Week 2.2

 Thursday  9/6/2012

Another day of class. We watched some short films, and clips of feature films. The longer piece we watched was a documentary about screenwriters. That was kind of a depressing way to start the year.  If you want to try and find it, it is called “Dreams on Spec”. I believe my instructor said the full thing is available on YouTube. Short version, it follows three screenwriters in Hollywood for a few months to watch as they attempt to sell their scripts, finish writing a script, and how they interact with the film people after the script is sold (not in this order, and all these steps for all three). I enjoyed watching it, even though for us aspiring screenwriters it seems to have a message of “better not to try”. I’m not sure if the people who created the documentary think this, but it felt like the overall mood to me. Let me know your thoughts on the documentary if you watch it.

After class, Maria and I decide to try walking a different path home.  We saw this church as we were walking and we also found the Forenom office, where I’ll be picking up the key for my apartment.

 

We find a Subway and HAVE to stop. I’m excited to see how a Subway in Finland differs from one in the US. I hadn’t eaten much lunch. The food at the cafeteria today just did not taste that good. I got the veggie lasagna and baked vegetables, but they did not taste how I was expecting and it threw me off enough that I did not like it. I ate enough to keep me going then set it aside. Now Subway looked like pure heaven. Inside we look at the menu. Yes! My traditional meatball sub is on the menu. I decide to try something new though because the Spicy Italian looks really good. I get the 15 cm (6 in. equivalent) and put on my usual stuff. I’m not sure what cheese I got because she gave me their Finnish names, but it was pale so possibly provolone. They gave me plenty of lettuce and were just as stingy on the black olives as they are in ABQ. Guacamole was not an option to add however, sadness. I ordered it as a meal, pick my cookie and she hands me my drink.

 

Oh. No offer to supersize that in Finland. Maria had errands to run so off we go. Next time I stop at Subway I’ll stay inside so I can refill my drink a few times. I was still happy to have my coke fix though. More expensive than the meals I buy at the Finlayson place, but it’s a nice treat. 7 Euros, that’s about 9 bucks, so more expensive than ABQ, and a much smaller drink. Now I know.

I spend the rest of the afternoon Skyping and trying to get my phone I bought Wednesday to work. I go to the help page and it is unhelpful but when I Google it an hour and a half later, I finally find the answer. I should have started with Google.  But now I have my phone.

 

It’s tiny, but sorta adorable? It works and that’s all I need for this short a time. Also here is a photo of the hostel in case you wanted a glimpes of the common room....

 

 

Friday 9/7/2012

 

Today I didn’t have class, but I still had to go down to Finlayson for an hour long paperwork session to apply for a grant. After that frustrating hour Maria and I set off to find my apartment over by Main campus. We find these adorable little houses.

 

They are so tiny, but so cute. And the people in that neighborhood have some beautiful gardens. I look at my map and my apartment is not in that neighborhood though so we keep walking.

And walking.

 

I’m going to live out in the wilderness of Finland! Maria tells me the name of the various trees and the wildlife. We see some crows. I had never seen grey crows before but Maria said that crows in Russia look like these guys. I posted this picture just for you Todd!

We continue our walk and see the house of one of my future neighbors.

I’ll be living near hobbits! How cool is that? Unfortunately, it isn’t my apartment so we continue on. We do eventually find my street…..

 

Then my house….Then my door!

Somebody is still living there so we don’t go in. Have to wait until Monday to see what’s inside. We have lunch at main campus and I get pizza!

It’s my sister’s favorite, pineapple and Canadian bacon (just guessing on the meat, but it looks like what we order at Papa John’s). To get pizza is 4 Euros instead of 2.70, but they also have the option of a cheaper meal if I wanted. The pizza was a pretty good size so I stayed full for the rest of the day even after all the walking we had done so I think it was worth 4 Euros.

We went back to the hostel for a while and I taught Maria and a Finnish boy how to play take-two. They did a  lot better than I would have playing a word game with a second language. Around 2 we went to the Mineral Museum and the Moomin Museum (they are in the same building). They wouldn’t let me take pictures in the Moomin Museum so the following pictures are mostly from the Mineral Museum….

Maria and I with Moomin

Got a picture of this one Moomin figure before I was told to put the camera away

 

Made out of shells, how cool is that?

They had little owl hiding everywhere. So cute! The troll figure was cute too

Leaves made of stone. What will they think of next? :D

 

It is now 4 and Maria can pick up the keys to her apartment. I help her move in and I’m ready to call it a day. Lots of walking today, but it was worth every step. Hope ya’ll enjoy the pictures!

Oh, and I found these two stores that will require more attention later…

An art store,

 And a Mexican restaurant!