Nothing Day!

After being very traditional yesterday with eating all kinds of Karneval food we were doing nothing at all today. Well, ok, A. and I went out for a walk before lunch, which was very nice but cold. The sun was shining, but there was a cold wind. However, on the way we saw a ladybird, which means spring is on its way!

After the delicious lunch A. and I had coffee on the roof in the sun. We were not sitting so long there though, the wind was too cold. Anyways, somehow you have to at least try to get a spring feeling. Later in the afternoon A. spoke to her parents and to a friend over Skype and during that time I was bringing order to my papers. I found things from 2008 that I hadn't put into the folders yet; they were simply lying in my room, horrible! Anyways, now I have some more order and that makes me happy!

~M~

Nice!

There is nothing more to say!

Well, maybe a little bit! It's a wonderful day, the weather is awesome, I can wear shorts and sunglasses and the best thing about it, it is not making me look ridiculous. The Finns are still shy and nobody is really wearing summer clothes, even tho it is 25°C.

However, everybody is outside, everybody is smiling. The people are taking walks, riding their bikes, taking care of their gardens, playing football, running and doing all kinds of stuff. The sad and quite time is over and I really don't recognize this country anymore. It totally changed within a couple of days. This is the Finland I like!

Anyways, I just had half the day to enjoy this wonderful weather, since I was working this morning and doing stuff for uni. I was therefore sitting the first half of the day inside, but now I just went out for a walk, went to a park nearby and was sitting there on a bench in the sun, reading my book.

I actually wanted to write this post outside in the sun as well, but the small park here between the houses is super dirty, since someone left his waste from a grill party there and the birds ripped the plastic bags open and scattered the stuff all over the place. Not so nice to sit there now.

Anyways, I planned also my trip to Russia further, but now I am stuck a bit. I wanted to organize the trip myself and not with a tour operator. The problem is, that the information given on the internet is not clear. Some websites of the government say, that a normal accommodation booking and the train/airline tickets are enough to issue a visa, some say that they are not and that I need some paper from the tour operator. It's a bit confusing and now I am waiting for an answer from the Russian Embassy here in Helsinki. The problem is, that today is a public holiday and they are not working, so I will pass by the consular section tomorrow to get information.

Otherwise everything is fine, I am going to go on doing stuff for uni now and then I will see, what the rest of the evening brings!

~M~

First Day of Real Spring!

This day was awesome! It was 22°C (finally) and I was a lot outside. It started with a long walk this morning with A. here in Kannelmäki. We walked pretty far and were enjoying the warm morning sun. For lunch we went to Pasila and met S., who went to the city center before to take pictures.

After lunch I had a group meeting and A. and S. went to a park overlooking the harbor of Helsinki. As far as I know were they sitting there in a café and were enjoying the good weather. My meeting took about two hours and afterwards I called A. to ask where they were. We agreed to meet up on Esplanadi, the one and only Boulevard of Helsinki. In the middle of the street is a nice and wide park, where you can sit on the benches and just observe people walking past.

This is also what I did, while waiting for A. and S., but instead of looking at people I was reading a book. It was so nice and warm, that I didn't had to wear a jacket nor a pullover. However, after a while there came a cold wind and since I anyways feel a tini-tiny bit sick, I put my hoodie on - just in case. On the way back it got even better, since we got free Nescafé® in front of the train station.

Now I came back from Pasila. A. took the train back to Ekenäs and I am alone again. It is now really weird. She took all her stuff from here, emptied out here space in the closet and the cupboard. My parents left Finland today and took also a lot of stuff with them, as I mentioned before and now I really feel, that the time here in Helsinki is soon over.

However, I am going with A. to Stockholm for two days, soon and right now I am planning already the next trip. This time I wanna go to St. Petersburg and Moscow. I actually planned to go by train, but when I - more as a joke - checked the flights I realized, that they are way cheaper. There is one airline, which is flying within Russia for super low prices. The trip from Moscow to St. Petersburg costs just 14€. I will inform myself a bit about this airline and see if I really wanna fly with them.

Anyways, I will go on planning and then to bed. I have to get up early tomorrow. Even tho it is a public holiday I will do a lot for uni!

~M~

Vappu - Vol. II

So, now I am back from uni and thought I could quickly finish my blog entry and put more pictures into my first post today!

So, the next day, first of May, my parents arrived with the ferry in Naantali, a small town about 20km from Turku. They went, while we all were sleeping to the hotel, got their room right away and went to sleep again. We, in A's flat, slept longer and got up round 10, had breakfast and fixed ourselves for the picnic. I called my parents and we agreed that we would pick them up on the way to the park.

In the park we found a really nice spot, with a lot of sun and nearly now wind. Since it was sunny, but still fresh/cold this was pretty important. We were walking around the park later on and realized how lucky we were with our spot.

Anyways, soon after we arrived A's friends and a lot of other people were joining us on the lawn, we opened the sparkling wine bottles and got the food out. We were enjoying the sun, eating, drinking, talking and laughing. After like two hours my parents left and then it was just us young people ;-) We intended to stay until like 3 o'clock, but since the weather and the company was so nice we totally forgot the time.


When it got cloudy and cold around 6 o'clock we decided to pack our stuff and go home. However, on the way we got thirsty and needed a break, so we went to one of the boats to have one more drink before really going home. We sat there for nearly one hour, but also this got cold after a while, so we went on.

The group split up. A., S., E. and I went to A's flat, since the guys had to go home to Helsinki the same night. The rest of the group went to another flat. When we arrived at the flat the guys quickly packed their stuff and ate something. Then A. and I brought them to the train station and went back to the flat to have something to eat.

We actually had planned to go out that evening, but since we were so tired and since we were sitting after the dinner so long talking about everything and anything we decided to stay in, especially because the next day we had to be fresh, since it was my mums birthday!

It was really a nice time in Turku, Vappu was great. Thanks to all the people, who were partying with us and letting us into their flats without knowing us!

~M~

Half a step further

This morning, after I got up, I found a mail in my inbox. Yesterday I was applying among others to Jakarta. The HR Director answered and gave me a "maybe" as a response on my application. I applied on an internship in the marketing & sales department. However, due to the confidentiality of these departments it's not possible for me to get in there. However, she asked me if I would be interested in other internship placements. Now I am waiting for a response to my second mail. It's not exactly what I wanted, but it is a good feeling, that they consider taking me. Especially, because my contact from Tenerife told me, that it is much harder to get an internship in Asia, due to the regulations and restrictions.

Anyways, I will now fix myself and go to Pasila. We have another group meeting and have to get some work done. I will take my Halare with me, since we wanted to go this afternoon to Suomenlinna to a students event. It's called the coverall baptism. There are going to be games and competitions and in the end all contestants will jump into the sea to baptize their Halare. Regarding the temperatures I wont do that, since my coverall is anyways already baptized with a lot of beer and other alcoholic beverages from the last student events!

I guess it will be fun anyways and I hope the weather will stay that nice. I will go out there soon and enjoy the sun. I have ten minutes to go, so read you later!

~M~

Spring is here!

Spring is now definitely here (in Turku at least). A and I were just sitting outside on a bench enjoying the sun. Before that we had a walk along the river down to the castle and the harbor. The grass is green, the trees are sprouting and its nice and warm in the sun. The wind coming from the sea is still pretty fresh, but if you find a calm corner you start sweating right away!

I am now sitting here on the couch, was folding my washed clothes and will maybe start packing soon. I am leaving Turku again this evening, since I have to be in uni tomorrow morning 8 o'clock. The last workshop of the Business Planning course will then give us the possibility to finalize our business plan. It is weird to know that this is, among others, one of the last reports I am going to hand in here in Finland and if you see it like this also one of the last of my studies. After these reports there will be just my internship report, one or two reports in my last semester and then my Diploma thesis. Crazy, three years of studies are nearly over! Where did the time go?!

~M~

Stormy Spring

It is incredible windy here in Helsinki. It feels more like October than April. Even tho the day started off nice it got worse. It was raining and just disgusting weather.

Therefore I stayed in basically the whole day. I just went over to the other building to bring my laundry, to get it out and put it into the dryer and get it out of the dryer. Around 1 o'clock I went to Pasila with S., E. and M. We were asked to give a small presentation of our experiences as exchange students to the new tutors. It was really nice, since we could give them advices and recommendations what they could do different in the future. The organizers actually said, that our short speeches were the best part of the whole day and were giving the most information!

It was also nice to meet new people. Since we just know our tutors it was good to see other Finnish people. We also invited them directly to our BBQ afternoon tomorrow here in Kannelmäki.

A. is now packing all her stuff again. After two weeks here in Hesa she is going back to Turku for one week. I am pretty happy that she has been here, since I like her ;-) and she was helping with my Swedish presentation. I wrote my text and have the presentation half way ready. I really love this language and my text had just few (like 3 or 4) mistakes in it. I am so proud!

~M~

Day off

This was refreshing. I just woke up from my afternoon siesta. After the nice lunch that A. and I cooked I really needed that. We ate pasta and meatball-tomato-sauce! Super nice!

I didn't had uni today, which was nice. I slept long and had lazy breakfast and a slow start into the day. It was anyways raining outside and so there was no need to hurry to get out. A. went give back some kind of scarf, which she got for her 2-day-work on the IT trade fair and met up at the same time with her colleague. After that she was talking all the time about her and I think she really like to talk to a girl again.

I went to the gym and was doing my training. It was a good detox after the Sea Battle and I really needed to get some exercise again. As I wrote before, I have to get in shape again for the summer and round in not the desired one.

After my workout I wanted to meet with A. to have lunch in the uni restaurant in Pasila, but of course they close at 2.30 p.m. on Fridays. Therefore we went home and made the lunch ourselves. Now I am going to drink coffee and eat a piece of cake, the leftovers of S's birthday yesterday.

Btw.
Happy Birthday, Felix! I hope this year brings a lot of new and a lot of good things to you and hopefully some changes in everyday life and routines! I will call later and maybe we can talk!

~M~

Busy day

I am about to leave to Malmi. I have my Swedish class soon and I mustn't forget to go there. It is a quite busy day today. I've been in uni in the morning and then came home quickly, went to the shop and started to make a cake. It's S's birthday today and I somehow felt like baking.

After the cake was in the oven I had finally some lunch at somewhat 4 p.m. Now I just got the cake out and have to leave to class. After class I will come home quickly and then go to E's flat, since it's also her birthday today and she has a party. I actually feel a little bad, since it starts at around 7 o'clock, but I have class until 8.30 tonight.

Anyways, I hope she wont be mad, since I am coming anyways! So, now I have to run, to catch the bus!

~M~

Feeling weird!

This was somehow a weird day! It passed and I have the feeling I didn't do anything, even tho I was occupied all the time. I think this feeling comes from doing stuff, but not achieving anything! I was searching on the internet for a solution of one problem all morning and early afternoon. But I didnt find anything and could not make up a solution.

I mean, I was out this morning with A. for a walk in the beautiful sunshine and we were talking about a lot of things, but maybe this was subliminally occupying my mind all day, I dont know. Anyways, it was good to be out, but I didnt feel like walking, so I stayed in, when A. asked me again to go out. I did the laundry instead, since I need my clothes the next three days for the Sea Battle.

After I had "brunch" at 2 p.m. I started to sew again on my Halare. Now after a couple of hours my pointer is hurting again, but I have just two batches left. It was really a pain in the ass to sew the letters of my name on. Its just so difficult and tiring. Anyways, they are on, they look good, I am happy about it.

I just folded all the clean clothes and put them into the closet and finally feel a bit better. It now feels like I have done something. It was anyways a weird day, since I was more or less all the time "alone" and additionally we got the message, that one of A's friends was heavily injured in an accident yesterday evening. So really weird stuff happening today!

However, A is going to cook now and I hope the food will make me happy... well, I am pretty sure about it! I will pack my stuff for tomorrow and sew the last batches on. I am so looking forward to it and I guess it will be fun.

~M~

Good Friday!

The week is over. It's Friday late afternoon and I feel good. I didn't have uni today, so I slept long, had a nice breakfast with A. and was then just chillin around. Round 1 p.m. I went to Pasila to the gym to train. Last time I went I didnt had power at all and felt sick after the training, as I wrote in a previous post. This time however was better. The gym was nearly empty, just three people and me and I had a good day, so I was able to go through all sets of the training.

After being in the gym I had so much energy and was so happy. I went home and prepared lunch for A. and me. We first wanted to eat in Pasila, but somehow we reconsidered and decided to stay home, since it was already 3 p.m.

Round 4.30 p.m. I walked A. to the train, since she had to go to Pasila, where she got her hair cut. One exchange student from Taiwan offers there to cut hair for only 10€, which is, regarding the ridiculous prices for a hair cut here in Finland, extremely cheap. The normal price here is between 20€ and 30€, which is for a student, who lives on an anyways tight budget, a lot of money.

While she was away I was sewing again on my Halare. Since the last time I was doing it I got a lot of new stuff, which I want to put on before I leave to the Sea Battle. I dont know if I will need it there, since it's basically an ERASMUS event and I am one of the few exchange students who has a Halare. Anyways, I will finish it, then I dont have to do it before Vappu, the 30th of April/1st of May.
Now I just took a quick break to write this post, since my right pointer is anyways hurting, but will go on sewing later. It has been a quite active and happy day. Maybe it's because the sun came through the clouds every now and then. I really need some sun again!

~M~

BBQ-time

Today we had a barbecue here in Kannelmäki. Even tho there is still a lot of snow we met with about 30 people in the park between the houses and grilled some stuff. It was basically just a nice get-together with the other ERASMUS students and I really enjoyed talking to people.

Now I just got back from the city. I went with A. to grab a burger and buy some bread. Then we walked back from the central station to Pasila and took the train from there. It was a nice walk at a nice spring-like evening. The temperatures were still mild (for Helsinki) and the birds were singing.

This was a really good Easter Monday. I am actually now supposed to read some stuff for the group meeting tomorrow, but actually I dont feel like it. Will do it tomorrow shortly before the meeting! Like always, shortly before deadline!

~M~

About to leave...

Quickly:
This week is so to say over... at least uni-wise. I am heading to Ekenäs for Easter and will take the train soon. I am really looking forward to the awesome food A's mum is going to prepare and to the relaxed weekend in the village of Österby (part of Ekenäs).

I am feeling better right now, the sun is shining, it's something round 10°C, the birds are singing and I am having coffee! The first week of the new and my last period here in Finland went well, the courses seem interesting, some of the teachers seem nice, some seem less nice ;) and some are just boring! Anyways, it will be my last 7 weeks in uni and this scares me!

However, I have to close my backpack now and leave for the station! I dont know if I find the time to write my blog every day, but at best you check, just in case!

~M~

Uni is back!

Wow, it's still light and it's already 7 pm. Yes I know, there was the time change, but still it feels like spring just came up like a jack-in-the-box. It was nice weather and 6°C warm, for the weekend the forecast says about 10°C.

Anyways, I am back in uni now. I just had my second day of the last period here, which means, that I am going to be done here in 55 days, as one of my colleagues just told me. It's amazing how time goes by. So the two days in uni were fine, but I am totally exhausted already.. or.. well, I would say I am still exhausted from the weekend. The courses were ok, the teachers also, even tho I know that this last period will be a lot of work and not so relaxing like the other one. I already got so used to getting up round 9 a.m., having breakfast and at some point going to uni. Now I have to get up round 7 a.m. all the time and that's just cruel!!!

Tonight I will go to the sauna again to be fresh for tomorrow's morning lesson. Otherwise there is nothing to tell... well, I brought some order to my room, since it was necessary. Not so interesting, I reckon...

~M~

Spring is in the Air

Today we had up to 8°C, the snow is melting, the spring is coming now... I hope !!!

~M~