Trip to Helsinki etc

My two days in Helsinki were really nice - I arrived by train in the afternoon on Monday and enjoyed the trip a lot, to just sit, look at the views, read some papers, have a coffee in the restaurantcart...I had brought a novel (Khaled Hoseini: The Kite Runner) that I've been reading for the past month, but I never felt like concentrating on it, so I'll probably be reading it for a few months more. I like it, but it's difficult to find the right mood and time for reading. It's also interesting because one of the boys I represent is from Afghanistan, through the novel I get to understand him and his culture better.

In the evening I went to a tapasplace near the hotel with two of my really good friends. It's amazing, even if they live in the south of Finland, I share more personal things with them than with friends here. I guess we take the time to really talk about things when we meet, back home it's more about the everyday events that are being discussed. It was such a nice evening, at one point I laughed so hard I was almost crying - can't remember when I last did that! One thing was bad, though, I took an Irish coffee at nine in the evening to finish off the meal.....not smart at all. Even if I went back to the hotel soon after that, I didn't sleep hardly at all that night and was tired and a bit "out of it" for the rest of the week.

I was really lucky with my roommate, whom I didn't know before the course, even if we had sent a few mails (she is also a "representative" for underaged asylumseekers in Oravais). We got along really well and on Tuesdaynight, after a kind of cocktailparty, we took a walk by the seaside in southern Helsinki - I lived quite nearby when I first moved to Helsinki in...1997, I think. It's really beautiful and it was nice to get this opportunity to just walk around and remember old times. I even met an acquaintance from the salsaschool. We rode the tram - I love the trams in Helsinki and try to ride them everytime I visit. Then we also visited one of my favorite cafés right in the center, Java café, they have loovely smoothies, even if I took something else this time (a huge glass of chocolate with cream - I was in a partymood :).

The photos in the collage are from the two days. The sky was really dramatic going down on the train - it both rained and was sunny during the first evening. I only had my small "pocket" digitalcamera with me, so the quality isn't the very best. But nice to have memories :)

Everything had gone really well here at home as well. D's grandparents were happy to have been able to spend so much time with him - and I was happy that grandpa (D's dad's grandpa) can't sit still but needs to have something to do, so he's been sawing my trees - and D and grandma helped one day :). He also managed to finally move my tractor, which died just before Christmas and has been outside since then.

D has been with his dad this weekend, which was nice for me. I was supposed to rest, since I felt so tired, but there is so much I want to do when I finally have the chance to, so I still feel physically tired (darn Eurovision song contest - just HAD to sit up and watch it to the end last night!!), even if mentally very good. Unfortunately I've gotten into a habit of shopping when I drop D off at his dads. First I go to the swimming pool, then have a meal somewhere ("homeservice", term?, comes to see my mother at those times, to fix her dinner) and then check out shops...On Friday I found really inexpensive colorful sweaters (which I love), couldn't help buying three. Then I found a sporty sweater in another shop + mittens for D. On Saturday I went to another town nearby and finally found a pair of comfortable everyday shoes, which I've been looking for for quite some time. All the other clothes together were half the price of the shoes (which I even managed to get 10 euros off, which I was proud of :), but I have had rather bad shoes for quite some time now, thought I'd splash out for a change. Anyway, it wasn't just shopping, it was also meetings with different friends, chats in two gardens and a visit to a café. I was really pleased with my day.

Today, Sunday, the weather is really lovely outside - I shouldn't be sitting inside by the computer, but I know I'll problably won't find time to write when D gets home, so I'll "sacrifice" the sun - well, I actually sat in the swing in the garden this morning for a while. But now I'm going to go outside, lots to do in the flowerbeds, but somehow I feel like just laying down in the swing with a good book...hope you all had a good week - have a good new one!