Canada part 3

Starbucks, Starbucks and one more Starbucks. Well actually no. You do find quite a lot of Starbucks here and they have their own clientele. Canadians prefer Tim Hortons though. I do agree with them. The prices are much lower and the taste of the tea or hot chocolate is in my opinion better. Also you can get doughnuts from there. Now don't get me wrong, it is not just a coffee place or doughnut place. You can get snacks and food from there as well. One stop place indeed! So if you ever are in Canada, visit Hortons! It is a must see place. 

The bags at the grocery store are not free. They are not really expensive either, just cost 5 sent a pop. So they are cheap to use as garbage bags as well! Just do not put too much items in one bag as they will break. They are tougher than in US, in my opinion where you have to have almost as many bags as you have items. Sometimes they'll double bag things for you (in US). Walmart bags are the same all over, so I am talking about Canadian grocery stores. The bags are not free, so that people would use the one bag more often or would use alternative methods like cardboard boxes or reusable bags. I prefer using my back bag, as then I don't have to carry as much stuff. People use quite a lot of those big things that you can pull behind you (what mostly older people in Finland use). 

People drink coffee and tea hear as people do in any country. The coffee is lighter than what finnish people are used to and usually mixed with a variety of different things. Tea is pretty much similar. The difference is that you have to know places to find the tea loose. They mainly sell it in bags, which annoys me very much. I do have loose as I was directed to Bulk Barn where you can find all you need from tea to flours. It is not a grocery store, so no fresh items. 

Baking can be an expensive hobby here. All the items that you need for baking are expensive to buy, and the tins and pans are super expensive. I was so surprised to notice that in Finland these items are much, much cheaper. I mean you can find expensive ones in Finland as well, but it is much harder to find cheaper ones here. The best place for these items is Dollarama, where you can find what you are looking for much cheaper. Still they might be more expensive then what you are accustomed to. There are not that many people here who bake. People mainly by the cheap ready made stuff. 

Have you ever

Checked your company in LinkedIn and saw unfamiliar people as working there? I have. To my knowledge there is only me and my boss working for the company. Well there is one new since last September which I believe to be a real employee. Then there is one who has worked longer than I have... Which I do not believe. There is a connection between that person and another person who has had a subsidiary but that person has not worked longer than me either. So that is bullshit entirely. 

I just feel so appreciated at the moment. I really do not think that in this size company I should learn new information elsewhere. If I had another job in hand, I would quit in a hear beat. I am just so lost with words right now! Argh!

Canada part 2

My absolutely favourite Canadian radio channel is Z103.5. Just google it and listen to it. This is the music I listen to daily. When I wake up, I go put the radio on and when I go to bed I turn it off. I just love music. Sometimes I watch TV and listen to the music at the same time. Not a good combo, but if you turn off the tv sound, it is doable. Just love the lunch time and travel home music it plays. 

Milk and dairy products are expensive! Luckily I do not drink a lot of milk, but I do feel bad when I have to through some away. Think 1 euro is bad for milk? Double that! Of course now that the canadian currency is going down and euro up, the prices here are going down in my eyes too. My rent has dropped for the last month from 670 euros to 590 euros. Oh, how I wish I could stay longer! I am surprised to see that some of the vegetables are expensive here too. I would have thought that as US is quite close by, that the prices would be similar. 

Tax added. Like in US the tax is added to everything you buy at the register. I think I have mentioned this earlier... But as a reminder, the advertised prices are usually without any Tax.

Flying within Canada is expensive. Travel is expensive. It is not expensive is you know the sites to go, and prefer to use busses. Why I haven't travel that much within Canda... Somehow sitting in a bus for over 15 hours, does not sound like fun... By myself at least it does not sound like fun. I am too modern, I need entertainment. Also my car sickness does not allow reading in a car or in some busses. 

Canada, Oh Canada!

I just realized that I have not written that much of my Canadian experience as compared to normal daily living. That is mainly because I haven't had that much weird experiences and I have mainly stayed at home. I do have to say that after I have gone home, I will miss the politeness of people. Although not everyone is that polite in the greater Toronto area (more people and not all Canadians yet). Still people are generally more polite than elsewhere. 

The roads. It is in middle of the winter, and the roads are mainly clear. If there is a storm, then the roads will not be clear of course. Generally if there is a bit of snow or ice, it will be salted away. The cars will look more white or grey(ish) white because of the salt. All the sidewalks will be salted too. This means that all your shoes and trousers will also have this whiteish colour. You might need to wash your trousers a bit more often like daily, as the salt will become hard when it dries. 

Extreme weather warning! It is going to be -20 outside and the wind factor will make it feel like -30 so be careful! So, that sounds like February to me. No need to warn me about it, because I kind of think that is normal winter weather. Apparently the homeless shelters depend on the extreme warnings, as if it is not extreme they are not allowed to keep doors open!? Or then it was the extra shelters or something, but still it is mind poggling to through people out if the warning is not extreme enough. 

I, Frankestein 3D

Saw it, loved it, and hated that I paid extra for the 3D. Really no need to pay for the 3D if the movie is not an animation. Grr. Actually my intention was not to see the 3D version, but it was the only one playing at the time I was at the theater. So about the movie... You know Frankestein? Yes! Good. You know the Monster? Yes! Good. You know the basic plot for fantasy movies? Yes! Good. So now you know what happens in I, Frankestein. Good movie and entertaining. So what if the plot is nothing special. I was not going to see historical document or thriller or anything like that. I went to be entertained, and I was.

Waiting

So I am waiting for a friend who is about an hour late of being 30 mins late. When I had gone out of the door we had agreed that she will be 30 mins late, so technically she is only an hour late. Also once I was in the bus my landlord send me a message that there will be someone coming to see the apartment in two hours. Was not thrilled about that. Luckily I have kept the apartment some what clean. I did tell my landlord to go check it out just in case I had forgot something. Haven't heard from her after that so I assume all is well. Did I mention that there is a yeasty smell in the kitchen (since I made pizza...).

Future plans

So as I have mentioned in earlier post I am thinking about getting the Skilled Worker visa to come back to Canada. I have checked the time table for the handling times for those visas. It is just 25 months at the moment... So I think that it is safe to say that I am in no hurry to move. I will need at least a year to collect all the needed information (mainly the funds) to send in the application and then it will take two years, before I will hear anything from them. So I have three years to do what I want! Basically all is going according to the bigger plan. I will stay put for few years working for where ever I will be able to find a job. 

Then when I get bored again, I will have the opportunity to move back to Canada (if the application is accepted). There should not be any problem with the application once it is finished, so once the time is up I am expecting to get an acceptance letter. Only thing is that three years is a long time and legalities can change during that time. It might be that Euro will take a nose dive and instead of collecting about 7,500 euros (as per today's exchange rate) I might need to collect double or triple that amount. So while this is a plan of mine, it is not set in stone. If the situation changes that it will be impossible for me to apply, then I will just visit really often. 

Finding a job is a must, as if I do not have a job I will not be able to save up. Also I think I would go crazy if I would have to stay within the four walls much longer. I think I have done pretty good on not going crazy, considering that I have worked from home for 6,5 years now. All I can say about my job now, is that  I have no idea what is happening. Not a good thing, when the company is small. 

My thesis! I need to start writing it! I have about 30 pages at the moment. It is not very good text. I know it and the teachers know it. It needs so much work. Good thing is that I have material. So all I need to do is actually concentrate, write and rewrite. Considering some of my classmates I am in a better situation and have more time. I am just lazy(ier)... 

Are you prepared?

I blame a forum I read for this post... I have talked about this earlier that one should not be afraid of death or dying. The more prepared you are the better it is for the loved ones. I mean that the last will and the living will should be made in time. Remember to tell people where to find the living will in case you are taken into hospital unconscious. The worst thing to happen is that your loved ones have to make the decision whether tho pull the plug or not. It is good to write everything down to the living will; how you wish to be treated, organ donation, time spent in the machines, DNR (yes or no), and finally the funeral instructions. These are the things that people need to know before someone dies. If you write them with your last will, then the instructions are read after you have died. 

The living will needs to be very specific. I have watched my granny's children toss the decision making from one to other. No-one wanted to take the final say, so my mother did it. I knew what kind of funeral she wanted, but of course I was not listened to. We thought she had written a living will, but we were not able to find it. She had talked about it quite a lot, but because nothing was written down the children were able to do what they wanted. I am not going to say that the funeral was bad, it was just not what my granny wanted. 

I know that living will is understood differently in different countries, but it still is very important for everyone to make. I have known from quite early on what I wanted. I haven't written anything down, as I had told to my sister the important parts. I think now that I am a bit older it is about time I write things down. I don't think people will see it weird anymore, like I was told when I was younger, to be thinking of these things. I just want to be able to live my life the fullest and not be caught unprepared. I want to have instructions ready, so that my loved ones do not need to make hard decisions for me. 

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Second reboot of Jack Ryan franchise. First I am just going to say that Chris Pine has done quite good decisions according to his movie career. As long as he does not change his mind, he has a chance to play Captain Kirk and Jack Ryan for the next 10 years at least. That is the beauty of franchises, you can do the same role over and over again. As long as people go and see the movies. Anyway, his career is made just by sticking with these movies. For his age this is quite remarkable. 

Back to the movie... In my opinion the franchise has been brought to the current day quite well. I liked how they used the history to build up the character, and not just made up something. Not to mention Kevin Costner! I liked his character. P.S. there is going to be a new Kevin Costner movie this year for which I saw  a preview in the theater. I have added to my want to see list. But yeah, back to the movie in question... I knew what I was going to see, so expectations were high. I would like to say that the expectations were met. There was no problem with the actors or the plot. I just think I might have enjoyed it a bit more, if there weren't other people around me... I want to really focus on the movie and other people jumping up and down (going to the toilet I assume and picking food) distracts.

All in all, I do recommend this movie. I think it is better on big screen, but nowadays the home TV's are quite big so you might be well of at home (with good sound system). I am a bit iffy with the must see status, for those who want action definitely a good choice. This movie will not change history or anything like that, so you will not be missing out on anything big if you do not see it.

Next I am so going to see a horror movie. I think the Devil's Due is out, so maybe I go and see it. 

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug 3D

I have to admit that I had totally wrong reasons for going to see this movie. The only bits that I really enjoyed were the parts where I heard Benedict Cumberbatch or I saw Orlando Bloom. I got a bit tired half way through. It was a bit weird that some of the CGI effects were so clear. What I mean is that you could tell that it is CGI. The plot was thin, and as so many others have said the love story in this movie sucked. I liked the idea, not saying that, but it was not good execution. 

The 3D extra was pointless. As I have mentioned earlier, the animated  movies are best with the 3D as you can go as much out with it as you want. The real life in 3D in movie theater is just bad. I am just happy that compared to the euros this movie was not that expensive to see. I had my doubts whether I should see this or not. I decided that I would as it had two of my currently favorite actors in it. There is this hype behind the hobbit movies that I just do not understand. They could have made a much better movie by making just one movie actually based on the book. 

Go see at your own risk! 

Finance planning

Considering that I am 31 and have lived over 15 years on my own, sometimes in other countries, one could say that my finance is not so good. Well I do not have debt, but I do not have savings either. I think you remember be rambling about this in earlier post. Well I usually have had quite good reasons why I have had to spent all my savings, like traveling and visiting friends abroad. Fine, I admit that mostly I save for the trips and after spending it all I start to save up for another trip. 

Now I have the opportunity to change that (yeah, right!) by starting to save up the last few paychecks that I have. I think I mentioned earlier about the amount needed for the Skilled Worker visa. As it is not something that I am able to do within a year, I will need to make a backup plan as well. In other words, I am going to have the Skilled Worker visa in the back burner and when the necessary amount is filled, I will check if I am able to apply. Take it a year or two. So my primary goal will be to gather enough for rainy day. This would mean that I will need to have at least three months expenses ready in my bank account. 

Well that is done, as my expenses for next three months are very low. Just kidding, I am not done. I think I will just multiply my income by three and have that as target. Then I will estimate for how much an apartment would cost, of how much rent I am willing to pay and triple that cost. I will add these two numbers together and I will have my target number. Once the rent and the rent deposit is saved, I can start to look for an apartment. Once the rainy day savings are up, I can actually move. Of course I will need to calculate the moving cost as well. I am hoping that I will have found a job by the time I am moving, so I can dip in to the rainy day, and pay back from my next paycheck. 

Also I will have the full advantage of my credit card as final backup in the moving business. Not a good backup, but as I have paid it off by then, I can use it. I have credit card debt of under 100 euros at the moment. I could pay it right now, but I am saving the euros on my account so I can pay any unexpected bills. I will pay it off from my next paycheck. 

Packing luggages

I have had to make some changes to my first luggage. Now it weighs somewhere between 22 and 23 kg. My second luggage is about 14 kg. Now I will need to find the heaviest parts in the other luggage and put them in the second luggage. Once I go to my friends place, I can put stuff in plastic bags and take the air out. This will give me room to put all the clothes into one luggage and put the heavier stuff to the smaller one. 

I am still thinking of taking the third luggage as well, as I will not have enough room to take it with me otherwise. Well I can take it as hand luggage, but then I will still need to pack a bit differently. I still have all the liquids to pack. I might through somethings out, just because I can replace them in Finland. The problem is that I can take only 6 kg into the cabin, so my laptop and other electrical stuff fills that in already. Not to forget that I still have some laundry that I need to do and pack those items. 

So I would say, that I am good with the amount of luggages and space I have, it is just organizing it all to fit my luggages and then I will be good. 

So far I will be throwing away some clothes that I have had for years, and are breaking down. Also I will not be taking my Fiskars stuff with me or any of the other kitchen stuff I took here. (Thank god for those items. It is good to be prepared.) I have already thrown out some shoes and I will be doing that to ones that I have not packed yet. I will need to check some of the school papers whether I will be taking them with me or not. Not bad, as I still have 1,5 months before departure.  

Travel plans/wishes for 2014

1. Travel back to Finland

Early March I will move back to Finland. My Visa/work permit closes on 27.2, but I asked permission to stay until my flight leaves when I last time entered the country at the boarder. The boarder employee said that I could stay as long as I will not work at all during thew three days I am staying extra. I promised I will not. I will literally not work and have a long weekend off from work (if I still have work) as I will be staying with a friend of mine, so I will be spending more time with her. (Basically I take any excuse not to actually work.) 

2. Visit Nottingham

My friends has moved to Nottingham, and I promised her that I will visit her. I will need to check if she has room for me, as I know that she is dating someone. Also I will need to ask if I can bring a friend or my sister over. Me and my sister have not traveled together since Bulgaria in 2011, so it is about time we traveled together. 

3. Visit friends in Germany

I have two... well three friends in Germany that I would like to visit. The problem is that I haven't been in contact with them that much. So I would need to make the travel plans so, that I would be staying in hostels or hotels and not with them. So this would be quite an expensive trip. Also I need to check from the map the locations of where they live, as if I remember correctly they do not live close by. So I might not be able to see all of them. They are the friends I made in Florida all those years back, so visiting them would go under the new years resolution I made last year (to meet long lost friends). 

4. Travel to Canada

Travel back to Canada. Well this could be just a visit with another friend of mine. We have been talking about traveling this year, and this would be a perfect fit. This might not be possible if I find another job, as I might not be able to take any vacation time off. Or if I can it might be unpaid, which would mean that I would need to have savings enough to be able to support myself for this trip and the next month when the paycheck would be smaller. 

I think this year I will be doing mainly European travels. I am thinking of maybe doing it by interrail, because then I can combine as many locations as I like into one swoop trip. Global 22 days is not priced too bad and if I am unemployed it should be doable. I need to plan this more!

Packing already

When is it too early to start packing? I have already started to pack my things away. So far so good I have to say. I have packed almost all my clothes and shoes and still have a bit of room in my biggest luggage. If I have enough room I will put the smallest luggage inside the second smallest luggage. Or I might leave it at my friends and say that I will pick it up the next time I come and visit. I will try to have my backpack as my hand luggage plus a small handbag with all the essential documents. It would help me when I need to go from the airport to my friends place. Well it would help me at the airport period. I tried to travel with the tree luggages and it was not easy.

I can do it so I don't mind if I have to do it. All I am thinking is that it is quite a lot to be put in a car. I just hope there will be enough room. I have already taken some clothes out, that I will be throwing out. No need to carry almost broken clothes back to Finland. I have few items that I will need to get before I leave. I need to get few of the drink stuff (like juice mixes) for my mother; not going to get that much of those as I am working with the wight limitation. Then I need to find a not lipstick for a friend; it is not a lipstick but now I can't remember what it was. I have it up somewhere, and I need to go to downtown to get it. Also I need to go to downtown to get a filter for another friend. I just have to hope that there still are filters left. I think I might do a trip to downtown on Saturday and buy those things. 

I have checked that if I wish to come back as skilled worker, I will need to save over 11 000 cad or have a place to work. So this in mind, I have not transferred money here, but started saving already. So that is my mission for this year. To save at least 5 000 euros by the end of the year. If I can do that by summer, then I will try to save it all by end of the year. It depends on when my work ends and if I am able to find a new job. I do not like the idea of staying with my sister for 6 months, but I know that it will be helpful for them as well. But I have done the math, that as long as I am working, I can save at least 1000 euros per month and still be able to pay all my bills and do a bit of traveling within friends. I can still save 1000 euros per month if I am unemployed if I am staying with my sister and don't do any traveling. I should be able to pay all my bills, but there is no finance left for anything extra.

If I won't be coming back to Canada, then I will have some saved up for buying my own place. I think I need about 10 000 euros at least to be able to buy my own place without the higher loan rate. So there is one goal, but two possible outcomes. I already have the mind set that I will be donating my stuff away, so I do not expect to have any income from them. Will be putting them into kijiji early next month. 

Moving away

In 1,5 months I will be moving away. My landlady sent me a message today that there would be someone coming over to see the place today. They were supposed to come three minutes ago, but they arrived 15 minutes ago. No worries, as I was prepared. I cleaned and washed all the dirty clothes, so there was nothing left. When the two people came over, I showed them everything as my landlady was on her way and was not at home yet. I have a very strong feeling that these two are not going to take this one. Just because the older one said so there is no living room or dining room. 

So they were expecting a bigger apartment. I think that my landlady is advertising this as two bedroom but has not mentioned that there is only two rooms. So if a single person moves in, it is one bedroom and living room. Also I just found a youtube video of this place :)) Well of the upstairs. Nothing from downstairs. 

Selling or donating?

I have a sofa bed, two tables, three chairs and kitchen ware. Not that much items to sell, or to donate forward. I would love to get some money back from the items, but I think I might not be able to sell everything. I haven't put anything on Kijiji yet, as I am hoping that someone would know someone who needs stuff. So I wouldn't need to put my phone number and address online. 

Other option is to donate everything forward. I saw on one site a list of places that take donations. There was only one, that offered free pickup. Others would take money for the pick up. I really am not a fan of the idea of having to pay to get rid of the items. So I think I am going to keep that one place as an option. I just need to call them and ask if they are in need of what I have. They might not want what I have, thus I need to call. 

So keep your fingers crossed that I am able to sell my stuff and if you know someone who needs something I have, please let me know!

School paper part 3

It is done. All the pages together the total is 23. The text is only about 18 -19 pages. If I take out the pictures and tables than it is closer to 18 pages... Not sure how good the text is. I have a feeling that it is not that good. At least compared to my earlier thesis text from which I got the grade 2. Well at least I passed that one. By the way it was my first grade 2. Others have been between 3-5. I've been quite happy about that. I am happy that I did pass the class, as I was a bit worried that I would not. At least I did return every paper on time. 

School paper part 2

I am so tired of writing... the school paper. I have 10,5 pages done. Due date in two days... or 1,5  actually. For tomorrow I have WOT and balanced scorecard to do. I did S already. I am just thinking that the scorecard is going to take a whole day.... I need to work tomorrow and day after tomorrow as well. Oh, I haven't heard from my boss anything about the thesis contract. I am getting a bit worried. I would like to him to just sign the paper and send it to me and inform me that he has done so. So far no contact. 

Motivation, oh where art thou!

School paper

This is unbelievably hard! It is the last school paper before Thesis. I have written three pages, but I have no idea if I am writing holistically about the three courses. Well I am not mentioning the courses by name nor am I referring to them. I am just using the tools mentioned in the classes. I am doing a situation analysis of the case company  and it should cover Business Intelligence, Strategic Network Management and Management Control Systems. 

I have written three pages, and I have just started. I think I should be able to write about six more, before conclusions. I am just hoping that this will be enough. I think I will need to check the power words after I have written everything. With power words I mean the words that my teachers like to use the most. I might write the same thing in my own words, but if I use the power words I will have a chance for better grade. 

Truthfully I just hope I will pass. I have no motivation to do any of this. This paper will be part of my thesis, and I have not heard from my boss anything about the thesis... Without a contract, the thesis might not be possible. I just have to hope, that if my boss will not communicate with me, that his brother might be able to sign the contract. 

True friends part two

So my problems with the article mentioned in the previous post are handled in this post. I will just have the number and explanation, so you'll need to check the previous post for the article and the link for it.

2. Go for number two in your best friends bathroom... Right, sure. I don't see why you can't do it in your friends bathroom as well. Maybe it is because I am a Finn, that I do not understand how this can be a measure of your friendship??

9. Best friends click on all your activity on social media? No way. Stalkers might do, but it is not a measure of a friendship! 

12. I am bit unsure how to feel about this. If someone is an a-hole, I do not think I would be their friend for long and I also think that if someone is a-hole, they will be told off by non-friends as well. So how does this really measure friendship??

15. Insults... Really?? I do not like to hear or use any kind of insults. No way will I listen to insults coming from anyone. Best friend might find themselves looking for someone else to insult. I think this is American thing, as I do not see it fit in European culture. There is no such thing as casual insult. Insult is an insult.

17. So you have friends or friends that are bullies. As I mentioned earlier, insult is an insult and bully is a bully. This about your values basically. If you are against bullying, you are against all type of bullying. 

19. So what about the number 5? How can you know everything, if you are not talking constantly? I prefer the number 5 over this one. Of course the birthday is valid for this one, but otherwise this is not true if you ask me.

23. Sorry I do not understand this. My friends ask what I want to hear and we mix the music if we are not listening to same genres. So what was the point of this one? Make sure that you have selfish friends?

Also the list was supposed to talk about true friends. To me this list quite well describes friends. You know the normal kind. For example the moving part, I have had friends come over and help me move during any time of the year. True friends would stay and clean up after packing, which I also have had the pleasure to experience. Truth to be told, I have had ones been told that they would not help be pack although I had told before hand that it was the plan. 

I've taken and picked up people from airport and my friends have done this to me too. I have loaned my car and I have loaned my sisters car. Sometimes I am the DD for my friends when we go out, but usually we take the public transit. Normal friend stuff and taking each others into account. So I do not understand how this list is supposed to reveal a real, true friend... Few items on the list are right to the point, but some of it is just rubbish if you ask me. I am not saying that I would be expert on this subject. This list just rubbed me the wrong way, so I had to went about it.

True Friends?

I came across an article that lists things that make a true friend. Well I am not quite agreeing with it. But first Let me share the article with you. Here is the copy of the article:

You can find it here: http://thoughtcatalog.com/christopher-hudspeth/2013/08/25-signs-someone-is-a-real-true-friend/

25 Signs Someone Is A Real, True Friend

AUG. 11, 2013 

By CHRISTOPHER HUDSPETH

1. They don’t make you feel like a horrible person for passing on invitations because you have to do things important to your education, career or the betterment of yourself in general. Sketchy is the friend who legitimately bashes you for choosing work over play.

2. You feel comfortable enough at their place to raid the refrigerator or go number two in their bathroom – probably in that order.

3. You’ve discussed and agreed that hypothetically, if one of you were to get bit by a zombie, you’d hold off on killing each other until you actually began turning into a member of the walking dead. (Also, if they aren’t 100% certain you’re dead, they’ll hold off on hooking up with your spouse.)

4. They’ve answered a call you made between the hours of 2-6am groggy and disoriented, but prepared to listen to or meet you for help with your emergency. And it better have been a damn disaster if you barged in on their REM cycle with phone-on-nightstand vibrations and Marimba on full blast.

5. Much like with family members, you can go extended stretches of weeks or months without talking and hanging out consistently, yet there’s no doubts about your relationship. Schedules get busy, circumstances arise, but your friendship remains fully intact.

6. They’ve helped you move. (If they help you move during the summer, they’re the realest friend, and you better buy them some type of friendship ring or at least the 2 for $20 at Chili’s.)

7. If you throw a huge party that results in your place being trashed, look around at cleanup time. Anyone so much as stacking red SOLO cups or pouring out half-drunken beers is worthy of considering a friend.

8. Any little favors they’ve done for you in the past aren’t kept on track of, and vice versa.

9. All of your posts on social networks are guaranteed a comment, like, favorite, or SOME TYPE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT from your friend. It may sound stupid, but in this day and age, you can’t leave a pal’s post response-less – not even the 47th picture of their nephew or their 4th selfie of the day.

10. If someone slings their name through the mud, you take offense, interrupt and kill any bashing immediately – and they’ll do the exact same for you.

11. They are sincerely happy to see you have any type of success. Not the lying-through-my-teeth fake smile and bogus “Screw you, why not me?Ohhhh, well good for you!” – but legitimate excitement and congratulations.

12. If you’re being an a-hole, they’ll make you aware of it to your face.

13. You don’t constantly find yourself scolding them for putting unflattering photos of you online, because they know better than to post an eyes closed, unprepared, bad candid snapshot of you.

14. When a friend knows painful information (e.g. your crush hates the way your face looks), they’ll tell you. Maybe slightly modified to soften the blow, but they won’t leave you in the dark with false hopes, or headed down a disastrous path.

15. Your interaction naturally begins and ends with casual insults the majority of the time.

16. Even when involved in relationships, they don’t fall off the grid or blow your friendship off entirely. Yes, new love commands a lot of attention but don’t pull an Andy from Toy Story and just straight up neglect your clique.

17. When you stop to tie your shoe, they actually wait for you to finish as opposed to leaving you in the dust. Or they keep walking and openly vocalize and laugh at the fact that you’re being left behind.

18. They’ve taken the dreadful, guaranteed to cause massive drama step of informing you that you’re being cheated on.

19. Rarely do you discover anything about what’s going on with them on social networks. You don’t need Facebook to tell you it’s their birthday, or Instagram to see who they were with and where they went last night.

20. They don’t let you do anything stupid – at least not by yourself. If you wind up hammered, singing the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song solo on karaoke night, reevaluate the friendships of everyone you were with that night. Someone should’ve intervened or started to sing.

21. You’ve borrowed each other’s stuff that normal acquaintances probably wouldn’t share. Cars, spare rooms, expensive electronics, etc.

22. They’ve dropped you off at or picked you up from the airport. This is especially meaningful if you have something like a 5am flight.

23. You’ve changed the music playing on their radio or iPod and lived to tell about it.

24. During the lowest of lows, they don’t give up on you even if you’ve given up on yourself.

25. There are silences, but they don’t feel the least bit uncomfortable or awkward. If you can sit down and shut up with a person, never feeling obligated to fill that hushed void, you’ve got a special connection.

New Year at Toronto

Nathan Philips Square. There were approximately 35 000 other people with me.

Lots of entertainment before the fireworks, unfortunately I did not see much of it as tall people kept moving in front of me. Later there was no room to move anywhere, but still people kept pushing through. 

That is the City Hall behind you. I can only imagine what the fireworks looked like from the inside.

Very nice fireworks. Compared to Finland, a bit lame though. But there was more entertainment than what in Finnish celebrations there usually are. So on average it was a very good party.

I don't have as many pics of the fireworks as I wished to have, but that is just due to the fact that I was quite pinned down. It took me a while to get my phone out. 

Planes (DVD)

How glad am I that I did not go see this one at the movie theater! My friends kid got this as Christmas gift, so I had the opportunity to see this. The kid did the right thing and stopped watching after half hours had passed (the kid is three). I saw the end, then the beginning and then the whole movie as a whole.... I could have done something else with that time. Well I did do partly, but still seeing this was waste of my time. Maybe it is okey for the kids, but I was disappointed.  

The movie just was missing the thing, the thing that glues you to the seat. I am so glad I did not have to pay to see this one. 

Going home

Unfortunately I have not been able to find a job or hubby from Canada, which means that I will have to go back to Finland. I know I still have two more months (exactly two months) before I have to go, but it still makes me sad. I have got the feeling that not all of my friends have been happy that I have had this opportunity to travel. To me all that matters is that if my friends are happy, I am happy for them. But this was not about that. This post is about going home. I so would love to stay here. 

No home sickness what so ever during my stay. I might be home sick when I go back to Finland. In a way it is good that I am going back, as I will be able to do my thesis and do the necessary seminars in the school and not online. I will be able to help my sister a bit and maybe help my aunt if she needs it. I already know where I want to move, when the opportunity comes. I think I will start sending applications to UK, US and Canada after I have graduated so I will have a chance to move abroad again. Now don't get me wrong, Finland is a great place to live and all. I just prefer at the moment to live in another country. 

I already have plans on staying with my sister at least till summer and move during the summer depending on if I find a job. If I do not find a job, then I will stay with my sister and try to save as much money as I can. This means that no holiday travels for me. I might travel to meet friends if I find good deals, but I will not travel for shopping. The more I save, the better. Then when I find a job, I might be able to buy my own apartment from the location where I find the job from. If I after that decided to move abroad, I can rent the apartment to someone and keep it as backup. The more I save, the less loan I need to take and shorter the pay back period. 

But now I need to try and enjoy the last two months that I have. I have had such a fun time the last 10 moths living here. I would recommend this experience visa to anyone who is able to get it. Can't wait what this year will bring me. I have been such a good girl and helped those who need me (babysat a cat, recommended a wedding place, baked for tons of people, etc) during the last year that something impossibly great must be on my way (according to Karma, I think). Although I have been blessed with amazing landlord already so maybe what is waiting for me is just something amazing.    

Delta

Second time flying with Delta to Pensacola. During this trip first they informed me that my continuing flight was canceled and changed into other one with three hours to spent in Atlanta. No biggies as I would be still able to get to Pensacola. On my way back, the continuing flight was delayed first with two hours and then changed to be only one hour. After arriving to Atlanta I got the information that the gate had changed and 10 minutes were added to the delay. After spending an hour at Atlanta I heard that the flight is on air at the moment and that the plane is coming. This meant that more time was added to the delay.

When the plane had arrived and we were ready to board the plane, we were told that all we are missing now is the pilot. So we had to wait another 15 minutes before boarding the plane. So the two hour, wait lets change that to one hour delay ended up being about 2,5 hours. Luckily the personnel got as pissed off about this as the passengers and the service on board was excellent. Well done Delta! Other good things that followed was that I did not have to wait in line at the customs, because we came at such a late hour and the luggage arrived also quite fast (compared to other times when we have to wait for the other luggages to be handled before the workers can start sending ours out). 

I was home before midnight, so not a bad ending for the day of stress. 

Frozen 3D

Another animation movie for me. Surprisingly I like horror, scifi and disney/Pixar animation (see what I did there.. ). There is something different about this movie compared to the other ones. There are a lot of common elements; parents die, queen, princess, princess and the expected unexpected romance. The main difference is that there is no clear evil in the beginning of the movie. There are trouble of course, but no evil. I recommend this movie for all girls to watch. If you are wondering what movie should you show to a young girl, show this one. Forget the other princess stories (Cinderella, sleeping beauty, etc) as this one will benefit your child much better. Other movie that you should also keep in hand is the Brave. These two movies have something that the other movies do not have. Girl Power!

Basically this movie does fit for everyone, but benefit wise I see this is a perfect fit for young girls. I was pleasantly surprised by the defining moment of the movie. I am sure that many others were too. 

Back to Toronto Pics