Going home

I will fly home to Finland tonight. I am extreamly grateful to all my friends who, once again, have let me stay at their homes in a middle of their busy lifes. It's unbelieable that I have had such a good luck with finding all these people and that they seem to tolerate my constant need for help and favours. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can't thank you enough.

The kid will be sleeping when I arrive tonight. We'll see what kind of protest he will create when he wakes up tomorrow morning. I don't care, I want to be where he is. I'm his mother.

Meow

Four nights left before going back home! Four nights left to party? Even a thought of partying four nights in row makes me feel extreamly tired.

Last night I was at a class mate's. We had a fun and loud "Singstar" session. My best performance was Duran Duran's "Rio".

Patterns

I've been to Sweden for a week now. Another week to go and I can go back home and study there. I am looking forward to that, both being at home and studying there.

Last night was an opening here at the gallery (that's where I'm writing). I didn't count how many glasses of wine I managed to drink. Quite a many would be my guess, concidering the headache I have. Both me and the artist wore the same patterns. In the morning patterns had moved under my eyes and I guess they're there to stay. One can't fight wrinkles.

Mom's Birthday

We celebrated my mother's birthday today by preparing her a dinner. She said it was terribly strange just to sit and wait while other people did all the cooking.

The kid announced at the airport that he hates me and that he doesn't want me to come to his home. Poor kid. I had missed him too. It isn't easy to be apart from each others for any of us. I still have to be in Sweden and back at least until the end of March. Wish us strength.

It's good to be back home anyway.

Home

I'll go home tomorrow. I'll be at home a bit more than a week. M and the kid'll come to the airport to fetch me. I guess there'll "public tears"-moment ahead. I have missed the boy terribly much.

Back in Sweden

The school started again. Everyone in our class gave a presentation on their internship - I did too, in so called swedish. I was brief. Phew, now it's done.

I didn't feel like coming back to Sweden at all. Who knows, maybe that's why my flight turned back to Helsinki right before landing to Gothenburg - an airhostess hit her lip on a microphone and there is no way an airhostess can work with a bleeding lip.

Then, in Helsinki I waited for odd number of hours to catch the day's last flight to Copenhagen. That mission was successfull and in Copenhagen I had a chance to enjoy ever so lovely airport athmosphere for couple of hours before I got into a plane to Gothenburg. I arrived to Gothenburg long after midnight. I was supposed to be there 6 pm.

The kid cried his eyes off at the airport. He screamed: "DON'T GO!!! DON't LEAVE ME". Boy, I felt like a piece of shit. Now that I have Skyped him, he sounds all content and doesn't cry at all.

It's been nice to see school mates. It's been nice to see friends. If there weren't all the friends' kids testifying how time flies - they have all grown so much - I would say, I haven't been away from G at all.

2008

Happy New Year to everyone.

We had a nice and peaceful christmas time at M's mother (the beautiful christmas tree in the picture is from there). As you all may know already, we Finns have the biggest xmas season's celebration on christmas eve. Joulupukki (Santa Clause) brings presents and everyone eats too much. It was lovely to see the kid enjoying his christmas. After the little town christmas we came back to city and spent time with my family.

When we returned home from our visit round, I and the kid got a cold and that was happening on New Year's Eve too - so we didn't have a party.

Now I have a bit less then two weeks left of my wonderful internship at museums. Then I have to go back to my studies and back Sweden and I have to say, I am not happy about it. I want to be at home. BUT, I am determined to finish my studies as soon as possible and then start looking for a real job in Finland and for that I have to go to Sweden.

I haven't made any real new year's resolutions, but I made a deal with my sister to run Naisten Kymppi this year. If I want to do that I better drag my behind up from the couch every now and then.

A House

Here's the house and here's the kid. The house wouldn't be good for living, especially not here in Finland: too many holes in walls, but I guess it's good enough for christmas spirit. The kid is looking forward to eat the house.

I will pack my bags and follow the rest of my pack to a smaller town where M's mother lives. We'll spend our christmas there this year. M and V took a train there yesterday, hence I had a luxurious sleep in morning today.

Merry christmas to everyone.

Gingerbread time of the year

Today the annual gingerbread baking took place. The kid ate tons of dough and still we got material left for a gingerbread house. Now we just have to build it.

I am getting anxiety of the knowledge that my fantastic internship time will end soon and I have to go back to school and back to Sweden. Darn!

Swedes!

In Uppsala (Sweden) it is forbidden to speak Finnish if you work for the city. Two Finnish speaking workers were chatting in a corridor, in Finnish, when they were told that they are not allowed to do that at work - anywhere in the building. I don't know what it is with Swedes when it comes to hearing Finnish spoken. "We can't tell if you are talking about us", has been the reason I've heard. It's intresting. If I hear people speaking a language I don't understand I never begin to ponder upon if they are speaking about me or not. If someone wants to speak about me, s/he will do it anyway - they just make sure I won't be hearing it. If it's forbidden to speak Finnish, it should be forbidden to whisper too... how can you tell what people are whispering about.

A Hag Unleashed

Oh boy. I was at a christmas party last night. I danced there like a maniac. At some point I took my dress off (I had a-dress-n-jeans-outfit) and danced away in a tiny tank-top. Tank-tops aren't exactly flattering on me so I guess I didn't make the best impression on people who happened to look my dance-attack. Anyway, it was hot. Thanks to all that sweating on the dancefloor I drank gallons of water between all those glasses of white wine and that way I didn't have a hang-over the next day, which was today.

Otherwise it's dark and rainy most of the time. Tomorrow is a national holiday: Finland has its 90th birthday. Congratulations Finland.

A Luxury Morning Ahead

I managed to lock myself in a hallway today. My keys, my money and my coat was in an office that was locked. Then I had a fantastic hour and half in the hall way waiting for my boss to come. And then I finally got started with the payed job I occationally do. The job needs my inner cleaner lady to appear. Anyway, it wasn't the best saturday ever, but no worries; I have a luxury morning ahead. M took the kid with him when he travelled to see his mom and that means: tomorrow morning I can sleep as long as I like. Happy-happy, joy-joy!!!

Happy - not so happy

Hello from the chaos that's also called 'my everyday life'.

Before I start whining I have to underline the fact that the work at museums is fantastic. I keep on being happy 6.30 in the morning, knowing I am on my way to the exciting world of conservation.

And the kid is the best. Today he wanted - volunteerly - wear a neck tie when we went to see my parents. I think that's quite style conscious of him, knowing he isn't even 5 years old yet.

Some reasons to whine at the moment are:
- unfairly bad hangover today after drinking practically nothing on saturday night
- a cell phone that I dipped into a not so clean toilet and that stopped working
- my unability to be in touch with people I care about - godknows what happened to my old enthusiasm to write; even the blog isn't updated frequently now adays.

But that's the whining for now. Good-night-sleep-tight folks.

Brrr

Here's the kid in his short hair. Now when he sees his long-haired pictures he says he looked like a girl. He thinks it's funny.

In the same picture are two prints of mine I framed the other day. Let's see how long it will take before they finally are hanging on walls. Things tend to take time these days.

I am still enjoying my museum work. This week I have worked with few other conservators, re-framing huge photos that will be shown in the next collection exhibition. It's been challenging and very intresting. I am looking forward to tomorrow when I will go on with the same project.

It's cold. I don't get how I will survive real minus degrees if I am about to deep-freeze now already. And it's only -1 degrees C. I will run out of warm clothes.

Here's a picture I took in Helsinki the other day. Snow has arrived.

C

Oh f*ck, I said Viggo's film is a Carpenter film. How embarresing mistakes one can make. I have done the same slip before. Many times. Carpenter and Cronenberg both start with C, so it isn't a wonder, is it. Grrr anyway.

I have wrapped stones and harvested wooden crops this week. Contemporary art brings you all kinds of fantastic things to do.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Do I ever blog these days?

It's November already. My internship is halfway done. I have been busy. Now I see how much time I had before to spend on things like blogging. But I am not complaining. Life is wonderful and I have a very important task on my 'things to do'-list: to see Carpenter's 'Eastern Promises'. As we all know, Viggo is naked (for a while) on it. Ok, there is blood, core and internal organs too on the film; it is a Carpenter's film, but who cares as long as Viggo does his thing.

No hair, no money

Kid's hair is short again. We cut it last sunday. He seems to like his new very short hair. I like it myself simply because it's easier to take care of. And he does look cool in it.

In the picture you see a portion of spaghetti. Would you like to have parmesan with it?

Today I got a letter that told me: I won't get no student-money in Finland either. Last spring I was told that Swedish system won't give me any money. So... I shall go on living on M's good will.

Art

Here's another self portrait from the road. The frame is for a large beautiful aquarelle by a Finnish painter. The thing is that when you work with contemporary art you may end up handeling works of art that look like pieces of crap in your eyes and still you have to treat them well and with respect (oh, what a wonderful metaphora for meeting us people too). I have truly enjoyed my time at the museum. I'll be working with new art at least until the end of this month and then I will go back to older stuff.

Weather is getting cooler and days darker. It must be about the same time of the year as it was when I returned to Finland last fall. A year has gone by quickly.

Eyes for Art

Now I have worked with contemporary art at one of the museums. It's been fun, like all I've done during my internship so far. Only to be in museum interiors makes me feel happy and special. It's nice to spend one's time in spacious rooms and with objects of beauty - or at least objects of intrest.

As you can see I have special eyes for contemporary art.

A Paid (cleaner) Lady

Oh god. How did I end up in here - again? My now-a-days rarely seen alterego 'the cleaner lady' is earning money (no one else in my multipersonal me isn't). Today when I polished a toilet in a location I wondered, first of all: how the hell that shit turned into dark brown concrete had ended up on the wall behind the toilet thingie, and for second: how come am I cleaning again? Will I be a cleaner for money when I am an old lady, if I become an old lady to begin with?

Oh well. Maybe this is my call.

Meanwhile I am enjoying my non-paying internship at art museums a great deal.