Mid-end week stress.

It's funny how every once in awhile I get soo stressed and one thing that always comes to mind is: "I'm doing soooooooo many things at the same time and OMG there's no time to blog about it." I'm not sure if that's sensical or not but that just seems to be the way it happens. I guess when there's nothing going on, I don't feel inclined to write because there isn't much to say but now... well! I need a nap.

School is done for the period! Almost! I have a multi-period course so until we get the project to bed (the project which I have yet to obtain- due May 13th or something), there's no rest for the wicked.

After celebrating Finnish independence day on Monday and Mos Nicolaie, I worked Tuesday, Wednesday and today, Thursday. There've been pretty long day but I'm happy to say, I made it for my second gymnastics class yesterday! My friend Santtu was at the gym too and I didn't know he went there so that was pretty cool :)

Tomorrow, I'm leaving for Bucharest... bus time unknown... my flight is at 4:45pm and I arrive after midnight. This is the new flight as the first one I booked was cancelled due to the Finnair strike. I'm not sure how that affects me because I'm not flying with them but I think they have some understanding with the airline.

I'm listening to Bloc Party now in an attempt to relax.. but I just realized I have to write another email so I'm gonna leave this for another time.

Last but not least: Canada in 12 days!

Eastbourne, Brighton and yet more wonderful days with Jevgenija (and Dorota)

Some visual aids...

Upon leaving Tampere... and leaving our first official snowfall behind...


Welcome to the UK! I can't said I was surprised.


Old friend...




Brighton!

Every time I saw those signs I just read "toilet"

Jevgenija's old work place.

You tune into my frequency bu that don't mean a thing to me.

You know it's been a busy month when you have to go back and check what you wrote to remember where you left off... and possibly jog your memory a little as to what has happened since. It didn't really help so let me check my agenda...

Ah yes! I went to the UK for 3 days (and thought I'd already written about that.) Let me go grab the camera and share some pictures with you lovely people:

... (I'm gonna post about this in the next post)

I am so happy I went to see Jevgenija, and just as I'd expected, it felt like we'd never been apart. She's looking into taking a trip to Finland in the near future so I'm still waiting to hear about dates next week! Hopefully we can get a few of the Mannheim people up North (Tampere) and together for a visit.

After coming home from the UK, I felt pretty restless and a little confused with life.. as sometimes happen when you leave for 3 days during the week. Not much rest and a whole lot of tired. I managed to recover to make it in to work on Friday for a WHOLE hour! And then some English teaching. Saturday I attended an awesome housewarming party (the house hadn't been warmed for 7 months- insane! haha) where I was the only non-Finn and/or non-Turkish person there. I had to pick a language and I had to stick to it. I'm happy to report I spoke Finnish the whole evening - despite exhaustion - and even made some new friends!

The next week, things finally picked up at work! I got booked for 16 hours and I was pretty happy to be able to go there for more than 3 hours at a time. Juha also came to Helsinki during the few days I spent there that week. That Saturday, the 20th, I taught some English and both my classes were a lot of fun. I didn't do anything super out of the ordinary but I think I'm getting to know my students better and they me so we were just all at ease.

Monday the 22nd I headed back to Helsinki. Holy crap... I just realized that was this week and it seems like 3 weeks ago. Monday night I hung out with Sanna and Marja, a friend from school and a mutual friend of a bunch of people... hard to explain. We had glögi, chips, cookies, chocolates and listened to Christmas music. Sanna's apartment is crazy cozy so it was a nice way to start looking forward to Christmas.

Tuesday I headed back to Tampere after class and Wednesday I was at work for 10 hours. Thursday I went back to Helsinki to finish up a project with Mette. And Thursday was our Master's Committee Christmas party. No one was in the mood to go party but we went anyway and we all ended up enjoying ourselves. There was a quiz about how well we knew the tutors... I didn't even know all their names but we came in second. Then we made gingerbread cookies of various sizes and inappropriate shapes.

Friday my friend Veera came to town from Jyväskylä and managed to get an internship at the prestigious PricewaterhouseCoopers firm for January and February. I'm looking forward to having her close in Helsinki those two months! That evening I went over to Sara's because the e-book we were using the study had locked itself due to us scrolling instead of flipping through the pages using the buttons (or so I'm told.) She managed to get to the library just before closing and get a hard copy of the text book. We met at her place, yes it was Friday night, to talk about research techniques and prep for the exam.

Saturday was an early 7am wake up that felt really depressing because of the dark, which doesn't usually bother me so much, but the fact that it was Saturday made it worse. Funny enough, when I got on the bus, it didn't really feel like a weekend because apparently there are lots of people taking the bus at 8am on a Saturday morning. The exam started at 9:15am. I was done before 10:15am but I figured I could read it over just in case I had made some monstrous mistake and needed to come back to do the exam in mid-January. No thank you... I took the train back to Tampere at 11 and was invited to the circus that same evening. (The invite happened on the train.)

I am sooooooooooooo happy I went to the circus! Juha's mom had an extra ticket and she invited me and we had such a great time. Popcorn, tea and snacks... but that wasn't the best part... haha. I really can't describe all the acts because there were so many of them and they were all soo good. I definitely wish I could try out the rope stuff...the one hung on the ceiling... and I wish I knew what it was called... it's like gymnastics on a vertical rope and you pose and spin around and tie yourself up in it. It looked freaking awesome! My friend Petra was a performer and it was awesome to see someone I knew there too. She did some juggling with her feet, among other things. I need to ask her about it next time I see her :P

Päivi and I hit up Wok Wok after the show... I hadn't been there in so long! We managed to speak Finnish for a large portion of the evening. And when Heikki showed up, he was surprised to hear me speak Finnish: No niin, sä puhut nyt Suomea...
I guess that happens sometimes.

Later that night, after almost falling asleep at home, Juha finally got home from work and we headed to Antti's birthday party. I was pretty low energy in the car on the way there but I was surprised at how quickly I woke up upon getting there. Antti and Jonna have a really great place and it was the first time I was there, since we missed their housewarming. All in all, in was a good night and though I wasn't the only tired one, I'm glad we all got together!

Today, I did some stretching... and made our famous club sandwiches... and worked on the 4th Quantitative Research Methods in Marketing assignment and am now gonna go choose some paint colours for my room in Toronto because my parents are moving and I need to get on that.

Also, listen to "We don't want your body" by Stars. I thought I was over them but I like this song.

Sadly, something really horrible had happened last Monday. Basically, around 5am one of the pizza/kebab restaurants on the main street of Tampere, Hämeenkatu, exploded. The place set on fire and the building above was evacuated. Tragically, three people didn't make it out alive and were later found in the staircase. First it was suspected that carelessness with gas stoves was the cause. Later it turned out it was intentional and people suspected some racism attempt at scaring foreigners. Ultimately, it was revealed that the restaurant's owner had done this himself. I don't really know what's wrong with people these days... but my heart goes out to those who are grieving their loved ones.

Random comment.

Yesterday, upon trying to say...

"Don't get mad."
Älä muutu vihaiseksi.

I ended up almost saying...

"Don't turn into a vegetable."
Älä muutu vihanneksi.

Thanks Finnish, for making me an endless source of entertainment!

Now back to studying for my Research Seminar pre-exam.

Winter!

It's snowing!!! And though it was wet and dark yesterday, it's now light and snowy today! I'm not really sure how the recent turn of events came about but I guess after we went out walking last night, it began to snow... and it didn't stop so much.

Let me shoot for a quick update...

Last week I spent 2 days in Helsinki and hung out with Anne [from Germany]. She made me dinner at her place, we ate there and then went to go see the Social Network. I really liked the movie and later was trying to figure out why I liked it so much and basically, I think it was just really well made...also, it was informative.

It's been slow at work so I haven't had too many hours... by which I mean, none. I did, however, get called in for 3 hours last week so that was better than no work at all! I taught a little English in the meantime before Sam arrived in Tampere on Thursday!

**Sam is from Canada. We met in first year residence and have kept in touch since. Last year he moved to Stockholm and we've been trying to visit when the occasion arose.

Thursday night was the opening night of Jazz Happening so we went to check that out. Two bands were playing, one of which was a little boring but the second of which was... ... well, I was a little speechless. It was basically jazz but with influences of hip hop... or ... let's call it a jazzy-urban sound! We then hung out at Passion before heading home for the night.

Friday morning was a little slow but we managed to make it out in the early afternoon. We met up with Juha and Maria at the rock museum [I have been waiting months to go- seriously] and then checked it out! Everything was really pretty and all for only 1e! Seriously.. you should go. I knew Sam wouldn't mind going because he'd studied geology for his undergrad. We proceeded to have dinner at WokWok and then head to our place for some card games! We eventually made it to Ruma that night to meet up with the girls and show Same some Tampere night-life.

Saturday morning was a little slow again. [haha] We headed to the duck park, after consuming the amazingness that is the Irina/Juha-club-sandwich! We had some extra break so we thought we'd feed the ducks. There must've been at least 70 ducks there and we got them to follow us a quarter of the way around the lake. It was actually a lot of fun :)
I then took Sam to Tuomiokirkko and showed him some surrounding neighbourhoods that I really like. We ended up walking past Vapriikki - The Tampere Art Museum - and scoping out the exhibits there. We went to the Finnish Hockey exhibit and there was a spot to try to score against a fake goalie. I got it straight between his legs - it was a beautiful shot... though sadly, not reproducible at will.

The day took a random turn of events after we decided to go to another event of the Jazz happening that night. We went for dinner at Shanghai restaurant and later agreed to meet Ninnu and Pauliina at Europa Cafe. Between those two social events, we ran over to Pakkahuone to check if there were any jazz tickets left but the place had sold out... sadly, we headed back to town empty-handed. We met up with the girls and hung out at Europa Cafe for a while, conversing and trying to make plans for the evening, before deciding to chill in Lempäälä at Ninnu's boyfriend's place: Daniel. We picked up some food and drinks, got Juha and drove over. We spent the night eating, drinking and playing cards. In between, Sam dazzled us with an amazing piano piece and we all sat in silence by the fire.
It was a really great way to spend a Saturday. :)

We got home late and Sam left before 6am. We're hoping to get to Stockholm before Christmas and pay him a visit.

In the meantime, I'm flying out to London today to see Jevgenija for the first time since June 2009! So yeah, I'm really excited :D! I spent all of yesterday writing an 8 page assignment which is due today and then I'm free for the week.

Can't wait to have more to tell you!
And I need to capture this snow situation on camera to share...

Autumn.

Fall is here... and as fast as it came, I'm pretty sure it's also going and winter is quickly arriving. Yesterday was my friend Mia's birthday[!] and I walked over to her place and it was snowing... there and back. These were just tiny snowflakes but the point is, it was below 0. Pretty soon, it looks like I'll be busting out my marshmallow knee-length coat and wearing proper hats.

I started thinking about how I felt about impending winter and whether moving here in January had been advantageous or not. I decided there was no better time to more to Finland than January... though it may depend on your personality. Here's the break down:

Summer - hands down, easiest time to move here
Fall - beautiful season, it gets colder but not too cold, unless you're from a tropical country... or Spain... or anywhere outside of Canada.
Winter --> divided in 2:
1. Before December 21st, I'm told, it's very dark and quite depressing as the days get shorter and shorter. If there's snow, the landscape appears more lit and it's not as bad. If there's no snow, or worse, slush, it seems even darker... and since Finns enjoy walking places, it also adds an impediment.

Now - I moved here last January, on the 3d. Meaning that it was just about the darkest time of the year. I had a hard time waking up before 11am and that was when I had to drag myself out of bed. But to put things in perspective, every day was a little longer than the one before! After you get through that, you have summer to look forward to and now, I'm just experiencing fall for the first time. But having seen the "worst" of it last year, I feel well-prepared. It also helps that I have things to do now, like school and work, so though it may seem dark outside when I wake up, I know I'll be seeing people that day and doing productive things!

On the other hand, if you move to Finland in the summer, you'll have a blast, but the shock between +25 and -25 may be harder to handle [depending where you come from]. Obviously everyone is different, and each winter is a little different than the last but perspective and attitude can go a long way in this case, especially since most foreigners, choose to be here.

La multi ani :)

HAPPY 81st BIRTHDAY TO MY DARLING BUBU!

Written Sunday night, posted now.

I’ve been feeling a little funny lately. As you all know, I’d spent the last couple months looking for a job, before finally giving up and just accepting that I’d have to do my Master’s and keep improving my Finnish before a job would fall into my lap. Of course, three weeks into the new school semester and exactly what I’d spent months hoping for and eventually giving up on falls on my lap. Isn’t it ironic? [pop cultural references from 1995.]

I’m on the train now, doing my weekly trip to Helsinki for two days before returning to Tampere for the rest of the week to work and be at home. I didn’t have any books with me on the way to Tampere so today I picked up my copy of Supercoach, by Michael Neill, a book which my mom gave me when I came to Finland. I’m still reading it, but taking months to process the chapters. Today, I blew through 50 pages of it like nobody’s business and of course, that got me thinking.

Today, I was feeling all adventurous so I went to see Eat Pray Love. I didn’t initially intend on seeing this movie but since Juha brought it up last night, I couldn’t resist the temptation any longer. So while he was at work today, I went to the movies for a little treat. And I’m so happy I went because I really enjoyed the movie. I remember connecting with the book but maybe because the movie was more condensed and occurred over a shorter period of time, the messages were much clearer:

 Find yourself,
 Forgive whatever part of yourself is haunting you,
 Be yourself,
 Leave your comfort zone if you need in order to do all that
and finally
 Be happy!

For the first time since, well for the first time ever, I feel this strange sense of freedom. Which is ironic, because the reason I feel this way is because I have a job and I have school and I have a life. Let me try to explain that differently…

Life: I’ve been in Finland for just over 9 months now and I feel that I’ve met some really great people, all of whom have helped me feel at home here.

School: Well that’s pretty self-explanatory.

Job: Ditto.

But in addition to just having a job, I have something I’ve never had before: a sense of finally getting something I’d been pretty much thinking was impossible. Now I know I sound really dramatic here, but after being told your entire childhood that you’re going to graduate and go on to do great things, you kind of start to despair when none of the resumes you sent out are getting any responses. Mind you, my contract is up at the end of January so this feeling might be fleeting but for now, the workplace is a new place for me! Also, exams are coming up and for the first time ever, I’m not too concerned. I’ve been doing some very light, seriously, only when the mood strikes and work has kept me busy during the week so I can’t say I feel guilty about not studying 24/7 either.
I’ve also started thinking about my next adventure… and it looks like it’s going to be Canada: December 21st to January 2nd. I should make a list of all the other places I’d like to travel to… South America, Southeast Asia, Japan, Egypt, Italy, Lapland… the last of which is most realistic right now ;)

So for now, I’m just enjoying the pieces of the puzzle which have fallen into place.

In the short term, I want to take up a dance class. I have my 10-class card for this studio in Helsinki and I’m set on going to check it out tomorrow after school. Now that I’ve put that out in the universe, I’ll have to go. Physical activity, apart from walking everywhere, is seriously lacking in my life right now.

Friday afternoon.

Finally, I can come back to the times where I feel exhausted on a Friday afternoon after a busy week, a job well done (more or less, I'm still learning) and more work ahead! I'm telling you, this isn't me complaining, because I can honestly say that being brain dead has never felt so good!

Let's rewind a little. So last weekend I checked out Raappana at Tavastia in Helsinki. He was AWESOME! Not only did we get to listen to authentic Finnish reggae and not only was it amazing, but I also made some new friends via my Canadian friend from H@nken, Nicole!

If you wanna check out Raappana, click here. And you should very much click there.

Sunday, I spent a lovely morning working on some projects and then an even lovely afternoon hanging with Matti and Anne, debating paint colours for the bedroom, doing an Ikea run and eating! Then back to work at home.

Monday, I mostly just hung out at school at did minimal work. I went to a class. Then Juha texted me saying he had a fever and I weighed my options: spending another day at school doing minimal work or going to Tampere and helping him out a little and getting a day off between Helsinki and work? So evidently, I went home.

Tuesday I did some work from home, ate lunch at Uni and ... honestly, I can't really remember. I think I was fighting off a cold and it worked!

Then came work! Wednesday to Friday I woke up at 7am every day, was at work by 8:15am and left around 4:30-5pm. It has been such an intense 3 days but in a really great way. I sort of feel like a super hero with a secret identity... except a super lame one because I work in IT. Still, I'm really enjoying my job but I can't really reveal any of the details. But I'll try to explain why I'm happy about it in some very general terms that don't give anything away...

Like in most work places, you have lots to do. Let's call each thing you have to do an "assignment." Each assignment has lots of different components, or not, but in the end, someone needs to see your work. Parts of the assignments were clear to me before, others weren't. While there's still a lot to learn, I feel like I've learned sooo much this past week! Honestly, I was pretty nervous to go into work on Wednesday because I hate feeling useless but now I'm looking forward to going in next Wednesday because I'll feel more oriented, and consequently, more competent as well! And the days have been busy, hectic and stressful but time seems to go by pretty quickly so I can say that I'm actually enjoying myself there. It also helps to have really great people in your cubicle, as well as helpful co-workers [and a great cafeteria]!

So, I think that's it for now. I don't want to overdo it but I basically just wanted to convey a sense of enthusiasm and bubbly-ness coming from the fact that I'm finally employed! [and the added excitement of actually earning a real paycheck.]

Take it easy,
xo.

Birthday.

A big thank you to Briana for posting this picture on Facebook. It really made me smile.

Kaileyface, thanks for the sunshine. I miss you <3.

Catch up!

Alright so, let's skip through all the details, but basically: I GOT A JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got an email last Tuesday from a company I had interviewed with in March, and they wanted me to start last week! So I went in on Friday and have since worked this week on Tuesday and Wednesday as well.

In the meantime, Jibbie, Juha's friend from Mannheim, came to visit us! She was visiting her twin in Mannheim and planned some stops along the way. I'm happy to report, Finland was among the stops! We took her to a hockey game [yes, it was my first hockey game ever!!!!] and sightseeing around Helsinki! [Though I sadly had to miss some of the sights due to school and work.]

Now I really want to tell you guys that: I LOVE TAMPERE!

Here is why...

I had lunch with Nina today and Juha came for a bit too. Then he left for Germany during lunch, and Nina and I hung out post-food.

Then I went to the bank and spoke in Finnish! Now only that but the bank teller was so sweet and started asking me how long I've been in Finland for, am I a student, etc. She was soooo nice and spoke to me so clearly and I understood everything she said!!!!
So I walked out of there with a spring in my step, went to get a bus pass, and basically got paid for it... it was in Juha's name but I asked if we could change the name. Apparently we could! [Juha, I owe you a bus pass! And some change.]

On my way home, I ran into a friend from school - Murat. Him and his friend were out buying a present for someone's birthday. We ran around town for a bit before we all headed home.

It was all quite random, but just a nice flow throughout the day! Tonight, I got plans with the girls :)

The Modern Couple.

I spent 8 hours at school today. 3 hours was spent in class. Probably about 2 hours, at least, was spent in the cafeteria and throughout, I thought a lot. Mostly I thought about all my physical displacements between Tampere and Helsinki and somewhere along that though-path, numerous couples popped into my mind and I realized that relationships everywhere are facing very different challenges than those our parents once faced. It seems to me, though I am probably exposed to a more limited or specific base, that couples are changing... and it is because of this that I came up with the concept of "The modern couple."

Just the generations X and Y and Z, the baby boomers and other segments, the modern couple has implications that may be familiar to some, but overall new in terms of blanket meanings. (That sentence didn't make much sense but I'm too tired to fix it. Alas, I have more explications that should clarify.)

Now what I mean by the modern couple is specifically: geographical separation. Although there are still lots of couples that may live and work in the same city, this is not always the case. People are moving around more for work, school, family or just a change of scenery. For example, people may be in the same city for university, 8 months a year, but summertime may mean having to go home to your respective cities. In Canada, you may well both be Canadian but the country is pretty big and you may find yourselves bound to two different oceans/sides of the continent. In Finland, I've met many couples who are from different cities, though they may live together now... or couples in which one person is from abroad. The combinations are endless! This has great implications for an open-minded world and as cultures are mixing, thinking about the future is making me more and more excited. How will this shape the world over the course of this century? Surely this will have to impact how we think about cultures, religion, nations, manners, etc.

Now there are other considerations too, and specifically, this is what I pondered today somewhere between (during) class and lunch. Even if you both live in Toronto, chances are that you'll have to spend some time apart at one point. It seems to almost be a given these days! Maybe I'm thinking that this happens to everyone because every couple I could think of had/has/will have to experience this at some point. Humans are curious and it's becoming possible to satisfy that curiosity and move around a lot. This could mean spending a semester abroad without your boy/girlfriend. Or it could mean taking them with you. Or it could mean you both go aboard at the same time to different places. Or it could mean you go abroad at different times to different places, or the same place!

Adapting is not always easy. And people have asked me: why move to Finland and then have to move away from Tampere? Well my friends, this is a good question. As humans, and especially as a woman in my case, we are constantly adapting to changes all around. This means learning a new language, getting used to colder/hotter temperatures, learning customs and traditions, partaking in celebrations, seeing your family less often, making new family ties, meeting new, different people, eating new food, cooking new food, exploring different music, getting a new hobby... I think I could go on forever but you can refer to the rest of the blog for other examples. The point is, some aspects of adapting are easier than others. This all depends on you and where your comfort zone lies. But most importantly, you have to realize that you need to adapt in the right way. Aka. sitting in your apartment crying for 3 years is not adapting...obviously (and this can happen if you go about it the wrong way... and no this did not happen to me). You need to feel great in all aspects of your life! And by great, I mean fulfilled, so that is why, I went back to school and that is why I'm taking full advantage of the situation to meet lots of great people and get involved at school. I am really excited about what this year, and this degree, will bring!

So really what I'm trying to say is that: I believe that striving for all that fulfillment, including relationships with anyone and everyone, is an important part of living... (even the Sims know that haha.) I say this because I've also been asked: "couldn't you find a boyfriend closer to home?" and ironically, that was never a thought that I asked myself! haha. And I'm happy I didn't because that's just not how my brain works. (Ok, ok, I'm trying to get to my point but I do enjoy babbling so much) The point is that modern couples are pushing boundaries and stretching limits all over the place. And that no matter what the outcome in the end, the lessons learned along the way and the struggles endured with strengthen and shape you and those around you in all sorts of positive ways.

(Yes this was really bias. And by long distances, I also mean a 30 minute drive apart. It's all about how you think about it. And none of this is to say that you can't date your neighbour! I was just thinking very specifically.)

100th post!

This is my 100th post and though I started this blog a few days before moving to Finland, I consider it a milestone to mark my time here. Also, I'm not really sure how I managed to keep on babbling for 8 months about my time here but somehow I always had something to say, even if there were not dry spells.

I decided to blog today because I feel like I've been sitting around and waiting for almost an entire day now. We're doing a group project for one of my courses and my friend and I have paired up with two first year girls. The girls were supposed to do questions a) and c) of the assignment and we were supposed to take care of b). But we need part a) to start b) and we're still waiting for it (the deadline is tomorrow at 10am.) Well if it's any proof of how I'm trying to relax about life and school, this has to be a step in the right direction. Because no matter what, I'm pretty sure we're not gonna fail... so there's no real reason to panic. I sort of did the same thing with an assignment which was due on Tuesday... I don't think I did a great job, but I finished it on time and handed it in. I really have to fight against my instinct to do everything 100%. When it really matters, that's where all my effort will be... and this way, I don't spread myself thin... but I do have to spread myself over something! So I'm thinking of writing, photographing or doing layouts for the school paper. I just haven't decided yet. I also need a sport to stay active... I'm just not sure where gymnasts get their fix in Helsinki... I'm gonna look into that right now.

The Importance of Fine-home Furnishings.

This week I learned the importance of fine-home furnishings for one's mental and physical transition into a new environment.

I got in on Sunday night and my internet was broken... wow... it feels like that was 2 weeks ago. Monday, I got it all sorted it out and by the time I got home in the evening, I was connected to the world wide web!

Tuesday, I dreaded going home and sweeping so much that after class Sara and I chatted and met up with Anna-Riikka [I hope I got that right], and later, her boyfriend Jose at Nolla. Iida was there too. I got a call from Heli, inviting me to dinner and pre-drink at her place, and I met up with Sanna and May beforehand. The medicine girls slowly arrived at Heli's and by 10pm we had a pretty big group... or like 8 people... or maybe 6 but you get the point. I had left the house at 7:45am that day so after 30 minutes in the club, I was pretty tired and went home. I got home around midnight. I took a few minutes to dust my shelves haha.

Wednesday I woke up, in my boring room, on my mattress on the floor... I didn't think a chair or two would really change my impression of the room but after Juha arrive, we cleaned the floor, brought in a big chair, a coffee table, an air mattress and a desk chair. We went for dinner at Tuk Tuk, had ice cream and went to Matti and Anne's to watch I love you Phillip Morris [it's worth seeing.] Matti and Anne were also kind enough to lend me a table of theirs for a couple weeks.

Waking up on Thursday had a completely different feel to it. I have furniture in my room! I even came home after lunch to hang out here for a bit before going to the Welcome Dinner... from which I arrived home around 3:45am. [Also, our flat is complete with the arrival of our roommate! Whose name I still haven't managed to learn. Shh.]

So yeah, furniture is important... and you get a whole lot more out of it than just functionality. Hoorah!

Finnish life 202.

It was while eating at the university [of Tampere] on Friday that I made great strides towards understanding something about Finns and how foreigners perceive them. Ever since I moved here, people, including Finns, have been asking me what I think of Finns. "Some people think we're really rude." I would always draw a blank when I got this question because it confused me. I have many Finnish friends and acquaintances, none of which I consider rude, so why would people keep asking me that?

And then it hit me.

It's a slight difference in culture that sometimes makes people from a different culture slightly uncomfortable... and it happened to me last Friday. I realize now that it's happened before [which is why I was able to draw some "conclusions"] but I never really thought much about it. So here goes...[btw, this is a stupid story that you're likely to consider pointless.]

I was getting food from the vegetarian line-up, which apart from me was empty, but I was having a hard time understanding which was a side-dish and which was a main course. Then another girl came and since I didn't want to be in the way, I moved my tray and said: "you can go ahead, haha" followed by a somewhat awkward laugh, the kind you sometimes end up making when talking to a stranger. She seemed to give me a weird look and went in front without saying anything.

Now I don't know, and feel free to comment and prove me wrong, if Finns see anything wrong with that, but us North Americans do. [At least in the context of our own culture.] In Canada, it's polite to say thank you, or at least something to make you not feel silly, since no one wants to feel weird for too long. I discussed it with Juha and Jonne after and they both laughed at the expectation for further, however brief, dialogue.

So alas, I guess some cultural implications don't translate into other cultures. By now I know it doesn't matter how prepared you are; you'll still find these little things happening to you. Even after the tiny, meaningless thing, I couldn't help but feel a little stupid... and here I am, writing about it and reliving it haha.

First Impressions of Planet Earth.

So this is pretty much life at H@nken in a week-format:

Monday, 6:45am wake up.
Take the train to Helsinki.
Go to class at 10:15am.
Go sign HOAS contract, print syllabus, eat lunch, run around doing bureaucratic things, get library books.
Go to class at 2:30pm.
Make groups for the "upcoming" project due October 7th. [And arrange to meet the next day.]
Take the tram to Matti and Anne's, read, hang out, make/eat dinner, read, go to bed.

Tuesday, 7am wake up.
Read. Eat. Return library book [1/2].
Go to group meeting at 10am. Organize research plan for project. Discuss options.
Eat lunch.
Take the 13:06 train back to Tampere.
Arrive in Tampere at 14:52. Meet Jackie and Juha at the station.
Go to Hesburger. Eat french fries. Walk home. Nap. Walk to WokWok. Eat.
Go to Makuuni. Pick up car. Watch "The Ghost Writer." Enjoy. Go to bed.

Wednesday, 6:15am wake up.
Eat. Pack. Leave.
Load a few things in the car. Drive to Helsinki. Drop off car.
Take the tram to the train station. Drop off Jackie's stuff.
Run to 10:15am mandatory attendance guest lecture. Enjoy profusely/take notes.
Meet Jackie. Go to train station. Inquire about bus times. See Jackie off.
Go to bank. Go pick up keys from HOAS. Call Sara. Meet Sara. Drink coffee. Have a long meeting discussing project [later find out it's only worth 5%] and life in general. Take tram to car. Have Sara lead the way to my apartment. Move 2 things into the apartment. Meet new roommate: Nina. Drive to TAIKK. Pick up Pirjo. Have Pirjo drop us off. Walk with Sara to tram. Go to Valintatalo and stock up on some necessities for the night. Come home. Cook dinner. Read. Eat. Read. Write [no computer] report for project. Read. Take a shower. Go to bed in empty room void of any light... not even ceiling lamp.

Thursday, 7am wake up.
Eat, 'pack' aka put a shirt in my bag. Take the bus to school.
Go to the computer lab and print articles to read for the weekend. Type up project from the night before. Meet Sara to discuss everything not related to project. Be interviewed for school's external relations marketing campaign. Receive free t-shirt and lunch. Eat. Run to catch 13:06 train back to Tampere. Sleep on train after hopeless attempts trying to read. Arrive in Tampere at 14:52. Walk home. Talk to Juha. Read. Go to Sale. Read. Make dinner. Read. Skype with Mom. Watch TV. Pass out.

Friday, 8am wake up... and after some hesitation 8:30am wake up.
Re-read syllabus. Eat. Write assignment due today at 2pm. Eat chocolate. Listen to 'Rocket in the Sky' by Benny Benassi. Dance a little. Watch interview from yesterday. Sweat. Re-read assignment. Facebook. Receive duck delivery. Blog... and here we are.

I'm hoping that conveyed the serious hectic nature of this week... but don't worry, there's more next week, due next week and to do this weekend. So I'll be sure to keep you all posted.

Orientation.

Okay kids, I know I've been a little out of touch these past 3 days but for good reason: the good people at H@nken decided to extend our orientation over 2 days, in case we missed something the first 27 times it was explained to us. Now I realize that sounds whiny but I'll tell you why it ended up being a really good thing: because we all focused on each other!

Over the past 3 days, I've had time to meet at least a dozen new people, exchange names with a few more and look forward to taking classes with completely different people as well. I've already signed up for my 2 first classes in the first period [1 semester = period 1 + period 2].

The most interesting orientation talks we had consisted of a prof standing in the middle of the auditorium, pretending he was Brussels, and asking us to place ourselves around him geographically. That made for a really interesting depiction of where everyone was from. Also, it made it 100% easy to locate my new Canadian buddy from Saskatchewan, Nicole! [This was the introduction session for Masters and exchange students. Thus the insanely diversified world map we created.] My second favourite talk was done by the Green Office guy and he spoke to us about the importance of keeping H@nken green. He had a good sense of humour and kept it short - so it was memorable and we'll be keeping it green on H@nken's behalf as a result. Go travel coffee mugs! "Maailmaan paras isä!" ...jne.

Today was a pretty boring day in terms of information. We found out we need to bring the original copies of our diplomas in for "registration." This made me angry as we needed to send in lawyer attested copies ($50) and then I left mine in Canada so shipping costs ($60?) plus risk of it being lost... (iunno how much it costs to replace but you know mAcGill will milk it for all its worth...) soooo... perhaps I can keep on begging them to let me bring it after Christmas? I think that's a good plan... for now...we'll see...

ALSO, we heard from the student union about the Welcome Dinner, Sept 10th, the cottage weekend, Sept 18-19, the St-Petersburg trip ... and more to come! I'm really looking forward to it all.

Jackie is coming back on Tuesday afternoon and I'll be in Tampere by the evening on Tuesday. I need to skip class on Wednesday morning (already) because there's no point rushing back for a 1.5h lecture... but at some point I need to sign my HO@S agreement and get the keys to my new crib!

On a final note, I love this song because it calmed me down as I was getting in to Helsinki on Wednesday afternoon. Santogold's I'm a Lady. Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpL8odTN2_c


Photo credits: here.

The Beginning of Yet Another Chapter.

How appropriate that this is my 95th post... since my German blog had 94 posts and my Finnish blog had 94 before this one, I have equated Mannheim with Tampere in the blogverse, only to start at 1 in Helsinki.

Today was my first day entering the Hanken building... as you can imagine (or read from my previous post), I've been super nervous, stressed and scared these past few days. I ended up not sleeping last night because of stress, excitement and wayyy too much reading of Stieg Larsson's The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

But the point is, and I knew that it would be, that there was no reason for all that anxiety. The people I've met so far are all in the same boat and all seem really friendly. Hanken has welcomed us with open arms and we discussed the program in a nice small meeting between 20 people. We were served champagne and finger-foods! The program director seems really great - not only is she amazingly nice but she's well organized and takes a personal interest in helping everyone out.

Tomorrow the official orientation starts at 9am! I'll have more to write after that ;)

Mini-stress?

I'm not sure how capable I am of having a melt-down due to stress because I really can't say I've been stressed about much these past few months. That being said, I know myself to be capable of increased amounts of feeling overwhelmed [illiterate much? I know. :/ ]...

So here I am, trying to plan my schedule for this coming period [1 semester = 2 periods], without a place to live in Helsinki [Thanks student housing association! If I applied 4 months early, then who the hell got all the spots?] and without fully understanding how the system works. I don't know if I need to do this right now... but we're in grad school. I am not under the impression that I'm gonna go to orientation and someone will hold my hand and help me figure this out. Nor do I want to send people 100 emails asking questions which may be answered next week. But having learned from experience and some 'oh-so-helpful' advisors at McGill, if they're gonna do anything in the first week, they'll make you cry. [That man was evil. And I'm not the only person he made cry.] Okay so as this story gets progressively more confusing and you can tell I haven't been in school for awhile, I'm unsure about the point of this post haha.

Point being:
- I'm taking 2 courses in the first period. They are Mon/Tues at 8:30am and 2:30pm so I should make some friends asap so I don't hang out alone for the 4 and a half hour break.
- I want to join some clubs and actually get involved in school stuff this time around... not to mention a job. A job would be SOLID.
- I want to take a Finnish conversation course here in Tampere but it's on Wednesday evenings and my 2nd period will slightly resemble Satan's face...with and without that course... and even worse without an apartment.
- I'm trying to find other Finnish courses I could take but every website has its own hoops to jump through.
- I'm also looking for an active and a creative course to fill my time with... so any suggestions for places or even activities to give me a starting point would be greatly appreciated.

Kbye.

P.S. I heart The National.

Scandinavia.

Now as many of you may know, Finland is not part of Scandinavia. I think the distinction is that it's part of the Scandinavian agreement for free mobility and other parks but it's not geographically part of the Scandinavian peninsula. I just looked at a map and it's a little sketchy.. because of all the land in between. But you get the idea. I had been living in Finland for 7 months and I had never been to Scandinavia. So Jackie and I set out to explore Norway and Sweden.

We first took a train from Tampere to Turku. Took the boat from Turku to Stockholm. Flew to Bergen from Stockholm and took a train from Bergen to Oslo, before flying back to our respective places thereafter.

I managed to see old friends in each city. We met Christian in Stockholm and he accompanied us to Bergen, where we stayed with Elisabeth for a night and got to enjoy her company the next day as well. Then Jackie and I sailed solo to Oslo where we got a most sophisticated tour from Andreas and stayed with some family friends who I hadn't met before, but who made us feel right at home: Jeni, Daniel and Andrei.

So without going into too many details, I can say that we saw some beautiful places in the company of wonderful people!

And as the most random side-note, during our last morning in Oslo, we assisted at a Starfish funeral. While walking along the harbor and stopping to laugh at a kiss-and-sail sign, I noticed a starfish had died on land. I found something to gently lift him with and threw him in the water. [Now I'm really hoping that he wasn't alive and that I killed him. But it seemed pretty obvious that he was dead.] So I took a few pictures of the occasion and I have no idea why I felt compelled to post them, let alone mention this on my blog.

Weekday Veg.

I recently became a big fan of www.ted.com. I'd heard of it a long time ago and had watched videos on occasion but it wasn't before I spent an entire evening on the site that I can honestly proclaim it as falling in love.

Among the first few videos I saw was by Graham Hill titled "Why I am a weekday vegetarian." And so... I was inspired. I haven't been eating that much meat lately. I've been freaking out about the environment for almost a year now [yes, that sounds like a short time but let's say it's since become an active worry that troubles me and I think about frequently since then.]

The name is pretty self-explanatory... you are a vegetarian during the week, and on weekends, you get to choose. This way, you "don't let perfect become the enemy of the good," and you still reduce your meat intake. Additionally, you don't really sacrifice anything dramatically, such as YOUR LAST PIECE OF STEAK...but overall, you're leading a lifestyle that's balanced. In the long term, you're also trying out the possibility of being a full-time vegetarian and for some, vegans. I actually have a friend who's vegetarian who was thinking about trying something similar with veganism. But hey, no pressure, it's a personal choice and I just wanted to share this video with you all. I only just started yesterday.

Graham Hill: Why I'm a weekday vegetarian | Video on TED.com

Radical Ninja.

On Saturday, July 31st Radical Ninja played at O'Hara - their first show since September 2009. The band consists of Jonne, Juha, Hege and Tuomo. The occasion drew out lots of old friends and familiar faces, none of which were disappointed! Now I wish I had pictures to show you but I do not...

The guys have been working on some new zombie-related stuff but they also played old favourites such as Ballyhoo and Cumshot. Comedy, dancing and devoted [and unknown] fans were all part of the package, making Saturday a memorable night for great music in good company! [I will try to find some pictures.]

Meanwhile, check out Radical Ninja on Myspace: www.myspace.com/radicalninjaband !

My 90th post...

This blog is catching up to the old German blog and with this post, I will have posted a whooping 90 posts! [The German blog got up to 94 posts in total, none of which are open to the public anymore... sorry - I messed up and put my name in there somewhere.]

So point being, hi August! How have you arrived upon us so quickly?
This summer in Finland has been stupendous! I tutor twice a week for fun and spare change. Otherwise, the remaining 166 hours of my week are spent sleeping, eating ice cream, riding my bike, doing 1000 piece puzzles [or should I say A 1000 piece puzzle... though there are talks of a second being attempted after the first is completed], listening to music, going to the beach and swimming in the lake everyday and basically, living at WokWok part-time [where my friends work and spend most of their waking hours.]...oh and the fact that I spent over 11 hours watching extended editions of all the Lord of the Rings movies should also be mentioned as an activity.

Next Thursday my friend Jackie is flying in from Canada and I'm heading to Helsinki to get her from the airport. Then we have a few free days in and around Tampere to do as we please before we set off on our Scandinavian Adventure: Stockholm, Bergen and Oslo.

Speaking of Helsinki, I haven't heard anything about housing there yet and I'm wondering when/if I should try and find a private apartment for rent [since Helsinki has such reasonable prices of 500e/month for your home sweet 12m2 flats!] But we'll see... I'm supposed to hear back this month. And actually, the first orientation meeting is in the evening on August 25th... so less than 24 days left! Gah.!

Shanghai Photos! (Minus the Expo)

First impressions...

Shanghai One.

Shanghai's tallest building - for now - warmly referred to as the Bottle Opener.

Contrasts.

More Pudong.

Skyline.


Getting a haircut... these people thought it was funny that we look pictures of such a habitual thing.

An example of nonsensical advertisements.

The subway at Century Avenue.


Afternoon nap...

'Small-scale' model of Shanghai at the Shanghai Urban Planning Museum.


Eating lunch near the People's Square.

Ah... the subway map!


The reason he gets strange looks.


The reason I don't.

Pudong as seen from the Bund.

The Shanghai Pearl Tower at night.

Body Image --> Points for Finland.

So I was watching this show/documentary the other day on TV about a woman who is determined to shed some light on sexual education in Britain and basically all things related to it [I forget what it was called]. Her main problem was that teenagers growing up with the internet have unrealistic views of how bodies should look. Her solution? Bring in 5 women, call an assembly, and line the (obviously indifferent) women up naked to show the kids what real women look like. She tried to tackle stereotypes of the perfect chest... so on and so forth.

Of course, this has to somehow be Finland-related (or not, but in this case it is). I started thinking about how nudity in Finland is about as normal as eating breakfast. You head to the sauna naked with your friends, family, etc [usually girls with girls and guys with guys as you get older] so it's not like you've never seen naked people before. This probably doesn't solve the body image insecurity that many teenagers go through, and even adults obsess over but it must be an improvement!

Just a random tid-bit.

Otherwise, Juha's been on vacation for the past 2 weeks so we've just been lazing around town. Traveled up to Kajaani and Kuopio last weekend. Next week Radical Ninjas [the band Juha plays in] are playing a gig right here in Tampere so we're staying close and the guys are rehearsing lots. Also, I have unofficially but officially decided that I will be attending university in Helsinki in the fall, meaning: Hanken!

Kesäyliopisto - Summer University.

So I'm gonna rewind a bit because it seems I've fallen a little behind. Let us go back, all the way back to June 28th-July 9th. The Summer University course I'd signed up for: Upper Level Intermediate 1 was running during that time. I attended every day that I could, though we were still in China until the 29th.
I have to say - that course was great! It ran from 9am until 1pm, we had a 15 minute coffee break about an hour a half in and that way, we all got to meet and make friends. The morning usually consisted of correcting homework and covering new grammar material... while the post-coffee-break portion of the course was more participative and had us talking in groups, reading and translating texts or playing various games. I learned a great deal, and the best part was, I remembered a lot of it at the end of the 2 weeks. I also got to meet some really cool people and we now have a facebook group so that we can get together and practice.

Now part two of this story is not as hopeful. I signed up for yet another week at the summer university: Upper Intermediate Level 2. Sadly, this class was completely different. We have a new teacher and her "methods" are unknown to the world... talk for 4 hours in Finnish, present Finnish grammar as a grammatical reference guide would, without rules, just blobs of information, no exercises until 2 days later, charts of word types inflected in different cases that we simply copy from the projector. And guess what? I really want my money back... But everyone is on vacation and refunds are not generally commonplace. So I wait.. and see what August and the return of some of the finance/invoice people has in store for me.

With the huge disappointment that was course 2, I have to say, there's a bright side! A lot of my friends are toughing it out through the course [which I can honestly say is extremely admirable.] While I have chosen to enjoy my summer... I think I can benefit more that way and be happier overall! So yesterday Juha and I went Mini golfing with Claudia and Emrah...the boys won :(. And I met Mia for a French lesson thereafter! I've also been tutoring people in English - I have 2 students. I earn a very modest income but HEY - I earn SOMETHING! So that feels pretty good.

This weekend is a getaway weekend! I haven't left Tampere since we got back from China...which I realize is not so long ago, but we're headed up North to Kajaani. Juha's family lives there and has a mökki there [summer cottage.] It will also be the northernmost point I have ever visited!! So I'm bracing myself for an all-Finnish weekend and hope I can keep up to the best of my ability.

And now, I'd like to start posting some China pictures!

Linguistic Perplexity.

I've been dragging my feet leaving the house today so I thought this might be a productive way to spend a few extra minutes in the shade...though I would love to work on my tan!

Over the past week I've been using far too many corners of my brain when it comes to language. During the days, I attend my Finnish class from 9am to 1pm. We speak Finnish and English there. On occasion, we exchange words in German as well, since many of us speak German. In my spare time, I've started tutoring two students privately in English. I spent my down-town thinking of lesson topics and then trying to figure out how to teach these in interesting ways. From time to time, I meet with Mia and teach her French for fun, quite simply because, we have a lot of fun studying French together! We've had two lessons so far and started at the very beginning. Everyone, including myself with Finnish, is progressing nicely.

I have to say, I really am enjoying summer in Finland! It's so far my favourite season and somehow all the space we have seems bigger. This might be because of our balcony which adds an extra few square meters to our living space and also doubles as a breakfast area!

This week I also attended the Kiitos-Ilta [thank you evening] for the EBEN conference I volunteered at in June. We took a church boat from Pyynikki and rowed to Laukontori and back again. Our gracious hosts rented a cottage there and we had a private deck for swimming and sauna for sauna-ing. Later on in the evening, a delicious dinner was served and we enjoyed ourselves immensely! Thank you to everyone!!

Copy+paste+edit.

So between my trip to Canada and starting summer school at the university [I'm taking Upper Intermediate Finnish Level 1 and 2], I took a little detour through Shanghai for 9 days. I was accompanied by my wonderful boyfriend and we flew out June 20th and returned June 29th. I recently wrote Averie the most detailed e-mail about the trip and I thought I'd use that as the basis for this post...


"Let me try and convey to you what's been going on lately... Alright SO: after I got back from Canada, which I already told you about, I had 2 days to prep for that interview, which I also told you about, at Jyvaskyla University. For some reason it was pretty stressful to wake up around 5am and drive to a city that I'd been to before but didn't know my way around at all. Luckily, the university is right off the main road between Tampere and Jyvaskyla so not quite a highway [there's only one in Finland and it leads to Helsinki] but a main road connecting cities nonetheless. I'm sure they have similar things in Africa. After that day, I thought I would get to relax until China but then I had completely forgotten about a conference that I'd volunteered for. The theme was Business Ethics and it was a 3 day event run by the Management Studies Department at Tampere University. I met about a dozen people while working there... all Finns except for me and Oana, who happened to be Romanian! She told me about Romanian groups and gatherings around Tampere and how I can get informed. I seriously have been meaning to answer her email for about 2 weeks now... actually, longer, and I just haven't managed to yet. I'm a little shy about going to these Romanian gatherings because I'm Romanian but here via Canada and I'm sure most people here have families and are older than I am. But nonetheless, it was awesome to speak Romanian to someone in Finland for the first time ever! [Minus when my parents came to visit.]

"So that conference went until Wednesday and then Wednesday afternoon, still wearing my TFS pants and blazer [Thank you Kelly!] I went to meet my soon-to-be pupil! While I was in Canada, a guy answered my ad about learning English and we got together at Coffee House to discuss his goals and motivation and get to know each other a little. I told him I was going to China and we're meeting again next week. After that meeting, I had a bit more extra time and I don't remember what I did with it... but it flew by. Saturday my friend Nina came back to Tampere [she's been working out of town for the summer as a journalist] and I went to Juha's mom's for lunch. Then that night and the next morning, we packed and got ready, took the bus to the airport straight from Tampere to Helsinki and got on the plane to China! So for some reason, between transoceanic trips, I felt like I had very little breathing room... even though I guess Finland-China is transcontinental... but in this case, I would say just transrussian since that's pretty much the only country we were above haha [okay, and Mongolia for like... 30 minutes.]

"Once we got to Shanghai on Monday, around 7am in the morning, we didn't stop moving until Saturday! We fought off sleep by going for a walk in the morning, meeting Juha's dad [Kari] for lunch, going haggling in the afternoon, going back to the apartment, going to dinner with Kari, and following the World Cup at night [while being treated to an amazing foot massage at Bamboo!]. They put these cups filled with fire on your heel and the fire would take away the oxygen and the cup would suction onto your foot. They then moved it around and that would get rid of the dead skin and stuff. Juha was sleeping near the end because he was so tired and it was really funny. We managed to stay up late that day too. But I basically passed out instantly once we hit the sack around midnight or 11pm... I forget.

"My first impression of Shanghai was really positive! I felt like I had a feel for the city right away. It's MASSIVE but it doesn't feel crowded. It's busy but you don't feel rushed. And best of all, in some weird way, it reminded me of Toronto. There was a ton of inequality which was evident by the skyscrapers EVERYFUCKINGWHERE [why yes, I am Canadian] and then the poor families living in certain neighbourhoods right between all the wealth... but I can't say that shocked me [yes, I am Romanian]. It was exactly what I expected to see. And also, Juha and I ended up at this mall that ONLY had luxury stores. I've never seen anything like that before... Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Channel, Dior... all in one mall! He let me go poke my head in the stores and oogle the 12,000e purses [yes, I realize that reading this from Africa must be slightly jerking but it was part of the experience.] I usually never get to see stores like that because I'm never dressed right. Yet in China it was fine because a) we're white [and thus, most likely tourists] and b) the culture itself is more polite than in North America so no one draws conclusions the moment you walk in the store, or if they did, they didn't show it and were really friendly regardless... it seems random but that was something that stood out on that first day. Also, I learned the important lesson that no public washroom in Shanghai is stocked with toilet paper. With 18M people, who can blame them? Thus, BYOTP!

"Tuesday we went to the Expo. Kari gave us directions for the taxi drivers [who never speak any English] and we spent 8 hours there! There were a lot of tourists from all over China there so Juha got a lot of really shocked looks once those people laid eyes on him. There are approximately 200,000 expats in Shanghai so 'white people' don't get funny looks that often BUT at the Expo, it was obvious that many people didn't come from Shanghai. We checked out the Finnish, Romanian and Canadian pavilions - of course! We also saw the pavillion of the future about technology and sustainability [which was a hot topic among many countries] and special cases that select cities presented of how they were reducing pollution, among many things, and making a difference [Vancouver, Hungzhou, Odense and a special Portuguese house - our favourite]. At the Hungzhou exhibit some Honzhou natives asked to take a picture with us and they were really friendly and spoke pretty good English too! The African countries all had booths in the African Pavilion [minus a few select countries like South Africa]. We went there and visited all the booths of all the countries that we had any ties to. I learned that Obama's dad is Kenyan and that in his hometown [village] Obama is regarded as such an idol for young people to show that they can make a difference. [Hope I remembered/interpreted that right]. Anyway, that made me really happy as I imagined the kids I'd heard about in the slums thinking about Obama. Another thing that really surprised me was that all the people who were presenting their countries in the African pavilion also spoke Mandarin too. It was absolutely amazing to see!

"Wednesday we took it a little easier... I was exhausted from the non-stop sightseeing so while Juha went to the gym in the morning, I went to a massage at this place called Bamboo. Anyway, so I went back there for a mani-pedi because they are so cheap there, but they didn't have anyone there until 2pm for that so I settled for a Chinese massage instead. After I got home, we headed out towards People's Square and ended up at Pizza Hut for lunch haha... I know ... and later Starbucks [in my defense, this was because of the internet!... which they didn't have...] We walked around the area for a while before settling on visiting the Museum of Urban Development. It was actually a really cool museum and they had a small-scale version of the entire city of Shanghai.

"Thursday we took it easy again and went haggling. Then went to the big shopping street: Nanjing Lu and explored The Bund [Western-neighbourhood that looks just like Europe] before heading home.

"Friday we hung out and I can't really remember what we did. We went for dinner with Kari as we did every night and this time his friends Otto and Hilda were there. Otto works for the same company as Kari and him and his wife are from Austria. They also live in Kari's building. They were really nice and we went to this restaurant called The Blue Frog and watched some World Cup from there. Then Juha and I went to a quiet hangout spot to see the rest of the game and enjoy a coffee and a beer. This place was called The Fat Olive and our friend Aline sent us there. We were meeting up with her that night and she had a birthday dinner so to kill some time, she sent us there. After that we took a cab to Bar Rouge, one of Shanghai's hottest clubs. The cover was 100 yuan each [about 12e] and the drinks were more expensive that any place we'd seen up to that point. The club was on the top floor of one of the Bund buildings [Euro-neighbourhood] and the patio looked out on to the river and Pudong [Shanghai's biggest neighbourhood and location of the best known skyscrapers there.] Aline said you can watch the sunrise on Shanghai from there and it's really beautiful... though we didn't get to see this first hand. The money was definitely well-spent, as this place was really, really nice. We spent about 20 minutes chatting with Aline and then she introduced us to her friends. Sadly it was super loud in the club so we didn't get to talk to Aline for long but the music was good!

"I woke up the next day around 11 and Juha's dad was up, playing with the new camera he had bought for Anna, Juha's sister. I chatted with him for maybe 30 minutes before realizing Juha was bed-bound and I went to back to bed for a few hours [I too felt horrible]. He got up a few times to puke... I have never felt so horrible in my life [puking hoorah!]. It was impossible to think of anything else other than the pain and horriblenessness that was our physical condition. We decided this had to be food poisoning [especially since Juha had experienced it before.] We were still weak the next day but we ventured out to Old Shanghai with Kari... and Monday Juha was still recovering while I'd moved on to a cold and whole-body muscle aches. Still, we took a taxi and went back to Old Shanghai. I'd fallen in love with a picture I'd seen briefly on Sunday and I had to go back and get it. We ate at this really nice and authentic place where zero English was spoken, but I really enjoyed the extra-fried food. [Actually. Fried beef and fried rice, yum!] That night we went to a restaurant near-by that looked sketchy but Kari assured us the food was delicious. The menu was also hilarious and consisted of dishes such as: "Fairchild does well and blows up" or "To skin the pig and succeed..." ...neither of which were actual dishes there but I can't remember the exact titles because they just made NO sense. The food ended up being delicious and I gladly would have gone there again, had we had the time.

"Tuesday morning we woke up around 6am and by 6:40am we were on our way to the airport. We took a bus from Helsinki to the train station and took a train to Tampere. We talked the 10 minutes from the train station to our place where we collapsed on the couch and watched TWO football games haha. Or at least, I slept; Juha watched.

"Wednesday morning I had to wake up early, which was fine because of jetlag, and head to my course! Later that day, we went to Juha's mom's [Päivi's] for dinner. Juha's godmother/cousin Anne is in town with her two daughters Anni and Oona. So we're constantly referring to Anni, Anne and Anna this week, haha! I stayed until around 11pm. Then Thursday I had my course again... but this time I took a Tylenol in the morning and almost died all day I was SO tired... I decided to act the way I wanted to feel, which was energetic, and I went out anyway. I met my friend Mia and we decided I was going to teach her French once a week. We started yesterday, from the VERY beginning and had a lot of fun doing it. I then went to Päivi's again around 9pm and stayed until after 11pm.

"Friday was Lauren's birthday and I was invited to her mökki [summer cottage] on an island. Here, I don't need to paint a picture because I can just refer the Canadian readers to Muskoka and Georgian Bay, take your pick, we have similar landscapes in Finland! And by similar, I mean identical. It was beautiful! I brought Romanian crepes, which I realized are almost identical to Finnish crepes. Consequently, no one eyed them questioningly. Lauren's parents and sister arrived a few days prior and are staying in Europe for 7 weeks. How wonderful! And what nice people! I had a great time and I know Lauren did too. <3.!

Off to China!

Dear blog,

I know it's been awhile but I have to keep this short. In about an hour and a half, the bus for Helsinki leaves and we need to be on it. Our flight is at 17:10 and we arrive in Shanghai at 9:10am... or something?

I'll be sure to post lots of pictures since my camera will be permanently attached to my hip during the duration of my stay.

Happy end of June and Juhannus to all!
x.

:)

What a wonderful day!

I woke up around 8:30 [or got up then] to get ready for the EBEN conference, which I'm volunteering at this week. The theme of the conference is Business Ethics and we have people flying in to Tampere from over 20 countries [I didn't count but there were lots!] After breakfast, I rode my bike to the venue to see what help we could provide.

Today was the preparation day. We were shown how the projectors, microphones and lights work and are located in the various presentation rooms within Tampere-talo, a beautiful place if I may add.



We were treated to lunch for our help and then after noon the guests began to arrive. I was only scheduled to help out until 2pm so after that I headed home. I picked up some papers and headed over to the Maistraatti to register as an inhabitant of Tampere. It took about 30 seconds and the woman said: you are now tamperelainen! And it's barely 3pm now and I have to whole day to relax before tomorrow :)

Click here for photo credit.