Fun Quizzes + Happy New Year!!!

+ You Are an Argyle Sweater

You are contemplative, brainy, and serious. You don't take much lightly - life is too important for that. You are a very determined person. You don't let anything stand in your way. You think out your actions and act deliberately. You don't waste time, money, or resources.

What Kind of Sweater Are You?

Your Inner Child Is Scared

Like a kid, you tend to shy away from new experiences. You prefer what's tried and true - novelty is scary! New foods, new places, and new friends are difficult for you to deal with. Some say you're predictable, but you enjoy being comfortable.

How Is Your Inner Child?

And I'd love to wish all my friends:

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Snowstorm

Sob sob sob...can't goooooooo to the cabin...there's a horrible snowstorm out there. When I walked back home, I had to cover almost my entire face with my scarf since it hurt so baddddd...oh well...R2 says that we can sleep over in the cabin on Friday. I HOPE SOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I want to have a romantic evening and night WITHOUT computers and TV!!!

Anyway, wish you a VERY LOVELY New Year without any storm (inside or outside)!!!!

A Funny Incident

Today went to a store after work, since I need a new winter jacket as my old one's (the baby blue one) now getting worn out around the neck and there are big discounts in the store. So I browsed all the jackets and I tried on some of them. I looked around the store to check out even the kids' section and the adults' section as well as the teenagers' section.

As I browsed through the adults' section, I found a jacket hanging weirdly on one of the racks. I tried finding the price tag (that was the second thing I did after looking at a jacket), but to no avail. A few seconds later as I was still trying to find the price tag, a woman standing near me said in English, "It's mine!"

OH DEAR GOODNESS...

So I immediately said, "Sorry" and she replied, "It's okay", but the second I turned around, I heard her telling the story to her friend with a wide smile on her face (OK, I didn't see her face, but you can tell when someone's telling a story with a smile on their face, right?)

I went out of the store since I'd browsed through the rest of the store and I LAUGHED LIKE CRAZY HUA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA... ---> if someone saw me, they'd think I was nuts hi hi hi...

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It was SO SO SO FUNNY LOL LOL LOL!!! I'm going to tell this story to my colleagues tomorrow hi hi hi hi hi...

My Plea

These days I've been battling with the voices in my head...

Pride...

Judgments...

Pressures...

Competitions...

Wants, wants, wants...

Goals, goals, goals...

Greed...

Dreams, dreams, dreams...

Negativism, cynicism, bitterness...

Sometimes it gets so hard to try to live simply no matter how much I want to do so. And now I'm getting tired of ME.

I'm trying to separate myself from all the voices...and tune them up. God, help me break down my pride!!!

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Help me remember that it's all about YOU
and not about me.
It's about You, You, You...
Everything I have is simply
what You entrust to me to have
for the time being.
Help me be wise...

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Visits to the Grave

Just like last year, on Christmas Eve we went to the graves to light a candle before we went to R2's parents' place. I took a few pictures while we were there. Here they are...






Speaking of graves, I'd love to state my deepest sympathy to the loss of a blogger friend named Suzanne Horne or Liquid Illuzion. I never really got to know her personally, but I do know that she's a talented artist. I just felt SHOCKED when I found out about her passing away on Christmas Eve, so here's for you, Suzanne...I hope your family feels God's comfort, too.

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I think these two last pictures are also in correlation with this post. My FIL made some ice lanterns to put outside on Christmas Eve and here are they:

Some Christmas Pics

A few days before Christmas, in the library there was a puppet show and there were kids from one daycare coming to watch the show. There was supposed to be MANY more kids, but the kids from the other daycare didn't come due to some reason I didn't know.

Anyway, when they were waiting for the show to come, they browsed around the library and they were staring at me. LOL LOL LOL!!!

The puppet show is entitled "Oikea Joulu" or "The Real Christmas" and it's trying to focus that Christmas is not about gifts. My only complaint is that it didn't mention Jesus. Oh well...

Here are some pics of it:




Next pic: The same Christmas tree that they put last year he he he...but it's still nice to see it. ;-D


Last pic: The BEAUTIFUL chocolate that Michelle Colebourn made for us (all the girls that went to the pre-Christmas party). It was SO pretty that I didn't have the heart to eat it...she's SO talented!!!


I'll add more pictures tomorrow! ;-D

Christmas and Flu Bugs

Howdy, people? Today I slept for around 11 hours, which I needed he he he he...Why? Because the other day I slept at around 3 am. We played cards until that early and now R2 is having some flu symptoms and I also start being slighty affected, though not as bad as what he's getting.

Today is my MIL's and FIL's 47th wedding anniversary and we had already left a card and two small gifts for them yesterday as we left their house. If R2's condition weren't getting any worse, we could stay there one day longer, but anyway next week we're staying over at their place again on New Year's Eve, though we have to work on Friday still he he he he...We're considering staying at their cabin, though it all depends on our health and the weather. ;-D

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Today the weather is warm, around 1'C. This is VERY dangerous since the snow starts melting and everywhere is icy and slippery. I'd much prefer the temperature to stay under -2'C than this, but never mind that!

This evening R2's elder brother is throwing a game night at his place, but I don't think we'll go there since we don't want to get any sicker. After all, we have to work on Monday he he he...OK, I won't write long here. I need to catch up on your blogs!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. One of the Christmas gifts I got is a steam pan. I've been craving to make some steamed food and now I can start making it HO HO HO HO HO...

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Merry Christmas!

Been busy again and tomorrow I'm going to spend a night at my MIL's with R2, so I'm not going to be able to blog or blog hop until we come back. So, without further ado, I'd love to say these words to you who celebrate Christmas:

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Have a BLESSED holiday, everybody!!!
THANKS for lighting up and warming up my world...

Love,

Amel



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Yearly Evaluation

Bitter Chocolate has written about her yearly evaluation, so let me think about mine. What has happened this year?

1. Miraculously there was a full-time Finnish course for the FIRST TIME EVER in Sodankylä!!!!!!! We all thought that they wouldn't open one since there weren't enough students. Plus our teacher was EXCELLENT!!!

2. My residence permit extension went well and I had enough money to pay for it ---> got the money from blogging, so I didn't have to use my savings. Plus the new residence permit is valid for 4 years, so I was HAPPY! ;-D

3. Got very bad news from my brother that my uncle died alone in his house (he was never married) and his body was found out a few days later. :-(((



4. Because I received some student money during the course, hubby and I could afford buying plane tickets to Indo already in the beginning of the year. This was really unplanned, so it was the GREATEST surprise ever!

5. Got GREAT news from my brother that his wife was pregnant and that the baby was due around the time when I would visiting them in Indo.

6. In the middle of the Finnish course, the firm who organized it decided to pay for us if we wanted to try taking the Finnish National Language Exam (if we took it ourselves, we had to pay €75). I took the test without believing that I could pass, since the speaking and listening part were SO hard. But again I got a NICE surprise by passing the test! This means that after living here for 4 years, I only need to pay a lump of money and fill in some forms to apply for Finnish citizenship. YIIIIPPPPIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!

7. In July R2 and I had enough money AND time (R2 could take the holiday since he had worked overtime) to do a car trip to Southern Finland. We enjoyed our stay in Oulu VERY much at Lasaretti Hotel and it felt like a honeymoon!!!

8. In October R2 and I not only went to Indonesia, but we also had enough budget to go to Singapore AND buy a new digital camera! Such beautiful blessings!

9. On our trip to Indo/Singapore, we managed to meet Blur Ting and Trinity. WOOOHOOO!!!

10. Amazingly enough, R2 and I were able to be there for my brother's baby's birth. I was literally right outside of the labour room. He decided to come out 1,5 days before our flight back to Finland. YAAAAAAAAAAAYY!!!

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11. After going back to Finland, I could start training at the library and I've met VERY nice women there who encourage me and make me feel useful. :-)))) Plus my boss is VERY thoughtful (not just to me, but also to the other women).

12. R2 got some surprise money, so we could pay off our car loan to the bank. No more debt! YYYEEEESSSS!!!

13. During the year, I've managed to hang out with my Indo friends, Finnish friends (though they're not Finnish), and also blogger friends. COOL!!!

14. Baby program hasn't succeeded yet, but that means we can enjoy our time together "freely", so we're going to cherish this "honeymoon period" still. Plus that means that we have more time to save money ---> because if and when I get pregnant, we need a bigger place to stay and not only will we have to pay more for that reason, we also have to buy the baby's crib or bed and whatnots. So better save, save, save!

15. Work-wise: AT LEAST I know that working at the library is suitable for me (even if getting a job there isn't possible yet). I know that there are many more tasks to do if I were really working there, but I've really enjoyed my time there so far.

16. Family-wise: My Dad's mind has gotten slightly worse off than last year, so this saddens me, but at least my Mom has my brother and his wife to help. Plus my Mom is close to her sisters and brother, so they are always ready to lend an ear or give support whenever she needs it.

Concerning R2's family, his Dad's condition isn't going any better (he was diagnosed with Alzheimer last year). Sometimes he's stable, sometimes his condition gets worse, but he can still function well. It seems both our Dads aren't doing too well, but at least they're alive and they can still enjoy life.

17. Language-wise: I know more and more Finnish words, but since I haven't been actively speaking Finnish like when I was in the course, my mind has gone rusty (read: it works SLOWLY and it takes time to formulate an answer PLUS I'm starting to forget my grammar!!!). I don't like this "degradation", so I'm going to try to fix this problem next year. I MUST start reading my grammar books again and try to talk to R2 in Finnish.

18. I've received unexpected gifts through the course of the year. My, I'm such a lucky girl!!!

19. Still no fight record between R2 and I ---> not that I expect/hope any, thank you LOL LOL!!! Of course we sometimes rub each other's fur the wrong way (or sometimes I get cranky when I'm on my PMS or when I'm tired), but he always managed to minimize my state of being-almost-angry to laughing-with-him. Strange but true.

There WERE a few times when I could have lashed out at him, but EVERY SINGLE TIME he made me laugh with what he said or did. He's really like my "fireman". He douses my flames so quickly that I never had the chance to be burnt away by my emotions. Plus his unbelievable patience truly helps me. Bless him!!!

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OK, I think this is long enough. Of course there have been MANY more events during the year, but the list sums the major events of this year. There are bad news among all the good news, but I think all in all it's been a pretty good, eventful year, don't you think? ;-D

I'll blog-hop tomorrow. Wish you a FUN weekend ahead, friends!!!

10 Things + 7 Things

Saw this fun tag at Crow's Feet and I decided to do only these two:

10 Things I Wish I Could Say To 10 Different People Right Now

1. I can't believe that you're not as mature as I thought you were. Of all the people I know, I thought you wouldn't have done such a thing. You disappoint me.
2. You are always my peace of mind in this crazy world.
3. I feel inferior when hearing about your accomplishments.
4. Why do you always wear that colour whenever I see you?
5. Being in a hurry to have a relationship isn't good.
6. Wish I could tweak your brain so that you don't lose your common sense bit by bit. It saddens me to see it, but I can't do anything much about it.
7. Try as I might, I don't understand why you chose to do it. It really perplexes me. *still scratching my head in disbelief*
8. Your persistence and diligence really inspire me.
9. I dreamt about you last night.
10. I hope you've gotten rid of all my pictures, just as I have gotten rid of all your pictures.

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7 Things That Cross My Mind A Lot

1. Are we going to make love today?
2. What are we going to watch today?
3. What should I cook?
4. What kind of top/jacket/trousers/socks/shoes/leg warmers should I wear today? (It depends on the weather)
5. Are there any emails in my mailboxes?
6. STOP obsessing!
7. I'm such a lazy piggggggg...

3BT: Random Days

1. Watching MIL singing one children's song joyfully while dancing a little hi hi hi...I tried finding the song on youtube, but I haven't found it yet. It's a very fun song! ;-D

2. Hubby scratching my baccckkkkkk a few times on different days. Ohhhh...orgasmic!!! ;-D

3. I had such a gassy stomach the other day and I felt SO satisfied for being able to fart a few times secretly at work without anyone being my "victim" HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...It feels GOOD to be able to fart, babbyyyyy!!!! LOL LOL LOL!!!

4. Seeing the wicked glimmer in hubby's eyes as he wraps the gifts for me inside our bedroom HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO...What are they, I wonder? Well, I can guess already one of them, but I have NO idea what the other one is hi hi hi...

5. Talking to my colleagues and two of them said that it's good that I'm going to continue my training until 3 months there and that I've been helping them. It's GOOD to feel useful!!!

6. Having encouraging colleagues who voice their appreciation of me. What more can I ask for, right? ;-D

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7. Found two used, CUTE pipo (woolen hats) that cost me only €1 each. I needed a new one since I lost my old one!

8. Starting my exercise regime again and feeling my mood lifted up INSTANTLY HO HO HO HO HO HO HO...Plus my trousers start to feel a bit more loose after just exercising twice! The other week I weighed myself and I was at my highest EVER at 48 kgs (remember that I'm only 145 cm and when I first came to Finland, I was only 43 kgs hi hi hi...). I DO NOT want to buy new clothes, thank you very much, so I'd rather exercise more often and cut back on snack he he he he...

East Versus West

Today I talked quite much in Finnish compared to other days at work (YIIIHAAA!!!). The reason was that 'coz in the morning there were only 2 colleagues (the other one is on a sick leave), so on our coffee break, they asked me questions, such as when I met R2, if I miss my family, where I learnt Finnish, etc. Before today, it had been rather hard for me to speak, since there were usually more people on the table and it was already hard to follow the conversation and I'm always MUCH better speaking my thoughts when there are less people (one-on-one is better than being in a big group).

Anyway, one of them told me that my skin looked beautiful and the other one said the same thing. I was rather surprised to hear that since I have zits here and there...but what they meant was that my skin was moist/oily (ever since I moved to Finland, I never used any face powder) and my skin colour was darker than theirs. I told them that the irony is that MANY Indonesian people think that fairer skin people are more beautiful.

This conversation reminded me of another conversation I had with my Hungarian friend when I visited her house. I told her that I had recently read lots of internet pages on Korea and the pressure to look "beautiful outside" over there is SO high. It's like they feel like they won't get a good job if they're not "beautiful outside", so many people have undergone double eyelid surgeries and other types of surgeries to enhance their looks. If I'm not mistaken, over 70% of Koreans have done at least double eyelid surgery (dunno how many of them have done other types of surgeries such as jaw reductions and nose jobs).

I've also found an Indonesian blogger who's lived in Korean for a while. She says that one of her students (she tutors Indonesian language to Koreans) is encouraged by her own mother to do double eyelid surgery and the student is only around 10 years old!!! I've also heard from my friend who studied Chinese in mainland China a couple of years ago that her Korean friends got plastic surgery as birthday presents from their parents.

My Hungarian friend was SHOCKED when she heard about this. She asked me, "But why do they want to have double eyelid surgery? I think their eyes look beautiful just the way they are."

He he he he he he he...it's ironic, isn't it? What bothers me when reading about double eyelid surgeries and other types of facial surgeries (except if a person has undergone an accident or something that disfigures their facial features) is that when the "beautifully looking" people have kids, their kids won't look like their present selves...and the cycle continues...they'll keep on encouraging their kids to have surgeries to look more "beautiful"...when does it end?

Oh well...let me leave you with some quotations on beauty:

Beauty is but a vain and doubtful good; a shining gloss that fadeth suddenly; a flower that dies when it begins to bud; a doubtful good, a gloss, a glass, a flower, lost, faded, broken, dead within an hour.
- William Shakespeare

Beauty is in the heart of the beholder.
- Al Bernstein

“Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical.”
- Sophia Loren

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.
- Confucius

Nothing's beautiful from every point of view.
- Horace

Saint Lucia

At our pikkujoulu (small X-mas party) last Saturday, there were four of us and we had FUN (of course HE HE HE...). My friend Michelle has prepared plenty of games for us to play. We also did last year's game of Bingo where each of us had to write down 5 numbers (anything from 1 to 25) and then whosever number was called should imitate the sound of the animal given to her and the winner had to stand up and make that sound.

Guess who won Animal Bingo? ME!!!!!!!!! And I was chosen to be the Beaver!!!!! ;-D

The other two games were HILARIOUS!!! In the first one, we had to close our eyes while DRAWING! I'll show you later my crazy drawings hi hi hi...but basically speaking, we had to follow instructions while trying to draw as accurately as possible with our eyes closed.

For example: First draw an island in the middle of the paper, then draw a boat on the LEFT side of it, then draw a palm tree ON the island, then some fish in the sea, etc.

Not as easy as you think, you know? Well, if you're going to gather together with your family this Christmas, you can also play this game. The winner is calculated by the accuracy of each orders. For example: you get 20 points if the island IS indeed in the middle of the paper and you'll get 30 points if the boat is on the left side of the island AND not touching the island, etc.

It'll be SUCH A FUN THING to do for the whole family! No cheating, please HA HA HA HA HA HA...

Anyway, here are some of the pics!!! Sorry I can't write too long here since I'm busy and I still have to blog-hop and COOK!!!

First pic: before we pulled the Christmas crackers ---> yeah, Michelle even took some Christmas crackers for us just like last year hi hi...


Second pic: As usual inside the X-mas crackers there were "crowns" for us the queens of the night HA HA HA HA HA...


Third pic: If you wonder why I'm wearing St. Lucia's crown, go to Michelle's post to read it. The story about the pikkujoulu is located at the bottom of the post: Pikkujoulu and St. Lucia.


Last pic: After we finished eating. :-))))

New Year's Resolution

Yep...it's the time of the year again to make resolution(s) he he he...I've found one for me at least. It's to speak Finnish to R2 at least one day of the week. I don't think I can manage speaking Finnish to him every day since it's really tiring and it takes a long time to convey my thoughts to him in Finnish, but I can feel my Finnish gradually becoming worse and worse now that I've been out of the course for half a year.

I'm also going to go back to reading some Finnish text every day (no matter how short it is, I will do it and I have to look up the words in the dictionary instead of just "getting the gist"). Now that I've been doing the training and I'm creating a new blog, it gets harder and harder to share time to do other stuff.

So...have you thought about your New Year's Resolution yet?

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Weekend Music

Our pikkujoulu or small X-mas party went well, though there were only four of us. I don't have much time today as I have to bake, so you can read the post here: Pikkujoulu and St. Lucia. I was crowned as St. Lucia during one game HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...If you don't know about St. Lucia, you can read the post there too! ;-D

OK, now I'd just love to share some weekend music with all of you..."Umbrella" (Rihanna's) but this version is instrumental and the instrument used is angklung. Angklung originated from Indonesia. It's a Sundanese musical instrument made out of two bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. The tubes are carved so that they have a resonant pitch when struck.

Too bad the song is cut short, but at least you'll get the gist of it hi hi hi...I still love it, though!

Tasks, Finnish Novel, X-mas Party

My boss is SO nice. Yesterday she asked me if I got bored with my daily routine, but I told her that it was fine. I LOVE routine ha ha ha...She then said that she'd try to find me something else to do to make sure I'd get to do something else for a change.

Today they had a meeting for hours while I arranged books on the shelves. Then she gave me a new task: to make 25 X-mas cards for the library to send to some people or offices or wherever they want to. I'm not sure I'm the best person to do this kind of thing, but I'll do my best anyway. I'm not too fond of doing handicraft and I'm not the most creative person in that area he he he he...but as long as she trusts me to do it, I'll do it then.

I also have another task this Sunday. On Monday the library will offer free buns and coffee to everybody who comes, so every one who works there has to bake the buns at home to bring there on Monday. Of course we don't have to buy the ingredients ourselves. We just need to make them and bake them.

One other thing I forgot to say here is that last week my boss told me about a book she'd just finished reading. It's a Finnish novel, written by a Chinese girl who's lived in Finland for 10 years (the first novel written by a Chinese girl in the Finnish language). She asked me if I wanted to borrow the book, but I declined. I just didn't want to bother borrowing the book from the library and feel the pressure of having to return it in one month. So I searched the book online and bought it hi hi hi hi...At least this way I have PLENTY of time to read it.

It's VERY inspiring for me, though. In just 10 years she can write a novel in FINNISH?!?!?!?!?! Maybe I can do that too in 10 years he he he he he...I'd definitely be jumping to moon if my Finnish is THAT good in 10 years (good enough to write a novel, I mean). ;-D

I've finished packing all the X-mas gifts and also the gift for tomorrow night's exchange. I'll be busy this weekend. Tomorrow morning we'll go to my in-laws and then we have to leave early as I'll have the X-mas party with my friends in the evening and on Sunday I have to bake the buns, so if I don't have time to blog-hop this weekend, I'll do it only during the week, OK?

Oh yeah...almost forgot...today the manager also asked me how I felt about the training since my one month period is almost over (meaning she wanted to know if I wanted to continue or not). I said that I'd want to continue IF there were still tasks for me, but if they don't need me then I don't want to be there since I'd be useless. She says that it's all up to me and there will always be tasks for me, though probably my tasks will still be the same as my daily routine. I said that I wouldn't mind, since after all I had nothing else to do at home.

I've checked out the courses page and job opening page every day, but until now I haven't found anything interesting, so there's no harm done if I continue this training until the maximum period allowed, which is 3 months. :-))))

OK, have a BLESSED weekend, everybody! Take care and see youuuuu...