Home sweet home March 29, 2007

I went to my all-time favourite Finnish city yesterday -and secretly wished that I would be fulfilled with the warmth of it, with the coziness of its familiarity, and with the great things it reminds me of. Ever since my high school days were over, I have missed the city and everything it represents. I have looked forward to every visit over there, just because every time I go there, the good memories come back to me in an instant. Although I never really lived in the city (except as a baby), it used to feel like home.

Yesteday, however, things weren’t the same anymore. For the first time in years, the city didn’t feel like it used to. I had an ok time there, but that’s all. I didn’t really feel that comfortable there anymore; the city had lost its coziness, its familiarity, its significance to me. I was a bit puzzled at this. The city, although it used to have such a strong place in my heart, now only brought up nostalgic feelings, nothing else.

On my way back to my apartment, I was surprised to notice that when I got off the bus, I felt relieved. I looked at the surroundings with a smile on my face, and realized I belong here. Everything feels so cozy, so comfortable, so familiar here. I feel at home in this city. And I only needed a little trip back to my old comfort zone to realize it was not there anymore.

I really do love it here. It feels great to be home.

What it feels like for a girl March 26, 2007

Spring is finally here. And I’m in a good mood. Wheather it’s the hormones or the sunny and warm weather, I dunno. It’s all good, that’s what it is. Suddenly, everything feels so incredibly good. I noticed how beautiful the city looks, how great a place it is actually to live in. I just can’t stop smiling when walking outside and enjoying the birdsing and the hot rays of the sun. They say this is the warmest it has been for 45 years in March. It sure is lovely. And I feel as light as a feather. I could just fly with the gentle spring winds and enjoy the fresh smell of spring. I guess what I have experienced is an awakening of some sort. It’s as if I’m in love or something. With spring, that is. Spring really feels like that for a girl.

The Curse of Idols March 22, 2007

Ayayayay. Outs. That’s how one could sum up tonight’s Idols show. It was pure pain and torture to one’s ears. A horrifying experience, to tell you the truth. What made it even more humiliating is the fact that a Swedish Idol judge was there as well and I think we made a pretty bad impression on him. Once again, the Finns really sucked.

Every year I find myself cuddled up in the corner of my sofa (or rather, my bed…) watching the show whenever it’s on. And every year I become more and more pissed off and agry while watching it. This year seemed promising: a lot of reasonable and even a couple of really good singers took part in the big competition. There was a lot of potential, lots of people who could really sing.

I’ve been wondering why, year to year, the singers at the Finnish Idol suck. First I thought that really good and talented singers just didn’t take part because they thought taking part in a format like Idol would be humiliating and finding the easiest way out as an artist. But because this is already season 3 of Idols, I must say there has to be something else behind all of the pitchy singing and awful tones. I guess the Finnish people are the ones to blame. After all, they are the ones that vote for the singers and they are the ones that want to see pretty faces up on the stage rather than good and solid and musical singers.

I’m impatiently waiting for tonight’s results. It’s fun to see who is the one that has to go home tonight -the boy who is cocky but can sing, the guy who has a voice but cannot choose the right songs nor make his best on stage, the girl who looks good but cannot sing, or the girl that has potential but cannot control her voice and is plagued by her nervousness.

Then again, who am I to say anything. Unlike the finalists that were courageous enough to take part in the competition, I sit on my sofa judging them and wishing that I could one day show the world that I can really sing.

Translators at their best March 18, 2007

Translating can be tricky sometimes. When you are struggling with a translation, it’s great to notice that real translators make mistakes, too.

Late Night with Conan O’Brien:
“I throw root vegetables at them.”
“Heittelen heitä rivoilla vihanneksilla.”

Roswell:
“You’re all grown up.”
“Olet kasvanut kaikkialta.”

Clockstoppers:
Sairaanhoitaja:
“He seems fine, although his vitals are elevated.”
“Näyttää olevan kunnossa vaikkakin alapää hieman jäykkänä.”

Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
Keskustellaan siitä, kuka on maailman säälittävin:
“Oh! I come in second.”
“Voi! Tulen sekunnissa.”

Ballerinadokumentti:
“Leave her fuckin’ alone!”
“Anna hänen naida rauhassa!”

Miami Vice:
“It’s hard for me. Thinking undercover.”
“Se on vaikeaa minulle. Ajattelu peiton alla.”

What Rats Won’t Do:
“I’ve got cruise control.”
“Autossani on risteilylippujen tarkastuspiste.”

…well, I guess real translators can sometimes be plain stupid, too.

Im-bloody-possible March 16, 2007

How is one supposed to read 430 pages in a day?

Unfortunately, that’s what I should be doing tomorrow. I guess that’s pretty damn hard, though. I’m lucky if I make it to page 100 or so…but I guess the only one I can blame is myself. Why start studying this late?

Truthfully, I don’t think I’ll even make it to page 50 -see I have a couple of friends coming over tomorrow night for “pussikalja” (or for a few). I’m in deep shit, it seems. However, maybe that is the essential existence of a university student. Being in deep shit every now and again.

Out of reach March 14, 2007

Shit. My mobile’s battery just died. That wouldn’t usually be a problem, but good-for-me, I forgot my charger back at my parent’s. Who live 60 kilometers away. Yay. And the problem wouldn’t even be big if I had a Nokia. But no, I’ve settled for a different phone and that’s shitty.

I guess I’ll eventually figure out what to do and how to manage without my most important effect, but for now, I have to admit I feel really miserable. The worst thing about this is that while this happened, I realized how dependable I am on my phone. It’s irritating, really, to notice that there is so much you cannot do without that little thing. Suddenly, everything becomes so much harder. It is definitely frustrating to notice that your life pretty much circles around your mobile. It sounds pathetic, but that’s the way it is.

Better than sex March 14, 2007

While in London my friend and I went to see the Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s. What a show! Never before have I been so mesmerized and at awe after a night out in theatre. I knew that Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals were incredible, but I didn’t expect to be so blown away.

The show was pure magic from beginning to end. Everything worked perfectly, every little detail was thorougly thought of, everything just ran smoothly. It was strange to sit in the audience and, for once, just enjoy the show. Usually, at least here in Finland, one has to be on one’s toes when listening to a musical -you never know if the actors will sing out of tune or if the songs will be pitchy. The Phantom of the Opera was pure music to my ears: it was such a mind-blowingly awesome experience to listen to music that was so incredibly beautiful and good. Earl Carpenter, Katie Knight-Adams and Michael Xavier as Phantom, Christine and Raoul were extremely talented and gifted. My god if I could be as good a singer as them…

It feels like I’ve been drugged or something. That’s how ecstatic I’ve felt after the show. It’s incredible how music and theatre can get you in a good mood for such a long time. After seeing the Phantom, I must say that it’s pure nonsense to say that music is just entertainment. Oh no, music can do a lot more than entertain. Seriously, it was a wow-experience for me. Just completely mind-blowing. And the best part about it was sharing the experience with a good friend.

When my friend and I were walking back to our hostel after the show, the same sentence came out our mouths almost simultaneously: “Man, that was better than sex!” And yes, that it was.

Zodiacs, zodiacs March 11, 2007

My friend and I were trying to figure out where to go next at the British Museum, when up walked a man around 60 years of age. After having asked us if we needed any help, he looked at me and asked “Are you pisces?”. I was a bit stunned that this man asked my zodiac sign out of nowhere, but answered him “No, I’m aquarius”. “I could have sworn you were pisces, you know”, he commented back and went on to explain why. Apparently many pisces’ have blond hair and blue eyes like myself. Then he turned to my friend and asked if she was also aquarius. “No, I’m actually pisces”, she answered. And then again, he went on to tell how he thought that we were just the opposite -that I was pisces and she was aquarius. Nevertheless, he was pretty giddy because he was damn close anyways. He started telling us how he had recently studied the zodiac signs and how it was easy for him to recognize people’s signs just by looking at them.

So there we were, in the middle of the British Museum, listening to a lecture on zodiacs. Rather interesting, to tell you the truth. The man went on to tell what aquariuses were like (they like to organize things, and bla bla..which is true, I must admit..), and how the pisces behave like. He ended the brief lecture by warning us not to get together with the wrong signs! “Beware of the fire”, he told us both, “don’t mess with such signs as the Leo, for example”. “But water and air are good together, and water and water as well, so if you find your partner from either of those, you’ll be fine.”

When he finally let us go, I felt a huge smile appearing on my face. Not that I wanted to laugh or anything -I didn’t consider this man a lunatic- but it was simply a great feeling to talk about the weirdest thing with a man we didn’t even know. This was so un-finnish, something that never happens here. And that’s why it was so welcome.

Gosh, I wish more people were like that here in Finland.

Way too polite… March 8, 2007

In the few days that I got to spend in London, I learned a lot about England. The funniest or weirdest thing, perhaps, is the issue of politeness. It was really nice hearing total strangers say “Thank you, dear” or “There you go, darling” -it made me feel really at ease in the big city. When we were leaving Harrod’s, the doorman held the door open for us and, without a smirk or anything, calmly said “Ladies, a pleasure”.

At instances, however, the whole politeness issue got a bit out of hand, at least for my taste. On the comical level, that is. In the tube or in the shuttle at the airport, you could hear a soothing female voice saying “Please, hold tightly”. Everywhere where there was a construction site or something of the sort, you could find a poster apologizing for any inconvenience caused (well, this, of course, is really kind and considerate of others, but stuff like this just doesn’t happen in Finland). But the funniest thing was the elevator at our hostel. Every time the doors closed, the voice declared “Doors closing”. Then it continued by repeating either “Going up or going down”. And “Doors opening or closing” again.

I just found all of this rather amusing. It is very polite to tell people what is going on, but a speaking elevator is just ridiculously funny. The funniest thing, however, was the text on the cork of a soda bottle. It read “Open by hand”. What great advice…

I wonder if being polite is just a way of ensuring that people behave the way the society wants them to behave? Or is it just the British mentality? Does each Englishman or Englishwoman really consider me dear, sweet, or darling when I’m doing nothing special to earn that “status”? Or is politeness just something they learn in the course of their life?

Nevertheless, I do think being polite is lovely -I really don’t mind being called “darling” several times a day.

Strange sensations March 3, 2007

Tomorrow at this time I’ll be in London. Didn’t see it coming so fast. I’m thrilled to go, nevertheless -I’ve never been to England and I look forward to meeting the country that gave birth to English, the language I’ve fallen in love with. Lately I’ve been a bit anxious and restless for some reason. Today I realized why: Ever since I moved back to Finland, I’ve had a strange feeling every now and then, a feeling that I have to go someplace else, that I have to get out of Finland for a little while at least.

The cause of my anxiousness and restlessness? It’s time. Again. To get out of Finland. And I’m glad I actually get to go abroad. I love living in Finland, but having lived abroad has made me feel that I cannot stay put anywhere for too long. I guess that’s why I’m going on exchange, too. I hope this little trip will quench my thirst for some time.

London, be ready, here I come.