NEW YEAR, NEW TRIP

First of all, I should wish all dear friends and fellow bloggers HAPPY 2010! Lots of luck, love and such nice things. And for the bloggers only - lots of interesting posts! I might not be writing that regularly, but, believe me, I have become a constant and devoted reader of your writings.

A moose resting in Skansen - especially for Alcessa ;)

Again I spent Christmas here in Jyväskylä and it was really nice as we had so much snow. It is just perfect white winter, regardless -20 degrees Celsius; and it just keeps snowing. However, for the rest of the Christmas/New Year's holidays I got another chance to visit Sweden - the capital Stockholm, to be precise. My Slovenian friends had got some very cheap tickets from Klagenfurt, I had booked a ship from Turku harbor, and off we went.

Regardless the fact Sweden is just across the sea and Finland's neighbor, the actual trip from Jyväskylä to Stockholm takes much more than a flight from, for instance, Klagenfurt. 4 hours on a train to Turku, a whole night on the ship to Stockholm's harbor Tegelvikshamnen. I had a cabin on the ferry so at least I could sleep. I went to Stockholm once already, but that was with a group of exchange students. We had shitty cabins below the car deck and near the engine room; okay and good when one plans to drink all night and then sleep drunkenly for a few short hours. However, if the passenger wants to sleep as I do, and enjoy other things but drinking, then I would recommend a better cabin. Mine, for instance, had a window and so I was even able to see the shores of Åland during the night. Well, the reader must note that these big ferries sailing between Finland and Sweden are kind of big floating fun/drinking places, yet there are still some people that use the ship as a means of transport.

Runestone

And then Stockholm... this time, I stayed in the city much longer than during my first visit. Also, now I was in a cosy place with a bunch of friends. And yes, it was very cold, it was snowy and icy, we were sometimes walking too much and we were tired and our mood might had been bad sometimes, but still. It was time for visiting museums, for remnants of the Vikings, for runes carved in stones, for white squirrel with red eyes (a painting in Nationalmuseum). It was also time to see some modern art in Moderna Museet, like for example Dali, Warhol, Pollock and others. And it was also time to walk on the frozen Vallentuna lake in the sun while the snow was glittering all around.

Vallentuna lake

Finally, it was also time to do some shopping, but those details would destroy all the upper fairy tale. Anyway, I liked the city, regardless the winter cold and lots of tourists swarming in Gamla stan. Now when I am back to my everyday with the new Koirien Kalevala calendar for the year 2010 (the year in which I have to finish my MA thesis)... now I have realized that we had really some good time in Sweden and that also Stockholm can produce some special magic I am usually looking for when traveling to the cities abroad. Jep, it was nice.

P.S.: But Helsinki still has better metal bars! ;)

GREETINGS FROM JYVÄSKYLÄ

Sometimes I don't know why I've chosen this land. The weather in early winter is most of all gray, and so very heavy. No wonder that bears hibernate - I could also sleep for hours and hours. Yes, perhaps even days. It was snowing last week, now the snow has melted again, it's damp, it's also icy and so very very sleepy... Not to mention the fact that the darkness comes around 3pm, and this is not getting better until January; it'll only get worse now when December appears. And even when there is day light, kind of, it's gray... as someone would put a thick cloth over the only source of light left.

Sometimes I think that the life here is heavy, considering the climate. Why somebody moves to this climate, and then even decides to spend another winter here, I wonder. But still... I feel like staying.

SHOPPING SPREE

Today at H&M I noticed one very excited little girl. In one hand, she was holding a jumper; in the other she had her mobile phone and she talked to her daddy. ''I'm in H&M and I've found such a great jumper,'' reported the girl, thus probably asking for permission if she could buy the jumper. She seemed to be around ten years old; little and very young for sure. Shopping with her same-aged friends.

Either in Finland or in Slovenia - same stories. Young schoolgirls with their schoolbags shopping after school. I don't know why, but for some reasons I feel bothered. Sure, one needs clothes, especially when it comes to job and stuff like that. I am also an active part of consumer's society and sometimes I really like shopping. I like to have my style, I like to be elegant. I probably put too much stress on my clothing and I like new clothes; however, I'm not very proud of this fact and I'm also trying not to care so much. Also, I don't care for brands, or even not at all.

Maybe these clothes-shopping little girls bother my mind because I don't have a very nice memories on my last year in primary school. We were 14 years old teenagers when girls got into clothing (and makeup) and in my school it was all about famous brands. It was about shopping in Italy and Austria and having a different jumper every day of the week. I was different, quiet, artistic and more introverted at those times; however, I remember how some of the girls-with-brands in my class were verbally torturing their different fellows. Kids can be so very cruel.

I'm sorry I didn't possess some of my ''older wisdom'' back then; well, I'm not sure how wise I'm now but I guess there is some improvement. I'm sorry I was not proud of myself as being different, quiet, artistic, I'm sorry that I didn't have enough strength to fight with all stupid commercial and shallow ideas, I'm sorry that I was so insecure. I'm not happy as I still feel how my values were missplaced. And I'm sorry as I sometimes cannot fight those ghosts from the past even nowdays.

I guess now the times are much more materialistic than those ten years ago. Schoolgirls and schoolboys now carry their own bankcards; probably, the differences are much bigger now. I am affraid that today among kids it is much more important who can buy a new jumper in H&M after school and who can't. And probably those that are somewhat different do not feel any better than we did; they feel even worse.

AUTUMN APPROACHES SWEETLY

Smells like cinnamon...

There should be no secrets about how much I love ice-cream. In Finland, I cannot find as tasty frozen delights as in my country of origin. Finnish ice-cream is also tasty, of course, but so far I have missed the softness, the so important smooth creaminess; that so silky touch. Finnish jätski, on the other hand, is usually more firm, like some kind of a snow; or if it is the so called softie, pehmis, it comes in just a few and not that exciting variations. Well, it's good that I know some visit-worth ice-cream places in Slovenia - and I'm always happy to hear about any new interesting spots. Also in Finland. ;)

However, yesterday it was the first day of the autumn, the Autumnal equinox, and by some chance the 23rd of September also represents the day I have started my blog... now three years ago. Still in the blogosphere, despite the fact Kaneli is not as active as she used to be. But nevertheless, blogging rules! Anyway, just two years ago she was posting some amazing pictures of Finnish ruska to celebrate the beginning of autumn; now it's perhaps a good moment to show some snaps of Kaneli's recent much prolonged summer holidays.

My autumn has started with ice-cream. And, the most important - the white one on this picture is cinnamon ice-cream. Pure pleasure. Sweet autumn I wish! :)

ABOUT MY SUMMER

I haven't written a thing for a long time; probably because I was busy and probably because I didn't feel like writing. The last feels like a problem as there are things I should be writing... nevertheless, so far, my summer was more or less active. OK, I actually should be traveling a bit more, and that buggs me, but... let me just summ up the story so far.

1. Summer festivals in Finland, 4 in total. Worked at Provinssirock (Seinäjoki), Nummirock (Nummijärvi) and Ilosaarirock (Joensuu). Visited Tuska (Helsinki).

2. Working at the festivals in Finland as security steward (järjestyksenvalvoja) was an interesting experience. First of all, I was working in Finnish, and only in Finnish; second, I got some money. Things seemed well organised. The job felt good, regardless a lot of working hours and sometimes only 4 hours of sleep. And yes, the job surely did increase my self-confidence.

3. I had some good time in summer Helsinki again, first at Tuska and then also during a private visit. As it is summer, the city was full of tourists again, sunny and surprisingly hot. Also the airport was crowded, and I surely don't like crowded airports. Next time I'll fly home during less busy season; it's much nicer.

4. I am turning into a serious fan of Battlestar Galactica.

5. Now I'm again confronted with some emotional emptiness and some depression, which keeps my creativity away. I'm kind of loosing time, and I know it, but for some reasons I'm just stuck in the space. I really hate such unsure situations. I hate to make wrong decisions. And I feel exhausted for no proper reason.

6. So I just hope for a nice and active autumn.