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So yesterday i posted about receiving a package from friends in Finland which included some newspaper clippings. Part of Saila's note said, "I've also enclosed a little article to help you learn Finnish and see what the fabulous Gregorius looks like now (he's a library employee)." Being the dense person i am, i totally thought Saila was being weird and funny and sending me some random article about a library employee just for fun and to practice my Finnish on.
WELL, Saila commented on the post from yesterday informing me that the guy in the article is the guy from the Finnish YMCA video. I'm an idiot. For some reason Gregorius didn't register in my brain, even though it flashes "Gregorius" in the middle of the video. Anyways, all of sudden, i understood the article a lot better. I still have a lot of translating to do, but at least i know what it's about now. I feel really stupid for not putting the pieces together quicker, but in my defense, i didn't look super closely at the article until after Saila told me who it was.
A couple days ago i received the much anticipated Eurovision DVD in the mail that Saila and Sini's dad made for me. I haven't watched it yet, but i'm extremely excited. (Thanks, Mr. Savolainen!) Much to my surprise, also included were notes from Saila and Sini with newspaper clippings!
Saila's newspaper clipping (the first image) is to help me with my Finnish. For practice purposes. All i've got so far is that the dude in the picture either did something or had something done to him 600,000 times. I'm still working on it...
Sini's newspaper clipping (second image) has the English meanings of a bunch of towns around Helsinki and Espoo. Pretty hilarious stuff. Again, also good Finnish practice. Hilariously enough, on the back of Sini's clipping is an add for SINI cleaning products. How amazing is that? I think i actually laughed out loud when i saw that.
Needless to say, i'm definitely feeling the Finnish love from this side of the ocean.
::EDIT!! UPDATE!!:: - According to a comment left by Saila, the dude in the first picture is the guy from the Finnish YMCA video!!!! (scroll down to see the clip) This just took it to a whole new level!!!
Finally, there's a nip of cold air here in Atlanta. I'm sure it'll hit 90 a few more times before winter comes, but i'm still enjoying it. I got to wear my "Suomi" hoodie the other day, which always makes me feel really good. Past few weeks have been ridiculously stressful, but i got a chance this morning to walk around downtown in between some errands here at school, and i felt really relaxed. There's nothing like walking around in the heart of a big city. It's very soothing. The world slows down a little more it seems. I'm very excited about not having a car when i move to Helsinki. I'll have to walk and take the bus everywhere. It will be daily therapy.
I'm going to have to snap back to reality here in a few minutes, and it's going to be horrible, but i figured i'd try to preserve the peace for a moment longer.
I must confess. I pride myself on the fact that when i tell people i'm moving to Finland, they automatically assume i'm Finnish or have some Finnish in me (insert dirty joke here). Even when i was there this past March, everyone always would start speaking to me in Finnish first, and i would have to sheepishly tell them i spoke English. Only exception was this drunk Russian guy, but it was because he didn't speak Finnish either...
I feel pretty good about the fact that i'm able to pull this off. I'm not sure what it is. I am a little pale. That helps. Maybe i have a bit of that cool Helsinki fashion in me? Well, there's one way to check and see if this is remotely true (i've already decided it's a little true), and that is with the gem of a website known as Hel Looks. Hel Looks is just this little hobby website done by these two photographers who wanted to document the looks of the people of Helsinki, mainly young people. For me, it's hours of entertainment, because soon, these will be my people.
Not only are there lots of cute girls, but there's some bad ass dudes (like Janne, Sami, and Antti) which i'm definitely taken mental notes from for style ideas.
Now once you've looked around on that site for a while, you'll realize that not everyone is so progressive. There's definitely the goth scene and metal scene going pretty strong, but overall, this site makes Finland look awesome (and makes up for the "The Finnish YMCA", right, Sini?).
And besides, who wouldn't want to live in a place where they produce dudes like Roberto?!
