What Language Do You Use In Your Head?

I haven't been blogging in a long time, have I? It's always harder to get back on track once you haven't been in the flow of things for a long period of time. It's almost like going back to your exercise regime or starting a new one after a long break. My tennis elbow problem is still under control, though depending on the days and what activities I've done and the kind of exercise I do, there can be more symptoms (pain, tightness, etc.). I know for sure that I still can't handle the normal amount of work, so I've talked to my bosses about it. It's a long road to recovery, but I'm positive about healing. 

A friend of mine had the same problem and it took her two full years to recover, but even then she warned me that it could happen all over again if I were not careful (maintaining the right posture at work, doing enough exercise at home). So I've been doing more exercise and I've walked more (instead of riding my bike) these days. The arms don't like certain kinds of exercise movements, but I'm only able to find out about it afterwards, so it's a bit of a trial and error in terms of trying out different kinds of exercise programs.

A FB friend posted this video in her newsfeed and I tried it right away. My left arm was giving me a full-blown headache when I was doing this (didn't happen with the right arm) and I actually felt a bit nausea as well (just like what she described in the video), but I felt so much lighter afterwards. She's also uploaded lots of other videos (a few others I've also tried).


I've also been massaging my back and shoulders with the massage stick I got as my birthday present last year (as per my request). It's been helping me a bit, too. I've been using at least two rolls of kinesio tape, since for some reason my skin doesn't like it when I use it in the sauna, even though some people can keep them on in the sauna with no problem whatsoever. 

Anyway, a few weeks ago someone asked me what language I used in my head to think. I answered, "English, Finnish, and Indonesian." I use Indonesian the least these days compared to English and Finnish, so my Indonesian is getting rusty. I noticed this during the Skype call I made to my mom about a week ago. I struggled in finding some words and only the English and Finnish words came out (along with the image of the words I wanted to convey to her) LOL!!! 

The weather has been pretty warm these days (nearing or a little above 0'C), though there's still oodles of snow everywhere. Here's a photo I took a while back. I received some long-stemmed roses, but my vases were all too short, so I ended up having to use a Lion King pitcher for them ha ha ha ha ha...

Invasion of the Languages

The longer I stay in Finland, the more mixed-up my English becomes. Let me give you some example while they're still fresh in my mind. I realize that these days my past tense use in English has sometimes been mixed up with Finnish.

Here's a set of Finnish, Indonesian, and English sentences as comparison:

- Sinä nukuit hyvin. (You slept well).
- Nukuitko sinä hyvin? (literal translation: Slept you well?)

- Kamu tidur nyenyak. (You slept well.)
- Kamu tidur nyenyak? (You slept well?)

- You slept well.
- Did you sleep well?

Notice that in the Finnish language, in the question form, the verb doesn't change at all, though there's the additional "-ko" ending to denote that it's a question instead of a statement. So sometimes when talking to my husband, I'd blurt out, "Did you slept well?" instead of "Did you sleep well?" as the wires of my brain criss-cross between English and Finnish. And in Indonesian language nothing actually changes, only the intonation changes (going up at the end of the question).

Another example was my use of the word "psychologist". In Finnish, it's "psykologi" and in Indonesian language it's "psikolog". At that time I was writing in English and I wanted to write "psychologist", but instead I wrote "psykolog" (a weird combo of the Finnish and Indo version of the word) HA HA HA HA HA HA...

And don't mention the mix-ups I have with "him", "her", "his", "hers" because both in Finnish and Indonesian there's only one word for both genders. This has been happening since a long time ago. Ah, brain! :-D What an adventure you've had HA HA HA HA HA HA...

3BT: Random Days

1. Been busy with work, but it feels great to reward myself every now and then with these lovely chocolate eggs. Although it's crazy that they've started selling them way ahead of time, I'm glad that they exist ha ha...

2. Going on a walk on a sunny day on my day off. Here's a LOOOONNNGG shadow of mine. Love the sun on my back, warming it up. Oh, and I got to see a pair of squirrels on my walk. So cute!

3. Finding one of the gifts for hubby's upcoming birthday (on a discount YAY!). It's safely hidden somewhere. Now need to find the other gift (still wondering what I should choose).

4. Finding two pairs of cheap jeans (one pair cost €10, whereas the other pair cost €15).

5. MIL helped me shorten those jeans using her sewing machine. Bless her! 

6. Working together with hubby to clear up the thick pile of snow on the roof. 

7. This sight on my lovely walk:

 8. Fried brain. The other day I was SO tired that I was going to string this sentence in my head, "Oh boy, it's unbelievable that they've started selling Easter eggs already!" in Finnish. However, my slow brain slipped. Instead of forming the word "pääsiäissuklaata" (Easter chocolate), it became "paskiaissuklaata" instead. Pääsiäinen = Easter, whereas paskiainen = bastard/asshole. Ahem...I sure don't need any bastard chocolate eggs HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHH...

Language Mess

Let me try to tell you how messy my brain gets in incorporating the languages in my head. I have four languages in my head: Indonesian (the national language in Indonesia), Sundanese (the regional language in Bandung, my hometown), English, and Finnish. Indonesian and Sundanese are my mother tongues, whereas English and Finnish are two foreign languages.

I started studying English at the age of 9 or 10. Went to an English course. Back then we only started learning English in Junior High School (13 years old). Continued studying English at uni (4 years) and then I started tutoring kids and translating books from English to Indonesian until the age of 28.

Moved to Finland in 2007, started studying Finnish on my own for about 9 months, then went on a full-time Finnish course for 4 months and self-study continues until now.


I use Indonesian and Sundanese mainly with my family through Skype calls and in Facebook with my Indo friends. I rarely use long sentences purely in Sundanese, so most of the time Sundanese words are used in Indonesian sentences to describe things that can't be described better by using Indonesian terms/words. I use English mainly in my blogs and FB and my online activities. I use English verbally with hubby, because when I used Finnish with him, my English pronunciation becomes so weird (Finnish has a similar pronunciation with Indonesian language). So these days I use Finnish with hubby's family and at work and in FB with coworkers/Finnish people in my FB. 

My skill levels on those languages have declined in some ways. True, I speak more Finnish these days due to my work, but I'm less concerned with the grammar because most people use the informal version of the language anyway, so bye bye grammar to a certain degree!

Hubby says that I have talked in my dreams using English, Finnish, and Indonesian (he guessed it was Indonesian when he couldn't decipher what I was babbling about in my sleep). 


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Now let me give you examples of the mess:

1. Every now and then I blurt out an Indonesian word either at work or at home. I have NO idea why! 

2. Sometimes I think in English, Indonesian, and Finnish respectively on separate occasions. For example, while writing this post, I think merely in English.

3. Sometimes when I start to think in English (for example), I forget one word and have a hard time finding it on my own. Instead, all I have in my brain is the Finnish or Indonesian word or both Finnish and Indonesian word instead.

4. Sometimes when I speak to hubby in English, I have a hard time finding one word, so to make it easier, I use the Finnish word instead. Not good, I know. 

5. Sometimes I try to write an email in Indonesian and then get stuck with one word. I only have the English and Finnish version of the word in my head and the image of the word. Nice! Not! 


6. Because both Finnish and Indonesian only have one word for "he/she", my brain has reverted back to its Indonesian root. These days when I talk to hubby in English, I mix up the use of "he/she", "him/her", "his/hers" because in both Finnish and Indonesian, it doesn't matter either way.

7. Sometimes at work when I've just finished serving a tourist in English, my brain forgets to switch back ASAP to Finnish. So, I end up using English to serve the Finnish customer behind the tourist, which usually makes us both laugh. :-D

8. There are times when I start stringing up a sentence in my head in English, but all of a sudden in the middle of the sentence a Finnish word appears. 

9. I've started getting more and more confused about English grammar, because my brain sometimes automatically tries to use the Finnish structure of the sentence instead of the English one. 

10. I start to get more confused with the new slang words that my fellow Indonesians use. I have no idea what they mean and it's hard to catch up with the new development when I'm not using it daily (well, not verbally anyway). I wonder how much further away I feel the mental distance between me and my mother tongue the longer I stay here. 


That said, don't wonder why my English has become kinda quirky these days compared to the old days when I didn't know/use Finnish too much. Has anyone else experienced similar problems? 

Note: Apparently they have a term for this kind of phenomena. It's called Language Attrition. It can happen to your mother tongue as well as any other foreign language that you've studied. 

Healing Step-by-Step

The other day I was talking to someone and at the end of our conversation online, she said that she hoped that me and my husband would stay heart-to-heart and hand-in-hand until we became grandma and grandpa. It's very common for people in Indo to say something like this.

I replied, "Thanks for your wish, but because we don't have kids, we'll never become grandma and grandpa. We'll just become old honeymooners HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA..." ;-D

She replied, "Oh dear goodnessss..." ;-D

Yep, I was in a naughty mood at that time ha ha ha...and no, I didn't feel any pain or grief at all when I wrote my reply he he...I LOVE these light-hearted moments! :-D

 

I think sense of humour is vital in life and I feel that I'm progressing more in my healing journey when I'm able to make jokes about our circumstances. Humour has definitely helped our marriage in so many ways. 

Speaking of humour, I'm reading a book called Bad Karma which is pretty funny he he he...The writer is a man and the main character is a woman who's been turned into an ant because of her bad karma. I bought the book in Finnish, so it's taking a bit more time to read it than reading an English book, but so far it's been pretty entertaining. I've just started reading about her adventures in being an ant he he he he he...

To be honest, I'm simultaneously reading several books at the moment ha ha ha...I'm such a sporadic reader indeed. :-D


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3BT: Random Days

1. Being forgiven. Hubby was racking his brain with an online yearly tax report and he was really getting frustrated at it. Then I offered to make him some coffee to relieve his mind. When I noticed that the pot was a bit dirty, I decided to wash it first, but I must've done it too vigorously, 'coz then some parts of the glass pot fell off. I gasped and said, "UH OH UH OH UH OHHHHH...SOWWIE!!!!" 

Told hubby about it and made him instant coffee. Once he was done with the report, he forgave me right away and he even joked, "What did you clean it with? A hammer?" LOL LOL!!! 

2. Welcoming hubby home from work by donning on my superhero cloak (read: thin red felt blanket with white snowflake patterns) and running towards him (making the cloak flutter behind me) while saying, "I'm Superwomaaaannnnnn!" :-D Who says only kids can play like this? LOL!!! 


3. Buying a new coffeemaker and finding a suitable one on a budget. Hubby had been wanting one which had a separate water tank (so that we'd be able to wash it). :-D :-D :-D  

4. Being able to buy medicine and coffeemaker without hubby's help (being able to communicate in Finnish) has really brought me great joy! :-D 

5. Seeing someone else's wedding pics brings back all the lovely memories of our wedding day. *nostalgic sigh* :-D 
 

When I Saw Your Face...

Yesterday I had an evening shift at work and near the time when the shop was about to close, I was mopping the floor near the cashier area when an older guy came in. I had my back facing him, so he called me and when I turned around, I immediately saw his rather "disappointed" face LOL!!!

He was probably wondering how much I understood Finnish 'coz he could see from my face that I was a foreigner. But he tried anyway and he didn't ask for anything hard, so I could help him out just fine on my own. Even if I didn't know/understand what he wanted to find, I would still have been able to help him by calling out my coworker, but the moment that he saw my face was so funny. :-D

He must've been a new customer, because all the regular customers know my face and they know I've worked there for a while, so they won't hesitate asking me for help. This face of mine has its own advantage at work, though, because they know that I'm a foreigner simply by looking at my face, if they don't know me well, they'll resort to using more formal Finnish (or they'd speak more slowly) in order to make sure I understand their words. :-D

Anyway, here's a pic of my frosty hair. Photo taken when it was -21'C outside (and I just went back from a trip to the supermarket). 

3BT: Random Days

1. The last Christmas gift package that I ordered arrived already yesterday. Phew!!! Just in time for Christmas he he...

2. I've got surprise gifts and Christmas cards this year. THANK YOU, people!


3. A customer bought a big sack of dog food and said, "This is Christmas food." It made me laugh instantly! :-D



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4. We've booked a trip for our spring holiday next year. WOOOOHHHHHHHHOOOOOO!!! :-D THANKFUL to have a chance to do a trip again!

5. Slathering lotion all over hubby's legs in winter and hearing no protest.


6. After serving an English-speaking customer, I turned to the next one and accidentally mentioned the sum in English, which prompted us both to laugh at the same time HA HA HA HA...Some days it takes my brain a longer time to switch back to Finnish LOL!!!

7. Hearing, "Don't run! You don't have to rush! I'm not in a hurry" when I try to come back to the till as quickly as possible. 

8. Finding Jeruk Bali (Balinese Orange) aka Hunajapomelo which took me straight back to my childhood 'coz I used to eat a lot of it when I was a child - and we used to turn the thick skin into a toy. Ah...lovely memories!!! :-D

8. Looking at cute/funny cat pictures (well, mainly cat pics but there are some other animals, too). Makes me go ooh-aah-ing. Mmmmmmmm... 


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Music + Memories: Salaisuuksia

This Finnish song was played on the radio a lot when I was doing my training at the library, so this song got stuck in my head and whenever I hear this song, I just close my eyes and am reminded of the days I spent there with the lovely library ladies. 

It was the first training place where I had to engage in active conversations with many people at one time (usually around the coffee table) and I still remember how overwhelming it felt at that time because when they talked to one another, they talked REALLY fast, but if one of them tried talking to me in particular, she always tried to speak more slowly. THANK GOD for thoughtful people! :-D 

I remember doing a presentation on blogging in front of them (of course R2 helped me prepare it at home and I had memorized what I was going to say anyway), but it wasn't that stressful because I had known the ladies for a while, but still I still remember the feeling of having achieved something different in my journey to learn Finnish. I wouldn't have been able to do it without them. It was actually the boss who had asked me to do the presentation because she was talking to me about blogging and she wanted to know more, so she challenged me to do the presentation. I'm REALLY thankful for her challenge! :-) Here's a post describing my last day at the library: A Sentimental Day.

OK, now let me just post the song and the lyrics in Finnish and English. If there are mistakes in the English version, pardon me or let me know what to fix. Here's "Salaisuuksia" by Johanna Kurkela.


The lyrics in English:

SALAISUUKSIA (SECRETS) - Johanna Kurkela

Do you remember our childhood summer
When the mornings smelled like honey?
When our feet got wet in the grass
When nothing else seemed to be more important?
I also remember the rainbow
Arching over the field 
Near the standing stone
The rowboat embedded among the rushes
And the meadow covered with mist

Reff: You were the boy with sooty hands full of strawberries
I went with you to steal the apples
With a picnic basket full of kittens
I was the girl who had a flowery dress and a treasure map
With a hoody and a handful of seashells 
Covered from head to toes with secrets

Reff 2: Those memories remain
When everything has gone away
Those memories remain

Do you ever miss going back in time?
To our hiding place in the granary?
At midnight under the starry sky
We lay down on the meadow
There I'll look for you again
While I roam the realm of memories
Where time is precious like gold
There will I build a fortress

Reff
Reff 2

Where do the secrets belong now?
What kind of treasure have you found since then?
Are you still the one who can ignite the sparks
And burns like fire?

Reff
Reff 2

In Finnish: 

Muistatko sen lapsuuden kesän, 
kun aamut tuoksuivat hunajalle. 
Kun jalat kastuivat ruohikossa, 
eikä mikään ollut hetkeä tärkeämpää. 
Minä muistan myös sateenkaaren, 
pellon yllä luona kivipaaden, 
soutuveneen uponneena kaislikossa 
ja niityn joka usvaan häviää 

refrain:
Sinä olit se poika jolla oli nokiset kädet täynnä mansikoita
eväskorissa kissanpentuja, matkalla kanssasi omenavarkaisiin
Minä olin se tyttö jolla oli kukkaleninki ja aarrekartta
huppari ja kourallinen simpukoita ja salaisuuksia päästä varpaisiin 

refrain2:
Ne jäljelle jää
kun kaikki häviää
ne jäljelle jää 

Kaipaatko koskaan takaisin
piilopaikkaan sinne vilja-aittaan
Sydänyönä alle tähtitaivaan
niittyvillalla sijattuun vuoteeseen
Sieltä etsin sua uudestaan
Matkalla muistojen valtakuntaan
Missä maailma on ajankultaa
sinne merenrantaan mä rakennan linnakkeen 

refrain
refrain2
 
Mihin salaisuudet kuuluvat nyt
minkä aarteen olet sittemmin löytänyt
Vieläkö oot se, jos kipinä saa
sijan syttyä ja tulena palaa 

refrain (2x)
refrain2

3BT: Random Days

1. Reading this sweet post-it note that hubby left on the inside part of our front door:  

2. Just realized it the other day that I'm already halfway down till my retirement age. :-D

3. Having been diligent enough to force myself to keep on translating the Finnish book no matter how hard it is. This story I'm currently translating is definitely tougher than the previous ones!

4. Knowing that my friends and family members are safe despite the demonstrations going on in different cities in Indo due to the fact that the government will raise the prices of gasoline.

5. MIL came for a visit and we had a nice, long talk about many things, including funny stories about her cows. :-D


6. She could even explain to me one particular word that nobody else knew (I had asked around to other Finnish people in Facebook) hat I found in the book I had to translate. YEAHHHH!!!!

Finnish-English Translation Update

During the week when I was not feeling very well, I got lazy and I didn't do any translation at all, but now I've started focusing on it again. I must say that it's a really challenging task. There are just some things that sound natural in Finnish and the English translation of it would sound a bit weird. Plus in Finnish you can write such a loooooonnnngggg sentence that just can't be translated into English without my chopping them up into at least two sentences. 

I haven't been translating long texts in a LONG time, so my translation brain is kinda rusty. Oftentimes I get stuck because I have the image of the word in my head, but I can't bring myself to remember the word. It feels frustrating to be able to view the image in your mind without being able to voice it.

Another challenge for me is the vocabulary (obviously). The main character goes fishing and some fishing gears are mentioned along with names of fishes or animals that I don't know 'coz they don't exist in Indonesia. THANK GOD there's Google and free online dictionaries. Otherwise I wouldn't have survived (so far I've only translated 3 stories). *GRIN*

The writer also has a certain style of writing that I'm not familiar with. After all, most of the time I've been reading translated novels (English to Finnish), so I haven't got too much experience reading novels written by Finnish writers (I did start reading Puhdistus by Sofi Oksanen, but then as usual*** I switched book in the middle - my bad!!! But I shall get back to that book someday he he...).

*** Confession: I'm not really a "good reader". I do LOVE collecting books, but I switch books A LOT while reading them. There are only a few novels (among all the novels I've read in my lifetime) that I read without switching and stopping in between. And yeah, that meant that lots of time I had to reread the books I had left behind from the beginning again ha ha ha ha ha...

P.S. I'd love to recommend Terry Pratchett's "Going Postal". It's VERY FUNNY and I LOVE all the characters. For some reason I enjoy this one better than Pratchett's Colour of Magic. Here's the trailer:

Language Mix-Up: Plum

Usually in our household, the one making pancakes is hubby but this time I wanted to do it by myself. I started doing it while hubby was having dinner, but when he saw what I was about to do, he said I was doing it the wrong way. 

I asked him why there should be any specific order? Would it make a difference at all?

He said, "If you're doing it in the wrong order, the pancakes will get plum."
 
I was really confused, so I asked again, "Did you just say plum?"

He said, "Yeah, they'll get plum."

I asked back, "Plum? Luumu?" (Luumu is the Finnish word for plum)

Then he realized his mistake and he said, "Lumpyyyyy!!!"

I couldn't help laughing out loud HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...OK, now I should start cooking the chocolate pancakes slice by slice! :-D

3BT: Random Days

1. The other day at work a grandma gave me a bar of chocolate!!! :-D For no reason whatsoever! BLESS YOU, mummo!

2. Another grandma said to me, "You don't need to dye your hair at all 'coz you've got a really nice natural colour already."

3. Starting over a new blog to help me discipline myself in practising written Finnish 'coz I'm getting really rusty in that area. And R2 has promised to help me edit my texts. :-D

4. Slices of reindeer meat beef hanging in one corner of the house - which will then turn into yummy kuivaliha (dried reindeer meat). Can't wait to eat it!!! :-D



5. A customer thanking me on how I handled an incident that had happened in the past involving her and me - I had forgotten about her already, but she remembered me.

6. Spending a few blissful days at home together with hubby (he'd done lots of overtime, so he took some time off).

7. Delicious pizza that hubby bought on his birthday. Plus I didn't need to cook ha ha ha...

A Challenging Project

I've just started a challenging project. Actually, I didn't come up on it on my own ha ha...OK, here's the story. About a week ago a customer asked me if I could translate a book to English (from Finnish, obviously). I told him I wouldn't know if I could do it or not, but I'd give it a try.

FYI, the said customer had once asked me where I came from, what I did prior to moving to Finland, etc. So he knows that I was a book translator in Indo and that I majored in English literature. That was probably one reason why he asked me that question.

Anyway, he then said that he had written a book in Finnish - thus he wanted to know if I could translate it to English. We didn't have time to talk more that day 'coz I had other customers to serve, so we left it at that. The next time I came to work, though, I found a book in an envelope in my locker (the customer had probably given it to my coworker and told her it was for me). He wrote his name, addy, and phone number on the envelope. I was GLAD to know it wasn't a book of poetry!!!! :-D

I didn't have time to read it because of the wedding party I had to go to last week, so I only started this project this week. It IS challenging 'coz I have never translated any book into English - plus the original language is Finnish. But it's gonna be an interesting project for me. It's been years since I last translated a book (5 years ago), so we shall see how it goes. One thing is for sure...I'll use the dictionaries A LOT - including the online English dictionaries ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...Another sure thing to happen is that it's gonna be A SLOW project. :-D

P.S. One thing I love about life in a small village is that even though there aren't many "activities" and "places to go" here (no university, just a handful of foreigners) , life feels considerably simpler here and I get to meet familiar faces a lot (esp. through work). And it's nice to be able to banter with customers whose faces I remember, even though I don't necessarily know their names.

REALLY thankful for this job that allows me to meet and interact with many people...

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3BT: Random Days

1. A customer told me, "Don't EVER stop working here! I'll be disappointed if you stop working here." :-D :-D :-D

2. Gave the little girl whom I adore (who also likes me) some candies. :-D

3. Spring is finally here. Though there's still some snow left in the yard, but yesterday I spent half an hour sunbathing on the swing while reading a novel.

4. Going back to my regular exercise regime after not having been doing it regularly for months.

5. Taking this silly picture and making MIL giggle so much. Note: Actually R2 was the one who inspired me. He was eating some candies and he bit off a little bit of one part of the candies and shoved both candies to his teeth to make "fake fangs" so I followed suit and R2 took this pic.


6. Knowing that MIL has many friends who take her out on a walk or invite her in or do other things with her 'coz it doesn't seem that FIL can go back home to live with her anymore.

7. MIL has been going to sauna with us here once a week and we've had fun playing cards together in our kitchen table.

8. Doing spring cleaning (only halfway done), but it feels GREAT to have a clean house.

9. Having some days off due to Easter holiday and being able to relax at home with hubby.

10. A few days ago I got my return tax information (which will be transferred to my bank account in December) and this is the first time I can get MUCH more than I thought I could get ('coz I had started working last year). WOOOOHHOOOOO!!! I can save the money in December!!!

11. Having a caring, understanding immediate superior who laughs and smiles a lot and who works well under stress. I don't think I can handle it being in that position.

12. Finding a pair of cute sandals in a local auction online shop for Ken (which I hope are still too big for him so that he can wear them later). :-D

13. A few days ago I ordered a not-too-expensive outdoor grill (to be used with coal). Can't wait to grill some food outside. I'm dying to grill some fish and eat it with soy sauce with chili!!! :-D Maybe I should invite my MIL, BIL and SIL to have a grill party sometime. :-D

14. Being able to understand jokes when customers throw some at me. A few years back I felt stumped 'coz I had to have jokes translated by hubby to me and it's just not fun to have to listen to translated jokes 'coz then it's not fun to "laugh later on your own", so I'm THANKFUL to be able to understand jokes.

15. Having a hubby who rarely complains (the only time he complains is when he's frustrated about fixing a computer or gaming or when there's a long queue, but other than that he rarely complains) and I don't want to take that for granted.

16. Sense of humour and people who smile. :-D

17. Hubby's making pancake today. WHOOOOPPPPEEEEE!!! :-D

A "New" Language Problem

When I first started doing this part-time job, many people who came wondered about how well my Finnish could be, so they would speak to me slowly and clearly and they would even use body language as well. However, now that I've been there for at least half a year and most of them now assume that I can understand many things (though they don't know how much I know), they have started talking to me about different topics in a faster speed if the store's not too busy. That in itself is actually nice - having conversations with people in Finnish is nice.

The problem is that sometimes I only understand the gist of what they're saying without understanding EVERY SINGLE WORD, so I'd attempt to mimic their body language and facial features as best as I can, as fast as I can in response to what they're telling me.

Other times I have no problem understanding every word or almost every word, but there are times when I wonder if what I'm guessing is right or not 'coz Finnish words have many different meanings so it depends on the context and 'coz I still don't know all the meanings of the words, there may be some misunderstanding.

Anyhow, the thing is that many times when I only understand the gist, I don't have time to ask the person if what I think he/she means is right or not 'coz usually there are other people whom I need to serve next or I need to do something else quickly. All in all fortunately there has NOT been any BIG problem when it comes to this new problem. It's just something that I've just realized recently and I just want to write this in this blog. I guess I just need to keep on building my vocabulary then. :-D

P.S. Found a birthday gift for MIL which I gave to her already today (unfortunately the size was a little too small but she can exchange the size tomorrow - YAY!!!!) and I've ordered one for R2 (their birthdays are only 3 days apart). Tasks done!!! Went to visit MIL today and she said that it seems that her back is getting better, though she's not sure how OK it is 'coz she's been taking painkillers he he...I sure HOPE it's getting better even though it may take some time to heal. :-D

3BT: Random Days

1. New workers are coming soon to help us at work. We've been understaffed for a while now, so it's about time that they come before everything becomes chaotic.

2. Fresh bed sheets and clean floor.

3. Patient customers who tell me not to hurry when I half-run to serve them. BLESS THEM!

4. BAPAO!!! (AKA sweet bread dumplings) I found frozen bapao in a supermarket here and I'm going to buy more to stock them in the freezer. YEEEAAAHHH!!! ;-D

5. Becoming hubby's shadow. I have this habit of holding him from the back and following him around every now and then (usually after he takes his nap), making it hard for him to move around freely when he tries to make himself some coffee HUE HE HE HE HE HE...

6. Reading these words in this beautiful post:

Laura Bush, in her recent book, writes:

The English language lacks the words to mourn an absence. For the loss of a parent, grandparent, spouse, child or friend, we have all manner of words and phrases, some helpful some not...

But for an absence, for someone who was never there at all, we are wordless to capture that particular emptiness. For those who deeply want children and are denied them, those missing babies hover like silent ephemeral shadows over their lives.

Who can describe the feel of a tiny hand that is never held?

7. Talking to my Mom on Skype and listening about Ken's antics.

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8. Chit-chatting with a few customers - one of them made me laugh so much with his jokes. :-D

9. Having a hubby who is very gentle, soft spoken, patient, and he makes me laugh so much.

10. My friend invited me to join a Finnish learning group in FB so I can ask anything I want to a proper teacher for free and I just joined it. YEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!! ;-D

11. Having true friends that I can trust, that never betrayed me, that I can count on.

3BT: Random Days

1. Hubby for being who he is, someone who really dampens out my ability to be angry at him.

2. Grateful for being on the same page with him.

3. Hubby's soft lips. :-D


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4. An old guy asked me today at work if he could return the bras he was going to buy for his sick wife if they turned out to be not suitable for her. It's just heartwarming to see that he takes care of his sick wife.

5. Hubby's smooth cheek and chin after shaving - lots more fun for kissing sessions! ;-D

6. Bought a tiger cake today 'coz I've been craving for some cake HA HA HA HA...



7. Meeting my friends today and practising some Finnish (not just chit-chatting in English).

8. No internal storms.

9. Getting some more compliments about my Finnish and having some time to chat with a few customers when the store wasn't too crowded.

10. Finding a cheap shower curtain with a cute design - I'd been wanting to buy one, but they were all over 10 Euros. The one I bought today was only 5 Euros. YAAAAAYYY!!!!

11. Harvesting my first batch of kang kong and cooking them. They're SO delicious! The first time I'd ever eaten kang kong in Finland he he...THANK YOU, Ting, for the seeds!!!!


12. Taking a nap together with hubby...yummy!!! ;-D

13. Being able to get SMS from my Mom again. Her provider had been wacked for about two weeks, so she couldn't reply my SMSes, but now it's been working fine again. YEEESSS!!!

14. Calling Mom on Skype for 2 hours and hearing her stories about Ken and his development. Boy, that little Hulk has learnt so many things SO FAST!!! ;-D

15. Getting notification from PO that the poster has arrived and tomorrow I'm going to get it after work. Hope it turns out GREAT!!! I'll take a pic of it later on to show you HO HO HO HO HO...

He and She: Language Mix-Ups

Because in Indo language there're no separate words for "he" and "she", just like in Finnish, after living here for about 3 years, I've started mixing up the use of "he" and "she" in the English language. I guess it's normal in a way 'coz in this case Finnish has the same usage of "he/she" like Indonesian language.

Another problem I've encountered is that it seems there are two separate parts (or compartments?) of my brain - the Finnish part and the English part. For example: whenever I work in a Finnish environment, I always try to use my Finnish brain. Meaning I need to focus on understanding Finnish and then using Finnish as a reply - i.e. using my Finnish brain. So, when sometimes foreign tourists come, I have trouble switching to my English brain. One time when I was trying to tell the tourist how much he/she had to pay, I mixed up the words, so I used both Finnish AND English (I said the first number in English and then the second one in Finnish). ARRRGGGH!!! How annoying is that?

I think it occurs more often now 'coz in my daily life I use my Finnish brain more often than my English brain. Even at home with R2 I try to use both English and Finnish - though sometimes when I panic about losing my English ability, I use more English than Finnish, but then the dilemma is that if I use more English than Finnish, then I feel that I'm not using fully the resources that I have on hand (I mean his being a native Finnish speaker). ARRRRRRRGGGHHH!!!


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Side note: I remember one time when I was doing the training at the hotel, the boss came over and said something in English and 'coz I was using my Finnish brain and I was trying to think of what kind of Finnish words she was saying, it took me at least 5 seconds before I finally realized that she was using English to talk to me!!! And right away she said sorry and she switched to using Finnish again.

So, the next time I had to use English again, I had to literally take a few seconds to switch to my English brain before I said the numbers correctly in English. Then they all came out in English. Phew!!!

And I've started thinking more in Indonesian than in English these days - which is a shame actually 'coz it took time to really use English actively in my daily life. But anyway, what happens happens...another thing I realize is that when I'm stressed out and I need to count quickly and act quickly (like whenever I am a cashier), I find myself counting in Indonesian. Why is this weird? Because before I started learning Finnish, for years I had forced myself to count in English (even when counting in my head), but now I've resorted more to Indonesian than English.

Maybe one reason is 'coz Finnish has more similarities to Indonesian than English (and Facebook has helped me use Indonesian more often than before). After all, Finnish and Indonesian pronunciation are similar. Secondly, the usage of "hän" (in Finnish) or "dia" (in Indonesian language) as opposed to "he" and "she". Thirdly, Indonesian and Finnish use the same kind of statement to say "half past (what time)". So, instead of saying for example "half past six", we'd say "half (to) seven" both in Finnish and Indonesian.

What language is in my head when I'm writing my blog posts? English, of course. Well, just wanna let you know the kind of mix up going in my head these days when it comes to languages. If somebody has ever experienced something like this, please do let me know so that I know I'm not crazy ha ha ha...

Strange But True

1. Again it happened and I still can't believe it. For two nights when we're apart (hubby's having some kind of computer training in Helsinki), both of us can't sleep well at night...it's frustrating when you have to get up early to work in the morning and you have to concentrate and focus 'coz you're working in an environment when everybody speaks Finnish. If I don't get enough rest, my brain would work VERY slowly and I'd get in trouble. Luckily today I didn't have to be the cashier. Phew!!! Today I helped arrange many things on the display shelves.

I sweat after doing that for 5 hours and got REALLY REALLY hungry he he he...

2. On Tuesday before I go to work (I had an evening shift that day), a little girl (probably around 5 years old) dropped by our place and rang the bell. I opened the door, astonished. Without missing a beat, she asked (in Finnish of course), "Are there any kids in the house?" (obviously she asked that 'coz the ex-home owners haven't taken away their daughter's play cabin and swing set from our garden)

I said, "Unfortunately no."

She asked again, "Are there any kids coming to the house sometimes?"

I said no again.

She then asked, "Do you live alone?"

I said no again and told her that hubby was at work, then out of curiosity, I asked, "Where do you live?" just as she was starting to leave the front door.

You know what she said? She said, "Why do you ask?"

Oh dear!!! She had asked me all those questions and I wasn't allowed to ask her just that question? LOL LOL!!! I was just wondering where she came from, 'coz she obviously walked across our garden from another garden, but I wasn't sure 'coz I didn't follow her as I had to prepare myself to go to work in a few minutes.

P.S. The girl's face looks familiar for some reason...dunno where I've seen her. Maybe in the daycare or some other place, but she was definitely not one of the kids in my class when I was helping out in the daycare.

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3. Today at work came an old man and an old woman (not sure if they were husband and wife or not). They then started yelling at each other: the man started it, actually. The old woman had a walking stick and all her hair was white. The man yelled, "Come on, woman, are you going to buy EVERYTHING? The car is waiting outside with the driver. Hurry up and get it done!"

The woman was obviously upset, 'coz she yelled back, "Stop yelling at me! What are you talking about?"

And it kept on going and going and going for at least one minute...I noticed that all the other customers had their heads turned to the couple 'coz those two were just too loud.

Ridiculous! I mean, if he had wanted her to do her shopping fast, why didn't he offer to help her pick the things she needed so that they could get it done, right? After all, as far as I could see, the man didn't have any walking stick and he could walk faster than her. I shook my head in disbelief and just sighed. What a mess!!!

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P.P.S. Got a compliment about my Finnish yesterday by one customer. :-D I'm REALLY THANKFUL for everybody who expresses encouraging words towards me, 'coz that really helps me know whether I'm doing the right thing or not (I mean in terms of learning Finnish).

And today I managed to help an old guy find something, although I couldn't help him find another thing that I didn't even know (I had to ask my colleague to help him find that 'coz I didn't really understand what he wanted - there goes to show I still have a LONG way to go with my Finnish, but at least there are always my coworkers to ask for help HA HA HA HA...).