Endings and leavings

Human is quite an uncomplicated animal. We don´t need much to be happy, not much to feel like home. Roof over your head, food and company of other people. A home, that is. Here in this random Norwegian town in this time of my life I´ve unevitably created another home in the world. I couldn´t help it. A universe emerged. Checking the mail, afternoon coffee, crisp sea breeze, friendly faces of the fish market ladies, sound of roadworks, countless laughters, warm light from the white wooden houses, speaking in doorphones, dry morning throat. Everyday life made me fall in love with it cunningly.

I find myself wondering how easy it is to grow fond of things, places. And people! This little universe was created with people who were here coincidentally and we shared literally everything from dinners to home sickness. Bunch of aliens in a foreign land stick together.

Endings are painful because that universe will never come to being again. You can experience something similar later but every experience is one of a kind. Maybe you´re now supposed to go back to your "old life"? But is is still the same? I find it that whatever happens after an ending is something completely new. The life as I knew it is gone as I have changed.

Afternoon coffee with a Norwegian twist: med en stor kokosbolle!

I´m short of words when I try to explain what kind of feeling of belonging and togetherness I´ve experienced. It seems that when people leave their comfort area they become more sensitive for other people´s needs as if hoping to receive same kind of treatment in return. Abroad it´s easy to become a better person: open, helpful, unselfish and caring.

Endings mean new beginnings with something that can be equally good. I will be doing some changes too, especially with this blog. I will have to reduce my writing because I have to channel my energy into other things. I´m planning to start a new blog with more focus on my comics and stuff. Stay tuned...

To end with (this month and this wonderful exchange study period), I´d like to express my greatest gratitude to everyone who´s been a friend to me and made me feel like home. A Finn doesn´t forget.

xxx

Lights in the dark

Darkness is really taking its toll on me. I went out to make peace with it and this is how beautiful our relationship turned out... Here´s some Norwegian music to go with it: Kim André Rysstad and "The long silence".

 

Raw power!

Fight against the bad reputation of “salads” is the toughest fight of all. In Finland "salad" normally means some lettuce, cucumber and tomato. No wonder people feel sorry for vegetarians because “they only eat salad”. Well, it´s time for a revolution. It´s time to pimp up salad onto a whole new level! Salad can totally be a full meal even without any meat at all.

Viidakkomies too writes about salads that are out of this world even though his ingredients sometimes sound like a chemistry lesson. But, the man has a good philosophy: don´t be afraid of flavours, just mix everything!

I found adding more raw vegetable into my diet excellent. It gives me heaps of energy and no need for that notorious after-meal-nap. I make my salad in three steps and the result is always mouth-watering. The best thing is that it´s ready in minutes. Also, there´s no possibility of failure, you don´t have to plan how to make it, just toss in whatever you got in your fridge. Some ideas for each level follow...

1. Base: lettuce (not iceberg, something better like lollo rosso or romaine), spinach, cucumber, tomato, courgette, carrot, pepper, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower...
2. Accessories: onion, chilli, garlic, shrimps, cheese, herbs, beans, seeds, nuts, olives, seaweed, corn, tuna, egg...
3. Dressing: virgin olive oil, vinegar, soy sauce, salt, pepper, cayenne, turmeric, paprika...

Mix with care and enjoy sitting down comfortably. It takes more chewing ofcourse but you can find a nice tempo for your eating e.g. from Jamie Cullum http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LU7leX9RCc

After some succesful climbing yesterday at the gym, I rewarded myself with this salad: spinach, pak choi, carrot, cauliflower, garlic, chilli, hempseeds and courgette.

Join the crew

I read something interesting a couple of weeks ago.

The company we most times are in has a huge influence on what we are like and what we do. Actually, you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. (Jim Rohn)

So, there´s a very good reason to choose your friends carefully! It´s easy to realize this theory is true. Isn´t it obvious that if you really like someone, you want to agree with them so they would like you too? It´s not always the case, you might enjoy a good quarrel, but maybe your subconscious is plotting against you... 

This allows you to develop to whatever direction you ever want! If you want to get fit, hang out with fit people who do sports and you will adopt their enthusiasm and become fit aswell. If you wish you would study more but feel distracted, tag along with hard-working students who seem do be doing well. If you´re middle-aged longing for adolescence, put a cap on and go to the local skate park...

In terms of self-developement, it´s consequently a good idea to hang out with people who are smarter than you. I have a friend who can discuss anything and knows loads about society and politics, and that´s made me become interested in “serious matters” aswell. 

A few years ago I was on a French course in France. When I got there I realised that most people were much better in French than me. But quite quickly I realized also that I would learn a lot more in that company.

All and all I think it´s important to have different kinds of people around because that keeps things interesting. However, don´t waste your time on people who discourage or bore you, load you with their own troubles or use you in some other way. Friends´ company should ideally be energizing, inspiring and uplifting.

Influencing people around you. That´s what this petty little blog is all about! I want to spread my ideas on good “slow life” and maybe help people find better ways to live and be healthier. This includes very basic indulgences with the best ingredients like these little sweethearts, my first raw chocolates!

Here´s the recipe: coconut oil, cacao powder, roasted and salted almonds, coffee, honey, vanilla extract and a handful of love.

Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes. (W. Gibson)

Quality moments

Cycling back from the gym after dark. (Now it means after 7pm.) MGMT in my ears. Street lights shine back from the wet street. The autumn air is fresh as ever. Awesome.

It´s been kind of hectic these past two weeks but there´s always room for moments like that, moments when you are just right there. Enjoying the sheer happiness of being alive and free. I can do precisely what I want and I´m not responsible for anyone. Except for myself.

Right now I´m really enjoying autumn because it has kind of more depth than other seasons. There is a special air of sadness but the inevitable arrival of winter doesn´t feel threatening to me. Transformations in nature are always fascinating, even brutal ones.

Sunlight is getting scarce and I´m determined to stay well. I´ve been reading way too much about nutrition and it´s getting a bit overwhelming. I´ve read so much that now there can be two completely opposite views in one matter, e.g. whole grain or dairy producst. I´ve lost my sense of "right and wrong". To eat or not to eat? That´s the question and you can never be sure.

Health can mean different things to others and staying well is a very personal thing because people have different metabolism etc. After studying superfood, raw food, low-carb diet and the likes I´m back to square one and I have to say it´s a relief. There was no ultimate "truth" after all. Just one word is loud and clear in my mind: quality! That´s what everyone can agree on. It applies to many things besides food.

There´s no need to give up anything. Nearly every "bad" food can be replaced with a better version. (Chocolate is a perfect example. Google "raw chocolate" and your life will never be the same again.) There may also be foods we are eating just out of habit or because we´ve always been told they are healthy. Maybe it´s time to stop and re-think, especially if you have any health problems (obesity, fatigue, flue, headache, insomnia, depression...) It´s important to remember that medicine companies don´t care about your health. What is the purpose of any company? To make money, of course...

Your food shall

be your

medicine and

your medicine

shall be your

food.

-Hippocrates

I don´t recommend getting obsessed about food because there are more important things in life. It´s enough to question "official recommendations" and listen to your body because it´s pretty smart as it is. And actually you know already what good food is. It´s logic. Pasta sauce from a jar or from fresh ingredients? Quality of food is closely connected to quality of life.

Happy happy joy joy

It´s annoyingly important to seek happiness these days. More important is to be content and do things you like. This may sound really obvious but do people practise what they preach? And why are there so many obligations in life? As the Finnish saying has it: in this life only dying and paying taxes are obligatory!

Also, in the words of Steve Jobs who just passed away, life is too short to be doing something you don´t enjoy. It´s pretty straight-forward, and true. But still I know many people who do things just because “they´re supposed to” or because they don´t have the courage to change things. You go to the gym because it´s a healthy hobby even if it bores you to death. You maintain unsatisfying friendships because you´ve been friends forever. You´re stuck with your job because you don´t have any other education...

It may be hard to find your true passion in working life, let alone to make drastic changes. Yet I still think here in rich western countries we have a lot of choice and freedom and the society helps us in many ways. The worst thing that can happen isn´t normally very fatal. Of course the society would rather we graduate quickly and work all our lives effectively. That doesn´t sound very humane to me. The notorious “system” doesn´t support soft values like freedom and happiness.

It´s useful try to imagine how you would feel when you´re very old. What kind of things do you look back at? What do you regret? I like to tell myself at the moment of decision making: do whatever you would regret the least!

In other words, if you feel in your heart/guts/stomach that something better awaits, trust your instinct! Even the craziest ideas can come true if you put some thought and effort to it. Homer Simpson said: Trying is the first step towards failure. But it might aswell be a step towards success.

When you find something you truly enjoy, you don´t even have time to long for something better. Slight changes can always be made but everyday life should be atleast satisfactory. Happiness is its by-product. It´s a passing moment; autumn light through curtains, smell of fresh coffee or touch of a hand. Joy can bubble and burst or maybe it just sits inside your chest like a cooing dove (easy there, Shakespeare!). Did you ever feel that way because you bought something nice? I didn´t think so. Happiness is something more profound and inexplicable. Like someone said: Ask yourself if you are happy and you become unhappy. (Sorry for my quote diarrhoea!)

I know some fool-proof tricks to feel happy. It might not work for everyone but just try unless you´re busy realizing your real calling in life...

• learn new skills and develop yourself
• be out in the nature
• see beautiful pictures and movies
• create something beautiful yourself
• listen to good music (I mean really listening)
• play games and win from time to time ;)
• joke, fool around and laugh out loud (LOL)
• have crush on someone
• make fantastic food out of good ingredients
• get excited
• plan a trip
• be close to other humans, hug and smooch :*
• be close to animals e.g. stroke cats
• help others, volunteer
• smile for no reason (yes, you will look like an idiot)
• grow herbs or other plants
• set a goal and achieve it
• ...

Super shopping !!!

It looks like this blog is quickly turning into a health food blog. It´s something I´m really enthusiastic about, have been for quite a while, so maybe it should be the theme of this website. But... I like my freedom of writing about whatever feels interesting at differend times. 

I just want to share my first ever purchase from iHerb with you! This webshop is pretty amazing and the prices won´t make you gasp. iHerb has a lot of groceries, natural beauty products, superfoods, organic food, diet supplements... you name it! No, no one paid for me to say this...  

 

 

Greetings from Ameeerica

It took two weeks full of anticipation for this lovely parcel to arrive. ImmunePunch and the shampoo were just free samples. Haven´t tried them yet. Would´ve been nice to receive that ImmunePunch a few weeks earlier though...

There´s raw cacao powder full of good stuff as it says on the bag. It´s completely differend from ordinary cacao powder because this one is literally raw and it hasn´t been processed or heated in high temperatures which is exactly why it´s full of superb nutrients.

There´s green tea with mandarin, orange, ginseng and jasmine. There´s raw honey with bee propolis and pollen the taste of which just blows me away! It´s malty, it´s rich and you can tell by the taste that it´s something very very special.

The chocolate by Chocolove is long gone but I savoured every single piece of it... It was 55% dark chocolate with almonds and sea salt. While browsing on iHerb I instantly fell in love with this consept of the chocolate bar being a "love letter". Every wrapping even has a love poem inside! The whole product is just excellent through and through. This particular flavour was fantastic and the salt gives it a perfect twist. Other flavour are equally appealing: Dark Orange, Chili Cherry, Peppermint etc. This is what chocolate is supposed to taste like! Milk chocolate is not chocolate, I say...;)

Check it yourself, these items are not as expensive as they may sound. Easy way to get some proper food or e.g. vitamin supplements for the dark season.

I now walk into the wild

Dear readers! I got better after exactly seven days of flue! The minute I felt like all the phlegm had left my wind pipe, I got up from my sickbed and went out to the forest. There´s so much good stuff out there and I´m getting more and more interested in it. During the past week I´ve been getting down on my knees and collecting some seriously healthy wild food.

Blackberry (karhunvatukka)

These vitamin bombs don´t grow on my home latitudes so I´m really thrilled to find them here in southern Norway. It took me a while to figure that only the very ripe ones are sweet. It´s not enough that the berry is black: it must also be soft(ish) and come off easily. On my first berry trip I was so greedy that I pulled out some berries with force. Obviously, they were too bitter. Blackberry grows near to the ground so it´s not always easy to spot it. But once you do, there´s a whole lot of them! The branches are thorny, though, which makes things a bit inconvenient.

Still more to come.

Nettle (nokkonen)

Everyone knows this annoyingly stinging plant that grows just about everywhere. The best season for collecting nettle is spring when the leaves are still small. Later in summer you can collest the upper leaves. Nettle is incredibly nutritious with e.g. five times more vitamin C than the orange! It´s pretty much like spinach but nutritional values are far better. Use it for soups, pancakes, stir fries etc.

At this time of the year I didn´t find that much nice looking leaves but I managed to make some food. I quickly boiled the nettle, squeezed it dry, chopped it and mixed it with butter and garlic. Dead easy and lovely tasting nettle spread was done.

Rose hip, blackberries and homemade nettle spread.

Rose hip (ruusunmarja)

This berry I know nothing about. It´s fairly unknown as alimentary product. What I know is that when I in primary school tasted a fresh one it made me throw up. So I didn´t give a thought to this berry untill now.

However, this is another superb vitamin supply that is easily found. The plant is of course rose so the berry can come in many differend forms. It´s also high on vitamin C and can therefore prevent cold, apart from other superfood qualities. I wanted to dry them and use as tea. A downside is that it´s hell of a lot of work to split every single berry and deseed them! Maybe that´s why nobody uses rose hip.

Collect orange ones rather than the very ripe, scarlet red ones. When the berry is overly ripe it´s really mushy and difficult to handle. I´ll tell you later how the tea tastes once I finish with drying.

...

If price is what modern people are most interested in, I don´t see why more people don´t go out and collect food from the nature. It´s free and as healthy as it gets. But I suppose it´s just easier to buy whatever the local supermarket offers. And of course, nobody advertises nettle and how cool and sexy it is to eat it...

Nature is fundamentally pure and free of chemicals, preservatives etc. By using wild plants from your surroundings you´re not contributing any questionable business or transport from overseas. You can know exactly where you´re food comes from and what´s more, what it really is. I want to know because I only settle for the best food. No need to explain why.

Happy autumn!   

Alternative remedies

It´s here again – the influenza season! I was determined of not getting a flue but here I am, feeling weak and blowing my nose every ten seconds. I´m doing my utmost to get rid of this plague without any pain killers.

Flue can be avoided naturally, as many health gurus claim. The best thing is obviously to lead a healthy life and preferably do something like ice simming to keep yout immune system strong. Sleep you window open! Nutritious food is very important for general well-being. Somehow I failed in all this and I blame it on chocolate.

Now I´m going for natural remedies. Try one of these:

• Rest and stop exercising! Your body needs all the energy to fight the infection. Don´t stress!
• Good excuse to sleep a lot.
• Keep yourself warm, especially the feet (woollen socks are the best).
• Keep hydrated and drink plenty of hot tea made of fresh ginger, honey and lemon.
  Ginger is another of nature´s antiviral herbs. It contains nearly a dozen antiviral compounds. Ginger is pain relieving, antiseptic and antioxidant. It is valuable for preventing and treating colds, sore throats and inflammation of mucus membranes. Ginger reduces pain and fever and has a mild sedative effect that will encourage rest. 
• As much as you now want comfort food, avoid sugar! Sugar ”paralizes your system”.
• Raw garlic is a miracle maker, it is said. Enjoy straight or on bread mixed with butter. Gr8! 
  Garlic has anti-bacterial properties that help the immune system to fight infection, it is an excellent boost to the immune system. The reason for this is garlic contains several helpful compounds, including allicin, one of the plant kingdom's most potent antibiotics. Garlic combines well with echinacea and together make a strong fighting force against infections.  
• Eat wholesome food that breaks down easily such as soup. Chicken soup is often praised but I would leave out the chicken...
• Overdoze on vitamin C! Oranges and organic vitamin supplements. Don´t forget that lemon in your tea.
• Treat sore throat moderately with shots of alcohol.
• Seasalt dissolved in hot water relieves sore throat. Gag! :D
• Breath in steam to unblock your nose and get rid of that phlegm.
  
  
  
  
   Citations: http://www.organicnutrition.co.uk/articles/colds.htm

Today I pretty much fucked up my healing process because I biked around like mad while searching for an alternative culture festival outside town. I also spent some time sitting in a cold factory building with alternative people with many piercings listening to alternative music. Not everything alternative is good, though, but I strongly believe that nature has remedy to everything. I wish nature´s way was mainstream and everything else alternative!

Nevertheless, my aim is to get better before next week and my five long days off of worldly tasks. I leave you with these words that are not mine: Go to veggie market instead of pharmacy!

Peace xx

In search of Scandinavia

Can I have the big one?

Three weeks have passed in this beautiful town in the southernmost tip of Norway. I´m having a full immersion into Norwegian culture as my experience will not limit only to my own observations but I will also learn a lot on the course I´m attending. It´s about Norwegian culture, society and education. By far we have made three field trips, learned about Norwegian values, education, history and literature.

I was right to anticipate being the only Finn among the new exchange students. My only words of Finnish during all this time (apart from some samples when asked) were spoken in a club where I briefly encountered a Finn from Yli-Tornio. Funny that I had to come all the way to Norway to meet the first person in my life who speaks meänkieli – the language spoken on the Swedish boarder. I think it´s time I travelled in my home country more.

For my fellow students there are plenty of things that make them gasp but for a Finn exploring another Scandinavian country is detailed and challenging work. It´s for the very reason that differences are not big.

In my everyday life I´ve been studying the importance of matpakke (lunchkpack), courtesy in the traffic, market place, differences between grocery stores, Sunday strolls and many more interesting subjects. Everything is as I knew and as I expected: Norway is like Finland but a tiny bit better and nicer.

Or maybe it´s not that simple. It´s possible that right now I´m blind to the positive sides of my home country because I´m on the “honeymoon phase”. However, I have been very busy observing the Norwegian society. I already discovered some facts that would make Finns raise their eyebrows. Norwegians are really, I mean really, into decorating their homes nicely. There are numerous interior shops even in the small town of Kristiansand. I also feel that Norwegians appreciate their nature more and truly want to be connected to it. Finns love their tellies and gadgets and prefer having a comfy life on this side of the window glazing. We are the hi-tech nation of Nokia! We don´t want to pick berries – let the Thai come here and do that.

Norwegians are extremely concerned of people´s well-being and equality. Even on the expense of results in study or work. That´s why pupils in primary school are not evaluated with grades. I find that Finns are more focused on success, as we have such a low national self-esteem, and we want the rest of the world think that Finland is actually quite alright even though it´s on the freaking Arctic Circle!

The quest goes on. Tonight I will disguise myself with a bottle of wine and do some field work concerning the alcohol consumption in Norway. I heard that Norwegians drink excessive amounts but I doubt that.

Ha det bra!

A summer´s day

It´s another strikingly sunny morning in my life, in Mid-July, in a town where 18-year-olds drive their cars around the two blocks the town centre consists of and then gather in the carpark of the local Siwa.

I can't complain. Staying at your parents´ place in the middle of nowhere can be a nuisance. But here I have both physical and metaphorical space to roam around and wind down by delving into Scandinavian short stories and the contents of my old “memory shoe boxes”. However, with a mum whose daily exercise reminds me of Alexander Stubb and a dad who thinks the telly must be switched on around the clock I start to feel like an angst-ridden teenager in a soap opera.

We´re going to head to the remote lake surrounded by bogs. With me I take a real angst-ridden teenager Eppu, a knife, some lunch, a towel and mosquito spray. It´s a hot day - perfect for rowing and diving into the lake, sunbathing and cooking food outside on a fire!

We´re off with our bikes. It´s about 3km on a dry dirt road, then a few hundred meters down the path through the cruelest Finnish nature. We reach the lake, as remote and isolated as ever. There´s nobody there, just some birds flying about and a dozen of down-facing rowing boats. We choose one and struggle for five minutes trying to turn it around. I kick us onto the water and start rowing like I´d never done anything else in my life. It´s getting a bit windy and some clouds are gathering. I row a beautifully formed circle. Eppu starts steering with a spare oar and we start moving in slight curves towards the cottage.

As we hit the shore we see the rain coming down on the other side of the lake. We run before the rain and reach the cottage just in time. It´s really pouring down now. We go inside and make a fire. We cook potatoes and onions wrapped in foil. It´s hard to keep the ember going on. Finally we eat some partly uncooked potatoes and it tastes great.

We spend time eating and lying around in the cottage. The rain stops eventually but it´s still kind of too cold to swim. The lake is a bit rough, too, and we don´t want to row around the lake. We put down the fire and start our journey back. As I row, we notice more malicious-looking clouds rising above the horizon. They´re approaching quickly. The way back is like a high-speed video but the rains creeps upon us anyway. It´s coming down big time! We pedal and pedal and get soaking wet. There´s no point to hurry anymore as we´re soaked to the bone.

The water is dripping down my cap, down my nose and I can feel how my trainers fill with fresh rain water. We get back home and it´still raining. I tell Eppu I want to peel off my clothes and go fooling around in the rain. I dance outside in my bikini. Eppu stands on the porch and looks at me for a while. I see disbelief (or is it pity) on her face and I stop. We go in and decide to make hot chocolate.

The kettle is on and we´re wrapped up in dry towels. Then a loud lightning rumbles and cuts off the power for hours. Talk about proper summer days!

Going out there is learning

And suddenly I´m home.

Another exciting big outing is done and I´m richer by various new encounters and events. I have witnessed with my own eyes the existence of two new countries. (If you think about it, nothing can really exist untill you see it for yourself.) I have met people, good and bad, some of which I will alway remember and feel sorry for not having them in my everyday life. Once again I have re-established the fact that in every country people are the same, with same needs and wants. I´m improving at seeing people as caring individuals rather than as a crowd of strangers.

Whoever it was who said that life is a book and those who don´t travel read only one page is right. And why would you not want to read more, learn more, see how other people live in faraway countries? In Greece I learned to relax and go with the nature. In Bulgaria I enjoyed extreme kindness and hospitality. In Hungary I discovered how easily you can connect with people from all over the world. In England... well, they´re always jolly good fellows and polite, too.

At home you sometimes fall into being frustrated as you´re countrymen are predictable and ordinary. But for somebody we are foreigners and we might cause confusion or delight. Little by little I'm starting to appreciate being Finnish even though all that many foreigners know about us is the long winter and (consequently) high suicide rates.

Finns are alright. Every nation is, even though sometimes we don´t get their ways. If you just meet enough people you´ll know that they are still as good as we are. Once you discover that muslims are not just a bunch of fundamentalists, southeuropeans can speak fluent English etc, the world feels like a more pleasant place to live.

Two portions of wine a day is healthy right?

Kalimera !!

I've been working on Euphoria farm for three days now and glad to say I like it here. We've been planting melons and peppers, weeding vineyards and garden, preparing the guesthouse... It's not too hard though: there's always time to sit outside and sip wine or later on in the evening, zipporo!

Kefalonia is a beautiful island with high mountains where herds of sheep graze and cars drive on narrow moutain roads. I've already visited Argostoli which is the capital of the island but actually just a small touristy town. I'm hoping to have time soon to go down to the beach and swim in the sea.

I live in my own trailer which is really comfy and equally inhabited by dozens of tiny ants. It's nice and cool to sleep there, amid lemon trees.

I'm loving the food too and it's mostly vegetarian, thank god. At every meal we drink white wine (from the house) and have feta cheese. And olive oil of course!

My facebook account is locked even though I replied hundreds of security questions. Nevermind. I'm enjoying my time without addiction to the internet.

Bye for now, it's siesta.

Full speed to the south !

Dear friends

Since the spring semester is over it's only appropriate to direct my feet to the summer pastures, to the south. My main destination is Kefalonia in Greece. I left home yesterday morning hitching all the way from Oulainen to Seinäjoki. It went as smoothly as one can hope although I was a little anxious about my chose route: it was dead quiet in some parts. I made it to Seinäjoki in about three hours but I gave up in the pouring rain and took a train to Tampere. After staying in the sunny Lempäälä for one night, I'm now in the beautiful capital of Finland feeling the aftermath of WC celebration...

Great to be on the road again ! It's the closest to freedom I can get these days. Next two days I'll spend riding trams and metro and being as urban as this country girl gets! 

Bittersweet – suloista tuskaa

Löysinpä purkillisen meripihkan oranssia Easy Sweet -hunajasokeriseosta postilaatikostani. Sitä täytyi kokeilla heti - talviturkki alkoikin jo pursuta lahkeesta.

Lämmitin ohjeiden mukaan vesihauteessa koko purkkia, mutta sokeri ei pehmennyt tarpeeksi. Satuinpa saamaan vettä purkin sisäpuolellekin, mutta mönjä ei mennyt siitä pilalle. Lopulta lämmitin sitä reilusti mikrossa, jolloin sokeri lämpeni epätasaisesti mutta tarpeeksi, että sain irrotettua siitä klimpin.

Seuraava vastoinkäyminen tapahtui, kun en malttanut valmistella sokeria, vaan iskin sen suoraan iholle. No eihän se tarttunut ollenkaan! Luin ohjeet vielä kerran ja alistuin sitten pyörittelemään ja venyttelemään massaa käsissä pari minuuttia. Tapahtui ihme! Aine muuttui kiinteämmäksi ja menetti meripihkan kiillon: se muuttui mattakeltaiseksi ja sai ohjeiden mukaisen purkkamaisen koostumuksen. Nyt kun levitin sitä iholle ja riuhtaisin, tulos oli täydellinen!

Idea on se, että tahmea hunajaseos levitetään vastakarvaan, jolloin se tarttuu tukevasti karvan ympärille. Sitten riuhtaistaan myötäkarvaan mahdollisimman nopeasti (riippuen henk.koht. mieltymyksestä kipuun) ja lähellä ihoa. Näin sokerointi on hellävaraisempaa kuin vahaus, jossa tekniikka on päinvastainen!

Aloitin sääristä, missä iho on lähellä luita, ja homma oli helppoa. Jossain vaiheessa sokeri alkoi tarttumaan ihoon pullataikinamaisesti. En malttanut käyttää vain yhtä kättä, joten sotkin sormetkin! Luulin massan menneen pilalle, mutta kävi ilmi, että se oli vain lämmennyt liikaa (innokkaassa käytössä). Eipä mitään, annoin klöntin levätä ja pian homma jatkui taas loistokkaasti.

Toimenpide muistuttaa vähän sinitarran jämien irrottelua tapetista isolla sinitarrakimpaleella. Samaa noin golfpallon kokoista köntsää voi käyttää vaikka koko kroppaan. Itse otin uuden erän, kun sokeripallo oli niin karvojen kyllästämä, että se hajoili eikä enää tarttunut. 

Puhutaanpa sitten kivusta. Itse en kokenut hirvittäviä tuskia, vaikka yleensä kauneushoitolassa se sattuu jonkin verran. Ehkä kun kipu ei pääse yllättämään, sitä kestää paremmin.

Lopputulos oli aika hyvä ensikertalaiseksi! Sinne tänne jäi irtokarvoja, joita nypin vielä pinseteillä. Sokerilla voi toki käsitellä samaa kohtaa uudestaan, usein niin joutuukin tekemään, eikä aine vahingoita ihoa eikä revi mukanaan tervettä ihosolukkoa kuten vahauksessa. Sokerilla ei olekaan kuin hyviä puolia: se on luonnontuote, ei testattu eläimillä, tuoksuu hyvälle, sitä voi valmistaa itsekin ja vaikka syödä pahimpaan makean nälkään! Hyvältä se maistuikin... Silkin sileä lopputulos kestää viikkoja karvanlaadusta riippuen. Itselläni on etelän apinan turkki, mutta sokeroinnin jälkeinen virtaviivaisuus kestää jopa nelisen viikkoa.

Mikä parasta, tätä hommaa voi tehdä vaikka sohvalla istuen. Töhryt ihosta ja kylppärin pinnoista irtoaa lämpimällä vedellä.

Hyvästi haisevat Veet-myrkyt, pistelevä sänki ja kalliit hoitolakäynnit! Tästä lähtien vietän makeaa elämää omassa kylppärissä...

Apologies, but when I really get excited about something I rather write in mother tongue. But to sum up:

Having ordered body sugar on the net, I spent the whole afternoon trying it out. It´s definitely the best way to remove hairs and it´s only got good sides: organic, gentle, easy to use, edible, not animal tested, smells good... I faced some difficulties in the beginning but as soon as I got the hang of the technique everything went fine and it was nearly fun. It doesn´t even hurt that much! Goodbye Veet, itchy stubble and expensive salon treatments! Add some sweetness to you life.

Importance of screwing up

Everyone makes bad choices despite all the wise words from mum. In other words, everyone screws up sometimes, even those people who seem to just float through life with success and glory without any visible blunders. Well, that´s just an illusion. The key is to pretend as if everything´s fine (in Finnish: olla kuin ei oliskaan) because when you do that, you actually start believing your screw-up didn´t matter or it never happened. And voilà: you´re over the whole thing and life goes on.

The truth is (yes, as the dictator of my blog I can say what the truth is) that people just don´t learn from other people´s mistakes as handy as it would be. You always think it´s different in my case because I´m so cool and I´m on top of things... Well, it turns out you can´t know some things before you experience them on your own. No matter how obvious, like licking a frosty lamp post in winter. You just have to try it yourself.

And you know, it´s okey. As that´s how life teaches us lessons and we can swallow our pride and be better people again. There´s no success without failure. Annoying isn´t it... It´s important, though, to remember your mistake on some level but not let it weigh you down. 

Reminds me of a Shameless episode (check out this series, it´s awesome) where Frank founds out, from a false source, that he´s dying. He records a tape where he makes all kinds of nasty confessions. When it turns out he´s not really dying, it´s too late... Someone´s seen the tape already! Hilarious. Not in real life though. 

I did get my tongue stuck on an ice cold anvil many years ago. I have never done it again.

Don´t you just love the taste of E202?

I´d like to write about food, again, but more seriously. Food is after all what keeps us going and what affects our health and general well-being more than anything. Why wouldn´t you care what you put down your throat? Why wouldn´t you care about other qualities apart from a good taste?

I think it´s an illusion that one should eat as much variety as possible on every meal. It´s been proved in scientific tests that the more choice there is the more you eat. It´s quite obvious if you think about it. Eating and controling hunger is very much mental. Everyone knows that it´s highly recommended to eat regularly, at same times every single day. Easier said than done but no doubt it´s the best way to keep hunger at bay. That way you don´t even feel like snacking.

Another generally known fact is that not everything on telly is true. Quite many products that are thought to be healthy are not. Think about flavoured yogurt, a classical breakfast item. Finns, true believers in dairy, love it but don´t realize how much sugar there is. Yogurt is sweet, it doesn´t take a scientist to tell it´s basicly a DESSERT. I lost my faith in yogurt when I read a story in a paper about a family where the kids are given yogurt only once a week.


There´s also something fundamentally wrong in yogurts that claim to improve digestion. Do the math and you see that by changing your diet you don´t need the miraculous yogurt at all.

Talking of the love affair between Finns and dairy products, what´s the deal with drinking milk every damn day with every damn meal? In the ongoing "war of milks" in the right corner there is extremely processed skimmed milk and in the left corner the so called raw (fresh and untouched) milk. If you compare the two, the difference is stunning. Skimmed milk is almost see-through with the consistency of water. I wonder what´s so dangerous about fresh milk and its bacteria? Did people die of drinking milk before skimming and processing was invented? Why is lactose intolerance so common in the very countries where people drink milk like babies? 

Another product, or actually a nutrient, that´s been on the agenda for some time is carbohydrate. Foods with a lot of carbs include e.g. bread, pasta, potatoes and cereals who have now gained a bad reputation. Carbs awake the question: to eat or not to eat? We know that they are vital for a human body but these products I just mentioned are really high on carbs. Carbs are actually everywhere, even in fruits. It´s said that low-carb diet can be a cure to many diseases of our time like coeliac and obesity. Interesting read for Finnish speakers: http://www.anttiheikkila.com/ This doctor is a serious supporter of low-carb diet that is based on natural fat, plenty of greens and just simple ingredients, no microwave meals...

Nowadays there is so much crap in shops that don´t even count as food. Everyhting is pumped up with preservatives, colours and anything to benefit the BUSINESS, not people´s health. As sad and controversial as it is, not everything in supermarket is good food. It is business and manipulation.

A helpful guideline for those who aim to eat more pure food is: "Don´t eat anything that man made".

Say thank you to the lady

Wisdom of the day: 

Talk sweetly. 

(From HappyThings, see the links)

Indeed, what do you achieve by nagging, making sarcastic comments, talking rudely? What we say is what we are. I think if you make the effort to talk nicely, treat others nicely, it eventually makes us nice. I know, my English teacher told us to avoid the word "nice" but I had to make a point...

Think about customer service personnel. Even ignorant, cold communication can get you what you want but it also alienates you. You can feel like shit inside but if you talk sweetly, even in a superficial way, you allow people approach you, break through your shield, and maybe make it all better. It´s also fair towards others not to spread your own angst, in other words, take it out on others. 

Talk is something subconscious, something you don´t really pay attention to in everyday life. But it works wonders. "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can break hearts." Are you in bad terms with someone? Try talking sweetly and see what it does to the situation.

Noble noble thougts... I´m not trying to be philosophical here. Talking sweetly to everyone is just a dead easy way to make the world a little better, that´s all. 

 

Fryday update

I´m posting quite a traditional blog entry with no particular subject. I didn´t come up with anything on Women´s Day, I don´t want to write about politics or tsunamis so I´ll tell you about my grey life in Vaasa.

The weather (that´s a subject to start with!) is getting more and more exciting. Sometimes I wish I had tigh-high wellies and overalls with just holes for the eyes. I do enjoy the wind and crispiness but today´s slush is just unbearable.

Last week sidewalks looked like this.
<---

Every March people are mistaken on the season - they think it´s already spring because February is over. Teens start wearing Chucks and leave their beanies at home. I´m a pessimist like every decent Finn ought to be and hold on to my mittens till May...


I escaped today´s snow storm into a grocery store that happened to be own my way. What else could I have done but to shop some nice food for Friday´s sake. I spend a long while in the veg departement. I´d been craving for some simple Asia-inspired stir-fry and I also had an idea for veggie patties. The result was superb! Lentil-oat-patties and stir-fry! Amaaazing food, I tell you: healthy, nutritious and tasty!

Also, as I´ve been avoiding bread for a few days I wanted to reward myself with a loaf of proper local bread. This spelt bread is heavenly but I don´t know how I´ll manage to eat it all.

While digesting this fantastic food I have time to mull over a thick book I just (finally) finished: One Hundred Years of Solitude. It´s an exhaustingly long story about a Souh American family spanning over 100 years. It´s definitely very differend from every book I´ve ever read. It´s magical like a fairy tale yet historical, unpredictable and deliciously realistic.

Next time for something more suspenseful...

Young and foolish

I made a fantastic find in an old shoebox at the back of my wardrobe. A book of wisdom, a real philosopher´s stone: my first notebook from 2006.

My notebooks are not just full of to-do-lists; they are revealing gateways to my mind and everyday life of a certain time. Traditionally my notebooks are red and that´s where the name of this godforsaken blog derives from, too. Nowadays, rather than writing an idea down to my notebook I write a complete blog entry! Notebook is the inside of my head which this blog tries to be aswell. Diary is differend because that´s more about badmouthing friends and analysing the actions of that special one - not about what you actually do in your life.

In my ancient red notebook there are random thoughts, plans for the next day or the entire future (it´s from the time I was in high school), recipe for Sangria, passwords, dinner plans, quotes... ”Oasis rules!” On one page there´s only a short expression of angst: ”Fuck.” I´ve always written down interesting books to be read aswell and in this one I can still find some titles that have remained mysteries.

Notebook is like a history book you understand by reading between the lines. Or what do you think a random sentence ”Become teetotal” means... One particular sentence caught my eye and made me chuckle at the 17-year-old me. ”Stop wasting time on stupid delusions about men.” Wow. How wise was I! Too bad I didn´t follow my very own advice...

It seems to me I´ve always liked making plans; even very straight-forward ones: ”Apply to a Finnish uni. Go to England.” OK, will do. I think it has to do with a feeling of security and control. To have plans, to have a direction. Things to do and not to do. Like that thing concerning men... Every non-religious person has to find their own way to look at the world and make their own rules. A notebook can become handy when observing the world, its goodies and baddies.

One things is clear and it´s kind of depressing: I´m still struggling with the same problems as five years ago. Dietary preferences, pursuing happiness, being obsessed with men, studies, work, money... But things have taken a differend, more intimidating, form. If I had smart thoughts already back then, shouldn´t I be like a genious by now? Or atleast a grown-up of some kind. I guess becoming a stable adult is a lot longer process I imagined...

I don´t think people can ever leave their youth behind. Maybe when you grow old you ponder about it even more. When you feel fucked up you look back at your younger years and wonder what went wrong. There will always be new ideas to be written down and new rules to be made. I know I´m still too young to write about Life but even the 17-year-old me didn´t mind:

”What more do you want from life? Isn´t it enough to be one with the universe?”

Oh, so I was a New Age kid!

Still

 Meditation might make you think of a bald guy sitting cross-legged in lotus-position in pursuit of enlightenment. Originally a Buddhist practice, meditation is nowadays popular among ordinary people seeking peace of mind. It´s said that regular meditation can have effect on quality of life and one´s general happiness. You don´t have to be “spiritual” by definition (not even a vegan) to be interested in mindfulness...

I attended drop-in meditation classes a few times in Manchester and found it surprisingly beneficial. It was really hard at first because my mind tends to be busy and I´m generally restless. A good position is important because it keeps you from squirming and allows you to focus. The class would consist of three parts. First there was a bodyscan where you become aware of your body, the surroundings and the state of mind. Two following parts were breathing exercises with just a tiny difference. It was simply breathing and counting breaths and all the while trying not to think too much.

It sounds boring, I know. And I did nod off sometimes (maybe because it was always afternoon). It´s incredibly hard to keep your mind serene and let the thoughts go. But that´s how simple meditation can be and when you do it properly you notice the difference. It´s like afterwards you see things differently, you´re relaxed and more aware of the place and the moment. No doubt does it make you happier.

You can meditate anywhere anytime. It doesn´t have to take for long and you definitely don´t have to sit legs crossed and burn incence. I´ve started meditating while walking. Actually walking is like meditation or at least it can reflect your mind. I know people who always walk fast and you can guess what they are like. Yes, they can be nervous, insecure, restless or stressed out. Whereas a person who walks slowly makes me think of a relaxed content person. Well, it can mean laziness, too, but I know for sure which kind of walker observes and experiences more on the way.

I used to be a very impatient walker. I hated the fact I was moving in the slowest way in the world and running would just make me sweat. Now I see walking as a means to enjoy the very moment and be thankful of... well, being able to walk the street whenever I want and without having to fear, for example. I enjoy the ground, my shoes, the weather (be it rain or shine) and the slowness in particular. Destination is somewhere there but it doesn´t matter until I really get there.

Buy my life

Technology has enabled human´s need to boast as never seen before. This afternoon, as I started my quite ordinary laptop of a label that shall remain unknown and waited as it connected to the net.. or should I say “as the internet connected” or “switched on the internet”? However, as I entered cyberspace, I came to think about the importance of a thing as minor as status updates. Social networks allow people to provide informations of their everyday life more frequently than it´s physically possible. I´m cycling to uni now and saw the tiniest dog ever. /Sitting in the lecture hall, boooringgg... /In the canteen: should I have peasoup or peesoup? Ha ha/Toilet roll is out...

Reason for human behaviour can often be found in the pre-historic times. Did cavemen in the Stone Age have a similar urge as modern humans to share their life excessively with just about anyone who is willing to listen? Did they hang bones and skulls of animals they had hunted outside the cave so that everyone could see their success? Was it important to seem like an interesting persona?

Meet my new bike. 

There´s technology and there´s Facebook. It´s easy to show off in this time of plenty, money and material. New eyephones and exotic holidays in Trinidad and Tobago make us feel good and boost our self-esteem not to mention slick comments on your photo album in (anti)social networks. Is it really working though? You´re just one pathetic person in somebody´s list of 400 friends. How to stand out and get a two-figure number in that tiny red square in the top bar? Better go up close and personal.

Do you want to buy my life? I have taken a tattoo. I was in a crazy party last Saturday. Today I´ve written an essay, rowed 5 miles, made a cheesecake with chocolate sprinkles on it and watched all seasons of Desperate Housewives. Do you want to know more before you decide? My relationship status is “complicated” and my favourite quotation is “Live fast, die young”.

Never before have humans had to know so much about themselves. And others. There´s a brooding feeling to define yourself. Even the infamous Finnish modesty has turned into universal gloom of pride and uniqueness. And why wouldn´t you be proud for being so special? You don´t want to be one of those ordinary people who aren´t even on FB and whose highlight of the day is finding ten cents from the street! Even if someone did write about finding ten cents from the street it would be for the crowd to have an ironical laugh where as the poor fellow himself is actually just rubbing salt on the wound...

One just wonders if there´s such thing as privacy any more. The answer is yes. It´s called privacy settings! And it´s privacy that keeps you from knowing that this morning I had ryebread with cheese.

Hope you enjoyed my newly found italics.

What are you laughing at?

One of the most awkward moments is when after a punchline of a joke you´re grinning like an idiot while others are exchanging unsure looks. Why is it that people have different senses of humour!? Must have something to do with the up-bringing but it is frustrating indeed.

It´s hard to describe one´s sense of humour. I like to think my sense of humor is rather dry and sometimes I enjoy really off-the-wall absurd jokes. Monty Python is a good example and they have songs aswell!

Usually I like British sit-coms because they´re warm and somehow effortless. Where as American jokes can be aggressive or too obvious. Although I have to say there were some amazingly funny bits in The Due Date even though I otherwise disliked the movie. Another ever-lasting love of mine is Frasier of which the core and heart lies within the characters. I can´t get enough of the snobby brothers and their sarcastic daddy.

There´s not much good stand-up comedy about I really enjoy. I will have to look into Finnish stand-up more because as far as I know - it´s horrible. My favourite comedian, though, is an Australian bloke called Tim Minchin. Actually he´s more than a comedian - he´s an artist. I´m sure everyone has sometimes come up with a funny song, made up new lyrics to an existing song or something like that. Tim Minchin has taken it onto a whole new level. His songs are beautiful, witty and often have a devilish twist.

I think most people laugh at unexpected happenings or breaking taboos. Man dressed as a woman used to be the funniest thing on TV and kind of shocking because manhood was something not to be questioned. Today it´s just banal. But a news presenter falling off a chair? Hilarious! Talking of banal, what´s the deal with slapstick comedy? People seem to like it. Why else would they make so many Home Alone- sequels?

I don´t usually laugh at traditional jokes such as “A norwegian, a swede and a finn went to sauna...” That kind of jokes have a clear patter and thus are predictable That´s the very reason I can´t think of anything when I have to think of a joke. I can tell funny things that happened to real people, funny spelling mistakes in the paper and so on. Now I´m asking you to share your best jokes with me! Don´t worry, my lips are sealed...

P.S. I hate it when people make a jokey comment and then add as to be sure: “It was a joke.” You can be certain of ruining the joke as well as my mood.

Hi, I´m Katja. I´m an infomaniac.

Finally I got myself a copy of Enough – the groundbreaking book by John Naish. It introduces a lifestyle of less. Less information, less money, less stuff etc. We live in a world where people are encouraged to get more and more which is propably the very reason for westerners´ unhappiness and mental problems. Not to mention obesity and environmental issues.

I´ve read the first chapter about ”infomania” - the excessive consumption of information and media. Naish surely has a point. We are voluntarily surrounded by commercials and adverts, we use social networks, surf on the net, listen to the radio or watch tv. Very often we do several things simultaneously. And who doesn´t have a mobile nowadays? It all has a huge impact on us. It makes our brain dull and blunt and steals the time we could be using in far better ways such as socializing with real people or developing ourselves.

Naish has a healthy philosophy on mobile phones. Nowadays it´s normal and even expected to be available or atleast in reach at all times. Naish himself doesn´t own a mobile and he prefers e-mail because it leaves him a possibility to think about his reply. He refers to phone calls as interruption. I agree in a way and I do actually hesitate when calling someone because you never know where the recipient might be at the moment. (Maybe you guessed already; I don´t have big phone bills.) Of course you can always choose not to pick up.

I think this infomania is something we don´t even realize and it´s a good thing to bring it up. I don´t even want to start on shopping...

My infodiet starts now. I won´t open the telly unless there´s something I specifically want to watch. I log on to Facebook and check my e-mails only once a day. I can peacefully ignore latest celeb gossips and news of that kind as there´s nothing in it for me. Actually I don´t need to keep up with the news at all. I stop being obsessed about the calls I receive. It´s very unlikely that unknown number is from a gallerist who wants to buy all my doodles for skyhigh prices...

Start a real life this year! 

P.S. Ironically, now that I´ve been reunited with my laptop, I´ve started using pictures again. So I´ll be spending even more time on these blog entries...