Week 9

Terve!

9 weeks in Finland. It’s going very fast. Although my tan is long gone, it feels like just yesterday I was in South Africa, soaking up the sun. Yes, they say there is nothing like an African Sunrise, and surely, the same could be said for a Finnish Sunrise, if such a thing existed.

Truly, the earth’s main source of heat and light is a rare treat here in Jyväskylä;

In Finland, an impotent sun rises at 9 AM. If not cloudy, it can be seen for the next 6 hours awkwardly stumbling across the heavens, only to shamefully recoil into the darkness at 3:45 PM.

I’ve been quite busy lately; essays, nights out, and flat bicycle tires have kept me very busy. I wish to regale you with some highlights. But, where to begin?

Oh yes, the incident…

A SHOT IN THE DARK
My 3 Slovenian roommates Dikran, Gregor and Matej, are pretty cool, except when they’re drinking with their friends, which is pretty much all the time. But we still get along ok.
Except three weeks ago, I was happily enjoying my first ever Fall Break when my roommates when to a nightclub and didn’t return until very late at night. They showed up at around 4 AM with a loud Spanish guy and even louder Finnish girl, which is very rare. On came the loud techno music and the party continued. I was in bed at the time, and somehow managed to doze off.

It was around 5:30 AM when I was awoken from my unstill slumber by the sound of my roommate Matej’s screeching voice, blasting the fiercest words the English language has to offer, and accompanied by even more drastic sounding Slovenian words.

The front door slammed shut but like excrement, the dirty words continued to flush from his mouth until my other two roommates were able to calm him down. The slurred curses recoiled to a drunken mumble.

At this point, I really didn’t want to get involved and stayed in my room despite the fact that the tea I had drunk 4 1/2 hours earlier was making my bladder feel like a Chinese Torture Chamber.

Now, I was thinking of letting this incident slide to avoid tension, but after talking a sensible friend, I decided to confront the problem…

What actually happened was that the loud Finnish girl barfed all over Matej’s bedroom floor. Scared of being caught, she mopped up the vomit with his clothes and strategically hid them under his bed. When Matej entered his room, the ghastly smell suggested something was afoot.

Once discovering his half-digested-potato chip-stained Puma tracksuit, he went into a fit and kicked her out of the apartment, without her jacket, into the dead cold of the early morn.

I was pretty surprised as they told me the story, but I had to laugh too. It’s pretty kooky stuff. Anyway, they were apologetic and agreed not to blast loud music at 4 AM or have weird girls throw up in the apartment anymore. You gotta love those crazy Slovenian roommates of mine!!


POINTER POWER!! (Editorial/rant)

This week the Music Department hosted a conference, which meant 3 full days of insightful lectures by scholars from Europe, USA and even Canada. Some were good, but most of the presenters seemed to think that giving a talk meant mumbling words while staring down at you laptop screen for 25 minutes.

At least I got to see some cool PowerPoint presentations. But seriously, whatever happened to just plain talking to people? Is it so frightening to stand up in front of 20 people and talk about what you’ve been studying for ten years?

What, am I going to eat you?
Do you think George Carlin or Chris Rock would ever use PowerPoint?
Heck no!!
Forget the power, get to the point!!!!!


EN BREF (some brief notes about my Finnish Experience)

1) My host mother brought me to her hometown to celebrate the end of the MOOSE HUNTING SEASON. I ate MOOSE SOUP and CAKE, walked in the woods looking for moss, and saw a HOBBIT HOLE; it ended up being a potato cellar.

2) Earlier, I was supposed to spend Christmas in Rome, but decided to go to London for a couple of days, and then kick it to Aberdeen, Scotland to visit my New Zealand cousin, Nick. Although he’s 40, I’m still expecting to have really good time.

3) At the monthly ENGLISH MASS held at St. Olav’s Parish, I SANG and PLAYED GUITAR. Although I was a little nervous, the 20 people in the congregation really seemed to enjoy my Faith-induced musings.

4) My brother Charlie is coming to visit me for 5 days next week. He’s presently in the Canadian Army serving 6 months in Afghanistan and has 3 weeks off to tour Europe. I can’t wait to hear about his bone chilling stories of heroism. Last I heard, he had just had just purchased all 7 Police Academy movies.

5) My Finnish sucks. But that’s ok, because everyone speaks English. Even if I attempt to speak Finnish to someone, my measly efforts are pre-empted by the other person replying in perfect, albeit accented, English. Like a wounded cow, the shoot me out of my linguistic misery.

6) Finnish girls are hot.


…Well, that about wraps up this edition of my Update from Finland. I hope you are all well, and I miss and love you all. I will write during the Christmas holidays.

Oh, look out for my new online photo album, coming in a couple of days!!

Take care and stay warm,

Marc

P.S. To talk to me for real over the Internet, join Skype – www.skype.com