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.

Virus.

Good day chaps!

It seems I have fallen rather ill due to the recent cold weather and the equally poor health of my poikakaveri. But don't tell my grandparents, they'll only get worries. I'm fiiiine. Just using up lots of tissues and doing lots of sitting on couch and attempts at GMAT studying. On the bright side, I'd rather get sick now instead of AT GMAT TIME... oh God... that would suck.

So I found out today that it is legal in Finland to ask for sex instead of rent. Yet prostitution is illegal... but I guess it depends who's asking who for what... It's unclear to me whether sex can be OFFERED instead of rent...
Anyway, I have no idea what the details are. But here's an article in Finnish to clear up all your questions: Finnlink
and the attempt at an English translation: here.

In other news, I am going out for lunch today. That's right. I may be inflicting my germs on the innocent. But it's okay. I don't plan on getting too close. And I've pretty much mastered the elbow-cough. I actually had two med students compliment me on it a few months ago. So there that is: keeping the germ-free germ-free!

Yesterday I watched the Thomas Crown Affair, The Bourne Supremacy and Vicky Christina Barcelona. Today... I haven't decided.
Someone make me soup?

My nose is still defrosting.

It is fucking COLD!



-22 today WITH WIND [any wind- even 4mph is cruel in this weather] and 68% humidity!

For those of you who don't know, Finland is usually dry so the cold is bearable so long as you keep your head, hands, feet and midsection warm. But when you add humidity, it chills you right down to the bone.

No wonder Juha is borderline flu-ish! At least that means lots of warm tea, soup and meals so I don't get sick and he can get better.

Also, Google hates me and has decided that everything should be in Finnish.
Thank you Google.

But on a lighter note, people don't usually say "OMG IT'S -22" in Finland. Instead, they drop the minus because it's obviously not above freezing. I've actually never heard anyone say the weather [and they talk about the weather a fair bit] with the word minus.

Day 2.

So today is the second day of a completely surreal life, and I have to say, I really like it here. Before I rant about today, let me tell you a few really random things.

When in Austria, there were a million Romanian people there. There were Romanians in our hotel, on the ski slopes, in restaurants, in the bathrooms, in the shops... you get the idea. And this happens every year! But really, it's quite remarkable. I heard almost as many Romanians as I heard German speakers. This is something quite difficult to get used to because, like many Finns, Romanians are used to saying whatever they like without being understood. Our last night of the vacation, at a restaurant in Munich, my aunt [or dad's step-cousin... I'll just call her my aunt!], pointed out a woman sitting near us wearing a red track suit. And I commented: yeah, straight out of Romania!

... as it turns out, they were straight out of Romania...and it was embarrassing. But that just goes to show that you can't think no one understands you. And just maybe, maybe next time she won't go out in a track suit... but I guess that's up to her. And not really the way you should find out what people think about what you're wearing. So if you're reading this woman with the red track suit, I'm very sorry if I offended you.

In other news, we had Mr. Järvinen over last night for some cocoa. I also saw Anne and Jonne for a few minutes. Juha and I hauled 2 Ikea CD/DVD racks, 1 full-size book shelf, 2 garbage bags full of clothes, a few really long pieces of wood and some toilet paper... oh and an iron and an ironing board... with the seats does in the VW Golf and in very illegal ways. I had no room at all to move in the passenger seat and had to remain fairly hunched over since my seat was so far forward. Otherwise, the trip to get all these things was a success and we saved a lot of money! We also bought a pasta pot [5L!], some BLUE mixing bowls and other household tidbits for here and there.

Now here's the good part. For that full-side bookshelf, we couldn't find the metal rods that keep it standing so we cut up some pieces of wood and made it sturdy in a very makeshift way. We haven't put books on it yet but it looks pretty good! ... especially since we managed to make it stand up straight [it didn't start that way...] Go team!

I was so exhausted last night I finally got my wish: to fall asleep on the sofa while watching a movie. I realized a few weeks ago that I haven't had the time to fall asleep on the sofa since... well...I don't remember the last time I fell asleep while watching a movie. [My mom can tell you how therapeutic it feels!] So yes, I crashed to the movie Snatch around 11:30pm. Epäonnistuminen, I know. [=fail.]

We accidentally overslept until 10am this morning so we didn't do anymore unpacking. I then walked 2.7km, according to google maps, to have lunch at Päivi's [Juha's mom] with Päivi, Anna and Juha at 1pm. Since my face had just finished defrosting, I got a ride in the Gastronauttimobile to the train station to meet my new friend Nina at 2pm, for the first time, I may well add. Overall, I really feel like the freezing weather is just an extra effort one has to make to get everything done. And I mean that in a good way. I get home and I feel really proud that I met up with people and got things done despite how cold it was outside. So weather is not impacting my social contact in any way... but I hear this weekend it's supposed to be another 10 degrees colder... from -15 to -25 so I MAY decide to stay home on Saturday and avoid frost bite.
Note to self: I need a scarf.

And now, back to researching unis, deadlines, requirements and all that jazz.

Word of the day: hissi - elevator.