Nothing special happened since the last time I wrote!
Just some Uni work, some partying, some drinking... nothing else!
~M~
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
The Nordic Capital!
I am back from Sweden. We came yesterday after 4 days, which we spent partly on the ferry between Finland and Sweden and about 30 hours in Stockholm, back to Helsinki. It was great great fun even tho we had not so much time to see Stockholm.
We started already on Thursday afternoon at 3 o'clock. We met at the train station of Helsinki and were then heading with the group of 84 people towards the harbor to catch the ferry. These ferries are taking about 14 hours for the passage. So we had enough time to party and have fun. On the way to Sweden the sea was really quiet and nothing special happened. We were dancing in the club, singing karaoke and had cabin parties. The next morning after some few hours sleep we arrived in Stockholm.
We had to walk from the harbor to the nearest Metro station, where we had to wait for a long time. The tutors didn't get the 24-hour ticket for the public transport before and the lady at the counter had to print 84 tickets one-by-one. It was so cold. However, I made the best out of it and bought from a man, selling bread on the street, some kanelbullar, a Swedish pastry. After we received the tickets we took the metro to the hotel. It was few stops away and we were soon there. However, as we arrived in Stockholm early in the morning we couldn't enter our rooms and so we left the luggage in the lobby and went to the city center.
On the metro to the old city some elderly woman approached us and asked if we needed help, as we were talking in English about where to go and where to get off. She was so friendly and really wanted to help. She gave us recommendations what to see and where to go. Even more astonishing was, that she got off the metro with us and showed us around for five minutes or so. This seriously would never happen here in Finland. Incredible how a small gesture of one person can make you whole day!
We went then through the shopping street of Stockholm towards the old city, Gamla stan. We were really lucky, as suddenly the sun came out and it got a little bit warmer. We walked around in Gamla stan and were enjoying the old buldings with the small shops and boutiques, which create a certain and somehow magical atmosphere. I've been to Stockholmn some six years ago and already loved the city back then. Now I fell even more in love with the place. It is so beautiful, even in winter.
After walking around for sometime we got hungry, as we didn't have had a real breakfast this morning and so we went to eat something. Afterwards we took the tram to the Vasa-museum, which is some ten minutes away from the city center on another island. The Vasa is the world's only surviving 17th-century ship. She sank on her maiden-voyage after just 20 minutes in the middle of the harbor of Stockholm. 333 years later she was brought back to the surface and is now, after nearly 30 years of restoration, available to the public. It was really impressive to see the size of a ship from these days. A really unique and somehow powerful experience.
In the evening we went out to a club with the whole group. The beer was cheap and from good quality. The music was pretty nice as well, so we stayed until the club closed, which was just until 3 o'clock in the night. Then we experienced another advantage to most of the cities in Europe. The metro is running all-night-long. We went back to the hotel and got some sleep, as we knew that the next day would be long again and the next night therefore even shorter.
The second and last day in Stockholm we spent on a boat tour. It was raining and so we decided, that this outdoor-indoor activity was the best choice. However, as we were a little early at the terminal of the sightseeing boats, we took a walk around in the neighborhood. And man, what can I say. This was even more beautiful. It was a little away from the center and here were the people actually living. It was so nice, again, all the small shops and offices. I fell even more in love. After the boat tour we went back to the hotel as we were meeting up at 14.30 to go back to the ferry.
On the ferry we had again an awesome time. We were drinking, dancing, singing. And this time different from the first passage the sea was rough, the wind was strong and the boat was shaking. It was so funny to see how all the people on the dancefloor were going from one side to the other. I guess for some shy people it was a good opportunity to get closer to each other ;-) Anyways, we then found a new activity. We realized that the highest deck was really slippery from the rain and that you could slide on it. As the wind was so strong we used our own body as a "sail" and "surfed" over the deck. It was so much fun and you could easily cover 15-20 meters sliding on your feet. Really great outdoor activity on a boat. My recommendation, just don't do it when you are drunk. You will have a lot of bruises all over you body afterwards...
After just three hours sleep we then arrived back in Helsinki and got up too late. When we came up to check where we were, the ship was just docking. By this time one of our cabin mates was still in the shower. So we went down, packed our stuff quickly and left the boat. Everybody was still drunk and so tired. However, it was an awesome trip... honestly!
~M~
We started already on Thursday afternoon at 3 o'clock. We met at the train station of Helsinki and were then heading with the group of 84 people towards the harbor to catch the ferry. These ferries are taking about 14 hours for the passage. So we had enough time to party and have fun. On the way to Sweden the sea was really quiet and nothing special happened. We were dancing in the club, singing karaoke and had cabin parties. The next morning after some few hours sleep we arrived in Stockholm.
We had to walk from the harbor to the nearest Metro station, where we had to wait for a long time. The tutors didn't get the 24-hour ticket for the public transport before and the lady at the counter had to print 84 tickets one-by-one. It was so cold. However, I made the best out of it and bought from a man, selling bread on the street, some kanelbullar, a Swedish pastry. After we received the tickets we took the metro to the hotel. It was few stops away and we were soon there. However, as we arrived in Stockholm early in the morning we couldn't enter our rooms and so we left the luggage in the lobby and went to the city center.
On the metro to the old city some elderly woman approached us and asked if we needed help, as we were talking in English about where to go and where to get off. She was so friendly and really wanted to help. She gave us recommendations what to see and where to go. Even more astonishing was, that she got off the metro with us and showed us around for five minutes or so. This seriously would never happen here in Finland. Incredible how a small gesture of one person can make you whole day!
We went then through the shopping street of Stockholm towards the old city, Gamla stan. We were really lucky, as suddenly the sun came out and it got a little bit warmer. We walked around in Gamla stan and were enjoying the old buldings with the small shops and boutiques, which create a certain and somehow magical atmosphere. I've been to Stockholmn some six years ago and already loved the city back then. Now I fell even more in love with the place. It is so beautiful, even in winter.
After walking around for sometime we got hungry, as we didn't have had a real breakfast this morning and so we went to eat something. Afterwards we took the tram to the Vasa-museum, which is some ten minutes away from the city center on another island. The Vasa is the world's only surviving 17th-century ship. She sank on her maiden-voyage after just 20 minutes in the middle of the harbor of Stockholm. 333 years later she was brought back to the surface and is now, after nearly 30 years of restoration, available to the public. It was really impressive to see the size of a ship from these days. A really unique and somehow powerful experience.
In the evening we went out to a club with the whole group. The beer was cheap and from good quality. The music was pretty nice as well, so we stayed until the club closed, which was just until 3 o'clock in the night. Then we experienced another advantage to most of the cities in Europe. The metro is running all-night-long. We went back to the hotel and got some sleep, as we knew that the next day would be long again and the next night therefore even shorter.The second and last day in Stockholm we spent on a boat tour. It was raining and so we decided, that this outdoor-indoor activity was the best choice. However, as we were a little early at the terminal of the sightseeing boats, we took a walk around in the neighborhood. And man, what can I say. This was even more beautiful. It was a little away from the center and here were the people actually living. It was so nice, again, all the small shops and offices. I fell even more in love. After the boat tour we went back to the hotel as we were meeting up at 14.30 to go back to the ferry.
On the ferry we had again an awesome time. We were drinking, dancing, singing. And this time different from the first passage the sea was rough, the wind was strong and the boat was shaking. It was so funny to see how all the people on the dancefloor were going from one side to the other. I guess for some shy people it was a good opportunity to get closer to each other ;-) Anyways, we then found a new activity. We realized that the highest deck was really slippery from the rain and that you could slide on it. As the wind was so strong we used our own body as a "sail" and "surfed" over the deck. It was so much fun and you could easily cover 15-20 meters sliding on your feet. Really great outdoor activity on a boat. My recommendation, just don't do it when you are drunk. You will have a lot of bruises all over you body afterwards...
After just three hours sleep we then arrived back in Helsinki and got up too late. When we came up to check where we were, the ship was just docking. By this time one of our cabin mates was still in the shower. So we went down, packed our stuff quickly and left the boat. Everybody was still drunk and so tired. However, it was an awesome trip... honestly!~M~
Thursday, November 5, 2009
First real snow!
Yesterday in the evening it started snowing and didn't stop until now. It is the first real snow here in Helsinki for this year. We had some snow before, but this was slushy and crappy! We just went out yesterday for a nightly walk through the snow.
My Spanish flatmates were really astonished and thought that it was snowing a lot. They told me that with this 1cm of snow in Spain the total chaos would breakout.
Anyways, it feels really like winter now and my feet are freezing... but I love it!
~M~
My Spanish flatmates were really astonished and thought that it was snowing a lot. They told me that with this 1cm of snow in Spain the total chaos would breakout.
Anyways, it feels really like winter now and my feet are freezing... but I love it!
~M~Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Always check your passport!
Wow, again, so much time passed since my last post. As every week it is incredible, how time goes by. Now it is already November and everything started off all over again. I am back in Helsinki, after a long Weekend in Ekenäs.
On Friday directly after Uni I went with the train from Helsinki to Ekenäs. A's sister in law owns a hotel there and asked if we could work there for this one evening. They had a group of over 160 people there celebrating some occasion and as the hotel is not very small and the staff not used to so many guest they needed backup. We had to be there round five to get a briefing and to prepare everything, the party began round seven. I was a bit nervous, not because of the work, this was a piece of cake for me, but because of the language barrier. I still do not really speak Finnish or Swedish, so it was really difficult for me. As the going got tougher, decided to stay in the back and clean all the used dishes and glasses. This was anyways necessary, as the guests were drinking so much, that we had to use every glass at least twice this evening. We worked until half one and then went home and fell asleep right away.
The next day we slept long, had a relaxed breakfast and went out for a walk. We passed A's brother's house and before we could say anything we had Sandy, their dog, with us walking through the town and woods. It was so nice to walk through the autum air and smell the fallen leaves. Awesome this Finland during this time. In the afternoon we went to the same brother to have a really small get-together with some chosen family members to celebrate his birthday, which had been two days before. We had loads of cake and sweet buns and of course the obligatory coffee and cognac. In the evening we went to J's place to meet some friends A, didn't see for ages. We were there round six o'clock and started to eat right away, which meant, that the party was dying already round eleven and so we went home. We just watched a movie in the TV and called it a night quite early again.
Sunday was again chilled and relaxed, with some autum air and good food. We went to A's other brother who had, obviously as they are twins, had his birthday also some days ago. We again celebrated with cake, coffee and cognac. Typical finnish birthday. It was different however, as the house was full of small children who were all looking quite sceptical to me, because of the funny noises which came out of my mouth, making no sense at all to them. A tried to translate and explain, but still the missing communication between us meant more insecure sights in my direction. Anyways, I was happy that I was welcomed so warm and especially, that I met some people A was always talking about. It's really interesting to suddenly see these people face to face and realize, why she likes them so much.
The beginning of the week right now is always starting off really quite for me, as I am off on Mondays. I went with A to Turku and spent the day with her there, we had students lunch together, she was working for uni, I was stumbling the internet and in the evening we got food from an Indian Restaurant. We ordered two portions and took them home, already, when we received the bag with the food we were speechless, how much it was. But when we came home and upacked, it was over. Sooo much food for just two persons. We were eating as much as we could, but in the end half the food was still there. Incredible good food, incredible value for money. This was definitly not the last time that we got food from this place. The next time however, we already decided, we will take one portion for two people. If we are still hungry, we just eat some ice cream or something ;-) After the delicious dinner I drove back to Ekenäs over deserted country roads in the middle of the night. Really an experience.
Today was a long day. A's parents asked me if I could drive them to the airport and then take the car with me. We had to start at 4.30 in Ekenäs to drive to Helsinki Airport. After dropping them off I drove to Kannelmäki where I arrived round 6.00. I directly went to bed, as the night before was pretty short. At 6.30 my phone rang and A's parents called me. The passport of A's father, N., was expired and before he could get a new one the gate was already closed and they had to change the booking of their flight. I went to pick them up and the drove me home again. They wanted to go back to Ekenäs to get N a new passport. I shortly went back to bed, decided then however to get up and have breakfast with my flatmates. In the afternoon I went to uni and left the class a bit earlier, as A's parents, N & H, were picking me up directly from school, as they wanted me to drive them finally to the airport. Everything went (hopefully) smoothly then and I could finally relax. I went to the sauna, which was feeling so good after a day like that. Anyways, it was not over, I just came back from... guess where... yes, the airport! We had to pick up my flatmate's sister. She is visiting him for a couple of days here in Helsinki.
It's really nice to get to know new people every day. That's why I am here and that's what I am doing everyday. I will stop writing now and join them in the kitchen.
So far...
~M~
On Friday directly after Uni I went with the train from Helsinki to Ekenäs. A's sister in law owns a hotel there and asked if we could work there for this one evening. They had a group of over 160 people there celebrating some occasion and as the hotel is not very small and the staff not used to so many guest they needed backup. We had to be there round five to get a briefing and to prepare everything, the party began round seven. I was a bit nervous, not because of the work, this was a piece of cake for me, but because of the language barrier. I still do not really speak Finnish or Swedish, so it was really difficult for me. As the going got tougher, decided to stay in the back and clean all the used dishes and glasses. This was anyways necessary, as the guests were drinking so much, that we had to use every glass at least twice this evening. We worked until half one and then went home and fell asleep right away.
The next day we slept long, had a relaxed breakfast and went out for a walk. We passed A's brother's house and before we could say anything we had Sandy, their dog, with us walking through the town and woods. It was so nice to walk through the autum air and smell the fallen leaves. Awesome this Finland during this time. In the afternoon we went to the same brother to have a really small get-together with some chosen family members to celebrate his birthday, which had been two days before. We had loads of cake and sweet buns and of course the obligatory coffee and cognac. In the evening we went to J's place to meet some friends A, didn't see for ages. We were there round six o'clock and started to eat right away, which meant, that the party was dying already round eleven and so we went home. We just watched a movie in the TV and called it a night quite early again.
Sunday was again chilled and relaxed, with some autum air and good food. We went to A's other brother who had, obviously as they are twins, had his birthday also some days ago. We again celebrated with cake, coffee and cognac. Typical finnish birthday. It was different however, as the house was full of small children who were all looking quite sceptical to me, because of the funny noises which came out of my mouth, making no sense at all to them. A tried to translate and explain, but still the missing communication between us meant more insecure sights in my direction. Anyways, I was happy that I was welcomed so warm and especially, that I met some people A was always talking about. It's really interesting to suddenly see these people face to face and realize, why she likes them so much.
The beginning of the week right now is always starting off really quite for me, as I am off on Mondays. I went with A to Turku and spent the day with her there, we had students lunch together, she was working for uni, I was stumbling the internet and in the evening we got food from an Indian Restaurant. We ordered two portions and took them home, already, when we received the bag with the food we were speechless, how much it was. But when we came home and upacked, it was over. Sooo much food for just two persons. We were eating as much as we could, but in the end half the food was still there. Incredible good food, incredible value for money. This was definitly not the last time that we got food from this place. The next time however, we already decided, we will take one portion for two people. If we are still hungry, we just eat some ice cream or something ;-) After the delicious dinner I drove back to Ekenäs over deserted country roads in the middle of the night. Really an experience.
Today was a long day. A's parents asked me if I could drive them to the airport and then take the car with me. We had to start at 4.30 in Ekenäs to drive to Helsinki Airport. After dropping them off I drove to Kannelmäki where I arrived round 6.00. I directly went to bed, as the night before was pretty short. At 6.30 my phone rang and A's parents called me. The passport of A's father, N., was expired and before he could get a new one the gate was already closed and they had to change the booking of their flight. I went to pick them up and the drove me home again. They wanted to go back to Ekenäs to get N a new passport. I shortly went back to bed, decided then however to get up and have breakfast with my flatmates. In the afternoon I went to uni and left the class a bit earlier, as A's parents, N & H, were picking me up directly from school, as they wanted me to drive them finally to the airport. Everything went (hopefully) smoothly then and I could finally relax. I went to the sauna, which was feeling so good after a day like that. Anyways, it was not over, I just came back from... guess where... yes, the airport! We had to pick up my flatmate's sister. She is visiting him for a couple of days here in Helsinki.
It's really nice to get to know new people every day. That's why I am here and that's what I am doing everyday. I will stop writing now and join them in the kitchen.
So far...
~M~
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