valencia!!

 so it's VALENCIA on the 20th of January 2012 then!

i bought my flight about an hour ago, finally. ive been talking a lot about buying it but i just haven't done it. until today! happy happy happy! so im gonna leave on the 20th of January (Friday) in the afternoon from Helsinki-Vantaa airport (Finland) towards Spain. First im gonna fly to Barcelona (<3) and then from Barcelona to Valencia, and i will be there at 00.25 or something.

Then i have ten days to "make myself home" (as if it happened that fast..) before the school begins. Luckily i have one person from our school there already (she's gonna stay there also for the spring) so i guess i wont be totally alone during the first days there :) and there are two other girls coming to Valencia from our school for the spring too!

im excited now! im so looking forward to leaving, but first i should get my courses registered and some papers sent there too. i already decided the courses once and sent the papers there but now i have to do it again.... well, quite a many persons have said to me that it's anything but easy with the course registering and stuff when going there... well i just have to go and talk with our school's coordinator and try to get these issues solved as soon as possible.

enough for now,

¡adios!

motivation?

heeeello.

i havent been blogging because i have a huge motivation problem with EVERYTHING. if motivation can be bought somewhere, please tell me.

i started studying again about a month ago and im already pissed off with my studies. every other week i work in our school's "restaurant" (as a part of studies, without being paid...) and those days aren't always easy. the other weeks we have theory lessons and i have those even more than working in that restaurant. i cant concentrate. im not too interested in the things we go through, and even though i would be, i get depressed of all the work we have to do for our courses. at this moment my motivation is all gone and i would quit my studies if i could. the only thing that keeps my going, or should i say studying, is that there are not soooo many months any more till i go to spain for exchange. i would be so ready to go already!!

me working at school.... "good times" NOT?

on september i had quite a lot going on. i moved - again - but now im happy with where i live. i dont know how ill be able to leave this apartment when i go to spain... im also one year older now. i turned 20 about a week ago (an age crisis!) and i celebrated that with my friends last weekend.

two years ago, as i turned 18, we were in barcelona with my friend. "good times" YES!!

one thing that makes me at least a bit happier is that i started riding again. Riding has always been the only hobby that i like and it has been 11 years now since i started it. i hadnt ridden a horse for half an year but last week i had my first riding lesson again. happyface! and today was another lesson. it makes me forget all the stress etc and makes me feel better - i can feel it.

me and the pony i rented an year ago :)

whooaa i got this updated. maybe one day ill find my motivation again and update this more often. lets see about that..

Tallinn, Estonia

Finally I got to visit Tallinn, Estonia! Ive never been there before (often asked "how have you been able to avoid going there??") and it's kind of weird because many Finns go there more than one time a year (mostly to get cheap alcohol..).

So me and my three friends booked an "day cruise" for Wednesday, and it cost 18 euros / person, not bad at all! this day cruise -thing means that the ferry leaves Helsinki at 11.30, arrives in Tallinn at 14.00 - then you have four hours to spend in Tallinn, before the ferry leaves at 18.00 and arrives back in Helsinki at 20.30. For us that time was enough in Tallinn - we went around shopping a few hours, then to a restaurant for "late lunch" and then to SuperAlko (big selection of alcohol, cheap prices) and then back to the ferry. It would have been nice to visit the « Old town » but it located a bit too far away so we didnt have time for that. Later we also continued our evening to Helsinki's nightlife :)

Here's some basic information about Tallinn. Obviously, it's the capital (and the largest city) of Estonia. It is located in the northern coast of the country (really not far away from Helsinki..), actually on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland. Tallinn is named a European Capital of Culture for 2011 (as well as Turku, Finland). Finnish name for the city is Tallinna. The Old Town of Tallinn is a UNESCO Worlds Cultural Heritage site since 1997. 
 

Tallinn is quite international city since there live a lot of people who are not Estonians. Actually just 52.2% of Tallinn's population consists of Estonians (in 2009); 38.6% consists of Russians, 3.8% of Ukrainians, 2.1% of Belarusians, 0.6% of Finns and 2.7% of others. Estonian language is of the Finnic group, closely related to the Finnish language.

Some notable headquarters are located in Tallinn:

• NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence
• Estonian Air headquarters
• Skype, software development centre
• Ericsson, big production facilities, focusing on the producing of 4G communication devices
  

There are quite a many places for education in Tallinn.

• Tallinn University
• Tallinn University of Technology
• Estonian Business School
• Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre
• Estonian Academy of Arts
• Public Service Academy
• Estonian Evangelical Lutheral Church Institute of Theology

Tallinn is very easily accessible to tourist since the accession to the European Union and as it has improved air and sea transport links with Western Europe.

When it comes to transporting systems, the city operates a system of bus, tram and trolley-bus routes to all districts. Payment for single tickets is made either by pre-purchase of tickets at street-side kiosks or by a purchase from the transport vehicle. Monthly cards are available by registering through the national ID-card. There has been a helicopter service to and from Helsinki taking 18 minutes to cross the Gulf of Finland.

Several ferry operators connect Tallinn to

• Helsinki (Finland)
• Åland (Finland)
• Stockholm (Sweden)
• Rostock (Germany).

Passenger lines connect Tallinn to Helsinki (83 kilometres north of Tallinn) in approximately 2–3.5 hours by cruiseferries. Tallinn also has a commuter rail service running from Tallinn's main rail station in two main directions: east and to several western destinations. Frequent and affordable long-distance bus routes connect Tallinn with other parts of Estonia.

So there's a bit about Tallinn. All the basic information is from Wikipedia, so if you want to see the sources, you will find them from Wikipedia with the search « Tallinn ». I liked the city and will definitely visit Tallinn again!

Tampere

  
Hello!

So I haven't been able to update for a while since my internet connection SUCKS. Now im gonna try so that this blog doesn't become dead before i have even began with it.

Well life has been quite normal recently except the fact that ive managed to get some kind of a summer flu – and been sick sor a week now. I hope ill get better soon because i dont wanna spend my last weeks of holiday being sick.

But now the point of this post. Ive already told a bit about Helsinki, the capital of Finland (and i will tell more in the future), but now i wanna tell about another big city of Finland – Tampere. I spent the previous weekend in Tampere because me and my family were invited to a wedding. We spent the night in a very nice hotel called Tammer, not the cheapest one, but i wasnt the one who paid for it :D

the view from our hotel room window

So, I dont know if you have heard about this city before, but it's the third most-populous city in Finland. It is situated in inner land, southern Finland in a region called Pirkanmaa (1,5 hours from Helsinki by train, 2 hours by car). Its also located between two quite big lakes that are linked by Tammerkoski (streaming through the city). In the past Tampere used to be the big center of Finland industry.

In the region of Tampere there are two universities and two polytechnics (total amount of students: about 40 000). Actually I applied to one of the polytechnics an year ago but i didnt get in. The degree programme I applied to was an international degree programme implemented in English. I thought I would apply there again this spring but i didnt because im quite content with my current study place.

If you are a person interested in culture, art or architecture, you should definitely visit Tampere if you happen to come to Finland. Together with Helsinki (and maybe Turku) I guess it's the richest city, culturally. It has old theatre traditions and an international theatre festival is also held in Tampere every August – Tampere Theatre Festival. There is also an international short film festival which is held in Tampere every March. Music is also important part of the city's culture (especially rock music) – Tammerfest is held every July (urban rock festival, maybe the most popular music festival in the city), Tampere Jazz Happening each November and a few a bit smaller happenings. There is also a big art museum in Tampere.

Spots or places to see/visit:

• Särkänniemi amusement park (the main tourist attraction), there is also a dolphinarium and a landmark calles Näsinneula tower
• Tampere Cathedral
• Tammerkosken silta (the bridge over the « rapids » thats streaming through the city)
• The Vapriikki Museum Centre, including the Natural History Museum of Tampere
• The Muumilaakso Museum (if you are familiar with the most popular children's creatures in the nordic countries, Moomins)
• Finland's largest glass sculpture, installedin the lobby of the KoskiKeskus (a shopping mall) – the sculpture is called « Pack Ice / The Mirror of the Sea »
  

Well there's something to begin with when going to Tampere. Personally ive been there just less than ten times in my life even though it's near and one of the nicest cities in Finland. I also got a lot of new information when writing this because i had to search information from the internet – no, i didn't already know all of this! :D Maybe i have to go to Tampere soon now that i also know a bit more about it... let's see.

a few things about me

Here are a few things about me, implemented through answering to some questions.

Romance

1. What is the most romantic color? without hesitation; dark red, like a rose

2. When do you wanna get married? when I find a right man

3. Lips or eyes? eyes

4. Have you ever kissed? yeeees

5. Do you believe in love at the first sight? I want to believe

6. Are candles romantic? yes I think they are

7. Do you dream about something at the moment? yes, about a lot of things! I'm a dreamer

8. When was the last time you watched a romantic movie? on Friday

9. Are you happy? I could be happier

10. Are you in a relationship right now? no I'm not

11. Are you a romantic person? yes, quite romantic I guess
12. Have you been cheated on? no, thank god

13. The most beautiful thing that someone has said to you? "I will always come back to you"

14. Have you ever been really in love? I don't think so, I've just had a huge crush on someone a few times

Food

15. What is you favorite ice cream flavor? mm.. nougat and strawberry, I love ice cream!!

16. Vegetables or fruits? fruits

17. Do you like berries? yes, especially strawberries :)

18. Chicken or fish? chicken!

19. Do you like spicy food? not too spicy

20. Are you vegetarian? no I'm not

21. Do you like traditional Christmas food? well I can't speak for other countries' traditions, but no, I don't like Finnish Christmas food so much

22. Do you drink a lot of water? I should drink more

23. Do you like chocolate? What's your favorite? oh yes I love chocolate.. all kinds! at the moment white chocolate may be my favorite

24. Do you drink milk? no, I don't like it

25. Do you like pasta? love it

Traveling

26. Place where you would like to go to? to many countries but I must say I would like to go to Spain already! (I'm gonna be in exchange there next spring)

27. Which countries have you visited? Sweden, Holland, Spain, Italy, Portugal

28. Latest trip? to the Hague, Holland, last May

29. Are you interested in some country's culture especially? Mediterranean culture

30. Which languages can you speak? Finnish, Swedish, English, French, a bit of Italian & Spanish
31. Would you like to help developing countries? yes that could be a rewarding job

Basics

32. Female or male? female

33. Piercings? three earrings

34. Tattoos? no

35. What do you think about your future? right now I'm just looking forward to the exchange in Spain

36. What are you afraid of? thunderstorm, airplanes, death, pain ...

37. What kind of mobile phone do you have? Samsung Galaxy S, white one with touch screen

38. Do you like sports? Personally I'm not very active.. I like riding and watching football (I have played it too)

39. Your lucky number? 4 and 14

40. Favorite color? red! ..or should I say "darkish red"

When was the last time you....

41. ...hugged your friend? on Friday

42. ...wore a red shirt? today, okay it was light pink but isn't that red too?

43. ...drank coffee? I don't remember.. usually I drink coffee only at work or at school

44. ...got a text message? this afternoon

45. ...called your friend? yesterday

46. ...smoked? on Thursday

47. ...laughed a lot? on Friday

48. ...moved? in April, but I'm moving again in September

49. ...ate chocolate? on Friday

50. ...cried? last week I guess

Okay, that was that! (I would have added a few pictures but apparently I have a problem loading them, so...)

how to begin?

Hello. Hei. Hej. Ciao. Hola.

The beginning is always the hardest part, they say, right?

I hope that's true, because I'm having a lot of problems with this beginning. Okay, let's see.

Barcelona - fall 2009

The purpose of this blog is to follow my way to more international life; yes, that's what I want from my future. After high school I applied to study tourism in English, but I didn't quite make it into the University of Applied Sciences that I applied into. So now I'm studying something else that can also mean an international career for me: hotel and restaurant management. And since I live in Finland, this degree programme is in Finnish. Personally I'm more into the hotel management -part.

I've always been interested in foreign countries and cultures, and also studying other languages. I don't know yet exactly what I want to do or what kind of career I want after all, but one thing was sure when thinking about options; at least tourism business and international things interest me, so I considered it as the best option for me at this point of my life. After all, it's important to do something you like, right?

Riga - spring 2011 (transferring flights on the way to Holland)

When it comes to studying other languages, the theory part is the easy part for me - I just should speak more and get used to speaking other languages, otherwise it doesn't feel natural at all. Here's an example: I've been studying French like 11 years now. I can write quite fluently and I know the theory rules quite well, but speaking - big NO. I can hardly form a sentence, because I haven't get used to the speaking part and inside my head I think too much. And it's the same with other languages. Well surprise surprise Finnish is the one I speak fluently as a mother tongue, but so far I've also studied Swedish (as it's obligatory in Finland), English, French, a bit of Italian and Spanish. In the matriculation exams (final tests of Finnish high school) I took the English, Swedish and French tests and passed them all well (speaking part is not a part of these tests!).

Madeira - spring 2009

Okay then I go on with something about the international parts of my life so far. After all I haven't travelled much in my life. Okay, in Sweden I've visited several times by cruises, but other than that I've just been in Lisboa, Portugal (okay I was like 4 years old then.. I don't remember almost anything except seeing giraffes in the zoo); Eilat, Israel (about 8 years old, I don't have many memories from that place either); Tropea, Italy (loved that place, one perfect beach vacation!); Madeira, Portugal (very beautiful place, good memories); Barcelona, Spain (when turning 18, my first trip with my friend, meaning no parents or other adults, it was AWESOME) and the Hague, Holland/Netherlands (with my friend, very nice trip!). And that's about it. I think as a place I loved Barcelona the most (I could go back there anytime!) but when it comes to people I liked the Hague, because there we were mostly with exchange students from all over the world since we were staying at my friend's (who were there also as an exchange student) place. But the best is yet to come - I'm going for an exchange period to Valencia, Spain for next spring (2012)! I'm so looking forward to that - even though I don't know Spanish very well yet. I'm going to study in English (Tourism degree, Faculty of economics) but of course knowing Spanish makes it easier to cope with the everyday life there.

Well that's about all for now. To be continued some other day, hahah.

Madeira - spring 2009