Costs so far cont and other stuff

Well the paper from my bank is not that expensive as I thought. It was only 10 euros. But I have forgot to add some that I will be buying for the trip next month:
Travel insurance continuance for 9 months (as I already have the first 3 months).  505 EUR
Luggage insurance or what ever you call it for a year: 150 eur (can't remember the exact but around this)


I might be sending a package to myself from here or actually make my sister send it. That might be anything from 30 to 50 euros. Depending on how much, how heavy and how I am sending it.

So now my application letter is only waiting for the paper from the bank. I should be able to get it next Wednesday or Thursday. Then I will be able to send the application forward. I could send all these that I have forward now, but then the application process would be frozen untill the missing paper arrives. So I rather put them all forward together. I also hope to hear from the place where I am going to live if they have a room for me. Then next week I might call to the bank, beacuse they weren't able to call me today. (Forgot to mention that if they call from Canada to me, they will need to add 011 and then country code and then my phone number. I just gave my phone number with country code.)

I haven't yet thought much about how will I get furniture to my appartment. I think I will ask from Allianssi, if there is anyone coming home from Toronto area, so that I could by some stuff cheaply. Also I might try to find a group from FaceBook that sells/gives stuff away. Hopefully with a home delivery as I will not have a car at first. I know I will be able to sleep on the floor for few first nights and then probably get an air mattress. Then when the visitors come, I might just buy some more air mattresses for them. It will not be very comfy, but so far I haven't heard any complaints about it.

Also I can't wait till I will be able to move. Just counting for the days to pass.

Costs so far

How cheap it is to apply for the VISA:

Criminal records:
Finland 11 EUR
US 18 USD
Grenada 13 eur +22 eur for the bank to make the damn foreign check + postal fees for 2 eur
Passport pics 19 eur
Passport 54 eur (for 5 years)
Allianssi fee 490 eur
VISA fee 114,50 Eur
Bank fees for the foreign currency transfer 29 Eur
ESTA (for US) 12 eur

yet to come:
Proof of income/cash in the bank/whatcha call it in english: maybe 30 eur
Flight tickets: 850 ->

I've probably alrady forgot some of the things I have paid. Oh well.

Baking

Aunt Hanna's Cakes

 Today I decided to bake some. I did not do as much as I thought I would do, but hey there's always tomorrow. So today I made some of Aunt Hanna's Cakes. They are not quite what they were supposed to be as we did not have as much potato flour as we thought. Not to worry they still taste very delicious.

Add some chocolate powder...

 I was able to make two sheetfuls and was left with a little bit of dough. So I decided to experiment with it. I mixed some chocolate powder to the dough and voíla. I have to admit, that the experiment cakes would taste much better, if I had added the chocolate earlier and little less flour.

First ones in already

 As you can see in the above picture, they really are small things to eat. They are so easy to make, that I really wonder why haven't I done them more often.

Home made Fudge

 Then I did some Fudge. We had a recipe for it, but we have lost it. So this was a combination of two and I am not sure if we put enough chocolate in it. Oh well it is still very sweet but not as sweet as the first one that we made.

Sunset

We had this lovely sunset over here and I just had to take a picture of it. The colours are enhanced because the bottom is so dark. Would there be something light to give you the correct contrast, you would see that the sunset was not that orange but a bit lighter. Very good looking sunset still :)

My nephews wishes to you!

göåäähyhyö
iuiiiiiiiiiiii''lllyhhphhuy8Åu7i80 8o88oo8o8555hgmmdnhgdtedureruuuty4yreyyeyyeyyyeeyy
eyey

yoyykbhbhiry5t5trrrrtt5t5t56t5t5t5t5t5t 5t5t5t5t5t5 t t5t55tt55tt5t5t5t5
5tt55tt5t55t5tt5t55t5t5tt5
t5t5tt5kk5kkk5k5k5k5k5k5k5k5k5k55k5k5k5kk6kk6k6k66k6k6j6k6kjjjjjjjjjjjjpjpppppo
oiohiiiihihiiiiiiiihhhhhihihihihihihihiihihhoooooooooohohooohoppoppp
ppp

åuiooppå+gyölöptvggnäoooooo¨åouhyu-åyåïåååiåpphhhphhpphpgpgfp+gpgpgp+gppgpggggp+gpgpgpppggpgppgpf
ppppppppppppppppppgpgpgpgppppgppggppptppoooioioiouo0pöööö.---nmm--ä---m-m-
---

yuoiiy6ggfrktkygjykjgfkgtofirungvutihhnjyjhjjh jhjhjjhhjhjhjhjhjhjhjjjhhjjjhhjjhjjhjhjjjhhjhjjhjh
jjjjhjjhjjjjjjhjjjjkooio b b -. ..... . ....,. ,hh,,ghmym.g,,,.hllopyuoooopop0++0ppööåphjuoiplkkllökjkjkööööööööööööö
ööööööööööööököököljuoiioortyhjnpnmddddggggggggfg
gggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggff

Future appartment

Yesterday I just dropped few appartments away from possible list. Price and the location were good, but when I searched the address, I found out that they had a bit of rodent problem... That had continued for many, many years. So I decided that there was no way I was going to move in there. As the houses from the same company seemed to have the same problem, I decided to drop the company and all the possibilities it provided away. 

I have now emailed one place to ask more about what they offer. I think I will send an email to another place as well. Altough if I get a car the one where I sent the email first will become cheaper. This is just because the car park is included in the rent and in the other it is not. So I am between two places now. Just will need to send the email to get more info, and inform the time period when I would be arriving. So it might be that they don't have an oppening at that time when I would be arriving, but I'm keeping my fingeres crossed. 

The location is GTA aka Greater Tornto Area, which means I would not be living in Toronto per se. It would be like living in Vantaa's side of the border, but everyone says that you are in the capital city. (If I understood the location correctly.) It would be located near the lake. Right next to it actually :)) So I don't mind if I don't get the balcony as I would have short walking distance to everywhere.

All done!

and with that I mean all school work for this year is done. Rest of the assignments are for next year, so I do not need to worry about them necessary. I was able to send in the UArctic report that I did for the trip I made last month. I was supposed to sent it in earlier, but since I originally promised it before Christmas, I was not late returning it in. We also returned our group work a day early (almost two days early). Unfortunately we do have a make up session for one lecture on Wednesday, because on of the class earlier had some technical difficulties. So the school for this year is not completely over, but at least I do not need to write anything.

I have also emailed a possible new bank for me in Toronto, and asked what do they need from me to open an account there. I have few options for a place where to live. I hope I will get one where there is a balcony, but it is not a must. Oh, I will need to ask my bank if they will be able to send me a copy of my account balance in English to me as now it is only in English. I already have the certificate of studies, so I can soon send out my working holiday visa application. After I have received the visa, I will be able to buy the flight and hopefully book the apartment. 

I am trying to calculate my expenses so, that I will be able to get the savings fully to Toronto. It would be so much easier to start there, when I do not need to count every penny and wait for the money to transfer from Finland to Canada. Now I know I have been wishing to be able to move in January, but I think it will be more in the end of February. 

What else have I done so far.. I have bought all Christmas presents already. My own ones as well. All I am going to say is that there has been some really good kids here this year... I also bought some ceramic knifes for a friend who is stuyding to become a cook. :)) I can't wait for her to receive the packet!

School and work

I'm not busy at all... Just wrote a case paper for school in few hours although I have had time to do it since last Thursday... It had to be done today, before midnight. I would not be able to do it later tonight because my sister is using my computer for school lecture in the evening. Now I am also doing some pre-beta testing for work. This means that I might possible destroy my computer with the software (not really or only if I am lucky) if there is a really big bug. So far I have found bugs, but nothing sever. So far I am also only testing few items and not the whole software. I'll find probably 10 per cent of the real problems and then our beta testers will find the rest. Already we have had different results, as the software seems to be working better on my computer with some tools and better with my coworkers computers with other tools.

Just a quick note, as I was able to finish my case questions much earlier than I thought I would.

Work related stuff

So there has been this one problem at work for years now. I have remember to request it to be fixed for at least once a year (more often when it was first noticed, but then just gave up). So the good news is that the problem has now been fixed. Yay! The bad news is that the problem is now with the other payment method. Argh! So this actually means that I have to spent more time with the same problem. I calculated that because the problem has changed the payment system, I will use 12 seconds more on an item. This is if my internet is working correctly, if not then the time is longer. So when I used to spent half an hour to an hour's time to check the payments, it will now increase from an hour to two. I just hope that we will not have a rush of orders while this is going on. So not stressed at all...

Also my email service provider has changed. So there is a lot more spam in my work email... Not so nice surprise. Why? Why are all these changes just done without any consultation from the persons that are affected the most? I am sure I will know the last when the latest software will be released. Would not be surprised! I am not using this company as an case company at work, because there is nothing good that I could concentrate on. Well I get paid... But I don't think my teachers would see it as a core competence for the company. I am sure that others would probably find more good things, but because I am just so tired of this I can't see them. I will probably quit after I return from Canada. I just need coworkers and clear box which within to work. (Not a real box, but I like to know what I can and cannot do.)

Argh!

School papers

So far so good. I have had to write four papers out of which I haven't yet started one. The first one was just a half a page paper about the missed lecture. That I returned today although I did it last week. Then there was two pages about the case company of my choice which I also have done and returned (!) although the due date is Friday. Then I have done most of my part and a bit extra to the joint assigment paper. I will be meeting today with the girls, to see how we can combine all our three text into one. (Here comes the extra part:) I already started it and have done a bit editing on the text as well. I just hope the girls won't mind. The due date is on Sunday, so we need to step on it a bit. Well the text is mostly done, we just need to mold it all look like one person wrote it or more academical in other words.

The paper that I haven't yet started properly (well I kind of have, but that is in my laptop...) is the UArctic forum raport paper. Need to start it soon, so that I will not forget it all. Oh, I need to write more about that organization when I have a bit more time. Anyway,... forgot what I was about to write. Better continue with the school/work stuff.

Yes, they were kidding

Just got a call from the company/superintendent. Very apologetic superintendent, I might say. She explained that they had just checked that to that appartment there were x amount of keys and I had returned y amount of keys. Now that she checked where there might have been problem, she noticed that I actually had been given only y amount of keys. This meant that I had returned the right amount of keys and the fault was with the previous tenant and not with me. She promised that the rest of the deposit will be returned to me next week.

This means that I am back in the budget when considering the amount I need to save up for the move to Canada.

Are U F***ing kidding me!

Yesterday I checked my bank account (just because I have received money from my school and my paycheck so I was able to put things in order). To see and rejoice the fact that I have no debt what so ever. Then I noticed that I actually had a bit more in my savings than I had had yesterday, and went to check it out. I was glad to see that my rent deposit was paid back. Unfortunately it was less than expecte. So I went to see if they had written anything as a note, as hell no had they contacted me before about it. No phone call, no letter! So just think how surprised and furious I was after learning that they had taken 250 euros from the deposit for making new keys (not quite what they wrote, but with the same meaning)! 

There was no problem with the keys and all keys were returned! To my luck I had checked my account afted three which meant that the place was closed. So I have had to wait till now to call them. Three more minutes before they open. I already sent an email to them requesting more information, but the person I sent it to is not there. That is just so annoying. I could just scream! Well yesterday I could have. I am writing this now, so that I will be in the right mood for the phone call. I am soo prepared to use some good old swear words to make my point. I might be a single girl living alone, but hell no you are taking an advantage of me. 

Also they could have written down another explanation for the deposit being lower. I might have accepted it if it would have been reasonable. The key thing, is not reasonable!

//edit: Called few minutes after nine; was forwarded to superintendent; got in a loop where no-one answered. Called again after few minutes of wait; got connected to a superintendent; explained my issue and gave my contact information; were promised a contact from my old superintendent. Half hours later I got a call from her; explained my issue and got back "I am so busy right now, tell me your old address and contact information"; ...! Wait what?! You just called me, so you should have my phone number and I already told one person there all the needed information (and I know it is not that big of a place so information should transfer). I was pleasent and gave it to her. So now I am still waiting for news. Just trying not to yell at anyone over the phone, that's my mission for today.

Busy yet again

The travel back was quite nice. Nothing unexpected happened. During my first flight I had a nice chat with a girl about Fort Garry (the hotel we stayed) and it turned out that she knows the owener family. I spoke highly of the hotel before she told me it, so she got a true review of the stay and not polished one. The first flight was about two hours to Calgary, so it was nice to have a local to talk to (as I was not tired yet). Then I spent few hours at Calgary and to my surprise I didn't need to go through passport control. I think I have to point out that I did not go through passport control in Winnipeg either (first local flight and then international flight). I just went through the security checkup and that's it. My first passport control was in Amsterdam. Wierd!

So the next flight was the long flight. I think they changed the plane as I was called to the gate because my seat was changed from 42d to 42d... But I think the reason was that in the original plane the back of the plane was different. So the chance had it that my seat changed, but not the number or letter :) The flight it self was long. I could feel my back start hurting about midway. So nothing new there. Oh, I sat almost in the last seat, because I was in no hurry to get out of the plane. If I would have wanted to be out among the first few then I would have chosen a seat closer to front. But as I had so many hours at the airport, I decided to take it easy.

Flight from Amsterdam to Helsinki was short and sweet. I left when the sun was up, and landed when it was dark. So this means that I was able to see the change of light and darkness while flying. Sweet!

So far so good

Just going to do a brief note about how things have been, as I have been way too busy to post anything earlier. Also I don't think that you would be so interested about what I am doin here you would like to read about it. So we have had some time table issues. Also the discussion and the declaration gathering has not been very organized. Some how almost everyone is complaining but when the organizer asks they are saying how well things are going. Well I too said that for first timers this is pretty well organized. Which I do mean. If they would have been a bit more professional about creating an event, then I would have not been so understanding. I do not complain about the event all the time like others do.

There are few dominant ones, and yes I am one of them. I do try not to talk all the time, but somehow it feels like I at least have taken into consideration what others might think compared to these others "I want it my way!" There has already been things happening where as a group we decide not to do something and then a smaller group does the thing and say's to the whole group that "we thought this was better." and we have to be happy about it. So kind of lost a bit of taste to the whole thing when some really need to butt in on everything. This would be such a good learning experience for some, but I don't think they want to learn that you should go act behind peoples back.

Canad Inn Fort Garry

 First official night spent in hotel was at Canad Inn Fort Garry. I arrived to Canad Inn Fort Garry around 11 am. The guy behind the receptionist was really golden, because he got me in a room before the check in time, which was 3 pm. I think I was able to go to my room about 1 pm. It was just soooooo nice to be able to go to shower after that long period of flying and sleeping at the airports. I tried to to sleep, but since the shower woke me up a bit I decided to update my blog and UAS of how things were going. I also received an email from organizer that there should have been an email saying that you need get your own ride from the airport to hotel. Of course they apologized and stuff.

After few hours of typing on my computer, my roommate arrived. She is a Canadian from west coast. We did little bit talking and decided that we get along quite well. Then it was time to go to first dinner and to meet other students. The dinner went fine, but we heard some concerning news. Original plan that we are going to stay there only one night. Now they warned us that we might need to stay in this hotel a second night as well, because there was a snow storm going around Manitoba that might close some roads.

I'll point out that I did inform the one student that arrived from Finland about all the things he needed to know, like to take the taxi from the airport.

We went to bed quite early, because we had planned to leave to the resort quite early. I have to say I did sleep quite well, partly because I was so freakishly tired that I could sleep anywhere. I did woke up couple of times, but that was mostly because my phone beeped. Learned my lesson and since then my phone has been on silence. In the morning we went to breakfast, not knowing what we were going to do in few hours. Surprisingly the organizers didn't know either what was going to happen. This was because there was indeed a road closed and we were just waiting for more information to come in, wheather the road will be opened or not. 

it turns out that the road was quickly opened but had to be reclosed because there was an accident with big trucks. So we would stay another night in Canad Inn Fort Garry.

Second flight with Delta and airport cont 3

The plane was small, the rows were 2+2. I had a very nice Canadian man sit next to me for the flight. We talked some but not the whole time. The flight attendant was this really sweet middle aged woman. Not much to say about the flight itself. The closer we got to rockier the flight got. Nothing bad really, but you could feel the plane swing when we were landing.

When I arrived to Canada (wohoo!) there was the basic going through the customs with one person outside the cubicles checking the lines and others in the cubicles (well how wonderfully I explained that). I was really tired at this point so I had to think hard on some questions, so I am very pleased to say that I was not held for questioning. Right after this was the luggage pick up. I was through so quickly that the luggages hadn't even arrived yet. In Minneapolis my luggage was waiting  for me when I got through. So anyway, it wasn't the last but not first luggage to come.

After I had gotten my luggage I went to third man who decided whose luggage will be opened. No such luck this time either aka I was able to walk through. Then I was expecting to see my name somewhere. I saw nothing! I thought maybe they are closer to doors; nope. I walked around trying to look someone to pick me to take me to the hotel. Nope. I think I might have seen some who also are going to attend the UArctic forum thing, but am not sure. I was really really tired so I was just trying to find someone with my name on. (The persons that I am talking about took a taxi so no one came to pick them up either.) So then I decided to go through my stuff and try to find a phone number to find out what the hell is going on.

No luck with the phone number, so I send an email (btw still no reply to that.) Then I called to a hotel, which was the wrong hotel but I was able to confirm that I will have a reservation there later next week. Which is good. Then I had to find out the correct hotel. No number in any of my papers or email. Thank God for free WiFi! I do not know what I would have done without it. So I was able to phone to the correct hotel and ask if I have a reservation for tonight. The receptionist said that I do have a preliminary reservation, but it has not been paid. That I would have to pay it when I arrive. So I asked how much the taxi would be there. The total amount was closer to 140$ which made me decide that there is no way I am spending 100€ when I have paid the fee that covers all transportation and stay in Winnipeg area. I was furious at this point. 

The airport looked calm (its fairly small) and there wasn't that many people around. So I decided to sleep there. I thought that I was so tired that I would be able to sleep at least few hours without waking in between. This turned out to be through although I did wake up in between, but after sleeping 1,5 hours the waking for few minutes didn't feel that bad. So at this point all I could think about was the soft hotel bed in Minneapolis... So many hours traveling and still gotta spend a night at the airport. I was furious!

In the morning I spend some time in the bathrooms recharging my phone, got some breakfast from Tim Hortons(?) and paid 2 bucks to use the airport ATM (Automatic Teller Machine). Then I spent time sitting and guessing when should I go. Would I be able to get a room already or not. When I got tired of waiting I left for the hotel by taxi.

Airports cont 2

So when I arrived to the Minneapolis St. Paul's twin city, first I had to go wait in line for the passport control. There was a boarder controller that went through the lines and asked questions about the entry form and why one has arrived to US. Then there was another one with a dog, that was looking for fruits and plants. I had had a satsuma in my back bag, but I ate it just before I got out of the plane. Of course the dog still smelled it, and I explained the situation. I heard that if you take fruits with you, you might get a 300 dollar fine for it.

The passport control went very smoothly, and then I had to go line up for foods and veggies line (if you bring anything that you can eat, you better inform about it.) in which the luggage and hand luggage would go through x-ray machine. When the person there saw that I am only a transit passenger he just said "oh, going to Canada? oh, go on then" and waved his hand :)) It was just so funny! Then there was the last person who took the entry forms and showed if we needed to go open our luggage or go forward. No I didn't have to open my bag this time either. 

Then I came to the transit lounge, where I dropped my luggage to be delivered to Winnipeg and went to queue to yet another security check up. This tie I needed to take off my shoes, but I could keep my cardigan on although jacket had to be put through the machine. There I was told that my two soda cans are too pig and that they need to be thrown away or drank there. So I threw them away. I was too full to think about drinking them. 3 euros bye bye! After I went through the machine (that I have described in one of the previous posts) I was checked again. This time from my back?? After I had come through they re-calibrated it :)) 

Then I found out where my next flight is leaving and instructions to go there. On the way there I bought a bottle of "water" (it had a black berry flavour, which I didn't quite taste) and donated 1 $ for Sandy destruction cleanups. Then continued to walk, and I walked, and walked and walked. Then stopped for few minutes to turn on my phone. Noticed that I didn't have too much battery left, so I needed to find a place where to recharge it. Then continued to walk. When I then found my gate, I saw that there was another flight going from that gate, so I sat down a bit further away from it. I wasn't able to stay put for very long, as I needed to find a place where to recharge my phone. So I started to walk again. 

Luckily I didn't have to walk for too long as I then found a gate where there were no flight leaving until later that night. So I went there and used the blug that Delta provided for the customers. I was able to charge my phone quite much, and then I noticed that I better go and see if there is room at my own gate (in case I fall asleep or something). Luckily there was room and there also was more blug polls to use. So I was able to recharge some more. After a while I noticed that I needed to go to the gate and report that I am there. This sounded so funny, but I did it. It was a good thing to do as it seemed to take some time for the person behind the desk to confirm me. Also this was the point where I was asked for the first time about my travel initiatory to confirm that I have a ticket back home. So basically the thing you do when you drop the bag and get the ticket is also done at the gate. The boarding pass that I had was actually just a reservation and the paper I got from the desk was my new boarding pass. 

I think I will need to fly more through US to get the hang of it, because I will forget it for sure by the next time. One reason the reservation needed to be confirmed was that, the flight's are usually overbooked. They  asked if anyone was voluntery to receive a 600 dollar voucher for Delta and a hotel night + food vouchers and fly out the next day. I was seriously thinking about this, but then I thought that I have no number where to inform that I will be coming the next day and that there is no need for the room or pick up from the airport. It was so tempting to take it and just go to bed and sleep the whole night in a bed! But I didn't...

Soon it was time to board this little plane (well it wasn't tiny or anything) and continue my way.

First flight with Delta

I had chosen my seat with care and it was a window seat (although I normally don't like them) because there was just one person sitting next to me. So if I wanted to go to the toilet I only needed to make one person jump up. My other tactic was to go to the toilet about the same time as the person sitting next to me. It all depended on how badly I needed to go. So windows seat in the last row! I had fours hour layover in Minneapolis St. Paul's twin city airport, so I really did not need to be the first person out. 

Only problem with this tactic of sitting in the last row is that the food and drinks came last to me, so there really was no option of what to eat. The flight attendant really tried it make it look like we had an option ("would you like to have Pasta today? It is really lovely!) although she whispered that we really do not have any other option at the moment. My first choice would have been the pasta anyway, so I was not disappointed. As the plane was full we had to store some of the items in the over head compartments. I felt a bit silly putting my back bag there, but I did anyway. Mistake. (not really a big one.) I had some of my snacks there and some drinks (not that I would have really needed it, but with my experience if you don't have any you are going to need it). The compartments were just a bit too high for me, so I wasn't able to open them by myself. Also because I really didn't need anything from there, I didn't bother asking anyone helping me out with it. 

I watched bunch of movies during the flight. I was not tired at all, although I tried to keep my eyes closed few times. So I watched movies (and closer to end I watched a TV program just so that the time would go faster, but there was not enough time to watch a movie)(and I had already watched all the good ones); Brave, Prometheus, Cars II and Snow White and the Huntsman. There were few more good movies to choose from, but I had watched all those others that I found interesting. The bad news is that I will have the same options available when I go back... So lots of bad movies waiting to be watched on a way back. I will give a review of the movies on a later post.

The guy that sat next to me, was an older gentleman. Very American looking. We did some small talk, but otherwise concentrated on our own business. Just the way I like it. He even game me my back bag when we had landed, and I didn't even need to ask for help. What else can I say about the flight. Food was good, but not excellent. If you want to bring any drinks aboard you will need to put them in a bag, and if you want to take them through to us they need to be small items (I had to throw mine away :( ) No fruits of any kinds can be taken to US or Canada. The flight attendants were all very nice and deserve to be mentioned.

Oh and yes my back started to hurt just a little bit after the middle of the way. It didn't turn into anything bad luckily. Some good things that come out of sleeping at the airport; back gets used to sleeping on hard things and awkward positions. The flight took about 9 hours and I got some really cool pics of Greenland.

Airports cont.

I think I lefted things with me arriving a bit late to the Schipholi airport. Well first I took my time to walk to the connection point, from where you can change the terminal. When I got there it was jammed full. There were no lines and it was everyone for themselves. I ventured there a bit untill I hear someone say that it should calm down in 30 minutes. So instead of standing in the line, I went for a little walk. I walked the terminal D from the check point to the other end and back. It took me about 20 minutes I think. I wasn't really timing it at all. All I wanted was that line to be gone, so I could find my gate and get some more sleep. 

So when I got back to the check point, there was barely lines at all. So I went through without any trouble. To my surprise my gate was quite close to the check point, so I didn't have to walk really really far. As there was still soooooo many hours till my plaine left, there was another plaine using the gare. So I had to change location a bit. Only to the other side where there were nice comfy chairs in which you could actually sleep. I didn't sleep right away as I had just done so in the plaine. I kept my shoes off for awhile, before getting bored and continued to walk around. I went to a store to check what kind of a merchandise they have. Then I went to a cafe, but didn't buy anything because there were some rude tourists that just cut the line. So I decided to find other place to eat. 

At this airport there was a free wifi but only 2 x 30 mins. Not that nice, but I think I was able to do all the things I needed to do online in that time. After I had eaten, I went back to near my gate and this time I found a place where I would also sleep. I think I slept about an hour (20 mins intervals, as I was checking the clock so that I wouldn't miss the boarding) before I noticed that they started to accept people through the security point. 

Like always, first they did a little personal interview; did you pack your bags & did anyone give you anything to carry. I said that I had tried to get someone to help me with packing, but no-one wanted to and that I did have items that someone had given me. I explained that they were the items that I had been given from school. I do not know if they had already checked my bag or not, or if it might have been done in US. Then I went to a desk where the lady asked me something, but I can't remember what... Probably what was the purpose of my travel. Then I dropped of my backbag and jacket (but were able to keep my shoes) and walked through this machine that takes a picture and then highlights all the things it thinks might have something metallic. I think it needs to be high enough of an amout for the machine to register it. Let me say that what I saw only two persons got OK sign from the machine. After the machine I was, of course, checked by hand; mainly from those areas that the machine said should be checked.

Then was about 45 minutes wait untill I was let in the plaine. Luckily I sat in the last row, so I was one of the first (after travelers with children, disability, business and sky priority) to be let in.

Airports

When I arrived to helsinki-vantaa airport I noticed that the baggage drop was closed. So this meant that I would need to try to sleep somewhere there. First I picked up some food from Alepa. Then I bought a tea and croissant from cafe Spoon. Then after eating the snack I tried to sleep in the soft bench that are owned by the cafe. I was not the first one to do this, so I dared to stay. Also it was not  a busy time of the day.

About 4:30 the drop desk opened and I dropped my bag. This meant that I would be able to catch some more zzzz in a quieter place. Luckily the gate was easy to find and empty, so I sneaked into a corner place and slept some more. I also tweeted about flying with KLM and they tweeted me back! Lovely customer relations. The flight was only 2 h 5 mins but due to the plane staying over night there was some frost that needed to be removed. So we left about 20 mins late. I slept almost the whole flight. I woke up to eat and for landing. More about Schiphol airport later. My free wifi time is up.

Here we go

Now I am at the railway station in Kemi. I have about 30 mins before the train comes. Then I will be sitting on a train for about 7,5hours. Oh joy!! This will be just  quick post and I will update this from train if there is a wifi. Should be as it is pendolino.

//edit update: I am in the train. Well have been for 30 mins so far. There is internet and there is electricity for my laptop and my camera battery. Oh I did find my camera in the last minute. I found lots of stuff at the last minute... So funny... I have fully packed luggage with me, which I left in the front of the car. I did it so that I don't have to push it away when people move around or if someone had had a place nect to me. Luckily this is a single seat which means that no-one will be next to me. There just is no room for my luggage here...

//edit update2: Just checked for the times for the bus to airport. I won't have to wait long as the bus goes every 20 minutes except during the night. So I have to wait about 13 minutes or less (probably will arrive a bit late, surely not before) and then jump to the bus. The ride will take about 25 minutes, so I will be at the airport around 20 past midnight.Then I will go search if the store at the airport is open. No I will first take the luggage and then go search if the store is open. Afer that I will go to security check. So I would say if I am lucky that I have gone through the security check by 1 am. That leaves me with 5 hours to eat, sleep and find the gate.

My travel plans

You have chosen the following flight:

9.11.2012 07:00 Helsinki (Helsinki) - 9.11.2012 08:40 Amsterdam (Schiphol)

9.11.2012 15:10 Amsterdam (Schiphol) - 9.11.2012 17:25 Minneapolis (Minneapolis St Paul International)

9.11.2012 21:40 Minneapolis (Minneapolis St Paul International) - 9.11.2012 23:09 Winnipeg (Winnipeg International)

16.11.2012 10:20 Winnipeg (Winnipeg International) - 16.11.2012 11:30 Calgary (Calgary International)

16.11.2012 15:35 Calgary (Calgary International) - 17.11.2012 08:30 Amsterdam (Schiphol)

17.11.2012 13:55 Amsterdam (Schiphol) - 17.11.2012 17:20 Helsinki (Helsinki)

On this return flight you see I have again some time in Amsterdam. The first flight I chose only gave me an hour to change. Let me tell you it is not enough. I remember once running through the airport, cutting lines and still almost miss the plane. So this time I will have enough time to walk through and maybe eat and use the toilet if needed. It's too big of a airport to cut it too close and miss the plane.

//edit: All times are local times. The time difference between Finland and the Netherland is 1 hour and between Finland and Canada (Manitoba) 8 hours. 

//edit 2: My boarding time for the first flight is 6:20. This means that altouhg I arrive at midnight to the airport, I do not have that much time to spent. First dropping the baggage and going through the security (not expecting much of delay there) and then passport control, after that I will be lucky to get few hours of sleep.

Work, school, travel arrangements

I will be leaving in few days, and no I have not yet packed any bags. I have the things I need in my mind and probably will pack something today. The reason why I haven't packed anything yet is that I am busy with work and school. I have to submit few papers in three days earlier than others, because of the travelling. Not a problem per se, but since I was not expecting to be this busy with work I do not have as much time as I had hoped for. 

Well all is going well. I have started both papers and I have 1,5 tasks not done in the first paper and about 3,5 pages to do in the other. Than I am done schoolwise. Work is busy because I need to find all the sites where there is a review of our product and list them (which reciew for which software) plus correspond to any questions about our new software that we released this monday.

My sister already asked me why my boss wants to release the software always then when I am not here... This time I won't be able to consult my sister as I will be way too busy in Winnipeg, Manitoba (wohoo). I emptied our work email address yesterday, when we received a notice that it is to full (about 300 %). So I emptied it quite well. Not sure how it still has so much stuff in it as I took a lot out. Well now it is not over the limit. Oh and at one point it (how much space it took) started to grow and got actually about 500% (where 100% is fully used). It took unbelivably long to sort it out, when all I needed to do was empty few folders... My Thunderbird didn't quite like it.

I am less concerned about what grade I am going to get and more concerned that I will be able to do the papers in time. I will get some extra time when I take the mobile internet with me, but there really is not that much use for it. Well I need the internet to do the searching. But still I will have to send the papers in latest in the morning of 9th. My flight leaves at 7 am. Oh and my train is in Tikkurila at 23:30... So I have few hours to get to the airport. As it is early flight I think I can drop my bag in when I arrive and can use the free internet in some lounge area (can't remember where there was free wifi, but I know somewhere there was).

So yes about the travel arrangements. I will leave Kemi on Thursday and arrive Tikkurila at midnight, then leave to Amsterdam at 7 am Friday morning. Will spent 6 hours in Amsterdam before going to St. Pauls Minnesota for few more hours. Then from there I will go to Winnipeg and arrive at 23:30 PM local time on 9th. Yeah I will be traveling for about 24 hours and arrive the same day. The return on 16th is about the same exept I will be returning via Calgary instead of Minnesota.

Los Ojos De Julia (2010)

I saw the movie Julia's Eyes (2010) few weeks back. It was one of those movies that when you saw the trailer you wanted to see the movie. You had to see the movie as it was going to be all that. Well unfortunately this movie turned out not to be all that. The movie was directed by Guillem Morales and produced Guillermo Del Toro. I mention the producer as well because at first I though the movie was directed by him as it has been advertised as his movie. Well it kind of is his movie, but he is not the director. So at first when I saw the trailer, all I could think about was how like the Orphanage this one was and how it must be a good movie. When a friend of mine asked if I wanted to borrow it from her, I jumped at the occation. I must see this movie!

The plot goes so that there are twins of which the first one dies mysteriously after eye surgery has gone wrong. The second one starts to investigate the death and the events surrounding the eye surgery. The second sister has the same eye problem as her sister and starts to loose her eyesight, obviously, as the movie goes on. I was almost ready to skip to the end at this point as so far the movie was just a cliche to me. I might even say that I was a bit bored about it. I am not goint to give the ending away, so you can make your own opinion about it. All I am saying is that the entertainment value goes down when you can guess what is going to happen next. This is a basic good movie, I can't deny that. If you haven't seen as many movies as I have, this might be even quite surprising. If I hadn't have such high hopes about this movie, I probably wouldn't have been as dissapointed with it as I was in the end. Now don't get me wrong, I don't regret watching it. I like Belén Rueda who playes the lead character and I like the type of movies Guillermo Del Toro makes. It just happened that this one just didn't quite match my expectations. Better luck next!

School, work and job fulfilment

Today in class we were talking about innovation and motivation. How these two lets you enjoy your work. Then someone said that they need to find a new place because he pretty much hates his job. Then I agreed. Then third one said she is already out :). Then I remembered that today is the last day to apply for a Marketing Assistant job. So I applied. Still am going to go to Toronto next year...

Business casual

My business casual look. Still need to find some accesories and shoes. Probably will borrow from my sister.

Formal shirt

Tubetop (maybe not so businessy)

Baking with niece and nephew

To help my sister I decided to bake with my niece. Since it didn't work out the day I had planned, my sister asked me to do it yesterday.  Well I started to bake with my niece but then my nephew wanted to join as well. So instead of letting my niece do everything by herself and just helping her a little, I would also let my nephew take part and do some of the measurements myself. 

So we started with the pies dough, my niece mixed the butter with sugar. Then my nephew wanted to mix as well and dipped his finger tops in the dough. He didn't really mix much so my niece continued mixing. After all ingredients were mixed with rotating the mixer (my niece or nephew) the dough was put the fridge. 

Then we started to do the Mocha thingy (too lazy to google what it is really called). This was also done partly rotating the doer, but as we used real mixer first my niece would do it all by herself. My nephew didn't quite like the sound of the mixer. 

Due to all this mixing taking so much time, I did the rest (the toppings) with little help from my sister.

Mocha thingy

Apple-cinnamon-white chocolate pie

School et al

So... What can I say. Been really busy bee (work and school and work and school)(also with niece and nephew). I have already met with my group members twice so far. I do have to say that it is really good to change opinions irl and not just via email. It has been helpful with the school tasks. Out of which today I needed to return one paper in. I have two to be done by 8th of November. The real return day is 11th, but I will be in (travelling to) Canada by that time, so I need to have the papers ready before I leave. This means that I really need to step on it! 

I already know the company I am going to use as a case company. I will use Rovio because they are pop at the moment and it is about in the same field with me. I was thinking of doing it about Energia Production, but they website wasn't quite up to par (yes I wanted to use them because of the business day). But yes I need to do some research of the company compared if I would do it of where I work. Not panicking (yet). I have already started the second paper and the fact that I have chosen the company of which to write is a big step (huge). All I now need to remember is to write academically...

I got email from Canada today. They sent a dress code (recommendations on what to wear)... Yes I was already planning on picking up some warm clothes, but it was very nice to be reminded that around this time it can be quite cold... (well they say between -1C and -10C which is not that cold if you ask me.) One thing that was new to me was the sweat lodge. It sounds like sauna, but we need to wear clothes. After little extra research, I am not sure I can take part. It is usually a small hut, that is dark (no problem), hot (no problem per se) and moist (ah, not a fan). I am not sure if there will be enough air. I am not sure they would appreciate if I fainted there.  I have fainted in sauna before and I still need to have wet hair when I go to sauna. So I need to think about it. 

In the end we are having a Gala Dinner, where the dress code is business casual. So not quite sure what that means. They say that no jeans, nothing wrinkled or ripped... Right I am travelling for a day before I am there! Then I will not stay in one place for the whole time so that I could leave what I am going to wear to unwrinkle. Oh, and we are going to share rooms. No problem, I just hope I will have good roommate.  But now I will need to go google some casual business wear.

Btw I just heard from the radio the Chemical Brothers - Galvanize. Man, it is a good song.

Business day in my school

I am not sure if I was the right target audience, but I went there anyway because my sister asked me to and because the director of the Iron Sky was there. The whole idea behind this event was to show the current students what opportunities the school has to provide. It showed how succesful some projects had been and it also introduced all different areas of the scholl (it's not just a business school). Then there were graduated students who described how they were using the skills they learned from this school in the real life.

They also had a special guest of the day. Last year they had the Madventure guys (my sister told me so) and this year, as I mentioned earlier, the director of the Iron Sky movie Timo Vuorensola. This part was really interesting to me. He told how the Star Wreck series was created and what was the process of creating Iron Sky. It was really innovating to hear how a dream could become a movie and all about how they used the internet to their advantage. Maybe the word used is wrong. It was co-operation where both got something in return. Very innovating indeed.

I have to apologizes now, the business day was almost a week ago. I have been writing this along this whole time, but haven't had enough time to really finish it. So the point I had in my mind has gone away. But if you ever have a chance to go hear him or other people who made Iron Sky (or Star Wreck) I would recommend you to go. It might give you new ideas!

How not to pack a car

Cont.

So where was I? Oh, yes I have told you about my Monday, so now it is time to tackle the rest of the week. So on Tuesday morning my sister and brother in law (and my nephew) left to take my stuff to Tornio. They weren't able to take as much stuff as first planned (and was evident in my last post) so this let me with some extra stuff that I needed to get rid off. I tried to pack already as much as I could and made few more bags available to be taken to UFF. I packed and worked and packed the rest of the Tuesday.

On Wednesday, a friend of mine came over with two (small) children to help me clean. She was able to clean the upstairs so that all I needed to take care of was the floors (I already vacuumed them while she was cleaning there), windows and the toilet. I took care of one of the bedrooms after my friend had gone home. As I also had packed my bed away, I went to sleep over at my brothers place. I spent some quality time with my nephew as his sister went to movies with her mother. In middle of the night, I got a visitor when he came to sleep next to me. All I am going to say is that he moves quite a lot during the night (so no sleep for me). 

On Thursday, I went quite early to the appartment so that I would be able to tackle the bathroom and the other bedroom before picking up another friend from the railway station. I had given one of my keys to my friend the day before in case she wants to pick up some stuff that I had decided to give her. I was glad to see that she indeed had picked up the stuff and left the key :) I had some clothes that I needed to take to the UFF box which I did before picking up my friend. I also took my old medicine to the pharmacist. When my friend got there, she cleaned the rest of the upstairs and some of my kitchen. We also packed my car as full as we dared to put it (if the police would have stopped me they probably would have fined me). Then we went to eat out some pizza, because we were crazy hungry. She then left home and my other friend came back to help me with cleaning and packing. We cleaned for an hour or so, before deciding to quit for the day. I again left for my brothers place to go Sauna and get a place to stay.

On Friday morning I remembered to leave my key to my brothers place before leaving there, so I did not need to make an extra round back there. Back in the appartment, I was able to vacuum the floors before my friend came over. Luckily her children were asleep and we were able to finish the cleaning quite fast. My car was now really, really full. I wasn't able to fit all in I have to admit. I informed my cousin that all that is left is his, if he comes and picks it up right now. After a small detour he came and picked up the items. (It was his first time at my place.) Then I left to drop off my keys and have a snack brake at my friends place.

From Lahti I went to Pieksämäki (to my granny's neighbour) and spent a night there. I also went with her to feed her son's cats and had a lovely time in Sauna. Then on Saturday I drove really slowly (slower than normal) to Tornio. In the evening we unpacked most of my car and went to sauna. Sunday I did half of one school paper and one UArctic paper that was supposed to be done the day before. I also listened to my sister's father in law talk for about an hour or so. (No papers written during that time :/ )

So there. That is what I have done this last week. Been really busy, and I am supposed to be sleeping right now, but I thought I better get this blog post done before I forget it for few months.

Party, packing and moving

Last weekend I had my Bday and farewell party at the same time. I had made lots of food (as you could see from the picture update) and given an open invitation to come over via facebook. I know that you are all eager to know how it all went. I had total of 8 adults and 3 children as guests. Success or not, I'll let you decide.

My sister and brother-in-law came down and were able to take part in the celebrations (that's 2/1). The real reason they were down here, was that they were going to pick up some of my stuff. Well one problem was that they hadn't been able to borrow a big trailer. So Monday morning, after few minutes of thinking about things my brother in law said that we won't be able to fit them all in. So we decided to take some stuff to the recycling center. One full load was taken there (bookshelves, clothes, TV and videos) and later few more to UFF boxes.

Then we fitted my sofa bed and bed to the trailer. First we took the sofa bed and put it in. Then I helped my sister to carry the bed downstairs and at the same time helped my brother in law with the sofa bed. This meant that my sister was holding the bed in mid stairs by herself once in a while. Then we managed to have them both in the trailer, but the canopy (?) did not close. So we took the bed away and change the sofa bed to be flat and tried again. No go this time either. So we took all out and put the bed at the bottom. Then we lifted the sofa bed and turned it 180 degrees on top of the bed while it trying to open up at the same time. But we were successful this time! My nephew was on his nap at this time so we were able to do all this.

Then me and my sister went shopping (needed another box for kitchenware)(she bought some xmas gifts) and one person came to pick up the table so we didn't have to take it to the recycling center. After that we packed hurrily as we went to see our brother and sister-in-law. 

Got to work now, so I'll continue about tuesday some other time.

Bday/bon voyage party food edition

Wheat free buns

Wheat free pies (ham, chicken, cranberry and red currant)

Very, very tasty

Chicken pie...

Ham pies and rices and meat pastries

Upside down cake (first try)

Cranberry-white choclate-mascarpone pie

Updates on moving

I had to depart my way with my granny's freezer yesterday. It was not easy. I really liked to keep it, but as the bookshelves have not gone, I am afraid something else has to go. I talked with my sis yesterday about how her hubby had asked if he needed the trailer aka if I had such little stuff to take back. Right... All I have is the sofa, bed, computer desk, bookshelves, night table and... So lots of stuff still. I have been able to get rid of quite a bunch of stuff. I have donated to goodwill; I have donated to friends and to foreign students who are coming to live here. 

I did a rough calculation that if I would have sold the items, I probably would be about 400 euros richer now. If the people would have to buy the items from the store (that I have donated to them) then the value of it would be over 1000 euros. So I think I have done my good deed for the year. Of course I would rather have the money. I am not that rich that I could say that it doesn't make any difference. But I rather give the items away than through it away. I have sold some, so I am not giving it all to the charity.  Also if you believe in Karma, this means that there should be some good Karma coming my way. I am all for that!

Multitasking

I am in class and also trying to do an assignment for accounting and finance class. Also as you can see I am writing my blog. All at the same time... This assignment will be soo good. I need to do this soon as I have another paper waiting to be done also and the due date is the same. I still have about a month to do both of these, but I'd like to do these in time. It is just that I am having difficulties to wrap my brain around the issues. 

I also was able to get rid of one sofa. Yay!

I got it!

Today it finally came! I have received my last criminal record paper. I am happy to say there were no surprises. I have no criminal records in any country that I have lived in. So what next... I am getting rid of my stuff, although one person did not turn up today to pick up a lamp. Here's hoping that the person picking up the sofa will. I have also emptied my big freezer. Need to ask my friend if she wants it or shall I try to sell it too.

Baking

I have friends coming over today, so I decided to do some baking. The ham pie looks more like pizza, but I did it with the pie recipe. Very yummy I must say... As you can see I already tasted few bites. Just because the pie wasn't quite square so I took some to make it look more square.

Ham Pie

The Cranberry pie with some red currant and few drops of lemon. It was two minutes two long, but I think it still looks okey. Now I am waiting for my friend to arrive so I am not starting the third pie that I have in my mind.

Cranberry Pie

Possibilities

I found out from our school forum that as a Master student I can apply to a student forum about environmental/climate issues in the arctic. I am not fully green person, but I would say that I know a bit more than totally non-green person. The forum would be held in November in Canada.... I think you might see where I am going with this. So I have now done my application letter (which according to my sister is ok). I think I might send it to my firend for a final check just in case. So that I would have a change to go :)

I don't know if I am qualified enough or not. But I intend to jump at this opportunity with everything I got. Oh, I didn't mention that the flights and accommodation would be provided by the school...

Moving process

Today I received a phone call from an unknown number. It was the possible new occupant that called me. We had nice little chat about this place and I promised to sent few pics of this place to her. We also talked that if she likes what she sees, she and her hubby might come to see this place on Friday. I also told her that I am very flexible with the moving dates, so that they can move in almost a week before my time expires. Well they would be moving from Oulu (about 500 km away) so it will be a bit hassle for them to move during the weekdays. Much easier to do during the weekend. I should be moving out about three weeks from now, so no extra trouble for me. That reminds me, I need to go to the post office to get the address change form. 

I also got my school book today. Finally! So now I can start studying for the class that I am having at the moment. On other note, I just heard from a school friend that the groups that we had chosen are no longer in use. They have devided us up automatically. The only problem is that they have used the old list. So there is at least one person in every group that no longer goes to school. Not really nice when some groups only have two persons. Really? I wonder who came up with that idea! The group that I am in, has three people in it. Luckily two of us are still in school.

I have also now put some of my stuff to FB fleamarket thingy. One sofa might be going soon. It is reserved till tomorrow, so fingers crossed that it will go. I tried to keep the prices really cheap, so that they would indeed go. So here goes for hoping. 

Still tossing a coin about renting a furnished or non-furnished appartment when I move. Well I need to decide the location first. I know I have been thinking about Toronto, but I think I might need to broaden my search. 

/my sister just called me about a school task, so I am helping her now. And also I have lost the thought of what I was about to write.

Waiting

Have I ever mentioned that waiting is not a virtue of mine. Now I have been waiting almost a month for a book. To be fair I have only waited for about 2,5 weeks for my friend to sent it. It should be on its way already. She sent two packets at the same time, so they should have arrived at the same time... Oh, well the first one arrived today. So if I get it tomorrow I will have 24 hours to read two chapters of it. And then gram up the rest of the book as soon as I have time.

Also I have sent the letter to Grenada about a month ago... Just little over month at the moment. It was an express letter, so it was supposed to be there already few weeks ago. So now I am waiting a reply from them. I haven't got any reply to three or four last emails that I sent out. Oh, well I just need to be a bit patient. I already have the two certificates that I need. After next month I should be able to print out that I have enough cash to travel. 

I already contacted CIMO about helping me with the visa. They can help me if I have a place where to do my thesis to. So next I will contact another person in that organization. Then I need to contact Allianssi as well. It would have been such a good luck if I would have been able to just apply to the IEC visa (through Stockholm). Now I am checking out other visa types that wouldn't cost me 500 euros extra. Or demand that I have travel insurance for whole year!

Waiting is humbug!

A year ago today

I was thinking about what to write, when I suddenly realized that a year has passed since my granny died. I didn't even remember it in the morning, nor while I was looking at the time around the time she died. It just hit me a moment ago. So I did a quick search on FB (bad me) to see if anyone else had noticed it. I do remember from last year that quite many had reported it there. So I just wanted to check if the others had posted anything today. Well, I didn't find any (I am not FB friends with my mother, so I don't know if she remember it or not). I am not surprised. I barely remembered myself. I just sent a message to my sis to ask if she remembered. //edit: My fb update has brought me new news about this. Others have remembered as well. I am glad.

To be honest my granny has been on my mind, and I have been thinking of this day. It just happens that usually this means that I will forget the exact date. Like remembering that my friends have B-day coming up, and then remember again that oh, it was yesterday. So anyway. A year ago today my granny died in her sleep in the hospital. She had not been consious for few days. It had been 1,5 weeks in the hospital and 0,5 weeks in the hospice. So she had been 2 weeks away from home. One could say that she almost died like she wanted.

At friends wedding

Last Saturday I went to Tampere to celebrate a friends wedding. They got married at this really wonderful place which was called Hatanpään Kartano (Hatanpää Mansion). It was really lovely place and despite the dark clouds, it didn't rain at all :) There were just few family members and alot of friends of the happy couple.

Hatanpään Kartano

Happy couple :)

I had my bag and shoes that I bought from Bulgaria. The shoes were really nice, expect when we had to stand in the grass and my heels didn't have any support. You could easily track my route anyway, as the sand "road" (whatever you call those where you walk in the park) didn't like to stay under my heels either.

My bag, that I brought from Bulgaria

Me and my friend ( we are old co-workers of the bride) went outside and took some pics of our own :) I am not putting my friends pic here, but she was pretty as a picture.

Me!

The food was wonderful! Sorry but I did not take picture of it. The salad or the appetizers options were vast (for those who don't understand Finnish, it is the first part). I would almost say that the salad table was enough. I didn't eat that much from the main course just because I was so full.

What a menu

At our dinner table there also were disposable cameras with what we could take pictures of the celebration. The idea behind them was that the couple would developer one camera per month during the first year of the marriage. I do have to say that I was able to get my hands on two different cameras, which means there will be lots of pics by me :) Well not that many pics, I just took few pics and gave the camera forward (as there was only one camera per table and there were six of us in the table).

One camera for every month of the first year of marriage 

The first dance was danced under a chandelier.

Chandelier

The gifts

Both the mother and sister of the bride gave speach where they gave small gifts to the happy couple. The mothers gifts were from my friends past and mainly just for her. The sister also gave to the groom gifts. As I sat behind them for these speaches I was not able to take good pics. I do think that one part for my pics not been very good is that my camera is getting really old :/

Oh, lucky me

Yes as I have mentioned earlier the school has started. So I am really busy with studying and moving. Of course I was not in time to buy one school book, so I haven't had the chance yet to start reading it. It is just the first course of the season. When I look at my timetable at the moment, I do not see enough time for studying :/ So need to remember not to book anything for the fall anymore. 

Also I have just a week ago come back from the north and I haven't had the money to fill up the tank. I have been waiting for the payday to come, so I can fill it. Also I have a friends wedding tomorrow in Tampere, so I need to spend some to get there. Oh, well there seems to be some trouble with my employers bank. The paycheck has been sent out, according to the data, but no money had arrived to any of us. 

I have now informed the land lord that I will be moving out. (The office was open only three hours per day in the morning so it was a bit of a hassle to get it done.) So during next Monday between 8:00-16:00 someone will come and visit me to check that this place is still livable. Great, I just have been emptying my bookshelves so that I can but them on Facebook flea market. So now I need to put some of the stuff back, and start again after Monday. (Just because I want this place to look clean while the inspector is here.)

About the book I mentioned earlier, I ordered it to my friends place (as it was sold mainly in UK and US) and my friend sends it to me. So as a thank you I have gathered her a packet. I told her I would send it today, but that didn't happen either. Well I could sent it and use my credit card, but I rather not. As I can't be sure that the paycheck will be in my account Monday, so I rather save the little I have to last as long as I can.

First school task done

I tried to start early as I knew I did not understad the task very well. I haven't yet received my school book for the first class, but I hope I will receive it soon as I know that my friend has received it already. So I am waiting near my mail box for any mail. I need to start to organize my school stuff as they still are just a big pile of paper. I have been throughing this out (because of the move) but I am not yet ready to part my ways with my school stuff. This is going to be a small post again, as this has been hanging here for few days already.

Vacation and relaxation

All and all I had nice vacation. I was not able to let go of work thinking, and I got stressed about that. So basically I was not relaxed when I started to work again. Still it feels very tiresome to open my computer and to start working. I intend to keep working for this company at least untill I come back from Canada. I intended to write more about the vacation and relaxation but having kept this blog open for two hours now, I decided just to make a quick post and not write anything specific.

Work wear

This is today's work wear for me. The shoes have 13 cm heal. So far have not used these outside as it has been raining. Maybe one sunny day.
I add this to my blog as well so that all of you that are not my fb friends can see this too :)

School et al

Last week I spent in Tornio with my sister's family. The main reason why I went there was because my school started. Like 6 months ago the teachers laid down their demands for us. I hope that this time they will be following through with them. One other surprise was that there was about 10 people less than when we started. Not even the teachers knew if they had dropped out or what. I think that people should not go to school if they are not going to stick with the program. There might be others who desperately want to start this, but were not chosen (but are in line if someone drops out in the beginning). 

One thing that I find most terrifying is that we are to write more academic. (Yeah, I was not that successful at it last semester.) We already got a list what words not to use... Like, think, you, kind of, sort of... Also we should drop these in our spoken presentations as well. So I need to stop and think a bit more of what I am going to say. I am pretty sure I will not get a good grade from this course.

One annoying thin: The teachers were not able to do or follow a timetable! How hard can it be? We the students followed the instructions that we were given. For example we had a company visit. Based on the first glance to the timetable we were not supposed to go anywhere. The teachers told us later that we would actually be going to the company that was located 20 km north from school. Also we were told an hour before the exact time when we were supposed to be there. No directions what so ever was given, we found out about it ourselves. The students were the first to arrive, then the organizing teachers. Other teachers were last to arrive, they were also 15 minutes late...

We also got some pressure on our Master's Thesis. I still do not know where I would do it to. I know that I would like it to be something to do with improving processes (working together or actual process of doing something). But it doesn't help me when I need to have a company to do it to. I have few ideas from friends, which I might need to follow through. The only problem is that if I am in Canada, I might not be able to do them. So I might have to move home earlier than I had planned. Also my move is probably going to be a bit later (in the end of January) due to the contact days.

I took and fetched my niece and nephew from day care to help my sister and brother in law. This meant that they were able to work a bit more on those days. Unfortunately my niece got migraine and had to spent few home days. Luckily her granny and grandad were able to help. The problem with my niece is that when she gets migraine she will throw up (to help with the pain). 

Hmmm, have I forgotten anything? Oh, yeah on Friday I baked few pies for my sister to take to her workplace. As she will be quitting in few weeks she will need to take a farewell something. Some have taken cakes and some pies. So as I do pies best, I did some for her. They are now in the freezer, so no extra furriness ;)