How to Nick a Crocodile

Once again, I'm suffering from a serious lack of sleep. The reason for this condition is, once again, last weekend, during which I slept an estimated total of 10 hours. That's not enough. My system needs at least 8 hours per night to function properly.

On Friday I learned how to nick a crocodile from a bar.
Before undertaking such a mission we had been at Anna-Riitta's place to celebrate her graduation (she finished her BA degree, hooray!) by indulging ourselves in Finnish crepes with strawberry jam and chocolate spread (expect to meet a 10kg fatter Laura by the end of the spring). We continued the night at Aussie Bar in the centre. Since it was Australia Day (sort of an independence day for Australia) the place was packed with Aussies wrapped in Foster’s flags and some Australian equivalent of cowboy hats. The bar was pretty crappy, but Gayathri and Prue found the decorations so funky that the following morning both of them woke up in bewilderment, wondering, 'Whatta f--- is that huge blow-up reptile doing on my floor'.


My own lettu.


Caught in the act!


I stayed in bed until two o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday, and managed to do absolutely nothing during the day, except for getting myself ready for the next party, which was to be held in Maija's flat.

That evening I drank a healthy amount of wine, which is the contents of one bottle, and found myself walking back home on my own at 5AM, concentrating hard on pressing my stomach and keeping the contents of the bottle inside instead of outside my digestive system. Not that it was the amount of alcohol – I was nearly sober by that time of the night – but my stomach stopped cooperating during the evening because of the crepes I'd had the previous day. Yeah, I know, you wouldn't want to swap bellies with me, but hey, that's my Achilles heel, and you might have something much worse, such as high blood pressure or a small weenie.

No worries, I got home safe and sound, since at an early point of my journey I realised that ok, it might be wiser to take a cab, even though I hadn't got a single penny left. However, my problem solving skills reached a peak at the moment I figured out I could ask the driver to take me to the nearest ATM first. I feel proud of myself for being able to work out such a neat solution.

On Sunday I stayed in bed until 3PM, and did absolutely nothing. It seems my to-do list just keeps growing longer and longer. Soon there's no way out of the to-do jungle.


PS: Mami is doing better, she even remembered I'm here in Glasgow and asked how I'm doing. Last week she couldn't even clutch her hand. There's a tough lady, I tell you.

What I've Learned

I've learned a lot this week: about the phases of the Celts and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in 5th-century Britain, about St. Patrick's arrival in Ireland, about the formation of pidgin and creole Englishes in the post-colonialist era, and about the early linguistic history of Scotland. Nevertheless, as dreadfully earnest as it may sound, none of them moved me as much as an incident that happened on Tuesday.

I was just about to leave for the ISoc movie night when I got a call from mum, telling that my grandma Mami had been taken to the hospital in the morning in very poor condition. My dad had found her lying on her bed that morning, rolling her eyes short of breath. She'd assumedly had some sort of a stroke during the night.
In the hospital it turned out that she didn't react to voice or clench her hands. Later on we were informed that she had a nasty infection in her lungs and a high fever that just wouldn't go away. So recovery from that state seemed a bit too much to hope for.
However, agains all odds she struggled her way back from the ICU to normal ward, and her condition is more or less stable now. No brain damage whatsoever. She still sleeps a lot and remains silent, but the doctors suggest she wouldn't even have the energy to talk. Let's see what happens. We're hoping for the best, of course.

So, after all, the most essential and noble thing I learned this week was that go and visit your grandparents while they're still here among us. Make them a warm cup of tea, give them a hug, and listen to their stories, maybe jot down a few of them. Their experiences might teach you a lot. Go ASAP, next week might be too late :|

Haggis, Bagpipes, and My Social Network

On Thursday 25th January Scotland celebrates one of its national heroes, Robert Burns, the poet. The celebration is like any festival in Finland – take midsummer for example. People gather together to celebrate, but nobody's exactly sure what they're celebrating. So like any given festival, Burns Night is a just another excuse for throwing a party :)
The International Society was a bit early this year and decided to throw the party a day before the actual festival, so we had our festivities already on Wednesday. And ten points to them, once again. They had organised everything from bagpipe players and Scottish country dancers to buffet snacks (haggis, aye!) and of course, their trusted accordion players, the same band we had at the ceilidh two and half weeks ago (dunno the band's name). And ALL FOR FREE. We didn't have to invest a single penny in this. Antakaamme siis iso käsi ISocille!
So first there was a Scottish march band, that is bagpipe players and drummers, and Scottish country dancers in their kilts, performing sword dances. After that the floor was ours for jumping and sweating, again, like that other Saturday. This time we didn't have to starve, as they had a free buffet for all of us to enjoy – I tried haggis, not that bad at all, unless you remind yourself of the infamous ingredients... Some pics of the performers below.





There was also an international pub quiz, and guess which was the first question? "Which country won this year's Eurovision Song Contest?" :D The Finns went bananas, naturally. Oh yeah, I don't know if I've mentioned this, but this place is PACKED with Finns! I'm aware of at least 10 Finnish exchange students, and I know there are even more as degree students. It's mysterious. We're invading the country. Beware, all ye lads and lassies!

After the ceilidh we continued the night on Ashton Lane, the bar concentration of West End, just a stone’s throw from the Uni. Again, I have to moan about the selection of bars in Helsinki. There are so few options! Here a whole range of tastes is represented in just one 100m lane. Of this wide array of clubs we chose The Loft, which turned out to be quite a stylish place to hang out, or to chill out, more exactly, 'cos they had comfy sofas all over the place :) Well, the real reason why we went there was actually the fact that we couldn't get in anywhere else, 'cos Sam was wearing shorts :D Sam-WISE as he is, he had thought they would be more practical in dancing, which they surely were, but not in getting in to clubs past the hawk-eyes of the doormen.

I don't know if you understand what I mean by 'we'. I could do the same as Petra did in her blog and introduce some of the people in this story to give you some idea what kind of maniacs and junkies I'm hanging out with. No, they're all nice people, really ;)
So first of all there's Petra, a medical student from Tampere, NÄÄS, whom I first met online at Irc-galleria, where else! :P Petra lives far far away at Firhill Court student apartments and has already slaughtered a poor innocent rat during laboratory tests. She has a blog as well, and that's in Finnish, so if you're bored of this English shit, just bookmark Petra's funny site and read that instead ;)
Then there's Anna-Riitta, a German major and English minor from Helsinki, studying at the same department here in Glasgow and doing more or less the same courses as I do. She lives 5mins away from my place in a fabulous basement flat with state-of-the-art facilities – wireless internet, TV, DVD player, well, you name it – BUT there's one drawback. To get coverage on her cell phone she has to put a pillow on the arm of the sofa right next to a window, and then carefully place the phone on the pillow. Otherwise – no coverage! :D
To continue with Finns, there's Maija from Helsinki, who I actually knew by face 'cos it turned out that she's also from SOKLA. So back home she studies at the primary teacher education like me. We've even been to same courses. Neither of us knew that we'd both be coming here. What a coincidence :)
Then the other nationalities.
Eva is a Norwegian girl majoring in music. She lives quite close to my place, which is why we quite often walk home together after a night out. She brought two guitars here with her, which makes her quite popular among the other guitar lovers. One of them is Sam, also known as Samwise, a hobbit-like figure from New Zealand. He studies philosophy and genetics, and according to his own words, with such a strange combination he might have to pursue a career at McDonald's. He shares the Party Flat with Harry, a music student from Australia, and Robyn, his German-Australian girlfriend. And last but not least there's Gayathri, a fun-loving Australian girl whose name caused confusion at first. Then there's a various group of girls and boys from the US and Canada (Amber, Sarah, Sara, Antoine, Dillon...), who I (or we) hang out with every so often.

There's one snag about the fact that my social network consists mainly of Aussies and Americans: I have started to pick up this terrible, hopeless, hybrid accent, a mixture between British, Australian and American pronunciation. Not a good example to my future students, huh? ;)

Contemplations

Instead of updating the previous post, I decided to share with you some of the thoughts that have preoccupied me lately. I'll update that post later, maybe.

I think everyone should go on exchange. It's an awesome opportunity to reflect on your life from a different perspective. It's easier here than in Finland, 'cos I've got nothing familiar around me, except for the few items I brought with me. So it's easy to put on your thinking cap and start meditating ;)

I have already resulted in one conclusion during these meditations. It's the fact that I will not spend the rest of my life in Finland. Well, at least not all of it. No, don't get me wrong, this isn't something I've come up with during the past three weeks. Britain (or London) has been my second home since 2002 when I was on that language course in the spring and at that summer 'job' whatever in the summer, and I've kept talking about moving here ever since. Well, now I'm absolutely sure about it. I've never had intentions of getting a bigger apartment in Helsinki, actually the whole thought of a huge loan has intimidated me. And again, don't get me wrong - I'm past the honey moon phase with this country. I've been here so many times. I know the pros and cons, I know that the NHS (National Healthcare System) sucks, that the trains are always late, that the standard of living is lower than in Finland (and still you pay twice as much for rent), that you need a car to get to places (even to the nearest supermarket)... But hey, why should I list all the downsides to it, I could never be that dryly down-to-earth. I'm not like that. I've just always sensed that there's something to this country and culture I find very familiar and easy to relate to. Life is short, I've gotta do something about this once I get back in Finland. I'll have to finish my degree as fast as humanly possible ;)

I've also been quite surprised by the fact that I don't really miss anything in Finland, except for Lauri, but we've been together for so long that it's actually nice to live apart for a change. However, I don't really miss home (by home I mean the apartment, not the whole concept of home). And I don't miss my stuff. I thought it would be harder to live here on my own, far away from everything. But it has turned out to be quite easy.
Last Tuesday I saw Motorcycle Diaries. Now I have some vague idea who Che Quevara is - hey, don't laugh, at least I have the balls to say I didn't know who he really is! ;) Anyway. The movie was thought-provoking, very insightful. It sent me thinking how it would feel like to leave all my possessions behind, sell them all, keep the money, and set off on a trip around the world, tour around some inexpensive coutries, in Asia for example. Just wander around with no predetermined destination. Look poverty in the eye and see different lifestyles. I think that would teach us people much more about life than any courses we take at universities and colleges. But who has the courage really. Materialism is our religion. Not mine though, even though the Ikea trip cheered up my mood ;D Let's say stuff isn't everything. I could settle for less. I somehow feel much happier here, 'cos I don't have all that stuff around me. I've got so much less to worry about. It's just me and my little room, my clothes and other more or less replaceable stuff, and the three valuable items I own - my laptop, my camera, and my mobile phone. That's all I have to worry about here, and my god, that's liberating. God knows what happens when I get back home from here. Oooooh beware! ;D Ha ha.

Let's finish this post with a bit more commonplace observations - that is, the good Scottish weather.
The weather has been very nasty lately. It hasn't actually been normal. I've heard that stormy weather has plagued the whole of Europe, so it's not just Scotland. We've had winds so tempestuous that it's been difficult to walk straight. The wind just pushes you back. I've still gone out in the evenings, 'cos there's no point in waiting for a fairer day - you'd spend all spring waiting for that.
However, today was a fair day. Glasgow was basking in warm sunlight. In fact, the birds are singing here already, acting out their mating rituals. And by the way, what do you do there, back in Finland? Shiver with cold at tram stops? ;) Hmm, I shouldn't be this smug, this might all come back to me in the form of good old Scottish rainstorms... ;)

Summarizing Last Week

I should update this blog more often. 'Cos if I don't, I'll have to write these ridiculous summaries for the whole spring. I promise this will be the last one.

So what have I been up to for the past days? Mainly studying and socializing. Here's a brief account.


The Studies.

Most importantly (?), my studies. I am starting to get some sort of an idea which courses I'm going to take for credit. Onomastics is a bit dull but okay. I don't have any prior knowledge about the subject, nor can I see what relevance it bears with my career prospects, for example, but the lecturer has made me feel so welcome that I just don't have the heart to drop the course anymore. She is an elderly woman and judging by her overall appearance, onomastic research is her life. She almost trembles from trying to control herself when talking about such passionate and thought-provoking subjects as masculine or feminine elements in Anglo-Saxon personal names.

On Wednesday I attended the best lecture here so far, sociolinguistics. It was about the acquisition of linguistic variation in early childhood, and believe me, I was all ears the whole time. I learned, for example, that mothers try to teach their daughters to speak proper English even if their own dialect and accent were far from standard, like Glaswegian patter or Cockney. The girls imitate their moms' dialect, but get corrected. As for sons, moms don't really care, 'cos boys are boys, they'll speak terribly anyway no matter how much you teach them. But girls - they have to behave properly and make a good impression. That's weird. It's funny how the society has different expectations and different norms of acceptable behaviour depending on whether you're a boy or a girl. That's evident even in the way mothers teach their children to speak.

On Friday I had a sort of 'group presentation' about reading tasks in the EFL classroom, as part of the Culture and ELT course. You know that feeling you get when you realise you're far too qualified to do something, hell of a lot more qualified than the others in the group you're supposed to work with, so qualified that you'd be happy to call the shot so that you wouldn't have to feel ashamed in front of an audience, presenting some shit, the embarrassing fruits of your group brainstorming, actually a very ineffective method of producing fresh ideas. But you'll never get the chance to even point out that you'd be happy to help 'cos you're almost a fully-qualified teacher, 'cos there's this dickhead, bossing about, acting like she knew it all 'cos her mother is a teacher and 'she said we have to do this and that', telling other group members what to do, being incapable of taking critique, and eventually, saying what the others have scraped up isn't what she meant originally. Right. I'm glad there're only two more tasks to go, 'cos our cooperation clearly didn't work. I feel over-qualified to this course, but I'll take it anyway, 'cos I'll obtain the credits with minimal effort. It'd be foolish not to take it.

Two more courses are starting this week. The other is about Scottish post-war literature and the other about the history of Celtic Civilisation from 400 to 1100. Both sound interesting, but I'll have to drop either of them, 'cos otherwise I'd have too much work. Let's see, let's see.


The Gym.

On Thursday I went and joined the Glasgow University Sports Association, aka GUSA. Their facilities are excellent. Besides the same amenities offered by Yliopistoliikunta, there's a bonus called the swimming compartment. Here you can use the pool for free, while in Helsinki you'd have to pay 4€ for each dip in the water. The gym is also ok, despite the fact that it's not a large area full of appliances but all the equipment is scattered around the building in different rooms, e.g. the steppers are in the cardiovascular suite. This caused some bewilderment at first, as I'm not a gym-freak who knows all the correct terms. I just want to get rid of my love handles and spare tires.


The Tiredness.

I've been socializing again, at the cost that on Friday I was so tired I couldn't maintain my balance but felt all dizzy and wobbly. But there's too much to do, too many interesting things going on! On Monday I was in a pub, as I told you in the earlier post. Every Tuesday there's a movie night organized by the International Society, and after that people usually go to grab a coffee to nearby QMU (Queen Margaret Union) and to chat a bit. On Thursdays there's always an international pub night at The Primary, the best occasion to meet other exchange students and new people. As for the other days, there's always someone grabbing you somewhere. It's kinda fun, 'cos I haven't been this active since my teenage years. I even feel like a teenager at times, 'cos I don't want to miss a thing. I don't want to come back home regretting that I never took part in the fun, because that's how you meet new people and make friends here. And there's nothing wrong with that, I enjoy every moment :)



Now I've gotta get some sleep, but I'll update and edit this post tomorrow as I've got a lot to add, so check back here again, ok. I know this is not the typical way of writing a blog, but hey, my blog, my rules, my long blatherings ;) And my lost readership, ha ha...

My Humble Abode

It's been a while since I spent the evening at home. Now that I am here, I decided to edit some pics for you guys and add them here so that you could get some sort of an idea of my surroundings. So I do this for you! Sit here all by myself, for your sake! Think about that! ;)

Ok. So first of all, here's my home street:




And here's the backyard and my window:



And the view from my window:



It's quite peaceful here in my room, 'cos my window is facing the backyard. So no street noises or other annoying factors.

And there below is my room before and after the trip to Ikea. Not so bad, huh? At least I'm satisfied. The colours could be better, of course, but hey, who cares about a hideous green carpet if the room is okay otherwise? No holes in walls, no rats, no wind blowing through a closed window... The only downside are the heavy fire doors that slam behind you every time you close them. This caused me sleeping disorders in the first week. People got up at 8am and started slamming those freaking doors. BANG! BANG! BANG! Why bother closing the door quietly behind you if you're in a hurry? However, I've got used to them by now, so actually they are a positive side as well. At least I feel safe and secure.

Before Ikea:


After Ikea:


Doesn't it look nice and comfy? :)

Monday Affairs and Glasgow Plusses and Minuses

I was right, there were many fine days to come. Today was a good day, at least.

I exceeded all expectations and made it to the city centre by 12:30 to collect the tickets for Clannad's concert. We (me and Anna-Riitta) even got quite ok seats even though the guy on the phone didn't ask for my preferences. After that I apparently lost the track of time at Virgin Megastore and spent 2 hours listening to Global Underground DJ mixes that were on sale. By the end of those two hours I had come down to two compilations I wanted to buy, one mixed by Sasha and the other by John Digweed, but then just before marching to the cashier's desk I realised that ok, for £9.99 I could get food for the whole week. So in the end, I didn't buy anything, just wasted two hours at Virgin Megastore :P But that's what I always do back home, especially in bookshops. I walk in the Akateeminen Kirjakauppa (Academic Bookstore), browse all kinds of titles for ages, and in the end, either buy them all or walk out of the store empty-handed.

After the trip to the centre I had my second lecture on onomastics. Today it was about bynames, meaning nicknames given to people back in the 14th century or so, to distinguish them from other people with the same name (back in the medieval times there were only like six boys' names in popular use: Richard, William, Edward, Henry, Geoffrey and Walter). So people got names like Richard the Lionheart. The topic sounds absolutely tedious, I know, but actually I found myself jotting down notes eagerly like a Real Student, or the sort of student I am back in Helsinki :P So maybe it wasn't tedious at all. Maybe I have to take that course for credit. However, I would still have been more interested in place-names, but that part of the course was covered already in the autumn. Damn. Well, I have books on the topic.

In the evening I met some friends at a nice pub called Drum and Monkey. Glasgow is full of places to hang out, so there's at least one good thing about this city :P Oooh well, there are many other things as well. Let me just make a list for you:


What's good about Glasgow:

- Lots of pubs, clubs and bars. And they're all SMOKE-FREE!! So all ya non-smokers don't have to care about cigarette reek here, whee :)

- The University is absolutely gorgeous. You can imagine Harry Potter flying around on his broom (is that the word?) in the inner yard. Actually I don't know if Harry Potter even has a broom, but you got the idea anyway.

- Kelvingrove Park is absolutely gorgeous as well.

- I live close to the Uni, the park and the West End.

- My flat and flatmates are ok. My room is cosy and warm, and my bed is comfortable.

- People at the Uni are all friendly and helpful.


What sucks about Glasgow:

- Shops close at 6PM. This city is for early birds only. I'm not one. Hey, take a look at the time stamp at the end of this post ;)

- There are no zebra crossings. This is true!! Either you walk 1km to find the nearest traffic lights, or just run across the street praying that you won't get hit. 'Cos here, it's the cars that rule. The drivers never give you way, even if you were already crossing the road.

- It's rainy and windy all the time. I knew this beforehand, so I don't really have the right to complain, but still, this is more than I can bear.

- Glaswegian accent sounds absolutely horrific. To be honest, it just pisses me off, partly because of the fact that I find it so difficult to grasp. I'm not the only one, most Brits are of the same opinion. I remember vaguely that Glaswegian accent was voted the most horrendous British English accent by Brits themselves. Where does this illogical, incomprehensible English derive from? Industrial past and the patter of the working classes, I guess.

- The tower blocks in the outskirts of the city are appalling. And there are many! Generally speaking, Glasgow isn't a postcard darling, but it's got a great attitude.


Ok, there was a list for you.

In the evening there was a farewell party to this German girl Mira whose room I'm occupying now (this was hers before), and after that I went upstairs to Sara's room to watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with Sara and Sam. I'd give that 3 stars out of 5.

Right. This post must have made a really interesting read. I'll try harder next time.