Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2016!

Adorable

Not only are they curious and intelligent, they are also extremely cute. Who would not want one of these fluffy and adorable things in their garden?

A Little Bit Better. A Little Bit Further.

Considering the copious amounts of coffee that I'm drinking, nobody would actually think that I'm into healthy things. But, facades may be illusions. Illusions may be facades, and I'm reading about Ayurveda, raw food, mediation, positive thinking, yoga, whatnot.

Every time I'm back in the Nordic region, a wave of inspiration washes over me. Maybe it's because everyone is so focused on these things - health, the environment, doing a lot of cool things, looking good. At the same time I'm feeling a bit helpless, a bit like I'm not enough. I'm missing that air of self-confidence, coolness and that feeling of everything being so great. Generally I have been feeling a bit blah lately. My hormones are telling me that I look like a chubby snowball, the thesis is so LONG and it feels like it's never going to end (like EVER), the job hunt... well, we'll see. The most depressing thing is that most employers don't ever call back even though I am qualified - it's so frustrating to actually have work experience, a degree and multiple languages. I'm actually even a nice person (even if I say so myself). What else do they want? A rocket scientist?

Anyhow. Today's dinner was a very simple, yet delicious chicken salad. Ingredients: grilled chicken, lettuce, cucumber and a yellow pepper. The dressing was also quick and delicious (why make it complicated?) - olive oil, fresh lemon juice, a garlic clove, basil + some mixed herbs.

Dressing Up

A friend was asking for pictures of me wearing dresses. Satu, here you are – today’s dresses (just nevermind the circles under my eyes, the horrible light and the terrible posing!)



I just love this shade of blue – what do you think?

Dobré ránko!

Favourite shopping from Prague: the book, not the coffee.

 

It’s never too early to make faces – at least the coffee is starting to kick in. Once done with the coffee, it’s time to walk to work. Today I’m bringing the camera, yesterday’s sunrise was absolutely amazing and I don’t want to miss it!

Bonsoir, mes amis!

Long time, no see. How are you? Good, I hope.

This is what’s been going on here.

• Yet another research/methodology module started. It’s good, though. We get to blog and write stories and do group projects. Just don’t you dare claim that the field of social sciences is boring.
• It’s Friday tomorrow. Which probably means “a couple of glasses of wine” with friends.  And apparently there’s a chilli overdose planned for Saturday.
• Also planning a couple of trips.
• Also wrote a to-do-list which will keep me busy until I turn 75. At least.

Pics. Of food mainly – just to inform everyone that I do eat other things than salad and soup, like salmon. And vitamins. And COFFEE. And the picture of the shoulder is a vain attempt to photograph my favourite body part. Really, now.

Completely Unorganised

Female Logic

You know how women in the Western world seem to share a certain tendency to eat chips aka fries off the guy’s plate instead of ordering their own?
Here’s another example of that very same logic.


It really is OK to eat all that remaining candy, because from Sunday onwards all sweets will be banned for all eternity. Yeah, right.

I Had Completely Forgotten…

…how much fun it is to take notes.

Sleepless In Godforsaken Lands

Why sleep when one can drink chamomile tea and eat cheese while listening to the rain? It’s also September – autumn’s starting, yay. All great changes happen in autumn, does anyone know why that is so?

Here’s a short list of the things I want to do in September (apart from the necessary things – that list is about as long as the Finnish constitution and I wouldn’t want to bore you with the details. If you for some odd reason would like to read the Constitution of Finland, you can find it here).

• Drink more water. 1,5 – 2 liters/day is the recommended amount. Some people speak of liquids, but I’m quite sure this applies to water and NOT coffee. Ehem. 
• Find a flat that has a kitchen where one can make goulash. Note: the essential part here is the goulash, not the kitchen. Making the goulash is probably cheaper than going to Hungary.
• Walk more – fresh air is good for the brain.
• Read something (anything!) for pleasure. Karl Marx does not count. Translate something. Write something. Do anything that involves letters. And a pen. And a notebook.
• Start getting up earlier in the morning + do some yoga, maybe. Or perhaps getting up at a decent time is enough.
• Meet all my friends at least once. Even if it’s for talking about absolutely nothing. Throwing a party could be fun. A party with some goulash.

Right. This does not look like rocket science.

“I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till i drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion.”*

Bright blue sky. The colour of a newborn baby's eyes. Bright sunshine. Almost too bright, the kind that requires sunglasses and results in far too many freckles.
Balcony. The wooden floor is chipped. A bit uneven, perhaps. But even enough for a crystal glass with happy bubbles swimming about in the clear liquid. It smells of freshly cut grass. The smell of grass tickles the nose.
People are at their best. They smile and whistle. They talk more. Their clothes fly off and suddenly they feel liberated as never before. There is a smell of adventure in the air. Adventure, and maybe some hope. Hope that life isn't all that dark and boring. Hope that adventure indeed is possible.
The cold water covers the pale body. It causes shivers and a few moments of feeling courageous.
Brightly coloured ice-cream carresses the tongue and the taste buds while loud music is blasting from somewhere. Loud music in a place that usually is deadly quiet.


*Jack Kerouac.

I Cannot Live Without A Camera

My old camera stopped working a while ago. It just said poof and decided to die.

This is what the old camera looks like. The zoom won’t close.

I know myself. And I know that all things technological have a tendency to die on me after a a few months of use (that’s the reason you’ll never see me with a smartphone). This time I decided to go for a camera that is shockproof, waterproof and coldproof. Maybe it will survive for more than a year. *fingers crossed*.

New camera also has more megapixels and a lot of fun functions.

The fridge had the honour to act as a model today.

Gorgeous.

Today I bought a magazine just for the cover. Actually, it wasn’t as much the cover as the model’s hair that gave me cravings. This is what I consider perfect hair.

Old Style

Nothing beats pencil and paper

Sure Sign You’re Getting Old

You know something weird is happening when the girl going for the “intellectual type” suddenly likes ties and shirts.
Picture

Once Upon A Time…

…Zsuzsi decided to make herself a smoothie. It was going to be a delicious one, with lots of yummy ingredients…

She opted for mango, strawberries and blueberries…

…and some strawberry flavoured protein powder that’s usually hidden in an enormous ice-cream jar…

 

Yoghurt and cinnamon were added…

…as well as the berries…

…at this point everything was still going well. That is, until…

…Zsuzsi’s inner blonde (she was actually born a blonde) decided to unscrew the lower part of the blender. Now she’s decided that if she’ll ever write a book, it’ll be called Blueberry Wars.

Dreaming Away

Sunshine, beaches, warm air, bathing in the sea, delicious food and that hot, southern atmosphere.

Gotta love Facebook…

Errr…. no?

Merry Christmas

I wish you all a very peaceful and merry Christmas. Forget about yesterday, enjoy only today. Eat well, drink well and be with the ones you love. Give a thought or two to peace. Keep your feet warm. Be thankful for what you’ve got.

And most importantly, enjoy the cake.

HELP!

Since I know that the followers of this blog are a bunch of clever people, I would like to ask you for some help.

If ANYONE has any good suggestions for good literature on (European) integration and immigration, please give me a shout!