Creating a new me. / Kuinka Puola kasvattaa. Part 2

After I came back to Finland I felt two completely different things: belonging here and totally not belonging. Last time it felt like I have been dropped into middle of  the play, but no one remembered to tell me the lines. This time, I felt misplaced, but I had the lines. I have found the words.

I never thought I would fall in love with Gdansk, but lately I have been missing my other home. I miss Poland. I miss working at IT Service Desk, I miss the amazing sushi in Fusion Sushi. But most of all - I miss my awesome team and my international family.

"You can leave us physically, but not mentally." Having shots remotely with my guardian angels ! #shots #missyou #fridaynight #traditions

Kuva, jonka Mira Järvenpää (@mirraje) julkaisi 28. 10ta 2016 klo 11.58 PDT

Finnish version of sushi

I also miss Korea. I miss bibimbap, amazing parties. Long talks and nights out. I miss the tradition of eating together, flavored soju and the habit of pouring for other before yourself. I miss cat cafes and easy metro system.

Oh, the happiness! I'm so gonna go there again.. #cat #catcafe #happy #ilovemylife #purehappiness #exchangestudent #korea

Kuva, jonka Mira Järvenpää (@mirraje) julkaisi 14. 09ta 2015 klo 9.52 PDT

I miss almost every places I have been. I believe it's because part of me is still there. I belong nowhere and everywhere. It is a great privilege in this small planet. Re-launching yourself after coming home isn't easy. It is a long process, you could even say endless process. Life isn't finding yourself, it's creating yourself. Every new experience shapes you and makes you a newer version of you.

For me Small Planet Studio has been a great help with coping with the changes and the emotions. I believe I will be able to create the perfect life for me. That global life I want so badly. One step of it is visiting my other home in one month.

Meaningless

This time I was more prepared for reverse cultural shock (or re-entry, if you prefer that term). I knew I will go through some difficult feelings and probably be depressed. I experienced it when I got back from Korea and  it was so bad. I couldn't do anything for two weeks, I didn't want to see anyone. I just wanted to lay in the bed.

This time I took different approach and decided to make most of it. I embraced the return rather than feared it. I am happy to be home, seeing all my friends and trying to get some structure in my life. I love the chaos but I learnt that having regular schedule can also be beneficial. It is good for basic work and resting, but if creativity is needed then chaos is better.

This time I am not sorry for being back. I don't feel generally bad. I don't see being abroad as only suitable choice. I like being home, but at the same time I have lost my purpose. It is the hardest, most terrible feeling I have had this whole week. I am meaningless, I am not useful to anyone anywhere and it is truly hard to deal with.

I am trying to finish my studies and working every now and then. Still I have a feeling I don't have anything to contribute here. I feel misplaced. I don't have anything to give and I am just floating around in my own bubble. I have no idea how anyone can deal with this kind of feelings. How do you find a new meaning for yourself?

What did I learn?

Neljä ja puoli kuukautta takana. Ennen lähtöä kirjoitin: Uskon, että tämä kesä antaa minulle enemmän kuin uskallan edes toivoa. En olisi voinut olla enempää oikeassa. Tämä kesä antoi minulle uskomattoman paljon.

Opin, kuinka paljon ympäristö vaikuttaa. Jos sinulla on aktiivinen kämppis, joka kannustaa sinua kokemaan enemmän, sinä todennäköisesti teet enemmän. Kun sinut tiputetaan keskellä tuntematonta, sinun on sopeuduttava ja tämä tekee kehityksestäsi nopeampaa, sillä sinun on haastettavatta itseäsi enemmän. 

Olen utealias persoona, olen aina ollut. Välillä olen saanut siitä negatiivistä palautetta, jonka takia yritän paikoitellen hillitä itseäni. Olen kuitenkin täällä oppinut, että uteliaisuus on ominaisuus, jota kannattaa vaalia. Olen ylpeä uteliaisuudestasi ja pyrin näyttämään sen yhä avoimemmin. 

Opin, kuinka erilaista on olla asiakaspalvelija puhelimitse. Ilmeiden ja eleiden puuttuminen tekee kommunikaatiosta erilaista, minun tapauksessani haastavampaa. Mielestäni kuitenkin kehityin asiassa ja saamani palaute olikin pääasiassa positiivista. 

Tutustuin tiketöintijärjestelmä Aquaan (BMC Remedy IT Service Management) ja opettelin tallentamaan, analysoimaan, kategorisoimaan ja priorisoimaan saapuvia tikettejä. Opin, kuinka pitkä prosessi yksinkertaisen ohjelman asennuksen takana voi olla. Opin, kuinka paljon erilaisia tapoja toimia.

Kun opin perusteet, pyrin tietoisesti pois harjoittelija-roolista, sillä se tuntui kovin rajoittavalta. Olin ensimmäisen tason tuki - se joka on yhteydessä asiakkaaseen ja varmistaa, että ongelmat ratkaistaan Kemiran toimintatapojen mukaisesti. Halusin lisää vastuuta ja sitä sainkin. Viimeisen kuukauden vietin auttaen uusia suomalaisia työntekijöitä.

Tavoitteeni harjoittelulle oli kehittää omaa työminääni ja koen tuon tavoitteen toteutuneen. Kunnianhimoni on kasvanut, olen sopivalla tavalla ammattilainen ja minulla on selkeämpi kuva itsestäni työntekijänä. Minulla on kuitenkin olo, että Kemiralla olisi vielä paljon annettavaa minulle. Saa nähdä, mitä tulevaisuus tuo tullessaan.
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Four and half months. Before going to Poland I wrote: I believe this summer will give me more I ever dared to dream. I couldn't be more right. This summer gave me incredible much.

I learnt how much your surroundings affects you. If you have active roommate who encourages you to experience more, you probably do much more. When you are dropped in middle of new environment, you have to adapt yourself to it and it makes your development process quicker, you need to challenge yourself more.

I am curious person, I have always been. Sometimes I get negative feedback about it and I try to hold myself down. Here I have learnt to appreciate it again and I try to show it more.

I learnt how different it is to be in customer service via phone. When facial expressions and gestures are missing, it makes communication different and in my case, it means harder. I believe I made some progress with it and most of the feedback I got was positive.

I became familiar with ticketing tool Aqua (BMC Remedy IT Service Management) and learnt how to record, analyze, categorize and prioritize incoming tickets. I learnt how long process basic software installation can be. I learnt how many different ways of working there are.

After I learnt the basics, I tried to get out of the intern role. The intern role can be extremely suffocating. I was the first line support which took care of the basic incidents, contacted the end-user and made sure everything is handled correctly. I wanted more responsibility and I got it. I spent last month helping the new Finnish employees.

My goal for my internship was to develop my working self and in my opinion I achieved it. My ambition has grown, I'm just right kind of professional and I see myself more clearly. I have a feeling Kemira would still have a lot to offer for me. We will see what happens in the future.

You can leave us physically, but not mentally.

My last days in Poland were beautiful and full of love. I was spending time with my colleagues as much as possible, trying to memorize their faces, voices and everything. The small things they do.

How Rafal puts his hair in ponytail. How Carl stands and smiles, how he always answers my questions without any hassle. How Marcin walks to my table, sighs and says what did you broke this time. How he looks right into your soul. How Alex smiles and laughs, how he tells me to stop dancing. How Pawel walks past my desk and ask on the way how's everything. How Riki tries to find solutions to cases I would have already given up, how he suddenly stops everything and goes for smoke. How Joona first sends me message via Skype and then asks the same thing aloud. How Adam speaks so fluently both Swedish and Polish, how he is all about learning next to Carl.

Everyone were so nice to me. They took me in with open arms and made me feel like home. And I don't how, but I end up with several nicknames.
Puppy,
Puppet,
Minion,
Happy feet,
The always moving Hula-girl of happiness,
Little ray of IT sunshine,

and of course my favorite: Little master of disaster. 

On my last day, my closest friends gathered at my place. Chilling, talking and helping me to get my stuff (and myself) together before going to the airport. It was amazing how they all made it there even after long night of drinking. 

And when I got home, I got the most adorable video call: You can leave us physically, but not mentally. Let's take shots! It seems I'm not going anywhere.

September

Last month here. Completely different month. Everyday has been different. I started September with car crash and concussion, continued by saying bye to all the other interns.

Then my dear friend visited me and we did most of the mandatory tourist stuffs in one week. We visited Stutthof, Old Town and Westerplatte. Tried different foods, mainly sushi though. Partied with my co-workers, talked for hours. 

After she went back to Finland, I started to spend more time with my co-workers. We went to beach, watched movies, partied, went to Oliwa park.. I did almost everything I wanted to do before going back to Finland. 

During this last month my position at work slightly changed. Other interns left in the beginning of September which meant I was only Finnish speaker in the mornings. Oh, the quiet mornings alone, it was beautiful. I am still an intern, but I am not the newest agent in IT Service Desk anymore. Our team got two new Finnish members and one new Swedish speaker.

This month has been full of explaining things and realizing how little I actually know. If I ever thought I have gotten any good at my work, this has taught me to be more humble. There is still lot to learn.

Lapalice Castle

Half built castle middle of nowhere, built without real permissions. 

That sounds like my kind of crazy. 

Little bit more about the background here. 

Kartuzy is about one hour way from Gdansk which isn't bad for after work road trip. The architecture of the castle is brilliant. You can easily move between different parts of the castle, it feels like a labyrinth. There is a huge dancing hall, dozens of different rooms, towers, way too many stairs and surprisingly many floors. 

If you are around Tri-city, I recommend you to rent a car and drive there. It will be worth of it.

Two weeks left.

In two weeks I will be back in Finland. My internship in Kemira Gdansk will be over and I will go back to my Finnish life. I have so mixed feelings about it. It is lovely to see Kalle ja Marsa and all my other friends. It is awesome to be able to touch my love ones, go to the movies or have basic dinner. All that normal stuff you miss when you are abroad.

But it also means going back to Hämeenmaa and school. I always loved working for Hämeenmaa, I was really good at my job and it was kind of second home for me. Now I have been away almost 5 months and I'm not even sure who is working there. Also my professional ambition has started to grow and I want more, I want different.

Besides working in Hämeenmaa, I will need to finish my studies. I don't have that many courses for autumn semester, but I will have some projects in Neloskerros. 26 ECTS plus thesis left, it's not that much. I have always been bad at studying and motivating myself to study, but I really want to graduate.

Going back to situation where you have to study and work at the same won't be nice. It means I won't have energy nor time to exercise, see my friends or have quiet time for myself. It also means I have to face the reverse culture shock again. At least this time I know what am I going to face so it won't be complete surprise.

Two weeks left. I have to make the most of it. 

Different things in Poland. Part 4

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
13. Melody in the traffic light of Gdansk.
It is natural to have sound in the traffic lights so blind people can also cross the street savely. We have it in Finland also, but Gdansk has their own tune. It is not the basic PEEP - PEEP - sound, it is something different. It is hard to explain, so listen to yourself.

14. Public toilets have separate toilet section.
First I though it is just some of the toilets, but everyone I have visited so far has it. When you go in, you enter the hand washing section. Then after another door there is toilets. There is always the door between.

15. Cleanliness
This is actually something my mom pointed out. Even though some buildings are old, the streets are really clean. There isn't cigarette butts or trash all over the place. In the festival people were picking up their own trash. It seems that Polish kids are taught to keep streets clean and if not, there is cleaner who sweeps the streets in the morning.

16. Going to the doctor
This is the thing that gets me every time I have to see a doctor abroad. I can just walk in and get a appointment. No long waiting lines, no huge bill after it, no expensive tests. They see me and they write me description for antibiotics. Just like that. It is awesome and scary at the same time.

The safest thing is to do dangerous stuff.

Everything is possible in Poland. What I have learnt now is that when you try to be smart and safe - it never ends well. Last Wednesday evening I got in the car crash while we were parked next to the road, lights still on. We decided to stop for putting music on, since you know, it is dangerous to concentrate on something else than driving.

I remember the lights coming towards us way too fast. Sudden impact and sand dust everywhere. My friend opening the door for me and my phone dropping to the ground. 

"Call the police!"

"Call the ambulance!"

Me standing next to road holding Poro and watching people talk. Many cars passing our car, too many random faces. Nice people taking care of everything. Random moments here and there, head full of fuzziness.

I'm alive and that is all that matters.

More pictures here.

August

This month has been crazy. Every week has been different and there hasn't been such a thing called normal day. I have been full of energy and love, everything is so beautiful. Poland has been so good for me and it hurts to know I have only one month left.

August started with kind of hard week. All the tickets seemed to be stuck in my queue and I had no idea what to do with them. It is frustrating to realize I still need to ask for help. I have been here over 3 months now and I should know more. Luckily my team is always ready to help.

Next week I was working from home. First time in my life. And it was awesome. I was listening music all day, dancing in my own peace without getting any comments from my colleage. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get or make any calls since I was having quite bad cough. It helped me realize how much I use phone in my work. Luckily I still managed to solve some tickets.

After spending one week home almost completely alone I was thrilled to come back to work. I had so much energy and I just wanted to hug everyone at work. Apparently being alone does not suit me that well. Third I just enjoyed being back at the office and having all that energy. On Saturday Kalle came visit me again.

Since Kalle was here the final week of August was full of love. Work days flew by since every day I had something to wait. We visited Gdynia, partied, went to movies, ate well, watch whole season of The Returned.. All the stuff you do with your significant other. It was extremely sad to let Kalle go back. My coworker even said I seemed to be more happy when he was here which of course was true.

This month was pure gold, every week was different and special in its own way. It feels so weird I have only one month left.

Working from home

This week has been one of the weirdest and most exciting weeks here so far. I have gone from hardly breathing to coughing my lungs out, from fever to dancing, from the top to the bottom and back. I was sick second time this summer and this time I walked straight to the doctor's office. You just know when there is something truly wrong.

Result:

14 days of antibiotics

14 days of stomach pills to help with antibiotics

7-10 days asthma inhalator

and whole week sick leave. 

I am not sure what was the diagnose, but the main thing is that I feel much better now. 

Since I was on sick leave, I was forbidden to go to the office even though I wasn't feeling sick. Luckily my awesome team leader helped me to get my laptop at home and set VPN for me. First time in my life I was really working from home and it was exciting and awesome. Music gives completely different vibe for work  and not being able to call customers made work little bit challenging. I never realized how often I call the customers instead of writing to them.

Working from home also meant not being able to ask help so easily which was both good and bad thing. It forced me to try harder on my own, google solutions much more. Sadly it also meant that some cases couldn't be solved right away since my skills aren't good enough. I am still a trainee, three months just isn't enough to learn everything and I have to accept that.

Miten Puola kasvattaa. Part 1

Jokaisen ulkomaan matkan jälkeen palaan eri ihmisenä takaisin. Maailma kehittyy kaiken aikaa, mutta ympäristöllä on tapana kehittyä samaan tahtiin sen ihmisten kanssa. Joka kerta, kun olen muualla, kehityn eri tahtiin kuin kotona. Tämä aiheuttaa sen oudon kuplan aina kun palaa: kaikki on samanlaista kuin ennen lähtöä, mutta silti aivan erilaista. En ole enää synkronoitunut ympäristööni.

Asiasta puhutaan harvoin. Kukaan ei puhu paluun vaikeudesta. Monesti ihmiset puhuvat kulttuurishokista, vaikeuksista jotka kohtaa, kun saapuu uuteen maahan. Sitä on tutkittu todella paljon ja aiheesta on monia oppaita. Lähes huomiotta on kuitenkin jäänyt käänteinen kulttuurishokki, joka ainakin minun tapauksessani on aina ollut pahempi. Se tunne, ettet enää ole yhtä tutun ympäristön kanssa, on hirveimpiä maailmassa.

Olen nyt vieraillut muutaman kerran Suomessa tämän kesän aikana. Tuntuu sekä oudolta että ihanan kotoisalta, kun minulla on kaksi kotia, joiden välillä sahata. Tuntuu äärimmäisen oudolta mennä Suomeen ja joka kerta kokea se kupla - olet irrallinen osa kaikkea. Koti tuntuu silti ihan yhtä kodilta, vaikka tavarat ovatkin jatkuvasti hukassa. Pakastimessa on eri järjestys, unohdat itse katsella kukkasi etkä enää osaa lukita parvekkeen ovea.

Minulla on vielä hiukan alla kaksi kuukautta aikaa. Pyrin nyt ottamaan siitä kaiken irti, enkä miettiä tulevaa kulttuurishokkia, en kuitenkaan mahda sille mitään.
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After every trip to abroad I feel like I'm coming back as a whole different person. World is constantly changing but usually surroundings evolve at the same phase as people in it. Every time I'm somewhere else I naturally change in different phase. It causes this weird bubble when coming back: everything the same, yet completely different. I am no longer synced with my surroundings.

No one usually talks about this. No one talks how hard it is to come back. Usually people talk about culture shock, the difficulties when adapting to a new culture. It has been widely researched and many guides has been written. For some reason there haven't been that much attention on reverse culture shock which is - in my opinion, much worse than the normal one. The feeling not fitting in known environment is one of the worst feelings ever.

I have visited Finland few times during this summer. It feels both weird and super cozy to have two homes. Feels really weird to go Finland and experience that bubble - you aren't part of anything. Home still feels like home even though everything seems to in wrong order, I keep forgetting to water my flowers and I don't know how to lock the balcony's door.

I have little less than two months left. I'm trying to live it at my fullest and not to think about upcoming reverse culture shock, I cannot prevent it anyway.

Different thing in Poland. Part 3

Part 1
Part 2
9. Somersby Beer drink.

Somersby in Finland is well-known for its delicious ciders. When I saw Somersby here I was going HALLELUJA! in my head. Then I realized it's not the same.. It is okay, but the after taste is little bit too much beerish in my opinion.

10. Unisex toilets

Many places have unisex toilets.  I'm not sure if it is gender equality issue here or just practicality, it is much more easier to have unisex toilets. Either way, it is amazing and the way things should be.

11. Paying with cards.

Cards are way more common than cash. You can pay with contactless payments like paypass almost everywhere and it is desirable. Most surprisingly - you cannot pay with cash in the festival, only cards we accepted. At least in the Open'er Festival.

12. The forest.

It is so different when comparing to Finland and at the same time it reminds me about Korea. Tall trees, walking routes, really easy place to get lost. When you go in it feels like entering a fairytale.

I just jinxed it.

Juuri kun ehdin päivittelemään, kuinka rauhallista töissä on, työmäärä tietenkin moninkertaistui. Puheluiden määrä kasvoi räjähdysmäisesti, kun suuri osa suomalaisia palasi lomilta. Suurin osa heistä oli tietenkin unohtanut salasanansa, mikä kertoo onnistuneesta lomasta. Osalta tunnukset olivat menneet lukkoon. Onneksi molemmat tapaukset ovat nopeita ja helppoja hoitaa. Vastaavanlaisia piikkejä puhelumäärissä lienee odotettavissa tulevina maanantaina, kun loput ihmiset palailevat kesälomilta.

Työpäivät vain lentävät siivillä. Uusia puheluita ja tikettejä saapuu jatkuvasti ja vain kerran tällä viikolla olen onnistunut saamaan kaikki tikettini "pending"-tilaan. Tuntuu uskomattomalta, kun tekemistä on niin paljon. Se saa tuntemaan itsensä tärkeäksi ja merkitykselliseksi. Se saa arvostamaan täysmiehitystä ja ymmärtämään, kuinka suuri yhden ihmisen panos voi olla. Yksi henkilö tiimistämme on tällä hetkellä lomalla, mikä vaikuttaa yllättävän paljon.

Toivottavasti tilanne helpottuu loppuviikosta.
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As soon as I said we have peaceful time at work, workload multiplied. Amount of calls grew exponentially when a large group of finns returned from annual leave. Quite many of them had forgotten their password which tells me they had pretty good vacation. Some had their account locked. Luckily both cases are easy and fast to handle. I'll be expecting same kind of spike in the amount of calls on upcoming Mondays when rest of the people return back to work.

Work days just fly by, there are always new tickets and calls coming and only once during this week I got all my tickets pending. It feels amazing to have so much to do. It makes you feel important and useful. It makes me appreciate having full crew and understand how huge one person's contribution can be. We have one person on vacation right now which affects surprisingly much.

Hopefully the situation gets easier in the end of the week.

July

Heinäkuu sujahti ohi aivan huomaamatta ja siinä välissä kaksi kuukautta täällä rikkoutui. Nyt on enää kaksi kuukautta jäljellä, mikä tuntuu uskomattoman vähältä. Minusta tuntuu, että tämän kuukauden aikana olen vihdoin synkronoitunut tähän ympäristöön ja kuherruskuukausi on ohi. Olen nyt siinä mukavassa vaiheessa kulttuurishokkia, jolloin kaikki tuntuu olevan mahdollista ja Puola aivan mahtava.

Heinäkuu on ollut täynnä matkustamista, vieraita ja rakkautta maailmaa kohtaan. Se alkoi Kallen kanssa seikkailessa, jatkui äidin vierailulla ja reilun viikon lomalla Suomessa. Matkustamista, ystäväpariskunnan tuparit ja paljon ihania ihmisiä. Parhaan ystävän häät, hyvää ruokaa ja oman rakkaan viereen käpertyminen. Äidin vaatekaapin tyhjennys, mummon näkeminen ja viini-ilta ystävän luona. Laiskottelua kotona, Netflix ja Subway. Mähkijöiden tapaaminen, Pokemon GO ja tonkallinen viiniä. Paljain varpain bussiasemalle ja öiset keskustelut. Näitä on ollut ikävä. Rakkauden täyteinen viikonloppu Kosmoksessa, paljain varpain keskellä metsää parhaiden tyyppien kanssa.

Takaisin Puolaan ja ystävän saapuminen melkein heti. Parasta on, kun juttu jatkuu siitä, mihin se viimeksi jäi, vaikka välissä olisikin pidempi aika. En muista, milloin viimeksi olisin oikeasti viettänyt kahden keskistä aikaa hänen kanssaan. Nyt kuitenkin vietimme ihanan viikonlopun yhdessä jutellen, nauraen ja kierrellen ympäri Gdanskia.

This happens when you leave your computer unlocked..

Tämän kaiken lisäksi olen tietenkin ollut töissä. Olen tietoisesti yrittänyt poistua harjoittelija-roolista, sillä kyseinen rooli voi olla hyvinkin rajoittava. Uskon onnistuneeni tavoitteessani, sillä alkukuusta sain positiivista palautetta, joka sai minut hehkumaan ylpeydestä ja yrittämään vielä paremmin. Haluan syyskuussa pystyä toimimaan täysin itsenäisesti, kun jään ainoaksi harjoittelijaksi. Elokuun tavoitteenani onkin pyytää palautetta aktiivisemmin ja etsiä ne omat kehityskohteeni.

Töissä on ollut rauhallista, koska ihmiset ovat kesälomilla. Kun ihmiset ovat poissa töistä, ongelmia ei myöskään ilmene samalla tavalla. Tällä hetkellä suurimpia ongelmia aiheuttaa sähköposti, johon yli 90% tiketeistä liittyy. Tikettejä on kuitenkin huomattavasti vähemmän kuin alkukesästä, minkä takia töissä on enemmän vapaa-aikaa. Olen päättänyt käyttää tuon ylimääräisen ajan ruotsin kielitaitoni parantamiseen Duolingossa.

Kokonaisuudessaan heinäkuu on ollut upea. Tästä on hyvä jatkaa kohti uusia haasteita.
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July flew by without me noticing and at some point the two months threshold was broken. Now there are only two months left, which feels incredibly short. During this month I finally synchronized with this environment, and the sweet honeymoon is over. Now I am at the comfortable stage of culture shock, when everything seems to be possible, and Poland just awesome.

July has been full of traveling, guests and love towards the world. It started with adventures with Kalle, continued with mom's visit and over a week holiday in Finland. Traveling, friend's housewarming party and a lot of wonderful people. Best friend's wedding, good food, and snuggling with my love one. Visiting mom's wardrobe, seeing granny and little bit wine with good friend. Lazy days at home, Netflix and Subway. Mähkijät-meeting, Pokemon GO and 3 liters of  wine. Walking barefoot to the bus station and late-night conversations. I have missed these. Weekend full of love in Kosmos,dancing barefoot in the middle of the forest with the best people.

Back in Poland and a friend arrived almost immediately. It is the best feeling when the conversation continues like you had seen yesterday even if the time between had been longer. I can't remember the last time I actually spent time alone with her. Now we spent a wonderful weekend together talking, laughing and walking around Gdansk.

In addition to all this, of course, I have been working. I have consciously tried to step outside of the trainee role, as this role can be very restrictive. I think succeeded in this goal, since early this month, I received positive feedback, which made me glow with pride and encouraged me to try even better. In September I would like to be able to operate fully independently, since I will be the only trainee left. In August, my goal is to seek feedback more actively and look for the things I need to development.

It has been peaceful at the work, because people are on the summer holidays. When people are out of office, problems will not occur at the same way. Right now the greatest problems are caused by e-mail.More than 90% tickets are about it. Since there is considerably less tickets than the beginning of the summer, we have more free time at the work. I have decided to use this extra time to improve my Swedish language skills Duolingo.

All in all, July has been magnificent. This is a good start towards new challenges.

So are you.

Viikonloppu keskellä metsää rakkautta pursuavien hippien ympäröimänä muistuttaa, mitä elämä kuuluu olla. Kun on viikonlopun ajan kävellyt paljain varpain, tuntenut selittämätöntä hyväksyntää ja yhteyttä kaikkien kanssa, tuntuu oudolta palata kylmään todellisuuteen. Todellisuuteen, jossa ihmisiä vaaditaan käyttämään kenkiä ja jossa huomaamattasi tunnet yhteiskunnan vaatimukset niskassasi. Todellisuuden, jossa sinun on taisteltava kaataaksesi normit, koska ne sotivat sinun sisintäsi vastaan.

Sen takia varmaan tämä iskee nyt niin lujaa. 

Elämä on kaunista, ihmiset pohjimmiltaan hyviä ja maailma on avoinna sinulle. Uskalla avata silmäsi, sydämesi ja sylisi. Maailma ei ole paha, vaikka se siltä välillä uutisten perusteella vaikuttaa. Maailma on avoinna sinulle, jos sinä itse olet avoinna sille. Joten uskalla avautua, unelmoi isosti ja luota, että kaikki järjestyy.

Minun elämäni tuntuu kulkevan juuri oikeaan suuntaan, hiukan hapuillen mutta suunta on silti oikea. Haluan yhä kaiken ja uskon saavuttavani sen. Maagisesti myös läheiseni tuntuvat kulkevan omia haaveitaan kohti. He ovat yhtä hukassa kuin minäkin, mutta me menemme kiertoteiden kautta unelmiamme kohti. Se matka on vain yksinkertaisesti hauskempi.

Kosmos antoi taas niin paljon, ettei sitä pysty sanoin kuvaamaan. Kiitos. 

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Weekend middle of the forest with lovable hippies reminds you what life is all about. When you have walked whole weekend barefoot, felt inexplicable acceptance and connection with everyone, it feels weird to come back cold reality. Reality where people are wearing shoes and society's expectations are heavy. Reality where you have to fight against the norms which are in war with your inner self.

Maybe that is the reason why that song gives me goose bumps.

Life is beatiful, people good and world open to you. Dare to open your eyes, heart and arms. World isn't bad even though the news tell that sometimes. World is open to you if you are open to it. So dare to open up, dream big and trust the world. Everything will work out. 

My life seems to go just the right way. Maybe little gropingly but the direction is right. I still want everything and I believe I can get it. Magically people around me seems to walking towards their dreams. They are just as lost as me, but we are just taking detour - the funnier way - to our dreams. 

Kosmos gave so much - again. It was unspeakable. Thank you. 

Hei me mennään naimisiin!

Niin se vaan tapahtui - Hannele meni naimisiin. Vaippaikäisestä asti ollaan hengailtu yhdessä, koettu kaikki nuoruuden hulluudet yhdessä ja tuettu toisiamme sekä ylä- että alamäissä. Pitkälle ollaan tultu ja kuten Sohvi sanoi, ei olisi uskonut Hannelen olevan meistä ensimmäinen naimisissa. Niin kuitenkin tapahtui.

Ennen H-hetkeä kuitenkin fiilisteltiin, juhlittiin ja valmistauduttiin tulevaisuuteen polttareiden muodossa. Mitäpä sitä niistä kertoisi, ehkä tämä video kertoo enemmän kuin tuhat sanaa.

Kiitokset Mintulle tästä upeudesta!

Häät olivat upeat ja aivan parin näköiset. Ruoka oli hyvää, alkoholia tarpeeksi ja kaikki vaikuttivat viihtyvän. Suuremmilta draamoilta vältyttiin ja krapulan määrä seuraavana aamuna oli juuri sopiva.

Pääkaaso kuittaa ja kiittää.

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So it happened - Hannele got married. We have been hanging around since we were still in diapers, we have done all the crazy things and been there for each other in good times and in bad. We have come a long way and like Sohvi said you would never guessed Hannele to be the first married one. Somehow that just happened.

Before wedding we celebrated and got ready for the future in bachelorette party. I'm not sure what to tell you about it so check this video - maybe it tells more. Thanks to Minttu for the video!

The wedding was fabulous and it truly represented the couple. Food was good, there was enough alcohol and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. The biggest drama was one too drunk guy, hangover was bearable and otherwise everything was perfect.

Main maid of honor over and out.