The good and the bad (news)

As I started to write this post in the morning I was desperate, furious and  had anxiety at the same time. But I'm happy I didn't have the time to write the whole post because it would have been written in a negative tone. I'll tell you why: So far my stay here has been pretty unproblematic. Until now. As I've already told you before, I was running 4 weeks ago and I hurt my knee. I do not like seeing doctor's since they always have some bad news. And getting an appointment in another country, insurances.... very confusing. But I finally went to see a doctor and I was lucky (horrible to say this), because my roommate had to see an orthopedist too so I just tagged along. Well, I showed my all swollen knee to the doctor and her reaction was: "Oh, it is very swollen, there's something kaputt for sure". Great. She would have wanted to send me directly to an arthroscopic operation, even better.... But since I was a little skeptic and not living here permanently she said that another option is to take an MRI to see what's wrong and if it needs to be operated I'd probably have to do it in Finland because I might not have enough time here in Germany for that. If I understood it correctly (talking about anatomy and deseaces in German isn't my strongest side :D) her hypothesize was that the cruciate ligament could be injured.

Well, that wasn't the reason for being so mad even if she told me to try to avoid burdening it, aka no sports for me... Well, I mean I can go for a walk in the forest if it doesn't hurt (because some days it's better and I can barely feel any pain while walking on a soft ground).
But the reason why I was so mad was that I called a place where they do MRI's and first of all the lady couldn't hear what I was saying even if I could hear her (I've had problems with my phone, but as long as it's working somehow I won't buy a new one) and I would have gotten an appointment to the 30th of February, which is obviously too late and the third reason is that I wanted to speak German, of course, and I was pronouncing the word "Knie" with a silent k like in the English word "knee" so she couldn't understand me :D So I thought I'd never get an appointment and never get my knee fixed until my roommate came home so I could borrow his phone so I checked from google maps all the places where I could take the MRI (I had gotten a list from the doctor) and booked an appointment to many places to then take the first one. Well, I was lucky, because I was offered an appointment on Friday the 23rd in Goslar, a small city nearby where I can go for free with the train. It's in the evening so I won't even miss much from a lecture that is from 10 to 17. I was so happy, that I ran up the stairs (probably not very smart from me) to the second floor where my flatmate lives and I just attacked him with a big hug :D Haha poor guy looked a little stunned, but I just couldn't help it, all of a sudden I got my hope back - I would get my knee fixed!

The dick & the black
(had disagreements with the stairs so now the right knee is black, but that's gonna be just fine in a couple of days. It's the left one that I'm concerned about...)

 So life is good again! :) Oh, I have to tell you about our dinner we had yesterday with a bunch of ERASMUS students: My Bulgarian friend had invited us over for a Bulgarian dinner and I have to tell you, it was soo delicious(I rolled back home again :D) and even if our discussions became a little bit too hmm intense and there would have been no end if we hadn't told ourselves just to stop and change the topic ;) Well, that's the best pat of this experience: so many different people from different backgrounds and views of life! We can learn so much or at least practice our argumentation skills ;D

Very typical Bulgarian starters

Mmm homemade Bulgarian food!

 Btw I'm finally taking advantage of the free access to the theater here in Göttingen! (I mean, there's gonna be naked men in the play, how could I resist? ;)) I hope I can understand something of it (it's Ein Sommernachtstraum from Shakespeare), but at least I won't lose any money if I don't like it. Oh and today we are going to buy tickets to an opera in Hannover, Wahn oder Sinn? - Der historische Kaiser Caligula or Die Hochzeit des Figaro. We are also planning on sightseeing in Hanover before the opera since it's in the evening, looking forward to some cultural activities :)

Going to the dinner, at this point I had no idea of how well I'd eat there! :)

Shopping, shopping, shopping & shopping!

Just got back home from the railway station once again! I had a lovely weekend with my sister, but the time just flied and tomorrow, on Monday, I really have t get back to work (studying). Anyway, back to this weekend: before my sister arrived her, I asked if she wanted to make a trip to Hamburg, Hanover or Bremen etc and her answer was: "I want to go shopping!" :D Ok, fine by me. And I can't blame her - Germany is so much cheaper than Finland! I mean, of course clothes in chains like H&M are the same price but we have a good outlet here in Göttingen where some brands are sold very cheap and there are some random shops that we don't have at all in Finland where for example leather boots are a lot cheaper. So shopping here is simply a smart thing to do! ;)


My sister arrived pretty late on Thursday so she just grabbed a taxi from the railway station and we went to bed pretty early (well, a little gossiping too of course ;)) to be fresh for shopping the next day :). As we walked to the city center I showed her around at the campus, which by the way is not very beautiful, and then it was time for some shopping! I barely found anything even if there where really good sales (a cool bright yellow skiing/snow boarding jacket from Fischer for only 80e when the original price was 400e! I was crying inside; I didn't need it so I had to let it stay there in the outlet but it was so cool and such a good jacket...!) but my sister did :D She also bought a suitcase to be able to get everything with her back home... She also found a pair of the leather boots I had dreamed of. Well, I guess I just have to hit the gym or start walking with high heels (;)) because it's very depressing when the boots that are advertised as "extra tight" are way too lose from the calves, argh!
We spent the whole day in the city center and then it was time for some dinner at Bullerjahn's, a really nice and beautifully decorated & furnished restaurant under the old city hall. Then some cheese, crackers & wine in the evening :) We were hanging out with my roommates in the living room and went to bed a little too late; we had an early morning because we wanted to catch a train to Hanover the next day.

Oh so smelly but oh so delicious cheese!

This is actually from the previous weekend when my friend visited me, but I thought it fitted in here too :)

 We took the early-ish train to Hanover and after a good sleep in the train we headed towards the city center. All of a sudden all the sleepiness was long gone! We spent the whole day in the shops again and well, I have to say the sales were insanely good! Of course the clothes aren't always from good materials and I would never buy clothes from certain materials because I can't stand tuft in the clothes! I never buy anything from Zara for example because the affordable clothes have very bad quality and the more expensive ones aren't just worth the price, because the quality isn't outstandingly good (too bad, because I really like their design - just like the thousands of other Finnish girls :D). Haha, actually me and my friend have always been laughing at textile twins, you know, like a group of friends, mostly girls, who all wear the same white converse, skinny black jeans and the jacket from Zara that everyone has :D Well once again, I am not any better: me and my sister were wearing almost exactly the same kind of clothes: black short jackets (ok, she was also borrowing one of my jackets), skinny jeans, a scarf and black leather boots :D to be honest we were seriously a bit embarrassed of ourselves for being such textile twins and some people even claim that we look so similar from the face (not true btw :D). Well, at least our bodies are almost the opposites of each others' so we bought clothes for different body types. Then again, I always grab the same clothes in a store as my mom does and I always go through her wardrobe while I visiting my parents - just to find at least 2 shirts there that actually belong to me :D Yes, we are even the same size and we used to be exactly equally tall (yes, my dad had to measure us with a bubble level to be sure of the result :D) but then I grew or she shrank (a little bit too late though, since my mom and my godfather had a bet of which one of us that would be taller and at that time I wasn't taller that her yet so my godfather lost a wine bottle :D). Well, I guess I got sidetracked again, so back to the actual theme! Hmm where was I...?
Anyway the day passed very fast in Hanover and all of a sudden it was time for the shops to get closed and for us to go home. Oh, something that I was (negatively) surprised about was how many families that were out there shopping! I do understand that some cultures are more family-oriented than we Finns but seriously it's not pleasant for anyone that you bring either the grandparents, that are sitting in wheelchairs blocking all the small and crowded shops and since you have to show them a little respect everyone can't just ask them to keep moving away all the time, or the whole flock, which consists of tens of kids and their cousins and friends, that is way too inpatient to wait for their mothers to argue with their teenaged siblings of some shirts so the kids aged 2-8 just run around playing hide and seek or fight with each other. Anyway it was a long and successful day, even if our feet were so dead after all the walking and standing. Who says shopping isn't a sport? ;)

I like Hanover city center because it's so white and light :)

The main railway station is seen at the end of this street

 

Smth I bought. I seem to have an obsession in colours, maybe it's because of this horrible grey Central-European winter that makes me miss colours!

 The next day we had only a couple of hours before my sister had to take the train to the airport so since it was a nice and sunny day (yeyy, SUN! Oh, how I've missed you! I am really sick and tired of this super windy, rainy weather) we decided to go out for a nice little Sunday walk :) Well, we walked approximately 10 km and half of it was uphill and I was wearing running shoes and sports clothes so it was a little more than a "little Sunday walk", but it was pleasant anyway! We were not the only once out there in the woods and oh, even the deers were back (a tame herd surrounded by fences). For some reason they were on a break or smth for a couple of months and the area surrounded by fences was all empty. Maybe the deers needed to get away from all the curious people like us trying to persuade them to come closer the fence by trying to feed them. Anyway, now they were back bigger and braver (the fawn had grown and they had a thick and dark fur, not the albinos though :D).

Way too soon we had to turn back, pack my sister's suitcases and head to the railway station, where we had amazingly delicious and cheap Asian food (only 2,90e for a big plate of noodles and veggies in a peanut sauce, namm!!!) at mai mai. Thanks for visiting me, sister's time is always welcome! 

Ps. Now it's time to start applying for a summer job, argh every spring the same stressful process, a real pain in the ass that every Finnish student has to face from the age 15/16 til the end of the studies.

Oh, so traditional German landscape! :)

Dark, albinos and one "traditional Bambi" :)

"Do you have any food for me?"

Lucky me ;)

Hello dear friends and family!

My best friend, who visited me last weekend, left a couple of days ago and I had to go back to school. Unfortunately we both had some deadlines during her stay so we made some school stuff, took it easy (well, to be honest we went a little crazy in the shops ;)), had some good (read: cheap) wine, and celebrated a friend's bday - all in all a very lovely weekend!
 Haha and to make sure I wouldn't get too into school and studying my sister (not the one who visited me with my mom in December but the other one ;)) is coming to visit me this Thursday, yay! Haha, it's probably 10 years ago since I visited her as she was doing her exchange in Munic, gosh the time flies! Anyway, now that I'm back home I can write about travelling ;). Seriously, I should start a travel blog since something always seems to happen as I'm on the go. Well, otherwise a great idea, but one kind of an important thing is missing: money :D Hahha I guess I'll just write about my life here in Göttingen, that I can afford :) Well, anyways now I'll write about my journey to and from Finland.

Actually I'd like to thank a flight company, even if I don't want the company to know my thankfulness; you see, it made a mistake, treated me really well "by accident" and now I'd like to tell you why:
As I wrote in my earlier post, my suitcase didn't make it to Helsinki in time, but to be honest it didn't matter because I was on my way to my other home, which is actually (too) full of clothes anyway so I could manage a couple of hours without the clothes I had in that suitcase. But the thing is, that as they called me to tell they were going to bring the suitcase home to me they also told me it was really broken and that they are really sorry - the company would buy me a new one! Well, I already knew that they hadn't broken it; if you remember I also wrote in an earlier post how I was dragging my suitcase behind me and I crossed my fingers that it wouldn't break into peaces because it was really old and in a bad condition. So, as the suitcase arrived I didn't see any "new" damage meaning, that I'd get a whole new suitcase for free! Haha thanks company x for the Christmas present! :)And to be honest that wasn't even all. That was actually only the beginning, it's getting better :)

On my way back to Göttingen I was supposed to wait for 13 hours at the airport in Copenhagen (yes, I chose the cheapest flights and I had such good/not negative experiences from staying the night at the airport in Hanover that I had decided to save money and not to stay in a hotel. So as I checked in my brand new suitcase in Helsinki I was told I wasn't able to get the boarding pass to the connecting flight since it wasn't until the next morning and that I would have to find the stand of this company in Copenhagen to get it. No problem, I would have 13 hours time to do it :)
We landed in Copenhagen approximately 40 min later than intended so a lot of people missed their connecting flights and some had 10 min time to run to the next gate. Well, I had time so I started killing it wandering around at the airport. It is actually a very cozy one, def a nice and not too crowded to spend a night at. After a while I decided to get the boarding pass so I wouldn't forget it later. As I told the lady I needed a boarding pass to Hannover the lady said: "I am so sorry for the inconvenience! I am very sorry to tell you that there aren't any flights to Hannover today anymore so we'll have to book you on the flight next morning. But this company will of course pay for the hotel for you for tonight!" I was really confused, probably just stand there looking like a huge questionmark and the only thing I could reply from my amazement was "mmmm..." which is probably good so I didn't reveal myself. I mean, I was anyway going to fly with the first flight next morning so I hadn't missed any flights, but instead of sleeping at the airport I got a free hotel night! Well, there had been other people in the same flight with me who had planned to take a flight to Hannover the same night (maybe it was full booked as I bought the tickets, because I never had the opportunity to fly to Hannover from Copenhagen the same night) and these people had missed the flight, so I guess the staff thought I had bought the tickets to that flight as well :D Anyway, happy as hell I took the voucher and the metro ticket (the hotel was 3 stops away from the airport, literally right by the metro station!) and told myself not to start dancing of joy in front of everyone there, I'd save it for later. As I arrived at the hotel I also got a voucher for a free dinner, wine/beer and a breakfast (at that point I cursed the overpriced yoghurt and juice I had bought at the airport because now I got free food but I wasn't even hungry anymore). Well, I forced the delicious pork in me and then it was time for some dessert (as everyone knows, dessert goes to a different stomach and that's why there is always space for some ;)). Now I was satisfied, time to go to the big bed I had only for myself!
Early waking up and a huge breakfast and to be honest it was probably the best breakfast I've ever had; I don't need tens of different breads and croissants, it's not that I have an endless stomach (even if it feels like it way to often) and I could try all of those breads, so it was better to have only a couple of different breads, a huge cheese selection and many rather exotic (well, not maybe exotic for people from tropical countries but I mean when the temperature sinks to -40 like in Finland the other day there's not that big variation of fruits ;D) dried fruits to go with (or without) yoghurt. Namm, namm! I literally rolled back to the airport. So haha, that's why I'm very thankful - until I get a bill ;) Haha I hope the staff don't find out (soo read this post like it was a secret ;)) and if they do find out, that they can't make me pay for the hotel :). Here below I'll add some pics ;)

L
ps I'd do it again ;)

Otherwise perfect, but it felt weird to eat alone

Mm this was soooo good!

Time for some dessert ;)

Berries, dark chocolate and ice cream

And a good night sleep in an actual bed - a hundred times better than the hard benches at the airport ;)

I'm happy, time for some studying until my sister's visit :)
Oh btw I now have an appointment to an orthopedist because of my knee, which is still swollen and hurts ( for 3 weeks it has looked like it belonged to someone who is at least 50 kg heavier than me due to the liquid it has in it), time to get it fixed!

Back in business

Hello!

I've had a great winter holiday (despite that fact that it didn't start that well with my knee getting all swollen and it still looks like Honey Boo-boos mom's double neck, and I was really sick during Christmas, slept the most of it) and now I'm back from the winter wonderland! Well, Finland wasn't really a winter wonderland all my stay, the weather was everything between the nasty, rainy darkness to -25 degrees stereotypical Finnish winter weather. And haha up there in Northern Finland it was -30 degrees for days :D. Ok, that's even too cold for me, I hate the feeling when your nostrils freeze.

The view from my room

Perfect ice for ice skating (not thick enough though)

On top of the world!

The sun sets at around 3.30 pm

Anyway, I got what I wanted, at least for a couple of days so I could go cross country skiing (on the field though because there weren't enough of snow on the actual tracks) and ice skating (on natural ice on a lake for the same reason as in the previous activity: there wasn't that much snow on the lake so it was good for skating). So now I could sum up the year 2014 since it seems to be a trend around people in the social media :D


Winter/Spring:I spent a week around the new year in Sweden with a bunch of friends. I flew home was it the 2nd of January just to catch a plane to the Caribbeans (from Finland) the next day. My mom was super stressed out, she was afraid I'd miss the flight to the Caribbeans but I didn't so I spent the next two weeks in a tropical true paradise in the Caribbeans (where I met my sister whom I hadn't seen for months!) and in the freezing cold Miami. I do prefer cold weather but not when it's supposed to be hot and I've only packed a bunch of bikinis and shorts with me...

At least it was hot in St. Lucia :)

 Spring: I applied for the exchange. If I could go back to that time I'd apply for a whole year, so as a hint to people who are planning on an exchange: stay there the whole year! Half a year is wayy to short! (Especially if you want to learn a new language)
 

Summer: Working in the US part 2. Me and my friend had decided to go back to Wisconsin for the second time and to make this summer even better than the last one. Surprisingly we managed, it was an unbelievably amazing summer! New friends, old friends and what is more, I could share the experience once more with my best friend :)

"I owned every second that this world could give -- I swear I lived!" (at least our jeans look like they've been through a lot ;))

Summer/Autumn: A short visit in Finland between the trips to the US and Germany. I was all excited to move to Germany and even if I had absolutely no German in my head after the summer, my language skills in German got (and still get) better and better. At first I was horrified to live in a housing with 10 others, but it turned out to be a lot of fun (most of the time, not when someone "forgets" to clean after themselves or when the toilet paper has ran out)!

This is what I kept telling myself :D

        
  Autumn: The time passed super fast! I made a couple of trips in Germany and outside of Germany: Bulgaria, Holland, Finland, Estonia... :) My friend also visited me here in Germany. Happy times!

Holland!

Bulgaria :)

 Winter: Can you even call it a winter when there's no snow? And when it's above 0 degrees? Other than that, had a blast: my mom and sister visited me, I drank Gluhwein in the Christmas markets, spent time with my new friends and went back home to Finland for the winter holidays. All in all a very good year!!! :)

This is what they call snow :D

Christmas feeling at the uni :)

I've also lived in 3 different countries,  had 4 different addresses and visited 9 countries (not to mention all those countries that were my pitstops on my way to the final destination) year 2014. It was a busy year with tens of new people and I got thousands of memories :) Ok, I guess it's time to end this text now before it gets too cheesy - I'm exactly as bad as all the other people to whom I have laughed at because of their cheesy statuses in facebook :D So happy new year and let's start living our lives, exercise more, get a great beach body for the summer, travel more and what not.... good luck with the endless processes (also known as the New Year's resolutions or mission impossibles ;)). Stay strong my friends! ;)

 - L
 
 ps. two months and I'll move back to Finland :)

Coming home!

As someone might have noticed I changed the name of this blog since I got feedback for the old name being politically incorrect and I don´t want to insult anyone so I decided to change it.

Otherwise it will be the same as previously: random stories of my life while I am in exchange in Germany.
Today I am going to write about my journey from Göttingen to Espoo. Since I bought the cheapest flights to Finland the connections were not the best ones, but it was an interesting experience for sure! I wrote about the happenings to a notebook almost minute by minute so here we go! Had to cut the long story short(er) since I got inspired and wrote four A4 pages of text…. :D At least I didn´t have the time to get bored ;)

Keeping busy...

21.35: My journey back home to Finland starts as I close the door behind me in Studentendorf and step into the dark and rainy winter weather in Göttingen. I have to drag my old suitcase behind me all the way to the train station and I cross my fingers that it will last all the way without braking down. It looks really beaten up and I can be heard coming way before I can be seen since some parts of it touch the ground. I really blame myself for being so stupid when I didn’t buy a new suitcase earlier today, since I spent almost an hour in tk-maxx measuring two suitcases with my eyes just to tell myself hundreds of times that the other one is too small and the other one too big. But now while hurrying to the train station (again without a reason since I know i´ll be there at least 10 min or maybe even 15 min in advance) being almost as wet (from sweat) as my suitcase (from the rain) I decide that the first thing i´ll do when I´m back is to buy a suitcase – if this poor one will last all the way back to Göttingen of course.

I don´t know if it´s the noise that my suitcase makes or the fact that I look like an eskimo (yes, I am going to Finland, have to be prepared!!) but people give me weird looks. But it´s obviously too hot to wear my warmest winter jacket and the fur shoes in this rainy +12 c weather so I put my jacket in the backpack. Now I look like it´s +18 degrees outside and for some reason people still give me weird looks.

A pick nick in the train :) 

23.53: Finally at the airport! So, this is where I am going to spend the night and it´s actually pretty cozy! The warm air embraces me and the Christmas trees in front of the windows look welcoming. Even the homeless woman in the “Christmas red” jacket and her two bags (probably her whole property) look nice, reminds me distantly of Santa Claus. I find benches where I see other people sleeping too. Actually I don´t only see them, I can also hear them: that approximately 4-year-old Russian girl is crying. Seriously?!

00.03: since I can´t sleep because of that girl screaming I decide to stay busy:  I bought a screen guide to my phone earlier today since the screen is in pieces now and the guard is too big so I have to cut it, because I just randomly chose one. It is for another model because there is nothing for my old (but absolutely good!) Nokia (just kidding, I didn´t choose it randomly, I bought the cheapest one and hoped for it to fit). Well, I did not bring scissors with me so nail clippers will do for now, I mean what else could I do here at 00.03 at Hannover airport where I’ll spend the night with a screaming Russian girl, this homeless woman and a couple of other budget travelers?

00.14: Noo! My favourite nail clipper decides to break down in 3 pieces! Hey, when did that homeless woman sneak pass me to those massaging chairs? Oh all of a sudden my stomach reminds of its existence by making loud noises. Seriously?! I really can´t afford my effective metabolism here at the airport, not that anything would be open at this time either. So I try to fool my stomach by filling it with water.

The red spot on the right hand side is the homeless woman

The nail clipper :(

00.31: fixed the nail clipper – it looks ok even though it is a bit loose... Well, I guess it´s enough for this night; I’ll fix the screen guard at home when I have access to decent tools (scissors :D). Hmm why are those two young men walking around here without any suitcases not to mention bags? They are clearly not traveling anywhere.... I don´t trust anyone anymore after hearing about so many incidents here in Germany where everything from a camera to a whole suitcase have been stolen…

00.56: I notice that the first hour has passed! Wow, so fast! I guess it´s not only the planes that flies here, also the time seems to fly! Hoho, bad joke, jeez I can´t think clearly anymore so should I try to sleep a little? I don´t know if I’ll feel safe enough to sleep so I’ll try to hang on a little bit more.

01.04: Oh no! I sneeze and at the same time a fart! Soo embarrassing even if it was only a small harmless one… There might be a chance that the guy sitting two rows away from me didn´t hear it since he is talking on the phone… I don´t know and I don´t want to know it either so I make sure to avoid his look and try to act cool like nothing happened. Not cool!!!

01.21: I am really tired and everyone is sleeping. I decide to do that too, but I set my alarm to wake me up 30 min later not to really fall asleep.

01.51: I hear my alarm. I feel a lot fresher now even if my stomach really hurts – I am so hungry again! I eat the two clementines I brought with me and go to the restroom. I drag my suitcase with me and I probably wake up everyone on my way there or at least on my way back since the noise really echoes in the big aula. Well, I didn´t want to leave it there all by itself in case someone would be so desperate and want to steal my suitcase that looks shabbier than the homeless woman in the corner. And I mean I have bottles of German beer in it! I even have to tell myself not to drink it so I’m sure someone else would also be more than happy to enjoy the German elixir.

I happen to see myself in the mirrors in the restroom. I decide to avoid them the rest of the journey.

Restroom slefie. The only representative part of me at this time of a day :D

02 something – 04 something: I sleep, but I set the alarm to ring every 30 min. It´s probably very healthy… Sometimes I hear the girl crying and I curse her family for bringing her here. If you have the money to take your whole family to a vacation you might also have the money to book at least a hotel for it too! It´s not very responsible of the parents to stay the night at the airport with poor young students and homeless people! Sometimes I also wake up because I’m so hot! I notice my jacket is embracing me, no wonder it´s hot! Every now and then the fur in the hood is also trying to sneak in my nostrils and it tickles. I try to change my position; maybe I’ll fit under the armrest? No, I definitely don´t. Damn it, the mirrors in H&M made one look thinner after all…

5.00 --> : the airport is opened for the day; Cafes open their doors, people wandering around and staff has appeared behind the check-in desks. Everyone else is awake apart from the homeless woman who desperately tries to squeeze her eyes wide shut. Time to wake up I guess.

I go through the security control and to the smallest gate I’ve probably ever seen not to mention the airplane where I with my 170 cm body can barely stand straight! The staff speaks Danish and suddenly it hits me and I can´t stop smiling - I’m definitively on my way home! The small plane takes us safely to Copenhagen where I have 35 min time to catch the connecting flight to Helsinki where my dad is waiting for me. As I finally arrive in Finland I mentally clap myself on the shoulder congratulating from a good choice of staying the night at the airport instead of taking myself through the city in the middle of the night only to stay in a crappy hostel for a couple of hours. It all went well and it wasn´t that bad at all, I made it even if my suitcase didn´t. Well, I’ll get it later I guess (I was told it will be brought to my home). I can´t get bothered now, I´m just sooo happy to be back!!! <3

Home sweet home!

I had a lot of space in the airplane

Ps I got a text message at 12:18 that said that my suitcase is now on its way and it´s 15:56 now (hmm it´s approximately a 40 min drive so I hope they got me right when I gave my two addresses, the one in Finland and the one in Germany…!) :D.

Mmm traditional Finnish Christmas delicacies, definitively worth the travel :)

Seven Wonders of the World

Hello!

Have been pretty occupied lately so I've kind of "forgotten" to write this blog (mom & sister visiting, studying to the first exam I'll have here, parties...) but here we go again!
What I am going to write about today is seven wonders of the world, and with this I don't mean the ancient ones like the pyramids in Giza nor Statue of Zeus at Olympia, but cultural differences! :) That's something I come across with daily - both in good and in bad to be honest and some of them just manage to surprise me over and over again! :D So here is a list of things I personally as a Finn find so weird/funny/interesting/cool and what not:

1. Greeting. Some nations kiss on the cheek when they see each other. Well, nothing new in that, but somewhere you do it once, somewhere twice and somewhere three times. And for example the Italians kiss the left cheek first for some reason. So, first of all I have to get used to kissing people every time I see them and yes, even those people I meet on a daily basis! And then I have to remember if I all of a sudden have to start kissing the left cheek first, and last but not least I have to remember when to stop: after one or three kisses.....! Oh help me! (Yup, help is really needed, I never know what to do and I always end up being the awkward Finn not to know what to do. Will I ever get used to this amount of kissing??)
Well one of my friends actually told me about a study, where the effects of physical touching brings us joy and happiness and that we Finns should do it more often. So maybe I'll be the happiest after my exchange! :) So let's keep kissing each other and yes, I am sorry for the already happened awkward moments and for the coming ones too...


2. Financial (un)independence. In most of the countries university studies actually cost something and somewhere they might be really expensive. So people who are in their twenties are almost fully dependent on their parents! There is some kind of a student loan, but that's mostly for living, parents pay for the rent and studies. And in Germany the amount of the loan you get depends on your parents wages, even when you are 25 years old!! I do understand the financial support from the parents, because most of the students are not as lucky as we Finns to get 500€/month from the government (it's not a loan since we never pay it back) and schools are free. But I prefer it the Finnish way: Everyone gets the same amount because the assumption is that it doesn't matter how much your parents earn after you've moved out (the latest when you start studying at a university in your early twenties). Actually it's seen to be a little looser like in Finland if you can't finance (most of) your life after you've moved out :D

On the contrary my Chinese flatmate happily told me that Chinese parents are more than happy to finance their offspring til PhD, even help them with their mortgage even when they are done with studies and have a permanent job!!!
 


3. Winter. Haha I've noticed that winter is a word with the most variable meaning. Some people have never seen snow, the others a Christmas without snow. Some people ask me how I can deal with the coooold Finnish winter, and the answer is: easy. First of all I live in the southern coast so it's not that cold there. Maybe a couple of days -20 but that's pretty much it. And we usually have snow. If there's a lot of snow it's a lot lighter outside (very pretty!!!), you ca do a lot of different winter sports and usually the air is pretty dry too (and you can always wear more clothes, but when it's hot and you are already wearing a bikini and you are still hot there's not that much you can take off to cool down...). To be hones I hate "warm" winters: the darkness is killing me, not to mention the eternal rain and freaking damp air that actually is a lot colder than dry subzero climate because it's nastily digging deep under your skin and bones! So what I'm wondering, is How do you Central-Europeans cope with the eternal  darkness and gray, rainy weather that last for months??

vs

This....

...this????

4. Cold houses. Ok, Finland is cold in the winter, but the temperature inside the houses is never below 20 anywhere!!! We even have double, sometimes triple window glasses and heating at least under the bathroom floors. Here I sit at the desk that's in front of the window and my hair is sometimes moving from the wind that sneaks through the single window glass when it's a windy day! Here in Central-Europe the houses are very cold inside (this is not only based on my stay here in this crappy student housing!)! Or then the rooms are very warm but the corridors are super cold and that's why the doors have to be closed - so the warm air doesn't escape from the room. Again a question to most of you guys: How can you live in a house that is very cold?



5. Wearing shoes inside. We never do that in Finland! It's just gross. All the dirt comes with you from the streets to your house, eww. (Yes, I reason why I wouldn't want to have a dog - they are not wearing shoes and usually you do not wash their feet every time they come in). Even here in Studentendorf I used to walk around in my socks in the house (It didn't even pop into my mind to enter the kitchen wearing shoes or sitting in the restroom wearing converse!). At some point I had a closer look at the dirty floor and started to wear shoes inside just like everyone else. Haha and all of a sudden my flatmates stopped giving me weird looks :D But it's not good for your feet to wear (bad) shoes 24/7 besides your feet aren't breathing that much either (haha I know persons who'd have serious issues with wearing shoes 24/7 ;)). Oh, in primary/elementary school we weren't even allowed to wear shoes in the classrooms... Haha but in the junior high we were then again allowed to do that and ohh we were so cool and old when we had reached that age! ;)

Eww....

6. Dinner. In some countries you eat it at around 5pm, somewhere at around 10 pm :D Haha it always amazes me how people can be the whole day without eating barely anything and then eat a lot just before going to bed. I wold probably starve to death if I had to wait til 9pm before having a proper meal! It's  not that I need the energy while I'm sleeping, I need it during the day as a fuel to be able to accomplish the duties. (Oh and for us dinner isn't anything that takes very long to prepare nor to eat - how can people really have dinner for hours??) Well, I'm already starving 2 hours after having a big breakfast so the problem is probably in me.... Haha I guess I inherited my effective metabolism from my mom who is always hungry.
 


7. Being on time. This seems to be one of the most difficult things in the world to some people (I'm not going to say any names but I might point a finger at a specific French and a Slovak ;D). I always think that when you agree on meeting at 4pm it's like latest at 4.00. And haha when my mom and my sister were here we agreed on a certain time and I was there 10 min earlier and they were 5 min earlier than the agreed time or the other way round, it doesn't matter, the point is, that we never actually met at that agreed time, we met the latest 5 min earlier :D. And yes I am the person who is there a bit too early and at 4.03 tells herself not to call angrily at the other person telling she/he is late. Yes I know, I could never be unstressed living in a society where the time is an abstract concept.



Well, I guess there's a lot of small differences that I also face daily, but these have been the most significant and current ones. Haha, maybe I'll learn the secrets behind the rituals of greeting people smoothly not having to give myself a clap on the shoulder every time I manage to be cool and give an internationally know kiss on the cheek(s) without being awkwardly stiff, or learn to wait until at least 8 pm before eating something and when I do, eat it sophisticated in "aller Ruhe". Until then I'll have to excuse myself for being an awkward Finn.