not gonna give up

My university classes are cancelled today because of a protest / strike etc. But that doesn't mean "a day-off" for me - there are still too many things to do, such as a few presentations, preparing for the oral exam (French) or starting to study for final exams (panic!). Today I've spent some hours with the Spanish economy -course material (the course I'm most likely gonna fail). My feeling of failing the course only strengthened as the professor had uploaded some previous tests for us to see. I could actually answer to none of the questions. How encouraging... One example (from last fall's exam):

Question 4  
In  2008  and  2009  it  seemed  that  the  Spanish  banking  intermediaries  coped  well  with the  negative  impact  of  the  global  financial  crisis.  However,  starting  from  2010 important  problems  raised  in  the  Spanish  banking  system  which  have  led  to  a profound reform of the sector 
a)  Explain  the  reasons  behind  the  reduced  impact  of  the  financial  crisis  in  the  Spanish 
banking  sector  compared  to  other  banking  sectors  in  Western  economies  in  2008  and 
2009. 
b) Explain the nature of the banking crisis in Spain starting from 2010 and its impact on 
the real economy. 
c) What tools have been used to address the banking crisis?

Other questions included some tables and figures so I couldn't use them as an example. But now, you know what I mean? Situation would be completely different if I was studying economics or financing or ... but let me remind you, I'm studying hotel and restaurant management / tourism. I haven't had any courses of economics (macro-, micro-, international -, ..) so I have no basis for this whole course. I seriously shouldn't have chosen this course, or I should have dropped out of it in the beginning. But now, here I am. At least I can honestly say that I've learned a lot, even if I didn't pass the final exam. I don't believe in my chances to pass it but at least I know that I'm doing the best I can. I'm not a person who gives up so easily..!

Mother's Day

First of all, happy Mother's Day to all the mothers - your "job" may be the most important in the world, don't forget that :-) And that's why you're more than allowed to enjoy this day, this is only for you!

According to the Internet, the water is around +17 degrees, and yes, I went there and it WAS warm!

For me, this day hasn't been special in any way. I thought I would spend all the weekend on the beach, and yes, I was there yesterday, but as I - surprise surprise - managed to get my nose sunburned (it hurts!), I didn't go there today because I seriously couldn't expose my face (mainly nose) to the sun anymore.. So now I'm just waiting for the lovely moment when my skin starts to peel off from my nose.. f*ck. So today, just cleaning and school work for me (at least that was the intention, now that I think about it I feel like I haven't got anything done).

the temperature was over +30 degrees. No wonder why the beach was filled with people!

I also saw CLOUDS when I left. Haven't seen them in a while.

A few facts have hit me quite hard lately. The first one is that there are two weeks of actual school left. Yay for that, but also booooo for that because it means that there are many tasks and projects to be finished. Stress! After these two weeks, it's time for exams (I already feel the anxiety and the whole new level of stress coming).

Another fact is that UEFA EURO 2012 is getting closer, day by day (26 days left)! I've already spotted some fan stuff in the stores, such as Spanish flags, caps, horns, scarfs, bags.. I haven't yet decided which items I will buy ;-) Luckily I'll have almost all of my exams before the opening kick off so then I can fully concentrate on the matches! Unfortunately I'm not staying here long enough to witness the victory of Spain, but I'm sure I can celebrate it in Finland too :-)

weheartit.com

The third fact is that my return to Finland is also getting closer, day by day. I don't know what to think about it. Okay, I can't even tell you how much I wait to see all the people I'm missing so much, but at the same time I'm distressed because I don't feel that I'm ready to leave quite yet. Am I gonna be ready in five weeks? I don't know, but then it's time to go. Ready or not. That's confusing.. Five weeks?

weheartit.com

once again ...

.. I'm feeling sick. surprise surprise! I don't accept this anymore. The reason must be the same as the reason why I was sick all the time last summer: mold. Once I've been exposed to the mold damage (in my apartment last summer), I'm more sensible to have a reaction against it again, even if there wasn't much of it. And as in our current apartment, there had been some kind of a renovation in our bathroom due to a moisture damage before we moved here, I'm sure there's some mold left in the structures/fabrics, maybe not observable but enough to cause a reaction in me. The symptoms are exactly the same (as those that I had last summer and as they are described in various web pages): prolonged cold / flu symptoms, coughing, sneezing (ALL THE TIME), sore throat (killing me), blocked nose, irritated&itchy skin, skin rash, itchy eyes, headaches etc. Like a prolonged flu without fever. Frustrated? Yes! Irritated? Yes!

Oh well. I felt terrible this morning, then it got better, but now it's worse again. I'm a bad person and I didn't go to the English class (I would have become even more frustrated there - yesterday we were only three students there and we practiced verb infinitives & -ing-forms..).
Weather has been too good lately. Sun sun sun, no clouds, no wind. I'm sweating at home, at school, outside. All day long (okay evenings are good). I shouldn't complain (because I hate coldness) but this goes almost over the top. In my opinion, +26-28 would be an optimal temperature in the daytime, but at least yesterday, I was going to school at 7pm and the thermometers outside still indicated +31 degrees. At 7pm?! And it's only May.. this is not normal :D There wouldn't be any problem if I could spend the days lying on the beach - but I can't! Maybe on the weekend... if my throat hasn't killed me by then.

PS. I've run out of the salt liquorice :( now I have to wait 'til Finland to get more of it, nooooo!! I'm also craving the basic oatmeal porridge, Elovena's apple-cinnamon oatmeal porridge...

 Sometimes you just miss those times that you can never get back.

ideas...?

I'm sorry I haven't posted anything for a while. And I'm quite sure that it will be like that for the whole month.. I'm so stressed about everything, all the school works and assignments are accumulated 'til the end of the semester = this month, and the exams are coming. I'm distressed and I don't know how I'm gonna manage with all that stuff... ajidewoöidf my head is gonna blow up at some point.

And I don't think you are interested in reading about my stress, so that's why it's gonna be quite quiet in here. If I don't come up with anything else to write about, I won't write at all because I don't want to feel like I'm forced to write posts. If you have some ideas you want me to write about / you want to know about / you want to see pictures of, just tell me, ideas are always welcome. Of course I would like to keep this blog alive, but in order to do so, I need some creative help to find out something to write about.

PS. 32 days to go -> UEFA EURO 2012, go Spain!!
PPS. 43 days left in Spain ... :o wtf!

Ibiza-trip, pictures

Okay, here we go. This post consists mainly of pictures and I have to say it wasn't easy to choose pictures for this post as in most of the pictures there were some people, and I don't know if they want to appear in my blog. So that's why the pictures may be a bit boring - landscapes etc., but I just have no right to publish pictures of people without asking them.

Denia

So, last Thursday (April 26th) me and over 500 people packed ourselves into several buses and started a trip towards Ibiza. First we went to the port of Denia by buses (2-3 hours), then we got our boat tickets (distributed name by name, frustrating...) and got into the Baleària ferry. The ferry trip took about 3 hours and then we arrived to the port of Ibiza. Then we still had to pack ourselves into the buses in order to get to the apartment hotels we were staying in.

people waiting to get into the ferry

party started already on the ferry

the underlay of the plate in a cafe/restaurant where we had our first "breakfast

the fridge got full immediately...

I'm not gonna write about our daily programs, just about a few things I want to mention. The first surprise occurred when I was brushing my teeth for the first time: the water was salty. I mean the tap water, as well as the shower water. My skin (or hair) really didn't like the fact that taking a shower meant the same as swimming in the sea.

Finally, proper ciders! Okay, no Somersby, but at least Rekorderlig and Kopparberg

the view from our balcony, the bright thing there is an airplane coming

the water was a bit cold but I made it!

Our hotel's pool area. The hotel complex consisted of many buildings, bars, cafes, pools, supermarket, etc.

Playa d'en Bossa. You can see the hotel on the left, it was that close to the beach.

The first two days were a bit cloudy but then the weather got better, okay it was windy but still sunny. I got more tanned during the trip, yay! and actually I didn't even got sunburned as I was quite careful with the sun lotion.

tanning by the pool

i just love that color of the sea..! it isn't the same here in Valencia

sunrise

As I told in the previous post, the trip can be summarized in two words: sun and drinking. I don't actually know what more could I tell because it's hard to tell about specific things or happenings or situations without mentioning names. So maybe I just leave it that way.

And how would I describe Ibiza? A party-island. That's mainly what it is.

the port of Ibiza

on the ferry, heading back to Denia

On Tuesday (1st of May, hyvää vappua!!) we checked out of the hotel - packed ourselves into the buses (once again) - drove to the port of Ibiza - waited there for a looooong time - got into the ferry, arrived back to Denia - packed ourselves into the buses and finally arrived back to Valencia. The trip was good, but as always, it was also good to come back home.

PS. less than 50 days left in Spain?! that's insane.

back to reality

Greetings from Ibiza!

We came back from our trip yesterday and I was just wondering how tired a human can be. Yesterday was a long day so I think everybody was actually happy to get back to Valencia. And what about Ibiza? Right. Two words can summarize the place: sun & drinking. Okay the first two days were not so sunny but otherwise I guess that everyone got at least a bit sunburned because of lying on the beach or by the pool (yep, we stayed in an apartment hotel that was right on the beach - Playa d'en Bossa - and there were also a few swimming pools - perfection). I'm proud of myself because I didn't even burn myself badly (just some parts of my face I guess..). And drinking? People were there with drinks in their hands all the time. In the morning already. And DJ was playing in the pool area from 2pm 'til the evening. And then, there were pool parties, house parties, beach parties, clubs, .. So, if you're into partying, Ibiza is a perfect place for you - there's always something! Actually you could say that parties never stop on Ibiza.

Right. I just wanted to prove that I'm alive. Now I have to return to reality and start preparing myself for schooooooool. You'll get more pictures later. Adioss!

tomorrow....

...we're going tooo Ibizaaaaa!

Nothing special to write about so I just came to say that; have a good weekend and enjoy the 1st of May celebrations! I'll be back (hopefully) in Valencia on Tuesday, so see u then! Adioooooss!

Pictures from weheartit.com

black 'n' white

Pictures of Valencia. Black & white, just for a change.

Puerta del Mar

+ one colorful bonus picture.

Puente de las Flores

friiiiiday

walking to the school, at 8.30am

University campus

I can tell you I wasn't too happy this morning when my phone woke me up at 7.30 - after 5 hours of sleep. Okay it was partly my own fault as I couldn't go to bed earlier, but once I did, I still couldn't sleep. My morning also included make-up problems and clothing problems so I was a bit late for school, once again (but after this kind of morning I'm proud of the fact that I actually made it to the school!). And by the way, that's one bad habit I've adopted here in Spain - being late for school.

I've always been quite punctual with school in Finland. Before starting to study in Laurea University of Applied Sciences, I was always on time - seriously, every day. Sometimes I had to run to school because I didn't want to be late. In Laurea, there's the issue called public transportation. I hate the fact that I'm dependent on buses to get to the school. Because of them I've been late a few times. Not often, but still a few times. And here? Everyone's late. If you go to school 5 minutes before the class, the room is probably empty. The teachers don't usually care if people come late - they also come late. I've seen people coming 45 minutes late and the teachers haven't said anything. Of course there are exceptions - one of my teachers is very strict about the timings (I'm never late for his lectures :-D). He usually doesn't let people in after he has started the lecture and I can't blame him - if I was the teacher, I would be irritated because of all the people opening and shutting the door after the lecture has began. But my point is that people are not very punctual here and I've also adopted that habit. For me it's usually 5 to 15 minutes - not 45 minutes as for some people - but I still have to get rid of the habit before going back to Finland!

Classroom buildings

Well. After the class I stayed at school and tried get some Spanish economy stuff done but my work wasn't very successful. When I was leaving I ran into Nina and stayed there still a while with her. On my way home I was taking some random pictures (as you can see) and one guy thought that I took a picture of him and came to ask me if I wanted him to take a picture of me. I refused and kept on walking. Well, he followed me and asked where I was from, why I was taking pictures, who I am, do I like Spain, how long I've been in Valencia ... and so on. He was funny, laughed all the time. He was quite new in Valencia, from Barcelona, doing some final project etc. here. He kept on asking about Finland and called me "his new Finnish friend" after a few minutes, weird people around here! haha. I agreed to probably have a coffee with him some day.

University buildings and the parking area

By the way, apparently I took the wind with me from Málaga! I wonder how my windows are still in place as it's been so windy today and yesterday. I wish tomorrow would be better because we have planned on going to the beach!