I Won The Battle!!!

What battle, you ask?

Nothing too big. It's just that there are people coming to the library regularly to deliver stuff. One of them has never shown a smile on his face. His face doesn't look scary, but it's kinda melancholic/serious. I've been smiling at him while saying "good morning" and "thank you", but I haven't been able to see even a hint of a smile...

UNTIL TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today I can say that he's shown me a smile TWICE HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...

The other day I must admit that I almost "lost the battle" by thinking that I should just give up and that I wouldn't be able to make him smile at all...but I'm GLAD I didn't give up HE HE HE HE HE HE HE...

It feels GREAT to see people smiling at me. Today all my colleagues were happy to know that I could continue the training there for another 3 months HE HE HE HE...I've submitted the new training application to the unemployment office and I've received email from the Finnish teacher that I can join the classes, so I'm gonna start only on March 10th since next week is the school's skiing holiday he he he...

So here are my BEAUTIFUL things today!!! :-D Oh, and of course I also bought some fresh plums today, so I'm gonna grab one soon HO HO HO HO HO...

3BT: May 27, 2008

1. Enjoying our trip to Luosto Park and The Amethyst Mine THOROUGHLY with my classmates and Finnish teacher. Plus it's GORGEOUS weather: not too hot, not too cold HUE HE HE HE HE HE...Bless us! ;-D

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2. The look on our teacher's face when she received some gifts from us. And I managed to wrap my gift inside a "Tandoori Chicken" box (it was the PERFECT size for my gift!) and at first she thought that I had given her that LITERALLY HI HI HI HI...It was SO MUCH FUN reliving the Christmas party incident when a friend thought I had given her frozen kebab meat HA HA HA HA HA...

3. The beautiful landscape surrounding us. I'll upload the pics tomorrow. I'm just SO tired right now and tomorrow I still have a regular class (computer class this time).

4. Hubby worrying over me HUA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...

5. Finding two nice amethyst stones for myself to keep. YEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!

6. Laughter. I hear so much laughter today. Mmmmmmm...

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7. Grilling sausages in a small cabin in Luosto Park together. YUM YUMMMMMM!!!!

8. Hubby lovingly helped me take out a sliver of wood from under my skin with a needle he he he...THANKS SO MUCH, Bunny!!!!!!!!

HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY!!!

Why am I happy? Let me count the ways and be thankful for each and every one of them.

1. Today I received my passport back. I sent it last Monday to the Indonesian Embassy in Helsinki to report myself. Why do I need to report myself? Well, one other reason other than the obvious is that once I've reported myself, my new address is now written at the back of my passport, so when I fly back to Finland, I don't have to pay 1 million rupiah tax at the airport HUE HE HE HE HE HE HE...Plus I'm RELIEVED that the passport has arrived safely HE HE HE HE HE...

2. Because of reason number 1, I can use the money to go to a SPA in Bandung in October HUA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...I'm gonna pamper myself in Bandung. *WIDE GRIN*

3. My new book's arrived (Jostein Gaarder's Maya). Hubby asked me if I wanted to buy a book since he wanted to order something online, so I picked one. I still have many other unread novels, but I just love stacking them up to read in the future ho ho ho ho ho ho...

4. My Brit friend and husband and teacher have told me that I may be able to teach Finnish to foreigners later in the future. It's something I'm considering seriously, since I think I'd love to do something like that. ;-D I know it'll take me years to be able to be as good in Finnish (compared to my English knowledge), but I'm in no hurry. ;-D

I'm THANKFUL for their encouragement and support.

5. Tonight we were supposed to go to the bars with hubby's brother and girlfriend, but they cancelled it. I don't mind that since it means I have plenty of spare time to relax (read comics or do whatever I want to do today) ho ho ho...

6. Seeing hubby's SATISFIED GRIN as I tucked him to sleep on the sofa just now.

7. Hubby bought pepper steak for us HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO...I LOVE pepper steak! ;-D

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8. A little while ago while hubby was doing something in front of his computer, I went over to smother him with kisses and I noticed that between the pages of his notebook, there was my Post-It Note from the day when he was sick and he had to stay home while I went to my Finnish course. I left him the note before I went to the course. I LOVE the fact that he keeps it safe, even though it's just a Post-It note. ;-D

9. Today's been wet again. It rained water for a while. I don't mind that since it means that the ice isn't slippery. That means that I'm SAFE from falling HO HO HO HO HO...

10. Cleaning up hubby's ears with a special tool from Indo. I LOVE cleaning up his ears ha ha ha ha ha...Sounds gross, eh? ;-D

11. My class is going to visit the Gold Mine next Friday. I've never been there before, even though I've lived in Finland for a little over a year. And it's FOR FREE since the company who organizes the course is paying for that. YIIIIPPIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!! I'm gonna bring my digicam to take pics. ;-D

12. The other day when I walked home, I noticed something very cute: as the snow was melting and water was running fast to the drain all over the village, three birds were cleaning themselves up in the running water nearby my apartment building. What a sight!!! I even stopped to watch them. Mmmm...

13. Spring is comiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg!!! And lately here in Sodankylä, the day is longer than the night (17 hours versus 7 hours). YEEEESSSSS!!!

14. This conversation:

Me: Am I demanding?
Hubby: Sometimes. (smile)
Me: What? When?
Hubby: No comment.
Me: Okaaayyyy...does it bother you, then?
Hubby: No.
Me: GOOD! (BIG grin)

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Other than those, here are other things I'm thankful for:

1. My family, husband, husband's family, and friends. They're always so supportive, understanding, and kind to me.

2. My blogger friends. Without them, I wouldn't be the woman I am today. ;-D

3. Peace of mind.

4. Being able to sleep well at nights.

5. My health.

6. Enlightenment.

7. Wonderful food, tasty snack, and refreshing water.

8. People's thoughtfulness (strangers or non-strangers alike).

9. Open doors and closed doors.

10. Love, hope, and farts. *GRIN*



*START COPY*

In order to be able to achieve and maintain happiness we need to, actively, be able to do two things:

1. Complain and then let go (Dump the baggage, the roadblocks to happiness.)
2. Openly Express Gratitude (The open expression of gratitude promotes happiness.)

After all, everyone has something to be grateful for and/or something to complain about. If you would like to accept the challenge, please follow the appropriate link and do so: "Are You Grateful?", "Complain Complain Complain."

Contributors to "Are You Grateful?" & "Complain Complain Complain" are: 1-Attitude, the Ultimate Power 2-Max 3-DianaCA's Metamorphoses 4-Mental Poo 5-My Thoughts 6-Baba Doodlius 7-Wake Up America 8-Life is a Roller Coaster 9-Life and Me 10-pinay mommy's love blog 11-My Happiness Haven 12-And Life Goes On for a Filipino Mom 13-Blessed Sanctuary 14-Expressions And Thoughts 15-Memories by Jenn 16-Reminiscence of My Adventures 17-In the Life of Mne 18-Juliana's Lair 19-Pinay Wahm 20-Lucid Creativity 21-Winged Words 22-Irresistible Fascinations 23-A Little Time 24-See Me For What You Will 25-Greatest Reviews 26-ETC ATBP 27-Gandacious 28-We Are Family 29-Journey to this thing called LIFE 30-www.rajeshrana.net 31-www.rajeshrana.com 32-BaReFooTeD Me 33-Uncomplicated 34-Points of View 35-Pride & Prejudice 36-Colorful World 37-Nora's Notes 38-A Daily Walk With Bill & Gina 39-Strange but True 40-Everything Under The Sun ( Beth Rebokon ) 41-Kaleidoscope 42-Fil-Oz Blog 43-By Osc@r Luiz 44-Comedy Plus 45-Blogging by Sandee 46-Soul Meets World 47-Mae's Memoirs 48-Beyond the Rave Reality 49-Amori, poesie, arte, chat by Hanna 50-Attached at the Hip 51-Carver's Sight or is that Site? 52-Empress Reviews 53-Simple Pleasures In My Heart 54-Lourdes' mia 55-A Grateful Heart 56-Majorsleepyhead 57-Scrappy n Happy in Ohio 58-CHOC MINT GIRL 59-Extraordinary Things 60-ZOOROPAZOO 61-BeNolSatuEm 62-As The World Turns 63-Your Caring Angels 64-Life Is Wonderful To Know Everyday 65-Sugar Magnolias 66-Little Peanut 67-Creative In Me 68-Me and Mine 69-Pea in a Pod 70-the diary of the Pink & Brown Wedding 71-good thoughts, good trades, good life 72-My Blog - all things me 73-Rainbows 74-Little Corner of Mine 75-Me, Myself and I 76-My Planet Purple 77-Amel's Realm 78-A Handful of Surprises 79-A Detour 80-Something Purple 81-Vanity Kit 82-Are You Grateful? 83-A Simple Life 84-BlogTips.Com 85-Balitang Kalye 86-Mariuca 87- Emila Yusof 88-A Total Blog 89-My Life in this Wonderful World 90-MommyAllehs 91-Things That Suck 92-A Mother's Stuff 93-Princess Vien 94-My Inner Thoughts Revealed 95-Roxiticus Desperate Housewives 96-Apples Of The Eyes 97-Nita's Random Thoughts 98-Nita's Corner 99-Thomas Digital Services 100-A Mother's Thoughts101-Meltwater. Torrents. Meanderings. Delta 102-My Perfect Escape 103-Vanidosa. Marie 104-Confessions of a Supermodel Wannabe 105-Lynda's Loft 106-Listening..Learning..Living 107-LadyJava's Lounge 108-The Painted Veil 109-Poeartica 110-Maryannaville 112-CARPE DIEM 113-Turn-u-Off 114-asian mutt international 115-Petty Ramblings of a Petty Queen 116-LIFE IS A ROLLER COASTER 117-AZZY'S BLOG-A-ROONIE! 118-glad to be here 119-WilStop 120-Dare to Blog 121-WebGeek Journal 122-Foster Me Up 123-This is My Life 124-124-DaveylynneDR 125-Life Realities 126-aNgRiAniWorld Dot Com 127-All That Matters 128-My Inspiration Sharing Land 129-Hidup Biar Sedap 130-Mutiara Hati 131-EM Muhammad 132-I Digress 133-Mapped Memories 134-Working It 135-Startin' A New Life too, 136-Little Secret 137-FEEL FREE to Express Yourself 138-iAM-Mai 139-SOLOFLIGHT 140-BLACKNICKEL 141-NEUROPATCH 142-EMJEI SAYS 143-Big Money List 144-daily information 145-TRCoach 146-LOVE YOUR LIFE! 147- INSTANT MESSAGES 148-MEME ME 149-mEldita's untamed world 150-mEldita's uncensored life 151-i.MEL.dific 152-SNAPSHOT 153-DAILY STOCK PICKS 155-Pet's Garden Blog 156-Ketuk_angel Weblog 157-Laketrees 158-WannaSmile 159-YOU

*END COPY*

Topsy Turvy

Sorry I haven't been around. I've been VERY VERY tired. I think there's some kind of bug going on since today some of us suffer from a headache. Ugh!!! I think I'm going to ask Arttu to coin me again today to make sure I'll be fit tomorrow. I just don't feel 100% myself today, though this morning I felt perfectly fine, but after lunch break it was just horrible. Even our teacher's got a headache today!!!

Anyway, today we received news from our teacher that the course would be continued still, even though the French girl left the class. You see, yesterday we were worried that the course would stop since we once heard that there should be at least 8 students in order for the course to be opened. Phew!!! Yesterday I was a bit sad since if the course stopped, that meant that I wouldn't have enough money to buy the plane ticket. Well, I'd have enough, but that meant that I wouldn't have any spare money to use in Indonesia and that wouldn't be good, right?

And we still don't know if the course is going to continue until the end, since the Swedish guy in our class is waiting for the mine to open again here. He used to work in a mine until it closed down, but there's news already that the mine is going to open again in April or May. If he stops going to our course and works at the mine again, MAYBE the course will stop, but by then, I'll get enough student money to buy a plane ticket to Indo. Phew!!!

Another thing we have to do soon is to find ourselves a training place. Gee...I thought that they'd assign us to do our training somewhere, but now we have to find it ourselves??? We'll see if my husband can help in that area...hmmmm...I'm really not confident enough to ask around to know if they'll accept me as a trainee, you know? HE HE HE HE HE...

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And today our teacher also told us about a national Finnish proficiency exam that would be held NEXT MONTH. If we want to take the test for free, then we should take it during this course. It sounds a bit "silly" to be honest, since we'll have only been learning it for 2.5 months during this course when the exam is held on April 12th, 2008. However, since it's for free, then why not find out how far we'll have gone by then, right? The actual exam fee is around €125 €77.

THAT meant that we'll all have to try and practise MUCH MUCH more. I must say that this is really making me a bit stressful since we're taking the intermediate test as per our teacher's recommendation. If I pass it, it'll make me VERY HAPPY since in 3 years, I can apply for a citizenship without having to take the test again. However, if I fail, at least I know what the exam is all about. I just have to make sure that I don't push myself too much to get good grades and just relax.

This kind of exam reminds me of the free exam that our faculty paid for us on our last semester at the university. It was a grueling affair, taking hours and hours. And we had to do a separate speaking session at TBI (The British Institute) where we were paired up and we had to go into a room where we were asked to do different types on conversations based on pictures or questions. In the room there were one native speaker and one TBI teacher taking notes about our conversation and our conversation was recorded on tape.

I guess that the national Finnish test would be more or less the same (reading comprehension, listening comprehension, grammar, writing, and speaking). The only difference is that we'll only speak to a microphone instead of having to speak with a partner in front of a native speaker.

We'll see how it goes then. That means that I'll probably not be able to blog-hop too much during weekdays, since I'll really focus on learning more Finnish and memorizing more words and reading more Finnish texts until the exam is done. So pardon my absence, okay? I'll try to blog-hop during the weekend, though. Take care, everybody!!!

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Farewell to Another Classmate

Yesterday I battled with bureaucracy. Finally I received some papers from KELA, but I was surprised since they weren't the papers I was waiting for. They sent me the papers concerning some unemployment benefit starting from last June until last month. They also attached a piece of paper where I was supposed to explain why I submitted the application so late.

Gee...how was I supposed to know that I was entitled to get some unemployment benefit from them? I thought that since Arttu had got a permanent job starting last June, that meant that I wasn't qualified to apply for an unemployment benefit. Other than that, I had never worked in Finland before. Why would I apply for something that I thought that I wouldn't get in the first place, right? Oh well...

Today after a quick lunch, I went to the office to submit the papers. My Brit friend's hubby had told me that the girl who spoke English in the office was taking a week off, so I would have to use my basic Finnish knowledge there. I went inside the office and the girl told me to go to the inner office. Hey, it was good to know that I understood that bit of the sentence that she said in Finnish HA HA HA HA HA HA...

Then I came into the inner office and an older woman was sitting there. I came in and gave her all the forms, then she said something very quickly in Finnish, which I only understood about 5 seconds later HA HA HA HA HA HA...But at least I understood it, right?

Then after checking the forms, she asked me something (again very quickly) in Finnish. I knew some of the words, but I wasn't sure what she meant. I told her (in Finnish) that I only spoke a little Finnish, and she said, "I don't speak much English" and laughed nervously ha ha ha ha ha...She asked me the same question, but more slowly, and I finally decided to play a guessing game. Turned out that my guess was right. I was supposed to submit my hubby's salary statement and she thought that it wasn't there yet, so I pointed it out and she said, "Oh yesss..." and so I didn't need to submit any other papers (I hope not!!!).

Well, it was good practice, even though I only spoke a few sentences in Finnish, but I managed to speak only in Finnish HE HE HE HE HE...;-D I still don't know whether I'll get something from them concerning the unemployment benefit or not, 'coz I heard that if your hubby's salary reaches a certain level, then you won't get any. Oh well...at least that was done. ;-D

And when I came back home today, what did I find? More papers from the office and this time they're the correct papers for the course. On one piece of paper, it's stated how much I'll get per day and how much taxes I have to pay. So at least it's very clear now that I'm getting the student money which I DESPERATELY NEED so that I can buy a plane ticket to Indo. I'm not going to book a ticket yet, but I have to consider when I'm going to Indonesia as soon as possible (at least I think maximum next month) so that Arttu can negotiate his summer holiday.




Today my female French friend said goodbye to us, since she was contacted by her former employer about a certain job offer in Greece (she works in the travel industry). She's really considering taking that job, so today we parted with some tears. Well, at least we've exchanged email addresses, so we'll surely keep in touch he he he he...The room is gonna feel emptier than ever soon, but we'll keep studying hard he he he...

I have an idea to give to the teacher at the end of our course. I want to take a pic of each of us and then print them out and put them on a piece of carton along with our names below our individual pics and then give it to the teacher later on. I have to talk about this to the others first, though. ;-D If possible I also want to take a group picture. ;-D And for sure I'll put the group picture in my blog later on so that you can see it HE HE HE HE HE HE...

Anyway, I'm SOOOOOO tired right now, so I'm gonna take a nap now...hope you've been doing well, my friends. I'm gonna blog-hop later on, okay?

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A Sample of Coining and Today's Story

Since lots of people are curious about coining, let me just give you a sample of what your back looks like after coining. I can't use my back picture, of course, so I nicked one from flickr and edited it hi hi hi...


So, first of all you rub some balm onto the skin diagonally and then scrape it with a coin. I felt as though I was being held from the back after it was done. My WHOLE back was SO warm he he he he...

Anyway, yesterday our teacher told us that she got a headache when she came home, since she had been trying to think in Finnish, English, Russian, and French in our classroom he he he...So our teacher's brain is as messy as ours are, even though in a FAR different way ha ha ha ha ha...

I've been learning more and more things these days, which is good. However, it takes time to remember everything, but I like the fact that she drills us every day. I'm getting more and more relaxed during the drills and it helps us remember sentence structures better that way.

Today Arttu popped into our classroom to give some mail to our teacher and my heart leapt when I saw him, even though it was only for two seconds HEEEEEEEEEE HEEEEEEEEEE HEEEEEEEEEEEEEE...

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As what normally happens, if you put 9 people together in the same room from Mondays to Fridays from 9 am until 3 pm, there's bound to be friction hi hi hi hi...Different temperaments, different points of view.

I regret to say that one of us has given up mentally, so that person hasn't been focusing on the teacher and her explanation. That person doesn't even bother anymore to ask the teacher if that person doesn't understand the explanation. I'm not going to say whether it's a he or she here since it's fairer that way. But anyway, that person thinks that the teacher is not good, which I think is SO wrong. That person thinks that the teacher skips lessons without any good reasons, even though I KNOW the reason why, but that person is so opinionated, so I won't even bother explaining it. That person went to the employment office to tell them that our teacher wasn't helpful.

My Brit friend and her hubby went to the employment office to tell them that our teacher had been VERY helpful indeed and I'm also going to send a letter to them to confirm about the same thing.

I KNOW it's hard for that person to follow the classes, but still that person doesn't know that all of us who have only been here for a year or less have been VERY lucky to get this full-time course. My Brit friend and her hubby have been waiting for this course for 4 years and they were the ones who kept on pushing the government to open this course. Alas, even though I had mentioned this fact to that person, yet that person was too bull-headed he he he he...

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OK, change of topic. These past few days it's been bright outside already since around 8.15 am and it only gets dark at around 5 pm. It feels a bit odd for me after all those dark months when it was bright outside only from around 10.30 am until 2.30 pm.

Even yesterday when I walked home, I had to put on my sunglasses already HUE HE HE HE HE...Don't get me wrong, though! That DOES NOT mean that I can sunbathe...since it's still cold out there. This morning I woke up and the temperature was -24.5'C. Gladly it went up to -13'C when I walked home. I had to put on my anorak when I walked to the course this morning. ;-D

Tomorrow evening I'm planning to visit my Russian friend (from the evening classes last year) who just gave birth, so I may not be in the blogosphere tomorrow. Don't wonder about it, OK? I'm going to visit her with my Brit friend. Arttu's going to take us there. YIPPPPPPPPPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEE!!! Girl talk!!! ;-D

OK, time to blog-hop before I start doing my homework and cook for tomorrow!!!!

The Fun Part About Learning a New Language

One of the things I LOVE about my full-time course is laughing with my classmates. Sometimes some of us create funny sentences, but sometimes misunderstanding makes us give the wrong replies.

For example, today the teacher is teaching us to answer questions about our fave clothing item, our fave food, our fave colour, and our fave singer.

One of us misunderstood the teacher when she asked about his fave clothing. He answered, "Strawberry."

All of us couldn't help laughing out loud hi hi hi hi hi...

Another one of us misunderstood the same question and answered, "Banana."

HUI HI HI HI HI HI HI HI HI HI HI...She laughed along with us he he he...The teacher laughed, too. ;-D

Ahhhh...laughing is good. Laughing keeps us young HO HO HO...

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There's Always a First Time for Everything!!!

I haven't had time to blog-hop or anything much today. First of all, I called my Mom for an hour via Skype hi hi hi...and then right after that I met a close friend of mine in YM (the one who doesn't have a computer at home), so we chatted for a while. Then I had to do something online and then hubby came home for lunch.

Then just as I was getting ready to blog, somebody called me. I didn't look at the number since I thought it was my Brit friend calling. Imagine my surprise when I found out that it was the office calling, the one that organized the Finnish course.

I'm rather glad that she spoke clear Finnish and the phone line was clear (we don't have any home phones, just mobile phones). And I'm GLAD that I could understand most of what she was saying. She said that today's class is cancelled since the teacher's sick. I was going to ask her if the next class is cancelled as well, but it took me a long time to think of how to form the sentence, so by the time I was going to ask her that, she had already said goodbye.

It was actually the FIRST time I had ever received a phone call when the other person talked in Finnish. I was glad that I didn't get nervous BEFORE I got the call, otherwise I probably wouldn't have understood A THING he he he he...

I contacted another friend of mine about it and she said that Thursday's class is on. For some reason, I've mixed up the days, as well. The course used to be on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but now it's on Tuesdays and Thursdays hi hi hi hi hi...

Phew!!! Gladly it was a short call. SU, another friend of ours, says that she prefers talking face-to-face in Finnish rather than making a phone call, 'coz then at least she can use her body language to explain what she wants to convey, but you can't do that over the phone, right? Well...technically you can, but what good would it be? HE HE HE HE HE HE...

Okie dokie, now it's time for me to blog-hop and then I should go to the supermarket to buy some milk (yes, again hi hi hi hi).

Update on Our Finnish Course

The other day I just found out that our Finnish teacher will stop teaching us since she's been too busy, so her family doesn't want her to work during the evenings, as well. I don't know yet how it's going to be like now: whether or not the course will be continued or whether or not the local government has found a new teacher.

The bottom line is that there should be at least 5 students in one classroom and we (my Brit friend, hubby, and I) don't know yet whether the others are going to enroll in this spring class or not. After all, two of them had just given birth and another one is now heavily pregnant. As to the other one...hmmm...maybe she'll enroll in this course, but still that means we need another one.

Well, whatever happens, I'm still going to force myself to learn Finnish from websites and books. :-))) And of course I'm going to practise it with my in-laws HE HE HE HE...

GAMBATTE KUDASAIIIIIIIII, say the Japanese!!! ;-D

Our Own Pikkujoulu!!!!!!!!!!

Today in our Finnish class, our teacher suggested us to meet sometime in a cafe prior to Christmas. It's going to be LOVELY!!!

I got my homework correction today and the teacher said I had done well for someone who'd only been here for 8 months. I was SO glad to hear it, 'coz I felt as though my progress had been too slow he he he he he...What's really crystal clear now is that I haven't really practiced speaking much. Since I don't meet too many people, I don't use much Finnish even though I probably know more Finnish grammar than some of my classmates. One thing for sure is that I'm going to force myself to practice more speaking. Maybe I should start it with my own hubby. Actually lately I've been trying to say some short sentences in Finnish. I should keep on doing that so that I don't need too much time to formulate those words in my head and that it'll become some sort of an automatic response. Yeah, worth trying! ;-D

I can't wait for the pikkujoulu party (a small pre-Christmas celebration). My Brit friend is the one who's going to organize it. I sure hope everybody can make it, though I'm not sure the boys are going to come with us (boys = my Brit friend's husband and eldest son). I guess it's going to be an all ladies eve he he he he...We haven't decided on a date yet, but it should be before December 17th since one of our Russian friends is going to visit her hometown again that day.

Gave my teacher a Christmas gift and she was SO happy to get it HE HE HE HE HE HE HE...She said she'd only open it on Christmas Eve (the habit here is to open gifts on Christmas Eve). I also gave something for my Brit friend, who totally didn't expect it. WA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...I LOVE IT when I can surprise people in a nice way!!! *big grin* Those gifts weren't expensive, but it's the thought that counts, right????? RIGHT? You MUST agree with me. LOL LOL!!!

Ahem...when I got back home from my Finnish class, I noticed that hubby had wrapped my birthday present nicely. It's now sitting on top of our scanner/printer. I've decided not to touch it or go near it he he he he...

See, Fish, I can still control myself HE HE HE HE HE...I want to be surprised tomorrow. I don't wanna touch it and then wonder what it is and obsess over it during the night he he he he he...

Okie dokie...now let me spend some quality time with hubby he he he...Enjoy the rest of your day, everybodyyyyy!!! I'll surely enjoy mine THOROUGHLY, knowing that tomorrow I can open that mysterrriiouuussss package ha ha ha ha ha...

By the way, I had a funny conversation with my hubby earlier when he got back home from work.

Me : "Everybody's now DYING to know what's inside that box."
R2 : "Everybody? What do you mean by everybody?"
Me : "I told my blogger friends about your mysterious package, so now they're also dying to know what's inside of it."
R2 : (laughing) "Oh boyyyyyyyy..."

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Homework, Dream, Christmas Lights

Yesterday my Finnish teacher gave us homework. We are supposed to write her either a letter or a diary. She wants to know how far our Finnish ability actually is. Hmmm...I think I'll go with the diary form instead of a letter. That way I can tell her how my days are until our next lesson on Tuesday. I'm not going to ask for my hubby's help 'coz it's called cheating he he he...I was actually hoping to write something in class instead of at home. Why? Because it'll reveal our true ability even better than if we have time to open up our grammar books at home before we write something. Oh well...let's see what I can come up with he he he he...I feel like I'm going to cheat anyway 'coz I'll look up some words in the dictionary and I'll browse the grammar in my grammar books, but I guess it's only natural for a beginner to do, eh?

Enough about that. This morning I dreamt of my Mom's knee again. In my dream, she started feeling pains again on her knee and I woke up worried. So I sent an SMS to my brother, asking him if our parents were fine. He said that my Mom was a bit under the weather last week. I told him that if she doesn't get well soon, she should go to the doctor right away. My Mom is such a "naughty" woman. If she feels that she can still handle any pain or illness, she doesn't want to go to the doctor. Once it's all BEYOND her ginormous strength, then she'll finally reluctantly go to the doctor. GRRRRRRRRRR!!! That's caused us to worry about her over the years. She's a REALLY strong woman with such a high threshold of pain, but still if a doctor can help her out, why suffer, right? That's what doctors are for he he he he...

Two days ago hubby came back home with a box of Christmas lights for our balcony. YAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!! I'm SO HAPPY about it!!! I'll take a pic once he puts the lights on our balcony, OK? We won't put up a Christmas tree, so having some balcony lights would be nice. I've seen our neighbour put up his balcony lights even from weeks ago!!!

One funny thing was that before I moved here, I had always thought that the temperature would be "steady". I mean if it went down to -20'C, then the next day and whole week's temperature would range around that degree. I was wrong. It could go up and down pretty quickly, actually. Today it's only 1'C and it's snowing outside. I once asked my hubby, "Hey, I thought it could only snow when it's below 0'C!"

He said, "Well, up in the sky it IS colder than 0'C!"

Oh yeah...it didn't cross my mind HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE...

OK, now I have to go to the library to return a book and buy some milk and then I'll go visit your blogs he he he he he...Oh, and I have to do my homework as well...have to write daily he he he he...

3BT: Wednesday, November 21, 2007

1. Got this in my mailbox, created especially for me by Sindi. THANK YOU SO MUCH, Sindiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


2. My Finnish teacher asked us what we expected from her if our full-time course would not be started next January. We agreed that we would still LOVE to get the same classes next year: Tuesdays and Wednesdays (1.5 hour each session). The greatest thing is that my Brit friend's husband suggested something and our Finnish teacher agreed to talk to her husband about it. The idea is that we can go to school during Finnish lessons along with the kids (I mean regular school). I'm SO thankful that our teacher is willing to continue giving us lessons PLUS she always supports our ideas and she is concerned about our well-being as immigrants. She's like another angel in my life, just like all my blogger friends. ;-D

3. Just like what has happened a few times already, when I got to school for my Finnish class, all the doors were closed. My hubby patiently waited for me in his car while I knocked on the door to make sure that my Finnish teacher heard it (our classroom is on the second floor). Hubby waited for about 15 minutes. I TRULY appreciated his patience. I LOVE THAT GUY SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!! ;-D

4. I made my own hamburger steak and when hubby woke up from his nap, he couldn't wait to eat it HA HA HA HA HA...Normally he doesn't eat anything during the night except snacks and buns and coffee, but this time he decided to eat my burger steak first instead of coffee. I feel HONOURED and HAPPY to be able to satisfy his appetite HO HO HO HO HO...