La vie est dure!

Holy Crap,

That last post was depressing, why didn't I slit my wrists while I was at it?

Well, anyways,  things are SO MUCH BETTER now. I'm more or less settled in Turku and  see everything in a new light. Of course, I still have some paperwork and stuff to sort out, but that's a minor detail. Those type of fuckeries don't matter as much.

Sorry for the late update, I was too busy having fun and partying hehe. However, I'll make it up for you guys by writing an uber long post.

In all seriousness, I am very happy. I can't remember the last time I felt this stress-free...
You guys all know that I've been raised in a relatively strict, traditional Asian family,so I could do so much and there was always this constant nagging, especially before I left. But right now, now that I'm on my own, I feel much  better. I can experience things for myself, have fun with no worries and be my own boss. Of course, having a mom as an underground chef, I can't really live up to her cooking, but I'm getting there. Actually, I can cook a pretty decent meal: I'm having salmon fillet- It was on sale! I had about 800g of NORWEGIAN salmon for 7 Euros, OMG IT WAS LIKE HALF MY ARM-, rice and some green peas. Not too shabby for a cooking newb, huh? My roommates are still as awesome as ever, I couldn't ask for better. I mean, although I live in the "ghetto" part of Turku and not on campus, the rent is pretty cheap, my roommates are clean, it's 5 mins from the supermarket, I live next to a forest... Seriously, what more could I ask for?

Seriously I'm having so much fun here. The first welcome party last week was at a nightclub and I had a lot more fun than I thought I would. I also learned that I can actually dance... especially when drunk. I tried the Salmiakki shot, something typical of Finland... I wouldn't try it again.I washed it down with a White Russian. Funny thing is, I didn't know what it consisted of exactly, it just looked good. And then I realized there was coffee in it. Now, for many of you, you know I can get very excited naturally. Imagine me drunk+caffeinated. Holy crap.
Still, I had one of the best times of my life and I was pretty sore the following days because I danced too hard.


Anyways, there's another welcome party tomorrow. This time, I'm getting overalls! Apparently, it's a huge tradition to wear overalls to a party here in Finland and Sweden... probably in the other Nordic countries too. Read more about it here. And, of course, I'm obviously getting one. I'm really excited about this!

Now, enough about the partying. Let's talk about the country itself.

Finland is ridiculously safe. I've read and heard about it, but I've never experienced it. People are super trusting towards one another it's crazy. Let me give a few examples.

1.When buying fruits and vegetables.
Montreal: It's the cashier that actually weighs in and types in how much you should pay for your fruits.
Turku: You weigh the fruits yourself on this scale. On that scale, there are numbers from 1-125.
Let's say apples are number 25. You put the apples, in a small bag, on that scale and you press #25. The machine automatically calculates how much you should pay for your apples and gives you a sticker. You put the sticker on that bag. So, the cashier only has to scan the sticker when you check out.
Now needless to say, it would be chaos in Montreal: that system would never work since people wouldn't be as honest and only press wtv to pay the lowest price.

2. Coat checks.
Montreal: You NEVER leave your things unattended, it's an unwritten golden rule. Even then, people still manage to rob you.
Turku: There are coat checks everywhere in my university. The thing is, they are not supervised, by no one... AT ALL. Remember that cubbyhole and hooks you had back in elementary school? Yeah, it's kinda like that. People just leave their coats on hooks everywhere at school and no one would ever steal anything. Even if you left your gloves or toques on the floor, it would still be there by the end of the day. Your things will still be there, untouched, after your class or wtv.
I'm not saying that people leave their valuable things unattended all day long. Of course, there are lockers with keys and they emphasize on keeping watch on your things. But still, it's these things would never happen in Montreal.

3. Locking bikes.
Montreal: Just look at the pictures
http://www.citycle.com/3562-agir-contre-le-vol-de-velo-les-solutions
Turku: 1 cute little lock on your bike is enough. Even if it's downtown, it'll still be there when you get back.


Speaking of bikes, I really have to talk about transportation. My brother is doing a Master's in Urban planning, so of course I'm gonna talk about it!!! I'll break it down for y'all.

1. Buses
Ok, this seems like a really mundane subject, but hear me out! First off, when you see your bus coming, WAVE! If not, the bus driver will just drive pass you as if you didn't exist. Why? Well, my guess is that, since there are a lot of buses on a certain bus stop, drivers don't know whether or not you're actually waiting for them or for another one. I guess it's to save gas/time or something.
Another thing about buses is that they really take into consideration EVERYONE, not just the young, able ones. Depending on the bus, these might differ, but not that much. Firstly, there are 3 different buttons. I've only pressed one type so I'm only speculating according to what other people have told me.
1- normal stop button: typical normal stop, so you just leave the bus.
2- you have a baby carriage button: The bus would actually lower itself in order to facilitate getting out of the bus onto the sidewalk.
3- you have a wheelchair button: there's a hatch near an exit. I think the bus driver would come help you get out.


2. Cars ain't the priority
Cars ain't the priority. The sidewalks are quite large and there are bike paths EVERYWHERE, even on highways I think. It's totally safe to bike everywhere so pretty much everyone owns bikes, even during the winter time- I think they have special tires or something. Also, no one wears helmets here. As I said, it's ridiculously safe.
Pedestrians have equal priority downtown as cars. You know how the light changes when it's time for the other lanes to go? It's pretty much the same, but with pedestrians and cars. There's an equal interval for timings for pedestrians and cars to cross the streets. In other words, you don't have to press a button for the light to turn green so you can cross the street without getting killed. It's all automated and people are super respective of each other. People can actually drive. Also, there are no stop signs. Drivers here are kind/cool/smart enough to stop whenever they see a pedestrian crossing the street. Sometimes, they'll even wait for you, even when you're still on the sidewalk. Now that's premium treatment!

3. Heated streets.
Now this is quite peculiar and pretty cool. On certain streets downtown Turku, there are what I call heated streets. It snowed a few days ago and it's pretty damn cold so there's ice and snow. On those heated streets, there is absolutely no sign of snow or ice, as if it were summer. That's pretty cool. Just imagine one side of the street full of snow and ice, and the other of nothing. Cool isn't it?

I started 1 class so far, so I can't really say how it is with my courses yet.
I still have a lot more to say, but I'm getting really tired and I have to save some things for the next blog!!

Till then,

Kippis

PS: I'm  going to Stockholm this weekend.
PPS: If you haven't noticed, the title of this post wreaks of sarcasm.

What a beginning...

It’s my first day/second night here in Finland and let me tell you, it was an emotional roller coaster.

It was exciting and somewhat terrifying during my flight from Montreal to London. I wasn’t able to sleep on the plane so I was already dead tired when I arrived in London. Once I arrived to London, at that point, I just wanted to get to Helsinki ASAP. I had to pass through security again, they took nearly everything out of my bag to find out that I had left my hand cream in there. I put everything in my bag except my computer charger. Heathrow airport is huge so they display it on screens  on the gate of your flight within the hour the gate itself closes.

My gate closes at 11:00. It wasn’t until 10:20 that I realized that I had forgotten my charger while looking for my wallet. So I ran back all the way to security to look for it. Needless to say, I ran around like a madwoman for a while because the staff was anything but useful. Until one lady actually decided to look for it with me, it took 2 mins. And then I ran to my gate, which was placed in a random place so I had to ask around for help. I got there with 15 mins to spare. Ouff. I was tired, hungry, parched  and sweaty- It was now 8 degrees in London.

Finally, when I got to Helsinki more fuckeries happened but I’ll spare you the details.

What was good about the trip was that I met up with other international students and my roommates seem to be very supportive- probably due to the state I was in. They’re super nice.

The following day, I got lost a few times in my own suburb because I arrived at night so it was hard for me to visualize where my apartment was located. Luckily, the people there were nice enough to show me the way, I had to use some occasional sign language but oh well.

Now what was really interesting/traumatizing/creepy/etc. is what happened while I was waiting for my student tutor at the market place today.

I was waiting and there was this middle-aged man that walked up to me. This is pretty much how it went:

Man:leuraskfasdlkafashrfwhefsadlfah asiduasrawesldifjas eoifdjfnas

Me:… uhh No?... English?

(Idem X 3)

Man: (shows his hand)

Me: (thinking: is he asking for money?) No.

Man: shows hand again.

Me: (Puts my hand on his.)

Man: (Holds my hand, kisses it and puts leans his head on it).

Me: (WTF?!?!)

Man: (Gives me a hug)

Me: (omg how the fuck do I get out of this? I can’t just runaway…)

Man: (doing some gestures requiring me and sleep).

Me: (thinking: is he saying that I need sleep?) Yes.

Man: (doing the same gestures again)

Me: (is he suggesting that I sleep at his place??!?!! OMG) No.

(Idem)

Man: (takes my hand kisses it, and leans on it again).

After that he left me alone. He went to bug some other lady and she rejected him coldly. He left her alone. Maybe I should’ve done that. I was smiling and being polite the whole time. I should’ve been a bitch. I told this to my tutor when we met up and he laughed and said it was interesting. Finns are normally shy and reserved… Now I think that there’s two reasons this might have happened. Mind you, this happened at 2:20-30 pm:

1.         This guy was excessively drunk.
2.       He thought I was a prostitute.

It was creepy as hell, but harmless. Kinda traumatizing, actually. I was at the marketplace, the downtown of Turku, so there many people around. I don’t think he would’ve attempted anything…

On another note, Turku is colder than I thought, even if there’s no snow yet. My experience here should get better. Needless to say, it feels kinda lonely here and I miss everyone back home. I’m experiencing culture shock. This ain’t no joke.

Let’s see what the next few days have in store for me.

Kippis