Greetings from the other side.
I realize that I have been absent from blogging for quite some time now. Well, over the summer to be precise. This is due to many things. Examples include, but are not limited to: work, getting married, working on a side-project, and other IRL things.
I'm still not sure how regularly I will be able to write here - it will really depend on IRL things - but I want to say that the 'Life on the Other Side' blog isn't dead or forgotten by me. I still want to keep this going, although for now at least it will have to be on a whenever-I-have-time basis.
I hope everyone has had a great summer! :)
My own summer has been an eventful one, at least to me. I only had about 2½ weeks worth of time off from work, though that is because I started working there in August last year. Next summer I should have more than that. Anyway, in those 2½ weeks I got myself married! Which honestly was one of the best things I have done in my entire life. :) Which is good, because I am not planning on doing it again. ^__^
After the wedding we had about a week off, just taking it easy at home and sort of 'landing' again after the whole experience. After that we went over to Sweden and spent some time with my family there, which was nice.
Unfortunately we didn't get a honeymoon, but that's more down to financial reasons than anything else, and we are happy anyway. :)
Now it is time for me to go and get some work done on my side-project. Until next time, my friends.
See you all on the other side!
Visar inlägg med etikett Sweden. Visa alla inlägg
Visar inlägg med etikett Sweden. Visa alla inlägg
lördag 4 november 2017
fredag 14 april 2017
Easter time is here
Greetings from the other side.
Easter is here, and this will be my first ever Easter in Finland. I am looking forward to it. There will be an Easter fire lit outside, kind of like the ones we have on May 1st in Sweden, and as I understand it we will be grilling sausages etc over the fire. Sounds good to me! :) For the past couple of years, ever since my fiancee and I first met, we have celebrated Easter in Sweden. This year though, we are doing it here in Finland and, as I mentioned earlier in this post, I am really looking forward to it! My fiancee's siblings and their families are coming as well.
The picture above are of some chocolate balls that my fiancee made today. I can assure you they are very tasty, and healthy too! :) She's very into healthy eating and living.
Later today we are having my future in-laws over for some Easter "fika". If you don't know what "fika" is, then I guess the best explanation I can give is that it is a Swedish thing, and it basically means meeting up for coffee or tea and some kind of cookies or buns or similar thing. Essentially it is a social thing. Look it up on Google, or something similar, if you want to know more.
Yesterday I worked as a "kyrkvärd" (not sure what it is called in English, and honestly a bit too lazy to look it up at the moment), at church. First time doing it on Maundy Thursday (according to Google. Don't blame me if the translation is wrong.) or "Skärtorsdag" in Swedish. I've been to church on those days before, but it was my first time ever working in church on that day. Nervous at first, but it went well. I had my future father-in-law there with me to help as well.
That's about it from me for this time. I hope you all will have a wonderful Easter and until we meet again.
See you all on the other side!
söndag 9 april 2017
Stockholm tragedy & birthday celebrations
Geetings from the other side.
This feels like a strange blog-entry to write. I've wanted to write another one for a few days now, but then the attack in Stockholm happened and...well, my focus went elsewhere for a while. Which is understandable. Even though I now live in Finland, I am still a Swedish citizen. It is still the country where I grew up and where my heart lives. When a tragedy like that happens, it affects me. I am thankful that my brother and his girlfriend, and other friends and relatives I have down there in Stockholm, all seem to be ok. But my heart also goes out to all those who were there on that tragic day, and especially to the friends and families of those who lost their lives on that day.
In other news...
Last weekend my fiancee and I went over to Sweden to celebrate a relative of mine's 90th birthday. It was a calm, but very nice, celebration together with him, his wife, and some of their closest relatives and friends. We all met up at my parent's place for a while, then we went to dinner, and then it continued at my parent's place until the evening. One of my most vivid memories from the day was another relative holding a short speech in the restaurant and then getting the entire restaurant to stand up and sing for the 90-year-old birthday-boy. All in all it was a memorable day, and one which I think was greatly appreciated by my 90-year-old relative.
My one regret was finding out that Sabaton was playing in Umeå at the same time as I was home, the day before my relative's 90'th birthday celebrations. I had missed that completely. Would have loved to go see hem play. Oh well, maybe some other time. I only have myself to blame for that, really.
Spring is really here now. Even though we saw snow falling as late as Tuesday last week. Still, there is that sense in the air that spring is finally here. :) It's a good feeling. Everything is starting to come to life again.
We're still finding carpenter ants in the house, although in smaller quantities than before and mostly around the bathroom. We're going to give it some time still, to let the poison work and see what happens. Hopefully we won't see any more of them soon.
That's all from me for this time.
See you all on the other side!
This feels like a strange blog-entry to write. I've wanted to write another one for a few days now, but then the attack in Stockholm happened and...well, my focus went elsewhere for a while. Which is understandable. Even though I now live in Finland, I am still a Swedish citizen. It is still the country where I grew up and where my heart lives. When a tragedy like that happens, it affects me. I am thankful that my brother and his girlfriend, and other friends and relatives I have down there in Stockholm, all seem to be ok. But my heart also goes out to all those who were there on that tragic day, and especially to the friends and families of those who lost their lives on that day.
In other news...
Last weekend my fiancee and I went over to Sweden to celebrate a relative of mine's 90th birthday. It was a calm, but very nice, celebration together with him, his wife, and some of their closest relatives and friends. We all met up at my parent's place for a while, then we went to dinner, and then it continued at my parent's place until the evening. One of my most vivid memories from the day was another relative holding a short speech in the restaurant and then getting the entire restaurant to stand up and sing for the 90-year-old birthday-boy. All in all it was a memorable day, and one which I think was greatly appreciated by my 90-year-old relative.
My one regret was finding out that Sabaton was playing in Umeå at the same time as I was home, the day before my relative's 90'th birthday celebrations. I had missed that completely. Would have loved to go see hem play. Oh well, maybe some other time. I only have myself to blame for that, really.
Spring is really here now. Even though we saw snow falling as late as Tuesday last week. Still, there is that sense in the air that spring is finally here. :) It's a good feeling. Everything is starting to come to life again.
We're still finding carpenter ants in the house, although in smaller quantities than before and mostly around the bathroom. We're going to give it some time still, to let the poison work and see what happens. Hopefully we won't see any more of them soon.
That's all from me for this time.
See you all on the other side!
söndag 12 mars 2017
Good times & hindsight
Greetings from the other side.
Last week was a bit of a mixed bag for me. The week before we had been away, together with my fiancee and her sister and brother-in-law, to a place called Ukkohalla on a ski trip. The weather was overcast and the snow messed with our skis a bit, but other than that it was a thoroughly enjoyable trip. When it came to the skiing we did the cross-country variant. It had been years since I last did any kind of skiing, and it was a bit of a strange experience being back on a pair of skis again. It was fun though, and I think I ended up doing something like 13 km in total. Compared to my fiancee's sister and her husband that was nothing though. I think they ended up doing something in the region of 86 km in total.
Among the first things that happened after we got there was that I managed to 'wreck' the bed. It's not as bad as it sounds though. Basically, I was trying to move the bed slightly to the side when it suddenly collapsed. It turned out that, unbeknownst to me, by moving it I had disturbed an upright-standing logg underneath it that was holding the length-wise running beam in place, which in turn supported all the lateral-running supports underneath the bed. I'm not sure if that description paints a good enough picture of what I mean, but I hope it does as my tired brain is currently struggling a bit to think of a better explanation.
Anyway, we managed to fix the bed fairly quickly again.
The trip to Ukkohalla was a lot of fun, and it is certainly something I would definitely do again some day. It was nice to get away for a few days and spend some time with my fiancee and her sister and brother-in-law.
In Sweden we have a saying that translates roughly to "Away is good, but home is best" (Sv: Borta bra men hemma bäst). As fun as it had been to be away for a few days, it still felt good to come back home and sleep in your own bed again.
However, starting the next day I wasn't feeling too well. I felt really stressed and tired, and not really myself. It's been a long time since I had felt that high levels of stress, and seemingly for no apparent reason. It took me most of the following week to get back to normal again. Hopefully that was a one-off thing, but I would really like to know what caused it. Maybe it was a lot of little things that just came together to cause it? I honestly have no idea. Whatever it was, it continued to influence my week though.
I am so glad to be passed that now. Hopefully it was just a one-off thing.
Yesterday I was pretty nervous though. I was set to work at a memorial service. Now, I have done that before, but this was the first time I was going to do it completely on my own. All sorts of thoughts were flowing through my head, and I was trying to remember everything I needed to think about and prepare. I'd lie if I said I wasn't nervous though. Looking back at it now however, I would say that I did a good job. So maybe I didn't need to be so nervous about it, but that's the benefit of hindsight and all that.
Yesterday evening, we had a couple of friends over and we all sat down and watched Melodifestivalen. which is the Swedish competition that decides which entry we send to the Eurovision Song Contest. Did the right song win? I have no clue. I guess we'll find that out when the actual ESC competition is held. After that it is really down to personal taste whether you liked it or not. The main thing though was that we had a great time yesterday evening, together with good friends. We laughed a lot and I think I needed that having been so nervous about the memorial service job earlier in the day.
It's been two week since I was able to really do any world-building or writing, but yesterday evening after our friends had left, I started sitting down with it again and it was such a good feeling. I've missed it more than I thought I did, so being back at it felt really good.
Until next time.
See you all on the other side!
Last week was a bit of a mixed bag for me. The week before we had been away, together with my fiancee and her sister and brother-in-law, to a place called Ukkohalla on a ski trip. The weather was overcast and the snow messed with our skis a bit, but other than that it was a thoroughly enjoyable trip. When it came to the skiing we did the cross-country variant. It had been years since I last did any kind of skiing, and it was a bit of a strange experience being back on a pair of skis again. It was fun though, and I think I ended up doing something like 13 km in total. Compared to my fiancee's sister and her husband that was nothing though. I think they ended up doing something in the region of 86 km in total.
Among the first things that happened after we got there was that I managed to 'wreck' the bed. It's not as bad as it sounds though. Basically, I was trying to move the bed slightly to the side when it suddenly collapsed. It turned out that, unbeknownst to me, by moving it I had disturbed an upright-standing logg underneath it that was holding the length-wise running beam in place, which in turn supported all the lateral-running supports underneath the bed. I'm not sure if that description paints a good enough picture of what I mean, but I hope it does as my tired brain is currently struggling a bit to think of a better explanation.
Anyway, we managed to fix the bed fairly quickly again.
The trip to Ukkohalla was a lot of fun, and it is certainly something I would definitely do again some day. It was nice to get away for a few days and spend some time with my fiancee and her sister and brother-in-law.
In Sweden we have a saying that translates roughly to "Away is good, but home is best" (Sv: Borta bra men hemma bäst). As fun as it had been to be away for a few days, it still felt good to come back home and sleep in your own bed again.
However, starting the next day I wasn't feeling too well. I felt really stressed and tired, and not really myself. It's been a long time since I had felt that high levels of stress, and seemingly for no apparent reason. It took me most of the following week to get back to normal again. Hopefully that was a one-off thing, but I would really like to know what caused it. Maybe it was a lot of little things that just came together to cause it? I honestly have no idea. Whatever it was, it continued to influence my week though.
I am so glad to be passed that now. Hopefully it was just a one-off thing.
Yesterday I was pretty nervous though. I was set to work at a memorial service. Now, I have done that before, but this was the first time I was going to do it completely on my own. All sorts of thoughts were flowing through my head, and I was trying to remember everything I needed to think about and prepare. I'd lie if I said I wasn't nervous though. Looking back at it now however, I would say that I did a good job. So maybe I didn't need to be so nervous about it, but that's the benefit of hindsight and all that.
Yesterday evening, we had a couple of friends over and we all sat down and watched Melodifestivalen. which is the Swedish competition that decides which entry we send to the Eurovision Song Contest. Did the right song win? I have no clue. I guess we'll find that out when the actual ESC competition is held. After that it is really down to personal taste whether you liked it or not. The main thing though was that we had a great time yesterday evening, together with good friends. We laughed a lot and I think I needed that having been so nervous about the memorial service job earlier in the day.
It's been two week since I was able to really do any world-building or writing, but yesterday evening after our friends had left, I started sitting down with it again and it was such a good feeling. I've missed it more than I thought I did, so being back at it felt really good.
Until next time.
See you all on the other side!
lördag 18 februari 2017
Finding the rhythm
Greetings from the other side.
Getting back into the regular blogging thing has been a bit more difficult than I envisioned when I decided to slow down my blogging output over the holiday season. There are many times when I have thought I should write something, but then something else comes up and I end up postponing writing a new blog entry for another time. Oh well, such is the way of life I guess, and I will have to see where it takes me. The blog is still there though, so maybe I can get into a better writing rhythm with it again, eventually.
Last weekend we had a visit from two good friends from Sweden. It was the first time they were here since my move, and it was a real pleasure to have them here for a visit over the weekend. Having friends or family over to visit is always a good feeling. Even though I like it here in Finland, and I am very happy here, there is always that part of me that misses my friends and family back in Sweden. So whenever people have a chance to come over here for a visit, or I get a chance to go over there to visit, it is always a good feeling.
Tomorrow we are going to celebrate my fiancee's father's 70th birthday. His actual birthday is on Monday, but for convenience sake the celebrations are being held on Sunday instead. It should be a good time, and my future father-in-law has made the food and cakes himself, so you know it will be really good. Being that he is a chef and all.
In a couple of weeks time my fiancee and I are also going away for a few days together with her sister and her husband. It will be nice to get away for a little bit and see something else. There might be some skiing involved as well, if there is enough snow. Either way, I am really looking forward to it. It will be nice to get away and see a different part of Finland as well. :) Hopefully I can remember to take some pictures while I am there and possibly post some of them on the blog.
That will have to round off a relatively short blog. Before I sat down to write it I thought I had a ton to write about, but when I actually started writing most of those things just disappeared. Oh well, maybe for the next blog post. :)
See you all on the other side!
Getting back into the regular blogging thing has been a bit more difficult than I envisioned when I decided to slow down my blogging output over the holiday season. There are many times when I have thought I should write something, but then something else comes up and I end up postponing writing a new blog entry for another time. Oh well, such is the way of life I guess, and I will have to see where it takes me. The blog is still there though, so maybe I can get into a better writing rhythm with it again, eventually.
Last weekend we had a visit from two good friends from Sweden. It was the first time they were here since my move, and it was a real pleasure to have them here for a visit over the weekend. Having friends or family over to visit is always a good feeling. Even though I like it here in Finland, and I am very happy here, there is always that part of me that misses my friends and family back in Sweden. So whenever people have a chance to come over here for a visit, or I get a chance to go over there to visit, it is always a good feeling.
Tomorrow we are going to celebrate my fiancee's father's 70th birthday. His actual birthday is on Monday, but for convenience sake the celebrations are being held on Sunday instead. It should be a good time, and my future father-in-law has made the food and cakes himself, so you know it will be really good. Being that he is a chef and all.
In a couple of weeks time my fiancee and I are also going away for a few days together with her sister and her husband. It will be nice to get away for a little bit and see something else. There might be some skiing involved as well, if there is enough snow. Either way, I am really looking forward to it. It will be nice to get away and see a different part of Finland as well. :) Hopefully I can remember to take some pictures while I am there and possibly post some of them on the blog.
That will have to round off a relatively short blog. Before I sat down to write it I thought I had a ton to write about, but when I actually started writing most of those things just disappeared. Oh well, maybe for the next blog post. :)
See you all on the other side!
lördag 7 januari 2017
Welcome to the new year!
Greetings from the other side.
And thus I return from the holiday season, bringing wishes of well-being and happiness for you all. I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years together with family, friends, loved ones, etc. I also hope that the new year will be a good one, for everyone on this blue marble in space that we live our lives upon. May this new year at least see the beginnings of an end to wars, abuse, poverty, loneliness, and all the other things that ails the world. At least that is what I hope for, and pray for.
The night before yesterday I sat up until 4 or 5 am playing a tabletop roleplaying game over the internet with my friends. It was so much fun, and I have missed it dearly. I don't get to do that too often these days. Then I ended up getting about 4 hours of sleep, before I got up because I had to be at work the next day. Granted, I didn't need to be there until 1 pm, but I had some other stuff to do before-hand as well. It is safe to say that I was pretty knackered by the end of the day. So early night for me last night and then I slept for about 10 hours. I guess my body needed it. It's good that the weekend is here now.
So, my last post was on December 20, which you can find here. Since then I have had my first Christmas here in Finland, and it was a fun and enjoyable time together with my fiancee and her family. Next year we will be celebrating Christmas with my family in Sweden, and then probably do an every-other-year kind of thing. Anyway, focus on this year, and this was the first time I had ever celebrated Christmas away from my family, so it was a bit of a strange feeling. In the end though, it was an enjoyable time surrounded by good people and a warm atmosphere. It is definitely something I am looking forward to do again another year! :)
Even the family dog, Bamse, got excited about Santa's visit and all the presents. Sadly I don't have a picture of him at that moment, but here's another picture of him taken on the same day at least:
He's a big Newfoundland boy, and at 10 years of age he is currently older than the average life-expectancy of dogs of his breed.
There were a few new food-items among the Christmas food that I hadn't tried before. I honestly don't know what to call most of them in English,so I won't attempt to. I will say however that I enjoyed everything that I tried.
Oh, and I also worked during Christmas service on Christmas Eve, as well as during mass on New Years Day.
Christmas Day was spent taking it easy and having lunch with my fiancee's parents. On Boxing Day (Annandag Jul in Swedish) we went to visit my fiancee's sister and her family.
In the days before New Years both my fiancee and her mother got ill. We had intended to celebrate New Years with my fiancee's parents, but in the end we went over for dinner and then went home again. My fiancee went to bed early and I stayed up chatting with friends online for a while. Luckily they are both feeling better now. Though her mother had to go to the hospital and was diagnosed with pneumonia, something which she has since then been going to the health clinic 3 times a day and gotten regular doses of antibiotics intravenously. My father-in-law and myself have luckily managed to stay healthy so far.
All in all it has been a good time, and I can look back to it with fond memories. Now we have a new year in front of us. Let's do the best we can out of it! :)
I wish you all a happy new year. May the new year bring happiness, peace and love to all.
Until next time.
See you all on the other side!
And thus I return from the holiday season, bringing wishes of well-being and happiness for you all. I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years together with family, friends, loved ones, etc. I also hope that the new year will be a good one, for everyone on this blue marble in space that we live our lives upon. May this new year at least see the beginnings of an end to wars, abuse, poverty, loneliness, and all the other things that ails the world. At least that is what I hope for, and pray for.
The night before yesterday I sat up until 4 or 5 am playing a tabletop roleplaying game over the internet with my friends. It was so much fun, and I have missed it dearly. I don't get to do that too often these days. Then I ended up getting about 4 hours of sleep, before I got up because I had to be at work the next day. Granted, I didn't need to be there until 1 pm, but I had some other stuff to do before-hand as well. It is safe to say that I was pretty knackered by the end of the day. So early night for me last night and then I slept for about 10 hours. I guess my body needed it. It's good that the weekend is here now.
So, my last post was on December 20, which you can find here. Since then I have had my first Christmas here in Finland, and it was a fun and enjoyable time together with my fiancee and her family. Next year we will be celebrating Christmas with my family in Sweden, and then probably do an every-other-year kind of thing. Anyway, focus on this year, and this was the first time I had ever celebrated Christmas away from my family, so it was a bit of a strange feeling. In the end though, it was an enjoyable time surrounded by good people and a warm atmosphere. It is definitely something I am looking forward to do again another year! :)
Even the family dog, Bamse, got excited about Santa's visit and all the presents. Sadly I don't have a picture of him at that moment, but here's another picture of him taken on the same day at least:
He's a big Newfoundland boy, and at 10 years of age he is currently older than the average life-expectancy of dogs of his breed.
There were a few new food-items among the Christmas food that I hadn't tried before. I honestly don't know what to call most of them in English,so I won't attempt to. I will say however that I enjoyed everything that I tried.
Oh, and I also worked during Christmas service on Christmas Eve, as well as during mass on New Years Day.
Christmas Day was spent taking it easy and having lunch with my fiancee's parents. On Boxing Day (Annandag Jul in Swedish) we went to visit my fiancee's sister and her family.
In the days before New Years both my fiancee and her mother got ill. We had intended to celebrate New Years with my fiancee's parents, but in the end we went over for dinner and then went home again. My fiancee went to bed early and I stayed up chatting with friends online for a while. Luckily they are both feeling better now. Though her mother had to go to the hospital and was diagnosed with pneumonia, something which she has since then been going to the health clinic 3 times a day and gotten regular doses of antibiotics intravenously. My father-in-law and myself have luckily managed to stay healthy so far.
All in all it has been a good time, and I can look back to it with fond memories. Now we have a new year in front of us. Let's do the best we can out of it! :)
I wish you all a happy new year. May the new year bring happiness, peace and love to all.
Until next time.
See you all on the other side!
tisdag 20 december 2016
Christmas time update
Greetings from the other side.
It's been a while, hasn't it? Since my last blog entry, I mean. I have been meaning to write, but things have gotten in the way or the energy just hasn't been there at the time to write something. Then again, it is Christmas time. Hopefully I will get the writing back on track soon again! :)
So, what's been going on since last time? Well...
We went over to visit my parents in Sweden over the weekend a couple of weeks ago. It was good to be back in Sweden again. Strange feeling coming home again after 4 months living in Finland, and a strange feeling going back to Finland again. I've always felt at home here in Finland, so it was a bit like leaving home in order to go home. I can't really describe the feeling any other way, and it wasn't like any other feeling I have felt before.
My fiancee and I also got to visit a couple of friends while we were there. It was good seeing them again. They had recently moved to a new apartment, and it was nice seeing their new place for the first time as well. :) I wish I could have visited more friends while I was there, but sadly there wasn't enough time. I guess there is always next time though! :)
As of December 15th I am done with the 4-month trial-period for my job and I am now a regular employee! :) In practice this doesn't really change anything. The trial period is only there to give the employer and myself a period to try each other out. It feels good that it is over though, as I am quite enjoying my job here. :)
Speaking of my work and the people I work with, we went out for Christmas lunch together last week. We went to a place where my father-in-law used to work. He can even be found on a painting there, together with 3 other chefs who worked there at the time.
Last weekend my fiancee and I, together with her parents, went for an hour-long drive to listen to a Christmas concert with my fiancee's brother's youth choir, which he is heading. It was really nice, with a live band and some really good singers. It was a really beautiful church as well. :) Well worth the long drive to get there.
My knee is finally well enough again that I have been able to roleplay (tabletop roleplaying) with my friends again! :) See, in order for me to do that I need to go upstairs since we usually play late in the evenings and my fiancee needs her sleep. So I can't really sit downstairs and play. But now that my knee is better I have been able to go upstairs and play again. For those who don't know, we play over the internet, using Skype to talk and a program called MapTools for maps, tokens, dice-rolling, etc. Works a treat when we are all scattered across the globe. Anyway, it is really good to be back playing again. I've missed it.
Time for me to head outside now and help bring in the Christmas tree. I hope you all are having a wonderful Advent-time and if I don't write again before Christmas I want to wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS! :)
See you all on the other side!
It's been a while, hasn't it? Since my last blog entry, I mean. I have been meaning to write, but things have gotten in the way or the energy just hasn't been there at the time to write something. Then again, it is Christmas time. Hopefully I will get the writing back on track soon again! :)
So, what's been going on since last time? Well...
We went over to visit my parents in Sweden over the weekend a couple of weeks ago. It was good to be back in Sweden again. Strange feeling coming home again after 4 months living in Finland, and a strange feeling going back to Finland again. I've always felt at home here in Finland, so it was a bit like leaving home in order to go home. I can't really describe the feeling any other way, and it wasn't like any other feeling I have felt before.
My fiancee and I also got to visit a couple of friends while we were there. It was good seeing them again. They had recently moved to a new apartment, and it was nice seeing their new place for the first time as well. :) I wish I could have visited more friends while I was there, but sadly there wasn't enough time. I guess there is always next time though! :)
As of December 15th I am done with the 4-month trial-period for my job and I am now a regular employee! :) In practice this doesn't really change anything. The trial period is only there to give the employer and myself a period to try each other out. It feels good that it is over though, as I am quite enjoying my job here. :)
Speaking of my work and the people I work with, we went out for Christmas lunch together last week. We went to a place where my father-in-law used to work. He can even be found on a painting there, together with 3 other chefs who worked there at the time.
Last weekend my fiancee and I, together with her parents, went for an hour-long drive to listen to a Christmas concert with my fiancee's brother's youth choir, which he is heading. It was really nice, with a live band and some really good singers. It was a really beautiful church as well. :) Well worth the long drive to get there.
My knee is finally well enough again that I have been able to roleplay (tabletop roleplaying) with my friends again! :) See, in order for me to do that I need to go upstairs since we usually play late in the evenings and my fiancee needs her sleep. So I can't really sit downstairs and play. But now that my knee is better I have been able to go upstairs and play again. For those who don't know, we play over the internet, using Skype to talk and a program called MapTools for maps, tokens, dice-rolling, etc. Works a treat when we are all scattered across the globe. Anyway, it is really good to be back playing again. I've missed it.
Time for me to head outside now and help bring in the Christmas tree. I hope you all are having a wonderful Advent-time and if I don't write again before Christmas I want to wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS! :)
See you all on the other side!
fredag 25 november 2016
Advent Sunday is a coming
Greetings from the other side.
As Advent Sunday approaches, the Christmas spirit is on the rise in this household. My fiancee has made gingerbread cookies, and Christmas music has slowly started to filter into the ambient atmosphere. Both of us are people who love this time of year. We have even got a bit of snow and frost outside today, which was a pleasant surprise to wake up to this morning. It isn't much, and you can still see blades of grass sticking out through the snow cover, but it is better than nothing. :)
I got calendar from Sweden in the mail today from EFS. For those who don't know, EFS is an independent organisation within the Church of Sweden, which focuses on missionary work, voluntary work, and every-day faith (according to the website. They can say it much better than I can. Though I had to translate it from Swedish, so hopefully my translation is acceptable). I spent two years at an EFS church in Umeå, Carlskyrkan, doing work-training, and even more time as a volunteer. It was a really good time in my life and I have a lot of fond memories. I met so many really good and wonderful people there, including the people I worked with. I am really thankful to all of them for giving me the opportunity to be there, and for receiving me with open arms! :)
I am happy that the calendar has arrived, because we were talking just the other day, my fiancee and I, how we needed one. :) It is now hanging on the wall above my desk at home.
On Sunday, which is Advent Sunday, I am scheduled to work at church at the service. I'm not sure what the job is called in English, but in Swedish we call it "Kyrkvärd". Basically, I make the preparations before the service, I make sure everything is where it needs to be, I handle the sound equipment, and just make sure everything is in order before, during and after. I've done it on a couple of occasions already, but I am still nervous because it is my first Advent Sunday and there is going to be a lot more people there. Wish me luck!
I've had to go back to my moving-boxes and rummage through them to find the Christmas CDs I brought with me from Sweden. I've only found two, but I am pretty sure there should be at least one more in there somewhere. Granted a couple of boxes at the back of everything could contain some CDs, but I didn't feel like bringing everything else out of storage just to get to them. Luckily my fiancee has quite a collection of Christmas music CDs that we can listen to as well.
See you all on the other side!
As Advent Sunday approaches, the Christmas spirit is on the rise in this household. My fiancee has made gingerbread cookies, and Christmas music has slowly started to filter into the ambient atmosphere. Both of us are people who love this time of year. We have even got a bit of snow and frost outside today, which was a pleasant surprise to wake up to this morning. It isn't much, and you can still see blades of grass sticking out through the snow cover, but it is better than nothing. :)
I got calendar from Sweden in the mail today from EFS. For those who don't know, EFS is an independent organisation within the Church of Sweden, which focuses on missionary work, voluntary work, and every-day faith (according to the website. They can say it much better than I can. Though I had to translate it from Swedish, so hopefully my translation is acceptable). I spent two years at an EFS church in Umeå, Carlskyrkan, doing work-training, and even more time as a volunteer. It was a really good time in my life and I have a lot of fond memories. I met so many really good and wonderful people there, including the people I worked with. I am really thankful to all of them for giving me the opportunity to be there, and for receiving me with open arms! :)
I am happy that the calendar has arrived, because we were talking just the other day, my fiancee and I, how we needed one. :) It is now hanging on the wall above my desk at home.
On Sunday, which is Advent Sunday, I am scheduled to work at church at the service. I'm not sure what the job is called in English, but in Swedish we call it "Kyrkvärd". Basically, I make the preparations before the service, I make sure everything is where it needs to be, I handle the sound equipment, and just make sure everything is in order before, during and after. I've done it on a couple of occasions already, but I am still nervous because it is my first Advent Sunday and there is going to be a lot more people there. Wish me luck!
I've had to go back to my moving-boxes and rummage through them to find the Christmas CDs I brought with me from Sweden. I've only found two, but I am pretty sure there should be at least one more in there somewhere. Granted a couple of boxes at the back of everything could contain some CDs, but I didn't feel like bringing everything else out of storage just to get to them. Luckily my fiancee has quite a collection of Christmas music CDs that we can listen to as well.
See you all on the other side!
fredag 11 november 2016
Winter-clad greetings!
Greetings from the other side!
Ok. Time for my second attempt at this. I sat down to write my blog post and had gotten a fair bit into it when my laptop suddenly decided to erase everything I had written. Sadly I had not remembered to save it before hand. Not that that would really have mattered as the blog auto-saved just after everything was deleted so it was gone anyway. Oh well.
It has been almost a week now since my last blog post. It's been a busy week and I haven't really had the energy to sit down and write blog entries in that time. Today however is a day of rest of relaxation for me so I figured I would see if I could write something. Well, when I say "rest and relaxation" I neglect to mention that so far today I have already been to the chiropractor about my knee, been grocery shopping and ran some errands with my fiancee, and been called out on a short, job-related errand. Now though, I am back home and hopefully the rest of the day will be calm. Normally, doing things like that in a day is no big deal, but with my knee being a bit sore after the visit to the chiropractor, it's a slightly different story.
My knee has been getting better, but is still a bit stiff and swollen, so I went to the chiropractor to have a look at it. He treated it and for the next week or so I'll need to take it easy and be careful with it. I'll still be able to do my job, but I do need to take it a bit easy so I don't twist the knee or strain it excessively. Hopefully it will be completely well in about a week or two. Keeping my fingers crossed.
The first snow of winter has arrived here now. From talking to relatives and friends over on the Swedish side I know that they have been getting quite a lot of snow lately. I know that my dad has been shoveling snow quite a lot. We, however, have had some cold temperatures, but no snow. Until now. It's not huge amounts, but there's maybe a decimeter of snow. From what we've heard the weather should be getting a bit warmer again this week so we might see some rain and the snow will most likely melt away.
I am still keeping out hope that we will get a white Christmas this year though.
I have also been working a bit on the tabletop RPG world building project. The map-making has been at a bit of a stand-still, but I have been getting a bit of writing done, which I am pleased about. It is a good vent to have after a long day of work. Especially since I have a physical job it feels nice to exercise the brain instead from time to time. :)
I think that is enough for now.
See you all on the other side!
Ok. Time for my second attempt at this. I sat down to write my blog post and had gotten a fair bit into it when my laptop suddenly decided to erase everything I had written. Sadly I had not remembered to save it before hand. Not that that would really have mattered as the blog auto-saved just after everything was deleted so it was gone anyway. Oh well.
It has been almost a week now since my last blog post. It's been a busy week and I haven't really had the energy to sit down and write blog entries in that time. Today however is a day of rest of relaxation for me so I figured I would see if I could write something. Well, when I say "rest and relaxation" I neglect to mention that so far today I have already been to the chiropractor about my knee, been grocery shopping and ran some errands with my fiancee, and been called out on a short, job-related errand. Now though, I am back home and hopefully the rest of the day will be calm. Normally, doing things like that in a day is no big deal, but with my knee being a bit sore after the visit to the chiropractor, it's a slightly different story.
My knee has been getting better, but is still a bit stiff and swollen, so I went to the chiropractor to have a look at it. He treated it and for the next week or so I'll need to take it easy and be careful with it. I'll still be able to do my job, but I do need to take it a bit easy so I don't twist the knee or strain it excessively. Hopefully it will be completely well in about a week or two. Keeping my fingers crossed.
The first snow of winter has arrived here now. From talking to relatives and friends over on the Swedish side I know that they have been getting quite a lot of snow lately. I know that my dad has been shoveling snow quite a lot. We, however, have had some cold temperatures, but no snow. Until now. It's not huge amounts, but there's maybe a decimeter of snow. From what we've heard the weather should be getting a bit warmer again this week so we might see some rain and the snow will most likely melt away.
I am still keeping out hope that we will get a white Christmas this year though.
I have also been working a bit on the tabletop RPG world building project. The map-making has been at a bit of a stand-still, but I have been getting a bit of writing done, which I am pleased about. It is a good vent to have after a long day of work. Especially since I have a physical job it feels nice to exercise the brain instead from time to time. :)
I think that is enough for now.
See you all on the other side!
tisdag 25 oktober 2016
A visit from my parents
Greetings from the other side.
It's been a busy few days with my parents visiting. It's been good to see them again for the first time since my move here almost 3 months ago. It is also a bit of a strange feeling, having guests in the house for the very first time. As we were setting things up for their arrival we noticed little details that we hadn't thought of before, such as the need for a couple of not-so-wide mattresses for the sofa-bed. In the end we were able to sort it all out though.
My parents brought with them some more pieces of my furniture that I had to leave behind in Sweden in the original move over. It is good to have them here now. The book-case needs a fresh coat of paint, but aside from that there's really not that much that needs doing with the furniture besides deciding where to put them. My guess is that most of it will be going upstairs, as we are starting to run out of room in the downstairs apartment. Not that it is cluttered with furniture, etc, everywhere or anything like that, but more that in order to prevent it getting too cluttered it is better to put it upstairs instead where there are more spaces to put them. We shall see.
I also got my winter tires over, which is a good thing. :)
It was great having my parents over for a visit, but it was also a bit exhausting entertaining guests for 4 days straight. Now, it may not sound like much to some, but neither my girlfriend nor I are used to having people staying over for that long. My parents did their best to help though and they were good guests. My girlfriend had it a bit rougher than I did as she was having trouble sleeping. Though those problems started before my parents arrived. My father-in-law was kind enough to drive them, and me as I tagged along, around to different places so they could play tourists a bit and see the different sights. I would have done it, but I have not really learned to find my way to all these different places yet, so I am glad he was able to help. It also gave my girlfriend a chance to lie down and rest while we were away.
We also celebrated our engagement together with my parents while they were here, and they brought with them engagement presents (and a couple of birthday presents) from family back home in Sweden.
My girlfriend and I are planning on trying to go over to Sweden for a visit some time before Christmas if we can. Looking forward to meeting up with some family and friends in Holmsund and Umeå when we do. :)
See you all on the other side!
It's been a busy few days with my parents visiting. It's been good to see them again for the first time since my move here almost 3 months ago. It is also a bit of a strange feeling, having guests in the house for the very first time. As we were setting things up for their arrival we noticed little details that we hadn't thought of before, such as the need for a couple of not-so-wide mattresses for the sofa-bed. In the end we were able to sort it all out though.
My parents brought with them some more pieces of my furniture that I had to leave behind in Sweden in the original move over. It is good to have them here now. The book-case needs a fresh coat of paint, but aside from that there's really not that much that needs doing with the furniture besides deciding where to put them. My guess is that most of it will be going upstairs, as we are starting to run out of room in the downstairs apartment. Not that it is cluttered with furniture, etc, everywhere or anything like that, but more that in order to prevent it getting too cluttered it is better to put it upstairs instead where there are more spaces to put them. We shall see.
I also got my winter tires over, which is a good thing. :)
It was great having my parents over for a visit, but it was also a bit exhausting entertaining guests for 4 days straight. Now, it may not sound like much to some, but neither my girlfriend nor I are used to having people staying over for that long. My parents did their best to help though and they were good guests. My girlfriend had it a bit rougher than I did as she was having trouble sleeping. Though those problems started before my parents arrived. My father-in-law was kind enough to drive them, and me as I tagged along, around to different places so they could play tourists a bit and see the different sights. I would have done it, but I have not really learned to find my way to all these different places yet, so I am glad he was able to help. It also gave my girlfriend a chance to lie down and rest while we were away.
We also celebrated our engagement together with my parents while they were here, and they brought with them engagement presents (and a couple of birthday presents) from family back home in Sweden.
My girlfriend and I are planning on trying to go over to Sweden for a visit some time before Christmas if we can. Looking forward to meeting up with some family and friends in Holmsund and Umeå when we do. :)
See you all on the other side!
torsdag 20 oktober 2016
A nice day & some thoughts
Greetings from the other side.
Today is the day my parents arrive for a visit from Sweden. Not sure what effect that will have on my blogging in the next few days, but if I have time I will try to post something at least.
It's been a busy but very good day so far. I had a really good day at work and got to spend the time there with some wonderful and kind people. :) After work we have been cleaning the house and getting everything ready for my parents arrival tonight. They will be bringing a few things over from Sweden for me. Things such as the winter tires for my car, a book case, and a few other pieces of furniture. Though I can honestly, at the time of writing this, not quite remember what it all was. Oh well, I will be reminded soon enough.
It has been a beautiful autumn day outside today. The sky is finally blue again after a few days of thick cloud cover, there's been very little wind and the outside air has felt crisp and cool. Today would have really been a perfect day for a long walk, if we had had the time to do so. Granted, I should probably rest my knee a bit when I am not working as well, to give it as much recovery as I can, so going for a walk might still have been out of question anyway.
Things have now calmed down in the house, and now we are just settling down to relax while we wait to go pick up my parents at the ferry terminal. 4½ hours worth of boat ride can be quite boring at times. Trust me, I know from experience. Though that can vary quite a lot. Some times it feels like the minutes are crawling by, and other times it actually goes by relatively quickly. I am fairly glad that my girlfriend and I don't have to make that journey every time we want to see each other anymore. It was well worth it at the time though, but it is nice to have reached another stage in our lives together, and not having to be apart like that anymore.
My old choir is performing in my old church this evening at a fair trade-themed music café that is being held there. I really wish I could go and listen to them, and meet my old friends. Unfortunately that is not possible, but I wish them all the best.
That's it for me for this time.
See you all on the other side!
Today is the day my parents arrive for a visit from Sweden. Not sure what effect that will have on my blogging in the next few days, but if I have time I will try to post something at least.
It's been a busy but very good day so far. I had a really good day at work and got to spend the time there with some wonderful and kind people. :) After work we have been cleaning the house and getting everything ready for my parents arrival tonight. They will be bringing a few things over from Sweden for me. Things such as the winter tires for my car, a book case, and a few other pieces of furniture. Though I can honestly, at the time of writing this, not quite remember what it all was. Oh well, I will be reminded soon enough.
It has been a beautiful autumn day outside today. The sky is finally blue again after a few days of thick cloud cover, there's been very little wind and the outside air has felt crisp and cool. Today would have really been a perfect day for a long walk, if we had had the time to do so. Granted, I should probably rest my knee a bit when I am not working as well, to give it as much recovery as I can, so going for a walk might still have been out of question anyway.
Things have now calmed down in the house, and now we are just settling down to relax while we wait to go pick up my parents at the ferry terminal. 4½ hours worth of boat ride can be quite boring at times. Trust me, I know from experience. Though that can vary quite a lot. Some times it feels like the minutes are crawling by, and other times it actually goes by relatively quickly. I am fairly glad that my girlfriend and I don't have to make that journey every time we want to see each other anymore. It was well worth it at the time though, but it is nice to have reached another stage in our lives together, and not having to be apart like that anymore.
My old choir is performing in my old church this evening at a fair trade-themed music café that is being held there. I really wish I could go and listen to them, and meet my old friends. Unfortunately that is not possible, but I wish them all the best.
That's it for me for this time.
See you all on the other side!
onsdag 19 oktober 2016
Sleepless night & busy day
Greetings from the other side.
I didn't sleep very well last night. First I couldn't sleep at all and found myself getting a bit frustrated about it. I am normally a person who will fall asleep fairly quickly, but last night I just couldn't. Honestly I have no idea why either. Once I had finally managed to fall asleep I was plagued by nightmares. I wish I could remember them, but I can't. I just know that I had them. Unfortunately my girlfriend didn't sleep too well last night either, so we are both a bit out of it today. She probably a bit more than me, unfortunately. Hopefully we will both be sleeping better tonight. Especially since we need to pick up my parents at the ferry terminal when they arrive from Sweden at 11:30 pm local time. My girlfriend isn't much of a night owl, so normally she would be in bed by that time, but I need her to guide me to the ferry as I have only driven there once, or rather from there, as it was when I arrived here in Finland 2½ months ago and we drove from the terminal to where we now live. Since then I have learned to find my way to various places, but I have not had a reason to drive to the ferry yet, so it's at times like this that I get a chance to learn.
In preparation for their arrival we have been shopping for groceries and other things today. It is amazing how much stuff you need to feed 4 people for 4 days, and then also enough stuff to last us after they have gone back home again until we go shopping again at the end of next week. It feels good to have it done though.
I have found a couple of apps for my cell phone now that I can use to help me learn some Finnish words. I am not expecting any miracles though, and I know they will only teach me words. Grammar and actually forming sentences beyond very simple ones like "My name is...." and ""How are you?" is probably beyond the scope and capabilities of these apps. They are better than nothing though, and hopefully over time I will at least be able to learn to understand some of what is said to me. It is an interesting challenge, I think. Especially since Finnish is so different from any other language I have studied in the past. My previous languages being (apart from Swedish, because that is my native tongue), English, German, Icelandic and Japanese. As far as German goes, I understand it pretty well, but it has been years since I had any training in speaking it so my ability to find the words and forming sentences will most likely be very rusty. As for Icelandic and Japanese I only studied that for a short while and haven't really been using them since, so beyond a few words I wouldn't expect much.
See you all on the other side!
I didn't sleep very well last night. First I couldn't sleep at all and found myself getting a bit frustrated about it. I am normally a person who will fall asleep fairly quickly, but last night I just couldn't. Honestly I have no idea why either. Once I had finally managed to fall asleep I was plagued by nightmares. I wish I could remember them, but I can't. I just know that I had them. Unfortunately my girlfriend didn't sleep too well last night either, so we are both a bit out of it today. She probably a bit more than me, unfortunately. Hopefully we will both be sleeping better tonight. Especially since we need to pick up my parents at the ferry terminal when they arrive from Sweden at 11:30 pm local time. My girlfriend isn't much of a night owl, so normally she would be in bed by that time, but I need her to guide me to the ferry as I have only driven there once, or rather from there, as it was when I arrived here in Finland 2½ months ago and we drove from the terminal to where we now live. Since then I have learned to find my way to various places, but I have not had a reason to drive to the ferry yet, so it's at times like this that I get a chance to learn.
In preparation for their arrival we have been shopping for groceries and other things today. It is amazing how much stuff you need to feed 4 people for 4 days, and then also enough stuff to last us after they have gone back home again until we go shopping again at the end of next week. It feels good to have it done though.
I have found a couple of apps for my cell phone now that I can use to help me learn some Finnish words. I am not expecting any miracles though, and I know they will only teach me words. Grammar and actually forming sentences beyond very simple ones like "My name is...." and ""How are you?" is probably beyond the scope and capabilities of these apps. They are better than nothing though, and hopefully over time I will at least be able to learn to understand some of what is said to me. It is an interesting challenge, I think. Especially since Finnish is so different from any other language I have studied in the past. My previous languages being (apart from Swedish, because that is my native tongue), English, German, Icelandic and Japanese. As far as German goes, I understand it pretty well, but it has been years since I had any training in speaking it so my ability to find the words and forming sentences will most likely be very rusty. As for Icelandic and Japanese I only studied that for a short while and haven't really been using them since, so beyond a few words I wouldn't expect much.
See you all on the other side!
fredag 14 oktober 2016
The passage of time
Greetings from the other side.
Another week has almost passed now. Where did it really go? Time seems to fly by ever since I moved here. I can't believe it has already been almost 2½ months since I moved from Sweden to Finland. I guess the fact that time is flying by rather than slowly trudging along is some form of proof that I am happy here and enjoying myself though. In all honesty I am happy here. I have job that I like, a wonderful fiancee, good people around me, and Finland is a nice country. Just two years ago I would never had thought that I would be where I am today. Since then I have moved country, gotten a job there, and gotten engaged to be married to a wonderful woman, to name just a few things. Life, and God, works in mysterious ways some times. You can never fully know what life will throw at you next. Though I suppose that is part of what makes life interesting as well. Imagine if we knew all the things that would happen to us in our lives. Wouldn't that be boring? And somewhat scary as well? Imagine knowing when you were going to die, and how it would happen? Or knowing in advance of a serious accident you would be in - also knowing that there was nothing you could do to change or prevent it? I wouldn't want to know anything like that.
My parents will be coming over for a visit next weekend. Looking forward to that. They will also be bringing with them my winter tires, which will probably be needed soon. This will be their first time visiting us here since my move, so it will hopefully be nice for them to see where I live and what it is like here. :)
My knee is feeling much better now, which is a HUGE positive in my life right now. It isn't fully well yet, but in the last day or two it has been making big strides towards becoming well again. Hopefully it will be fully recovered by Monday when I start working again. :) It has taken almost 2 weeks for the knee to recover. Granted, in the first week I did still work even if I wasn't able to work full-on at my normal pace.
This weekend my fiancee and I are going to go sing with a choir that she is a part of. I am looking forward to it, though I still miss my old choir, Cantare, back in Umeå. This new choir doesn't have a name yet, from what I understand. I am sure it will be fun though, and some other members of my fiancee's family are part of it as well, so there will be familiar faces there. I hope my voice is up to scratch for them though. Always a bit nervous about these things at the beginning.
See you all on the other side!
Another week has almost passed now. Where did it really go? Time seems to fly by ever since I moved here. I can't believe it has already been almost 2½ months since I moved from Sweden to Finland. I guess the fact that time is flying by rather than slowly trudging along is some form of proof that I am happy here and enjoying myself though. In all honesty I am happy here. I have job that I like, a wonderful fiancee, good people around me, and Finland is a nice country. Just two years ago I would never had thought that I would be where I am today. Since then I have moved country, gotten a job there, and gotten engaged to be married to a wonderful woman, to name just a few things. Life, and God, works in mysterious ways some times. You can never fully know what life will throw at you next. Though I suppose that is part of what makes life interesting as well. Imagine if we knew all the things that would happen to us in our lives. Wouldn't that be boring? And somewhat scary as well? Imagine knowing when you were going to die, and how it would happen? Or knowing in advance of a serious accident you would be in - also knowing that there was nothing you could do to change or prevent it? I wouldn't want to know anything like that.
My parents will be coming over for a visit next weekend. Looking forward to that. They will also be bringing with them my winter tires, which will probably be needed soon. This will be their first time visiting us here since my move, so it will hopefully be nice for them to see where I live and what it is like here. :)
My knee is feeling much better now, which is a HUGE positive in my life right now. It isn't fully well yet, but in the last day or two it has been making big strides towards becoming well again. Hopefully it will be fully recovered by Monday when I start working again. :) It has taken almost 2 weeks for the knee to recover. Granted, in the first week I did still work even if I wasn't able to work full-on at my normal pace.
This weekend my fiancee and I are going to go sing with a choir that she is a part of. I am looking forward to it, though I still miss my old choir, Cantare, back in Umeå. This new choir doesn't have a name yet, from what I understand. I am sure it will be fun though, and some other members of my fiancee's family are part of it as well, so there will be familiar faces there. I hope my voice is up to scratch for them though. Always a bit nervous about these things at the beginning.
See you all on the other side!
onsdag 12 oktober 2016
A morning bird story & a bit on stress and relaxation
Greetings from the other side.
The day started quite interestingly, as my girlfriend opened up one of our closets and a small bird flew out. Poor little thing was so panicked. We managed to confine it to one room, and then I went in and opened the window so it could get out. It must have been a terrifying experience for the little bird, feeling trapped and not really knowing what was going on or who us giants were. We have found where we think it got in, and we are now taking measures to make sure it doesn't happen again.
One aspect of living in the country side that I find very relaxing is looking through a window and watching all the small birds fly and jump around outside. You feel a lot closer to nature and the natural world out here, than I ever did while I was living in a city. Though Umeå as a city did have quite a lot of forested areas within the city as well. It still wasn't the same as this though. That's not to say I didn't enjoy living there either. It was a nice city to live in, and I highly recommend people to go there if they haven't been there already. It's also a good place to study if you are a student. Though I should probably stop talking about this before I start sounding like an advertisement. Just saying it how I feel having lived there for many years. :)
Now onto the subject of stress and the importance of relaxation.
Stress is such a negative thing for us humans, at least in too high quantities it is. A bit of stress is fine, for the most part. Excessive amounts of stress however is part of the issue with today's society. And different people have different thresholds for how much stress they can handle. People get burned out, stressed out, suffer from depression and anxiety because of stress and the weight of expectation. I know this because I have been there myself in the past. As have my girlfriend, and many others. Therefore I think it so important to find those peaceful moments in life, enjoy them and cherish them. Being able to just relax for a moment is so incredibly important. Some people have a day a week, for example Sunday, that is devoted to rest. No, I am not talking specifically about Christians here, as that doesn't hold true for all Christians. It is more the idea I am talking about. Having a day devoted to rest, relaxation and re-charging of your inner batteries can be so incredibly important. I'm not saying you should stay in bed all day or just lay around on the couch watching movies. What I mean is that it should be a day where you do things that you enjoy, that aren't stressful to you or weighted down by a bunch of "musts" or "have to"s. Living in the modern society can be very stressful to a lot of people. There are a lot of expectations, work, etc. So having a day when you can just relax can be incredibly important.
I am not saying that letting yourself rest one day a week will keep you from burning out. All I am saying is that it can't hurt to focus on yourself and the things that make you happy and relaxed once in a while, rather than the things that you "should" or "must" do. I think that is good for your soul.
See you all on the other side!
The day started quite interestingly, as my girlfriend opened up one of our closets and a small bird flew out. Poor little thing was so panicked. We managed to confine it to one room, and then I went in and opened the window so it could get out. It must have been a terrifying experience for the little bird, feeling trapped and not really knowing what was going on or who us giants were. We have found where we think it got in, and we are now taking measures to make sure it doesn't happen again.
One aspect of living in the country side that I find very relaxing is looking through a window and watching all the small birds fly and jump around outside. You feel a lot closer to nature and the natural world out here, than I ever did while I was living in a city. Though Umeå as a city did have quite a lot of forested areas within the city as well. It still wasn't the same as this though. That's not to say I didn't enjoy living there either. It was a nice city to live in, and I highly recommend people to go there if they haven't been there already. It's also a good place to study if you are a student. Though I should probably stop talking about this before I start sounding like an advertisement. Just saying it how I feel having lived there for many years. :)
Now onto the subject of stress and the importance of relaxation.
Stress is such a negative thing for us humans, at least in too high quantities it is. A bit of stress is fine, for the most part. Excessive amounts of stress however is part of the issue with today's society. And different people have different thresholds for how much stress they can handle. People get burned out, stressed out, suffer from depression and anxiety because of stress and the weight of expectation. I know this because I have been there myself in the past. As have my girlfriend, and many others. Therefore I think it so important to find those peaceful moments in life, enjoy them and cherish them. Being able to just relax for a moment is so incredibly important. Some people have a day a week, for example Sunday, that is devoted to rest. No, I am not talking specifically about Christians here, as that doesn't hold true for all Christians. It is more the idea I am talking about. Having a day devoted to rest, relaxation and re-charging of your inner batteries can be so incredibly important. I'm not saying you should stay in bed all day or just lay around on the couch watching movies. What I mean is that it should be a day where you do things that you enjoy, that aren't stressful to you or weighted down by a bunch of "musts" or "have to"s. Living in the modern society can be very stressful to a lot of people. There are a lot of expectations, work, etc. So having a day when you can just relax can be incredibly important.
I am not saying that letting yourself rest one day a week will keep you from burning out. All I am saying is that it can't hurt to focus on yourself and the things that make you happy and relaxed once in a while, rather than the things that you "should" or "must" do. I think that is good for your soul.
See you all on the other side!
torsdag 6 oktober 2016
Autumn Reflections & some other bits
Greetings from the other side.
Autumn has really painted this place in a lot of beautiful colours by now. Sadly the leaves don't stay on the trees for very long, but the ones that fall instead cover the ground in a beautifully coloured carpet, that rustles so gently when one walks through it. Autumn feels like a great time for reflection and inner soul-searching. If you are an artistic person I am sure you can find a lot of inspiration in the beautiful natural scenery and colour-palette that the world around you is painted in. For someone like me, who loves writing as well as creative and philosophical thinking, autumn is a time for reflection and philosophy. Granted, I think each season has its charms, and they are all beautiful and wonderful in their own way. My advise to anyone is to go outside, preferably away from the city to a place where you can be in natural surroundings, and just take a deep breath of cold, crisp autumn air. Let the clouds, the sky, and the colours of your surroundings fill your senses. It is a very serene and calming feeling. Just let go of your troubles for a little bit and enjoy the moment. It is very important to take moments. Moments of relaxation and serenity. Moments of introspection and meditation. Take a moment to realize just how beautiful our world really is. Regardless of whether you believe that it is God's creation or not, one thing I think we can all agree upon is that it is a beautiful place and we should all try and take care of it as best we can. It is our home, and currently the only world we have. It is our responsibility to look after it. :)
In other news pertaining more to my life here in Finland:
My knee is still aching. I have pushed through at work this week however, rather than calling in sick. If I did, none of my work would get done. At least if I am there I can do SOME of my work, if only at a slower pace than normally. At least I am not in constant pain, but the knee still feels stiff, sore and swollen. It looks a bit swollen as well. At least I am getting today and tomorrow off plus the weekend due to only working 60%, so that is very useful when I have these issues. I hope my knee will get better before Monday. Otherwise I might have to go and have it checked out.
My girlfriend and I went shopping earlier today and we had some errands to run as well. My knee wasn't too happy, but we got everything done. We are now set for having some of my girlfriend's family and friends over for engagement coffee on Sunday. Too bad none of my family are able to attend, but with the ferry out of the water for a two week period, that wasn't going to happen anyway. My parents will probably come over for a visit towards the end of this month anyway, so we'll get to celebrate with them then. :)
My knee seems to have survived all the walking between shops, etc, but my calf is really tender and tense. I think the poor thing has been taking the brunt of me limping around. So now I will let it rest as much as possible together with the knee. I am noticing that the knee usually feels best when I wake up in the morning, probably because it has been resting all night and not had any strain put on it for a few hours.
One of the things we managed to get for me today was a new phone! Yes. I finally have a finnish phone number. I still need to actually put the SIM card in, etc, but the fact that it is here now feels great. I didn't have much hope considering how things have gone previously when we have tried to get a cell phone for me. Happily we were more lucky this time around. Hopefully this means the end of overly expensive phone bills for my girlfriend when she tries to call or text to me.
I have not been able to go home to Sweden for a visit since I moved here some 2 months ago or so. It's a shame, but it is the way it is. I am feeling quite at home here, and I know I will get to go home soon enough. :) Now that I am not working so much I have more time to take a trip across the water. :)
I am also making slow progress with the finnish language. Due to a busy schedule and other things getting in the way, as well as me not having found a good app or other thing to help me study the language, I have only been able to take small steps so far. Learning a word here and there, and my father-in-law gave me some great tips on finnish pronunciation. I am not setting my sights too high, or aiming for impossible things, but I am hoping I will be able to at least understand it in the future, and make myself understood as well, even if I perhaps won't be able to hold too advanced a conversation. :) We shall see how it goes!
See you all on the other side!
Autumn has really painted this place in a lot of beautiful colours by now. Sadly the leaves don't stay on the trees for very long, but the ones that fall instead cover the ground in a beautifully coloured carpet, that rustles so gently when one walks through it. Autumn feels like a great time for reflection and inner soul-searching. If you are an artistic person I am sure you can find a lot of inspiration in the beautiful natural scenery and colour-palette that the world around you is painted in. For someone like me, who loves writing as well as creative and philosophical thinking, autumn is a time for reflection and philosophy. Granted, I think each season has its charms, and they are all beautiful and wonderful in their own way. My advise to anyone is to go outside, preferably away from the city to a place where you can be in natural surroundings, and just take a deep breath of cold, crisp autumn air. Let the clouds, the sky, and the colours of your surroundings fill your senses. It is a very serene and calming feeling. Just let go of your troubles for a little bit and enjoy the moment. It is very important to take moments. Moments of relaxation and serenity. Moments of introspection and meditation. Take a moment to realize just how beautiful our world really is. Regardless of whether you believe that it is God's creation or not, one thing I think we can all agree upon is that it is a beautiful place and we should all try and take care of it as best we can. It is our home, and currently the only world we have. It is our responsibility to look after it. :)
In other news pertaining more to my life here in Finland:
My knee is still aching. I have pushed through at work this week however, rather than calling in sick. If I did, none of my work would get done. At least if I am there I can do SOME of my work, if only at a slower pace than normally. At least I am not in constant pain, but the knee still feels stiff, sore and swollen. It looks a bit swollen as well. At least I am getting today and tomorrow off plus the weekend due to only working 60%, so that is very useful when I have these issues. I hope my knee will get better before Monday. Otherwise I might have to go and have it checked out.
My girlfriend and I went shopping earlier today and we had some errands to run as well. My knee wasn't too happy, but we got everything done. We are now set for having some of my girlfriend's family and friends over for engagement coffee on Sunday. Too bad none of my family are able to attend, but with the ferry out of the water for a two week period, that wasn't going to happen anyway. My parents will probably come over for a visit towards the end of this month anyway, so we'll get to celebrate with them then. :)
My knee seems to have survived all the walking between shops, etc, but my calf is really tender and tense. I think the poor thing has been taking the brunt of me limping around. So now I will let it rest as much as possible together with the knee. I am noticing that the knee usually feels best when I wake up in the morning, probably because it has been resting all night and not had any strain put on it for a few hours.
One of the things we managed to get for me today was a new phone! Yes. I finally have a finnish phone number. I still need to actually put the SIM card in, etc, but the fact that it is here now feels great. I didn't have much hope considering how things have gone previously when we have tried to get a cell phone for me. Happily we were more lucky this time around. Hopefully this means the end of overly expensive phone bills for my girlfriend when she tries to call or text to me.
I have not been able to go home to Sweden for a visit since I moved here some 2 months ago or so. It's a shame, but it is the way it is. I am feeling quite at home here, and I know I will get to go home soon enough. :) Now that I am not working so much I have more time to take a trip across the water. :)
I am also making slow progress with the finnish language. Due to a busy schedule and other things getting in the way, as well as me not having found a good app or other thing to help me study the language, I have only been able to take small steps so far. Learning a word here and there, and my father-in-law gave me some great tips on finnish pronunciation. I am not setting my sights too high, or aiming for impossible things, but I am hoping I will be able to at least understand it in the future, and make myself understood as well, even if I perhaps won't be able to hold too advanced a conversation. :) We shall see how it goes!
See you all on the other side!
lördag 1 oktober 2016
Cell Phone Adventures & Life
Greetings from the other side.
The weekend is here again, after another week of work. Starting on Monday things will be a bit different for me as my job now goes down to 60%. I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I have more time on my hands to do other things, and admittedly some of those things will probably involve more work in other places. On the other hand my salary also goes down to 60%. That is less good, but as I said I can fill it out with working extra at other places, so we should be fine.
We had a lot of errands to run yesterday. Included in that list of errands were to get me a finnish cell phone so that the people living here wouldn't have to call 'abroad' every time they were trying to reach me on my swedish phone. Turns out it isn't that simple to get a phone when you are newly arrived here in Finland. I can buy a cell phone if I pay the whole sum for it up-front, something we had decided was too big a sum to splash on a phone right now, all things considered. That just left us with one option: paying in installments. Granted, they did have that option - you could buy one and pay over 6 or 10 months - but it requires me to have lived in Finland for a minimum of 3 years. 3 years. To buy a cell phone. And my girlfriend couldn't get it in her name either as she is currently recovering from her burn out and is thus, technically, still considered unemployed. The fact that I have employment, a salary, and would have no problems paying for it didn't matter at all. So technically together we meet all the pre-requisites: I have a steady job and a steady income, and she has lived here all her life. Unfortunatelly that wasn't enough.
We are still going to try calling and asking Sonera (service provider) whether there is something we can do with them. Why Sonera? Because of the fact that with them I can call in all the Nordic countries (or it might just be Sweden and Finland, I'd have to double-check) without paying extra. If that doesn't work I might just have to buy the phone at some point when I am back home in Sweden visiting instead. Which, considering I will now only be working 60% in my main job, will probably be a bit easier to find time for.
The weather has been pretty up-and-down this past week. We've had a rainstorm one day, sunshine the next day, storm winds the following day, etc etc. You can definately tell that the autumn is here. It is quite beautiful out here this time of year with the trees donning their autumn-dresses. Especially when set against a clear, blue sky.
The house is getting into better and better shape with regards to the two floors. Soon we will hopefully be able to have people from Sweden come over to visit, something I am definately looking forward to! :) We have brought in the book case now which will get assembled soon.
That's it from me for this time.
See you all on the other side!
The weekend is here again, after another week of work. Starting on Monday things will be a bit different for me as my job now goes down to 60%. I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I have more time on my hands to do other things, and admittedly some of those things will probably involve more work in other places. On the other hand my salary also goes down to 60%. That is less good, but as I said I can fill it out with working extra at other places, so we should be fine.
We had a lot of errands to run yesterday. Included in that list of errands were to get me a finnish cell phone so that the people living here wouldn't have to call 'abroad' every time they were trying to reach me on my swedish phone. Turns out it isn't that simple to get a phone when you are newly arrived here in Finland. I can buy a cell phone if I pay the whole sum for it up-front, something we had decided was too big a sum to splash on a phone right now, all things considered. That just left us with one option: paying in installments. Granted, they did have that option - you could buy one and pay over 6 or 10 months - but it requires me to have lived in Finland for a minimum of 3 years. 3 years. To buy a cell phone. And my girlfriend couldn't get it in her name either as she is currently recovering from her burn out and is thus, technically, still considered unemployed. The fact that I have employment, a salary, and would have no problems paying for it didn't matter at all. So technically together we meet all the pre-requisites: I have a steady job and a steady income, and she has lived here all her life. Unfortunatelly that wasn't enough.
We are still going to try calling and asking Sonera (service provider) whether there is something we can do with them. Why Sonera? Because of the fact that with them I can call in all the Nordic countries (or it might just be Sweden and Finland, I'd have to double-check) without paying extra. If that doesn't work I might just have to buy the phone at some point when I am back home in Sweden visiting instead. Which, considering I will now only be working 60% in my main job, will probably be a bit easier to find time for.
The weather has been pretty up-and-down this past week. We've had a rainstorm one day, sunshine the next day, storm winds the following day, etc etc. You can definately tell that the autumn is here. It is quite beautiful out here this time of year with the trees donning their autumn-dresses. Especially when set against a clear, blue sky.
The house is getting into better and better shape with regards to the two floors. Soon we will hopefully be able to have people from Sweden come over to visit, something I am definately looking forward to! :) We have brought in the book case now which will get assembled soon.
That's it from me for this time.
See you all on the other side!
onsdag 21 september 2016
Reflections under an overcast sky
Greetings from the other side.
Another fine day of working in the sunshine. Well... not quite "sunshine", more like "cloudy overcast", but it has been a nice day none the less. The temperature outside has been decent, though unfortunatelly, because of the overcast, the grass isn't drying very well, which is causing me some issues with the machines that are supposed to cut said grass. It's been a struggle at times, but eventually I got some done at least.
It has been a day of quiet contemplation while working. There is something almost meditative in loosing yourself in thought while you work. Some times it can even help you solve a problem you have been struggling with for a while, or it can give you new inspiration for something. For me, both things were true today. I was able to figure something out that I have been pondering for a while now, with regards to my world-building, and I also found inspiration for something new which I could add to it.
The weeks just seem to be rolling by. It's monday, and then suddenly the week has passed by again. I guess it is a good sign that I am enjoying myself here, but at the same time sometimes I wish that time would slow down a little. At least on occasion. The weekends would be a good time to do it in. Though I have a feeling that would be asking for too much.
We're still unpacking and moving stuff, little by little. My working long days does put a little break on it, but we'll get it all done eventually. We also need to get the upstairs ready as well, as we did move some stuff from there downstairs. Soon enough we will be able to have people from Sweden visiting. Something I am quite looking forward to! :)
Time for me to go help out with the dinner.
See you all on the other side!
Another fine day of working in the sunshine. Well... not quite "sunshine", more like "cloudy overcast", but it has been a nice day none the less. The temperature outside has been decent, though unfortunatelly, because of the overcast, the grass isn't drying very well, which is causing me some issues with the machines that are supposed to cut said grass. It's been a struggle at times, but eventually I got some done at least.
It has been a day of quiet contemplation while working. There is something almost meditative in loosing yourself in thought while you work. Some times it can even help you solve a problem you have been struggling with for a while, or it can give you new inspiration for something. For me, both things were true today. I was able to figure something out that I have been pondering for a while now, with regards to my world-building, and I also found inspiration for something new which I could add to it.
The weeks just seem to be rolling by. It's monday, and then suddenly the week has passed by again. I guess it is a good sign that I am enjoying myself here, but at the same time sometimes I wish that time would slow down a little. At least on occasion. The weekends would be a good time to do it in. Though I have a feeling that would be asking for too much.
We're still unpacking and moving stuff, little by little. My working long days does put a little break on it, but we'll get it all done eventually. We also need to get the upstairs ready as well, as we did move some stuff from there downstairs. Soon enough we will be able to have people from Sweden visiting. Something I am quite looking forward to! :)
Time for me to go help out with the dinner.
See you all on the other side!
lördag 17 september 2016
Another 'Moving' Story
Greetings from the other side.
Today has been a busy day here at the house. We have been moving floors to live in the downstairs 'apartment' instead of just upstairs. We are not done with the moving yet, but most of the big stuff has been carried to where it needs to go at least. There's still work to be done getting everything in order though, so still some time before we are done. It feels good to finally be able to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel though. We will still be utilizing the upstairs apartment however, and it will also serve as a place for guests to stay when I have people visiting from Sweden. :)
Been very tired after this past work-week, and my body has been aching a bit in the last couple of days. Especially my back has felt a bit sore. So I was a bit hesitant about carrying all the heavy furniture today. It went by without a hitch though, but tomorrow will definitely be a day or rest for me. We had some glutenfree pizza for dinner, together with my girlfriend's parents, after we were done to celebrate. I can assure you all it was delicious! :)
My weight keeps going down, which is good. So far I have lost about a kilo every week, and two kilos this past week. I am also noticing that I feel lighter, which is good. :) I am putting it down to my girlfriend's healthy cooking, and the physical nature of my work which has me working outside all day.
This will have to conclude my post for today, as I am very tired.
See you all on the other side!
Today has been a busy day here at the house. We have been moving floors to live in the downstairs 'apartment' instead of just upstairs. We are not done with the moving yet, but most of the big stuff has been carried to where it needs to go at least. There's still work to be done getting everything in order though, so still some time before we are done. It feels good to finally be able to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel though. We will still be utilizing the upstairs apartment however, and it will also serve as a place for guests to stay when I have people visiting from Sweden. :)
Been very tired after this past work-week, and my body has been aching a bit in the last couple of days. Especially my back has felt a bit sore. So I was a bit hesitant about carrying all the heavy furniture today. It went by without a hitch though, but tomorrow will definitely be a day or rest for me. We had some glutenfree pizza for dinner, together with my girlfriend's parents, after we were done to celebrate. I can assure you all it was delicious! :)
My weight keeps going down, which is good. So far I have lost about a kilo every week, and two kilos this past week. I am also noticing that I feel lighter, which is good. :) I am putting it down to my girlfriend's healthy cooking, and the physical nature of my work which has me working outside all day.
This will have to conclude my post for today, as I am very tired.
See you all on the other side!
torsdag 15 september 2016
Reflections on the present
Greetings from the other side.
Another week is slowly coming to an end. It still surprises me how fast time seems to move since I moved over here. I know I have been here over a month now, but it doesn't feel like it. In a strange way it simultaneously feels like I have been here forever and like I have only been here a week or so. It's the strangest feeling, but I suppose it is ok anyway. I am enjoying it here, which is the important thing. I do think about my family, relatives and friends back home in Sweden from time to time though, wondering how they are doing, and looking forward to when they can come visiting me here in Finland.
I haven't been able to go back home to visit yet, and it might still be some time before that can happen. There's a lot going on at the moment with work, preparing the downstairs apartment, every day life stuff, etc. I'm not sure exactly when things will slow down enough for me to come visiting over a weekend or so. Thing is, I also work some weekends, which also narrows down the options a bit. I will when I can though.
I am slowly learning to find my way around over here, which feels nice. :) It gives a whole different sense of freedom when you know you can find your way around without getting lost.
I have started making friends over here though, slowly but surely. Also, going off with work yesterday was really rewarding as I got to meet and talk to a lot of new people. One 'part' of the experience was entirely in finnish, but luckily people were very helpful with translating and explaining to me what was being said. I do think I need to try and learn some finnish at least, so I am not completely lost when someone speaks finnish to me. Though someone did say to me that looking at me while someone was talking finnish, you would never guess that I was completely oblivious as to what was being said. It looked like I understood it.
I think that will be all for today. It's been another day of hard work and I am feeling quite tired.
See you all on the other side!
Another week is slowly coming to an end. It still surprises me how fast time seems to move since I moved over here. I know I have been here over a month now, but it doesn't feel like it. In a strange way it simultaneously feels like I have been here forever and like I have only been here a week or so. It's the strangest feeling, but I suppose it is ok anyway. I am enjoying it here, which is the important thing. I do think about my family, relatives and friends back home in Sweden from time to time though, wondering how they are doing, and looking forward to when they can come visiting me here in Finland.
I haven't been able to go back home to visit yet, and it might still be some time before that can happen. There's a lot going on at the moment with work, preparing the downstairs apartment, every day life stuff, etc. I'm not sure exactly when things will slow down enough for me to come visiting over a weekend or so. Thing is, I also work some weekends, which also narrows down the options a bit. I will when I can though.
I am slowly learning to find my way around over here, which feels nice. :) It gives a whole different sense of freedom when you know you can find your way around without getting lost.
I have started making friends over here though, slowly but surely. Also, going off with work yesterday was really rewarding as I got to meet and talk to a lot of new people. One 'part' of the experience was entirely in finnish, but luckily people were very helpful with translating and explaining to me what was being said. I do think I need to try and learn some finnish at least, so I am not completely lost when someone speaks finnish to me. Though someone did say to me that looking at me while someone was talking finnish, you would never guess that I was completely oblivious as to what was being said. It looked like I understood it.
I think that will be all for today. It's been another day of hard work and I am feeling quite tired.
See you all on the other side!
tisdag 13 september 2016
Moving in mosquito land
Greetings from the other side.
Short post from me today, as it has been a long day, and I have to make an unusually early night because I have to get up extra early tomorrow morning.
Lots of mosquitos around today. Been working outside all day, and most of the work has been done in a cloud of mosquitos. They haven't been a major issue all summer, but now all of a sudden they are back in force for some reason, and have been for a little while now. I wonder if it's the same thing back home in Sweden? I'll have to ask.
Not counting the mosquitos though, it's been a very nice day with warm, sunny weather. A bit more wind to keep the mosquitos away would have been nice, but I suppose you can't have everything.
Things are shaping up ahead of the move downstairs. We have gotten a couple of furnitures in, and my girlfriend and her mother is trying to sort out the curtains. Slowly but surely it is getting to the point where we can finally move in there. :) Not that we have any issues living in the upstairs apartment. That will still be in use after we move downstairs. It is just that it will be nice to have a proper bedroom and an 'office', and it gives us an opportunity to create a home for 'us', where some of my stuff can also find a room to be.
See you all on the other side!
Short post from me today, as it has been a long day, and I have to make an unusually early night because I have to get up extra early tomorrow morning.
Lots of mosquitos around today. Been working outside all day, and most of the work has been done in a cloud of mosquitos. They haven't been a major issue all summer, but now all of a sudden they are back in force for some reason, and have been for a little while now. I wonder if it's the same thing back home in Sweden? I'll have to ask.
Not counting the mosquitos though, it's been a very nice day with warm, sunny weather. A bit more wind to keep the mosquitos away would have been nice, but I suppose you can't have everything.
Things are shaping up ahead of the move downstairs. We have gotten a couple of furnitures in, and my girlfriend and her mother is trying to sort out the curtains. Slowly but surely it is getting to the point where we can finally move in there. :) Not that we have any issues living in the upstairs apartment. That will still be in use after we move downstairs. It is just that it will be nice to have a proper bedroom and an 'office', and it gives us an opportunity to create a home for 'us', where some of my stuff can also find a room to be.
See you all on the other side!
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