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. 

Valvontaa vai turvallisuutta?

Taloyhtiöni on päättänyt, että Tampereella sijaitsevan kotini rappukäytävään ja julkisivuun asennetaan videokameroita, mikä kuitenkin on sallittua vain, mikäli kaikki asukkaat antavat suostumuksensa, koska valvonta kuuluu kotirauhan piiriin.

Maaliskuun kieppeillä sain postissa kirjeen, jossa suostumusta pyydettiin kyllä/ei-lomakkeella. Siinä vakuutettiin, että kameroiden nauhoja puretaan vain rikoksen tai omaisuusvahingon sattuessa, eikä ihmisten liikkumista ole tarkoitus valvoa. En ala tässä listaamaan syitä sille, miksen halua rappuuni videovalvontaa, mutta täältä voi lukea lisää mielipiteitäni ja mietteitäni asian tiimoilta.

Kamerat seinässä - suojausta vai valvontaa? Kuva: Flickr/ep_jhu

Joka tapauksessa lähetin vastauskirjeen, jossa en antanut suostumustani videokameroiden asentamiseen. Pari viikkoa myöhemmin taloyhtiön edustaja tuli soittelemaan ovikelloani. Hän tuli juttelemaan minulle ei-vastauksestani, vaikkei omien sanojensa mukaan halunnut tiedustella syitä tai ylipuhua. Kysyin miksi tällaiseen on ryhdytty, eihän talossa vain ollut tapahtunut ilkivaltaa? Mies vastasi, ettei tässä rapussa ollut tapahtunut mitään, mutta naapurirapussa joku oli potkinut sisäoven ikkunan rikki ja oksentanut matolle. Lisäksi joltain parvekkeelta oli oksennettu niin, että alemman parvekkeen lasitus oli oksennuksessa. Totesin, että kyseessähän silloin oli joku oman talon asukas. Mies myönsi, että tekijä oli ollut erään asukkaan vieras ja hänet oli saatu kiinni. Ihmettelin, miksi kameravalvonta olisi tarpeellinen, jos ei ollut mistään sen kummemmasta kyse. Totesin myös, ettei mistään ilkivallasta ainakaan asukkaita ollut tiedotettu. Mies kysyi kuinka kauan olin talossa asunut, ja kun kerroin muuttaneeni tänne 2,5 vuotta sitten, hän vaivaantui hieman eikä enää keksinyt mitään argumenttia. Hän poistui, minä pidin kantani.

Tänään tuli uusi kirje huoltoyhtiöltä. Edellisen tapaan siinä vakuutettiin ettei kenenkään liikkumista ole tarkoitus valvoa, mutta lisäksi siinä painotettiin, että ilman suostumustani kameravalvontaa ei voida ottaa käyttöön, ja "Tällöin teidän porrashuoneenne jää ilman kameravalvontaa ja mahdollisesti aiheutuvat omaisuusvahinkojen selvittäminen sekä ihmisten turvallisuus vaarantuu." Eikös kuulostakin aika pahalta (ja kieliopillisesti virheelliseltä)? Tässä kohtaa lienee hyvä huomauttaa, että asuinalueellani asuu melko varakasta väkeä, ja ainakin oma rappuni on aina ollut rauhallinen ja häiriötön. Ainakin sen 2,5 vuotta, mitä olen tässä asunut... 

Kamerat on tarkoitus asentaa muun muassa porraskäytävään ja julkisivuun (Kuva: Flickr/liebeslakritze)

Kirjeen alussa mainitaan, että "Kameroita tullaan asentamaan porrashuoneisiin kadun sisäpihan [...] sekä kellarikerroksen [...] tasolle, julkisivuun ja jätehuoneeseen. N. viikon kestävän asennuksen arvioitu alkamisaika on perjantai 13.6." Eli kameroiden asentaminen on jo päätetty, vaikkei kaikkien suostumusta ole saatu! Aion ehdottomasti selvittää onko tämä kaikki laillista.

Mitä tästä asiasta pitäisi ajatella? Tuntuu ilkeältä, että taas tulee uusi kirje, vaikka olen jo kahdesti kieltäytynyt kameravalvonnan asentamisesta. Aion silti pitää pääni. Aion pysyä kannassani.

Out with the Old, In with the New

Well the headline might be somewhat misleading, because the point of this post is mainly about reminiscing the past year and taking a look at what is to come. My past year has been completely amazing. I haven't had the chance to travel as much as I wanted, but instead I had the chance to make one of my big dreams come true. I went to Australia. But that's not the only great thing about last year. It was a big year in terms of meeting new people. Australia had a huge effect on that, not only while being in that beautiful country down under, but also because of what happened as a result of being there. I started a new hobby. I found the love of my life: west coast swing. For those of you who don't know what it is, I'll tell you. It's a swing dance style that originates from the United States of America. Logically from the west coast. If you are interested, there are loads of videos on YouTube.
 
In Australia I was lucky enough to take two classes a week with the absolutely fabulous Raw Connection in Brisbane, and coming back to Finland I was a bit worried about what the WCS scene here would look like. I was happy to realize that my city has the largest and most active scene in Finland, although much smaller and less advanced than in Brisbane. The people are amazing though and the teachers fantastic and inspiring! Thanks to WCS this fall has been full of dancing and new, amazing people. I have attended three workshops and a WCS cruise, and it's safe to say that it has been the best autumn of my life!

Australia was however about much more than just WCS. The greatest thing about that trip, as well as any other trip, were all the people I met. I think I've made some friends for life and I don't think I've ever felt that welcome anywhere. I miss you guys! The atmosphere was great and since I mostly hung out with dancers, I got to try out a lot of other dancing styles as well: bachata, salsa, zouk and kizomba. Needless to say that WCS was the one that stole my heart.

Going back to last spring, my biggest dilemma was saving up some money for Australia, which obviously meant that I couldn't travel that much. Instead I spent most of my time enjoying dinner parties with friends, but I did do a few weekend trips within Finland as well. What else did I do last year? I recorded a Christmas cd with my choir, Tampereen yliopiston laulajat, and finished my fourth and last year in the choir board. I developed my own company to a level I never would have imagined, and I arranged a lot of fun parties. I baked a lot of cakes, cooked a lot of food, smoked more shisha than ever and hosted loads of couchsurfers from all over the world. I managed to learn a lot of difficult songs and performed them at two different concerts with my beloved choir. With that same choir I attended the Tampere Vocal Music Festival and recieved a silver stamp. During the festival I also hosted the slovakian choir, Collegium Technicum, and arranged a lot of program for them. I surfed for the first time of my life (hopefully not the last time). I checked out the amazing city of Singapore and showed a fantastic Australian girl a good time in Helsinki. I enjoyed the most beautiful autumn since moving to Tampere and got sad because the winter never came. I spent more time than ever with my dearest friend, including my time in Australia, as well as Christmas and an epic New Years celebration. Well that's not all, but I suppose those are the highlights.

One of many cakes.

TYL on stage performing at Tampere Vocal Music Festival.

Picnic in the park with Collegium Technicum from Slovakia.

Little buddy at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Brisbane.

Visiting the best friend in the world in Australia.

A visitor from down under.

Mind-blowing autum foliage.

So is it possible to top such an amazing year? Well, it'll be hard, but I can sure try. I have so much planned already, so it is looking good. Travel-wise there will be a wedding in Spain, a birthday party in Amsterdam, possibly another wedding celebration in Slovakia, maybe a WCS event in the south of France and a choir trip to Slovakia. Not bad plans, considering it's only the 3rd of January today... There will definitely be more dancing and lots of great dinner parties. Maybe I'll finally even graduate. Here's hoping...

Well anyways, a huge thanks to all the amazing people in my life for making the past year so unforgettable! Let's make this one even better!