Tampere-Espoo-Tampere-Helsinki-Mikkeli-Jyväskylä-Tampere...

Sorry guys for the longish pause. As the heading suggests; I've been travelling around this frozen country for the past two-and-some weeks. Now I'm finally back here, home in Tampere. Phuuuuuuuuuuuuh!

There has been lots - and again not that much - going on in my life for this past few weeks. I evacuated myself to Espoo to my sisters place due to that NESU-seminar I mentioned in my last posting. We didn't accomplish much with my big sister Nanna during those several days; just living with those two small boys kept both of us busy enough! I did sit over a coffee cup with few of my school friends for 4,5h on that friday, but that's pretty much it.
I returned to Tampere on sunday night - just to find a tired, alcohol-smelling man lying on the couch.

On following wednesday we had a legendary party, management by PERKELE, in Mikkeli - which we naturally couldn't miss. So, I took off from Tampere early in the afternoon, took a train to Helsinki from where we took another train to Mikkeli. It might sound a bit insane, since going first to Helsinki is actually a very long detour... but the trip from Helsinki with 4 friends was definitely worth it!! We called that trip "an unemployed daytrip" since we're all in the middle of a desperate job-hunt.
The party itself was just as insane as I remembered: for a 10€ ticket one can drink as much as they can. And as you know: Finns can! A lot! This year I was just a bit wiser, since I drank water on the side THE WHOLE NIGHT LONG! This guaranteed that I didn't feel so bad the next morning when I woke up sleeping on this tiny little mattress with my friend Eeva... There was actually 15 people sleeping in that 3-room apartment that morning. Us girls (Jonna, Eeva and I) showered quickly and headed to a well deserved breakfast to Macdonalds... ;)

From Mikkeli I took a bus to Jyväskylä; my home city! My parents are doing some home improvements in our house now, and so I decided to stay over at my friend Pauliina's place. During friday I met my sisters and friends. On saturday I borrowed a car from my parents and drove down to Tampere with some stuff I still had lying around in my parents place - and finally I got my cross-country skiis and skates here!! Then on sunday we drove back to Kinkomaa with Olli, spent time at my parents place (watched how Finnish ice hockey team BITTERLY lost to f****ng swedes in the Olympic final :'( ), had dinner, visited my sister and then headed back home by train.

Now I'm just so happy that I don't have to go ANYWHERE for a while. Unless someone would call me to an interview...

In upcoming weeks we have at least few great parties; sweden-sitsit this thursday and Tampere business student annual ball next friday and saturday. Then we'll be heading up to Lapland with Olli's parents and then... I don't know yet.

Ideas, anyone?? ;) ;)

BusyBusyBusy - and total boredom!

*sigh*

It indeed was a hectic weekend! Out, in a pub, bar or party, almost every night from wednesday 'til sunday. And now I'm bored at home and it's monday night. There's Olympics on on TV, so I have an option to sit on my fat a** and feel bad receiving all that sporting euphoria - but instead I sit on that same FA and write here. At least then there's something proving that I haven't been TOTALLY lazy...

Oh well, but to last week. On wednesday we had a card game night with boys: Olli, Valtteri, Marko and I went to this close-by pub, Soho, to play cards and drink GOOD Irish cider/beer (Magners (Bulmers) and Beamish). It was fun, relaxing and amusing in all ways! Me and guys playing cards - can a girl complain?? ;)

On thursday there was this snowrally (=hankiralli) I already mentioned in my last posting. After it there was a "standard" overall party in a bar downtown - and naturally (for a Finn) a pre-party in between there. We were supposed to head home after the pre-party, which was held in University of Tampere business student union's, Boomi's, club house. The place is also known as BoLa, which comes from it's full Finnish name BoomiLaakso (Boomi walley). Anyhow, we were supposed to go home from BoLa, and not go to Onnela, but whelllllll....
In the snowrally there was some hot mint chocolate offered by the Finnish association of graduates in economics and business, which I naturally had to consume, since it was slightly chilly Finnish winter night... I also managed to invole myself into the presenting of the whole rally (since they needed someone to do the audio-speaks in english too...). So, a busy night there. But the thing got out of hand in BoLa, since somehow we managed to start playing King's Cup, and after that it was settled: Olli and I were definitely going to the main party and the bar it was organized in, Onnela, too.

On Friday there was one of my favourite Finnish bands, TikTak, playing in Tampere. I managed to talk Olli for coming there with me, and so we did. The gig itself was AWESOME, but as we were slightly tired from the previous night we didn't go anywhere but home after it.

On Saturday we visited a book fair that was held here in Tampere, ate out and went to my old friend's B-day party. Actually this party was thrown by a friend I worked with in summer 2000 in one of the biggest amusement parks in Finland. The job itself was TERRIBLE, but as it turned out, I got few great friends from there! And well, to be honest; I hadn't seen this girl, Tanja, for maybe 3 years - and then now on saturday. But somehow it seemed that it was just yesterday, that we hung out... Anyways, the party itself was so much fun, but unfortunately we had to take off pretty early, since Olli had to catch 06.15 bus to Turku the next morning. Too bad, I'd say - but at the same time I'm confident that we'll take a rain-check with Tanja very soon!!

Yesterday I was abandoned, then. Olli left for NESU-seminar (= an organization that enhances inter-Nordic co-operation between the student unions of business schools in the Nordic countries) early in the morning - and I spent the day with his parents and grandparents. Actually it was a super-nice day; we went for a walk with Olli's parents first, then went to a sauna before a nice dinner with the grandparents. The option for my day would've probably been pretty much like my today: mooching at home, THINKING about going out for a walk or smthg - but never getting around to it. And then it's too dark to go. *sigh*

But that's my busy weekend. Now it's monday night - and I have not even left the building. I popped out to the balcony ONCE to get my clothes that had been airing out there. Feeling lazy and fat. I'll do something about it TOMORROW. (Morgen, morgen, nur nicht heute, sagen immer faule leute... eh??)

Känniapina Suomessa

That's: "Drunken Monkey in Finland".

This drunken madness got loose last thursday, when we headed down to Helsinki for this business student seminar. First we had some awesome lectures from eg. the CEO of Finnair etc. and after the "official" part we got to "network" (= get drunk and meet new people). The official seminar part was held in this congress centre in downtown Helsinki, but for the night party we floated off to the Baltic sea. And even though the ferry was actually a biggest piece of crap I've ever been on - we managed to have an awesome, drunken party-fiesta-night!

The drinking actually started already right after the lectures, since we had a nice dinner there even before the cruise. Two of my friends from Mikkeli school were also taking part on this whole ordeal, and hanging out with them was so awesome; since we hadn't been seeing eachother since last July-August. Jonna was in Mexico for her exchange and Joel spent his fall in Buenos Aires, Argentina. So, those guys were a bit (!!!) tanned - and I think I was just rusty for all the rain we had to go throuhg in Limerick!? Here they are, tanned bastards, in the dim hours of the night on board the Viking Rosella...


It is a common habit that everyone will go to the ship liquor store to get some booze (cheaply, since it's usually tax free...) and then party on in their cabins for a while until hittin' the ship bars. That was also our plan, but as the ferry was such an old, crowded, crappy piece of sh** we had to hang out in the bars for a good while to be able to even fit into that tax free shop. Well, we finally made it and headed back to our cabin: TO PLAY KING'S CUP!! There was Olli, his friend Valtteri, Jonna, Joel and yours truly - in that 3mX2,5m hellhole called our cabin. Still we managed to have an awesome game - once again - and we definitely reached intoxication! Here's some pics of our game...



After the game our drunken crew headed to the bar - and well... there happened lots, I suppose, until Olli finally found me and took me back to our cabin to sleep. Well, he was TOTALLY WASTED, I was just pissed out of my tree (in other words: I do have some recollection of the night and what I've been up to (= talking to people from my school), while he has no idea where he's been, with who, drinking what... ye know the drill!?). Anyhow, after passing out in the bathroom - more specifically on the toilet - and after I had picked the toilet lock TWICE, I managed to get Olli to the top bunk of our cabin to sleep. I climbed there too, since we were unable to solve the mechanism of the bottom bunk (alcohol had NOTHING to do with it?!).

After some hours of totally drunken sleep, I woke up, and thought to go to the bathroom & have a sip of water or smthg - but apparently I forgot that I was also in the TOP bunk... so ya, I did fall flat and semi-hard from the bed! Result: my knee is STILL bloody, sor and reminding me of the drunken night on the ferry. Olli remained unconscious through the whole episode.

The ferry was to reach Helsinki again at 11.15 in the morning. Since the arrival was scheduled so late we had thought that we'd have PLENTY of time to shower, perhaps have some breakfast and all before that. Well, I wake up for loud banging on our door, and decide to hit the showers. Luckily I took a glimpse on my watch before heading to the bathroom, since it was 11.13!!!! HELL!!

So, I woke up Olli, we jumped into our overalls, tried (!!) to get all our stuff together and got out of there. The losses - that we have discovered so far - were my eye make-up remover and one T-shirt of mine.

The reason for us to put on our overalls was the raw fact that the party was to go on in downtown Helsinki. In Finland we have this habit, that after an academic party there is always a sillis (= silliaamianen = herring breakfast). In other words, it means that ... well, I already said it: the party will go on. It is also a tradition that the sillis location is a secret - and thus we were taken there by a bus. And yes, we did get drunk, again, and had - if possible - even more fun!

Then, at 16.30 a bus came to pick us up and we headed back to dear old Tampere. Olli passed out ON me on the bus - and I think I did sleep some on the way.

But, all and all, it was - again - a one CRAZY Finnish academic party!! Anyone interested in coming here and taking part on something like that?? ;) ;)

***

The partying goes on again on this week, since tonight we'll go out to play cards with some of Olli's friends, tomorrow there's an outdoor party, hankiralli (=snowrally), and an overall party after that, on friday we'll go out to see one of my favourite bands and on saturday there's a 30th B-day party of some friends of mine...

So, part-tee, part-tee in here also. *sigh*