A lot of work

The passed week
This week passed by very quickly ... we had a lot of work.
Monday till Wednesday had been like every week .... not too much at university.
Thursday I was staying at campus from 9 am. till 6 pm. with a groupwork and 2 classes.
Friday was even "worse". First of all I had to "improve my finnish skills" (yes, I'm now able to speak two more words *gg*). Starting in the early afternoon we had a seminar called "Asia-Pacific as Business area". A finnish business consultant specialized in building networks and relationships between asian and finnish (european) companies, was talking to us. He presented a lot of information concerning asian culture (how to negotiate, how they live, what potential markets they offer, how the government / law / economy is built up, etc. He presented a lot of figures, which was a bit boring for some people. Afterwards one of his (female) colleage from Indonesia presented her country and all "good-to-knows" to us. She was really entertaining and gave us a lot of information.
This class was finished at arround 21.00, with appr. 45 minutes brakes (3x 15). That's really marathon.

Because we have been very brave on Friday, we were allowed to come again on Saturday from 9 am. till 5 pm. with extended presentations about Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and many more. Now we have 4 weeks time to prepare a group project report incl. presentation about India. That's going to be a lot of work as well. In 4 weeks, we'll have a Saturday session once again.

At Saturday evening we visited a Leppävaara Student housing party ... which actually wasn't really "special". Take a look here:

I wanna have this Metropolia shirt as well ^^

6 persons - 6 nationalities

Oh yah.

many persons - even more nationalities *gg*

Never again say, that I'm on no pic! :-)

Sunday, 21.09.2008
Today I had to enjoy the weather once again. Some others enjoyed that as well ... as you see on the pic. I have found this sandy beach on the "west coast" of Helsinki ... I'm sure it's great there in summer.
Furthermore, there was a shooting going on in Kauhajoki university (appr. 4 hours by car NW of Helsinki). One student killed 10 fellow students and himself. This was already the 2nd shooting at a school this year. As you see on the last pic, the government called out a national mourning.
Bad things happen here. Do you know, that the city with the highest suizide rate is located in Finnland, near Oulu? The darkness and alcohol isn't the best thing, I guess.

A sand beach on the western side of Helsinki

just for info: the sun was shining and the temperature was about 12°C and a cold wind breeze was on. Do you see the person swimming in the sea?
"Die spinnen, die Finnen!" :-D

Due to the school shooting in Kauhajoki the government called out national mourning.
:-(

Sun? Oh, yeah, I know!

This weekend, we got the chance to enjoy SUN ... yes, the bright thing, far away from our planet :-). Starting at Saturday afternoon, the sky got clear and we saw the amazing, warming, bright and friendly sun. Long time no see!
You definitly have to use this chance and have to go out.

My Saturday afternoon walk to Myyrmäki (45 minutes one-way)

Typical finnish vegetation ... with a blue sky in the background :-)

That's typically finnish as well
Next to (nearly) every road, there's a walking and cycling road paralell to the street. Excellent for pedestrians like me.

What you should know about crosswalks:
1) There are many, many crosswalks in finnish cities
2) NOBODY is stopping for a pedestrian who want to cross
3) Sometimes, they lead you to nowhere (see above)

Finland at it's best

A new residential area in Myyrmäki area. Unfortunatly not my home ;-).

Sunday
Enjoy the weather once again ... this time --> city center.

From the time I arrived in Finland, I have never eaten a hamburger or something similar.
Today, I had to try the famous Hesburger (which is located on every corner throughout the country). This is a nice "Juustohampurilainen".

Tastes like a Cheesburger ... is a cheesburger.
Taste was really good and recommandable.

Oh, sunny day!
As I was looking on my map to see where else to go, a man asked me, if he can help me.
I just showed him the map, as he recognized, that I'm not a Finn ;-). As I told him, that I'm from Austria, he continued speaking German ... he studied 5 years in Vienna and had a real viennese accent. After another few words, he told me, that he lived as well in Zurich. So we continued in "Schwitzerdütsch" which he was able to speak very well.
The world is too small!

To be able to compare, I had to go to McDonald as well. MCD is on every corner here as well!

Does this white building look like a headquater of hugh finnish enterprise?
I don't think so ... but it is one.

It's the HQs of StoraEnso Oyi, a worldwide operating timber producer and -seller.

Yes, I really can cook. At least, I am able to eat what I have "cooked" :-)
Asian fried noodles with chicken, paprika, carrotts, soy sauce and GARLIC ^^.

That's it for today guys & girls.

Week 38 - Already 4 weeks here

Friday, 19.09.2008

The past week was dominated by bad weather (rain, drizzle, low clouds and low temperatures ~ 6-9°C). What's better to do than to study in that case ^^.

At least, my courses have been very interesting. Due to the beginning financial crisis on Monday / Tuesday (Lehman Brothers and AIG crash) we had enough things to discuss, especially in "Corporate Finance". In the other courses, there are still a lot of things, I've already heard at FHWien, which makes things easier.

On Tuesday evening we had to celebrate the birthday of an Italien guy, living right 2 floors above our apartment. It's amazing how many people find place in a 50m² flat. I think that's the reason why there is such a hugh buffer (or multiplicator) for static calculations before building such houses :-D. It last definitely a bit too long, so the upcoming Wednesday was a looong day ;-).

On Thursday we used the chance to go to the public indoor swimming pool of the city of Vantaa, located in Myyrmäki. Entrence fee is EUR 2,50, so thats achievable for students as well. After several lengths and a whirlpool-session, I went to K-Citymarket to do the weekly shopping. Packed with 2 fully filled plastic bags, I arrived at home in the evening.

Yesterday, on Friday, METKA (the students organisation) invited us to an "International Evening" for exchange students. Everybody brought some food from his country and so we had dinner all togehther.
See, how this looks like:

The welcoming in a hall at a campus somewhere in western Helsinki

Last preperations going on in the campus kitchen. Most things had already be prepared at home.

Polish food.

And here we go ... some swedish food. Unfortunately I haven't managed to get one of these as well :-(.

My creation ... appetizer consisting of fresh bread with smoked sausages and cheese.

polish mixed salad (with a lot of mayo ^^).

Insalata di pasta tricolore made by the Italians.

The finnish fraction (= tutors) serving their food as well.

Polish guys & girl posing for the photo.

South Korea is well represented here as well

South Korean dishes, yummy!

The finnish dishes ... good as well!

... plundering the buffet ...

hungry students

After this official evening, we joined a finnish student to visit his place. There we watched a movie on his "inroom entertainment system", consisting of a video projector, JBL sound system and well connected PC/DVD bundle.
Isn't it a romantic fire? *gg*

What special things have I done today? Sleeeeeping, cleaning, writing and a bit of learning!
That's it! :-).

Here we go!

Saturday, 13.09.2008
After a long sleep, Seok Heon and me decided to join a group of Leppävaara students to visit the nearby city of Porvoo. This city is appr. 50km (north-)east of Helsinki and the bustour to there takes about 1 hour. With 47.000 inhabitants it is quite big as well, but you can't really see that. It looks like a marvelous, old, calm village in southern Finland. Have a look on your own.

The way to Porvoo ... a lot of landscape passed by :-).
Forrest, water, grain fields, ... and some cows ^^.

After 1 hour bus trip from Kampii station in Helsinki, we arrived at the central point of Porvoo.

marvelous street towards the church

On the way, we passed by a flea market. Quite small but nice to see.

The way down to the river, which crosses Porvoo.

In front of the church ... Sun posing :-)

On the bridge ... looks really relaxing!

That's Finland! Isn't it like out of a photobook?

Who the hell should be able to read something like this ... oh my dear ...

Hmmm ...

Our conquerer on the cannon

The famous riverside storage buildings in Old Porvoo

Yes, I've really been there! I know, that looks like edited with PhotoShop ... hmmm.

No comment *gg*

A new residential area near the river designed by architect Tuomas Siitonen

Again, across the river to the sunny side of ... the river :-).

A bit more in direction landheart inside a park area ... the monument of J.L. Runeberg, the national poet of Finland.

Small Titanic an a playground next to the river *gg*.

Enjoying the (quite seldome) sun ... it's cosy warm as well outside (in the sun of course)

The river in direction sea ...

At random, we passed by a dog show on the football field in Porvoo ... all different breeds where judged.

Yes, once again ... the Finnish Red Cross :-).
Well, I'm happy about our uniform of the Austrian Red Cross *gg*.

A modern building in Porvoo.

Already at Helsinki Rautatieas (Central Railway Station) waiting for our train to Kannelmäki.

And one pic for our ÖBB-employes readers of this blog *gg*.

Well, Porvoo is worth a visit, when the weather is fine. I think you've seen almost everything which is quite interesting (excluding museum visits or similar) in arround 3 hours. Bus connections between Helsinki Kampii and Porvoo is excellent, you can go there appr. every 15 minutes.

Okay, I think I hear my laundry calling for me to be ironed ^^. I'll do what it says! :-).

Thursday, 11.09.2008
Today, we had the first class "Culture & Management" with our malay (from Malaysia) teacher Ross ... very interessting class and a very intoxicating teacher, who is layer for EU-law here in Helsinki.

Our first "case study" (duration about 15 minutes *gg*).

Monday, 08.09.2008

That looks like the view from the top of the Olympia tower, right at the Olympia stadium, built in 1951.

Here you can see, that Helsinki is not thaaat big ;-)

the Finnair-Stadium below us