Keine Lust auf gar nichts

Not in the mood for anything, lallalaa. The last few days have passed in a haze. I just realized that this is the longest time I’ve spend on this island since I ran away almost ten years ago, it’s affecting me and making me question all the most basic things, mostly myself. The problem is that I don’t really know how to get out of this situation, how to feel good about myself again. Any ideas?

 

Side note: at least I have what “it takes to compete for a place in a course in Finnish for beginners”. Well, I’d better. I don’t think I could live with the shame of not having been admitted to such a course. The reason, by the way, I’ve even applied for a course in Finnish for beginners is that a 2^nd language in Finno-Ugric languages is required for advancing to the next level of Hungarian, not because Finnish is so fascinating that I want to learn it all over again from zero. (It is, however, fascinating enough to learn, in case any of you is up for the challenge!)

With Dark Circles Under Her Eyes

Please, let there still be hope.

Becsvágy (Hun: Ambition)

“Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great.” (Mark Twain)

 

Ambition is a funny thing. It’s like an indefinable voice inside your soul that wakes up and stirs you at the most unexpected moments. It’s the need to keep walking, moving, running, jumping when all that is required of you is to keep still. Ambition is hunger – it’s the feeling of never being fully satisfied. It’s the knowledge that perfection can and will not be achieved, but the willingness and need to go on anyway.

 

 

What I Promised, And What I Actually Did

I wrote about the initial plan here. The plan turned out to be a bit too ambitious.

And this is what I actually did:

 

Pilates : Tuesday (put it on the wrong day) and Sunday

Yoga: Thursday

Body Combat: Wednesday

Strength training: Saturday (Shoulders, back + triceps)

Walking or running: Monday, Wednesday, Saturday + Sunday

Today I’ve also been cleaning for almost 3 hours. Geez. I’m happy I’m not a housewife, tis was tough.

I also found a great song by Kino that I’ve somehow managed to miss until now. If you’re interested in Russian music, you can listen to it here!

Back To Darkness

 

Sunday Music

This is the perfect song on a rainy Sunday – Swedish Takida with You Learn.

The Little Red Book And Other Treasures

Buy nothing!

Everyone remembers that today is dedicated to buying nothing, right?  

"You seem to be an eternal student"

This is comment that has been given to me more than once. Each time I sense a continuation hanging in the air, the “…but now it’s about time you grew up”. Maybe I’m being sensitive and a little neurotic about this. Maybe people really mean: “…and good for you!” Maybe a part of me feels like a failure for being so slow with my studies, for not having a proper career yet, etc. However, my neurotic tendencies notwithstanding, there seems to be general antipathy toward learning and studying. The word “student” has a negative cling to it. Another comment that pops up quite frequently is “but… how can you study so much? It can’t be healthy; you don’t have any free time”. Define free time! “Well… watching TV, going out to party and such things”.  Another: “But why?”

I graduated from high school eight years ago. The fist thing I did was to take a gap year in order to study Polish in Poland. Then I started university. Getting my degree took four years because it included a compulsory year abroad. I lived and worked in Spain for three years. Continuing my studies at the time was not possible due to financial reasons. Postgraduate studies in Spain cost money and (full-time) salaries barely cover the basic living expenses. So I waited until I found something that suited me. They say that good things come to those who have the patience to wait: I am busy at the moment, but all those things that keep me busy, are things that I feel passionate about. Learning and studies mean development, the chance to do new things. I also have a full-time job, pay my taxes and manage to be fairly social (for a person who isn’t all that social). Apart from the need to travel more, I’m generally happy with my life. Everything that I do is the result of a conscious chain of decisions that I’ve made. Trust me, the day I notice that watching telly is more interesting than psychology or languages, I will re-evaluate my decisions and glue myself to the sofa.  

 

 

“Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.”

Benjamin Franklin

 

SUNSHINE!!!!

This morning I really would have preferred to stay under the blankets. When the alarm started sounding under my left ear (yes, I always leave the phone under my pillow), I cursed all the reasons for which it is necessary to get up at 7.30 am. I’ve changed my mind. The sky is clear blue and the sun is shining (although the sun itself is hiding behind the rooftops somewhere) – it’s such a rarity to see the sun these days that it must be noted somewhere. It’s crazy how important the sun is for one’s mood.

 

I believe it is Thanksgiving in the States today. We don’t celebrate anything of the kind over here, which is a pity, because it seems to be such a nice and important tradition. I have personally celebrated Thanksgiving once. Some of my classmates in Poland were Americans, so we all gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving in the boys’ dorm. Anyhow, even though we’re not doing anything special today, we could all try to be a little extra thankful. One of my colleagues said today: “He’s always complaining, and that’s so wrong. There must be something good in life”. And I think that is true. It’s often easy to focus and waste energy on the bad things life, even though there are plenty of reasons to be happy and grateful.

 

So, some of today’s reasons to be grateful in Zsuzsi-land are:

 

• The sun is shining. Autumn is a nice season, but the sun does give a lot of extra energy.
• My family is lovely and I’m also a bit spoiled by them all.
• I’m healthy – if the only physical pain I experience is the occasional headache and sore muscles, then I can be considered very lucky. Let’s hope it stays that way.
• I’m thankful for some of my personality traits. It doesn’t matter if they are socially or biologically…, I’m happy that I’m such a curious person who loves learning. It really makes life feel like an adventure most of the time.

 

What makes you grateful today?

 

 

 

Time To Pretend

When I’m 80 years old, I want to be fit enough to run a marathon.

 

Maybe that’s a good plan? Maybe… please, agree with me. Anyone? I did some pilates yesterday, and now I’m feeling like an old granny. After pilates. There probably isn’t any hope for me at all. However, I do think pilates is useful because in that session we do all the (boring*) moves that I avoid during strength training.

 

In line with my new improved diet, I also ate a pizza. It’s time to get serious since there are only 6 months until the beginning of June, which is the END date for my Beach-project.

 

Here’s a short list of measures to be taken to improve the likelihood of success for this project:

 

• morning cardio (as soon as it starts getting light outside… let’s say February)
• small and regular meals (doing that already, but there are some foods that should go)
• quality over quantity in the workouts.
• Increase amount of cardiovascular training – at least 45 mins/day.

 

 

The plan for this week looks like this:

 

Monday: power walking – 60 minutes (7,3 km/h with an incline between 4 and 7,5) + normal walking 30 minutes

Tuesday: pilates – 60 minutes

Wednesday: body combat + strength training (arms, shoulders, chest) – app. 2 hours

Thursday: yoga – 60 minutes + running 45 minutes

Friday: body pump – 60 minutes

Saturday: drinking glögg (mulled wine) + enjoying the Christmas market (-> lots of walking)

Sunday: pilates - 60 minutes + strength training (legs) – 45 minutes + running 45 minutes

 

 

Not completely happy with that plan, but it’ll have to do this time.

 

 

 

* Unfortunately, boring sometimes equals useful.

 

 

Don't create differences where there are none

”I’m not going to buy pizza from place X because the text on their pizza boxes is in Finnish”. “I cannot go to the independence ball because there will be gay people there”. “Immigration from non-Nordic countries has increased – how alarming!”.

 

Statements like these disappoint me. People seem to cling to their national, cultural and lingual identities as if they were the only identities available. I don’t know if this is because the rapid changes in society are scaring people so badly that they choose to close their eyes and ears. Only their mouths remain open – spitting out dubious opinions about everything and anything. Yes, culture is important. So are language and nationality. Those factors affect our identities, but there are so many other aspects that are important as well. For instance, I have a lot more in common with my friends than my colleagues. Very few of my friends have the same mother tongue as I, almost none of them is Finnish.  The saddening fact is that many people want to stay in their bubble. Instead of moving forward, they long for what used to be. What is different is seen as a threat. Because of this view, perhaps, there is a tendency to focus on the differences instead of similarities. And yes, I believe that by emphasising the differences, new differences are created – differences that are nothing more than a constructs of our (sometimes far too vivid) imagination.

 

 

Nem rossz! (Hun: not bad)

+ running 30 minutes today.

Total: 6,3 hours,And what could be done better? This is good, but few things are perfect. Next week I need to increase the amount of cardio + add a session or two of yoga.

I also need to take a serious look at my diet because I had a really scary moment realising that my bum looks like the behinds of J.Lo and Kim Kardashian. Together. On one small person. Now, there’s nothing wrong with them, but… yeah, you get it.

…

There are times when I miss Moscow very, very much. 
The photo is from Google maps. 

Ill? And Life List

In the glorious year of 2011 there was only one Thursday like the third Thursday of November, although this Thursday seemed as uneventful as any other Thursday. The newspapers wrote about fake doctors, right-wing politicians, fish and the lack of snow.

 

In the ordinary life of Zsuzsi the day moved forward in slow-motion, she talked to a lot to Finnish colleagues and dreamed about pancakes with fresh berries and cream.

 

 

Song: Stereo Hearts by Gym Class Heroes feat. Adam Levi

Feeling: painful and sleepy. I could hardly get out of bed this morning and I’m still feeling quite unwell. My shoulder and lower back are feeling very sore, and the common cold seems to be attacking as well.

Work-out: yoga will do.

Lunch: chicken salad.

Additions to life-list: increase knowledge of yoga and tea.(note to self: add them to life-list.)  

Idea: Allie mentioned Croatia for summer holidays… it might be more viable than some exotic place on the other side of the planet (since I’m poor!), so the idea really deserves some serious consideration.

Thought: Why write about one thing only when there is enough space to babble on forever?

Opinion: the great thing about learning foreign languages is that sometimes it feels like you are hitting your head against the wall – but then suddenly – boom – you realise that you understand it and you can use it AND you’re good at it. Being able to see the progress so clearly is what makes language learning really fascinating.

 

Yes, I doubt this day will go to (my personal) history, but it’s OK. Being able to enjoy days like this is more important than chasing and enjoying the really amazing ones.

Bread

According to Helsingin Sanomat, almost 40% of Finnish people have decreased their intake of bread this year in order to eat less carbohydrates.

 

Now, we don’t know how much of that information is actually true, but let’s assume that 40% of the Finnish people (that would be about 2 million people) are eating less bread than before. I’m not a nutritionist, and even though the topic interests me, I must admit that I’ve never really clarified my opinion on the great carb-debate. The following “statements” are my own personal observations and opinions, and they are not based on any scientific evidence.

 

• Before eliminating (or drastically decreasing) bread (and other carbs) from our diets, we need to ask ourselves: what is the essential role of carbohydrates? Do our bodies and brains need carbs in order to function?
• There are carbs, and then there are carbs. Using common sense (a very subjective kind of sense, sorry about that), we might figure out that some carbohydrates are better for us than others. The same goes for bread. The nutritional values vary a lot between products, so being attentive to available information is a good thing.
• Some people proudly tell everyone about their new diet – from now on they are eating NO carbs. Except some cake, and alcohol, and ice cream. And NO exercise. I wonder which the better alternative for one’s health is: eating a little bit of bread now and then and working out regularly, or banning carbs and spending all day without physical activity.
• Now, I have noticed that a breakfast consisting of a couple of slices of rye bread with butter and cheese/ham keeps hunger away until noon when it’s lunch-time. This works for me. It might not work for you – the point is: everyone is different, and instead of believing blindly in what media tell us, we should listen more to our bodies. Especially bread can be problematic since it might lead to allergic reactions, in which case it’s obviously not a good idea to eat it.
• Instead of banning carbohydrates altogether, one’s diet could probably be improved greatly by a few, subtle changes. Swapping sugary snacks for vegetables and fizzy drinks for their diet-versions (or even better – water) might sound like the obvious choice, but still – it seems there are still a lot of people out there who don’t understand what a big bottle of coke + a bag of candy a day can do to you.
• Not just carbohydrates! Yeah, I think I/you/we can eat carbohydrates, but the point is also to ensure a good enough intake of fat and protein. Living on only bread is not the ideal option (not for me anyway).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zuuuuumba

Wikipedia tells us: Zumba is a Latin-inspired dance fitness program created by dancer and choreographer Alberto "Beto" Perez in Colombia during the 1990s. Zumba involves dance and aerobic elements. Zumba's choreography incorporates hip-hop, samba, salsa, merengue, mambo, martial arts, and some Bollywood and belly dance moves. Squats and lunges are also included.

Yesterday I decided to try zumba: judging by people’s status updates on facebook, this is a popular form of exercise and it also seems to be a lot of fun. Well, it was fun – even for someone who’s got two left feet and whose coordination is below zero. I’ve never been a good dancer, jumping up and down on the dance floor in a crowded nightclub is the closest I’ve come to dancing. Being in a room full of women of all ages and sizes, I didn’t feel quite as self-conscious as I do when wearing skimpy clothes at a disco.

I can definitely imagine doing this again, even though zumba is far from a killer-workout, because I feel that a workout program should be both fun and varied. Normally I focus on strength training, running and yoga, but will try to squeeze in the occasional zumba session to add some fun to life.

 

Short Week Ahead

Monday, it’s Monday. Once again it’s Monday. I’m sitting in my corner at work, sneezing and being happy about the fact that this work week will be shorter than usual. On Friday I’ll be at the university again – it’s quite incredible that we only have a couple of meetings left, after which it’s time to write the dissertation and voilà… One part of my education will be over. Writing the dissertation is something I’m really looking forward to: it’s my chance to apply some very interesting tools and theories on a topic of my choice, a topic very close to my heart. Basically, my plan is to analyze the local immigration policy: the plan is to focus on how different risk perceptions are taken into account in the risk analysis and the risk communication at different levels of the policy process.

As I mentioned last week, we are now doing a module in personality psychology. It is very interesting and some of our assignments seem really interesting. Even though I’m really busy sometimes, I must admit that I’m really lucky to have this opportunity to study things that I find both interesting and important.

 

The plans for this short week are:

 

• Visit the gym at least five times
• Translate and summarise a Hungarian news article
• Visit Stockholm and go to at least one coffee shop
• Spend quality time with my mother
• Read a couple of psychology articles + check if any of them could be used for my dissertation
• Start digging into the academics of decision and risk analysis
• Have fun!

 

 

Next Week

Monday: never tried zumba before, but I’m quite curious so why not give it a try. After the class I also want to do some sort of strength training, probably biceps and triceps.

Tuesday: my friend K and I have scheduled a killer-session for Tuesday. It will probably consist of running + strength training (back + chest + shoulders)

Wednesday: Hungarian grammar class limits the time at the gym so I’ll go for classes.

Thursday: yoga for flexibility and some sort of cardio.

Friday: Stockholm baby.

Saturday: Stockholm + ferry. I might be able to squeeze in some crunches.

Sunday: running + strength training (legs)

Tomi Tai

Neurotic? Me? Noooo…

So, since we are doing a module in Personality Psychology at the moment, I thought it’d be fun to check my scores on the Five-Factor Model.

This is what I’m like (apparently) compared to other participants:

Extraversion – about average. (score: 31)

Agreeableness – relatively high. (score: 34)

Conscientiousness – about average. (score: 33)

Neuroticism – relatively high. (score: 27)

Openness – relatively high.  (score: 32)

 

If you want to try the test yourself, you can find it here!

Time To Be Girlie

Tomorrow the company is arranging this year’s Christmas bash/50-year anniversary. It might be about time to start thinking what to wear, and – most importantly -, choose a hairstyle and make up. This is the fun, albeit difficult, part.

So, what are the requirements for a good party style?

• it has to make you feel gorgeous.
• Comfort is a plus. What’s the point in wearing high heels if one walks like a duck?
• It has to be “easy” and long-lasting. Imagine being gorgeous when leaving the house, but looking like a troll in all the photos takes a couple of hours later. No thank you!

 

This project is somewhat complicated by the fact that my skin has decided to go crazy, I have a cold sore and my hair is unmanageable.

 

My dress is this colour – teal.

Shoes and ear rings are blue.

I wonder if adding a bit of red would mean there are too many colours in the mix.

 

The question remains: how to make my face look decent and the hair look amazing?

I’m a bit tempted by the 40s-style. Natural make-up with red lips. Not very difficult to do, and shouldn’t be too hard to maintain in a country where we shake hands instead of kissing people. The lipstick will probably smudge, though.

The hair is another story.

The most advanced thing I’ve ever done is a high pony tail and I don’t trust myself when it comes to being creative with hair. But curls would be nice, indeed.

Negative to Positive

 “Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Love more, and all good things will be yours”(Swedish proverb)

 

No, the intention is not to swamp you with inspirational quotes, even if it might seem like it. It’s just that I’m looking for useful and efficient tools for turning negative thoughts into positive ones. Negative thoughts are like snowballs – once they appear they just become bigger and bigger. Nobody can be shiny all the time, but it’s important to experience more positive thoughts than negative ones. At least that’s my philosophy.

 

 

 

 

Mondottam ember: Küzdj, és bízva bízzál!

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

- Theodore Roosevelt -

Hufvudstadsbladet

Hufvudstadsbladet (abbr. Hbl) is the highest-circulation Swedish-language newspaper in Finland. Its headquarters are located in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The name of the newspaper translates approximately into "The Capital City Newspaper", hufvudstad (modern spelling huvudstad) being 19th century Swedish for capital. The newspaper is informally also called Husis or Höblan.

Hufvudstadsbladet was founded by August Schauman in 1864, and the first edition was published on 5 December the same year. During the late 19th century, the paper was the highest-circulation newspaper in Finland.*

 

And why am I telling you this? Because said newspaper actively follows Russian events (adding a fair amount of news from the CIS). This, my dear friends, makes the coffee breaks at work a lot more interesting for a lover of all things Russian.

 

 

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hufvudstadsbladet

60

60. Learn statistics. 

Yey, well done me! Mathematics, numbers and graphs have not been my thing since I was about 11 years old. That’s the reason I’m extra happy for passing the statistics exam (even though I generally think that “just passing” is a lousy goal). No more numbers until spring! This calls for a celebration!

Question

”For a long time we’ve all been aware of the corruption at all levels of society. Why is nothing being done about it?”- (Hufvudstadsbladet, 08.11.2011).

 

Greece is causing Europe troubles. The EU is probably causing Greece a headache of similar dimensions. The Greek people are probably very confused right now.

 

My not-so-happy question* is: if you were all aware of it – why did you choose not to do anything about it? You see, the key to effective cooperation is the commitment to shared rules, rights and obligations.

 

 

 

*I’m for the European Union, but at the same time I’m quietly wondering why my tax money should save an economic mess which is the direct result of the actions of greedy politicians and banks located abroad.

Ja mikä se tähti oli?

Suomea. Ruotsia. Englantia. Espanjaa. Venäjää. Puolaa. Unkaria.

 

Jos on aivan pakko osaan myös vähän saksaa ja ranskaa.

 

Siinä ne sitten olikin.

Äkkiä, äkkiä työ.

Puhun seitsemää kieltä*. Melkein kaikkia sujuvasti. Taskusta löytyy korkeakoulututkinto (eurooppatiede, kansainväliset suhteet + venäjän kieli) ja pian tilille napsahtaa pari tutkintoa lisää (psykologia + unkarin kieli & päätös- ja riskianalyysi). Myönnän olevani humanisti. Olen tunnollinen ihminen, joka osaa laittaa itsensä likoon. Koen kaiken seikkailuna ja opin mielelläni aivan mitä vain uutta. Määrätietoisuudesta ei ole puutetta. Kaiken lisäksi olen ystävällinen ja hymyileväinen. Täydellinen en kuitenkaan ole, vaikka itseltäni sitä vaadinkin: ajan suhteen olen välillä liiankin optimistinen ja osaan laittaa riman niin korkealle, että harva sen ylittää.  En myöskään ole kovin sosiaalinen silloin, kun pitää keskittyä.

 

Haussa olisi sellainen työ, jossa saa kehittää itseään, inspiroida muita ja puhua noita kieliä. Hyvä palkka ja mahdollisuus matkustaa olisivat plussaa.  Itsenäinen työskentely ja joustavat työajat eivät haittaa.

 

No niin, te suomenkieliset lukijat, jotka saitte tästä jotain selvää. Mistä tällainen työ keksitään?

La La

The reason I love challenges and projects and everything else of their kind is simple: the process of working toward a goal includes so many steps that provide me with new knowledge and new experiences. Besides – PLANNING IS FUN!

 

As I mentioned on Friday, I have been starting on a Beach 2012-project (feel free to join). Here’s the basic information about the project in question.

 

What: a project to improve my diet and overall fitness. Even though I consider myself to be of normal weight, I’d like to have a more toned body. The goal is therefore to try to get rid of some fat and add some muscle. I will follow up on my results by measuring my “critical” points.

 

Why: there are two main reasons for this project. One is curiosity – I want to see what is actually possible, the challenge is a turn-on. Besides, I’ve spent most of my life being chubby so the thought of being fit is sort of amazing! The second reason is more about opening my mind: I grew up in an environment where appearance had no importance. Caring about your looks was something stupid and superficial. Now, this project is about a lot more than just looks: it’s about experimenting with food, being active to stay healthy and so on, but let’s face it: anything with “beach” in it, ultimately focuses on appearance. I spend a lot of time thinking about non-superficial things, so maybe some superficiality will do me some good.

 

How: the “how” is the crucial part of any project. I’m going to stick to cottage cheese and run 10K a day. Just kidding. Being crazy about food is not an option because those things have a tendency to mess people up completely. So, for the food-part the plan is to a) eat home-made meals that are well-balanced; b) eat regularly, and c) limit the intake of empty calories and sugar.

Work outs will consist of 6+ sessions a week: 3x strength training, 3x cardio + any additional activity I’ll feel like doing (pilates, yoga, core training). When spring arrives (hopefully soon!) I will also add some morning cardio.

 

When: now.

 

 

 

 

 

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

“Somewhere there is someone that dreams of your smile, and finds in your presence that life is worthwhile, so when you are lonely remember it’s true, someone somewhere is thinking of you.”

 

Ready, Steady, Go….!

In about 30 minutes it’s time to start writing a statistics exam. The good thing about distance studies is that a lot of the studying (and test writing) can be done at home in a pajamas.

I also tried to make my study corner (the kitchen!) a bit cozier with candles and fun coffee mugs– just to make statistics a bit more fun!

Interesting... (and some Beach 2012)

Seems like I’m not the only into* gym training in this house: the person whose desk I inherited left a huge bucket of protein powder hiding in a corner. Blueberry-vanilla flavour. Hmm.

 

My goal for this week was to go to the gym five times. When I get home at about 6.30 today I will have been there 4 times. Running, yoga, core and bodypump. Maybe I will be able to squeeze in a fifth time although tomorrow will be dedicated to people’s birthdays and on Sundays I will face the most dreadful exam ever – statistics. It’s going to be difficult, but failing is not an option.

 

I have slowly been starting a Beach 2012-project. As in most project management, planning is an important aspect. Thinking about and creating definitions for the objectives are essential parts as well.

 

Objectives

 

• What is it that I want to achieve? It’s important to be specific, to use smaller goals that will eventually work toward achieving the big goal.
• What do these goals really mean? How do you define your goal. It’s easy to say that “I want to get fit”, but what does “fit” mean? Many common adjectives are far from objective, and I believe that we often use definitions created by other people – definitions that sometimes might not be ideal for ourselves.
• Why are these goals important? The question here is why. Objectives can be fundamental, and they can be instrumental. Is the goal an end in itself or is it a tool to achieve something else altogether?
• How am I going to achieve said goals? Planning is important. But more important still- doing.
• What will I have to give up in order to achieve my goals, and really, is it worth it? Every time we decide to do something, we also take an (un)conscious decision not to do something else instead. It’s as easy as that. Being aware of this fact makes the journey toward accomplishing a goal a little less painful.

 

 

I will write more about both Beach 2012 and projects in general later.

I Want To Know Your Secret

Morning people, how do you do it? How do you get yourself out of bed at 5 am to go for a run? There is something very romantic about the thought of being a morning person. Imagine having the time to read the newspaper with a fresh croissant and a cup of hot coffee in the morning. Or how about the chance of watching the sunrise* and doing some yoga without the need to hurry? Or writing? I’d be really pleased to possess the necessary time-management skills to have time to find matching socks in the morning. I got up early today, and at 6.40 I was already on my way to the gym. Why don’t I do that more often, it feels great once you are up, after all.

 

 

 

* The good thing about living not that far from the Arctic Circle means that at this time of the year you don’t have to be a morning person in order to admire the sunrise. Being up at 9 am will do.

Is It Thursday Again?

First: good news of the day – I’ve been given a new desk in a far-away corner of the office, which means that I can listen to Hungarian radio without anyone thinking I’m weird.  Today I’m also planning on going to yoga class, it’s been a while since the last time so it’s definitely needed.

 

One thing that I’ve been thinking a lot about lately: how to convert dreams, ideas, thoughts, plans into reality. There is so much (maybe too much?) that interests me, fascinates me. So much I want to do in life, but I don’t know how to just get out there and do it.  If I ever reach a conclusion, I will surely share it with you.

 

Simple, Yet Delicious

2 slices of Alaska Pollock (80 g each)

0,5 onion

Chanterelles

100 ml Oatly oat cream

Dill

(serves 1 if not served with anything else)

Marraskuu (Fin: November)

November. Short days and darkness. Lightning candles and drinking tea in the sofa. Good books. Yesterday I went to the library for the first time in a very, very long time. I had forgotten how peaceful a place it is. How all those books tell us marvellous stories and frightening truths.

Yesterday it started to get dark at 5 pm, and I was reminded about my power-hour. At sunset – the world is so beautiful at sunset.

November.

There will be parties and birthdays. A 4-hour exam in statistics. Trip to Sweden. Reading and analysing books. It’s not too long until Christmas either – can’t wait!