Saturday 25 September 2010

Lost in thought (long post)

Even though like most people here I own a bike on the whole I have spent my time walking around as it allows me to think without ending up in the woods, in the lake or on the roof of a car. The only reason I wear a bike helmet is I like to ride fast, so loss of concentration could hurt.

But the last few weeks I have to admit on the whole of my walking I have been lost and completely consumed by thought. Not to much university related really just reflection on life here so far, ups, downs, wants, needs and where I think we will be in the future.

Of course being female (whether or not we openly admit it) most of us still carry the childhood dream of weddings, family, house, cars but that doesn't really consume any of my time. I know we will marry, I think we both have an idea on what kind of place, when (I'm not in any hurry though I would like to before my old granddad parents leave this world), home will always be around Tampere (after we are done studying with Jyväskylä), the rest time for me solves. I have access to cars but no real need for one of my own even though I could probably justify it still in my own mind! Though in all honesty it is more present things that take my thought.

The new start in school of course starts people asking why you move and all kinds of questions. I mean take for example, it is quite common here amongst Finns for partners to come from different cities sometimes even different parts of the country, people commonly separate for school and met back up weekends and holidays. Don't get me wrong here, we were long distance (UK to Finland) for 18 months and all though very possible it puts new strains on relationships but gives great strength to other areas. There is also a higher number of my UK friends in long distance relationships now so maybe it is the "modern way" (to quote the Kaiser chiefs). Currently we are long distance again as I live in Jyväskylä and Eero in Tampere, for as much as I know the arrangement is working and fine, I still count the days until he moves to Jyväskylä. Life is more fun when we can share experiences, when there's always someone to help carry shopping and even when I have to spend ages cooking allergy friendly foods its much better when someone else can eat some of it so I don't have to live of the same thing for days.

Maybe the difference was working properly for 15 months, I suppose it changed a lot things in my life and made me want the proper life rather than the stereotypical student life. Mind you, I can't wait for the day to live in our own apartment again, i need more space that we have in the student flat and more furniture.

I was also bemused as from the start of the intensive course I have been waiting for the sports stickers to come out so as you can go to the gym, do hobbies and sports supervised. Then I get my timetable where Monday, Wednesday I don't finish school until 6pm and Thursday not until 5pm, finish early Tuesdays at dinnertime though I use the afternoon to revise and make course notes, do homework and study Finnish. Currently I go home to Tampere every Thursday evening, so I am not impressed that currently I am struggling to fit in sports.

Into the bargain sports place where the new gym is is 4km away so 8km to get there and back on top of the 6km minimum I do every day. Most classes I want I have classes when they are on. And I can't do my own fitness DVD as the PC with the CD player on here in Tampere! But I am in quite good shape at the minute and the shape isn't round! I just want fitness DVD's as I love to do them.

I ordered some course books off the internet last week and they have all arrived. The waterstones books have declared as lost for the 3rd time and have been resent again so they will have taken 5 months to deliver...(amazon all the way from now on).

Finnish class is coming on leaps and bounds, though I got paranoid after speaking with someone at the bus stop the other weekend and checked in English that I answered right in Finnish, I did the guy seemed bemused but still! We have class 3 times a week and it is really exciting and we learn a lot each lesson but not as much as the intensive course. Mom said she wanted to learn too so as a surprise gift we sent her a good book and CD for beginners, she is now a happy bunny that gives random Finnish words on the phone.

Last week I got another humorous job as a great work experience post was advertised the catch fluency in Finnish, everything else I had so maybe next time! Not that I actually have the financial need or time for a job but work experience is always handy, plus I like to practice what Finnish I do know.

Alas, my allergies have started to cause trouble again and I have no idea what is triggering them. I have my suspicions (tomato, butter) I even stated to drink bottled water to check that it wasn't a change in water that disturbed them but it appears not. So I guess I have to go to the doctor next week and see if I can get referred to an allergist here (Tampere or Jyväskylä). Until then I guess I eat like a sparrow and hope for the best!

Eero has gone to the summer cottage today, I wanted to go but allergies wanted to be stupid as they have been for a month now, seems it is not a glitch but something has changed after that last allergic reaction to the bug bite or sting.

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