Love? Lost abroad, here
Friendship has more value
Today. In Finland.
Friendship has more value
Today. In Finland.
Tip of the Tongue
Friday, 14 February 2014
Thursday, 13 February 2014
Wednesday, 12 February 2014
Friday, 7 February 2014
At War
Half mast.
Swords sheathed and
Shields at the ready.
Soldiers must perform and
Those who shan't shall
Be left wanting.
Propping up the wounded and
Battling on throughout.
Your legs left quaking,
Shell shock.
Swords sheathed and
Shields at the ready.
Soldiers must perform and
Those who shan't shall
Be left wanting.
Propping up the wounded and
Battling on throughout.
Your legs left quaking,
Shell shock.
Tuesday, 4 February 2014
Helsinki: Part 3
As I haven't written in a while this shall be full of lots of things! Aren't you excited already?
We headed over to Tallinn once more, this time with my tutor group rather than people I've met where I'm staying. We only had a few hours over there and so I didn't head to the Old Town for more than 20 minutes at the end of the day. I stocked up on alcohol once more and also found a coat from Zara for 69€ which is like the £159 one I found in Nottingham...I obviously bought it. It's beautiful.
I've been making a lot of bread over the last week or so, it seems to be appreciated and people are willing tasters when I try something different (bacon and mushroom bread...delicious! Although my dough was a bit heavy as I had been guessing weights). Hopefully I'll acquire a bread tin soon and then I can make some actual loaf looking loaves and experiment a bit more.
As for academia, my Learning Agreement has been signed and sent off so all that is done! Erasmus grant should now be pending. I have also sent my Nottingham Essays back and now only have an essay in lieu of exam to complete, which I shall sit down to sometime this month. I have an exam in a month on Postcolonial literature, currently I have no idea how the exam is structured which is a bit disconcerting but I shall get in touch with the professor and see how much he can divulge. Lecture diaries have started for my Finnish Literature course and we must have an essay abstract by the end of this month so I need to start getting my thinking cap on. I also have to create a presentation with 2 others on a crime novel for next week so reading shall be intensive this week. As for the thinking cap - it has already been stretched by my Grammar module which you would think would come easily to an English student but it is something with which I am not wholly confident. I don't think many people back home would be actually, it's just something we have never truly looked at. Hopefully it will mean my analysis of texts will help and also improve my essay writing but who knows.
Enough of work though! Quite a number of us went out to Espoo and checked out Red Bull's Crashed Ice event, which is like BMX Cross in the Olympics or Snowboarder Cross, where 4 competitors skate down a tight winding track - rather aggressively at times. I wasn't sure what to expect but I felt like it wasn't 'pumped' up enough, especially considering they had their own DJ but we had a good time and got some great photos. And thank goodness as it took us 2 hours to get there...this is very odd however as it only took 25 to get back (not counting the time spent 'queueing', which was more like a mosh pit for Iron Maiden). Oh well.
I have also booked my Lapland trip, where I shall get to see the northern lights (I hope & pray)! I will also be husky sledding and taking part in a survival course...which may well be needed because I haven't really got clothes for the weather we'll be expecting.
A group of us also went to Turku, which was the old capital of Finland before the Russians moved it so it was closer to them than the Swedes. It was a pretty poor day weather wise and although the city was pretty there wasn't as much beauty in the architecture as we've seen other where. I did get to go to the Sibelius museum though. It was a very well put together museum and unfortunately we weren't there on a Wednesday where they put on live performances in their auditorium space. They have a great collection of musical instruments - from the very old to the new - and the specific space for Sibelius was lovingly put together with very well chosen quotes. Maybe more important for the student however was a recipe for quite an alcoholic punch.
The weather today has become negatively British. Dull. Damp. Nondescript temperature. I want it to be -8 and clear blue skies as it has been. Not this horribly warm 1 degree. I shall live in hope although I think the days are now getting longer and warmer...which isn't saying much considering the days were about 5 hours long when I got here.
In other news I have a friend who gets through a toothbrush a week. I thought people may appreciate the oddness of this. Sorry Daniel...but what do you do to your teeth!?
We headed over to Tallinn once more, this time with my tutor group rather than people I've met where I'm staying. We only had a few hours over there and so I didn't head to the Old Town for more than 20 minutes at the end of the day. I stocked up on alcohol once more and also found a coat from Zara for 69€ which is like the £159 one I found in Nottingham...I obviously bought it. It's beautiful.
I've been making a lot of bread over the last week or so, it seems to be appreciated and people are willing tasters when I try something different (bacon and mushroom bread...delicious! Although my dough was a bit heavy as I had been guessing weights). Hopefully I'll acquire a bread tin soon and then I can make some actual loaf looking loaves and experiment a bit more.
As for academia, my Learning Agreement has been signed and sent off so all that is done! Erasmus grant should now be pending. I have also sent my Nottingham Essays back and now only have an essay in lieu of exam to complete, which I shall sit down to sometime this month. I have an exam in a month on Postcolonial literature, currently I have no idea how the exam is structured which is a bit disconcerting but I shall get in touch with the professor and see how much he can divulge. Lecture diaries have started for my Finnish Literature course and we must have an essay abstract by the end of this month so I need to start getting my thinking cap on. I also have to create a presentation with 2 others on a crime novel for next week so reading shall be intensive this week. As for the thinking cap - it has already been stretched by my Grammar module which you would think would come easily to an English student but it is something with which I am not wholly confident. I don't think many people back home would be actually, it's just something we have never truly looked at. Hopefully it will mean my analysis of texts will help and also improve my essay writing but who knows.
Enough of work though! Quite a number of us went out to Espoo and checked out Red Bull's Crashed Ice event, which is like BMX Cross in the Olympics or Snowboarder Cross, where 4 competitors skate down a tight winding track - rather aggressively at times. I wasn't sure what to expect but I felt like it wasn't 'pumped' up enough, especially considering they had their own DJ but we had a good time and got some great photos. And thank goodness as it took us 2 hours to get there...this is very odd however as it only took 25 to get back (not counting the time spent 'queueing', which was more like a mosh pit for Iron Maiden). Oh well.
I have also booked my Lapland trip, where I shall get to see the northern lights (I hope & pray)! I will also be husky sledding and taking part in a survival course...which may well be needed because I haven't really got clothes for the weather we'll be expecting.
A group of us also went to Turku, which was the old capital of Finland before the Russians moved it so it was closer to them than the Swedes. It was a pretty poor day weather wise and although the city was pretty there wasn't as much beauty in the architecture as we've seen other where. I did get to go to the Sibelius museum though. It was a very well put together museum and unfortunately we weren't there on a Wednesday where they put on live performances in their auditorium space. They have a great collection of musical instruments - from the very old to the new - and the specific space for Sibelius was lovingly put together with very well chosen quotes. Maybe more important for the student however was a recipe for quite an alcoholic punch.
The weather today has become negatively British. Dull. Damp. Nondescript temperature. I want it to be -8 and clear blue skies as it has been. Not this horribly warm 1 degree. I shall live in hope although I think the days are now getting longer and warmer...which isn't saying much considering the days were about 5 hours long when I got here.
In other news I have a friend who gets through a toothbrush a week. I thought people may appreciate the oddness of this. Sorry Daniel...but what do you do to your teeth!?
My favourite photo from Turku
Walking across the water to some islands!
Fazer chocolate is delicious and this is the family's coffee shop. Everything in their looks incredible.
Harpsichord you are able to play at the Sibelius Museum
My first, quick, sketch in Finland. The Sleeping Kiwi
Bacon and Mushroom bread...tastes great but you can see the dough is too heavy
This is the petrol station round the corner. That snow is compacted and still an inch thick in places. They just do not grit in this place and if they do it's with gravel so that just gets frozen into all the snow and is useless!
Monday, 20 January 2014
Helsinki: 2 weeks in.
So today starts the first week of non introductory lectures. The system over here is really weird, well...in comparison to what I'm used to.
I have courses which span the semester (January to May) but also a book exam (no lectures, read a book, 4 hour exam) and then an intensive course (a module over 20 days). It's all rather baffling but I think I'll get the hang of it.
There have been little bits going on here and there since my last post. We went to see The Wolf on Wall St. the other night, about 20 of us, and it is so good! Di Caprio as ever is awesome and it is just opulent, excessive and ridiculous. Some felt it was a bit too long and parts laboured but I really enjoyed it and thought it worked well pace wise.
We also went to Estonia this weekend, these trips are all organised by us so a true independent man I may return! The amount of literature I need to read might even make me a proper English student, being able to quote authors from way back when whom everyone should know and speak verse by heart. We shall see.
Estonia is beautiful, we only stayed in Tallinn and only the Old Town at that, which is a UNESCO World Heritage sight. Rightly so too, it is gorgeous. Beautiful architecture and cobbled streets. Our main reason for going however was for alcohol, it seems to be the rite of passage if you're an exchange student to stock up on booze for the semester by going to Tallinn with a backpack or suitcase. I can see why; where one night out in Helsinki has cost me 40€, I came back from Estonia with a crate of beer, a bottle of gin and a bottle of wine for 35.50€. BARGAIN.
Events keep popping up on Facebook and I will soon be confirming my Lapland trip, which will be a celebration after that 4 hour exam in March! I can't wait to travel around, it's exciting me to think I will be country hopping and going around Europe like a feather in the wind. I certainly shan't be bored here or until I am back in the UK.
I can't remember much else that has been of note but no doubt I shall after this is posted but I thought I would share an extract from one of the pieces I'm reading for my Introduction to Finnish Lit module. Rosa Liksom is an artist, writer, director and general eccentric - her book One Night Stands is the first book on our reading list and there were moments where I was taken aback because I haven't read anything quite so graphic in literature before. I hope it doesn't make you feel ill, these aren't really the worst either! But her writing is actually really good and we had good debate in our seminar today.
I'll leave you with some photos of Tallinn so that you aren't alone with Rosa's writing.
"I would like to establish a kingdom of men, sufficiently large, with well-defined borders and abundant natural resources, where Penis Power decides everything. The bigger the penis, the greater the authority. Women are disgusting and primitive, even from a scientific point of view, with our slimy cunts, bleeding orifices, gaping mouths and stinking armpits. That is the truth about us, and that is why I have been working on a new law under which, as of next year, all newborn females will have their throats slit immediately, in the maternity ward, where this can accomplished in a manner both hygienic and efficient".
"She looked at herself in the mirror on the bedroom ceiling. She looked hard but could not see anything. Not even her own face. She picked a heavy vase off the floor and tossed it at the ceiling. The mirror shattered and rained down on her. The splinters tore bleeding wounds into her body. Some of the wounds were deep and gaping and blood streamed out of them. The blood soaked into the sheets, her body throbbed with heat, and the blood smelled like old, hard life. She jumped down to the floor. Mirror splinters pierced the soles of her feet but she did not feel any pain. Excited, she danced from wall to wall, humming and unknown melody. The white-flowered wallpaper became stained with red. Her breasts and thighs were steaming with blood. When she finished the dance and collapsed on the floor, the last drops of blood gather in a puddle in her own lap."
Rosa Liksom; One Night Stands.
I have courses which span the semester (January to May) but also a book exam (no lectures, read a book, 4 hour exam) and then an intensive course (a module over 20 days). It's all rather baffling but I think I'll get the hang of it.
There have been little bits going on here and there since my last post. We went to see The Wolf on Wall St. the other night, about 20 of us, and it is so good! Di Caprio as ever is awesome and it is just opulent, excessive and ridiculous. Some felt it was a bit too long and parts laboured but I really enjoyed it and thought it worked well pace wise.
We also went to Estonia this weekend, these trips are all organised by us so a true independent man I may return! The amount of literature I need to read might even make me a proper English student, being able to quote authors from way back when whom everyone should know and speak verse by heart. We shall see.
Estonia is beautiful, we only stayed in Tallinn and only the Old Town at that, which is a UNESCO World Heritage sight. Rightly so too, it is gorgeous. Beautiful architecture and cobbled streets. Our main reason for going however was for alcohol, it seems to be the rite of passage if you're an exchange student to stock up on booze for the semester by going to Tallinn with a backpack or suitcase. I can see why; where one night out in Helsinki has cost me 40€, I came back from Estonia with a crate of beer, a bottle of gin and a bottle of wine for 35.50€. BARGAIN.
Events keep popping up on Facebook and I will soon be confirming my Lapland trip, which will be a celebration after that 4 hour exam in March! I can't wait to travel around, it's exciting me to think I will be country hopping and going around Europe like a feather in the wind. I certainly shan't be bored here or until I am back in the UK.
I can't remember much else that has been of note but no doubt I shall after this is posted but I thought I would share an extract from one of the pieces I'm reading for my Introduction to Finnish Lit module. Rosa Liksom is an artist, writer, director and general eccentric - her book One Night Stands is the first book on our reading list and there were moments where I was taken aback because I haven't read anything quite so graphic in literature before. I hope it doesn't make you feel ill, these aren't really the worst either! But her writing is actually really good and we had good debate in our seminar today.
I'll leave you with some photos of Tallinn so that you aren't alone with Rosa's writing.
"I would like to establish a kingdom of men, sufficiently large, with well-defined borders and abundant natural resources, where Penis Power decides everything. The bigger the penis, the greater the authority. Women are disgusting and primitive, even from a scientific point of view, with our slimy cunts, bleeding orifices, gaping mouths and stinking armpits. That is the truth about us, and that is why I have been working on a new law under which, as of next year, all newborn females will have their throats slit immediately, in the maternity ward, where this can accomplished in a manner both hygienic and efficient".
"She looked at herself in the mirror on the bedroom ceiling. She looked hard but could not see anything. Not even her own face. She picked a heavy vase off the floor and tossed it at the ceiling. The mirror shattered and rained down on her. The splinters tore bleeding wounds into her body. Some of the wounds were deep and gaping and blood streamed out of them. The blood soaked into the sheets, her body throbbed with heat, and the blood smelled like old, hard life. She jumped down to the floor. Mirror splinters pierced the soles of her feet but she did not feel any pain. Excited, she danced from wall to wall, humming and unknown melody. The white-flowered wallpaper became stained with red. Her breasts and thighs were steaming with blood. When she finished the dance and collapsed on the floor, the last drops of blood gather in a puddle in her own lap."
Rosa Liksom; One Night Stands.
Sunday, 19 January 2014
87
Just a quick post to take you to my YouTube channel. It's not extravagant but I have just written and (attempted) to sing a song.
I've named it 87 and it is a reference to a long time ago, with obvious inspiration.
Hope you enjoy it and I might try and I met get a Kiwi to come and play some guitar for it at some point.
Just click here
I've named it 87 and it is a reference to a long time ago, with obvious inspiration.
Hope you enjoy it and I might try and I met get a Kiwi to come and play some guitar for it at some point.
Just click here
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