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

Summer plans

Finally the last of my plans for this summer have been confirmed: I'll be spending almost seven weeks in Edinburgh from the 5th June onwards, and then just over two weeks in Stirling.

Stirling, picture from here.

This time my Scottish summer (although I admit that the use of the word summer may be misleading in this context) was almost as randomly planned as last time - it was an idea born from a night of partying and a bit of insomnia, which, let's face it, clearly is a recipe for fantastic ideas.

Basically, for those of you who don't speak Finnish and haven't already read about this here, I realised (in my  alcohol induced state) that as a freelancer, I'm not really tied to anything, other than an internet connection, so why not head somewhere else for a bit and work from there? This simply marvellous idea then led to a few enquiries, and soon I had secured myself a room in the old town of Edinburgh for several weeks, and a cat/house sitting job in Stirling for a couple of weeks as well.

Three weeks to go until I head out there, and I'm so excited! I'll get to meet up with all my friends, enjoy one of the most beautiful cities in the world, go to ceilidhs and horse back riding on Seacliff beach, and all those other lovely things I've been missing! I'll also get a few visits from friends who have never been to Scotland before, so I'm really looking forward to introducing them to my second home.

I don't care if my summer will consist of more rain than sunshine, I'll be happy anyway! And I won't miss out on the Finnish summer either, as I'll be back on the 8th August.

Scottish weather forecast

Amazing April

April has arrived!

April is definitely one of my favourite months of the year - the snow melts and spring takes over, the days get longer, the summer holidays are approaching fast, and it also happens to be my birthday. This year, April is also filled with other cool things and events, so while it may be more common to do a recap of a month that has passed, I've decided to do an overview of the month ahead.

So, here are some of the things that I can look forward to in April 2013:

Ok, this already happened, but I had to include a picture of 1st April - a lovely Easter brunch with some friends. What a lovely way to start the month and the week!

This is the print out of the book we have been translating in class, and on the 10.4 we will finally finish working on it. Not the greatest of books (what an understatement!), but a good experience nonetheless.

On the 10th the student association for translation students is also organising it's 2nd ceilidh. The first time we organised it, in February this year, it was quite a success, and hopefully it will be this time, too. I can't wait!!

Everything seems to be happening in the same week, because the day after the ceilidh I'm heading to Helsinki to see Eddie Izzard live! We bought the tickets last year in May, so this has definitely been a long awaited event.

And just so I won't get bored, I've managed to cram one more fun event into that same week - an annual ball of one of the societies at university. The last time I went to one of those was a year ago, and the next one won't be until October, so I'm definitely looking forward to getting back into my lovely ball gown.

After a week full of activities I have a slightly less full week, although there will be a Monty Python -themed party on Thursday, and then on Sunday it's my birthday, which I will celebrate in the fashion of the above picture with some friends.

And then, only a few days later, I will finally head back to my favourite city in the world (or one of my two favourites, at the very least)! My mum and I will head to London for our fifth annual mother&daughter trip (and our fourth visit there together). We'll be following our usual plan - one day of shopping, one market, one museum, one musical, and afternoon tea. Plus a whole bunch of great breakfasts and lunches and dinners - I've actually spent considerably more time planning where we'll eat on this trip than anything else. You've got to set your priorities straight, after all!

And soon April is over and it is time for Vappu, i.e. the May day celebrations, which will also mark the end of life as I know it, as I will no longer be a student. But that's still some time, and several amazing events away!

I wish you all an amazing month of April!

Travel facts

My friend Anna gave me a challenge where you're supposed to post a picture and your readers are supposed to guess where it's taken, and then there's a bunch of questions to reply to as well. I'm sending this one on to Elina, hopefully she hasn't done it aready.

Any guesses?

Scariest airline flown?
I haven't flown any particularly scary airlines so far, and I can't remember any particularly scary flights, either.  I guess the really short flights in tiny planes (Turku-Stockholm, Turku-Helsinki) may have been a bit scarier than normal as they're usually a lot more bumpy, but nothing too scary there, either.

Favourite city/country/place?
This is a really difficult one! But as the question is formulated like that, I'm going to take advantage of it and choose one each, which isn't easy either, but I'd have to say city: London, country: Scotland, and place: the one in the picture.

Most remote corner of the globe visited?
On the bus between Sydney and Canberra, surrounded by the Australian outback, I felt like I was pretty far away, both from home and from other people in general.

Favourite guidebook series?
I think the guidebook series you start out with tends to be the one you keep using, and in my case that's Lonely Planet, although I can't really say if it's tons better than any other series.

Solo traveller or group traveller?
Although travel with a great group of friends can be amazing, it's also very difficult to get right, as you won't know how well you get on once you're out there before you actually head off. Also, I know I tend to have moments when I stress out/am grumpy/hate compromises when I spend too much time with the same people (although this doesn't apply to everyone, it's just that I won't know beforehand), so I'm quite happy to travel on my own, also because then I'm not bound by things like other people's schedules or budgets. I mean, if I'd always sat around waiting for someone else to have the time and the money to travel when I did, I wouldn't have been half the places I've been. But my favourite kind of travel is a combination of both categories - travelling on my own while visiting friends or couch surfing, or travelling with someone else but having "days off" and spending time apart as well.

Worst place to catch a stomach bug?
I've been lucky enough to avoid stomach bugs abroad so far, but during a week-long family holiday in Alanya, Turkey everyone else got sick at some point during the week. Stomach bugs are awful anywhere, but I'd say hot temperatures don't help.

First culture shock experience?
Strangely enough, the first culture shock I remember experiencing was reversed culture shock after returning from Paris after working at Disneyland one summer. It's strange, because I'd both lived in France before, and returned to Finland before, and the first time was after a whole year, so you'd think it would be worse. It was equally bad in January 2011 when I moved back from London to a dark, cold Finland and an empty flat full of my boxed-up belongings.

Where would you buy a second house?
Well, this one is hard, too. There's so many places! It would be lovely to have a home somewhere warm, so that I could escape there when the Finnish winter becomes too much, but at the same time my top 2 favourite places - London and Scotland - would probably come first, even though the weather there is only marginally better in the winter than it is here.

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!!

Back to work

I just spent 2 wonderful weeks in Scotland, enjoying the lovely autumn sunshine for the first ten days of my trip - then my brothers came over for a few days, and brought the rain with them. Two weeks is one of the longest trips I've ever done - it's usually a week or less - and somehow it seemed to be enough to get a sense of living there again. The official reason for my trip was to do interviews for my thesis, but I also managed to fit it several friends, a little bit of tourism, several lovely meals out, and lots of shopping.

Alas, all good things must come to an end eventually, and last Sunday the time came for me to return home. Which, to be honest, wasn't all bad - it is quite tiring to stay in 6 different places during 2 weeks, and besides, it was all sunny and pretty when I got home. But now the holiday (and I do call it a holiday, because those interviews were far from hard work) is over, and it's time to roll up my sleeves and get on with it. Starting with my least favourite bit of this entire process - the transcriptions.

I used to work part time as a transcriber, which I guess I should be grateful for now, since it really helps that I know what I'm doing, and have a reasonably good piece of software to do it with, but it also means I know exactly how boring transcribing is, so I really wasn't looking forward to it. But it has to be done, so I got started on it a couple of days ago, and to be honest, it's been ok. I just finished transcribing my second interview, and I have 8 to go - all shorter than the first two, luckily. So maybe it'll be ok. I can also tell you that it is a great deal more interesting to transcribe interviews on a topic that I'm interested in (even if I'm hearing it all for the second time) as opposed to discussions about engines and such, which is what I had to do when I did this for work. So, it's not all bad.

When I was about to set out on this journey called My Master's Thesis, I read quite a lot of guides on how to do it, and several apps and pieces of software to help out with the process have been suggested on various forums. So far, I've tried out the Pomodoro Technique (or the basic elements of it, at least, not the full program) and it's been working quite well. When I move on to the final stage, when I'm mainly just writing, I may also start using Written? Kitten! which sounds quite fun, and if worst comes to worst, I'm prepared to start using Write or Die. But let's hope it doesn't come to that. But the Pomodoro Technique is good in the sense that it lets you give yourself little rewards (in forms of breaks or whatever you choose to fill those breaks with) every 25 minutes, and it also records your process, so that it is easy to keep track of how many "tomatoes" you've done each day. Which feels pretty good. On Wednesday this week I did 5 "tomatoes", then yesterday 7, and I'm trying to keep that a minimum for a "full" working day. I now actually have 1½ weeks off (our so called "exam week", which is actually more of a week off, since we rarely have any exams, and when we do, they are often on the week before anyway. But we're not allowed to call it a holiday, apparently), so hopefully I should be able to get ahead quite well.

In other news, one of my best friends just had a baby today, and I'm so excited!!! Can't wait till I get to see him! :)

Indecisive, who, me?

Yesterday I found myself, yet again, trying to make sense of the Finnish university system in general, and my situation in particular, to a foreign student. I do see why it is complicated; I mean, I'm technically a post-graduate student, since I'm in my 5th year and working on my Master's thesis, but I've never actually graduated. I'm in my last year' (more about that it a bit), but I'm still taking 2nd year BA courses - in a subject where last year I took MA courses. I'm not really in my 5th year at all, since I've only studied 3½ years. I wrote my BA thesis last spring, and I'm planning to have my MA thesis done by the end of the year. And, as it looks now, I'll be graduating with a BA in March 2013, and an MA only two months later.

So, yes, I do see the confusion.

Ok, a quick disclaimer about that last bit - at the moment it seems entirely possible, and if I do decide to leave uni next year, that'll be what happens. The only thing standing in the way of that plan is me, and my own indecisiveness.

To back up a teeny bit, at the beginning of last month I wrote this post, where I talked about my decision to sort myself out so that I could graduate 6 months earlier than planned, because I want to move back to the UK (still not sure if it'll be London or Edinburgh, that changes on a daily basis). Since then, a few ideas have settled themselves into my head, one after the other, so that it's now pretty crammed... Here's a bit of a sped up version of what's been going on in my head lately:

- So, I want to graduate by Christmas '13 so that I can move back to the UK after that.

- Unleeeess... You're allowed to do a second Erasmus exchange, aren't you?

- If I'm moving to the UK anyway, I might as well spend a year at a university there first - preferably one a bit less shit than the previous one, but I'm not too fussy... And I still have several months of student benefits left, so there's no reason why not!

- Right, I'll check which places got no applications for this autumn, at least I should have a chance to get a place at those... Aberdeen, cool... Wales, the uni's in the middle of nowhere, but there's a really cool program there... And then I'll try Glasgow, just in case...

- ...Although, I should probably find out if that interpreting program in Stockholm is going to be on next year...

- Naah, I don't really fancy going to Stockholm at the moment, I can always do that later...

- Actually, should I just graduate next spring, and then move to London, or Edinburgh, and start working?

-Oh, look, internships in London, and they're even sort of paid ones... Hmm...

So, basically, I've gone from one option to four: exchange, move to London, move to Edinburgh, internship. But at least I've come far enough to know that I want to get my 300 uni credits together by May next year, and then head abroad. Now I just need to figure out the how? and the where?

Surprisingly appropriate, this! From: wehearit

Oh, and PS: If anyone's actually reading this on a regular basis, I'm sure you're really tired of all these changing plans already, but trust me, so is (probably) my family and friends! It's just the way I am, and it probably won't stop here.

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

Back in the burgh

I've just got back after 4 wonderful days in Edinburgh. It felt like I never left at all, that I'd seen everybody just a little while ago, which was great, but that's probably what made leaving again so hard, too.

When I was over there, I realised I'd forgotten quite a few things about Edinburgh. First of all, I'd forgotten how bloody cold, no, absolutely freezing the flats over there can be. I'd forgotten the (in my opinion, although some seem to disagree) disgusting smell of the brewery that sometimes takes over the city, and seems to live permanently in the stairwell of my old flat. I'd forgotten about the bloody tram works, which have now taken over an even greater chunk of central Edinburgh (I remember a time when I could take a bus into Princes street, and not have to walk down the entire (quite long) street (that's always full of people, mainly tourists). Seems so long ago now...). And then there's the wind.

But I'd also forgotten other things. Like how green it is everywhere, and how the tiniest bit of (rare) sunshine can make everything look all happy and lovely. And the particular atmosphere that comes from all those old stone buildings. And how cheap it is, especially food. And British TV! And shopping. And now, in the spring, there are cherry blossoms everywhere, and it's just so very pretty despite the clouds and rain!

Mainly, though, I realised how much I've missed Edinburgh, and all my friends there. And that I really, really  want to move back.


Good thing I'm doing a degree where I can work from anywhere... :)

Cutest cookie jar ever

It was my birthday last weekend, and I just wanted to share the amazingly cute cookie jar my brother got me:

Picture: camilaprada.com

It's called Big Mama, and it's from the series Pepe and friends by Camila Prada. Love it!!

While I'm at it, I might as well show you some of the other cool things I got:

Picture: schnappschenwelten.de

Picture: amazon.com

I also got a small, light-blue Mariskooli (Maribowl), the Doctor Who: Official Annual 2012, a lovely necklace, a "voucher" for a restaurant meal with a friend, a McCall-Smith novel, two bottles of bubbly, one bottle of red, and some chocolate. Not bad, as birthdays go!

It is quite easy to see the motivators behind some of these, particularly the 501-book. Of course I immediately had to check how many I've already been to, and the current total is 48, but I'm working on it :)

Only one week left of this term (and it didn't start out well, as the first day of the last week I spent at home, alternating between blowing my nose and coughing). Then I have a week off before I start work, which will be spent in * drum-roll * Edinburgh! I can't wait to go back!

Retracing my steps

After reading this blogpost I started thinking about what has brought me to where I am at the moment, as well as some of the places I’ve been before.

First, there was France. Ever since I was a kid, I’d been planning to go on exchange when I was old enough. I don’t remember where I first found out about exchange programs, but I know my mum had told me she’d been planning to go to the US for a year when she met my dad, so she changed her plans. I suppose I talked about going on exchange for years, so I never really had to have the talk with my parents, trying to convince them to let me do it – I always assumed I would be going on exchange when the time came. For a long time I wanted to go to New Zealand, but towards the end of high school, when the time was getting closer for me to apply, my parents told me I should go to a non-English speaking country, and since I was studying French, that was the obvious choice.

A year after I got back from my exchange in France, I went back there for a couple of months to work in Disneyland. Once again, it was something I’d been thinking about for a long time. My aunt’s sister in law has been working at Disneyland Paris for years, and ever since I found out about the possibility to go and work there for a summer (which, again, was many years ago) I’d been planning to do it when I was old enough. So I did.

Then there was London, twice. The first time was sort of a coincidence. I was supposed to spend the summer in a small Welsh village, but circumstances changed and I suddenly found myself in South London. Not a bad deal, really. The “second time” was right after, with just a short break in between. This one had a lot more thought put into it. Once again, it was an exchange, Erasmus this time, which was something else I’d intended to do pretty much since I found out about it, whenever that was. The past few years I had considered different options, but Brussels had been the main one since I started studying. At some point London pushed itself into my head, and in the end I applied to go to London and Chester. I got the place in London, and voilà – there I was.

This time around is a completely random one. A strange train of thought is what brought me here, for the simple reason “Why not?”. It started from finding out that my favourite band was performing at the Fringe this August, to the idea that there would be lots of jobs during the festival, so maybe I should apply, to going to Edinburgh in June to spend the summer there, to deciding to stay for an undetermined period of time. And here we are.

50 things about me and travelling

I’ve seen a couple people do this, including Anna so I thought now would be the time to do it myself. Sorry that most of them are a bit long, but it’s a good way to kill time, at least! ;)

1.      So far I have been to 19 foreign countries (and at the airport of one more, but that doesn’t count) on 3 different continents.

2.      Actually, I guess Wales and Scotland would really count as separate countries as well, but let’s just count them as one.

3.      The first time I went abroad (other than to Sweden, which doesn’t really feel like “abroad”) was when I was 13, and three other students and I + two teachers visited a school in Narva, Estonia.

4.      The first time I was on a plane was when I was about 14, and I spent a week in Crete with my mum, my grandmother and my brothers.

5.      I have only been on a package holiday twice; the trip to Crete mentioned above, and a few years later a similar one to Alanya, Turkey. I don’t mind spending a week relaxing on a beach, but otherwise I really dislike those places that are only there for tourists, where even the locals speak some Finnish. Also, the other Finns you see in those places often give you reason to be ashamed of your country.

6.      I once won a three week long language course in Malta for two people. When they called me to tell me about it, I couldn’t even remember having entered any such competition, and I still don’t. Malta was nice, but the course was crap. In three weeks I learned three words; kerb, bleat and itinerary. We didn’t get any kind of cultural experience from staying with a host family either; they clearly took students in just to make money. Still, it’s not a bad place, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy it if I ever go back.

7.      Except for Finland, I have lived in France and the UK. I spent a year on exchange in the French Alps when I was 18, and I went back a year later to work in Disneyland Paris for the summer. I then lived in London twice, basically, in 2010: au pairing from June till September, and then on my Erasmus exchange from September till January. Now I’ve just arrived in Edinburgh, and I’m planning to stay here at least till the end of the summer, but after that we’ll see; I make no promises.

Disney "hotties" à la Discoveryland

 

8.      After my exchange year (2006-07) I spent a year in Finland, but after that I haven’t been in Finland for more than four months at a time, sometimes a lot less.

9.      I’ve clearly made a reputation for myself as a traveller; people are surprised when they see me in Finland, and my parents get asked where in the world I am at the moment – the expectation obviously being that I’m not in Finland.

10.  I’ve always loved London and everything to do with it, even before I ever visited it.

11.  The first time I went to London was in April 2009. Then October ’09, February ’10, June - September ’10, September - December ’10, December ’10 - January ’11, March ’11 and June ’11.

12.  Both previous times that I got back from London this year it took me no more than a week till I’d got myself tickets to go back.

13.  During some of 2009 and most of 2010 I constantly had three trips coming up; after every trip I somehow managed to plan in a new one almost immediately.

14.  I’ve toured Europe three times; twice on bus on Rotary Youth Exchange’s Eurotour (once as an exchange student and once as a tutor) and once by car with my parents after they came down to France to take me home after my exchange.

15.  The longest trip I’ve been on (not counting the times I’ve lived abroad) was on the Christmas holidays of 2009 when I spent five weeks touring Australia and New Zealand.

16.  When I was in New Zealand I wanted to go bungee jumping, but I didn’t have the time. I did go skydiving and caving though.

17.  One of the best things I experienced in Australia was when I was in Canberra, and the people I stayed with took me outside the city where I got to see wild kangaroos pretty close up.

18.  Before I went to Australia, the longest time I’d spent on a plane was about four hours. Suddenly I did 2+12+10. Ouch. I was a bit excited to finally get on a plane with my own TV screen though, but by the time I arrived in Sydney I was over it.

19.  I don’t think I’ve ever loved flying, but there used to be a certain excitement in the whole process of going to the airport, checking in, going through security, boarding, etc. etc., but after I had 13 separate flights in 4½ weeks (on my trip to Oz) I’ve started to consider it as nothing more than a necessary evil.

20.  The longest I’ve ever spent on an airport was six hours in Frankfurt. My connecting flight to Helsinki had been cancelled, so I had to wait for the next one. I’d been travelling for about 24 hours, I was dead tired, it was really early in the morning so nothing was open, I was terribly bored, and I just wanted to get home. So close (compared to Sydney, where I’d started from) but still so very far…

21.  I haven’t been to the US yet, but it’s definitely next on my list. Especially New York. I’d love to spend some time in the US and travel around, seeing places and visiting friends (most of whom I haven’t seen for years).

The New York hotel, Disneyland Paris

 

22.  One of the main reasons why I haven’t been able to go to the US yet, and probably won’t be anytime soon, is because I keep spending my money on trips to London.

23.  I don’t mind travelling on my own. Sometimes it’s even better than to travel with someone; I can do exactly what I like, without having to make compromises. But to be honest, I’ve never done a whole trip by myself; I’ve gone to London and Australia on my own, but I always met up with people I knew for some hours, or even days.

24.  One of the random things I love about travelling is going out for breakfast or brunch! There’s no brunch culture in Finland, and I think there should be! Actually, I might take a break from writing this now and go across the street to the Treehouse Café for some brunch… 

Brekkie in Sydney

25.  I used to love Paris. Then, after I’d been there eight times in two years (one of those times actually lasting for two months, with visits into town about twice a week) I got a bit tired of it; it felt a bit ‘been there, done that’. It’s a shame, really, because Paris is lovely. But I’m sure I’ll like it whenever I end up going back – maybe we just needed a break from each other... ;)

26.  For me, learning a language is pretty closely related to living abroad. I studied French for four years before going there on exchange, but I didn’t speak it well at all back then – I only learned it well because I was living there. I studied German for about 2½ years, and then I stopped because it got too difficult. I think the only way that I’d learn it properly, or at least better, would be to live in a German-speaking country. I’m not too keen on Germany though, at the moment anyway, but maybe Austria could be an option. One day, perhaps...

27.  I think travelling might be in my genes. My grandparents are always travelling all over the world; I’m never sure if I can call them, because I never know if they’re actually in Finland. It has to be said, though, that I seem to be “worse” than them; they didn’t really start it until they were in their forties (I think?), so I’ll probably catch up with them soon enough.

28.  I love the Tube. Well, not when it’s busy, but in general, I love it. Having spent a few months in London, I saw the map for the Paris metro (after not having seen it for ages), and it just looked so complicated, none of the lines seem to connect! I don’t remember feeling like this when I was there, but now that I compare it to the Tube map, it looks like you’d have to take huge de-tours to get anywhere. Mind the gap!

29.  I joined Couch Surfing in 2009, and since then I’ve hosted people from Germany, the US, Japan, Australia and France. I’ve surfed people’s couches in Melbourne, Edinburgh and Cardiff, I had someone from CS show me around in Bath and Edinburgh, and I’ve been to the weekly meetings in London and Edinburgh. It’s a great way to get to know a place and a culture, and of course to meet people. I haven’t stayed in touch with everyone I’ve met through CS, but I’ve made several good friends who I’ve seen since, and who I’ll hopefully see again. I definitely recommend it!

30.  The scariest experience I’ve had abroad was New Year’s Eve in the French Alps; I went to a party on a skiing station, and the guy who was driving was probably the most drunk of us all. Apparently, because of some crazy French laws on insurance, no one else could drive his car, so he was the one driving a car with seven people crammed into it down these steep, narrow, slippery mountain roads. I was sure I’d die. It’s easy to say that you shouldn’t get into a car when the driver’s drunk, but what do you do when you’re in some small village in the mountains, you don’t really know anyone, and you barely speak the language?

31.  While living in London, I visited Bath, Edinburgh, Salisbury & Stonehenge, Brighton, Cardiff and Cambridge. I was planning to go to Canterbury, but in the end I couldn’t go. I also went to Richmond a few times, and to Kingston, but they sort of count as London, I think.

32.  I don’t like taking the bus in most places, not even at home. It gets me all nervous. The problem with the bus is that you need to know where you’re going before you’ve ever been there! It’s not enough to say “Get off the bus when you see a church,” because there’s the pressing of the button that needs to take place before getting off, i.e. before you see the church. Stressful! Some places, like London, Chessy (where Disneyland Paris is) and this little place I went to in Germany, have this great system where they tell you which stop is coming up, so that you don’t have to stress. Much better, I think!

33.  I don’t like looking like a tourist, even when I am one. I always want to look like I know exactly what I’m doing and where I’m going. It’s great when I do so well with this that people come and ask me directions in places I’ve never been before. Like the time I was completely lost in Richmond Park, and I just tried to find a way, any way, out of there, and this guy I’d walked by a few times already came up to me and said: “You seem to know this park very well, do you know where X is?”.

34.  I love making scrapbooks about my trips and stays abroad; so far I’ve got a huge one from my year in France, another one from my summer in Disneyland, and one with my trip Down Under and a few of the ones to London. I’ve been planning to make one about my seven months in London ever since I got back, but I haven’t had the cash, or the time, yet.

35.  Out of the times I’ve been to London, three have been with my mother. When we go, we usually follow quite a specific programme; one show, one museum, one market, and one full day of shopping. The rest depends on our mood, but usually we sneak in some shopping the other days, too. Afternoon tea is also a classic.

36.  As a traveller I’ve been very lucky in the sense that my luggage has never been lost or delayed (touch wood).

37.  I did once have to spend a night at an airport, though. I got locked out of the house when I was going to get my stuff and go to the airport (let it be known that I was innocent in this!), so I arrived at Luton 5 minutes after my flight had left. I decided to get the next flight to Edinburgh (of course the new ticket was almost double the price that I had paid for my original return ticket), which was 9 hours later, and as it would have taken 3 hours each way if I’d decided to go home, I stayed at Luton. The longest, most boring, and actually even, I’d say, worst night of my life.

38.  Another thing I’ve been lucky in is that I’ve never been sick abroad (again, touch wood), so I’ve never had any encounters with the health care system of another country. Don’t really wish to, either.

39.  Speaking of being sick, when my family went to Turkey on holiday for a week, everybody got sick at some point – everybody except me! They were all throwing up and such, and we don’t know what it was, exactly, but somehow I resisted.

40.  And sort of in the same category; the only time I’ve been far enough to risk jet lag was Australia, but I was fine both ways. I arrived in Sydney at 9pm, we went out for a drink, I was in bed at 11, and then I slept like a baby till about 10 in the morning; better than I usually sleep, even. Not sure if this jet laglessness is connected to my occasional insomnia; maybe one takes out the other?

41.  I’ve got a bit better at packing for trips, i.e. not over-packing, at least not that much, but on the other hand I do over-pack on a day-to-day basis. Every time I went into town for the day last summer in London, I’d lug heaps of stuff around with me: sunglasses + case, possibly sun cream, water bottle, umbrella if there was the slightest chance of rain, a book for reading on the tube, my London Lonely Planet for maps (at least I only took the pocket sized one), wallet, calendar (I know, right?!), iPod, a light jumper... And that was for a place with fairly consistent weather! Imagine what it’ll be like here (in Edinburgh), where you can get every type of weather known to man in a single day? I’ll have to bring a suitcase whenever I want to go out...

42.  The smallest country I’ve been to is Monaco, and I’ve been there three times. Once is more than enough, believe me. Bloody expensive, too, and I say that as a Finn!

43.  Someday I want to rent a car and do a road trip in Scotland, and maybe the rest of the UK too while I’m at it. I’ll just need to find someone who’s willing to drive here to join me first.

44.  Pretty much the only reason I went on a weekend trip to Cardiff last year was because I’d had too much “Cardiff exposure”, i.e. I’d been watching quite a lot of Torchwood. I told myself that wasn’t why, but it sort of was.

45.  I haven’t really been to places where being blonde has been that special, but once, on Eurotour, I did have four Taiwanese girls suddenly gathering around me to play with my hair.

46.  Unlike most people I’ve spoken to, I didn’t like Berlin one bit. I think it’s probably because it was part of Eurotour, I didn’t do or see very much, and most of our time there was spent on a very boring guided bus tour. I should probably give it another chance, and Couch Surf there this time. But they did have great kebab, and that’s high praise coming from someone who never eats kebab at home.

47.  When abroad, I always tell people off when they talk in their own language and expect people around them not to understand – I always say that one day, the person whose hair you’re criticising in Finnish or Swedish or whatever will reply to you. Of course then I went and did that myself! Good thing I was admiring the jewellery that girl was selling, it would have been very awkward otherwise, but I did learn my lesson.

48.  Once on the Tube I ran into someone I had met in Sydney earlier that year. I wasn’t even supposed to go into town that day, but I’d had to change my plans last minute. She was in London for a few hours only, she’d only flown there from Australia and was taking the Eurostar to Brussels that afternoon. We ended up on the same train, in the same carriage, at the same time. Totally crazy! I’ve had something similar happen to me twice more after that, both times in London actually, but that one was by far the weirdest coincidence I have ever experienced.

49.  I used to think Finland was crap, and that I’d never stay there for longer than I had to. Spending a year in France taught me that maybe Finland isn’t that bad after all, and after I moved back from London (even though it’s a place I love more than anything) I was thinking that maybe I’ll live in Finland and just travel a lot. Time will tell, but it’s definitely not ruled out. As it turns out, Finland is a pretty great place to live!

50.  I do travel a lot, and I do have all kinds of plans, but what I’ve just done is pretty extreme, even for me. A few weeks ago I was all set to spend the summer in Finland, hopefully getting at least a bit of work, and then suddenly, overnight, almost, I decided to go to Edinburgh for a couple of months. And two weeks later I did just that. Sometimes I surprise even myself.