Stung by the same wasp twice...lucky me..
I've had a few rough weeks.
My flat mate let me know a few days ago that he is moving back to Sweden. Why? Why? Why? Well, he's got a part-time job, he wants to be with his family bla bla bla. WTH?
I KNOW that it is difficult when someone dies, when there's a tragedy, or anything, but if I would have gone home just because of that? Then I would have gone home years ago. "It's because you are much stronger than me"
That's just BS. I don't give up. That's what it is.
I've gone through horrible things, I've cried, almost had nervous breakdowns, ended up in hospitals alone, had a friend steal 9000 EUR from me and my ex, and a lot of other shit. But I'm still here.
Anyway, if he had told me about this only one week earlier (this was Tuesday), then I could have moved in with Anders, a close friend of mine who's back from Denmark, and who's now Manager for my old team :)
But no, he decided to keep his mouth shut, Anders moved in with another friend of mine, and bleeeh.
Well, I've had a great time with him though. I love him, we have such a blast together!
And I have given Apple my sisters CV, so let's see if I can "infiltrate" her ;) Can you imagine another part of my family in Apple. They will love her. We'll see. I would love to get her over here.
On Friday it was the yearly Apple BBQ. It's always a crazy evening...had an awesome time!
Me and Anders showed up in cowboy hats. it looked better than I thought :)
Spent Saturday at home though as I felt sick, and we watched "The Blind Side" with Sandra Bullock. Great movie. During the movie, I felt something on my leg, thought it was a fly. Tried to get rid of it, and I was stung. I was a wasp!
My hand was soooo swollen! And it hurt :(
We found it and killed it, but not the sting. And this morning I was laying on the bed, and I was stung again, the stinger was stuck in the fleece blanket I had on the bed. Annoying!
It's ok now, but how big is the chance? Anywho, need to get to bed!
My flat mate let me know a few days ago that he is moving back to Sweden. Why? Why? Why? Well, he's got a part-time job, he wants to be with his family bla bla bla. WTH?
I KNOW that it is difficult when someone dies, when there's a tragedy, or anything, but if I would have gone home just because of that? Then I would have gone home years ago. "It's because you are much stronger than me"
That's just BS. I don't give up. That's what it is.
I've gone through horrible things, I've cried, almost had nervous breakdowns, ended up in hospitals alone, had a friend steal 9000 EUR from me and my ex, and a lot of other shit. But I'm still here.
Anyway, if he had told me about this only one week earlier (this was Tuesday), then I could have moved in with Anders, a close friend of mine who's back from Denmark, and who's now Manager for my old team :)
But no, he decided to keep his mouth shut, Anders moved in with another friend of mine, and bleeeh.
Well, I've had a great time with him though. I love him, we have such a blast together!
And I have given Apple my sisters CV, so let's see if I can "infiltrate" her ;) Can you imagine another part of my family in Apple. They will love her. We'll see. I would love to get her over here.
On Friday it was the yearly Apple BBQ. It's always a crazy evening...had an awesome time!
Me and Anders showed up in cowboy hats. it looked better than I thought :)
Spent Saturday at home though as I felt sick, and we watched "The Blind Side" with Sandra Bullock. Great movie. During the movie, I felt something on my leg, thought it was a fly. Tried to get rid of it, and I was stung. I was a wasp!
My hand was soooo swollen! And it hurt :(
We found it and killed it, but not the sting. And this morning I was laying on the bed, and I was stung again, the stinger was stuck in the fleece blanket I had on the bed. Annoying!
It's ok now, but how big is the chance? Anywho, need to get to bed!
Importing homosexuality? (WTF??)
Sometimes I wonder...
Salva Kiir, President of South Sudan"It [homosexuality] is not in our character - it is not there and if anybody wants to import it to Sudan it will always be condemned by everybody"
Again at Helsinki Airport - Leaving the beautiful city...
Waiting for the check-in to open. I have spent my two weeks here. I have a lovely burn on my arms and shoulders. It has now started to hurt... :P
These two weeks have been great! I wish I could have stayed here for another month or so. I realized how much I miss studying. And really intensive studying. I love pushing myself to the limit. Even though it is exhausting.
I did well on the final test :D I speak a little bit of Finnish. Puhun vähän suomea. :)
I stayed at Helka Hotell last night. It was quite expensive, but definitely worth it. I needed some quiet. I spent most of the evening at the hotel, watching movies, and talking to mum over Skype.
I have some nice Bollywood movies and Mumin in Finnish :D
Will definitely come back here soon. Now I just need to find a Finnish partner, or someone I can manipulate into moving to Finland with me :P but I now know for sure that I want to move here. And even though Finnish is crazy difficult, and the course just have proven that, I am now more determined that I'm gonna learn it!
I have bought four Finnish books, a grammar book and two dictionaries. I pocket dictionary and a big proper one with a CD. I'm gonna make sure that I continue my studies.
Lucky for me, I have Veera, who will help me, since I don't believe that Rainer will be much of help. I don't think I want his help at the moment anyway. :)
Can you feel my happiness? :D
I haven't felt this good in such a long time. I'm really looking forward to coming home, to get back to work and to see my babies :) I will be crazy busy though, will probably have about 700 emails to read, and all my cases to take care of. But it will be a great start of the week. And if I get down tomorrow and I'm not too exhausted, I will go and grab a beer at Suaz. I have really missed the Guinness. They don't have it here.
Have only been drinking cider (bleeeh) and Lapin Kulta :P
Check-in is open!
Cheers!
2-day holiday! Woho! Studying and laying on the beach!
The week is over! Now, finally, my holiday begins. It ends in about two days, but I'm happy. The question is:
How am I gonna spend these two days?
I am gonna spend this day on the jetty (brygga), studying, tanning, and just relax. And tonight, more relaxing. More studying. Most of the people are going out to enjoy the nightlife in Helsinki.
To be honest, I would love to, but I'm too tired after this week. It's been too intense. And I have too much studying to do. I rather stay here, where it will be quiet, where I can enjoy a few beers, together with a couple of others who feel the same.
Doing some studying, drinking some beer, talking, enjoying the quiet.
Tomorrow, I'm supposed to go somewhere with the group. I might skip that. Just to get some more quiet. And to go to Helsinki to buy some grammar books. I need that. And I need to study more. I do take this seriously. I want to learn as much possible while I'm here.
Anyway, I'm off to the lovely weather now. Apparently, it's supposed to rain later today, so I'm gonna enjoy the sun as long as I can, before I have to move inside... :)
Life is good!
Sauna night...beer and BBQ
I survived the third day. I'm proud of that!
And I have loads of things to do! I really need to study to get back on track (or rather catch up). I love it though! And I really am considering moving to Finland!
I want to learn more and more. I am very very motivated, even though I panic. I just need to sort out my vocabulary A LOT at the moment. But I sit with my books for hours. So it'll be fine. I can't understand that it only is Wednesday today. But I can't really understand that I only will be here for two weeks.
At the moment I wouldn't mind staying here for a month or two just to study Finnish at this speed. But it's confusing. The grammar is sick!
Anyway, I'm going for dinner now, so that I can go for a swim with one of the Austrian guys after. Don't remember his name at the moment. It's Arno or Roman. They're brothers.. (cute ;))
Woho, I love this place :)
Reconsidering my goals in life...moving to Finland?
I have survived day 2 of my Finnish course. It really is an intensive course! It's crazy how fast we are proceeding! But at least I'm not panicking as much as I did yesterday..probably only about 75-80% compared to yesterday... ;)
We spent the afternoon with listening to a historian telling us about Finnish history, very interesting. And after that I went swimming..and sat studying in the sun, while tanning...
And I started to reconsider my goals in life...
This is the first holiday I take since beginning of June last year. That's almost 14 months. No wonder I do. But I am in harmony. Sure, I stress about my Finnish, but I love it. I don't mind spending 3-4 hours of my evening with studying, but I'm in harmony.
I just love this country. To put it simple. I want to stay here. Spend the fall, the winter, the spring, find a man, get married, have kids, and die. In this beautiful country, in this country, with this difficult language. Theoretically speaking I would most likely get away with not speaking Finnish, if I live in a Swedish-speaking part of Finland.
But I want to learn it.
The guys at the course are awesome! Great people from around the world! Sarah is super! She's from Baltimore, if I haven't told you that before.
Have I told you about Kalle, the 19-year old from Texas? He's actually American, but he has a VERY Finnish name. Kalle Tinhunen or something. He's gorgeous. Could drown in his eyes. BUT, I feel old. ;)
He's younger than my sister..
Anyway, I really really like this place. And I really look forward to be here for the next two weeks! I will see if I can arrange to come back here again later this year!
Panicking! They're all speaking Finnish!!
Ok, end of Day 1!
Thank Goodness!
This day has been...chaotic..stressful..painful...and great in a thousand ways!
So I've met so many new people. I like most of them, but considering the fact that I only met them yesterday evening (the first few), I can't really say anything about them yet.
But what I can tell you is about my Finnish class. I'm in the intermediate group. Painful! First class was just a big blur. i didn't understand 50% of what the teacher was saying. The worst thing was that she said words I knew that I had been studying, I just couldn't recall what they meant. Annoying. But it got worse.
She doesn't explain anything in English, and we are 7 or 8 in the group. Seems like four of them have no difficulties at all following her.
An American guy, 19 year old Kalle from Texas (Kalle??), is struggling even more. And then there is a guy whose name is Ola I think. Not entirely sure. We seem to be on the same level. Ish.
The things she has asked as to do today and the homework for tomorrow is insane. I'm gonna go crazy if this is how the whole two weeks are gonna be. But I'm gonna suffer, and do this. I think it will be better. I just need to pick all of it up. And I have just collected all my notes, and will go through my old notes before I go out and take a swim :D
Anyway, I love this though. It is awesome! And I love being under pressure, even though it feels like I'm gonna crack under it at the moment. But you know I'll make it ;)
A true friend...
I was actually a bit nervous. I met three of the people who was gonna be in my course earlier, as I told you. Didn't feel any interest in them at all. They seemed very boring. Even though they were from far away Canada, Australia and interesting Belgium...Woho..
Started to think about my room mate. Hadn't met her. Only knew her name was Sarah something...
I was sitting by the MBP when she came in. Liked her from the start. She has the latest MBP... :D
She studied Graphic Design at University in US, and is from Baltimore, or that's where she was studying at least. She is originally from New Jersey. She's one year younger than me.
Took about two min and we realized that this is gonna be two awesome weeks! We googled the closest bar :P
And we have spent the whole evening eating pizza, talking about our lives, and drinking a little bit of beer. And I mean A LITTLE. She's originally South Korean, adopted to US, when she was about 1,5 years old, and she has moved here now, because she loves Finland.
BUT! I didn't think of the fact that she can't drink as we can. Even though she said that she has to be careful. She said that she was ok, but after about three beers, and one shot of Tequila (I'm not joking), she started to feel bad.
I've spent the last 1,5 hours trying to get her home. I have taken care of her, held her hair, nurtured her ;) and finally managed to get her home because of a very nice bar owner who said that he would drive us home. I would never have been able to otherwise.
I have showered her, I have put her in bed, and she is sleeping at the moment.
Isn't it strange. Some people you just meet, and like her, we just clicked. Awesome :) Thank Goodness I'm sharing room with her and not with one of the boring girls I met earlier!
Prefer taking care of someone like this, than going to bed at 22.00...
Anyway, tomorrow it's time for Finnish!!! :)
Safe and sound at a Christian College...woho...
Of course this is updated a little bit later...
It took me a little bit of time and research to actually get into the city. I found the bus, number 615. I asked the driver to let me know when it was my stop since there was a Metro there. He remembered, very nice of him. He actually that I was from Ireland when I was complaining about the public transport over there. Should I take that as an insult?
By the way, I was about to fall asleep on the bus, I was soo tired. I still am. Of course, I have been awake for about 26 hours now. When I left the Airport and met the warmth, it felt like I was in Spain. I felt true happiness and joy!
I haven't felt that kind of heat since I was in Spain in 2007.
Managed to get down to the Metro, and I saw all the Swedish candy and drinks in the shops :) Yey!
I bought something to drink before I went down in the Metro. And the smell. It made me so happy. It was like being home. I managed to get on the right train and now I'm waiting for the bus. Decided to write a short update, in case I fall asleep once I'm there. Three buses that I can take have already left, but I felt that I needed some fresh air and also, I can't check in before 11, and the time now is 11.20.
---
Even later. Have slept for three hours. Am in perfect shape again and will now take on the task of sitting by the water to enjoy the silence and the sun...I am ready!
BUT, this is a Christian College and I'm not allowed to drink on the premises...
I have met four people so far. A Canadian, a Belgian, a Australian and my room mate whom I don't know where she's from yet. But we'll see :)
At least I have wifi!
Finnish people, who are they? And do they actually talk?
I think I need to reconsider my prejudices about Finnish people. Well some of them at least.
As I said before, my experience with Finnish guys aren't that good. Now I think I know why I fell for him at least. He has the same beard as James Hetfield in Metallica...It's something about that kind of beard...
They can get a long way with that... And of some reason, I have seen A LOT of Finnish guys here during my "few" hours at the airport with similar beards..
http://metallicablogmagnetic.com/pictures/james-hetfield-metallica.jpg
If I can manage to get my course mates to go out on Friday, I'm definitely gonna try to get one of them to talk to me (a Finn I mean). The Finn I know in Ireland talks a bit, but he is a bit special as you know by now.
Veera, I love. She's like me. Talks a lot. She smiles a lot. She flirts a lot. (unintentionally most of the time) It's just the way both of our personalities are. And I think that's why I like her so much.
But as you can see on the pictures, we are the complete opposites.
Still, several people have asked us if we are sisters??
Awesome anyway. The best thing is that she know is gonna stay here for at least a year since she got a job. I am so happy about that, because I would miss her a lot otherwise.
Kamila is pregnant and is expecting her girl on July 30. So when I get home, hopefully she'll have her little girl :)
Me and Ewa has become quite good friends. I'll make sure to maintain that :)
Mikael (Micke, flatmate) and I are good friends and we get along great.
I am hanging out with Lasse, Rasmus and trying to start to hang out with Jonas as well. It's important to keep socialising. You never know when you will need friends.
Friends is what makes life worth living, together with family.
And at the moment, I have decided that I would prefer staying single. I will not look for a relationship, which is a little bit what I did when I went out with the Finn. That might have been the mistake. I might have scared him away. Even though I made it clear that I didn't expect a serious relationship.
Just take it as it comes, go out, meet people. Enjoy my life and see what happens.
I hope that everybody can be as happy as me :) Now I'm gonna watch another movie, and hopefully I can leave soon :)
Oh yeah, I went to the restroom and changed clothes, cleaned my face, brushed my teeth, put on some new make-up, and suddenly I look like a normal person again. It's not healthy to sit at an airport for nine hours. I have been here since 10.45 GMT+2 yesterday. And I have at least two more hours left :/
03.56, I can see light...happy days
I am still at the Airport...really?
Of course I am, why else would I update this blog again? I haven't updated my blog more than once a day since I started...And the last few years, it's more been once a week/once a month.
It's 03.56, and it's bright. I have my back agains the window, so I guess it started a while ago, but I am soo happy. Why? Because we don't see that in Ireland. When I got home last night at 03.45, it was still dark. Yep, sad but true.
Only a little bit more than 6 hours left before I can leave this place. Hmm, what am I gonna do?
I have been watching Metallica's S&M, think I said that already. Probably the best album ever made (my opinion of course). I would have done almost anything to have gone to that concert. Was a bit young though. It was before dad died, and it is 8 years this year.
I like being in Finland...many good looking guys...hmmm...
My experience with Finnish men though isn't the best ;)
How am I gonna make them talk? Trick them into drink a bottle of vodka first?
Any ideas?
In Helsinki - but nowhere to stay until tomorrow night...
So, landed safe and sound about 45 min ago. Slept all way through. Was soo tired. No wonder. I went to bed at 3.45 or something this morning since we were out.
I had so much fun. Didn't drink that much, (right) but as always when you are out and it is getting late, you know what I mean...
Anywho, I arrived fine, the sun was shining, it was still 26 degrees, even though it was 21.45 (19.45) for me. Strange with the time difference. Guess I wont be tired for another few hours then since I've had my power nap now.
But I have nowhere to stay. My lovely friend Veera promised to have a look around among friends, but unfortunately most of them are on holiday at the moment, so she couldn't get hold of anyone, but it was very nice of her to try at least :)
The "cheapest" hostel here costs 42 euro/night. As IF I'm gonna pay that to sleep there for a few hours and then get up and get to the college. Right...
The cheapest hotel is 68 euro.
And guess what, I now know that I'm back in one of the Nordic countries, because there is FREE WiFi at the Airport, and it is faster than the internet I use at home...(In Ireland)..
Happy happy happy!
So what I'm looking forward to at the moment is spending the coming 10-11 hours in this airport, and then I'll get into the city centre somehow. Don't know how yet. Guess there are buses, but I'll think I'll manage to figure out with internet available.
And isn't this what makes it an adventure? Things never goes as planned..but hey, at least I'm in Finland, and not a country somewhere in Africa (no offence).
On my way to Helsinki...holiday?
I'm on my way to Helsinki...
Awesome!
Let me tell you about yesterday...I went home, and went out. As you might know. I met up with Lars, the Norwegian guy in Tier2 CPU and Rasmus, the Danish guy I've been going out with a few time (drinking).
We met at Franciscan. It was nice. I met one of the bouncers that I know from Bodegas. Not the guy who gave me his number though. I really should send him a text...
And who showed up in the middle of it? Oh guess, the Finn. And how did I feel? Hmm...fine. I didn't feel anything actually.
He sat down at our table just when I left to speak with a few German friends. He had left when I came back. Later I saw him greet a girl, and he kissed her... No wonder he didn't reply to my texts/ichats if he wanted to see me. But it made me a bit confused, why he kissed me three weeks ago.
Well, I didn't feel anything, and thank goodness for that! I am a bit disappointed though, because I expected more from him. I expected him to be more of a man, and to actually tell me no.
Whatever, I had put it behind me anyway.
But I must say that I have to thank him for a lot. He made me think. Not now, but when we went out 3 months ago. He started something. And I am glad he did. Now I am in the middle of finding out what I want, what I am, and I will get out of this in a while, as a better person, hopefully happier ;)
And guess what? I'm on my way to Finland!!!!
I am soooo happy, look so much forward to this!
I will try to update this when I can, since I have wifi at the college.
Woho! Sitting in a bar at the moment, having a glass of wine. Will be start walking towards the gate in about 30 min since I have no idea where it is... :)
Cheers!
Last weekend...
So, I promised to update this more often I know...
Anyway, I was out last Friday, as I told you, at this great place, Cypress Avenue. Guess what, I was there on Saturday as well. It was a guy at Apple, Jason, his birthday, and he had this BIG, and I mean BIG party!
I started the afternoon with looking out through the window. I couldn't see anything because of the heavy rain. Looked out a few hours later. Still couldn't see anything..
I went over to Magnus and me and Veera watched Black Sheep with him. Hilarious movie. If it happens in Ireland, we're doomed. It's kind of Shaun of the dead, but with sheep.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=829ZvtRKzAU
Watch the movie, and then say that it isn't worth watching! :D
We were terrified of leaving the house after. Were quite drunk... ;)
The party was great. Me and Veera danced all night, and I went to the after party at some place somewhere...have no idea where. But it was awesome!
I met so many new people, which was great! And I left the part at quarter to 7. I got a ride with a guy who hadn't been drinking all night since he was living quite far outside the city. We spent the last four hour talking. German guy, team Manager for Tier2 CPU (computers).
We had a blast!
This week has been busy, of course since I have tried to close off cases before my holiday. I received a strange text from a guy I dated in February, who ditched me just like that. He asked for "company".
I dragged him down to earth, and I wasn't nice. Let me just say that he wont be asking me for anything again...and hopefully he will think twice before he ditch a girl the next time.
I gave the Finn a last chance. He didn't take it. And I decided to move on. I don't have energy to waste my precious time and energy on someone who has 1. intelligence as a goldfish (if he hasn't understood that I like him), 2. doesn't know what he want (since he is hot&cold), or 3. a split personality (still since he is hot&cold).
So this week I have been getting rid of things in my life that drain energy. And that has given me a lot of energy, and I have been in an extremely good mood :)
And tomorrow I'm leaving for Finland!! Taking the train to Dublin at 09.30. Flight leaves at 16.40. Will arrive in Helsinki at 21.50.
AWESOME!!!!!!
Anyway, I was out last Friday, as I told you, at this great place, Cypress Avenue. Guess what, I was there on Saturday as well. It was a guy at Apple, Jason, his birthday, and he had this BIG, and I mean BIG party!
I started the afternoon with looking out through the window. I couldn't see anything because of the heavy rain. Looked out a few hours later. Still couldn't see anything..
I went over to Magnus and me and Veera watched Black Sheep with him. Hilarious movie. If it happens in Ireland, we're doomed. It's kind of Shaun of the dead, but with sheep.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=829ZvtRKzAU
Watch the movie, and then say that it isn't worth watching! :D
We were terrified of leaving the house after. Were quite drunk... ;)
The party was great. Me and Veera danced all night, and I went to the after party at some place somewhere...have no idea where. But it was awesome!
I met so many new people, which was great! And I left the part at quarter to 7. I got a ride with a guy who hadn't been drinking all night since he was living quite far outside the city. We spent the last four hour talking. German guy, team Manager for Tier2 CPU (computers).
We had a blast!
This week has been busy, of course since I have tried to close off cases before my holiday. I received a strange text from a guy I dated in February, who ditched me just like that. He asked for "company".
I dragged him down to earth, and I wasn't nice. Let me just say that he wont be asking me for anything again...and hopefully he will think twice before he ditch a girl the next time.
I gave the Finn a last chance. He didn't take it. And I decided to move on. I don't have energy to waste my precious time and energy on someone who has 1. intelligence as a goldfish (if he hasn't understood that I like him), 2. doesn't know what he want (since he is hot&cold), or 3. a split personality (still since he is hot&cold).
So this week I have been getting rid of things in my life that drain energy. And that has given me a lot of energy, and I have been in an extremely good mood :)
And tomorrow I'm leaving for Finland!! Taking the train to Dublin at 09.30. Flight leaves at 16.40. Will arrive in Helsinki at 21.50.
AWESOME!!!!!!
Midsummer -10
Even later...we had a lot of funFrom left: Veera, Inga, Erika, Frida
Midsummer -10
After just a "couple" of drinks ;)Midsummer -10
Finished midsummer pole - Swedish/Irish version ;)Midsummer -10
Creating the midsummer pole...Midsommer -10
Before drinking...Cypress Avenue, Salsa, African dance, and forgetting...
Went to Cypress Avenue in Cork for the first time yesterday. A friend of ours at Apple is leaving to start working for a store in Paris, and he had a leaving party. A LOT of French people, as usual... ;)
Me and Ewa arrived around 11.30. It was great. They were dancing salsa when we arrived, and I was terrified! I've not danced salsa since I was 14, and that was for one hour...
Anyway, we took a few shots, and went to stand beside the dance floor. The DJ changed the music, to some kind of African music, and suddenly 20 people were standing together on the dance floor doing this dance. It was almost like watching a Bollywood movie ;)
And you know what? I joined them. I watched them for a minute or so before I joined them, and I don't think I've had that much fun at a club for a very very long time!
It was insane!
Apparently they have evenings like this a few times a month. I will definitely be going from now on...
Today, in about an hour, I'm going over to a friend to watch a movie called "Black Sheep". Watch this trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=829ZvtRKzAU
:P
I told my friends who are going to the party tonight, that if I don't show up, it's because I'm to afraid to leave the house because of the amount of sheep that we have here in Ireland. If this would happen in Ireland, we're basically f*****!! ;)
Me and Ewa arrived around 11.30. It was great. They were dancing salsa when we arrived, and I was terrified! I've not danced salsa since I was 14, and that was for one hour...
Anyway, we took a few shots, and went to stand beside the dance floor. The DJ changed the music, to some kind of African music, and suddenly 20 people were standing together on the dance floor doing this dance. It was almost like watching a Bollywood movie ;)
And you know what? I joined them. I watched them for a minute or so before I joined them, and I don't think I've had that much fun at a club for a very very long time!
It was insane!
Apparently they have evenings like this a few times a month. I will definitely be going from now on...
Today, in about an hour, I'm going over to a friend to watch a movie called "Black Sheep". Watch this trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=829ZvtRKzAU
:P
I told my friends who are going to the party tonight, that if I don't show up, it's because I'm to afraid to leave the house because of the amount of sheep that we have here in Ireland. If this would happen in Ireland, we're basically f*****!! ;)
