New beginnings

My new company invited me for a visit in Germany in the end of June. I saw the company, met a bunch of people and signed the contract. Now it was official. My original thought was to start at the company in the beginning of October and have the entire month of September to work on and finalize my thesis. However, the company wanted me to start in the beginning of September, or actually the end of August, because that was the time for the biggest exhibition in the business and a perfect time to start. Also the Finnish colleague would need me to help at the exhibitions in Sweden and Finland.

So that was it. I started packing up my stuff and arranged a huge sale to get rid of as much as possible. I would only take my sofa, my mattress and my piano with me. And of course I couldn’t bear to part from my kitchen stuff. I literally sold more than half of my things and it felt SO liberating! In the end I stayed loyal to my original thought, with the exception of taking my wardrobe with me as well. All the money I raised would go to buying a car. Which I wasn’t really happy about, buying a car that is, but the company is situated in such a distant place, that I wouldn’t really have a choice. 

I enjoyed my last summer in Tampere with a lot of sunsets and sunrises.

When it became clear that I was moving from Finland, many people started asking me when my farewell party was going to be. At first I told everyone, that I wasn't going to have the time to arrange a party, so some people starting talking (in front of me) about arranging a surprise party. After giving it a bit of thought, I decided to stay true to my nature, and throw a massive party. I realized that it would be the perfect way of saying goodbye to everyone. I booked a penthouse sauna and arranged a massive German-themed party. It was so much fun, and I had around 70 guests throughout the evening and night. People seemed to have fun and I was very happy too. I know I'll miss both the city and the people SO much, but at least I had the chance so say proper goodbyes and throw an epic party. 

My last day at the old company was the 22^nd of August, which left me with five whole days before leaving to Germany. I had decided to keep the apartment in Tampere until the end of September, since my first 3,5 weeks on the job I’d spend traveling around at exhibitions. Almost everything was packed or sold though, so I’d basically just have to put everything in the moving van and drive off. It was time. Exciting!

Almost ready to move out.

First steps

It all started a couple of years ago, when some potential clients pressured me to start my own company. To tell the short version, I started my own translation business on the side of my full-time job, and it’s been surprisingly successful. At an exhibition this spring I spoke with a representative of one of the companies that was advertising in the magazine I worked for about possibly doing some freelance translations for them, but nothing really happened for a few months. I was really busy with some projects and didn’t really think about it. At about the same time I started to feel that I needed a change. I didn't feel challenged by my job anymore and I wasn’t really motivated. I spoke with my boss about leaving the company in the fall, and only working for them as a freelancer, which would give me more time to work with other projects as well. I was working hard to achieve my goal. The idea was to arrange my work so that I’d be living in Finland a part of the year and traveling the rest, since I’d be able to take my job with me wherever I went.

Then all of a sudden in May the representative I’d met in the beginning of the year called me and wanted to schedule a meeting. I assumed it was about the freelance translations. We met up at a café on a sunny, warm day in May and basically the first thing this representative told me, was: “How would you feel about moving to Germany? I’ve got a job for you.” It was a no-brainer. I basically said “yes” right away. Of course there were a lot of things to clear up, but I was totally in.

Since I’d been working full-time for almost three years and running my own business for about 1,5 years, I hadn’t had the time to finish my studies. When I decided to take on this new job, I realized that I’d have to write my master’s thesis before I left for Germany. So I put my summer plans on ice and decided to spend my four weeks of vacation at the university library, and so I did. I wrote 57 pages and almost finished my thesis before my new job started. (It’s still a work in progress though.) A lot of other things needed to be organized as well, but more about that in my next post.

This is how excited I was about spending the four hottest weeks of summer at the library.

Welcome to my new adventure

It’s been very quiet from my side lately. A lot has happened. I got a new job. I moved to Germany. It’s quite an adventure! More about that in a bit, but first a few other things. I thought a lot about starting a new blog to write about my new life, but in the end I decided that no other name would suit me better than Moroccan Mint and Double Apple. So I’ll keep writing here as often as I can. I will keep writing about all kinds of things, but foremost I will write about my life and what’s going on with me, so that my friends and family can keep themselves updated. And of course for the joy of writing.

I’ll write a few separate posts about everything that has happened lately, because I don’t want to write one endlessly long post. It’ll also make it easier for people to read about the parts that are interesting for them, since some know more and others less about what’s been going on in the past few months.

So for those of you who already know me and want to know what’s been going on with me, enjoy. For any new readers, you are more than welcome to enjoy my posts about life and whatnot.