Busy, busy, busy

Again there has been a period when I haven't quite been there myself, due to the fact that it simply has been too much. The main culprit was the weekend of work at the tv-station two weeks ago and it was unlucky that the weekend after also was booked - I attended lectures on Friday and Saturday last weekend for guardians of minor asylumseekers. I hadn't planned it this way, but the tv-weekend was moved from its original date due to one of the camerawomen - and then she hadn't even been told about the new date, so we were in panic at first, where to find a new one at such short notice.

At the end of last week I also found out our drainage was frozen - the sewage was filled with water. That was a bit too much for me, I had no idea how to open the frozen pipe (and where it exactly was...) and I had no time nor energy for it - right now I'm in the middle of writing articles for a magazine (this is a re-occurring job every spring and autumn) as well as the regular job as an assistant in the morning. At the lecture last Saturday I began feeling ill and left for home. I had a babysitter there and asked him to stay so that I could sleep for a while. The rest of the evening I tried to find things for D to do, so that I could lie down as much as possible - I was completely wiped out by a fever, which strangely enough started to go down almost immediately. On Sunday morning there was no fever anymore, just an exhausted feeling. I complained on facebook about the drainage and a few hours the plumber came here and pumped out the water as a first-aid. His wife is my fb-friend and she had passed on the information :). Where else can you get service like this on a Sunday?!

This week I've also had work with asulymseekers - a trip by train with an Afghani boy to the immigrationoffice in Oulu on Monday (the main interview) and a trip to the policestation to find out "my" Somali girl received a four-year residence permit on Thursday. A terrible cold broke out on Tuesday, have hardly been able to breathe, but no fever, so I've had to work. On Friday I was supposed to finish the articles (my own deadline, the real one is next Wednesday...nowadays I prefer not to leave things at the last minute...) but I was simply too tired to do any writing. I took D to his dad in the afternoon and then spent a relaxing hour at the indoor swimmingpool.

I slept for nearly nine hours and dragged myself to qigong and tai chi-training on Saturday morning. Yesterday was an international tai chi/qigong day and I really wanted to join, since I haven't been able to do any qigong at all during the winter (I remember a bit of a series and do it occasionally, but it's not the same when I can't remember the whole thing :( ). I was again convinced qigong is more my sport - I don't like the fact that tai chi is a martial art and the movements are based on an imaginary opponent. I prefer concentrating on the movements solely, not thinking about where the opponents throat is, or how to avoid a kick etc. Anyway, it was nice to do the training and see people I know.

After that I went to have lunch with one of my Afghani boys (the one who had his interview on Monday). On the way I tried to take a photo of some cranes that flew over the road when I passed (unfortunately I only had my small camera). It's lovely to see swans, cranes and smalled "spring birds" all over the fields - life is returning!

This boy has had a really tough upbringing and I'm amazed at how he has managed to survive. He is really motivated to study and it's possible to discuss with him in Finnish already, even if he has only been here for six months now (he has just turned 17). The younger asylumseekers live in more home-like environments, but those over 16 are supposed to be more independent. I've felt I need to be more of a supporting adult for them, especially in the beginning, before they find their own friends and networks.

The weather yesterday was grey and cold and I was really tired when I got home - but since D wasn't home and I finally didn't have any "musts" I simply went to bed and took a nap :). Wonderful! I'm so glad I've been able to sleep well for two nights now. After I finish this I'll work a bit on the articles, to lift a bit of pressure off tomorrow, which is the last day I can work on them (have to do something else on Tuesday afternoon). This has been a strange period - I have so many half-finished things, for instance three "private" articles, which I never have time to finish, and don't even know if I can sell anywhere. But I'm stubborn enough to want to finish them and at least try...if I only had the time to!!

After next week I think things will start to calm down, though. And I'm of course grateful I have had a lot of work - I want to have a proper summer holiday, which means there will be at least two months when I receive very little wages, only the money I get from being my mother's "personal assistant" (don't know the term in English - närståendevårdare), the child allowance and the money D's father pays (he is very reliable, which is a relief). August is always also a month when I usually don't have much work, for instance the local tv-station is still on holidays.

I have no idea what I'll work with in the autumn, though, except for September when I've asked to join in the harvesting of potatoes again. I won't be able to continue as an assistant in preschool (my contract runs out on the 5th of June), since more qualified people will need jobs, but the rest of my part-time jobs are not either enough to support us. But I'm optimistic, things usually work out and at the beginning I'm sure I'll be relieved to be able to managed everything better with less work (until money runs out completely....). It'll be lovely not to have to get up at six every morning :) and maybe I'll be inspired to do some more writing instead...or realize some of the more creative plans I have (there are a few small ones).