Wednesday 27 April 2011

Facebook Group for Learning Finnish

Today, we set up a group on facebook to help each other learn Finnish and share useful websites and the flashcard links to which we are making =)

Join us and improve your Finnish today!

Places, I want to see and do

Places I wants to go see:
*Norway
*Denmark
*Tallin
*Riga (Latvia)
*Vilnius (Lithuania)
*Russia, St. Petersbergs 2 nights, moscow 2 nights.
*Italy
*Germany
*Poland
*Czech
*Iceland
*Hungary, again but Budapest

Monday 25 April 2011

Hyvää Pääsiästä!

Wednesday, Jenny, Jon (visiting from USA) and Britta came around for a gossip and food! We had a good night, the usual giggling, making fun of everything and catching up on the week gone by also plans for Easter.

23rd April, was St. George's Day but I didn't really do anything to celebrate it. Jen, Jon and Britta came around again and we ate more and talked. Just the usual, really but a very good day. Sunny and hot too. We also tried Mämmi, which I didn't think was as bad as people made out, but it contains orange so I can't eat much of it without triggering an allergy... oh well

Sunday, we planned to meet in city and hang out at the park with a picnic. I was meant to go to church but I didn't feel great so I said I would catch up with them in the park an hour later. I baked some cheese bread and took a blanket. Eero, stayed home as he had some work to do. It was the hottest day yet 20C =) slight breeze hence I didn't feel the sun catch my neck (not much) not that I should be surprised after sitting in it for 5.5hours... but!

On the way to city I saw my first city bunny of the year! Also I wore my trainers for the first time this year and walked my foot into a huge blister. So Eero, came to pick me up in the city in the evening as my foot hurt bad =(


City bunny!

The day was excellent! Friends coming and going all day. New friends made and a lot of gossip! Even got to see Marlen who I haven't seen for ages as we both hibernated in the winter =) Day ending on an exciting note of new places to travel this summer and next.

Also, I forgot her name but one of Marlen's friends also read my tarot cards which is something I'm not a huge believer in but I do like to experiment, once in a while. It turned out to be quite, amusingly on what I felt now but I suppose the skeptic in me thinks you can always turn these situations to relate to yourself but part of me wonders, if it does have any relevancy to fate and destiny. Strangely I do believe in destiny... we will see!

Monday, was hot again. We has a slow day as I had hurt my foot and couldn't walk in shoes without it hurting, I decided to take the bike for a ride down by the lake and go see Dennis and Iris for an hour or two =) in the sun!!


The lake is starting to thaw around the outsides


we sat on the pier where the ice was still thick on the lake and talked! It gave a nice cool breeze in the heat of the day ^.^ Then we biked home! Seems biking doesn't hurt my foot so now it's the best way to get around, just a shame that Jyväskylä has so many hills! =P


Duck, who also wasn't hungry and didn't want to eat rice krispies... lol

Monday 18 April 2011

The end of normality...

Well, my scheduled classes have now ended and I have a seminar to finish, and 2 books exams to prepare for. Also the presentation for this seminar which will be more fun than painful.

I have also applied for Aalto summer school for a week in August, it appears that it is not easy to get in to as there are only 10 to 15 places on the course and it is open to all Nordic universities for master's and PhD students. But you know me, I like a challenge! So with luck I get accepted the end of May, if not it's experience for applying and we will see what next year can bring!

Last week, was hugely stressful. The Finnish exams were scheduled, 2 hours grammar, 30mins comprehension, listening and speaking exam. The week before was the presentation for Finnish and then the travel report. Also last week, was the waste to energy presentation and the seminar report. I ended up writing the seminar report alone, most others had groups of 2 or 3 but I managed to write it alone in a short period of time. Now, I wait to see if losing my pair so late cost me grades, I hope it didn't!!

Snow, has melted now apart from the snow piles. I have my bike back out and have started riding around, my fitness hasn't dropped over winter which was shocking, still scaled many hills without dying and only got off when I managed to knock the chain off twice. The lake is starting to thaw and the ducks have returned!!!!




This week is holiday week, then next week I need to start back on the school work but for now, I do nothing!!!!

Lisa and Harris got engaged yesterday too! so that's wedding number 2 to return to the UK for!! Whoohoo! and congrats to them!!!

Thursday 7 April 2011

Suomi 3 Tentti

Monday, is judgement day...

Mitä luen tenttiin???

*eksistentiaalilause
*tunneverbit
*objekti
*prediktiivi
*verbityypit
*passiivi
*3. infinitiivi
*Imperfekti
*Joka pronounit
*kohteliaisuus
*perfekti
*Plusquamperfekt
*ajan-ilmaisut
*monikko partitiivi
*monikko genetiivi
*mielipiteen kertominen

It's not so bad, I just have to hope I can remember it all under-pressure!There are more Finnish exams Wednesday (listening) and Thursday is speaking exam- Also exam in waste to energy too! busy day!

Sunday 3 April 2011

Saturday 2nd April

I really had a good day yesterday, trying to forget that Lucky was near the end of his days.

Britta and me, went to Iris and Dennis' place to meet a few other people and study some Finnish grammar. I enjoyed it, it was a fun afternoon!

I left at 5pm to go home and wait for Jen to come around. Jen got here and we had a good gossip. Britta came by at 7pm after staying longer at Iris and Dennis'. We made some cheese bread, apple and cinnamon crumble. Then roasted sweet potatoes with plain salmon with salt and peper (for me benefit) and soya, chilli and honey salmon. Looks and smells divine but the soya allergy prevents sampling for me!

We then watched the film buried.... Omg, possibly the worst film I have ever seen. So unrealistic, one scene for hour and half, inside a dark coffin. No real morals or lessons... pointless and thats a few hours I can't get back! hehe Just don't bother watching it....

Also the Finnish exam is just over a week away so I have to hope I don't panic and we get the job done! and do well! For me, Finnish is now hard, after never learning another language and not ever being taught much English grammar at school. But it is still not impossible and we are considering private classes for speaking at the minute! will keep you posted!!!

the other thorn in my side, we had another seminar to write but as a pair... 29 people enrolled in the course, I had a partner... I couldn't start the presentation and seminar until last week as my schedule (and many others were too heavy) but 15 pages between two people is not so bad. So I email my partner, nothing. Then check the uni website... half the people have left the course!! including her so now I have a week and a half to type this report alone and prepare for the Finnish exam!! You can imagine my new stress level!!!

Not so Happy Mother's Day

In the UK, today ia Mother's Day. After knowing my card reached there safely and mom knowing I can't post the present as it is a little too fragile to post.

I called this morning, no answer. So, then I texted saying I was trying to call where was everyone. The call was returned around 45 minutes later with the sad news that they had rushed Lucky to the vets and had him put to sleep. He got worse over night and they didn't want him to suffer any more. Then they went hokme and burried him under the apple tree, with a flower pot over him with flowers. We only had him two years but they were happy ones and he was such a sweet little cat always happy and purring right until the end.

I still, somewhat hope that mom has a nice day but it's not going to happen really. Everyone is sad that he's gone and even the other cats will miss him. But thing's die and it's a part of life though it doesn't mean we can't miss them and wish things were different.

Friday 1 April 2011

Lucky

So,Wednesday old Lucky cat was rushed to the vets as he had stopped eating and drinking. An odd thing for him as all he ever does is eat. He is normally skinny at best and no one has ever been able to know why. Vets couldn't find anything wrong with him.


But he stayed in the vets overnight and they ran tests and put him on drip. next day, he was discharged and they said maybe he just had an infection. Thursday, mom said he seems a little brighter but Friday, today he's not well again so mom has rushed him back to the vets. He has been admitted for further tests.


He is very old and I found him two years ago abandoned and starving to death on a landfill, hence the name Lucky. I took him home, hoping to get him re-homed but no charity would take him so he became cat number 4.

He maybe at the end of his days but I suppose we find out soon enough! Either way he has had a happy two years, eating better than most cats!! Time will tell.