Tuesday, January 31, 2006
I am old, bald and grossly out of shape. At least these were the thoughts running through my head during my first step back to fitness. Today I went to the Helsinki University gym and out of the 100 or so people (kids) (extremely young, in shape, kids) I had to have been one of the five or six, okay maybe one of the ten oldest people in the gym. And to make matters worse, I hadn't done a damn thing physically since August. Well, one game of basketball and the move to Helsinki, but that's it. So today was the first step. 30 situps and I was shaking. 5 sets of 5 bench presses with gradually decreasing weight and I will be sore until next week. And then the hard stuff, 10 minutes on the rowing machine and then another 10 on the elliptical trainer. I thought I was going to throw up or pass out when I left the gym. And just six months ago this was simply a warm-up to the real workout. Why does it take so long to get into shape and then so short a time to fall way out of shape.
And I don't know what's worse, the gym in Joensuu where everyone was older and in excellent, body-builder type shape or here, where everyone is younger and in body-builder type shape. Either way, I think I am going to figure out the time when the graduate students exercise. I'm sure I could take some of them, in a couple of weeks at least.
Great news! Karoliina and I are going spinning tomorrow. This could very well be my last post.
And I don't know what's worse, the gym in Joensuu where everyone was older and in excellent, body-builder type shape or here, where everyone is younger and in body-builder type shape. Either way, I think I am going to figure out the time when the graduate students exercise. I'm sure I could take some of them, in a couple of weeks at least.
Great news! Karoliina and I are going spinning tomorrow. This could very well be my last post.
Monday, January 30, 2006
I've been having some trouble with this here thing lately with the comments and stuff so this is a test. Nothing to see here folks, move along.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Even though we've been living in Helsinki for more than a month, both Karoliina and I spent a few days in our old neck of the woods - that sentence really is correct when talking about East Finland. K's still there in Joensuu, reprising her old job for a week in January and then again in Feb. I was in Kuopio on a school trip regarding audience development. When we arrived it was -30 degrees, which is like (*9= -270/5= -54+32= -22 degrees F, which in previously stated opinion classifies as but-ass cold. Along for the ride were our exchange students from Barcelona who wore their scarves wrapped around their entire heads. The first night I had the honor of being the first American a local kid had ever seen or talked with. I guess I can assume that I have been the first American for a lot of folks, but this was the first time anyone had ever said so.
Fortunately for us the weather warmed up so we could walk around the town and out on the lake - which was an event for the Spanish. On the same day it went from minus 25 (*9=-225/5=-45+32=-13 F all the way up to -3 which is like 26F which was so warm that we stayed outside and had a snowball fight.
Fortunately for us the weather warmed up so we could walk around the town and out on the lake - which was an event for the Spanish. On the same day it went from minus 25 (*9=-225/5=-45+32=-13 F all the way up to -3 which is like 26F which was so warm that we stayed outside and had a snowball fight.
Saturday, January 21, 2006
The party was a big hit! Way too many people were here, but it worked out well. I'm a little hungover and so I'll just show some pictures:
Friday, January 20, 2006
I've readjusted the comments section so that it SHOULD be like it was before. I hope so. I'm about to leave the house in the middle of a brutal blizzard. Can't wait.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Tomorrow night is going to be hectic. We're having a party and 31 people have all said that they will be here. 31! Plus we invited all of our neighbors to stop bye and say hello. Looks like the even the bathroom will be filled with people. The last party we threw was in J-town and we had about 17 people there and it was packed. And there we at least had a balcony. No such luck here and even if we did, as I mentioned before it is soo cold outside it is like having a permanent brain freeze as soon as you leave the house.
Holy crap it's cold! I mean really, really butt-ass cold! This morning I got out of the flat and walked to the bus stop and looked at the temperature clock that said -20 and Helsinki is a wind tunnel. My face froze off immediately and I thought I would run to the bus except that since my face was a block of ice it hurt real bad. -20 is like -8 Farenheit with a gusty wind making it feel like absolute zero. I've got to go out to the library and I think I am going to cry.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Some people say that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. For me, the more appropriate way to phrase that is to say that there is light at the end of winter. Lately that phrase has come in handy, because it is getting lighter and lighter out. Sure, it's pitch dark right now, but come on, it's 5pm, whatta you expect? But at 3:30? Still light and that is something to smile about. It's also been real warm for the past few weeks, like hovering around zero. That should end soon, but the extra minutes and seconds of daylight make such a big difference, and they will only get longer and longer and longer until it really starts to annoy me and I have to wear a mask to bed.
I really need to go outside and take a couple of pictures of the neighborhood. I have a few days off from school next week and I will try my best to get it done.
Speaking of school, I really should be studying right now.
I really need to go outside and take a couple of pictures of the neighborhood. I have a few days off from school next week and I will try my best to get it done.
Speaking of school, I really should be studying right now.
Friday, January 06, 2006
Of all the weird things in Poland, I would have to say that the weirdest wasn't the fact that the train station was literally crawling with police officers and other dudes in combat gear.
It wasn't the pizza that they sold without tomato sauce, but offered a squirt of ketchup on top if you wanted one.
It wasn't the fact that at the Russian market every third person we passed offered us bootleg DVD's and CD's, nor the fact that at the same market we discovered a Yad from 1898, as well as a scent box and a ringholder from the same year, nor the fact that these items were sitting on the same rug under the same tent with original Nazi era war helmets and cigar holders (an aside, Scotty purchased all three items and removed them from their surroundings).
It wasn't the fact that the Jewish cemetery in Warsaw somehow survived, totally intact, the Nazi destruction that wrecked the entire rest of the city.
It wasn't the fact that it didn't stop snowing from when we arrived until when we left.
I don't think it was the fact that when we went to the Warsaw Tortilla Factory (pronounced with all the L's in tortilla) we had to sign a release so that we could have a drink.
It wasn't the fact that when we purchased a bottle of vodka and two bottles of champagne for New Year's Eve the woman behind the counter rang us up at one register for the vodka and then moved 2 feet to her left and rang up the champagne and food on another register.
And it wasn't because the New Year's Eve celebration had 2 DJ''s who couldn't have been more than 16 who were in front of a computer and, like you or me, just clicked on whatever song they wanted to play.
It wasn't the fact that Warsaw has created a new color in the crayola box: communist grey, or the fact that those buildings in that color have all adopted the rebellious attitude of having colorful balconies, like blue and even yellow.
I think that the weirdest thing about Warsaw was the lonely palm tree that was smack dab in the middle of the city, in the middle of a round-a-bout, in the middle of the biggest road around, and absolutely covered in snow. A palm tree. In Warsaw.
It was a fun few days that felt like a few weeks, that I don't think we will ever do again. I have a feeling that the next time Scott and Joanna come to Europe in the winter, unles there is a beach involved, we will not be joining them. Of course if they make it to Helsinki, then we will obviously be here, but otherwise, not a chance.
So speaking of Helsinki, we're here now and our place is almost ready. It's funny, about 2 weeks ago I was telling K that I thought the place was about 85% complete, but 2 weeks of non-stop (excluding the holidays in Raisio and Warsaw - can you believe we were in Warsaw for New Year's? - when we were not working) later, we are just now at 85% complete. Well, maybe even 90%.
Of course four days in Poland meant that we would be sick for 6 days in Helsinki. Which has meant that we have been basically under house work arrest these past few days. But the place really is coming together. I will take some pics of the place and of our neighborhood quite soon. It really is hard to believe where we live now and where we were living one month ago.
So sorry it's been a while since I've been at this, but hb back and the HKL (I think that's like NYC for Helsinki, except that the K and the L don't really seem like they should be in that order, but it sounds better that the HLK) should provide some new stories, which I will try to keep up with. Karoliina just told me that it's the HKI and not the HKL and now it makes sense.
It wasn't the pizza that they sold without tomato sauce, but offered a squirt of ketchup on top if you wanted one.
It wasn't the fact that at the Russian market every third person we passed offered us bootleg DVD's and CD's, nor the fact that at the same market we discovered a Yad from 1898, as well as a scent box and a ringholder from the same year, nor the fact that these items were sitting on the same rug under the same tent with original Nazi era war helmets and cigar holders (an aside, Scotty purchased all three items and removed them from their surroundings).
It wasn't the fact that the Jewish cemetery in Warsaw somehow survived, totally intact, the Nazi destruction that wrecked the entire rest of the city.
It wasn't the fact that it didn't stop snowing from when we arrived until when we left.
I don't think it was the fact that when we went to the Warsaw Tortilla Factory (pronounced with all the L's in tortilla) we had to sign a release so that we could have a drink.
It wasn't the fact that when we purchased a bottle of vodka and two bottles of champagne for New Year's Eve the woman behind the counter rang us up at one register for the vodka and then moved 2 feet to her left and rang up the champagne and food on another register.
And it wasn't because the New Year's Eve celebration had 2 DJ''s who couldn't have been more than 16 who were in front of a computer and, like you or me, just clicked on whatever song they wanted to play.
It wasn't the fact that Warsaw has created a new color in the crayola box: communist grey, or the fact that those buildings in that color have all adopted the rebellious attitude of having colorful balconies, like blue and even yellow.
I think that the weirdest thing about Warsaw was the lonely palm tree that was smack dab in the middle of the city, in the middle of a round-a-bout, in the middle of the biggest road around, and absolutely covered in snow. A palm tree. In Warsaw.
It was a fun few days that felt like a few weeks, that I don't think we will ever do again. I have a feeling that the next time Scott and Joanna come to Europe in the winter, unles there is a beach involved, we will not be joining them. Of course if they make it to Helsinki, then we will obviously be here, but otherwise, not a chance.
So speaking of Helsinki, we're here now and our place is almost ready. It's funny, about 2 weeks ago I was telling K that I thought the place was about 85% complete, but 2 weeks of non-stop (excluding the holidays in Raisio and Warsaw - can you believe we were in Warsaw for New Year's? - when we were not working) later, we are just now at 85% complete. Well, maybe even 90%.
Of course four days in Poland meant that we would be sick for 6 days in Helsinki. Which has meant that we have been basically under house work arrest these past few days. But the place really is coming together. I will take some pics of the place and of our neighborhood quite soon. It really is hard to believe where we live now and where we were living one month ago.
So sorry it's been a while since I've been at this, but hb back and the HKL (I think that's like NYC for Helsinki, except that the K and the L don't really seem like they should be in that order, but it sounds better that the HLK) should provide some new stories, which I will try to keep up with. Karoliina just told me that it's the HKI and not the HKL and now it makes sense.
