Hauskaa Vappua!!

Hope you've been checking out my kick-ass Africa blog. Well, i will keep updating it, but it's been tough with final projects due.

I spent much of this semester in limbo, completely unsatisfied with my program, procrastinating, bored yet strangely really happy. It's a very complicated mood to explain. I think it has something to do with 90% of my work load being due the last week of school, which means i spent the first 12 weeks pretty much doing nothing except learning Finnish and walking in the snow. Anyway, stuff has been due this week so i spent much of last week actually doing hardcore work. It felt awesome and motivating. I stayed late in the lab at school sometimes until 4 AM, typing away, drunk on coffee, adrenaline and sense of accomplishment.

It reminded me of my McGill days. Ah, sweet McGill. Back there, staying up in the lab or studio or piano practice room past midnight was the norm. I used to love getting the 12:25 AM train home, then waking up at 8 for class. Well, i didn't love it, but it always made me feel really hardcore. The library was open on Sundays and deadlines actually meant something. It seems the norm in my program is that no one ever hands anything in on time, partly because there is no consequence, partly because the teachers never hand any assignment back. Did I mention there were some kinks in my program?

Of course, it's not all bad. It's hardly bad at all. The subject is really interesting and the Professor quite brilliant, I just wish there was more work to do and that the company was slightly more competitive.

But summer is coming. My 1-month job working for my prof. Petri is secure and I've been expected to a Special Summer School in Spain. At the time I applied, I thought it would be super exclusive, but it turns out, they accepted over 30 people!

Spring is beautiful in Finland. I've been wearing shorts constantly even though it's just around 12 degrees. I don't know why but Finns don't seem to dig shorts. In the centre, even the Gypsies look at me funny. Being foreign is tons of fun...

This past weekend was Vappu, which is May Day. It was quite excellent. In a procrastination tour de force, my Sunday and Monday were morphed into one big day. Vappu is a big day in Finland. It's suppose to be a day of family, celebration and spring. But really, it's an excuse for Finns to wear funny hats, get really really really drunk, get in fights, and spend the last 20 minutes that a club is open looking for someone to sleep with. So for them, it's basically just like a Friday night, but on a Sunday afternoon.