3BT: Random Days

1. Went to visit MIL at her place yesterday and she looked much better. She was walking around the yard of the apartment complex (using two walking sticks for balance) when I arrived.

2. Knowing that MIL hasn't been totally alone ever since she got back home - that her sis had been there to help her out.

3. Ken, my bro's son, has started going to pre-school and the first day went very well. :-D

4. Going 27 kmh on my bike without having to do anything (because I was going down on a long slope) HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAHHHHH...

5. Having a nice, long chat at my friend's place.

6. Fresh cherries!!!!! There aren't any fresh cherries in Indo, so the first time I tasted them was a few years ago.



7. Feeling as a funny person when I'm with hubby, even though with others I don't especially feel that way (not that often anyway).


8. Cutting my hair shorter and feeling much lighter without having to spend a dime ha ha...

9. Being appreciated. :-D

10. Making a mistake at work and being forgiven for it. And letting it go. :-D

Closed Doors

Just wanna share about my training again. This month is my last month at the daycare. A week ago I asked the boss if I could possibly continue there and she said yes. But I had to contact the employment office 'coz they're the ones who make the final call when it comes to this type of training. Turned out that a new law prohibited me from doing this type of training 'coz I had collected 12 months of training in different places. I was so bummed when I heard about this, 'coz I was already thinking that I could spend 4 more months with the kids instead of just one more month with them.

Then I started to think about going back to school first - the kind of vocational school where I could study for about 3 years that would enable me to become a daycare worker once I graduated. The first batch of application was last month and I was thinking that there might be another one in July if they needed more students to apply. So I contacted them to find out about this. Turned out that they had too many applicants already this year, so they advised me to try to apply for next year instead.

So next month I'll be unemployed again and I won't even be able to try to find another training place 'coz I've used up my "quota". The only thing I can do is either try to run my own business or find a suitable course organized by the employment office. I can of course try to wait for other opportunities to apply to the vocational school, but I'm not too sure about studying other subjects.

So I've had slammed doors twice this month and I'm just trying to believe that God has the best plans for me and that any door is closed, it's for my own benefit (even if I don't understand it). When I first heard about the fact that I couldn't continue the training there, I was so sad that I wanted to cry, but right now my defensive mode is on, so I'll be fine. I just hope that I won't cry on my last day there when I have to say goodbye to the kids, 'coz then they'll be confused. So if you're the praying type, pray so that I will NOT cry that day, please!!!

Other than that, life's been GREAT...spring has come and the weather's been rather cold this week, but I can see some green grass already in some parts of the village...

P.S. Oh, and although most of the time the kids at the daycare are pretty good, they still need to be reminded over and over again to behave, especially when they're in "challenging mode" or when they're in a bad mood or when they're cranky.

Some of them have grown closer to me, but my problem is that they still don't obey my words as well as they do the teacher or the senior workers there. Probably 'coz they know I'm only a temp worker or for some reason I think they tend to think of me more as a playmate instead of an adult he he he...but nevertheless I've learnt SO MUCH by doing the training here and I've learnt so many more interesting Finnish terms/words that I wouldn't have been able to learn on my own ('coz I wouldn't have known that they existed!).

So we'll see what door will be open for me in the future...:-)))

glitter-graphics.com

Lots of Thoughts...

This is going to be another rambling post hi hi hi...

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...