Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Achey breaky, not my heart.


What a quality freeze frame of my face...

Monday, January 10, 2011

A second beginning. Sort of.

Or at least a continuation.

Hello there, pals!
It's the 10th of January. I am in my teeny little Triolo bedroom. And in fact, I'm in a near panic attack. A few minutes ago, I received an email saying that CLS program had made first round cuts for their programs this summer. Tajikistan to study Persian and Tajik this summer. I can't bear to look. I really just can't. My stomach has dropped, I feel nauseous. I have the website opened, the link for "Decision status: Your application status as of 1/10/2011" is right there. I mean, I felt I had basically very little chances of being accepted to the program, given having started Persian while in France and the French system which differs so greatly from the US one, having sent a bizarre application because of it, including two very well written and wonderful (I'm sure) letters of recommendation from my professors at UIowa, neither of whom quiiiiite met the requirement of being my Persian professor or someone who could substitute in. I had just gotten so hopeful since November 15th when I filed the application. And worse, I had had myself convinced that I would hear nothing until mid March. I even checked the website a few days ago, just to make sure, and then, "Oh, yes, yes! This says decisions in March! Everyone will hear of their decisions in mid-March."
Liars.
I just got an email WITH MY FUTURE IN ITS HANDS. In its body. Haha. Get it? Body. Body of an email...


Right so. Enough of that. We'll see how long I can feel this anxious before I check and then (I assume) feel disappointed.


Anyway..

My courses for second semester officially started today. To be honest, I don't know if Persian met today because the sheet listing times hadn't been updated, so.. Right!
I'll be taking:
Persian
Language and Space (which is a Masters course in linguistics and I am super, super excited)
Greek Cities during the Hellenistic Age
Linguistic Theory II
Introduction to Linguistic Argumentation(?!?)
Histoire de la Langue II

I've decided to axe Arabic class, simply because I felt it served me no real purpose last semester. Instead, I'll be trying to continue through my coursebook on my own.


And, all this comes in the midst of my panicked scholarship application writings for Iowa. Stressful. Too stressful. I just want to sleep.

Rosalind left today. It was sad. We've spent so much time together this past week or so... I helped take her bags to the train station, we hugged goodbye, and hopefully we'll be in touch as much as we can while she's in Caen (still in the northern part of France, but much more westerly and in/near Normandy). Maybe get together again, too!


On the bright side, a package from my parents arrived today with lots of little happy things, including cookies and other treats, some oral hygiene stuff (toothpaste, toothbrush, flossy things - I mean, really? Are you trying to tell me something?!), gloves, hand cream, a harry potter calendar, and potentially my favorites: hippo items.


So, to end on a good note and keep my panic at bay:


Hippopillow.
Some strange, bristley hippo who shall remain on my desk to induce smiles. Smiles like this: :D


P.S. I'll totally get photos of Calais, Stockholm, Tallinn, and Helsinki up here sometime this week, it's just that the photo files are big and take forevvvvver to load 5 at a time on this blogspot website.. full photos can be found at my facebook in the meantime!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Helsinki, Finland.



Helsinki, Finland.

Today was awful. Really. The most distressing one I've had in a while. Let me recount the tale...
Last evening, I stayed up to use the laptop. I needed to look up timetables for ferries, directions to my hostel, contact a longtime friend about our plans to meet up, etc, etc. The TV was on and everyone had left. America’s Next Top Model was a very serious distraction, but not as much as Criminal Minds when it came on at 1am… I got to briefly speak to my mom via facebook chat and made plans with my friend. We decided to meet at some big shopping center/bus terminal at 1pm in Helsinki. By the time I went to sleep at 3am, I was anxious about finding the ferry docks in Tallinn. In the morning, I made it to the Viking Line (the one that everyone had suggested to me) an hour too late at 9am. When I asked about the next ferry, the nice lady told me it would be at 6pm. 6. Upset, I took her advice and walked all the way around the harbor to the other ferry lines. Luckily, the next ferry was leaving at 11am. Unluckily, my US debit card wasn’t working. I used the credit card and all was fine as I sat and waited to board.
The ferry itself was pretty cool. Huge. I think I’d like to experience a cruise someday. A giant, classy hotel that takes you to new cities? My kind of thing for sure. While on the ferry, I’d sent a frantic facebook message to my friend, explaining I was behind schedule and to text me so we could sort things out. When I landed and disembarked (so nautical!), I seriously has no clue where I was. Some people at the hostel in Tallinn explained to me that simply following the road to the left should get me right into the city. I tried this, but soon became flustered. I still didn’t see any familiar streets from the map and didn’t seem vey close to the city at all. I started following signs to a metro, but then gave up and started panicking. As I stood at a corner, nearly in tears about how lost and confused I was, a Finnish man came and offered to help me. He very kindly stumbled through basic English and directed me towards the city. When I thanked him again, my eyes really did start watering, partly in my panic and partly in thanks for his kindness. I kept on marching through the snowy streets, dragging my carry-on suitcase behind me (really difficult in snow; my arm was killing me..) and eventually found myself on the map. Turns out, because I had to take a different ferry, it went to a completely different port in the very southern part of Helsinki as opposed to the East for Viking Line. I made it to Kampii, where I was meant to meet my friend Eric, after 3pm. He hadn’t messaged me, and as the place was large and busy, I decided the odds of his staying that long and my finding him amidst the mass of people were slim to no one. Really none, actually… Thus, I continued onward through the city, desperate at this point to just get to my hostel. I stopped at a tourist center to grab some brochures before I arrived at the small ferry that runs between Helsinki and the island of Suomenlinna. Ticket machines that only take change and/or credit cards? Stupid. Sooo, I used my French card (which must be dangerously low presently) and waited. I did actually make it here, though not without more problems. (I forgot to mention that I saw one street performer in the entire city and he, of course, was playing a xylophone. I teared up again…) Anyway, at the hostel, I gave her my American card, but it still didn’t work! I only had €30 cash and my French account truly probably only has €15 in it. The worker told me to go into town for cash tomorrow and pay then. I am disappointed with my room and bed, the bathrooms, and the kitchenette. To be honest, I just wanted to stay in the hostel until Friday when I’ll leave, but exploring Helsinki it’ll be!
I was, at the time, almost crying again, so upset and frustrated about the entire day. I sent my dad a text, thinking Mastercard had stopped my account, finding it odd to have charges in Estonia and Finland. I eventually accessed the wireless connection via my iTouch (which is now at about 5% of battery, but which needs to last until at least Friday so I can check my flight status and update Georgie) and checked my bank account. $19.
$19!
$19?
WHAT?!
I was boggled. In the end, I transferred money and cursed the current dollar/euro/SEK/EEK/ANYTHING exchange rate which seemed to be the root of my depleted account. I made dinner (some really disappointing instant mashed potatoes), looked through my tourist brochures, showered, wrote some postcards, and then wrote this.
My skin is so dried out it’s scary. It is cold. I’m really cranky, and all the events of today just felt really overwhelming. None of it is terrible, in retrospect, but it was so distressing initially. I do like traveling, especially on my own, but it gets lonely and stressful, specifically in the cold and in the dark. My excitement for Helsinki has been completely zapped and I find myself wishing tomorrow were Friday instead of Wednesday, and that I could skip the next two days here. But I know deep down that that is silly! I’m in Helsinki! Finland! How many people get to come here? Not many, especially where I’m from. I know that deep down, I am excited to go wander around tomorrow and see what I can find. I just need to let that excitement take over and fuel me until Friday. Friday brings with it a wonderful friend, a more than kind and welcoming family, warmth, and a real house. Company and holidays. I can hold on until then. I will, and it will be so good to relax after having fully enjoyed myself here in Helsinki, as well as Stockholm and Tallinn. Yeah.


Alright, mes amis!
Let’s recap Helsinki!
After my worst day in a while, I slept loads and then went exploring on Wednesday. These are the highlights of my excursion:

Helsinki Cathedral
-This huge white cathedral on a hill. It’s supposedly the most famous/photographed building in Helsinki. The inside was warm and churchy, but I’ll try and get to that later.

Esplanade Park
-In winter, this hosts a fairly large Christmas market. I didn’t stop and buy a cup of gölgi (hot wine) and I’m regretting it a bit. :\
National Post Office

-Lame, I know, but I love post offices and stamps. Plus, the building had about 4 different floors with shops and gifts and books and a museum! A museum that I did not enter…

Olympic Stadium
-Helsinki hosted the 25th Olympiad in 1952. Bit odd looking in my opinion, but was the result of an architectural competition.

The Sibelius Monument
-I seriously went waaaay cross the city to get to this. Sibelius is this really awesome composer who, in fact, wrote Finland. (I think this is probably why the huge concert/meeting hall here is called Finlandia Hall…) Anyway, loving classical music, I decided that it was certainly something I needed to see, despite its location on the very far west of town. I did go out and visit it. I think the design was meant to resemble organ pipes, but I could be way off. By the time I made it back towards center city, I had enough time to grab packets of pasta, clementines, and a yogurt before returning home…
….see, I’m staying on this island called Suomenlinna. It’s actually a fortress that the Swedes built in 1748 to safeguard against the Russians (totally didn’t work by the way: Russia had control of Finland for a loooong while between 1809 and 1917). Well, you can only get to and from the island by a ferry that comes every 40 minutes. I tried to stay in the city until 5:30 and then come back here. The hostel was deserted. The first night, I shared a room with three others, but last night (and it looks like tonight) I’m all alone. Though, whereas last night the hostel felt completely empty, tonight I’ve at least seen and heard people.
Today, I decided I would try to make it to the Uspenski Cathedral and the Winter Gardens, maybe do some shopping and see the national library. As soon as I stepped outside, my plans changed. My nose froze instantly. My fingers and toes went numb. Terrible. Once I made the ferry ride over, I immediately climbed to the Uspenski Cathedral, knowing I could go inside. I almost didn’t want to, though. Almost. It’s beautifully Russian-looking and imposing. Actually, it’s the largest Orthodox church in Western Europe! The inside of the building was warm and churchy, just like Helsinki Cathedral. I can’t say I’ve been in many Orthodox churches, but it definitely is different from a Catholic church. I don’t know that I could properly point out the reasons why, as I’m certainly not a specialist in the differences between the religions nor am I one in the architecture of churches, but it was different. Moreso than Tallinn’s cathedral as well, somehow. After I felt my stay had been long enough, I walked to the library. I went inside (where I had to store my coat and bag in lockers before leaving the lobby), found myself a nice desk with a window (that I couldn’t see out of …) and sat down with Harry Potter et le Prisonnier d’Azkaban. I spent an hour and a half inside before it closed at 4pm, thinking to myself as I enjoyed looking at the columns and stone pillars and the shelves of books for several floors, “Oh, hey, I’m in the National Library of Finland! How interesting!”
I tried to make myself go wander to the shopping centers, but as it had become dark, I could barely stand to be outside. (Dad just texted me and said it’s -9ᵒ here. -9ᵒF. That’s like…like really, really terribly freezing for any of you non-Americans reading this. (He also added “But it’s going all the way up to 11ᵒF t omorrow!” Thanks, Dad.)
Since being back at the hostel, I’ve made pasta, had tea, and read a lot of Harry Potter. It’s 5 minutes until 9pm. If I slept now, I could sleep 12 hours before I need to wake up… Tomorrow, check-out from the hostel is at 10am. My flight is at 7:15pm, boarding at 6:45. I need to take a bus to the airport, but I’m thinking I’ll seize all that time to arrive very early and read indoors. I plan to be to the bus station by 2pm and on a bus by 3:30. That gives me about 3 hours to find something to do between 10am and 1pm. If Dad (and weather.com spoke the truth and it does get up to a positively warm 11ᵒF, maybe I’ll ask to leave my things here and then explore this whole ‘one of the world’s largest maritime fortresses’ thing called Suomenlinna.
For the moment, I’m texting chère Rosalind, who is now in Paris after her trip to see friends in Germany. I do enjoy traveling,but the Christmas markets, songs, snow, everything really makes me miss my family and friends. I am so lucky to be going to stay with Georgie and her family in England the next few days. So lucky and so excited. Plus, I’ll get to skype home tomorrow and say hello and see everyone! :)
Bonne nuit!
(I don’t know how to say that in Finnish, or I would. In fact, all I know is that “hello” is “moi”, but I don’t even know how it’s pronounced…)



Still in Helsinki. My flight was supposed to leave 2 minutes ago. Instead of being on my way to GEorgie and happy old England, I am sitting here, wishing that this hadn’t happened. The board now reads the estimated departure time as 21:00. 9pm. Not cool, travel Gods, NOT. COOL.
Today hasn’t been anything special, honestly. Cold. (But what’s new in Fnaldn?!) I woke up, checked out of the hostel, but did decide to explore Suomenlinna. It was kind of cool, I guess, but it was too cold for me to once more and when my hair was frozen and I believed I had frostbite, I turned back. I ate some strawberry-banana yogurt that I’d bought, but it was an extremely off-putting consistency. I ate a Clementine instead. I’ve eaten 3 today. That’s all I’ve eaten except the water and sandwich I just had that was not nearly as fulfilling/delicious as its €6,40 pricetag seemed to imply. Right, I exchanged my Swedish and Estonian crowns back over to Euro. It wasn’t much, but oh well. Then I went to the bus station. There were very few benches inside where I could sit and read, so I decided I’d just catch the next airport shuttle au lieu de waiting. According to the bus, it was -11ᵒC outside, but a cozy 25ᵒC inside. Upon arrival, I hoped to check in and pass security so that I could grab some food, but after waiting in line for 30 minutes, the worker told me I couldn’t check in for another 2 hours. Awesome. I finished my Harry Potter book, which, on the bright side, means I can justify going out and buying the 4th ASAP from Auchan, but, on the downside, means I’ve nothing left to read during my 2 hour wait right this second. I did eventually get checked in. My dear face moisturizer, which has been desperately trying to save my poor, dry, cracking, hateful-of-Tallinn-and-Helsinki hands, was apparently not regulation to pass seucirty. :( So, she chucked it and I died a little inside. On the other side, security man had me open my bag for searching. I was boggled, honestly, but when he started sifting through my bag, I suddenly realized that they must’ve deemed my pyramid shaped candle (a present for the Harmsworths) a bit suspicious. The passport check area that I had to pass through to reach my gate was odd as well. The man seriously checked my passport for 2 minutes, looking at my ID page, visa, OFII page, and reading all my stamps. By the time I made it to my gate, word had just come through that our new departure time was 21:00 as opposed to 19:15. I found food, sent Georgie a message (hoping she’s received it!) and spent the rest of my time moping. The worst part is inconveniencing her and her family. They’re nice enough to host me and to pick me up from the airport, on Christmas Eve at 8pm, and now I’ll probably arrive after 10. Just makes me feel really guilty. I said I’d skype home around 9 or 10, but now it’s sure to be later. Chances are that Dad’s figured out a way to track my flight and is aware of the delay and won’t expect me on skype until later…but if not? What if my whole family is waiting to haer from me and I don’t make it there to say “Hey!” and “Merry Christmas!” I’m already a guilty person; more guilty is never a good thing. :(
This has really ruined my opinions of Helsinki, even if it isn’t at all the city’s fault.
:/

The guy at the gate is the doppelganger of the actor who plays the main character on Community. The mean one with the blond, short hair. Doppelganger Community Actor appears to be a ginger.



Christmas Market (blurry for artistic value, clearly.)
Uspenski Cathedral.
Parliament.
Sibelius Monument.
Olympic Stadium.

Tallinn, Estonia.

Tallinn, Estonia.

My flight was fine, really. Row to myself and a view of snowy Tallinn as we landed. The actual airport was really cool and modern. I was waiting for the bus to take me to the city when a man came up and spoke to me in Estonian. No idea what he actually wanted, I just kept shaking my head. I was really confused/lost for a while trying to make it to the hostel. All my getting lost makes me sound like I’m just terrible with orienting myself and directions, but I swear, I’m a real directional genius 97% of the time! Anyway, I ended up stopping in some pub type thing to ask for directions. I eventually did make it, but the actual environment had me feeling a bit uncomfortable: a seedy hidden staircase and an entryway sans lights. Inside, I met the guy who (I think) owns/runs the hostel. He’s seriously so nice. He spent about 10 minutes highlighting points of interest on the map and telling me stories about Tallinn. I went out into the city with some Italian who was really annoying. It was terribly cold out and when I made it back to the hostel to warm up, I took a nap. On waking up, I decided I would freeze if I went outside in the dark and spent the evening watching movies and reading my book. I watched several of them and now can’t remember which ones…

Today, I slept far, far too late and went to a suburb to see Kadriorg Palace, a palace that Peter the Great built for his wife. It was being restored and had lots of scaffolding in the front, but the snowed over park around it was nice as well. I exited to the big mermaid/angel statue/memorial and walked just along the shoreline to come back to the old town. I browsed some tourist shops, made extensive attempts to find a big flag, but it has in fact been unsuccessful… L

I’ve been hanging around the hostel for the rest of the evening, watching movies (A Beautiful Mind, 500 Days of Summer, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and chatting with the hostel owner man. Now writing this up. Some guy just said he’s from Dublin and when I inquired further, it turned out he’s from the same place at James! Weird coincidence. Oh man, just remembered that I have a Kinder Bueno bar in my bag. Time to eat it! Then I’ll try and snag the shared laptop so I can write down directions to my hostel in Helsinki and look up ferry times to actually get there.

Overall, Tallinn has been nice; a bit more relaxing 2 days after more of a go-go-go time in Stockholm. The cold is also holding me off from being busy, but Tallinn is quite small regardless. Oh. And apparently most of Europe is quite shut down due to snow. Here’s to hoping that by Friday, everything will be okay and my flight to Manchester from Helsinki will be on.

<3



Freedom Square
Monument to a Russian ship's crash on the shores.

Main square; Christmas Market.