When everything is the next best thing

So, naturally I'm also looking for a job now. Preferable in Helsinki, or near by. The good news is that there are lots of available jobs. The bad news is that there are also lots of people applying for those jobs.

The goal is to find a job that I could be passionate about, one that would make me want to stick around forever. I'm not picky, the only REAL criteria that I have is that it has to make me happy. And that's kinda the problem.

What do you do when you find lots of jobs that would SO make you happy? What do you do when you write the application and you don't even have to make up positive things because you're just so excited about the possibility of working there? What do you do when you send out the application and every time you get a feeling that THIS IS IT ? What do you do when you then get an answer "yes you'd be perfect but we need someone now instead of in a months time" or "if you can't be here for the interview next week then I'm afraid we can't consider you" or "sorry but the position was filled already last week" ? You get a little upset, that's what you do.

I'm someone you genuinely gets excited. Even though I know I probably shouldn't, I still do. How can you turn off the excitement of a new possibility? How do you stay calm and stop imagining what you'll wear on your first day of work in that new placement that's going  be just awesome? I haven't got a clue.

So, anyone there in Helsinki looking for an enthusiastic person, I'm here, hire me. I'm ready. I even know what to wear on my first day.

Things I did for the first and the last time

So my bucket list goes on. I tried to explain the meaning of it to the singer Davide Toffolo (3 allegri ragazzi morti), whom I met this weekend by accident. I didn't know who he was, to me he seemed just a nice chatty person in a strange costume. When my friends kindly told me who I was talking to, obviously I HAD to do a selfie with him (or is it a twolfie since we're both in it??).

So he agreed to do the photo, but also inquired what it was all about. I said "well, I'm doing things for the first and the last time, and taking selfies as I go along". I didn't care to mention that I did things for the last time because I was leaving the country, so he got kinda sad and said "ok, I'll do the photo, but mind you that I'm a little offended by the fact that you wish you never saw me again". Yes, way to go Erika, that's the way to put people in a good mood.

Luckily my friends rushed to my assistance and cleared the whole thing up. Thank's guys. Here are the latest 4 photos! Haven't ridden the bus yet, nor gone to Mass, but I'll get there!

Went to Treviso, by car, by myself. I didn't have a navigator,
so I used the one in my cell phone. Didn't have a holder
for it, so I used some tape to attach it to the
dash board. No, I'm not an ex scout.

Went to the Acqua Alta book shop in Venice. Yes I wrote it
wrong on the photo. It's said to be the prettiest book
shop in the world. I say: NI.

They had a music video shoot here for Vasco B. something.
Not Vasco Rossi, but the other one. They used a rubber
boat as a prop, so needless to say it was more or less
weird. We all got to participate, so if you see an Italian
music video with one scared blond, that's me.

And here we are, best mates with DT

Until next time, take care!!

Bucket list feat Italy

I said I was going to do a little bucket list about the things I hadn't yet gotten around to doing here in Italy?
Here goes! I started a little photo album to collect them all, and the first 5 photos are in. Enjoy!

cooked some excellent risotto, Italian style (rice first, then water)

got the membership card to the local "hang-out"
(better late then never...) And the date is obviously 24.4.
I don't live in the future, yet.

Went to a local "feast", or a "sagra". This I'd done
before, but never as a vegetarian. Same thing here with
the date, not living in the future folks!

Tasted sake for the first time EVER. Not my favorite.

Made a real cappuccino. Twas delicious.

That's it for now, more photos to follow! Having a rough time getting to Mass since it's on a Sunday, but by god I'm going to make it. One day.

What's the deelio then?

I'm not going to apologize for not posting, seeing that my head has been spinning like the town of Hamina lately (a Finnish proverb folks, due to the fact that the town of Hamina is formed like a big merry-go-round).

So what's the deelio then? The deelio is that I'm moving back to Finland. After 3,5 years in Italy, I'm moving back home. Currently I'm happy about it and can't wait, but at the same time fairly stressed out about various stuff. I'm a natural worrier, so that's what I'm doing. Especially if there's something important that I need to take care of but can't do it right away, and I need to wait. Oooooooooooooohhhh the agony.

I still have about 2 months left here. Apart from worrying I'm doing a small project called "bucket list feat. Italy". Meaning: doing all the things that one should do while living in Italy but I just haven't gotten around to yet. Plus documenting the whole thing by taking a selfie while I'm doing what ever it is that I hadn't done yet.

I've managed to cross a few things off my list already. Yesterday, I made a risotto, Italian style. It was the first thing I was taught to me when I arrived , but I'd never cooked risotto so far. Now I have, with some prosecco and mushrooms. It was good too. Here's the evidence.

the official risotto-cat has checked and approved the meal

My next goal is to take the local bus. And after that maybe go to Mass.
Are you allowed to take a selfie inside the church? 
I guess we'll find out, won't we.

So, sorry for this compulsory break in my writing, I'll try to get to it from time to time! In the mean time, have a good one!!

My big fat classy non-glittery memories of how gypsies used to be

For the past week I've had the cold, no fever but feeling like shit nonetheless. So after work I've arrived home, fed the cat and gone to bed exhausted. My eyes still worked, so obviously I watched a ton of TV.

On Saturday there was a marathon of "My big fat gypsy wedding". See the link for the English version HERE.

Then please see this link HERE  from the movie Snatch, which also includes a nice piece of the gypsy life.

Now tell me what the hell's happened in here??? Since when have gypsies gone glitter?

When I was little, we had gypsies in my school. The only thing particular about them was that they were a little bit of rascals, the girls had superlong dark hair and wore skirts, and the boys were always equally nicely dressed (wearing trousers, not skirts). They never wore anything that showed off too much skin, but instead they were always very classy when it came to clothing. Oh, and they all had leather jackets, and their moms had these humongous black dresses with white lace on them. We used to say that you could hide a whole caravan under there. I assume the gypsy kids had some traditions and rules I knew nothing about, but I remember that they were very respectful towards their elders. I thought that was kinda nice.

So when I look at these people appearing on the show My big fat gypsy wedding, I feel a little confused.

For one, they're always getting married. Or getting pregnant and having a baby shower. Or having their first communion. Or a birthday. It's all one big party. 

Secondly, the ultimate rule of dressing up is to show off as much ass  and tits as possible. Even at your wedding, or even if you're 10 years old and going to the church for that famous first communion.

Thirdly, whatever the event, the dress has to be huge and have at least 21 petticoats. Ok, that's something that the Finnish gypsies had as well, but they did it in a classy way, not by having these dresses that you can only wear in one room because the door isn't wide enough for you to get out.

Fourthly, everything has to glitter, and have butterflies on it, and glow in various neon colors. This one girl on the show who actually wasn't a gypsy but was marrying one, and therefore had to REALLY impress the future in laws,  had lighting installed in her wedding dress. Lighting, folks, as in battery operated leds all over the pink wedding dress (yes pink, because white would just be boring). Oh, and don't forget the 2 foot tiara standing on her forehead. 

Fifthly (can you say fifthly, is it a real word??), the little girls start to get spray tans when they're 12. That, and getting their nails done, and learning how to dance like a pole dancer. There was this cute little girl with freckles getting ready for her first communion. The mom took her to get a spray tan. She was asked what's the proper age when a girl should start getting spray tans, and she said twelve. "And how old are you dear?" "Twelve" "And why do you think twelve is the right age?" "Because when you're two or three years old, you're still little. But when you're twelve you're all grown up and should get a spray tan". While yes, I think she nailed that answer.

Sixthly, the guys are just "there", they don't really do anything. They go to work if they got one, and if not, they go get in trouble.

Now, I'm not saying that all gypsies are like this, I'm just saying that this is how they come off when watching the TV show. So, if the reality is something different, and the show's made up and full of lies, go blame the network.

To me, gypsies have always been as I knew them from my childhood. One of them was in my class when I was in high school. She was a nice girl, apart from being a little hyperactive, never doing her home work, or bringing her books to school in general. Still, I never saw her as something completely different from me, just a free and somewhat troubled spirit if you will. 

So what the hell happened here? When did gypsies become glittery? Showing off your status by having a big skirt or quality leather jacket has always been a part of the culture, I think, but when did it change from classy to trashy? Are there any of the old traditional gypsies out there? If so, how are they, what do they do, where do they live and do they ride ponies?

Help. 

Being alone vs. feeling alone

This is a perfect example of how we Finns are.

I read Helsingin Sanomat online the other day (the biggest newspaper in Finland) and found this little test you can do in order to find out how lonely you are. "Do this test and find out how lonely you are compared to the other Finns!". Well yes, thank you very much, I will! I mean, who wouldn't want to find out how lonely they are?

Only Finns would conduct a research on loneliness. When you're a population of 5 million people on a patch of land that could house 25 million people, you're bound to feel lonely at least once in your life.

The test can be found HERE (it's in Finnish I'm afraid)

I tried to do the test already a few days ago, but got bored half way through. I tried it again today, and sent in the results only to find out that you don't actually get the results right away, you're just part of a research and the "general results" will be published later on. Still, as you do the tests, they give you indications as to whether your answer was below or above the average. I seemed to be a little over the average in most cases. For example, they asked you how many goods friends do you have. I responded 5, and the average was 4. And so on.

I'm someone who likes to be alone. I cherish my me-time, and I'm also somewhat addicted to it. Still, I don't feel alone. I know that whenever I want I can call up someone and go out for a beer and a chat. I know I can call my mom and ask her about her day.

Should I find myself in a situation where everyone is momentarily busy and not available for a chat, I'll find something interesting to do in order to shake off the feelings of loneliness. Because, folks, what does "feeling lonely" really mean? To me, it means that you're momentarily feeling a little unworthy. It's not just the feeling of not having anyone to talk to, but also the feeling of not being good enough. Like other people are rejecting you because you're not worthy of their company. If your self esteem is at the right level, if you feel like your life is somewhat in order and you're happy with yourself in general, you're more unlikely to feel lonely even if you are alone. And so, doing something you like or something you're good at helps take care of those moments when you might feel a little lonely. Because every one of us feels a little lonely sometimes, it's weird if you don't.

My cool new mobile will keep me company, right?
It's Danish. It gets me.

The test got me thinking though. There was one question where they asked if you thought you might feel yourself lonely when you're old. I responded yes. I think I might.

I don't plan on having kids. I plan on having friends. But the thing is that when I'm old, my friends too will be old, and if we're all old and can't move our asses around anymore, who's going to visit me? That means that I'll be alone, and the only thing that's going to comfort me is that I've had an amazing life to look back on. But what if that's not the case? I mean, I'm pretty happy with it so far, but what if the rest of it sucks? Then what? I'll be old, miserable and I'll feel alone. It's inevitable.

So that's why we made a pact. Me and a bunch of my friends have decided that once we get old, we'll all go live in a big house together. I'll wipe your drool and you'll wipe mine. We'll all get up at 5 am and stalk the paper boy when he brings us the newspaper. We'll play bridge until the arthritis gets so bad that we have to kidnap the paper boy to give us a hand to move the cards. We'll complain about the quality of the "meals on wheels" service. We'll watch game shows on TV until we fall asleep at 7pm.

But wait, I can always grow old with my cat!!

Suddenly I'm not afraid of feeling lonely when I get old. Actually, all of the above sounds pretty cool to me.

Besides, I'm still counting on having that amazing life to look back on.

Have a good one folks, a good day and a good life!

WTF Instagram?

I'm not in Instagram. Should I be in Instragram? Are you? Obviously I've heard of it, I basically know what it is, but I've never even thought about joining. This morning I went to see what the hell the fuss is about, and found out why I'm not in Instragram.

It's not available for Nokia Lumia. That's why.

WTF Instagram? Why are you excluding my phone and in consequence excluding me? 

Obviously I'd buy an IPhone if I was rich. But the last time I checked I wasn't, so I only have a Nokia Lumia.

I've always been a late bloomer when it comes to new technology, I've always let other try things first and if nobody dies, then I'll consider joining. But to find out that I can't join even if I wanted to, well, that makes me kinda sad.

I once got kicked out of Facebook. One day I just couldn't access my account, and all I found was a little text on the screen saying "we believe you're faking to be someone you're not, if this isn't the case, please contact XYZ". Stunned, I contacted XYZ, and he said that they believed I wasn't really me, I was just pretending.

"Why do you think I'm a fake?" "Because" "Well, I assure you I'm me, what can I do to prove it?" "Nothing" "Look buddy, I'm me, I have all my photos tagged and about 500 friends in there who address me by my name, what else do you need?" "Eeeeee, hmmmmm, ok we'll check and let you know".

I was out for about a month. In the mean time I got so angry that I joined Twitter. I hate Twitter, I think it's the stupidest thing ever (it's like a club of stalkers), so you can imagine how desperate I was. Still, I created an account and for a month I posted bad things about Facebook.

After a month I received an e-mail from the good people of Facebook saying "Sorry, our bad, your account has been re-activated". I thought I deserved more than just a stupid e-mail, like a we're-so-sorry-dinner and a box of chocolates, but I caved in and re-joined the community immediately. Haven't touched Twitter since.

I hate to be excluded, it hurts my feelings.

So Instagram, get your shit together and create the app for Nokia Lumia. Don't make me get angry and write bad things about you too.

Please.