It's like Peyton Place, they say. They have a fan page in Facebook. You know them by their first name. They reprehend you for moving (300 meters up the street) because they won't see you anymore. Thus you have to start liking their Facebook page or they won't give you boxes.
They are a supermarket and its staff in Helsinki. When I first lived in Canada, it used to drive me mad that everyone at the cashier got chatty at the end of my tiring working day. It's difficult to get the words "I'M GREAT!" out of your mouth when at best you're feeling kind of ok. In Helsinki the cashier will be as grumpy as you, only during years do you develop a relationship that is very much warmer than the October weather that made you pop in.
I don't live in Canada now. Yet. But this blog will come alive in March when I move there for 6 months. (Sorry, supermarket! Obviously will not even try to get boxes for that.) The plan is to love. And to write a lengthier piece than blog posts. I WILL be GREAT!
Friday, October 21, 2011
Friday, February 26, 2010
More lessons, one on germs
Back again, this time after brain surgery! These past two years really haven't been kind to me. But I'm all right now.
It's time to be kind to myself so I've started going back to the swimming pool. I often see this elderly lady there, she's quite a character, sings Nessun Dorma in the shower. This time she started talking to me because I wasn't wearing flip-flops or swimming shoes (I got a good old rant about athlete's foot). Then she decided to tell me a hygiene-related joke.
The punch line made me visualize a man using sugar tongs in the men's room and it was actually really funny, I laughed aloud with her.
What a funny lady, and Helsinki is such a funny city sometimes. And I feel like I'm getting to experience everything for the first time - only this time with experience.
It's time to be kind to myself so I've started going back to the swimming pool. I often see this elderly lady there, she's quite a character, sings Nessun Dorma in the shower. This time she started talking to me because I wasn't wearing flip-flops or swimming shoes (I got a good old rant about athlete's foot). Then she decided to tell me a hygiene-related joke.
The punch line made me visualize a man using sugar tongs in the men's room and it was actually really funny, I laughed aloud with her.
What a funny lady, and Helsinki is such a funny city sometimes. And I feel like I'm getting to experience everything for the first time - only this time with experience.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Trick me once
I don't know why I stopped writing the blog. Maybe I've been so sad that a blog that's based on everyday serendipities was not possible to maintain. Now I'm starting to emerge from the sadness for the enjoyment of all you three readers. :)
What happened? Why don't I explain it through the conversation I had with my 5-year-old godson Leevi last summer. He asked me to play with him and I just don't do play (except with my own toys, but they are rated R) and a week had passed of the bad news so I was quite exhausted.
A: Sorry sweetie, I'm so tired that I think I'll just stay here in the kitchen and talk to your mommy for a bit.
L: We know already!
A: What do you know?
L: That Ben tricked you that he was your friend.
A: Well yes, that's what happened, you seem to know very well.
L: Did he have another friend?
A: Yes, he kind of had two friends at the same time but now he has no friend at all.
L: That's so stupid.
I was stupid, too, but I have learned a lot during this year.
What happened? Why don't I explain it through the conversation I had with my 5-year-old godson Leevi last summer. He asked me to play with him and I just don't do play (except with my own toys, but they are rated R) and a week had passed of the bad news so I was quite exhausted.
A: Sorry sweetie, I'm so tired that I think I'll just stay here in the kitchen and talk to your mommy for a bit.
L: We know already!
A: What do you know?
L: That Ben tricked you that he was your friend.
A: Well yes, that's what happened, you seem to know very well.
L: Did he have another friend?
A: Yes, he kind of had two friends at the same time but now he has no friend at all.
L: That's so stupid.
I was stupid, too, but I have learned a lot during this year.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
So Much for My Happy Ending
Things that have made me happy during these past 11 days:
- the endless understanding I get from my friends
- a new soap from Lush (it's yellow and it's called Happy)
(- the fact that they've opened a Lush store in Finland)
- start of the football season
- cats
- new pink placemats
- a good cup of tea
- the wind
- my new hair
And nothing sooths a broken heart as much as a nice run in the park. The first of this summer.
- the endless understanding I get from my friends
- a new soap from Lush (it's yellow and it's called Happy)
(- the fact that they've opened a Lush store in Finland)
- start of the football season
- cats
- new pink placemats
- a good cup of tea
- the wind
- my new hair
And nothing sooths a broken heart as much as a nice run in the park. The first of this summer.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Why I don't have children
After today, this would have been my answer:
I can sleep in, meet a friend, go to a museum and then have lunch at a Turkish restaurant, after which we can go to my friend's place for a cup of espresso, until it's time for my stretching class at the gym. And a day like this is not a rare treat for which I've had to armwrestle my husband for two weeks, any given Sunday can be like today. Heaven.
More reasons here: Benefits of Childfreedom
(Bare with her, she's obviously had to deal with the daily "surely you must want to have children, every woman does!" a lot as you do when you're a woman in your thirties. But although the list doesn't have to be taken literally, a lot of it means business.)
I can sleep in, meet a friend, go to a museum and then have lunch at a Turkish restaurant, after which we can go to my friend's place for a cup of espresso, until it's time for my stretching class at the gym. And a day like this is not a rare treat for which I've had to armwrestle my husband for two weeks, any given Sunday can be like today. Heaven.
More reasons here: Benefits of Childfreedom
(Bare with her, she's obviously had to deal with the daily "surely you must want to have children, every woman does!" a lot as you do when you're a woman in your thirties. But although the list doesn't have to be taken literally, a lot of it means business.)
Monday, April 7, 2008
Coming (home) at the same time
One of the reasons I'm so convinced that an apartment block is the best place for a human being to live is my neighbours. I've always had a good luck with neighbours, even in Spain, when we thought that the couple downstairs was always fighting - I later realized it was just normal conversation in Spanish.
I've lived in this house for 4 years and the first 3 went kind of unnoticed. Last spring I suddenly noticed a new phenomenon: all my neighbours started opening up to me on different subjects when we met in the stairwell or in the backyard. My friend Ilkka explained that I had spent the magical 3 years in a flat that it takes in Helsinki, where people move a lot, for the neighbours to start trusting the newcomer.
In our house there are people of all ages and all kinds of family situations. There's one lady who's lived here since the house was built - that's the year 1950. Her daughter, whom I imagine to be from around that same year, also lives in the building. There are a couple of young families (thank you for proving that it's possible to live in an apartment building with children!), one woman with mental health problems (sits in the backyard and talks to herself all summer), a Blazing Show Girls dancer with her two chihuahuas. Before I moved in, my flat was owned by a gay couple. When the opening up phase started, my neighbours were ever so eager to share about their tumultuous relationship and how they took turns in kicking each other out from the flat, naked, in the middle of the night. (Luckily for the community, they were replaced by another odd couple, a Finnish woman and a black man.)
I realize that in an apartment block, you will always hear noices. I can hear my upstairs neighbour snore, and when their grandchildren visit, it's very clear they haven't been raised in a flat. My downstairs neighbour bangs the door like a crazy person, and then there's the other kind of banging that I like to call "noices of life".
There are 3 doors in my floor. My next door neighbours are a young Finnish-American couple. In the flat opposite me lives a girl whom I recently found out to be one of the board members in Pro Fair Trade association. Interestingly enough she was also responsible for the football campaign that I'm running. I found this out because she was wearing the campaign t-shirt, not through work. :0
The Finnish guy with his American girlfriend moved in last autumn. My previous next door neighbours were the only ones that ever bothered me. A young Finnish couple with obvious problems in the bedroom department. Pardon me for being so cynical but I don't think it's possible for the woman to always, I mean every time, reach...krhm...climax just 10 seconds before the man? And it always sounded just the same. (Like killing a small dog.) In all friendship and as an older woman, I often felt like slipping a letter in from their mailbox to tell him that when a woman screams like that, she's faking it. But she moved out after 6 months just to prove my point about their problems (next door to a friend of mine!!!). Not that the new couple is completely silent... but that's what it's like in an apartment building.
Today all the 3 of us that live in the 2nd floor came together... home at the same time. And when in my previous posting I was so worried about being middle-aged, today's friendly chit-chat with my neighbours made me feel like I live in a hip, young, possibly a student house.
(And when I had my Easter garland in the door, someone had left a small chocolate egg in the nest there, along with the wooden ones.)
I've lived in this house for 4 years and the first 3 went kind of unnoticed. Last spring I suddenly noticed a new phenomenon: all my neighbours started opening up to me on different subjects when we met in the stairwell or in the backyard. My friend Ilkka explained that I had spent the magical 3 years in a flat that it takes in Helsinki, where people move a lot, for the neighbours to start trusting the newcomer.
In our house there are people of all ages and all kinds of family situations. There's one lady who's lived here since the house was built - that's the year 1950. Her daughter, whom I imagine to be from around that same year, also lives in the building. There are a couple of young families (thank you for proving that it's possible to live in an apartment building with children!), one woman with mental health problems (sits in the backyard and talks to herself all summer), a Blazing Show Girls dancer with her two chihuahuas. Before I moved in, my flat was owned by a gay couple. When the opening up phase started, my neighbours were ever so eager to share about their tumultuous relationship and how they took turns in kicking each other out from the flat, naked, in the middle of the night. (Luckily for the community, they were replaced by another odd couple, a Finnish woman and a black man.)
I realize that in an apartment block, you will always hear noices. I can hear my upstairs neighbour snore, and when their grandchildren visit, it's very clear they haven't been raised in a flat. My downstairs neighbour bangs the door like a crazy person, and then there's the other kind of banging that I like to call "noices of life".
There are 3 doors in my floor. My next door neighbours are a young Finnish-American couple. In the flat opposite me lives a girl whom I recently found out to be one of the board members in Pro Fair Trade association. Interestingly enough she was also responsible for the football campaign that I'm running. I found this out because she was wearing the campaign t-shirt, not through work. :0
The Finnish guy with his American girlfriend moved in last autumn. My previous next door neighbours were the only ones that ever bothered me. A young Finnish couple with obvious problems in the bedroom department. Pardon me for being so cynical but I don't think it's possible for the woman to always, I mean every time, reach...krhm...climax just 10 seconds before the man? And it always sounded just the same. (Like killing a small dog.) In all friendship and as an older woman, I often felt like slipping a letter in from their mailbox to tell him that when a woman screams like that, she's faking it. But she moved out after 6 months just to prove my point about their problems (next door to a friend of mine!!!). Not that the new couple is completely silent... but that's what it's like in an apartment building.
Today all the 3 of us that live in the 2nd floor came together... home at the same time. And when in my previous posting I was so worried about being middle-aged, today's friendly chit-chat with my neighbours made me feel like I live in a hip, young, possibly a student house.
(And when I had my Easter garland in the door, someone had left a small chocolate egg in the nest there, along with the wooden ones.)
Monday, March 3, 2008
How do you know you're middle-aged?
Your kid brother turns 28, but that's not how.
On a Friday, when your intern (hint number 1: you have an intern?! Seems like just months ago when you were one) is planning for a wild night out, you realize all you're hoping for is to get to Tiimari before it closes to buy Easter stuff. Then you spend your evening happily crafting an Easter garland of chicks and bunnies.
On a Saturday, you have a Bodypump class programmed, just as does every other middle-aged woman in your neigbourhood. Only you miss the class because you arrive late: it was much too interesting to chat with your neighbour about the prospects of a plumbing renovation.
On a Sunday, you're happy that your office is empty so you can spend some 5 hours doing work without being interrupted.
On a Monday, you notice you haven't posted anything in your blog for 2 months. This was supposed to be a blog about an interesting and eventful life! Well I'll go with my favourite explanation of not ever taking any photos: when you're really having fun, who has time to get the camera?
(And you're really not kidding anyone.)
Must plan a night with the girls in da club. (hint number 2: you use lame hip hop expressions like "in da club")
On a Friday, when your intern (hint number 1: you have an intern?! Seems like just months ago when you were one) is planning for a wild night out, you realize all you're hoping for is to get to Tiimari before it closes to buy Easter stuff. Then you spend your evening happily crafting an Easter garland of chicks and bunnies.
On a Saturday, you have a Bodypump class programmed, just as does every other middle-aged woman in your neigbourhood. Only you miss the class because you arrive late: it was much too interesting to chat with your neighbour about the prospects of a plumbing renovation.
On a Sunday, you're happy that your office is empty so you can spend some 5 hours doing work without being interrupted.
On a Monday, you notice you haven't posted anything in your blog for 2 months. This was supposed to be a blog about an interesting and eventful life! Well I'll go with my favourite explanation of not ever taking any photos: when you're really having fun, who has time to get the camera?
(And you're really not kidding anyone.)
Must plan a night with the girls in da club. (hint number 2: you use lame hip hop expressions like "in da club")
Monday, December 31, 2007
Happy 2008!
These quizzes are rampant in all the weblogs and they are not my idea of ambitious blogging. However, a stomach bug has changed my plans for tonight so I'll let this meme reflect the uttermost boredom of my New Year's Eve.
1. What did you do in 2007 that you had never done before?
I asked a man's opinion about a piece of furniture (the new sofa).
2. Did you keep your New Year's resolution, and will you make more for 2008?
My resolution was not to subscribe to women's magazines, and I kept it. Next year I'll try to save electricity and keep more in touch with my friends.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Hello, I'm 33 years old?! Just ask me how many.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Not really really close, but my father's godmother died. She didn't have children of her own and she was quite close to my family, especially when us "kids" were small.
5. Which countries did you visit?
Sweden, Spain (Tenerife), Indonesia, Singapore.
6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you didn't have in 2007?
I would like Mapenzi* to move in with me.
7. Are there any dates from the year 2007 that you will always remember and why?
At least a couple of wedding dates: 5.5. and 4.8. People very close to me got married and those dates meant a lot to me. The birthday of my godson, 31.10.
8. What was your greatest accomplishment this year?
I managed to pay off half of my extra taxes!
9. Your greatest failure?
I screwed up my tax planning... or is that year 2006? I failed to be there for a friend whose life changed radically. Our relationship will never be the same again.
10. Did you suffer from any illnesses or injuries?
Luckily, no.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
My dress for Sarah's wedding! By far!
12. Whose behaviour made you laugh?
Simba's and Nala's. Every day.
13. Whose behaviour depressed you?
Nobody depressed me, but there are a few people whose behaviour does my head in.
14. Where did the most of your money go?
To my flat. Too much money went into eating out, I've had to cut back since the extra taxes and I've realised how much I've spent there.
15. Were you really, really excited about something?
In the beginning of the year, I was really excited about my new job. That always fades away. :) I'm also always very excited to see Mapenzi. That doesn't seem to change.
16. What song will always remind you of the year 2007?
I can't believe this is the only song I can name but it has to be "Aamuaurinkoon" or something by Katri Ylander. I borrowed a car from Mom for the summer, and when you drive all over Finland, Radio Nova is the only one you can hear no matter where you are. They played that song at least once in an hour.
17. Compared to last year, are you
a) happier or more sad?
I don't know! I guess just as happy.
b) skinnier or fatter?
About the same (damn).
c)richer or poorer?
My income is about the same, but now it comes from a permanent job, with perks, so I'll have to say richer.
18. Is there something you wish you would have done more?
I should have spent more time with some important children in my life.
19. Is there something you wish you would have done less?
Bitched about coworkers behind their backs.
20. How did you celebrate Christmas?
Just me and Mapenzi on Christmas Eve, then on Christmas day I saw my sister and brother and their spouses. We also celebrated my sister's getting engaged.
21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
Over and over again, with the same guy.
22. How many one night stands?
Obviously none!
23. What was your favourite tv show?
Grey's Anatomy.
24. Do you now hate anybody you didn't hate last year?
I don't think I've actually ever hated anyone. Except Thomas when he kicked me out from his flat in Dresden in 1998, but that, too, passed.
25. What was the best book you read?
I didn't read that much this year... La sombra del viento by Carlos Ruiz Zafón was well written. I also liked What I loved by Siri Hustvedt, but it couldn't hold up to the promises it made in the beginning.
26. What was your biggest musical find?
I'm so out of this scene these days. I don't even think I bought one cd. I'll have to say my biggest musical find was to take my mp3 player with me when I go jogging, because I'd never jogged before!
27. What did you want and got?
I was hoping to get to rent a summer cottage sponsored by my trade union, and I did! (They do a draw.)
28. What did you want but didn't get?
Well, some advances in my relationship would have been welcomed...
29. What was your favourite movie this year?
I didn't see so many movies. The Simpson's movie comes to mind.
30. What did you do for your birthday and how old were you?
This is how you know you're old! I don't remember what I did! But I'm 33 years old.
31. Name a single thing that would have made your year significantly more satisfying?
A win in the lottery (should probably start playing). Money is the only thing we argue about with Mapenzi.
32. How would you describe your style in 2007?
Casual, but increasingly feminine, thanks to weight loss. :)
33. What kept you sane?
If I'm sane, it's thanks to my love, who's always down to earth and full of one-liners with great wisdom!
34. What political issue caught most of your attention?
Many! The parliamentary elections of course, then the nurses' fight for a better salary, to mention a few.
35. Whom did you miss?
A lot of friends who live abroad.
36. Who was the best new person you met?
"The best" is a weird characterisation, but I really enjoyed meeting some new people through my work. I'll have to say Sirpa Save from the Wood Workers' union!
*my love in Swahili
1. What did you do in 2007 that you had never done before?
I asked a man's opinion about a piece of furniture (the new sofa).
2. Did you keep your New Year's resolution, and will you make more for 2008?
My resolution was not to subscribe to women's magazines, and I kept it. Next year I'll try to save electricity and keep more in touch with my friends.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Hello, I'm 33 years old?! Just ask me how many.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Not really really close, but my father's godmother died. She didn't have children of her own and she was quite close to my family, especially when us "kids" were small.
5. Which countries did you visit?
Sweden, Spain (Tenerife), Indonesia, Singapore.
6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you didn't have in 2007?
I would like Mapenzi* to move in with me.
7. Are there any dates from the year 2007 that you will always remember and why?
At least a couple of wedding dates: 5.5. and 4.8. People very close to me got married and those dates meant a lot to me. The birthday of my godson, 31.10.
8. What was your greatest accomplishment this year?
I managed to pay off half of my extra taxes!
9. Your greatest failure?
I screwed up my tax planning... or is that year 2006? I failed to be there for a friend whose life changed radically. Our relationship will never be the same again.
10. Did you suffer from any illnesses or injuries?
Luckily, no.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
My dress for Sarah's wedding! By far!
12. Whose behaviour made you laugh?
Simba's and Nala's. Every day.
13. Whose behaviour depressed you?
Nobody depressed me, but there are a few people whose behaviour does my head in.
14. Where did the most of your money go?
To my flat. Too much money went into eating out, I've had to cut back since the extra taxes and I've realised how much I've spent there.
15. Were you really, really excited about something?
In the beginning of the year, I was really excited about my new job. That always fades away. :) I'm also always very excited to see Mapenzi. That doesn't seem to change.
16. What song will always remind you of the year 2007?
I can't believe this is the only song I can name but it has to be "Aamuaurinkoon" or something by Katri Ylander. I borrowed a car from Mom for the summer, and when you drive all over Finland, Radio Nova is the only one you can hear no matter where you are. They played that song at least once in an hour.
17. Compared to last year, are you
a) happier or more sad?
I don't know! I guess just as happy.
b) skinnier or fatter?
About the same (damn).
c)richer or poorer?
My income is about the same, but now it comes from a permanent job, with perks, so I'll have to say richer.
18. Is there something you wish you would have done more?
I should have spent more time with some important children in my life.
19. Is there something you wish you would have done less?
Bitched about coworkers behind their backs.
20. How did you celebrate Christmas?
Just me and Mapenzi on Christmas Eve, then on Christmas day I saw my sister and brother and their spouses. We also celebrated my sister's getting engaged.
21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
Over and over again, with the same guy.
22. How many one night stands?
Obviously none!
23. What was your favourite tv show?
Grey's Anatomy.
24. Do you now hate anybody you didn't hate last year?
I don't think I've actually ever hated anyone. Except Thomas when he kicked me out from his flat in Dresden in 1998, but that, too, passed.
25. What was the best book you read?
I didn't read that much this year... La sombra del viento by Carlos Ruiz Zafón was well written. I also liked What I loved by Siri Hustvedt, but it couldn't hold up to the promises it made in the beginning.
26. What was your biggest musical find?
I'm so out of this scene these days. I don't even think I bought one cd. I'll have to say my biggest musical find was to take my mp3 player with me when I go jogging, because I'd never jogged before!
27. What did you want and got?
I was hoping to get to rent a summer cottage sponsored by my trade union, and I did! (They do a draw.)
28. What did you want but didn't get?
Well, some advances in my relationship would have been welcomed...
29. What was your favourite movie this year?
I didn't see so many movies. The Simpson's movie comes to mind.
30. What did you do for your birthday and how old were you?
This is how you know you're old! I don't remember what I did! But I'm 33 years old.
31. Name a single thing that would have made your year significantly more satisfying?
A win in the lottery (should probably start playing). Money is the only thing we argue about with Mapenzi.
32. How would you describe your style in 2007?
Casual, but increasingly feminine, thanks to weight loss. :)
33. What kept you sane?
If I'm sane, it's thanks to my love, who's always down to earth and full of one-liners with great wisdom!
34. What political issue caught most of your attention?
Many! The parliamentary elections of course, then the nurses' fight for a better salary, to mention a few.
35. Whom did you miss?
A lot of friends who live abroad.
36. Who was the best new person you met?
"The best" is a weird characterisation, but I really enjoyed meeting some new people through my work. I'll have to say Sirpa Save from the Wood Workers' union!
*my love in Swahili
Friday, December 21, 2007
A Christmas Memory
Today I went to buy one of the (very) few Christmas presents on my shopping list, for my godson who's 4. I was going to drop it off at his dad's working place so it had to be wrapped right away.
The wrapping service was available from noon and it was 10 am, so I got to wrap the present myself. I always prefer to do it myself anyway. As I was adding a few finishing touches, an elderly woman came there to organise her shopping bags and said "what a lovely present you have wrapped". I thanked her and explained that when I was young, I worked in a department store, at the kitchen department, just before Christmas. "Oh, that's why. I can really see that you know how to do that", the lady said.
The chat, although brief, returned those two weeks in my mind instantly. Those days, 9th graders did two weeks of what was called "introduction to working life" in a working place of their choosing.
I don't know why I chose a department store. If anything terrifies me it's having to sell stuff to people. Probably I just went where all my friends went, plus that department store was very happening in the 80's, and I didn't have a clue of what I wanted to do after high school anyway so it didn't really matter (some kids were clever enough to choose a place close to their dream job, because they had one).
Back then there was a popular quiz show in the TV called "Ruutuysi". Before Christmas, the department store organized an event and they got the presenter from the show to host it. Every
hour, on the hour, he would visit one department with his microphone, make short interviews and promote whatever was sold at that department.
Mind you, I was 15, and in average, at that age you're way more embarrassed about things than you should be - and more so than other people around you. So I was mortified when the host approached my counter just as I was trying to wrap a huge, impossibly-shaped frying pan (now who buys frying pans for Christmas?!). I had a nametag on my chest (see how the elements of embarrassment keep piling up?) and it said "trainee Anna". The presenter (his name is Jorma Pulkkinen, some Finnish people might remember him) had chosen me as his victim and said to his microphone: "and trainee Anna is wrapping a lovely present here..." "I'm really not", I said, as the microphone was pushed in front of me.
Thank goodness I'm better with receiving compliments these days. And thanks to those two weeks, frying pans and other funnily-shaped objects, I'm now very good at wrapping. It sounds like a lesser skill, but it comes in very handy sometimes.
With this story I would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas, with one more beautiful memory to think about afterwards!
The wrapping service was available from noon and it was 10 am, so I got to wrap the present myself. I always prefer to do it myself anyway. As I was adding a few finishing touches, an elderly woman came there to organise her shopping bags and said "what a lovely present you have wrapped". I thanked her and explained that when I was young, I worked in a department store, at the kitchen department, just before Christmas. "Oh, that's why. I can really see that you know how to do that", the lady said.
The chat, although brief, returned those two weeks in my mind instantly. Those days, 9th graders did two weeks of what was called "introduction to working life" in a working place of their choosing.
I don't know why I chose a department store. If anything terrifies me it's having to sell stuff to people. Probably I just went where all my friends went, plus that department store was very happening in the 80's, and I didn't have a clue of what I wanted to do after high school anyway so it didn't really matter (some kids were clever enough to choose a place close to their dream job, because they had one).
Back then there was a popular quiz show in the TV called "Ruutuysi". Before Christmas, the department store organized an event and they got the presenter from the show to host it. Every
hour, on the hour, he would visit one department with his microphone, make short interviews and promote whatever was sold at that department.
Mind you, I was 15, and in average, at that age you're way more embarrassed about things than you should be - and more so than other people around you. So I was mortified when the host approached my counter just as I was trying to wrap a huge, impossibly-shaped frying pan (now who buys frying pans for Christmas?!). I had a nametag on my chest (see how the elements of embarrassment keep piling up?) and it said "trainee Anna". The presenter (his name is Jorma Pulkkinen, some Finnish people might remember him) had chosen me as his victim and said to his microphone: "and trainee Anna is wrapping a lovely present here..." "I'm really not", I said, as the microphone was pushed in front of me.
Thank goodness I'm better with receiving compliments these days. And thanks to those two weeks, frying pans and other funnily-shaped objects, I'm now very good at wrapping. It sounds like a lesser skill, but it comes in very handy sometimes.
With this story I would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas, with one more beautiful memory to think about afterwards!
Sunday, December 2, 2007
The Potential of Plastic
This week I had one of the most random conversations one can ever have in a textile shop. I had another very productive :) football meeting with Mira in Hakaniemi. Mira had some footballs at her office that I needed to send in the post but we didn't have a bag big enough to pick them up.
Not to worry, we'll go to the Swedish shop Hemtex and buy a big plastic bag! They sell everything from blankets and bedsheets to big pillows, so they'll have a bag that's big enough and it will cost like 15c. Perfect.
I thought my question was going to be weird - now who would purchase only a plastic bag - so I asked it kind of shyly. Turned out compared to the answer, my question made perfect sense. They couldn't sell me a plastic bag because of safety regulations.
I had to repeat myself a couple of times to make sure I'd heard right. "But if I would buy a really big pillow, then you would give me a big plastic bag?" "Yes, with the product of course, but if you're not buying anything, I can't give you one because of - " "SAFETY REGULATIONS, I get it".
The salespeople were two sweet young women who obviously just abided to company rules, so I didn't want to insist any more. We left wondering whether anyone had ever tried to kill themselves with a Hemtex plastic bag (maybe, someone with a really big head) or if it's these times we're living, the times of the war against terrorism. But if it's possible to prepare a plastic explosive using bags, surely every old lady buying Christmas curtains at Hemtex is a potential terrorist.
In Finland we always joke about how the Swedish society tries to protect its people from everything. They might want to rethink about their company strategies in Finland, where people prefer to kill themselves with firearms or by jumping under a train.
Not to worry, we'll go to the Swedish shop Hemtex and buy a big plastic bag! They sell everything from blankets and bedsheets to big pillows, so they'll have a bag that's big enough and it will cost like 15c. Perfect.
I thought my question was going to be weird - now who would purchase only a plastic bag - so I asked it kind of shyly. Turned out compared to the answer, my question made perfect sense. They couldn't sell me a plastic bag because of safety regulations.
I had to repeat myself a couple of times to make sure I'd heard right. "But if I would buy a really big pillow, then you would give me a big plastic bag?" "Yes, with the product of course, but if you're not buying anything, I can't give you one because of - " "SAFETY REGULATIONS, I get it".
The salespeople were two sweet young women who obviously just abided to company rules, so I didn't want to insist any more. We left wondering whether anyone had ever tried to kill themselves with a Hemtex plastic bag (maybe, someone with a really big head) or if it's these times we're living, the times of the war against terrorism. But if it's possible to prepare a plastic explosive using bags, surely every old lady buying Christmas curtains at Hemtex is a potential terrorist.
In Finland we always joke about how the Swedish society tries to protect its people from everything. They might want to rethink about their company strategies in Finland, where people prefer to kill themselves with firearms or by jumping under a train.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
The French Connection
When I started this blog, the main idea was to share those funny everyday incidents that brighten up your day. You know those little, sometimes surprising interactions that people have, even with strangers. I love them, they are my favourite subject to talk about. Something worth mentioning tends to literally happen every day.
On Saturday we were getting off the plane in Medan on the northern shore of Sumatra island. Standing in the bus that took us to the airport building, I was holding my passport in my hand so it was very visible that I was from Finland (but I didn't realize it). Suddenly someone cheerfully said "Paiva!" ("Päivää" is "good afternoon" in Finnish.) I turned to look at an enthusiastic French guy who immediately started to take off his clothes.
Oh, you people with your dirty minds! He was just eager to show me his t-shirt that he had bought last summer when he had been hitch-hiking in Finland. Had completely fallen in love with the country, knew two words of Finnish (good afternoon and thank you) and wanted me to translate the text in his t-shirt because he didn't know what it meant. (Luckily he had bought a cute and not an obscene one.) It said "I'm on holiday - salary's running, I'm not". (Lomalla - palkka juoksee, minä en.) His hitch-hiking had taken place in Eastern Finland so I asked him if he knew my hometown, and he did, although he had not had time to go and see it. "But I know about the opera, oh, in the open air, must be really something", he said waving his arms (add French accent).
The French guy introduced himself as Carl and he was in fact on holiday from his job in Singapore. I boarded on the plane to Banda Aceh, thinking how important it is to keep your eyes open to make someone's day, and let them make yours. And to keep your passport where everyone can see it.
P.S. Aceh had recovered from the tsunami fantastically, at least when it comes to material things. People have pretty new houses, business is booming and the once ghost-towns are full of life. I was very happy to see all of it. Let's all hope there will never be another tsunami.
On Saturday we were getting off the plane in Medan on the northern shore of Sumatra island. Standing in the bus that took us to the airport building, I was holding my passport in my hand so it was very visible that I was from Finland (but I didn't realize it). Suddenly someone cheerfully said "Paiva!" ("Päivää" is "good afternoon" in Finnish.) I turned to look at an enthusiastic French guy who immediately started to take off his clothes.
Oh, you people with your dirty minds! He was just eager to show me his t-shirt that he had bought last summer when he had been hitch-hiking in Finland. Had completely fallen in love with the country, knew two words of Finnish (good afternoon and thank you) and wanted me to translate the text in his t-shirt because he didn't know what it meant. (Luckily he had bought a cute and not an obscene one.) It said "I'm on holiday - salary's running, I'm not". (Lomalla - palkka juoksee, minä en.) His hitch-hiking had taken place in Eastern Finland so I asked him if he knew my hometown, and he did, although he had not had time to go and see it. "But I know about the opera, oh, in the open air, must be really something", he said waving his arms (add French accent).
The French guy introduced himself as Carl and he was in fact on holiday from his job in Singapore. I boarded on the plane to Banda Aceh, thinking how important it is to keep your eyes open to make someone's day, and let them make yours. And to keep your passport where everyone can see it.
P.S. Aceh had recovered from the tsunami fantastically, at least when it comes to material things. People have pretty new houses, business is booming and the once ghost-towns are full of life. I was very happy to see all of it. Let's all hope there will never be another tsunami.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Now that's what I call friendship
In an earlier posting, I mentioned someone having to get by with 8,5 euros a day. That someone is me after my experience as an entrepreneur last year. Should have invested those 100 euros a month to hire a bookkeeper...
It's not a "call the UN" type of situation - the budget is counted after I've paid all the bills, the mortgage, and the massive taxes I now have to pay. But it is hard sometimes to get by on such a small amount when you're living in downtown Helsinki and your social life is almost completely somewhere else than in your own flat. Plus I absolutely can't buy any clothes, books, gifts (except really cheap ones...) or anything extra. So I've had to start telling people why I can't go anywhere and spend any money anymore, not before March anyway.
I know the friend I'm talking about would be embarrassed if I told her name here so I won't. But she happened to ask me if I'm still giving money to charity in my "situation". There are two sponsor payments that are charged automatically from my bank account every month and I haven't wanted to put them on hold. It's not a huge sum, not very small either, but to be honest right now I could come up with many other uses for the money.
My friend offered to pay me those for 4 months and before I even realized, she had put the money on my bank account. Summed up, 4 months worth of those payments look like - and are - a lot of money, and she's not a rich woman. A normal working mother of 2 with big bills from the house they've recently built.
There are more ways to help friends out than we ordinarily figure. Thank you, my friend, for your creativity and for having such a big heart!
P.S. Greetings from Singapore, arrived here today and on Saturday we'll fly to Aceh to visit our tsunami relief project. It should make me shut up about not being able to buy any foods I like from the supermarket of my choice. For a while at least.
It's not a "call the UN" type of situation - the budget is counted after I've paid all the bills, the mortgage, and the massive taxes I now have to pay. But it is hard sometimes to get by on such a small amount when you're living in downtown Helsinki and your social life is almost completely somewhere else than in your own flat. Plus I absolutely can't buy any clothes, books, gifts (except really cheap ones...) or anything extra. So I've had to start telling people why I can't go anywhere and spend any money anymore, not before March anyway.
I know the friend I'm talking about would be embarrassed if I told her name here so I won't. But she happened to ask me if I'm still giving money to charity in my "situation". There are two sponsor payments that are charged automatically from my bank account every month and I haven't wanted to put them on hold. It's not a huge sum, not very small either, but to be honest right now I could come up with many other uses for the money.
My friend offered to pay me those for 4 months and before I even realized, she had put the money on my bank account. Summed up, 4 months worth of those payments look like - and are - a lot of money, and she's not a rich woman. A normal working mother of 2 with big bills from the house they've recently built.
There are more ways to help friends out than we ordinarily figure. Thank you, my friend, for your creativity and for having such a big heart!
P.S. Greetings from Singapore, arrived here today and on Saturday we'll fly to Aceh to visit our tsunami relief project. It should make me shut up about not being able to buy any foods I like from the supermarket of my choice. For a while at least.
Friday, November 9, 2007
You know you have been going out too much when...
Today I had lunch with my friend and ex-colleague Tuomas. We went to restaurant Sävel in Hakaniemi.
Approahing the counter, I realised I knew the waiter. (But, for my defence, I have this perversion that I never forget names or faces.) He used to work in the pub downstairs of the building where I worked from year 2000 to 2003. He looked at me to get my order and said: "Hi. HI!!! Hello! Haven't seen you for a long time!!!" I could have taken that as one of those things that happen when you work in the service industry and you meet thousands of people and don't really connect their faces to places although you know you've often seen them. But he went on about the bar and how he had been wondering where I had gone to.
I didn't return to the bar since I left Helsingin Sanomat and it was four years ago...
But I really did go there very often when I did.
Approahing the counter, I realised I knew the waiter. (But, for my defence, I have this perversion that I never forget names or faces.) He used to work in the pub downstairs of the building where I worked from year 2000 to 2003. He looked at me to get my order and said: "Hi. HI!!! Hello! Haven't seen you for a long time!!!" I could have taken that as one of those things that happen when you work in the service industry and you meet thousands of people and don't really connect their faces to places although you know you've often seen them. But he went on about the bar and how he had been wondering where I had gone to.
I didn't return to the bar since I left Helsingin Sanomat and it was four years ago...
But I really did go there very often when I did.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
I'm 27 years old! I can't even hold a big newspaper!
Topics that can be covered in a 3-hour meeting about next year's campaign plans:
Oh, and finally: materials for next year's campaign. :) That took about 10 minutes.
(And I'm obviously older than 27 years. The headline is from Smack the Pony, where two young women are trying to sound very professional in the back of the taxi. Until one of them reveals her true self!)
- edit -
Things I forgot from the list (thank you, Mira!):
- Halloween costumes on pets
- Facebook (although I'm not even there. Could someone explain vampire armies to me??!!!)
- ice hockey
- methods of birth control and the bean jar married sex theory
- burnouts and boreouts
- Red Nose Day
- sweets that we used to make as kids (they were called "nigger balls")
- how to survive with 8,5 euros per day (note to self: don't arrange next meeting in a cafeteria)
Oh, and finally: materials for next year's campaign. :) That took about 10 minutes.
(And I'm obviously older than 27 years. The headline is from Smack the Pony, where two young women are trying to sound very professional in the back of the taxi. Until one of them reveals her true self!)
- edit -
Things I forgot from the list (thank you, Mira!):
- nurses' strike
- Britney Spears
- the essence of being & enemas
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