Cultural Learnings of Life For Make Benefit Glorious Humanbeings

New Address!

2008-01-10T22:33:00.000-08:00

Decided to ditch Blogger and shift to Wordpress instead. More room to experiment with cool features 'n' such.

Cultural Learnings will continue here.

New Year, New Year

2008-01-02T04:27:00.000-08:00

This year has started in a rather controversial way. We spent the weekend relaxing by the beach down south, surrounded by all the tropical beauty this country holds. Very nice getaway it was! This morning I was back to business getting my hands into work, when I was reminded of the rotten side of the paradise. We heard a loud blast, which then turned out to be a bomb in the vicinity, right around the corner to where I get off the bus in the mornings. Luckily I had already walked past the place and arrived safe to my desk. However, after some wondering and head shaking everyone was quickly back to their tasks and the event became nothing more than a lunch table topic. But yea, what to do? You just get past it and continue. Panicing does not help much. And one cannot become terrorized by such happenings, since that is exactly what the terrorists are after.

When coming back from the South, there were ,like always, many of these “fixer”guys, who want to help you to get whatever services you seem to lack, approaching us on the Galle bus stand. One tried to lure us into paying for an extra seat for our bags. Luckily we are not dumb tourists who will fall for such, but we just went across the road and waited until the guy had pissed off. Meanwhile we were approached by another dude generously offering his tuk-tuk services. I guess we were so aggravated by the previous rip off attempt that I managed to sound quite arrogant when telling him we are not interested. The guy gave a minor litany about how “We are people too and you Westerners should not be so obnoxious and keep your head high”. A point well made, definitely. I do regret showing such an attitude. One has to be firm, but always polite.

Then again, afterwards I prepared a whole speech I could have burst out on him (which I luckily didn’t at the point). I mean sure, I understand, things are difficult here for many and people try to earn their living in all ways possible. Still the current reality is not my or any other Western expats fault. As I shouldn’t take my frustration on locals, neither should they on us. Not to mention the pointless war that has gone on for over two decades and which is seriously holding back the vital development steps this country could be taking. We try to help in various ways, but what I feel is the problem in many aid programs in general is the lack of action by the receiving country. In many cases the money allocated falls into the hands of corrupted officials or other crooks and criminals of the nation in question. The reality in the receiving country is often much more complex than we in the west can see. Therefore we need more commitment from the countries themselves. And somehow we need to expand that commitment even more on the local levels. Go there where the people in need are and show them that they indeed can make a difference in their own lives.

Still, life here goes on and I have a good 1,5 months time to experience many of the positive things this wonderful country has to offer. I refuse to get too upset and shocked by such unfortunate events. Nevertheless, I wish everyone a happy and prosperous New Year 2008.

Jingle Bells!

2007-12-21T02:53:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

I just wanted to take a brief moment to wish you all a great holiday as well as a good kick start for the year 2008. May you celebrate in peace, eat like there is no tomorrow and have a good rest after all those holiday goodies. Enjoy the closeness of your loved ones, family, friends or what ever random company you are spending your holidays with. Christmas is becoming more and more precious in the modern world as it remains in many places the only annual period when one has the chance to meet family members and friends returning home from which ever part of the country or world they currently dwell.

For me, this Christmas is a chance to experience a different kind of tradition, in stead of reuniting with old friends I will get to share a versatile set of traditions and strengthen the sense of community with people I quite recently just met...and in a country where Christmas is not celebrated by the majority of people. Even though I'll miss being home with my family and friends, I still very much look forward to it. We'll be having a little party at our house and also go to the midnight mass in one of the catholic churches here.

So enjoy your time off and see you next year!

Pondering Along

2007-12-18T00:31:00.000-08:00

I know, I’ve been talking quite enough about how different the culture and pace of life here is. Still, every day I seem to encounter something new I have been taking for granted but which here certainly isn’t that obvious. Take Nadeesha, my colleague for example. She just happily told me that her brother was visiting from the UK. And that was not just only another happy reunion, but it had been five years since she last saw him. I mean, think about not seeing a family member in five years...Quite rare where I come from, unless you are not talking to each other.

On Saturday we had a company function, a cricket tournament. Cricket here is holy. It’s like there is no other game. Where ever there is a piece of field there are always some youngsters batting the ball. Strangely enough the national sport of this country is volleyball…

So, there we were on the field, DJ spinning some tunes (actually, I’m sure there must be some kind of a universal DJ set, since the same stuff always gets played no matter the city, country or continent.) and people relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. Now, here I want to point out two differences. Firstly, the event was on a Saturday. Now let’s think about it. How many people in the West would voluntarily “sacrifice” one day of their weekend to do anything company related? I have to guess. Err…not that many. A good example: the outdoor activity day that we organized at Infosys. 9 co-workers out of 250 something actually showed up.

Secondly the cricket part was not there only as an excuse to booze and party (at least not for the majority). The first pitch was to be thrown at 7:30AM. All though there was a tap and the beer was free, you could only spot a few people actually enjoying this treat (including myself and Teresa, my German colleague-to-be). It was quite delightful for a change to attend a company social event where drinking was not the main issue. Or, you know how the supposed main issue is something you just look forward to getting done with (usually some boring official ceremony) to be able to move on to the climax of it all, that being the party afterwards.

Sing, Sing, Sing

2007-12-05T21:50:00.000-08:00

I though of describing my current mindset through a selection of songs, namely the following:

Mercedes Benz - Janis Joplin

Janis sings about getting a bunch of fancy (useless) stuff to get happier. The boom of capitalism here is striking. Everyone advertising and selling... trying to pursue for a better life by utlizing the slightest possibility to make instant money. So it seems. And yes, in the middle of all the poverty & pollution, my mind wonders on all those cheap wonderful things I absolutely need to get to myself before I leave.

Welcome to the Jungle - Guns 'n' Roses

Ahhaha, this is obvious... Indeed, jungle it is. Everymorning I wake up to the sounds of god knows how many different birds' all but harmonous singing. The noices, the smells the thunder and rain, all in the middle of a busy capital city. Man, the only thing that lacks is Tarzan and his Jane. And, nope. Cannot "escape" it to the office. Just got freaked out by a cockroach next to my feet...

Car Wash - Rose Royce

Ok so, this is a bit dumb maybe, but remember the part where the chorus sings " Just work and work and work and work..." That's what I am doing. Quite a routine here, but it's cool. Like the song, cheerful not depressing.

Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien - Edith Piaf

Hmm... whatever the pain, there is always a gain. So no regrets!

Some Excitement

2007-11-28T20:47:00.000-08:00

Not to make life too peaceful or anything the rebels decided to provide us with some excitement yesterday. Not to worry though, it didn't make my life personally any more exciting. I only heard of it in the evening when returning home. This morning I jumped on the bus as usual and that's it. Striking here is that the locals seem to be totally uninterested in the matter. Whenever violence occurs in Finland, they will most likely hold memorials for many consequent years. Can you get used to such happenings? Apparently. Oh, this world of madness...

The 'How To' Guide For Colombo Traffic

2007-11-21T23:32:00.000-08:00

By following these simple steps you will be able to survive home in one piece.

1) Preparation
Assume nothing. The Colombo traffic is a symbiosis of cars, lorries, busses, mopeds, bikes, tuk-tuks, pedestrians, cows, dogs, cats, chicken, bugs,... Yes, there are lanes, but like I said...Assume absolutely nothing.

2) Stepping out
Once you have set yourself on the correct mindset you are ready to take the first step out. First thing that hits you is the nastily polluted air created by the symphony of all those particles mentioned. As a pedestrian you are also exposed to the open air garbage which add a nice scent to the combination of different smells. However, you quickly get used to that. When on the street, remember to keep your eyes on the road as there are numerous hazards on the way, like unexpected holes. And for the jokesters out there, it really isn't that funny to slip on a banana peel.

3) Crossing the road
Now here, you need to develop a bit more advanced strategies. My advice... Human shields. Cross the road with more people and position yourself on the covered side. Don't forget to change in midway. And for us continental Europeans, note that the person should be on your right.

4) Public transportation
...means tuktuks and busses. The first are very convenient and surely easy to encounter in any corner of the city. Remember to look reluctant to the price suggested as it is never the last offer. Usually the "real" price, or also known as the "local" price, is half of that the driver is trying to get. They usually give up easy and a resonable price can be negotiated.
When it comes to busses, they too are an ok means for moving yourself from A to B. Be prepared to jump in and out without hesitation as the time on busstops is sometimes equivalent to a microsecond. You can also opt to jump out in traffic jam, traffic lights or whenever the bus is sloving down enough. The doors are always open. Busstops can be best recognized by the crowds gathering on one spot on the street. And that is about the only way of recognizing them... Also, be prepared to loud and frequent honking.

5) Driving
Don't urge...

Spirituality and Snake vomit

2007-11-19T01:39:00.000-08:00

I am not quite sure how to begin this blog posting. I would have wanted to write earlier, but somehow I’ve been too busy (doing nothing). Life here goes on. It has been almost three weeks since my departure from Brno. You know, you get into the daily routine and just numbly watch days go by. It has more or less been like that ever since. No major culture shocks so far. Some minor ones though, but those are about to come anyway. Just watch and learn.

Sri Lanka is in many ways a troublesome society. It has quite notable poverty rate, lot of homeless people, is affected with natural hazards, speedy inflation, I could go on. One thing however, that makes Sri Lanka a respectable society in my eyes is that it hosts people from 4 major religious backgrounds. The Buddhists, the Hindus, Muslims as well as Christians all live in peace and have their temples and churches set around the land. Yes, there is a conflict in the country, but as it so seems, not initiated purely by religious motives. Modern day Sri Lankans incorporate their spirituality into their everyday life by popping into the temple or spending a moment in front of the numerous altars (according to their respective religion) along roads. Everybody is free to choose their direction and act upon it.

We watched today the movie Road to Guantanamo, a very powerful survival (true)story about three British/Pakistani youngsters sent to the infamous American prison camp.
This movie, or more like the actions leading to its making, serves as a good reminder of what religious narrow mindness can cause. People need some degree of spirituality to balance with the everyday demands. However, no one should ever involuntarily accept a certain spiritual view. It should be everyone’s personal choice, be it God, mother nature, neighbour’s cat or whatever source of guidance one chooses to turn to. Current world order sees a division into two. For the extreme Islamists provoking the acts of terrorism only a single truth exists as does for the American white ruler Jesus freaks. Conflicts rise when all parties refuse to see beyond their beliefs. In the end, there is no certainty about the existence of something divine what so ever.

Oh yes, to finish off with a little random peculiarity. Saturday we went to the beach here in Colombo. Nothing spectacular there, just a shore a bit outside the center. Locked by the crowds spending their weekend afternoon, there were a bunch of different vendors and other entertainers. (Trust me, it can get kinda entertaining to try to get rid off them sellers of this ‘n’ that.) One guy came buy trying to amuse us with a cute monkey on a leash (for sure it had rabies…) and a boa snake around the shoulders. Well, needless to say we weren’t that amused. The charmer even revealed a cobra (of which I later heard that the poisonous teeth were removed) from a basket he was carrying with him. Still no sight of amusement from our site. Well anyhow, the most “amusing” part of that episode was to see the gigantic snake throwing up.:) I mean, that poor thing had probably just finished his dinner and wasn’t let to have any post meal siesta before it was already dragged along to hang on its master’s shoulders. For crying out loud… Let them snakes eat in peace!

And Then Something Totally Different

2007-11-06T23:49:00.000-08:00

Sri Lanka is a country one can hardly describe. It is a land of controversies. Being the origin for the word “serendipity”, which is some kind of term for a happy coincidence, it is also the battlefield for a long and bloody civil war between the two major ethnic groups – the Sinhalese and the Tamils. The city of Colombo is a buzzing beehive with millions of inhabitants, yet strangely not as chaotic as one could imagine, at least if compared to the neighbouring India’s enormous metropolises. I have never been in India, but I can imagine Sri Lanka being like a more relaxed “little brother”. Anyway, here I am already for a week and by far I am doing just fine.

Our apartment, which I share with 7 other trainees is very nice and comfortable. My work is situated in a kind of “Wallstreety” area in the centre. I take the bus everyday, which is not necessarily as simple as it sounds. Especially the way back around 6PM takes quite long. To ride a few kilometres way takes sometimes more than a half an hour. And at the rush hour it is usually packed so you might end up standing at the very verge of the door step holding onto whatever handle you can reach to. Busses come and go when it suits them. There are no schedules what so ever. But then again, it is quite convenient so. They will come eventually anyway.

I could write a thesis about all the peculiarities one comes across here. Like I said this is an environment of huge controversies. I saw a billboard advertising nutritious puppy food and at the same time you see all these stray dogs chewing whatever they can stick their teeth onto. You see luxurious cars driving alongside with crappy busses full with people, limbs sticking out of the open windows. There are wonderful beaches and 5 star hotels but if you venture a bit further the beach turns into a dumpster and the hotels into shanty towns.

Oh yes. Yesterday afternoon, when getting back from work I experienced yet another difference. It rained…like hell. I mean it was like a huge tap would have been turned open in the sky. I was running the last few hundred meters and got totally soaked of course. Now I know that one should never leave home without an umbrella here in Sri Lanka.

All in all, coming here is an adventure. It is an opportunity to shake my beliefs, my worldview, my assumptions on what makes life go on. I am in the situation of doing some in-depth evaluation of my priorities and direction. I’ll do my best to enjoy the upcoming 3 months or so here. I do miss Brno a lot but after some immediate tears and heartache, I am adapting bit by bit. The work here is definitely better. I have already learned a lot of things and look forward to further expanding my knowledge as I go on.

God damn mosquito is eating my legs. Hehe, those bastards are one of the nuisances of the otherwise lovely warm environment. Well, not that anything is ever perfect…

Epilogue - Brno

2007-10-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

Some eight months or so ago I would have never imagined that leaving Brno would be this hard. Correct. I am leaving this town for at least some time (or maybe for good, who knows…). I remember like yesterday, how I sat on the buss on my way from Vienna on that dark March Sunday night. After a never ending ride in the darkness, I was finally greeted by our beautiful illuminated land mark, the Petrov Cathedral. However, the town seemed kinda gloomy there and then. I was early so I sat on the bench on the buss stop hoping that no local crazy person would approach and start harassing me or anything nasty like that. Luckily the only person to approach me was Eva, our VP ICX, who took me to my first home, Trybova 4. From there I then rebounded through Pellicova 27 flat to the Zabrdovicka Inc. where I have been happily living till now.

A lot has happened during those months but most importantly I’ve met some wonderful people, with who I have the pleasure to share all my experiences. The Brno people, other trainees, colleagues, local friends, AIESEC folks etc. are the glue to keep each other going in times of home sickness, disappointments, frustration and other tough moments. The same way, this crowd highlights the good times and sharing those brings an extra edge on the joy we experience here. Gosh, did that sound cheesy or what! :) But that's how I see it. I hope I will be able to meet as many of you again somewhere somehow.

I have experienced how it is to be different. Even if I in one of my posts claimed that Czechs and Finns aren’t that different, there are still differences enough to make you ponder. One of the greatest skills of a humanbeing is to be able to detach oneself from the context and question one's own behavior. Why do I think like this? Why do I act like this? What is it in this environment that makes me thinks/say/do these things? I personally have gone through the whole scale of emotions from wanting to kill myself to those belly tickling infatuations. It only proves that every single moment of my stay here I've been very much alive. I have learned alot, if not as much professionally as I would have wanted, but certainly about myself as a person. I am leaving this place with still some words unspoken, some things undone, some questions unasked, some answers unfound. But all the same, I am leaving with my heart and soul full of fantastic memories. There has always been something to do, someone to go with, someone to talk to. I will miss the parties, the trips, walks, talks, the laughs, coffee & beer moments, random hanging out with friends, answer searching sessions :) and so much more. Leaving is tough, yes, but the longer you stay the tougher it will get.

So thanks guys!! I will miss you all…

The upcoming Monday I take off from Vienna airport and hope to land safely to Colombo Sri Lanka.

Message In a Bottle...

2007-10-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

Gosh, it is the middle of October 2007. I am 26 years old. I am making this note into my virtual diary, a blog as they like to call it. My diary lies on a complex collection of electric circuits that form a huge parallel universe, a web that is world wide. After 10 years or so there probably won’t be any remark of this line ever been written. The memory remarks in the network are vulnerable, they fade as quickly as they are written there. Tons of digital content, hypertext, audio, motion, etc. populate the bands every second. My posting is nothing but a whisper in the digital cacophony.

During the past year I think I've gotten less than 10 touchable messages; cards, letters ‘n’ such. Maybe a few cards before Christmas, two from my mom from her travels and one from a friend when I graduated. I think there were no letters what so ever… No, hold on. Yes, I got a letter with some pictures from Anja, a German friend. All together these cards and especially the letter are the most memorable ones of all my messaging. Hmm… of course I didn't respond to this letter the same way, but by sending an email.

I am sometimes dead scared of what will happen should the www one day stop existing. There goes all my correspondence, my contacts, my networks. Heck, that would be a true catastrophe! It is a kinda scary thought that all my stuff is scattered around the world on different servers, to which basically anyone can have access, if knowing how. But yea, mobility is the trend of the day and it so seems that I am changing my address every few months. It would be very difficult to keep everyone updated of addresses etc. stabile things. In the virtual universe one is always at reach.

Sometimes All You Need Is an Elvis Impersonator To Make You Happy

2007-10-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

It happened some two weeks ago. Me and my flatmate were heading home after again one stressful week at work. We decided to take a random walk in the centre before stepping into the tram. The main square seemed like a nice place to loiter for a while as the local wine producers’ autumn harvest festival was still going on. There were little booths selling local produce as well as all sorts of carnival stuff, like balloons. There was also a stage hosting all kinds of cultural performances to keep the crowd entertained. Anyhow, we were walking towards the square, kinda bored and just minding our own thoughts when we heard some familiar music. At that point we noticed “Elvis” climbing up to the stage in full Elvis gear looking as Elvis as an Elvis could look. We ended up following the whole 45 minute performance despite of the rainy and cold weather. The voice and moves where there and this Elvis totally rocked his Czech audience. Heck, he even spoke the language! :) The slightly bored after work feeling of ours was quickly wiped away. So it only needed one Elvis impersonator to shift our moods to the weekend gear.

There would have also been some additional entertainment available, but we saw the add too late... :)

Speaking of Which...

2007-09-28T03:51:00.000-07:00

Europe in terms of rest of the world is a weird place. So many countries stuffed in such a small area. And almost all of these countries have a distinctive language that only people on their side of the border speak and understand. Like Czech. Once crossing the border it is almost impossible to get the message through with any other language than the country’s native. Same goes to many other countries. Take for instance the US. Ok, there are many people who are not born Americans, but nevertheless, it is probably quite a challenge to come across with any other language than English (or nowadays increasingly also Spanish). But of course… everyone knows English, or at least should, right? Nay. Actually only in our office there are folks that alongside with their native Czech (or Slovak or whatever other) master perfectly e.g. German or Dutch but when speaking English with them you notice that you are not on the same level. This was something that I first found very peculiar here. In Prague I even met a medical student who spoke two languages: Czech and Finnish! Of all the languages, he had chosen to learn the latter. Respect!

My friends from back home spent a good 5 days here last week, so I got to practice my Finnish again. I mean, it takes some few seconds of mumbling when talking it after a long time, eg. if mum calls or something. Funny. Even if I was exhausted as hell after an intensive period of shouting, joking, laughing and going crazy in my native language, I really did enjoy it. There are still so many more ways to express yourself in your own mother or father tongue. And it makes absolutely no sense to try to explain the funniness to someone else. It is also a good “oral code script” when strolling around in the city. Or actually nowadays one has to be a bit careful as us Finns, we find our way everywhere.

In general, it is fascinating to try to figure out the origins of certain words. My colleague who is studying linguistics told that for example the Swedish word for Doctor “läkare” was somehow stolen from Czech language (lekár) by the vicious northern conquerors during the 30 year war. Even if it would only be a myth, it works fine as cool story :). I have also come a cross several Slavic words that I can somehow link to Finnish. For example the following:

FI: leipä = CZ: chleb (bread)
FI: lavitsa (pretty old word) = CZ: lavicka (bench)
FI: saiju (used by my Carelian Granny) = Caj (tea)
FI: lääkäri = CZ: lekár (doctor)
FI: puoli = CZ: polo (half)
FI: ananas = CZ: ananas (pine apple)
FI: pusu = CZ: pusu (a kiss)

Ok, this list is not long, but there are many more…

Socialising 2.0

2007-09-14T05:56:00.000-07:00

Got myself updated on a whole new level of social behaviour… Created a profile on Facebook. I tried to boycott it till now as I thought the Brno bars and clubs were a social utility enough to connect me with the people around me. However, gotta say that the application seems quite smart and I am happily mingling with my past and more current peers. These applications are like parallel universes, where you can easily spend the whole day offering your friends virtual drinks and all sorts of other bling bling. I mean, I probably won’t become that a heavy user, but still it is a fun toy to “spy” what those more distant friends and acquaintances are up to these days. Comes in handy, especially in times of globetrotting.

But what really irritates me are these virtual “shopping windows” where the more exhibitionistic people like to post flirty pics of themselves for others to rate. How many teenage girls have had their week ruined just because someone rated their hot shot as 8.0 instead of 9.0 (that went to the slightly slutier class mate). Those are some serious self esteem traps there. One of the platforms or whatever that is pissing me off these days is the Finnish IRC-Galleria. It started off as a good idea, but which now is totally taken over by teeny people. You upload idiotic photos with even more idiotic comments. Lol, ihq! And then you have the slightly older folks ( read: men) drooling over those hot little lolita pics. Yak! Jeziz Maria!

But yea, I will still try to maintain as much as live connection as possible with my local crowd here. Brno bars still act as my main utility for socialising. But for the virtual reference…In addition to facebook I also “exist” in such more pro networks as Xing and LinkedIn. So maybe we'll meet again in the virtual universe!!

Autumn Blues

2007-09-08T01:44:00.000-07:00

Wow, on Saturday a week ago summer was officially over. This week has been so cold and rainy and just plain crappy. It really gets you down. Luckily the weekend seems to be a bit nicer. Blaah... It'll rain soon anyway... Man, I am such a weather oriented person. I think I take after my mom in this. Our moods are totally programmed according to how the weather conditions are. Sunny equals happy, rainy equals cranky. She even keeps a some sort of weather diary. Hehe, but enough of the weather. Gotta go waste another lazy Saturday :)

2007-08-23T05:32:00.000-07:00

Tres cappucinos por favor!

I had the pleasant opportunity to charge my batteries on a week and a half holiday. Then again, usually my holidays are not all that quiet and relaxing as I like to hit off as soon as I slam the byro door. This time I choose to explore Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia. Obviously, the time being so scarce, one can only see a few things in each place. But never mind that, I am more a “wonderer discoverer” than a devoted tourist exhausted ticking off sights one after another. What this means is that I do not necessarily need to see a single monument, museum or fancy building. I like to walk on the streets and simply absorb the vibes of that particular place. Live & enjoy the moment there and then, observe the people on their daily dealings, become part of the flow and what not. Therefore my favourite holiday spot is easy to find in practically everywhere… All I need is a good café (or whatever joint that has something to attract me in). I was travelling with Marta and Djura, my two colleagues from Infosys and every day we made sure that there is enough time for coffees.

As I passed quite a few borders, saw quite many places and even visited some sights, it makes no sense to try to capture the moments on this posting. I will upload photos in here. Just some words about the journey. I started in Budapest, where I met Pepez and Dora again after some years I suppose (needless to say…but felt like only yesterday). They were so kind to let me stay in their flat. Thanks!! The purpose of my visit to beautiful Budapest was not just to see the city, even if it is always lovely to return there. I decided in the spring that as I now live so close I should visit the Sziget festival. Experiencing it a few times before, it has definitely set the standard high of how a massive party should look like. But, yea my feelings after going there this year remain twofold. On the other hand it was fantastic to go there again (and also to meet Jarmo, an old friend from those times!) But then again, I sure could notice the presence of those years gained in the meanwhile. I am definitely older and more tired than I was 6 years ago. Also the festival had grown and one could hardly hear any Hungarian spoken among the crowds of all the international guests flooding in. Was in the end quite overwhelming. Hence, it was finally somewhat a relief to jump on the train and continue to the Croatian seaside. We had not planned this part that well, so we decided on the spot to go to Pula, which is located in the peak of the Istrian peninsula. We stayed in an ok hostel directly by the beach and did not see much effort of lifting our limbs from there during those two days.

The Slovenian capital Ljubljana really made an impression on us. I mean, if you have the chance, visit it! So beautiful and cosy. Slovenia is an interesting little country very much resembling its neighbouring Italy and Austria than its former comrades on the eastern side. And the country has it all: little bit of Mediterranean sea side as well as mountains as the Alps are stretching in from the North. Typically for a small country, all the people seem to know at least two languages (the other of them being mostly English) I was shocked by the lady in the post office who with clear English asked if she could help me somehow. I mean, that would not happen here in Brno, ever.

Travelling always awakens the appetite to go further. It can be bit of a downer to finally start heading home after the journey. I am already planning the next holidays. Too bad there is a thing called work preventing me from going on...

2007-08-20T05:30:00.000-07:00

Culturally yours

Many people who actually managed to drag themselves outside Europe, you now... willing to express REAL cultural differences, are keeping far more interesting blogs about their strange encounters. I however keep noticing similarities and would like to take a moment to report on those. Maybe I've mentioned some of them before already, but hey! "repetition is the mother of learning". Firstly Czech (and okay also Slovak) people are totally fanatic about ice hockey. This is one of the rare Central/Eastern European hockey countries. Well there might be a team from like Ukraine in the world championships, but these are always just among the appeticers for the real games during the final week of the tournament. Czech and Slovak teams, or usually at least one of them, go to the final six. Relating to ice hockey, I was told that the Czech ice hockey dudes usually date the beauty queen chicks, something which also is an interesting similarity (there are a lot of these "Miss this and that" contests here, again another common feature).

Another very common interest between the Finns and the Czechs is (aber natuerlich!) beer. Finns just don't know how to make it, whereas the Czechs seem to master the art perfectly. This is unfortunately also noticed by my belly as well... (It is growing… damn!)

Czechs are real outdoor people. Virtually almost everyone owns a tent and other sort of camping gear. In the city there are always many people who look like they are either coming or going to some outdoor activity. There are many very nice hiking routes, and what is striking to me is that one can quite easily hike from a village to another in just a few minutes. In a vast land like Finland, it is hardly possible. Hiking routes are also excellent for biking. The locals seem to love it. Where I am used to using a bike as a cheap and healthy means of transport, here you actually take the bike (+ your nice professional looking biking outfit) and perform an activity called biking in the nature. Back home, you already are in the nature and just bike along without any fancy gear. Anyway, the love for nature and outdoor activities is common for us, never mind the little differences in environment and habits.

2007-07-27T01:56:00.000-07:00

Music and parties

It’s been a long time again since writing. But what can I say, life just flows by so damn quickly these days. Like every summer us Nordics tend to count the few valuable summer days passing by. And as another July passes turning the summer towards its end, we hold on to a slight hope that August and September might bring by another set of sunny days. Last week was a good reminder of why I actually prefer the Nordic summer +20 C something weather. A heat wave struck us big time. And as we live on the 5th floor you can only imagine. Living in constant +30 degrees where opening the windows makes it only worse and the falling darkness doesn’t make it any better either, just isn’t my thing. You happily stay in the AC:d office for long hours and only go outside to warm up, when the artificial cool gets a bit too hard on you.

The past weeks of July have brought by some nice musical experiences. We packed our tents for the weekend and headed to Colours of Ostrava. Saw and heard some really cool artists there!! And I remembered again how much fun it is to discover new music. And from all over the world. Salsa + celtic tunes = ultimate dance experience!! That served as a great warm up for Sziget Where I am heading in a good two weeks time.

The musical experiences continued this Sunday when for whatever reason the legendary rock cocks, The Rolling Stones decided to pay Brno a visit on their tour. Great show!! Now that is what I call passionate attitude towards work. The guys seemingly enjoy what they are doing. This is a group with a respectable work moral. Fans go first. I have seen quite a few gigs already, and unfortunately find myself getting sometimes slightly cynical and judgemental in terms of tricks on gigs. You know, the kind of person who stands and listens whether all tones are in sync and the levels mixed evenly. Still the RR managed to surprise me with a cool trick – a sort of travelling part of the stage with which they sailed right into the middle of the crowd to sing such hits as Satisfaction. Pretty neat! Also while we in the audience were moaning about our stiff legs and backs, Mick Jagger jumped around like a school boy with too much caffeine in the system. Gotta admire that.

In general it has been pretty calm on the party front. Not so much like spring when after the weekend I was kinda happy it was Monday so I could finally rest of all the merriness...Tomorrow however, my flatmate Michal hosts a birthday party. We are expecting around 40-50 people. So, some partying ahead again.

Btw. My good ole girlfriends finally booked their tickets here!! They are coming in September. Yey!!

2007-07-04T10:12:00.000-07:00

Far Away Friends

Two weeks ago I was very excited. I was on my way to Finland to meet up with my old "idle" friends back in the birth country. On Saturday morning I crawled out of the Stockholm "merryferry" in Turku and headed to Helsinki. Took a well deserved four hour nap and later that evening met my old colleagues Laura, Niamh and Eeva (+ got to know some friends of Eeva), enjoyed chatting accompanied with a couple of drinks. On the following day Heli came by and we went on about our dramas and happinesses as usual, like it was only yesterday. On Monday I relaxed over a cup of decent Finnish coffee and cake in my regular, the fantastic Kaisan cafe, conveniently right next to my Espoo accommodation. Continued the spacing out in the center by meeting up with Petak, sharing a pizza and a random walk around the city. Us two expats :) and later also Pike for 15 minutes or so. I continued the evening at Ansi and Akseli's place. There were discussions about new flats and jobs. So quite usual young adult/post graduation stuff. On tuesday I decided to head to the countryside and travelled to the parents' place in Laihia. Mirka accompanied me to the station through a quick coffee moment in the post house Wayne's.

On Thursday we decided to familiarize ourselves a bit more with the region, where we were raised and schooled. Took of with Sussu H. and cruised through such exciting little towns as Vöyri-Maksamaa and Oravainen. Lovely sceneries! See the pics :) There is also video footage available by request... Of course, since it was the midsummer weekend, a party was in order. Since we have pretty nice surroundings at our place, we arranged a little get together with Sussu, Lasse, Sussu, Teemu, Tanja, Niko, Sanna, Miia, Arto, Mirka and Antti. Got a bit too much wine in the system, but otherwise was fun!!

So my point is... I want to thank all you my lovely friends who I had the chance to meet during my brief stay. Catching up with you was great and means a lot to me. Until the next time!

2007-06-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

Back in the North

Hi! I am touring a bit in Scandinavia during the upcoming fortnight. First in Sweden for business, then off to Finland for a week's holiday. Yey! Gonna enjoy the sea and experience the lovely overnight ferry trip from Stockholm to Turku (no cabin...) on Fri 16th June. Staying over for midsummer festivities (BBQ and chilling in Laihia...feel free to join :)) and heading home to Brno on the 24th. Reachable on my Finnish cell. Over and out.

2007-05-30T05:58:00.000-07:00

Finn pride

Living in a post-communistic country has somewhat provoked the inner patriot in me. My colleague asked me if we in Finland celebrate the national day as we came to talk about the subject due to next week’s Swedish national day. I was explaining her about the traditions and noticed that my tone increased in burning passion as I went on about how we actually call it independence day instead of national day, and why that is. In comparison with the Swedes we Finns are sure more of patriotic kind (Where as Swedes are “the worrying kind” :)) due to our tumultuous history. Living in a country that was suppressed by the Soviets, and now experiencing the influence of this period of history, has made me appreciate the WWII Finnish defence, and the fact that we did not get invaded, even more.

Patriotic spirit is visible in the smallest things. I hear a Finnish song on the radio, or notice that they sell Panda liquorice in Tesco, or that someone knows some random Finnish athlete etc. And as the cherry on the top of course, watching the spectacle of the year, ie. Euroviisut (eurovision) 2007 made me purr like a cat that has sipped in a plateful of cream. I mean that show really rocked! Not that I would boast about anything aloud (or at least I try not…). Honestly, I find that annoying. I am here myself to learn about a different culture, not to emphasize my own. Anyhow, noticing these things is something that keeps me attached to my home country and maybe brings about an even stronger connection. It is in fact so that many times one has to drift apart from the background in order to feel more connected.

P.S. I uploaded more pics…

2007-05-16T08:05:00.000-07:00

Free Floating

I have managed to adapt to the pace of weeks going by pretty well by now. I go to work on a Monday morning and, wooooshhh… it is already Friday afternoon. Then again, and even quicker, another Monday morning. Honestly speaking, I feel quite stagnated. Work is far from anything spectacular and all the parties are fun though, but nothing special there either. I am not learning the language very actively, nor taking active steps forward on any other area. More so, I’ve been slaying myself of not seeing enough effort to build up from here. I mean, I graduated and all that, but it is supposed to be just the beginning, right?

However, yesterday was an important milestone in some ways. I finally managed to drag my lazy ass to the gym. Oooh, whatta feeling!! I have missed the muscle ache that hits you on the following day, the anticipation, the sudden burst of self esteem that comes along with the dripping sweat. I definitely feel more energetic even after one go. Maybe it will have a positive affect on other areas as well. The language especially… How peculiar that one can get so used to not understanding…

Btw. How is everyone? The now “idle” people, that I used to hang out with while in Finland. Funnily enough, I am so used to this routine over here and the people around me, that honestly speaking I do not actively think about you guys that often. BUT, it for sure doesn’t mean that I don’t care. Just normal adaptation I guess.

2007-05-04T07:32:00.000-07:00

Fundamental Q & A

I realize it now, the importance of self discovery and planning one’s life on at least some level. Doing time abroad is a marvellous way to initiate this process. I have come to notice that I really have to develop my determination to things. I never would have thought, but I am in many ways a people pleaser, a sort of “yes yes person”. If someone asks me would you like to do something in the afternoon/evening/tomorrow/29th of May, I tend to agree before considering. Or I just vaguely mumble “maybe”. The time scope of planning my free time is easily only a few minutes.

Of course there are now so many more social life opportunities (i.e. more people asking about my plans) than what I am used to. I will have to think about what it is I really want to do, not just float to some happenings even if I should be somewhere else. I am pretty exhausted right now and dream of getting a good night sleep. But no, the most likely result of my upcoming Friday evening is a hangover + sleeping late tomorrow. I did plan to go to the gym, but…

And moreover… How I ended up here in Czech Republic also demonstrates this feature. I just drifted. In stead of a clear focus of which direction I want to direct my career to, I chose the place mainly cause a big group of trainees seemed like fun and the LC had a well maintained webpage. So not that very rational reasons… Some friends and acquaintances of mine are quite developed in self organising. They have a vision. They have developed action plans. They seem to be so damn satisfied in their little development paths. I envy that…and then again not so much. I kinda like surprises. Only I like them to come in some sort of framework. That works for me. One has to discover their own way of planning things. Gotta work on that.

2007-04-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

Working it, working it

Two weeks ago I participated in a national seminar, where we had a very interesting session about the Czech culture, both in general as well as business life. This session was very enlightening and gave answers to some things that I have been wondering about. First when I started here, it seemed that there is really a lot of Indian influence in the corporate culture. Now I have noticed more and more of the little Czech bits that stand out. Sure the company is Indian and it does show, but in the daily routines it is the Czech way of thinking that prevails. I will give some examples. Many typicalities in the Czech living are still reasoned by the communist heritage. In the past the work ethic was all about obeying rules that were communicated from higher authorities. People had to stay at the work place for certain hours. In case there was no work, people had to act like they were busy. Also, questioning the working methods was not a sign of healthy critical thinking and initiative of necessary change process but basically a violation against the might authority, often with consequences. Hence, people did not get used to voicing their opinions and giving feedback. Some of this influence can still be sensed. In this company we are expected to sit tight even if the systems sometimes are not working or there is nothing to do. Luckily though here the individual opinions are not suppressed but people can actually have their say about things.

Generally if something will suck in a company, one of the most likely issues is internal communication. Here in the CZ this seems to be even more a burden, which is something that I have come a cross in various occasions. In some cases people just do not seem to care about if the receiver actually gets and understands the message, as long as it is posted somewhere. Another notion is the lack of honesty concerning some cases. For example if something agreed is forgotten (e.g. a meeting) a white lie (such as technical problems) is told rather than the truth. In my opinion honesty is an essential corner stone of any business and it should be reflected in all levels of work.

However, I am happy to see the young generation embrace the modern leadership paradigm. This country is opening up to global influence; people travel, learn and bring in the best methods. But change needs time and depending on the deepness of the issue, often several cycles of education.

2007-04-16T13:03:00.000-07:00

Daily living

Time passes...and no matter where, one always develops the daily routines. Mine are more or less the following: Around 7:30am I get up, shower, eat some breakfast kind of stuff that I manage to find from my modest storage and leave for work. I am usually at work around 9:00am (Depending on whether I catch the 8:43 buss that delivers me on time. Otherwise I take the 8:53 and am a bit late.) Then I try to keep myself occupied for the next 8,5 hours. It has been a bit hard lately though. I do not have that much to do as we are in the process of getting one project started, but as usual these things take time. So I am keeping my fingers crossed that the pace will speed up. Otherwise I'll have to conduct a serious motivation talk with my supervisor Oh, and she is now on sick leave at least for 1,5 weeks, cause here in CZ it is something like, the more you stay home the more you will earn some compensation, so a short few days sick leave makes your poor ass suffer even more! But nay! This is not me complaning. It is all ultimately part of a cultural experience.

So, after a day of "work" I come home, eat something and see if there is something cool to be done. Like drinking beer or smth. Lately I have even been considering getting a hobby, like gym or smth. Now though, I have to postpone that as well cause I am feeling a little sick. I gues I am all worn out because of the weekend extravaganza we had with a bucnh of trainees in AIESEC CZ national conference, which was held on a really beautiful site. (Pics here). Of course, there was again a lot of beer drinking...

Weekends have been not that numerous by far, but I have managed to do some traveling. Tomi was here and we went to Praha and Vienna, which are only like a reindeer's piss away. Other daily routines include little household thingies like laundry. And I was just few seconds ago reminded about this fact in the form of all my dirty clothes falling over me from on the top of my closet where I keep them.

As I have told before we are five in the flat, which I've come to notice is damn many. So practically, in the morning the place is buzzling as an early morning fish market, when all of us try to get ourselves ready. Luckily, to ease the rush hour, there are various little tricks one can do, like keep the toothbrush outside the bathroom so that you can brush your teeth also in the kitchen. So all in all, it is not that bad. And I am sure, that being alone will feel weird and I'll be missing all the hassle.

So this is my life for now. And I am liking it! :)

2007-04-04T03:56:00.000-07:00

Heja Sverige!

Thought of addressing a subject that is very close, yet often remains very unknow for us Finns. This is Sweden, our former ruler and now more or less belowed neighbor. Thanks to the historical heritage of this western buddy, Finnish students automatically posess a second language (or third, after English) from an early age on. Indeed, Sweden is to thank for various things, like hmm... establishment of universities, fine arts and other minor marks of a civilized nation. Even today, a small minority (~6%) of Swedish speaking people remain within the country. They are stereotypically merry and educated people, and hence the backbone of Finnish urban living. Whereas the aboriginal folks stay in the countryside whining how all possible hardness of life is focused on them. But like said, these are just stereotypes and in the real life we are all a happy family. Heja, heja, heja! Och helan går!

However familiar one would think Sweden is, I still found some things that struck me as unfamiliar as I visited Stockholm for a week's on-shore training. Firstly, Stockholm seems very posh. Compared to us on the otherside of the gulf, Stockholm "killar och tjejer" seem to know their way around the wardrobe. Damn! Had I had more time (and...ahem, money)I would definately have done some shopping myself. I haven't been to Stockholm in ten years. Last time was on 9th grade when we made a class trip. Anyway, the weather was miserable and we as minors were more interested in how to manage the boozing on the ferry. For sure, when back in Finland (+ the time and money)a shopping trip to Sweden will be arranged. Another example, that actually sort of relates to the previous, is the amount of design and trademarks Sweden seems to produce to the world. Something for us Finns to be very envious about. I knew that most of the fashion/utility stores in Finland are Swedish (Why is it so god'damn hard to produce own brands??!!) but that so many other brands as well... Like Vagabond shoes! Hell! Third example is a bit less superficial. The people. I have always thought that Swedish people are annoyingly friendly and smily folks. Nope, they are not (Well of course the capital is always maybe a bit more extreme). They seem to be friendly enough just to make you relax and feel somewhat comfortable, and that's where it ends. I have always understood that when talking about the Scandinavian coldness it is often referred to us Finns, but I'd say that Swedes are even worse. I chatted with a Greek kiosk guy and he was complaning about the people saying that Finns are better. Also I heard that in the opinion of an foreign student the best thing in Sweden was his Finnish friends. So definately a justified change to "vetää kotiinpäin" (pull it homewards).

Now that I have generally labelled all the Swedes as cold and overly posh people. I might as well acknowledge that I do not know a single Swede. But I'd really like to, cause I am sure that despite of these stereotypes there are many lovable people to get to know to. So in case any of you read this, please contact me and let's become good friends :)

2007-03-19T14:58:00.000-07:00

Reconnecting

An organisation called AIESEC has been a part of my life for the past 5 years or so. I do not really know a clear way to explain my relationship to it or even what the whole concept of it is. I can thank this funny acronym for so many wonderful things that my past five years have included. I have gotten to experience a whole lot, and more importantly I have met many great people with whom I can share these experiences. Coming to this country is definitely one, if not the most important experience this acronym has provided me. There has also been a great deal of frustration in connection with this word. Looking back as an old, and supposedly experienced member, all that frustration has well been worth it. Now, when I think, there would have been space for even more frustration, if that would have been the price for many more learning experiences and other great things.

Last weekend I went to a local AIESEC seminar together with 5 other trainees to facilitate in a session called BODAS (be one day as...), which aim was to teach the Czech @-members something about one's country and culture. This seminar was for the newly recruited members of the local committee in Brno. I so much enjoyed watching the young new people learn about what lies behind this acronym. And knowing what all this organisation has to offer, I really hope that at least some of them do embrace the chances and go for getting the most out of it. It was great to interact with so open minded people. There really aren't that many cultural differences between the Finns and the locals, but surely I could notice some little things. Like people weren't all that shy towards us foreigners and also one a bit annoying thing... People liked to dance to slow 'n' cheesy music and especially the boys seem to enjoy dancing with all the different gals. I mean in Finland you only hear like max two slow songs in nighclubs and, those are to chace the people off before closing. Hehe, I was getting a bit bored, but at least I had some nice blokes to spin me around :) Anyway, hopefully I'll have a chance to contribute further to the local AIESEC activities during my time here. Please find uploaded some morepics from the seminar as well as my surroundings.

2007-03-12T15:06:00.000-07:00

Looking Through a Lense

In a foreign country one comes to realize how dependend we are on one another. Going abroad is supposed to be a sign of a desire for independency, showing that I can detatch myself from my usual surroundings just about whenever I want. I'd say that on the contrary, you notice how the people around you become so important. Being independent (in this context going abroad) requires a vast amount of self-confidence, which again you retain by letting yourself admit that you are weak and so much longing for contact with your peers. It is all about establishing, being open to the extreme. Something that can be hard for us stiff Nordics (there can be exceptions!). But I am enjoying it , breaking my boudaries and steadily crawling my way into the social circles.

Already in a week I have learned about myself, my character and my way of doing things. I have discovered that there are prejudices to be broken, some habits to be changed and defenitely some reflecting to be done. Going to go and start with some sweet dreaming :)

2007-03-09T12:43:00.000-08:00

Landing smoothly

Feeling the yellow liquid smoothly running down my throat... Nope, not talking about any sleezy golden shower porn movie, but of course Starobrno, the local beer, which I've already fallen in love with!! Hehe, that's about the only thing that I've had time to experience about the Czech Culture. That and oh, the language barrier. It is, apart from the few words that I've managed to catch, extremely hard. For me this is a totally new language family that I will seriously have to dive into. But I will do it! I have set a target to learn at least the basics so that I can survive in shops etc. Otherwise it seems pretty much like another European country. Brno is a compact city with a small walking center and many picturescue buildings.

I also started work on Monday, and oh, it was a very tirening day indeed. I was together with two new operational managers and I guess the program was mostly targeted for them. So I received a HC amount of general info from even the chief dude himself (a very pleasant Indian guy). By the way the company I am working for is Infosys. And more precicely I am working with a client in the field of insurance. And to be even more accurate with a Swedish customer. So intensive language training will be in place.

I live quite cosily with 4 other people. The flat is not that very big, but it has everything needed. There's even a fully equipped kitchen, albeit small. We are one Finnish girl (that would be me), one Polish girl and one Romanian girl. Accompanying us are two boys, a belgian gentleman as well as a nice fella from Cameroon. We are a happy bunch all together. By far I have only been working and running aroud trying to get the necessities, like bank account, phone card, buss card etc. organised. I guess tomorrow I'll have to go make a city tour and take some pictures to post here.

Hejdå! Ahoj! Moikka! Take care! Hasta luego! Wiedersehen! Czesc!

2007-03-04T06:15:00.000-08:00

About to Fly

Here goes... I'm sitting in the Helsinki-Vantaa airport using their splendid (albeit slightly expensive) wlan service. Somehow this activity makes me feel like a true global citizen! Yey! About to start my journey to Brno. My plain takes off in less than an hour. Heading first to Vienna then by bus to Brno. As I watch here all sorts of plains landing and taking off, I truly feel like this is my place, this is how I want my life to be for the next few years. Taking off and landing, discovering new places, new realities. On the way to the airport it hit me for the first time after returning my thesis... There are so many opportunities! The excitement grows...

2007-02-13T10:58:00.000-08:00

1st Message

Wohoo... I'm finally moving on. And that brings along a new blog. The old one has been abandoned for a good while. This time I am switching to English as I want to expand the target group :) I still do try to cherish my native Finnish which is a wonderful and very expressive language. It is quite a priviledge to be fluent in a language that only a tiny fraction understand. Speaking about such a thing... I am going be experiencing quite a handful of another such language as I move to the Czech Republic. Yep yep, globalization in all its glory... A Finn traveling to Czech Rep. working for a Swedish customer in an Indian company :) Looking forward to it.

At first I thought, well isn't it kinda lame to just stay in Europe?? But then I came to realize that this is a good way to fulfill one of my goals related to internationalizing myself. That is, to live in an old Central European town that is full of gorgeous architecture. And actually another goal of mine has been to learn (at least at some level) a slavic language. So all in all, I am on the right track here. The other topical dreams, learning to speak fluent Spanish and dance salsa like a true latina, are gonna have to stay put for a while :)

Now, on the verge of graduation, I am thrilled to move on and jump into new adventures. This life is just too short to be staying behind of all it has to offer. I now officially declare a new page being turned in my life.