1. Tell me how to explain to a man that buying candles and lighting it every now and then isn't a waste of money, please he he he he...
2. I met someone online the other night and we talked via YM. She's an Indian girl living in Helsinki with her hubby. I don't even remember anymore where I met her. It must've been from some Finnish website online. Anyway, she had started her full-time Finnish course in Helsinki and I got some info from her about students' benefit (how much money I'll get from the government while doing the course). The most important piece of info was that she told me that the actual integration plan for immigrants should go like this:
a. A full-time Finnish course (from 9 am to 3 pm Mon-Fri) for a whole year.
b. 3.5 months work as an apprentice in a company.
c. The immigrant's ready to work for real.
Of course it's only an IDEAL plan. Everybody knows how hard it is to get a job here in Finland, especially in a small village like Sodankylä. I'm not being a pessimist (if God wills, nothing is impossible), but I just want to be realistic, too. Now the full-time course I'm going to go through next January is only for 5 months. I DO NOT know if there'll be a continuation course after that, but based on the Indian girl's description, there SHOULD be a continuation course. However, hoping too much from this village isn't good. My Brit friend has been waiting for a Finnish course for 3,5 years, whereas I was LUCKY enough to only have to wait for 6 months. So I don't want to complain (plus one of my resolutions this year is to catch myself before I start complaining and just stop that train of thought) 'coz for me, this current Finnish course and the upcoming one are A MIRACLE for this little village!!!! ;-D
I talked to my hubby that it seemed I would have to take another certification course before I could get a steady job here. I don't know yet what 'coz I still don't know what kind of job I want to do. I'll have to find out later on what I wanna do and what kind of courses they offer here in this village, then I'll go for it provided that my Finnish is good enough after May since all other courses will be done in Finnish.
If I still have trouble finding a job after that, then we're thinking of planning to have a baby. I don't know yet what God has in store for me, but I'm just walking through this step by step. I don't wanna think too hard, but I also want us to have the same rough map of possibilities in mind. When I asked him if he wanted me to have a full-time job still after we had a baby, he said it was up to me. GOOD answer he he he he...Deep in my heart, I want to be a SAHM until my kids are big enough provided that we have enough money to pay for our family's expenses. But we'll see about that. ;-D
So my journey's still long and winding he he he he he...but I'm determined to enjoy every step of it. ;-D
3. Sometimes oblivion means peace of mind, even though it is a mere illusion.
4. Last Saturday my mother-in-law asked Arttu and I if we wanted to eat at the nearby school, so we did. Apparently there was a group of people offering free moose and mashed potatoes since it was hunting season. Arttu said the free food was only for a certain group of people, but I don't really get it. Anyway, we went there and there were a lot of people already. I thought I could get my own food, but apparently two men were serving the food and I got a HUGE portion of moose and mashed potatoes. My stomach almost felt like exploding afterward and I didn't eat anything else that day ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...
Then she bought us some kind of raffle tickets. We had to give the official our names and phone numbers and we had to keep the piece of ticket with us. I'm not sure what this is all about as Arttu apparently doesn't know anything much about it, either. Oh well...I guess if we win something, they'll let us know ha ha ha...
OK, here are some bird pics I took at my in-laws'. Too bad there weren't any squirrels then he he he he he...
And here's a pic of my mother-in-law (on the right) and her sister-in-law at school where we enjoyed moose and mashed potatoes. We drink milk from those metal cups he he he he he...
