So apparently people actually read this because I've had more than one person ask why I haven't updated in a few days... or actually accuse me of NOT updating. I'm sorry to have done this. I guess once I started getting busy, blogging was ON my mind but not so much part of my schedule.
SO - where to begin?
Since I left off with the language school POSSIBILITY, I went there the next day and they told me to come back Monday after 2:30pm. So yes, that was a crap morning because I had to walk all the way back home and nap off the disappointment for 2 hours. But in the afternoon, I finally checked out this awesome doughnut (is that really how you spell it?) place with my friend Nina so the day did look up at the end!
Friday... what happened on Friday??... I can't remember...Ah yes! I wrote motivation letters and probably went grocery shopping...or something along those lines.
Saturday Juha and I hung out in our apartment for several consecutive hours during one morning - so yes, that was pretty exciting (this hasn't really ever happened before)! We tidied up and I even started my online drawing course. I drew some lines and shapes and a duck and a cow so far! It's actually really motivating to be able to draw and recognize the animal so I'm pretty pumped about that. Maybe I'll upload some pictures of that once I can upload pictures...
Matti and Anne then came and saw our place for the FIRST TIME EVER (Juha's brother and his girlfriend)! We are also now the proud owners of a Nepalese sleeping bag so we can better accommodate Veera, Essi, Xevi and Jose once they come in February! Rushed off to Juha's mom for "lunch" (a few hours late), and hung around there playing Yatzee and Penguin Party before going to see our friend Heikki (re: FB status: He tricks like a champ.) perform in a circus show.
The circus itself was like no other circus I've ever been too because it was on a stage BUT the acts themselves were very impressive (almost all of them). The act we went to see was by Team Unito, which I finally got to meet that day! They tricked for about 6 minutes (a hard feat)!!
Btw, tricking is a mix of gymnastics, martial arts, break dancing?, acrobatics ... it's basically awesomeness all around. Sadly I was a little to short to see everything going on at stage all at once but everyone I knew there had the same problem so I was not alone.
Other acts included pole-dancing 'acrobatics,' a 25 minute drag-queen-one-man-show, an intensely impressive juggling act, and a hilarious MC from Miama via Sweden etc...
Sunday I saw Anne for a couple of hours and she gave me so many great ideas for things to do from now on in Tampere that I don't think I'll spend anymore time looking for inspiration on what to do! One of these things included going to volunteer somewhere before if you can get turned down for a job for not speaking Finnish, you can't get turned down for volunteering! AHA!
But also, I do feel my Finnish is improving... over the past 2 days at least.
Monday I hung out with Heikki and we went to the bank (fail.), to the post office, to some store with a Swedish name (Clos...) and finally, grocery shopping at a BIG grocery store (first time in Finland)!
[Oh and back to the language school who told me I can join a non-beginning course which I went to today for the first time ever! - But more about that later.]
Then at night I went to my ENSIMMAINEN [first but with : on the 'a'] Finnish class. It moved at a pretty good pace I think because I'd already studied the material we did in class but it was nice to review it in the structure of a class so I wasn't bored at all. Apart from the two Estonian girls in my class, I definitely think I'm near the top of the class. There's one other guy who has studied Finnish before though so maybe behind him but ahead of the others who were just learning:
mä, sä, hän, me, te, he +olla (to be) for the first time.
Then I got home and made a big meal of SEVEN stuffed peppers and a tomato salad - very Romanian. The meat in the peppers was a little bland but it was my first try so I was pretty happy with that!
TODAY I went to my very first daily language course in the morning. This was very very different from the course I had last night. There were about 25-28 people in this class (vs. 15-16). Most of them had been in Finland 2-4 years and I think they (maybe) understood more than me but their language skills were really limited. Otherwise, the class progressed really slowly because the teacher tries to get everyone involved but I think that's important. I want to keep going to this class (and the other) because I think daily and sometimes 2-times/day will help me improve a lot faster than just one of the courses. I also think that since both teachers speak Finnish all the time, I'll get more used to it and eventually start understanding more too.
THEN after class, I had a nightmare of a time at the bank but here it is in point form:
- take a number and wait... (times are cumulative)
- 20 minutes and I'm no closer to being helped.
- 22 minutes and the numbers finally start being called.
- 25 minutes and I go in.
- 27 minutes and I'm out with my new VISA ELECTRON BANK CARD!
"Go use it" the woman at the bank says.
- 28 minutes I put my card in the machine...
... 28.3 minutes, my card has been eaten.
... 29 minutes, ask a lady if she speaks English (she doesn't)
... 30 minutes, we go up to the info desk together and she explains in Finnish that the machine ate my card.
- 30.5 minutes, the woman hands me ANOTHER number to wait in the queue.
- 30.75 minutes I complain that I've already waited.
- 31 minutes, there's only one woman in front of you, she says.
- 41 minutes, still waiting.
- 42 minutes, get called in.
- 43 minutes, the bank woman goes to get the card.
- 53 minutes, she comes back and says "I couldn't find it so I have to call someone who can always find it... if you can wait awhile..."
- 60 minutes.... "the card has disappeared. We have to order you a new one."
- 61 minutes: "can I take out some money now?" She says: "You have to go to the teller to do that." "No offense but I've been waiting an hour..." "Okay, okay, we'll do it here." (And thank God for that because in Germany I FOR SURE would've been sent back to the teller because that's PROTOCOL.)
Went home and ate lunch. FASCINATING !
Studied for the GMAT for over an hour.
Juha picked me up and took me to TYY (Tampere University of Technology) where Heikki was teaching an acrobatics class from 4-6pm. Class was really fun but I am now tired. BUT I do realize I one can be IN and OUT of shape but one can also become IN or OUT of shape... so I'm hoping to make the leap back to "into." [That means I want to improve haha.] And also look for ways to maybe get into the Tampere gymnastics scene... but one step at a time. [Oh! And this class was good practice for my Finnish because I learn little words, one at a time, and you hear them repeated over the course of the two hours.]
SOOOO in summary, I now finally have a weekly schedule:
Monday - Friday: 9am - 11:30am (Morning Finnish Class)
Monday AND Thursday 6:30pm - 8pm (Evening Finnish Class)
Tuesday: 4pm-6pm (Acrobatics class - if they keep me)!
That's about it for now. I'll do my best to update again ASAP but I also need to catch up on my GMAT studying. =O
