Outlandish

I have never been very interior design oriented. Maybe because most of my adulthood I have lived abroad with the knowledge that I will not stay here for long, so the state of the apartment hasn’t played that big of a part in my life. Which has resulted in me staying in some pretty dodgy apartments. For me they haven’t seemed like such bad places to stay in, it has been enough if the apartment was warm and clean and there were the basic furnishings, which include a window, a nice(ish) bed, table and a chair. My family has only recently admitted how horrified she was of some places where I have stayed along the years. But now (finally?) I have so many kilometres under my belt that I feel like I should be content staying still for a little bit longer than just a couple years, which is why finding an unfurnished apartment was a must this time around. In the end finding such an apartment wasn’t even that difficult in Tallinn, although it might have been without a little help fr...

I hate rainy days. They're so grey and dark and moody. Outside air feels colder than it would if it wasn't raining. And if you accidentally forget your umbrella home in the morning and get soaked on your way home from work you also freeze to the core. But I do also love rainy days. I can't think of many things that make home more cozier than a  hard-core rain  outside while you are warm inside  surrounded by pillows and drowning in your bathrobe . A cup of tea and a movie feel like a little bit of luxury then.  Rainy days do affect me a little, I always feel much more tired when it's dark and gloomy but when you're trapped inside you also get things done that you might not do if there was an option to be outside. Maybe finally grab that book from the shelf you've been meaning to read but haven't quite found the time for it or catch up with the TV series that everybody's talking about. I also like to use this time when going outside...

Some people critique wines, some movies, I seem to have developed a habit of critiquing countries. The difference is that for me that critiquing affects my actual life quite a lot. If a country gets a negative review from me, I’m not going to be comfortable living there, obviously. Cultural differences, those little everyday things that drive you crazy, make you appreciate all the little things you have back at home and make you realize all the things that prove the fact that grass really is greener on the other side of the fence. Those are the things I base my critiques on and obviously as a Finn I look at things quite differently than somebody from India or Brazil, for example. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral The only culture shocks that I have experienced have been all those times that I moved back to Finland. Noticing how nothing had changed, nothing had moved forwards, rather backwards and how the coldness and darkness really do affect your and everybody else’...

Another position in my pocket, this time the one I've been reaching for for many, many years; project manager! Ooh it's good to be me :) And being a new citizen in another country once again I had to get all the paper work done. So, one evening I decided to take care of the registering. Unlike in Bratislava, here the registration office is in the city centre and people speak English.   That doesn't mean, though, that things would go smoothly for me: I found the correct street alright but stepped into a building way too early. I marched to the receptionist and announced in my unFinnishly loud voice that "I'm here to register!" Everybody in the lobby went quiet, the poor receptionist even looked a bit frightened. She mumbled something which I didn't hear and so I kept telling that I just moved from Finland blabla blablabla. She looked so embarrassed (for me perhaps?) when she finally managed to say in a teeny tiny voice "This is a theate...

Me moving to Tallinn in the time-frame I did and with all the new furniture would not have been possible without my parents' help! They drove, much to a lot of people's astonishment, to Bratislava and back to Finland with me and aaaall my things onboard. I got a lot of comments from friends and random people suggesting that I'm a spoilt prat because no normal kid would get their parents driving through Europe like that. But that just shows how little they know; in our family it has always been very clear that one looks after one's self. That doesn't mean, though, that help wouldn't be needed and offered. In addition almost every Finn I have met in Bratislava have had their family members drive from Finland to Bratislava and back. Also, this was the easiest and the most adventurous option, which suits me fine :) I didn't have any furniture, only clothes, shoes and bed linen. But it was pretty damn close that not everything would have fit in ...

Crossroads... I'm there again and it's time to decide whether to go right or left. Or more accurately, which I prefer, South or North.  Last week I applied for a job in Tallinn and another in our team (a promotion if you will). And I stupidly thought that the decision would be made easy when one of them I either didn't get or my salary requests were not met. But no. I got the job in Tallinn and here I was told that even though I didn't get the promotion my skills are needed. I could not decide so I listed some pros and cons. Bratislava is a sunny, warm city in the middle of Central Europe. Easy and cheap access to all big European capitals. People are nice, open and helpful. I have the most amazing team in a big company, which usually equals multiple opportunities for developing professionally.A big company has ensured the fact that I have forged friendships that I would never have even dreamt of. I have been able to arrange activities and events ...

It's been the longest August ever. I've been quite homesick and almost obsessed with getting a new direction for my life. Every day at work when I mark the date up I'm disappointed that it's still August, because it feels like by now we should already be in September and much closer to Christmas. Even though I've been applying for jobs in Finland every day I feel sort of 50/50 about it. First of all the reality is that with over 10% unemployment who would hire someone from abroad when that person already has a job while there are completely able people in Finland applying for the same job. I know I probably wouldn't. And also, if I got a job in Finland in a small company for how long would I actually enjoy it? Maybe a year but after that all the things that have always troubled me there (climate!!) would catch up with me again.  I think the last reality check came yesterday when I was reading the news in my country: around 1000 people being fired in one...

I found this playful "challenge"  in a Finnish blog-site where bloggers were encouraged to take a trip down memory lane to think what they were doing and where three years ago. Before I even noticed I was already counting back years and thinking where I was in January 2012. And the answer: Oh yes, darling London. A job in London was my number-one goal since the age of 10    but I never expected that this dream would come true already at the age of 23! In 2012 I was studying in Scotland and needed to find an internship. And for me there was no such option as doing my internship in Finland, so I applied to a Finnish consultancy firm located in London. I still remember being in H&M in Aberdeen when my mum called me about an e-mail I had received from the interviewer: I got the job! And I think the entire mall heard it. London is beautiful and so versatile and I totally understand why so many people want to move there. But it wasn't my cup of te...

2014 will stay in my mind as the year when my life took a change of course towards better things. So much has happened in just one year that I still don't quite understand it. All I know is that when 2013 ended I wished and I hoped and I prayed that 2014 would be better... a LOT better! And it seems I got my wish. At the beginning of the year I was still living on benefits but at least I had an internship to keep me busy. The work was exactly what I had wanted to do since graduating. But then something tragic happened and ensured that my contract would not continue after spring. That was the last drop, it was the push that I needed to finally get in action. I was done with Finland, this time for good. I applied for jobs everywhere: Holland, UK, Slovakia, Poland, Check Republic, places I don't even remember any more. And I got an interview after interview. In May I got a job offer from Slovakia. A country I knew nothing about but I was so ready to move into!  ...

  For a change my flight through Oslo went without hiccoughs and I arrived in Bratislava tired but excited. It is only my 3rd day here but I have already managed to empty the local Ikea, gotten a Slovak phone number and internet connection to my phone and also opened a bank account. Although I must mention, none of these things probably wouldn't have happened yet if I hadn't had a lot of help here! There's a saying 'Home is where your heart is'. I've always thought I left a chunk of my heart to Brighton when I was there at the age of 15. And obviously a big part will always reside in Finland. But basically I feel at home anywhere where I have a comfortable bed. That's why picking up bed linen was my first priority on Sunday morning. On Monday I turned a brand new page in my life and signed my first ever permanent work agreement with Dell s.r.o. The thing that, for some reason, especially thrills me is that after a year I will be able to ha...

Six days until it's time to be on my way again. The last two weeks I've planned and prepared my flat to be packed up and all the time I've tried to adjust to the idea of leaving. But it hasn't felt like reality so much yet. Last night, though, I dreamed I was sitting in my room at my parents' place after it had been emptied. There was a desk with nothing on it or in the drawers. The wardrobe doors were open but there was nothing in them. And in the morning I remembered again the feeling that follows after you have done everything else, and the only thing left to be done is leaving. That feeling sucks. But it's something you have to get over and just go. The odds are something great is waiting behind the corner, which you will miss if you let the not-so-great feelings take over.  The picture above gives an accurate picture of my packing method: going through the closets one can find clothes that have been overlooked for a while and come up with new o...