to work in the steel mill to bring in home some pay, but I'm willing to fight as hard as required to avoid that fate. People end up in the wheelchair, quietly uttering those sentences that begin with "I wish I would have..." So many around me start to give up their dreams even before they turn 20. They wanted to be astronauts and police officers when they were smaller, now they tell that a good-wage job in some Stresscorp Industries office desk has the same adrenaline and they are doing fine in there. Then starts the usual ramble "Yeah well it ain't too cool or anything, but hey what is? Atleast the pay is good." You work a huge amount of your life, so why not make it something that you can be proud of, something that you really love from deep within your heart?
I come from Finland, a cold country in the northern part of Europe. Five million residents and a land mass of one fourth of the United States, a country of thousand lakes, green forests and cold winters. a farm where I learned to ride before I learned to walk properly. Endless fields, dense forests and muddy roads, that is where my soul really belongs. Nevertheless, I've also experienced what is it like to live in a concrete block in a city, where your flat has 100 inhabitants and yet you know no one.
The other dream that I've always had has been moving to the United States. The feeling is strong, and I do not completely know how to explain it. It is a fire down below, I got to see for myself why the countless waves of immigrants have flowed to country. Maybe it is the thought that grass is really greener there and for me, it has been a lifelong urge. I want a better life, a better place, a better way. And I know where I am searching it from. People tell that I won't find endless happiness and sheer glory there, but in the other hand, I don't even look for them. I know the need for hard work and patience, no matter where you go. And there is no place on the face of earth without its problems and negative sides. But perhaps things as an all will be better. Maybe there things will change. Want to experience awkward moments? Try an elevator ride in Finland. Yes, it is possible to through 24 floors without anyone saying anything and that is what sums everything when talking about my countrymen's social abilities. But all in all, while I love my hometown and my home in the countryside, I've known always that this is not the place for me. I still appreciate the many things that this country has given to me, and when looking at the winter mornings filled with the beauty of the snow, I know what I will sorely miss, but I have to go, I can't live like this.
While doing those jobs that I so much fear many years ago, I found the love of my life in the way of blue emergency lights and defibrillators. My local hometown Volunteer Fire Company, the place where it all began. I was sold the moment I walked in. Trucks quietly lying in the hall, humming of the chargers, distant chatter in the radio, the whole atmosphere breathing the wait. I swear, I really saw those trucks thinking to themselves that it has been too long. Turnout gear, syringes, bandages, hoses, stetoscopes, hookers, axes, nozzles and the jaws of life, they all radiate purpose and meaning, something real. Once you have raced through the streets with the engine, knowing that every second counts and we are talkig about someones loved one, how can you return to some menial job in the lousy side of the town? Perhaps selling cell phone carriers, internet connections and things that don't matter. Same stuff from eight to the four, smile and sell. I like talking with people and helping them, but when you slowly die inside, still hoping you were a firefighter like the night before, your heart tells you to do something to stop the cycle of endless boredom and stupid work. Along the blood flow and heart beats, I had a feeling in my heart, I want to do firefighting in the United States of America.
And out of this feeling it began. Late night, looking at the computer and wondering will I ever get the things I so badly wanted. Watching endless amounts of firefighting and emergency medical care related videos on the YouTube, I decided that I should give it a shot, like I had anything to lose. Typed "fire department" to Google and I started searching for interesting fire stations. After three hours of exhausting looking, I looked to the paper piece in my table. There were names of departments that had really caught my eye, and now I would make something out of them. I wrote an email of my dreams and hopes, and sent it to these select addresses.
And it did not take long. Many positive responses forced me to pick the place of my choice, and I admit, it did not take long.
Quietly thinking, was it this really this easy, I noticed things steamroll forward. Loud yells and an awesome feelings were present in the room days later when things would be confirmed. My family would see me running in the yard, screaming "I am the king of the world!".
Departing Helsinki-Vantaa 0800 in the morning, 21st the May, via Heathrow, destination Baltimore-Washington International. I'm in for a warm welcome, as I have realized from all the warm conversations. I want to learn more and more about the field of firefighting and emergency medical care. Not for long anymore, and I will be the humble guest and a damn happy foreign rookie of the Bladensburg Engine and Truck Company 9, Pringe George's County Fire Department, Maryland.
