Outlandish

Spring, what a wonderful excuse for shopping! The days in Estonia have already grown long and the Sun shines all the way to 7pm. Sun. Exactly, it has been seen multiple times in the past month and snow is only a bad memory (may it stay that way!). The bare trees still look a bit miserable but from the way my eyes are starting to itch I can tell there is pollen in the air, which means there is hope, even though the next few months will be challenging for us pollen allergics.  Spring makes me so happy every time. And the least you can do to celebrate such happiness is to look good. I never get out of the door if I'm not happy with what I see in the mirror but winter with the coldness and wetness made my choices clothing-wise very limited. I never wear the same shoes two days in a row but in winter I don't have a choice. So when spring comes and the streets are dry I take all joy out of my neglected shoe closet (yes, I have a closet full of shoes). With the shoes I...

We are hiring more Finnish people to the office and I’ve been responsible for doing the interviews. My favourite question is “describe yourself with three adjectives” because it totally throws Finns, every time. They go all quiet and their brain is working like crazy to come up with something and usually people say that if I had asked for negatives, it would have been easier for them. At first it made me laugh because it’s such a stereotype but so true as well. But after the third person struggled with this questions  I grew more worried than cheery. It can’t be right that people don’t appreciate themselves enough for three little words. It made me think about self-esteem and what it requires. Especially in today’s media-centric world girls and women are given the impression that they aren’t good enough until they are starving 24/7 or muscly enough to resemble a man, but also in that case they are almost required to have an eating disorder. But not just media, also cult...

International women's day! Still in the 21st century, even though we in Nordic countries don't put much stock on it, it is a very important day, in my opinion. In my several travels I have realized how much work we still have to do even in Europe to reach equality between sexes. In Southern and Eastern European countries women are still too often seen as baby dispensers and as someones whose only purpose in life is to make a man happy. Also in Western countries this can be seen unfortunately much and it's not necessarily a man's fault that a woman is in such a repressed position in a relationship. Eventually we have to take charge of how people around us perceive us and not let them determine that for us. In Finland I have followed how we have slipped backwards worth several decades in just a year or two when it comes to attitudes towards women. Internet has given men an easy and faceless way to attack unknown women who dare to think differently from thems...

I might have mentioned it before but I need the sea close to me. It’s one of these things you  take for granted when growing up because it’s there anyway, but as they say, you don’t know  what you have until you lose it. I have fully started appreciating what the sea means to me after  living in countries and cities far away from any sort of coast. It means peace. Here in Tallinn the sea is inevitably part of my life every day and it makes me insanely happy. I  see it from my window at work (if it’s not cloudy…) and no matter which way I walk (grocery  store, towards Kadriorg or home from work) it’s so close all the time. Last weekend I went for a  walk around the Kadriord area and there’s a really nice beach on the way. And there I saw  waves! Such a simple little thing but I went berserk. They were so beautiful and calming and the  sound is the best in the world. Just what I needed after the worst work week so far. That beach...

Along the years I've had many homes around Europe, but four of them I still consider as a home to go back to long after moving away: Turku (obviously), Brighton, Aberdeen and Bratislava. So, how can someone who has moved abroad multiple times always forget how expensive it is?! Well, here I am in my awesome new home counting whether I can afford to eat at all for the next three weeks or should I just not buy a vacuum cleaner and live surrounded by dust and stuff...   Even if I have to go on a hard core fast I have to say I'm bloody happy to have this flat! Before I've always stayed in furnished flats because I didn't plan to stay long. But usually in furnished rental flats the furniture is far from nice, so this time I opted for an empty flat so that I could see whether I have any taste for home decor at all.  People tend to spend a lot of time figuring out the furniture in their new apartment one piece at a time. I had a week to figure out the decor ...

Ruisrock is a legendary music festival in the Ruissalo National Park by the Turku archipelago. It is actually one of the oldest music festivals in Europe and it still sells out. This year they made a new turnout record: 95 000 people! For us it’s a place for a proper weekend out with the girls and this year having artists like Pharrel Williams and Ellie Goulding performing I had to book my summer vacation so that I can make it to the festival. Instead of buying tickets for the whole three days we thought two might be just fine. And oh lord it was. On Friday we were all scattered around the city and I joined the girls who were the earliest off work. As one might already know, alcohol is a must in Finland whatever you do. So they’ve banned people from bringing their own drinks into the festival area, of course. But that’s ok, we always cope when it comes to King Alcohol! As long as the bottles and juice cartons in your bag look like they haven’t been opened, you can b...

Danube is a big river and it runs through several countries, including Slovakia and Austria. Ever since moving to Bratislava I've wanted to go on a cruise from here to Vienna or Budapest, but haven't found the time or the company to go with. So, now that my parents were coming to Vienna I decided to book a cruise as a late Mothers' Day gift. I booked the tickets beforehand since it is summer and Vienna is a popular tourist attraction. So, on Saturday we ordered a taxi to the harbour an hour before but didn't take into account the traffic. By the time we arrived to the ticket office I had already almost given up hope of catching the boat on time. Eventually we got to the counter where people were being told that the boat was already full-booked. When it was my turn the guy behind the counter was clearly prepared to sell me a don't-have. So, when I put the reservation paper in front of him his face made it clear that he was disappointed. It's "lovely...