Moving is really scary

Eep. I got a futon delivered to my new place today, and I was really pleased because I managed to get all the plastic off it and put it in a sofa-like position instead of the bed position it came in and proceeded to sit on it happily. A few seconds later I saw the box that had come with it and realised it has legs (the sofa, not the box) that I probably should have attached before turning the sofa over and folding it up. While I was there I spent a few minutes being alone in the flat and putting some things in the right rooms. It felt good, except for some old man who seems to have a nasty cough which I can hear very clearly through the walls. Get better, old man!

So that went well. But on my way back to Otaniemi I decided to walk home from near the main building of the uni because some massive group of people had got off the same bus as me and I presumed they were waiting for the same bus I would be. I took the scenic route and walked around the shore of the peninsula and saw people flying kites and skating on the frozen sea. Everything's full of snow, the trees looked beautiful because the branches were heavy with snow. Then I realised I actually LOVE where I live, even if I always fall over on the small hill round the back of my flat, even if strange pakistanis follow me home, even though I don't go to the uni that owns this campus and the nearest shop is a kilometre away and the hills I need to navigate to get to it are slippery. I love it that my current window opens onto a path so I can watch people come and go, there are some dogs I see most days that I like to watch. I also love the bathroom floor (compared to my new flat) and the glass window in my kitchen and the fact that I'm near all the other rooms in my house. It sucks that my mind is only choosing now to notice these things. I'm sure the new place is going to be great, but for now all I can think about is how much I'll miss this place.

But I always do that. If I go on holiday for 10 days I spent the last 9 thinking how crappy it's gonna be to go home. I wonder why my mind always shoots me in the foot like that?

God works in mysterious ways - a nice way of saying "People are bloody weird"

Well they are, aren't they? :D I was in a lesson today, won't say which in case someone from there reads this, but have you ever noticed, especially in a mass lecture, that there are definitely different kinds of people. There's one or two people who sit at the front and nod enthusiastically to everything the teacher says, even if the rest of us would probably dig our eyes out with spoons rather than listen to it. Then there are other people who go one step further and actually verbally agree with the teacher. I once sat behind one of these "mmm"ers and I'm afraid to admit that after 14 lectures I could have poked her in the back of a head with a very sharp pencil. Then, there are the people who, for some reason, decide that they are, in fact, in a one-to-one lesson with the teacher and the other 86 of us are there for our health.
Today I was really annoyed because I have two such very special people in a lecture. One enjoys upping and leaving now and again, muttering under his breath loudly and laughing maniacally at the slightest joke the teacher makes. The other one must be confused because she seems to think she's my teacher. I asked the teacher a question today and I got a reply from her. The worst thing was she kept interrupting while I was trying to explain what I meant. Unfortunately she didn't wait for me to explain myself before talking over me so she didn't understand what I was asking and was in fact trying to tell me that you can't grow plants if a shelf is vertical. I kind of told her off though, guess I'm still that bit immature, whoops :D Well, maybe it's ok, I'm only 21 for goodness' sake. I'm not expected to behave nicely until I'm old, and I know a lot of old people who are rude anyway :D
I suspect I talk too much in lectures but at least I know when to shut up if I got something wrong :D Had to get it off my chest before I start sharpening pencils..

I'm moving!

Eek, I'm moving :D On or before the 1st of March to a nice area in Helsinki called Lauttasaari. I'm quite excited about it because it's bigger than this place and I'll live alone for the first few months until I get a roommate in summer and then another one in autumn. Also it's near everything and doesn't take as long to get to uni. I'm apprehensive about it, however for the following reasons:

1) What if I lock myself out?
2) What if someone tries to break in?
3) What if another weirdo creepy foreign pervo follows me home (that would make 4 times in total, do I smell funny or something?)
4) What if I get the flu, or ill? What if I need to go to the doctor or something in the middle of the night, and;
5) Who's going to listen to me complain about it?(!)

But I suppose millions of people live alone without any problems so I can do it too.

Today I even went to Ikea with a friend to buy a load of stuff for the new place and it felt so grown up to do that stuff all by my (our) self (selves). Yay, adulthood!

November

I finally got my own copies of the book I translated over summer. It's really nice to hold something that has my name in it. The book has been sold out to institutions and bookshops - both the Finnish and English language versions. Usually it's really hard for me to feel proud of myself, but this time is an exception. I know my mum'll be proud of me when she gets her copy, but I can't help wondering if Dad would be proud of me. He probably would, but I'll never know. Yesterday it was six years since he died. Every year I promise I'll start playing the guitar because I know he always wanted me to, and every year I manage not to. I listened to Layla though, hope it'll do :D

It's hard to talk about my dad. It's like people expect me to burst into tears when I talk about him, but I don't, because I didn't know him well enough. It's like I miss him through the same distance there was when he was alive. (England, Australia, quite a lot :D) The rest of the time I'm scared of other people bursting into years when I talk about him. Besides, it's hard to start a conversation that starts with the words "So, I miss my late dad.." And even if you succeed it's just a load of pity that I don't want anyway. I wanna talk about how my dad was the lead singer in a band, a genius at the guitar, drew me some brilliant cartoons and found out all different kinds of writing my name with pictures. I remember I freaked out when he brushed my hair because he had callouses from playing the guitar on his fingers. He always answered the phone "g'day stace" but never really got an australian accent that I can remember. Best of all, he came to save me when Jacqueline tried to perform brain surgery on me with a cotton bud. Thanks for that, dad.

Hope you like the book.

October

I'm going horse riding on Saturday. I haven't been for about 5 years. Wow. I hope I don't get on the horse and fall straight off the other side. Anyway, I'm looking forward to it.

Uni is fine, stuck in a routine now but only two more weeks and I get a week 'off' during which I'll write 3 essays, translate our study guide and do the delightful extra homework people insist on giving over holidays.

Thought I'd start a list of books I've read in Finnish:

For uni:
Minna Canth: Salakari

For fun/uni (but voluntarily):
Suden vuosi - Virpi Hämeen-Anttila
Raja - Riikka Pulkkinen
Häräntappoase - Anna-Leena Härkönen

In my collection:
Perijät - Virpi Hämeen-Anttila
Vanikan palat - Hannu Väisänen
Jäniksen vuosi - Arto Paasilinna
Täällä pohjantähden alla - Väinö Linna

Know that I'm getting for my birthday:
Sinuhe, egyptiläinen - Mika Waltari

Autumn

Wow, where do I start?

Well first with the most important thing, I finished the book today! :D I've been doing all these corrections to it for ages, pointing out an extra comma or full stop and then switching stuff around. And of course, everyone forgets what they've told each other and misses things and it's a bloody mess, but today I finished it and I'm gonna ship it off to the printer's on Monday!

Second I had a major stress out a couple of weeks ago because the uni was offering a practical course in Interpretation which I didn't have time for but didn't care for that, when I heard there was an entrance exam I *had* to go just to see if I'd get in. Sometimes I wonder if I'm not just a wee bit masochistic. Anyway the exam was *horrendous*! I was expecting my teacher but when I walked in there, there was a 'panel' of like 6 interpreters and a mic and everything. I thought it'd gone so-so and I spent the entire week deciding not to do it and then that I should, eventually coming to the decision NOT to when I found out I'd done really well in the exam. Then I had an extra 3 days of wondering what to do about it. Awful! At least I learnt that it's okay not to try to do everything academic. It would have been mondays and fridays from 14-18 and that would have caused some disgusting free periods (3 hours at some point) and, I expect, a mental Chernobyl. Anyway, I didn't go. And now I have time for two jobs and myself :)

The third cool thing that happened this Autumn is that our fuksis (new students) came to uni! We only got about 10 but most of them are really nice and it feels like we can be friends and not that I'm just their tutor. Still have to collect feedback from them though so my opinion might change yet :D We held the fuksiaiset (new student party) in a secret location by the name of Seurasaari and it was great fun.

Here's one of many pics http://flickr.com/photos/steisi/2850846285/

Oh yeah, and, it's my birthday soon(ish)! Whee!

Back in Helsinki, need a holiday

I'm back in Helsinki and was rather abruptly thrown back into the cycle of getting up early, going to uni and enduring the busses that take the long route through Lauttasaari. I travelled back to Helsinki on a night train from Oulu, but as usual, couldn't sleep before 2 and after that woke up every hour. My friend M (duno if she wants her name on my blog) came to stay the night so we dumped all our stuff in a taxi and went to my place. We talked all day and went to eat and shop, then came back and had a 'middle class picnic' (think brie and olives) and watched Casanova (the one with Heath Ledger). In any case I didn't sleep until 12 and M's alarm went off at 6, after which I couldn't sleep. So, about 9 hours in two days :D

This morning I had to get up and go to university to start tutoring the new students. It was nice to see who had got into uni and they all seem nice. It'd be nice to see some of them taking part in fuksiaiset, but I'm not sure. It was a bit stressful because foreigners (including myself) bring allsorts of paperwork problems with them when they arrive here and today was no exception. It's hardly surprising, you get hit with a paperwork bomb and are expected to clear up the debris yourself.

After I was done tutoring for the day I met friends from Unilang. One is from Finland and the other is Hungarian. It was great to meet them and and I'm thankful for the cherry liqueur choclates, thanks!

Tomorrow I have another long day of tutoring but A comes back from Japan tomorrow and I can't wait to see what he's brought me as a souvenir (never mind him coming back, all I'm interested in is what he got me :D) and to see the pics he took.