The Winter Wonderland

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Hold the search party! Yes, I am still alive, still in Finland, but I can occasionally understand the locals now! I could make excuses for why I haven't written lately, but there's no good ones. It's just been on my 'to do' list for a very long while but never quite made it to the top until now.

So, the Navy is well and truly over now (silent cheering) and life is far more comfortable. I'm still living in Helsinki, but I've got a new apartment (well, it was new in September) not too far from the city centre. Granted, it is in Kallio - another "ghetto" (albeit Scandinavian ghetto), but it's a lot nicer than my old apartment in Itäkeskus (the east centre), and I like to think that it's what's on the inside that counts.

And my new place rocks.

There are normally 2 girls living here (Varpu and Iitu), but from September through December, Varpu was living is Barcelona, so I lived in her room. Then from January, and now until April, Iitu is in South America, so I moved into her room. The best part about it is that the place is already furnished, so I didn't have to buy anything (except a colander, I got tired of always losing bits of spagetti into the sink...). Being able to practice my Finnish is great as well, plus I've inherited all their friends, (as crazy as most of them are, but in a good way of course).

On monday through thursday I go to finnish classes in the afternoon. Honestly, if you add in the homework (which, on the odd occasion, I actually do), I think that's about all the language study I could handle without my brain melting. I think I'm doing ok with it as well. I find it funny when I talk to people who have been learning finnish for a month and think that they're starting to get the hang of it. Even after 5 or 6 months of study, you still really don't know how deep the proverbial rabbit hole goes. But at least there's a certain sense of satisfaction in knowing that it's one of the more difficult languages in the world to learn, even if about as practical as latin. The other day some friends wanted to see if I had an accent when I spoke finnish. The concensus was that I didn't really have an accent so much, I just sounded a little retarded... thanks guys.

On weekends I normally work in a bar in the midddle of Helsinki called Vltava. Not glamorous work, but the people there are fun to hangout with and it pays the rent. There's actually now about 4 places I work at around town. It's nice when they call me direct and ask if I can come work, rather than them going through the temp agency. At least I must be doing something right.

I managed to get home for about a month in January which was really nice. Just to be out of the dark and see some proper sunshine after 2 months of clouds was great. We spent about 3 weeks up skiing at a lake near where we live, then I spent a week back in Cairns catching up with friends I hadn't seen for ages. Good times.

So that's my life in a nutshell right now! All the generalities, no specifics. Promise to (try to) write more often.

(Pictures to come. I know a blog is kind of boring without pics, but you see, I can't find the USB cable for my camera to get them onto my computer and blah blah blah... I'll do them ASAP.)

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Comments

[Sauli H]

Remind me again...
...who are you? Oh that's right my nephew who I forgot about! Glad to hear you are doing well. Look forward to September back home!

[jenn and sauli]

Hey Andrew
Our skype had been down for a few weeks, but it's back up now, so we'll look for you and call. I actually just tried your dad, and he was talking to his mum. Great to read your journal! Your mum said you're coming on the 13 of Sept. We'll be driving back up with your family, that seems to be the plan, after the reunion, Sept 30th and will be in Cairns for a week, Katrina can be there too hopefully and we'll go to your camp in Tinaroo. Sounds like a blast, we can't wait. We'll be in Aust 6 weeks all up. Chat more soon, Jenn

[Surina Mac]

Bless the colanders of the world! How much longer will you be in Finland for?

[Maija (your cousin)]

I almost forgot about you too!
Until I saw a message saying you had a new journal on your blog. I can't wait until Sept. Then I get to see all my 'long lost' cousins, Aunts and Uncles! Have fun! See ya in 6 months(hopefully)! Love Maija (one of your many cousins!)

[Lisa]

Say what....?
Hey Andrew... GREAT to hear from you! Good to know that one of the cousins can speak the language - so you'll leave us saying... "say what?" I'm proud none the less! I wish I was in the freezing cold with all the snow, autumn's hit and it's hotter than the whole summer. From SE QLD, Love Lisa