The longest month in the history of the world

In my last post, I was feeling pretty good about August. Well, that didn't last long...

Turns out, August 2013 felt like the longest month in the history of the world. There were times, actually many times, when I thought September would never come - that I'd been transferred into some alternative universe, where time has slowed down, and September never comes. But it did. Finally.

I'm not saying August has been a bad month, really. I've spent time with my friends, gone for lunch a lot (always to my favourite restaurant, di Trevi), celebrated my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary with my family, spent a relaxing weekend at the summer house, and, most importantly, sold every single piece of furniture that I own (almost, anyway - I'm never getting rid of my lovely kitchen table), as well as lots of other bits and pieces, thrown out 6 massive bin bags of stuff, and moved my few remaining possessions to my dad and stepmum's house. There has certainly been enough to do to fill the last month of summer, and no reason for it to pass so very, veeery slowly.

Everything I own. Well, almost, anyway...

Well, no reason, except for the obvious. Being away from my boyfriend for 5 weeks was probably the worst idea I've ever had, no matter how much money it saved me to stay in Finland until I could move into my new flat in Edinburgh. We both agreed that I'm never allowed to do stupid things like that again, unless he comes along.

"10 days left", but who's counting...

August nostalgia

August is here, and although the summer isn't over, I'm approaching the end of my Edinburgh summer - which, in a way, is a good thing, as August is the month when the centre of Edinburgh becomes unbearable for someone who can't stand masses of tourists. With the Fringe, the population of Edinburgh doubles, and while I'd like to go and see lots of comedy and other interesting shows, living your life in a city taken over by tourists and other visitors is far from enjoyable. I'm trying not to vent my tourist rage too much now, but what is it with people going on holiday, and immediately forgetting that there may be some people around who aren't on holiday, and who actually need to get to places at set times? No, let's just walk around really slowly, suddenly stopping in the middle of the street to take pictures and read maps, take forever to buy train or bus tickets or get cash out. Because it's not like we, or anyone else in the queue, actually need to be anywhere... Ok, sorry, rant over. Because the point of this post was not, in fact, to rant about tourists (although I'm sure you'll get to read a post like that at some point), but to talk about it being August.

The Royal Mile during the Fringe, a.k.a. My Worst Nightmare.

For the past *quick calculation* 18 years, August has been quite exciting. There was always something about the last days of the holidays, the approaching autumn, going to buy new school bags and pencil cases and notebooks. Later on, in upper secondary school and university, I still enjoyed preparing for the upcoming year, making timetables and planning my studies and the year ahead. I love planning and making lists, and the beginning of a new school year was always a great time for that. The excitement never lasted for more than the first few weeks, of course, but I still enjoyed getting back into a normal routine after the holidays and seeing all my friends again.

After graduating, I thought August and the beginning of September would be a bit sad, as I still missed university and being a student. This summer has helped me get over my graduation angst and accept my new, non-student identity, but I still feel a little nostalgic when I think of all those years of excitedly preparing for a new year at school or uni, and I'm sure this feeling will get stronger the closer we get to September.

I won't be having the uneventful transition from summer to autumn that I'd been expecting, though. I won't be staring a new year at uni or moving over from one school to the next, as in previous years, but instead I'll be spending August preparing for my big move to Scotland - selling all my things, finding out about taxes and national insurance, and meeting up with friends and family. I'm sure there'll be enough planning and list-making needed to keep me happy for quite some time.

Pictures: 1: here and 2: weheartit

Working from home

So, apart from a few last loose ends to tie up, I have finished my studies, had a little cry about it, and taken my first steps into the scary adult world. I have taken the step from being a part-time student/part-time translator, into being a full-time translator, working from home.

I've been really lucky so far in the sense that I've had quite enough to do, so no complaints on that account, and let's hope it lasts. What has been the major problem, as I knew it would be, has been getting up in the morning, getting started, and sticking to it. Last summer, when I had a job to go to, I had no trouble getting up early, getting myself ready and heading to work so that I'd arrive at 8am, even though I had a flexible schedule and most other people wouldn't arrive until 9am, or even later. I just enjoyed finishing at 4pm instead of 5, so I came in early, no problem. Now, however, getting out of bed has become a major struggle, and once I get out of bed, instead of having breakfast, getting dressed, putting my face on and starting work, I hang out in my pyjamas, get stuck on Facebook and various blogs, and don't even remember to make breakfast for the first hour or so.

And then there's of course the issue of productivity during the rest of the day, although I have found that if I manage to get started fairly early, I am also better at handling distractions that come up later in the day. I am, however, hoping to get myself into some sort of normal working rhythm, with days from 8-4 or 9-5, and evenings and weekends off. We'll see how that goes.

But now I wanted to share something with you that a friend shared on FB, and which is very accurate indeed. The full comic can be found here.

(Although, on second thought an alarm clock that sounds like that could solve my main issue...)

(In my case the lingerie models wouldn't be too much of a temptation, but you get the idea)

That last one is especially accurate, as I just finished today's work at around midnight. This is what I'm trying to avoid. Better luck tomorrow!

Ps: If anyone has any good ideas on how to increase productivity when working from home, please share!

Should I stay or should I go?

Yesterday I found myself looking at the internships offered by the centre of international mobility. There was an internship at the Finnish Institute in London that I'd been looking at some months ago, and I had even written the application deadline down in my calendar. I read through the job description and requirements, and started drafting a CV. But then I stopped to think.

Why am I doing this? I already realised at some point during this past year that where I am at the moment may not be such a bad place to be, and I'm not sure if I want to keep moving to new countries and building new lives for myself, at least not at the moment. So do I really want to do an internship at the Finnish Institute in London, or am I simply looking at internships abroad out of habit? Am I trying to cling on to the last strands of student life with all my strength? Because those have to be the worst reasons there are!

As I went through the practicalities of an internship in my head - not even the fun stuff, like living in London, but the complicated stuff, like what to do with my flat and my things - I realised that I'm not really feeling it. And as I took it further I realised that there really is no point for me to a) uproot myself yet again for a period of only a few months, and b) do unpaid work and try to survive on student benefits and small scholarships.

If I want to move to London (or Scotland, or wherever), I can do so for a real job that pays real money. And to be honest, at the moment I'm not even sure if I want to. I'm not saying my wandering days are over, but maybe, right now, this is where I'm supposed to be.

When I have my own flat...

...I want this in it.

The Double Life

Today, I happened to stumble upon this blog post by Satu (in Finnish), where she quoted the poem The Double Life by Don Blanding. I rarely read poetry, and whenever I find poems that I like it is always by stumbling upon them randomly, but I'm really glad I found this one. This is exactly how I feel.

How very simple life would be

If only there were two of me

A Restless Me to drift and roam

A Quiet Me to stay at home.

A Searching One to find his fill

Of varied skies and newfound thrill

While sane and homely things are done

By the domestic Other One.

And that’s just where the trouble lies;

There is a Restless Me that cries

For chancy risks and changing scene,

For arctic blue and tropic green,

For deserts with their mystic spell,

For lusty fun and raising Hell,

But shackled to that Restless Me

My Other Self rebelliously

Resists the frantic urge to move.

It seeks the old familiar groove

That habits make. It finds content

With hearth and home — dear prisonment,

With candlelight and well-loved books

And treasured loot in dusty nooks,

With puttering and garden things

And dreaming while a cricket sings

And all the while the Restless One

Insists on more exciting fun,

It wants to go with every tide,

No matter where…just for the ride.

Like yowling cats the two selves brawl

Until I have no peace at all.

One eye turns to the forward track,

The other eye looks sadly back.

I’m getting wall-eyed from the strain,

(It’s tough to have an idle brain)

But One says “Stay” and One says “Go”

And One says “Yes,” and One says “No,”

And One Self wants a home and wife

And One Self craves the drifter’s life.

The Restless Fellow always wins

I wish my folks had made me twins.

images: weheartit

2012 Roundup + A look into 2013

So, here we are again, another year is almost gone. As is the custom around this time of year, I'd like to take a look back at the year that was, because frankly, I'm not really sure what I've been up to. (Sorry about the lengthy post, but a year is a long time!)

So, let's take a look at:

2012 as I saw it - and a look at what's next

Trips
First of all, I have to point out that 2012 was the first full calendar year that I have lived in Finland since 2009 (and before that it was 2005). The past two years I've spent half of each year living in the UK, so this year was quite different in that sense - no need, or chance, to set up a whole new life somewhere where I knew no one or nothing. It's strange, but I thought I'd feel stuck, or smothered or something from living in Finland long term again, but I really haven't. The year has clearly been split in two as well, though, as the first 5 months I spent living with my parents in a small town, commuting into uni, and then from June onwards I've been back in my old flat, living on my own again after a year of living with other people.

Also, there has been a fair share of trips, so I didn't really have much of a chance to get too settled in my ways. Especially in the summer I felt like I was always packing overnight bags and not sleeping in my own bed nearly enough. In total, I travelled abroad 6 times this year. I spent a weekend each in all Scandinavia capitals. I got two new countries onto my list of countries visited (the Vatican and Norway), giving me a grand total of 21. I visited Edinburgh twice, and my longest trip this year was the second trip to Scotland, when I spent two weeks there. Most trips I did on my own, when I visited friends, but my mum joined me on the trip to Rome, and my brothers joined me for a part of the two weeks in Scotland - which was the first (but hopefully not the last) time that the three of us did a trip together (without the parents). A strange thing is that this was the first time that I didn't visit London since the first time I went there in April 2009.


For next year I have one trip booked so far - a weekend in Copenhagen to see my dear friend Sophie - and I'm probably going to visit London with my mum after Easter. I also want to visit some friends who are doing their Erasmus exchanges, one in Alicante and one in Leeds, but I'm not yet entirely sure I'll be able to pull those off. I had this idea that it would be fun to get to 25 countries visited in the year I turn 25, but we'll see how it goes.


Studies
Having originally planned to spend a year in Scotland, this year turned out quite differently (study-wise) than I had planned. In the spring I wrote my Bachelor's thesis, and then in the fall I started working on my Master's thesis. At that point I still thought I'd do a whole year more at uni after finishing my thesis, or at least half a year, but I still decided that I wanted to finish my thesis by Christmas, i.e. in 4 months instead of a year. You know, just because. Then it somehow dawned upon me that despite it making no sense whatsoever, I would be able to get enough credits by the end of the academic year to actually graduate in May 2013. So it seems like that's what I'll be doing.

For 2013, then, there is some pretty big stuff ahead in this department. In January or February I'll hand in the final version of my MA thesis. In March I'll get my BA degree, and in May I should get my MA degree. It will be my last spring as a student, and then I'm off into the real world. Scary stuff.


Work
As I was living with my parents for the first half of the year, I didn't have to work, which was a nice change. Then, after having no luck at finding a summer job for the past few years, I managed to land an internship, and worked as a translator all summer. Then, in the fall, I started working as a freelancer, did a couple of small things for the company I'd been an intern at, and suddenly, from somewhere, I'd also landed two large translation projects from other companies, one that I'll spend the rest of my holidays on after Christmas, and another one that will begin right after the first one is finished. Again and again I see how much of an asset it is in this business to be able to translate into Swedish.

So, next year I've got quite a bit of work, for the beginning of the year at least. Then, once those projects are over, I'll probably need to start establishing a few more business contacts. I'm not planning to look for a summer job this year, but to do freelance work at first once I graduate, while figuring out what I should do with my life, and see if there happens to be any jobs going that I could see myself doing. I don't think I want to be a freelancer forever, but it's a good place to start - one that doesn't leave me hanging in a limbo of unemployment when I'm fresh out of uni.

Friends
Having actually been around for a change, I've got to spend some really amazing times with my friends this year, and because of the trips, I've managed to see a fair share of my friends abroad, too. Memories from Hogmanay in Edinburgh a year ago still make me smile, and there are some great pics that show the mood really well. We also did a weekend trip with most of the Hogmanay crew in August. There's been dinners, nights out, lunches. There was a hen night and a wedding, and the birth of a beautiful little boy. I've made several new friends as well, mainly through work, and a couple through couch surfing, and there are a few people who I knew a little bit before who I know consider proper friends.

As always, though, there were friends I didn't get to see at all, or as much as I would have liked, and there were people whom I didn't manage to stay in touch with as well as I maybe could have done. I'll do my best to correct this next year - starting with visiting Sophie in Copenhagen, as I haven't seen her (outside of skype) for over a year.

Family

I've definitely spent a lot more time with my family this year than I have done in previous years, especially with my dad and step-mum, who I stayed with for 5 months, and with my youngest brother, who I don't see often enough normally, but whom I got to see almost every weekend while living at my parents'. I've also been present at any family occasions I may have missed out on while living abroad. There hasn't been too many major changes this year, except that my youngest brother finished his military service and got a permanent job, and my dad turned 50. We'll see how next year turns out - some events coming up will be the two graduations, when both Jani and I finish our studies, and my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary. Jani is also planning to head Down Under for a working holiday, which is of course really exciting for him, but I know I'll miss him tons.


So, that's part of what I've been up to this year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Happy December!

So December is here. Time to open those advent calendars, and finally get the Christmas cards sorted. I've already sorted out all the Christmas presents, so there will be no need to stress about that.

As those of you who have read this blog for a while will know, I'm not a big fan of winter, or snow, but I'm actually quite happy with the scene of the above picture - snow is pretty, and is best enjoyed from a safe distance, behind double glazing.

Turku Cathedral - the principal church of Finland

Lazy Sunday

It's warm and sunny today, and like most Finns, I feel slightly guilty for not spending the day outside, especially since this warm weather is taking a break for all of next week. Instead, I'm wearing my pyjama bottoms and sitting on the sofa, reading blogs of people who've done a working holiday in Australia (I started reading them last night, which led to dreams about Perth, of all places...). It's actually quite nice. Why is it that people think they have to feel guilty for doing nothing on a Sunday, if they're enjoying it?

Oh, wait, I did get a bit of action when I had to fight an extended battle against a wasp that had found its way inside. I won.

weheartit

Ode to a Couch

Today I read a column which focused on something as simple as the couch. The writer argued that the couch is the most important piece of furniture in a home; that it's where good ideas are made, where everything begins and everything ends, where you always return. It's where the family meets, where you can relax, and it's the centre of a home. He wrote that a considerable amount of thought and effort should be put into choosing the right couch, because it is such and important part of people's lives and homes.

The writer had some interesting thoughts about the couch, and reading his column inspired me to tell you about my own couch.

I got my couch almost two years ago, when I moved into a bigger apartment. My old apartment was too small for a proper couch, so there I had this bed/couch-thing instead. When I moved, my mum knew someone who wanted to get rid of their old couch, and I was, of course, more than happy to get a free couch.

The couch is terribly heavy, which doesn't normally matter, but it did matter when we had to get it into my 6th floor appartment. My friend, my brother and my step-brother carried it all the way up the stairs (I walked behind them and carried their coats :P ), and although it looked bad for a while, they managed to get in inside.

Once the couch was in place and I had moved in, I found out that the couch was, in fact, very comfortable. It's soft, but not too soft, so you don't get swallowed by it. Its cushions don't slide too easily, and its armrests are high and solid, so they're good to lean against, too. It can fit three people, possibly four if it has to, and it's big enough for people to sleep on without having to curl up too much.

Since I got the couch, many of my friends have enjoyed sitting or sleeping on it. Most people comment on how comfortable it is. It's been the main base in Turku to sleep on for many, many exchange students these past two years (a couple of them even created the Jenni's Couch group on Facebook), and it has also welcomed several CouchSurfers.

Since the couch is white, time has left its marks on it. The couch hasn't escaped the occasional stain, but so far it hasn't been affected by accidents that left any noticeable marks.

I was really lucky to get hold of such a good couch, and for free, too, and it has served me and my friends well these past two years. Let's hope it keeps on doing so for many, many more!