The Finnish YMCA

As if i needed even more incentive to move...

Päättäväisyys

As mentioned in the previous post, a week or so ago, i purchased.... er, went into debt for a new MacBook. It was a really tough decision, because i'm trying to save money for Finland, but my old one had completely died, and school blows without a computer. Another motivating factor was the sweet education promotion Apple is doing right now. I got a free iPod (which i named "Anteeksi, en ymmärrä") and a free All-in-one printer. Both are killer. In addition i got a couple hundred bucks off the MacBook itself. An added bonus is the built-in iSight it came with. That means i'll be able to video chat my friends and family back in the ATL once i'm moved to Helsinki! Hooray! (My new AIM name thing is "benexhale" just, FYI.)

As most of you know (or may not know), my current dream about this whole thing is too be able to work at a coffee roasters in Helsinki. I've been going to as many cuppings as i can, started a coffee journal, etc. I'm trying to get my skills and knowledge up. One source of anticipation is that my friends M'lissa (a.k.a. Octane's Coffee Boss) and Chris (a.k.a. M'lissa's boyfriend and Customer Relations Master of Awesomeness in Atlanta for Counter Culture, Octane's roaster) are going to Copenhagen and Oslo in a few weeks for some specialty coffee industry fun. There they will probably meet some Finnish roasters, and hopefully put in a good word for me and see if any of them want this awesome American dude to work for them. Or at least get me some contact info.

While i'm not banking my whole move on Chris and M'lissa being able to get me some conacts, i am hopeful. I'm going back to Helsinki hopefully in December for a week or two to apartment hunt and check out the contacts i might have. I'm nervous, but at the same time, pretty damn determined. I'm going to make it happen.

Rosetta Stone hates Finns

So i've been hearing things about this amazing program called Rosetta Stone that's a language teacher thingy. Everyone, when i say i'm trying to learn Finnish, says, "Dude, you got to get Rosetta Stone! It's so good!" So i decided to investigate. And by investigate i mean download illegally. Well, the tables turned on me when i found out they don't offer Rosetta Stone in Finnish....

At first i thought, "Well, that's understandable. Finnish is kind of an obscure language." But then i found the languages they do offer. Along with the major ones, they have Welsh, Pashto, and Tagalog!??!?!?! Are you serious?!?! (Although, Welsh would be cool.) The Finns have been shafted... Well, people who want to be Finns are being shafted i should say. I'm content with my Teach Yourself Finnish book and CD's, but i still thought that was screwed up.

On a side note, i named my new iPod (that i got for free when i purchased my new MacBook) "Anteeksi, en ymmärrä" which means "Sorry, I don't understand" which i find HILARIOUS.

On an additional side note, Saila's dad is mailing me a DVD of this years Eurovision, which is so sweet, i almost cried. I love the Savolainens!

There's no smog in Finland

This week in Atlanta has been brutal, as far as the weather is concerned. I believe we reached the triple digits temperature-wise, and needless to say that produced some wicked smog. I texted Saila, which is what i usually do when i'm missing Finland, and asked her if there's smog in Finland. She replied that there isn't, which i already knew, but felt like asking anyways for an excuse to be nostalgic.

If there's one thing i can't wait for, it's the crisp, clean Finnish air. It's delicious. And that's yet another reason why i'm looking forward to moving.