8/31/2016

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.

8/14/2016

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.

8/09/2016

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.

8/06/2016

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.

8/03/2016

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.

8/01/2016

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.