Another academic year gone and I don't feel any wiser than before. Sure, I've got lots of study credits to show for my accomplishments over the past year, but as my thoughts are drawn more and more towards the Summer break now at hand, it is harder and harder to remember what it was that I actually learned during the last year. Something about teaching English as a foreign language? I don't know, it's all a haze at this point. A fatigued mind needs some well-deserved rest and in light of the fact that I can hardly remember anything about my academic endeavors during the last year, I think it's clear that my mind is in need of some rest. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that: in an environment where one is constantly required to process more and more information, it's to be assumed that people will sometimes feel overwhelmed by it all. I know I have.

With that in mind, the Summer break is truly welcome: during these next three months not a single thought will be given to academia, as I will make it my sole purpose to wind down from the rigors of an academic existence and settle into the tedium of a mindless minimum wage job and playing video games. Also, as may be apparent from this issue, some escapism in the form of pretending to be an elf wizard is also to be expected.

With that said, please enjoy your Summer break and also try to enjoy this issue of Better Than Sliced Bread, featuring two distinct looks at one year as an exchange student, one by Esko Suoranta and the other by Kaisa Leino, some frigging tips for having a great Summer by Kerttu Kaikkonen, a book review by Esko Suoranta and the thrilling conclusion to Kristiina Nieminen's Birth of a Thesis.

Wishing you an awesome Summer, The Staff of Better Than Sliced Bread