Vappu \(^o ^ )/

Vappu - celebrated on 31.04.-01.05, it's kind of a special celebration here in Finland - it doesn't even exist in Austria, so it was something totally new to me :D

I was planning to go to a gig in Helsinki on April 31th, but in the end, as I was sitting at the train station, I followed my inner voices and decided to celebrate Vappu properly and in Tampere with my friends. I could have joined the party in Helsinki, but it just felt sort of wrong to go to any other city but my second home town that day. And it was one of my best decisions ever made!! :D The night was amazing and the day that followed felt just crazy after experiencing Finnish people throughout the cold, calm winter xDD



First off, I met some Au Pair friends one of our favourite local bars - Raideri. :D
we had some drinks before going to the centre, where all the people came together around midnight to sing some sort of hymn, shower in sparkling wine and crown the "Suomen Neito" statue with a traditional students' hat. - but that was just the beginning of the night! ;P

we had some more drinks, enjoyed the happy, drunk party people all around and then we parted ways - the Au Pair guys went to meet another friend of theirs and I went to another cool bar to meet some of my finnish friends :D so the party went on at "Jack the Rooster" and everyone was just succumbing to the spirit of Vappu, an extatic night indeed :P

The next day, 2 giant cranes reached the riverside of Tammerkoski to follow another special Tampere tradition - the baptism of the newcomer students xP      

Awakened from Winter Sleep ...^^

Hello there!~

I'm sorry for having been so inactive lately. I was quite distracted by a lot of events going on, followed by a lot of thoughts. Therefore, I've also got a lot of stories to tell again ;)


mmh, I guess the first thing I'm gonna talk about is the weekend that a friend came to visit me. She happens to have a lot in common with me, though we host quite different personalities: we're both Austrians, both doing EVS in Finland and, surprise, surprise, we even got the same name! I was really happy to see her again after the last Mid-Term camp, she's a great listener and I had a few thoughts and stories to share with someone that gives me the feeling of knowing what I'm talking about and understanding my point of view. She stayed at our house and we spend a lot of time in the city centre, the Moomin Museum, at the observation tower and in a certain nice coffee - haha, when was the last time you were sitting 6 (!) hours in a coffee? xDD

Talking about Austrian people, I also received visitors from home! - my mum, my sister and my godfather :D it was just a short stay, practically 3 and a half days to spend here and we arranged a lot of program so as to see as much as possible during that time! One day, I let them explore Helsinki, another one I introduced them to my precious Tampere and the third one, we took a cruise to Tallinn. We had a lot of fun and it was great to see them again! In some way, it felt like they never really were that far away, but still it was different to meet them face to face instead of skype conversations.
They were all joyful themselves, looking forward to the end of my project in summer and my return to Austria, and as much as I'd liked to deny it that time, I fought with mixed feelings about this. Of course, I'm missing them and want to spend time with them every now and then, but after staying almost a year in Tampere, it has become like a second home to me and I don't really want to let go of it just yet. That's why I'm seriously considering to stay as an Au Pair and then deciding next year, if I want to qualify as a kindergarten teacher in Finland or in Austria.
It's a fact that right now I'm full of pride and happiness if I look at the life I'm living now. I feel like I'm exactly where I want to be, doing exactly what I want to do. I've listened to a lot of opinions telling me that it might just be the life in a city itself that attracts me so much, but I'm confident that I wouldn't feel the same in just any other city, because it's not only the opportunities, but also the way of living, the country's identity and the people that have charmed me to this point. This is just the beginning of a thought that needs to be developed further, but my interest has been awakened and caught, so I need to decide carefully and always keep in mind that one thing that every opinion of those I talked to comes down to: "I need to decide whatever makes me happy right now."


And there's more :D recently, I've spend more time with the other German-speaking people in Tampere itself, with the Au Pair girls from Germany. Speaking in suddenly so much in my mother tongue again, has completely confused my mind and it's actually still hard to flawlessly switch between these three major languages that I'm using here xD
...but I really enjoy being with them. Yesterday I spend the late afternoon in the park with Christin. She's been here longer that me and she's also gonna stay longer. The sun was shining and I can confidently announce now - spring has reached Tampere! :D the snow is gone, sunrises start at 5am and it won't even think of going down before 10pm. People have become more lively, sitting at the riverside with drinks and friends, street musicians take out their drums - it seems somehow different from what I've experienced in this northern city up to now! :D

....and it feels only a little strange going out to a bar, while the sun is still high up in the sky xDD

For me, Tampere has just become a little more charming these days... :)

I've also been to 2 more gigs - "Toxic Rose" played at Jack the Rooster and once again, I saw Archie from "Santa Cruz" at an acoustic gig at Amadeus Bar ^^ wonder when I'll finally get to see the whole band xD