Showing posts with label tarmo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tarmo. Show all posts

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Finals

Finals week. This required much more work than I expected. Haven't had time to be home, haven't had time to see friends :( And tomorrow I'm leaving. And Tarmo is on his way here, I believe I don't even need to say how excited I am :)
Exams... Three down, still one to go. They've been OK, tomorrows exam is going to be horrible. Two hours and 200 points. 100 points from the first two thirds, another 100 points from this thirds. So far we've had one hour and that's been just and just enough (or not), this time it's the 2 hours but there's no extensions to that :F And I've already used my learning capacity for this year, I simply can't stick any new info in my brain! But I'll pass. That's my goal.

So, after I see Paola, Meike and Kaisa, I need to go home and finalize my packing. I also need to burn my pictures and that's going to take whole night as I fought with my computer last night when I burned pictures for Paola.
1) My computer seems to have mental problems with opening the dvd thing (lost the word)
2) My computer seemed to be too tired to burn anything as it just shut off this morning twice (it just stopped working, even the clock stopped) when I was burning some pics for Melissa
3) It takes AGES to burn all my pics, even without all this problems above...
So, this night is going to be long, as I'm going to be home only around 7 pm. I also need to do some laundry, but I might leave that to tomorrow morning as I want pack only clean clothes. And I need to get rid of my furnitures. And all my closets need to be empty by tomorrow morning 8 am as Dez needs to check in and in order to do that I need to check out and I need to do that early so that I can still go through my notes before the exam. After the exam I'll go to have lunch and after that I'll be leaving! No need to say that I'm superbusy!!

But now back to neurobiology, still one hour time to go through... My brains will explode!

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Under 100 Hours!

Oh, I'm so close!

Last lectures are over, all that is left is The Exams. This week was full of studying as usual, and the weekend was amazing. On Friday night we had a Farewell party for the international students and we baked some pie with Kaisa. It wasn't as good as it should've been but it was ok. After all the eating and gift things me and Kaisa decided to go and have one ciders at a Irish pub and they had ONE type of cider in there :D But we were happy, even I though it was apple cider :P After that we came back home and just hang out with some international students. On Saturday I finished my readings and packed my big suitcase! It's quite heavy and full, though I still should be able to fit my blanket in it. And all the rest of my stuff needs to go in smaller bag, I don't know yet how, but that needs to happen. In the evening we went to Cory's place (got invited by Nathaniel :>) and it was so much fun! We stayed there until 4 am and came home, but this time we went straight so sleep ;) I wasn't even that drunk so I feel just fine now :)

Sorry, still no pics as this connection is as usual slow and shit.

Oh yeah, and Ash straightened my hair! It's never been like this, sleek and smooth! I like it but I'm too lazy to do this my self :P

I have one review session this evening and I'm going to go through the notes before that with Kaisa. Luckily I don't have exams tomorrow but I need to go through some notes and call Miki. Next week I also need to go to the bank and do all that leaving stuff... Going to be busy, busy!

I've just been talking with Tarmo the whole day, he went to his parents yesterday. He'll be here in five days!!! Miss him so much...

I still need to try to concentrate on my exams... I'm not happy about the fact that the hardest and most important exam (Neurobiology) is on Friday, so I can't afford to let my mind slip...

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Fun Four Months

Oh last weekend was amazing! I did nothing related to studies ^^ And on Saturday night we had Judith's goodbye party and it was so much fun! First we went to Buffalo Wild Wings to eat and after that we went to Joe's place, Sports Column and Summit. In Sports Column there was some wrestling going on on tv so it wasn't that nice place, especially when they run out of smirnoff ice!!! And Kaisa and I just drank total of three of them!!! And while we were on our way to Summit we found some more people to join us! After the bar closed we went to Andrew's place, but before that we went to liquor store to get some more booze. After that we went to Cory's place and finally got back home. But oh no, the party wasn't over, me and Kaisa came to my place to amuse Tarmo :>
We finally went to sleep around 7 am :D The next day I didn't have as bad hang over as I thought I'd have but I really couldn't move much.
Meike came to do some analysis here but otherwise I was just laying in bed and surfed in internet.

And I've been here now over four months! Amazing! I can already say that I'll see my love next week!!! So excited!!!

We didn't have classes today as there was supposed to be an ice storm. But I got that e-mail only at 2:30 pm so it was already a bit too late for me but I went to library to do my lab report. And in the morning there was several power cuts so I read the rest of the Developmental biology... But I really don't get it, it's not even that bad now! It's only raining water! It's not even slippery as there isn't minus degrees outside! And it really pisses me as today I'd had the most interesting lectures ever :/ And it really isn't bad! I know it'll be slippery in the evening as the temperature drops...
And the funny thing is that here they don't use stud tires! Only chains :D And Cory laughed at me when I said that I even use stud tires on my bike during winter! :D And I laughed at the chains... But I don't get it, here it really is winter, why don't they use studs??? And then they use salt! LOTS of it. It's really annoying because your pants have white stripes on them and then the salt comes in and argh! Use sand! No wonder you can't even touch the Iowa River water because all the salt goes in there :F It's really bad for the environment!

We also had a fire alarm, again, last night. I was already in bed but luckily wasn't sleeping yet. Dezerae said that there's been more fire alarms during this semester than ever in a whole year! I don't get it, what's wrong with this years people?!

What else... I'm really looking forward to next week and the day I see my babe again! Missing him so much!

I also remember how I said two months ago that "Oh, two months has gone by, I guess it's going to slow down now..." But no, time really went by fast :) And I'm really happy that I came here, I've learned a lot. I've had great courses (though I still hate the exams...) and I believe this did good for my English as well :> Though I know I make more mistakes now as I don't pay attention as much anymore to what I'm saying. But I'm more confident and not as afraid to speak anymore. I've also learned to appreciate more for what I have and how thing are in Finland. And as I have said before, this was not easy but it was worth it.

But it's not the right time yet to say these goodbye things. I'm just starting to realize that it really is over soon... But I have a whole life waiting in Finland and I really need and I want to go back. I'm happy to go back :)

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

My Dear Finland

Blah. 16 freaking days!
My mind has been in Finland the last two days. I've been planning my spring and next Fall... If I'm hard working, I should graduate during/after summer! Cool! I'm also planning to go to elsewhere to do my Ph.D. though I'm going to stay in Finland... but nothing more on that, that's going to be the spring issue I have to deal with...

I'm waiting so much for the next two and a half week to go by! Then I'm going to see my babe!!! Missing him so much! Now I've gotten myself in a point where I'm just waiting to go back home... Or to be more specific, waiting to see my love. Waiting, waiting and waiting.
Finals are coming soon, I've lost my motivation to read properly but my goal is to pass all the courses, I'm going to take only passed for them, not any grades as they'd lower my average. But even though my motivation is low, that doesn't mean that I wouldn't read. I still need to study to keep my mind happy ^^ I can't just do nothing, I'd feel bad about myself.

I'll go and "celebrate" one of my friends leaving on Saturday. So I get some social life again! Last weekend I just enjoyed my peace and tried to sleep and relax :) Then it's only one more week of studies, then it's over. Well, then it's finals and then it's really over!
I already packed stuff away that I don't need and tried to estimate how much space do I have and that if I need to panic how I get all my stuff back in Finland :D It seems to be ok. Though I still need to think what to do with my blanket, I paid a lot for it, too much just to give it away so I need to see if I could take it with me if no-one is going to buy it... Luckily I've been reasonable and haven't bought A LOT stuff. And I'm going to send some christmas presents to my parents so that the could at least think that I'm with them.

Ashleigh came from NYC and told it's really beautiful. I'm looking forward going there with Tarmo! Oh I just said to Kaisa today that I love him so much, I love that he just brainstorms with me (about the future) and stuff... The nearer I get to The Day, the more enthusiast I get! Oh please let this three weeks go by fast!!!

By the way, it snowed. Or actually it rained ice during the weekend and the ground is still white (and slippery). And I'm starting to be too goofy, I forgot my keys to the store downstairs last night :F

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Three Months

I've been here for over three months now! So two thirds down! HA!
And as you probably can hear (read) I'm in a better mood :) I worked hard this weekend and got some work done and noticed that I got my spontanious nature back :) Last night I went to movies in a 2 minute warning time :D (Saw4, wasn't scary, only gross)...

But nothing new in here... Just studying all the time so that I don't need to give any thoughts to studies on vacation... I'll have an exam on Tuesday, report to write for Tuesday, article to analyze for tomorrow (well I did that already) and neurobiology questions to be done for Tuesday. Plus I need to read endocrinology for the week after Thanksgiving as I don't want to read it on Thanksgiving.
And we need to construct the gift basket for Melissa's Uncle and his wife too... So we're going to buy some wine and cheese...
And we planned our Thanksgiving trip today, was supposed to do that last night but I didn't know Paola was coming and I left to the movies... What else?
I don't know why I was so depressed last week... I just wanted to run away from every social event that was ahead of me. I just wanted to be under my blanket and not to get up at all... I missed Tarmo so badly.

But even though this is hard (not that I ever assumed this to be easy) I'm still happy that I left here. This has made me stronger and taught me to be independent. At the same time I know now more than ever that I love Tarmo and he's the one I want to be with. I've learned that I need him. For my sanity. I need him physically and mentally. With him I'm calm and whole. At least if I'm not calm he'll make me calm :D
It's amazing that you need to leave your familiar environment to see these things. I appreciate more than ever what I have and where I live. And that's good.

As I said to a friend of mine, this was probably the worst time I could've picked to leave. But this was my last and only chance. So I just need to deal with it and be happy for what I've learned.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Don't Know What to Think

Quite long time since I last wrote in here but I've been too busy... I have lot to write about and first comet the update of my life :)

So I was supposed to have Endocrinology exam week ago but as we waited it to start the lecture room filled with strange people and eventually there was no space for all. It turned out to be some other exam and our exam was canceled. It was supposed to be today but the lecturer decided to put half of it to next exam and half on final. Which is good because I had Neurobiology exam today... But the weekend first. On Friday I was home early and went to Kaisas place to see some movie (Mean Girls) and drank bottle of wine (was one glass only because the bottles are small... :P) with sparkling water. On Saturday I had really lazy day. I watched the game (again at Kaisas, and we won!), after that we watched Devil wears Prada (rented it on Friday but didn't watch it and it had to be returned by 5pm). After that it was too late to do anything (not that I really had any motivation to do anything...) so we just watched tv (Pirates of the Caribbean I). And talked with Tarmo <3 On Sunday I got some work done and ate pancakes which Kaisa made for us ^^ They were soooooo good! And of course on Sunday it's Desperate Housewinves day too :) I also heard that dad lost his job (though we knew to expect that, they had a new boss and they had to let people go, and he actually wanted to quit but it's not good to quit your job on your own or you don't get any money). So now he has no job but he still gets money. But he's too old to get any job anymore and he's been sick a lot so I hope that he retires... Or that he can retire. We'll see...

On Monday it was my birthday!!! So I'm 22 :> In the morning my parents called and I even got a card from Ashleigh! (A cat card and it was red! Am I really THAT obvious??? :D) I got a funny power point from friends from Finland and many congrats via Facebook. On my first lecture Meike gave me a smoothie and a Birthday Girl badge I had to wear the whole day :D It was fun and quite embarrassing, especially when I was alone :D At Burge a girl who swipes our ID said Happy Birthday and a group of exchange students started to sing but I quickly left :D After my lectures I came home, talked with Tarmo and Saana (haven't talked for so long time!!!). Meike and Paola invited me to their place in the evening and I had such a big surprise waiting for me! The second I stepped inside there was Seminaarimäen Mieslaulajat - Taina playing, there was a birthday cake on the table, red lights and Happy Birthday band hanging on the couch!!!! OH MY GOD! I was so touched that I had to cry! It still gets my eyes wet :) I can't say how touched I was... I did know to expect something but not anything like this... Oh... It was so nice! And I got beautiful earrings and a Hello Kitty towel :D And when I finally came back home I had a packet of Finnish chocolate and Salmiakki waiting for me from my parents :)

And on that night I had a dream where I was sleeping next to Tarmo and it felt so warm and nice, and Pollo walked there too <3

And something about the weather has to be mentioned too... it's been really windy and in the mornings (and nights) there is already minus degrees! Trees have lost most of their leaves but the grass is still green. Still feels like Finnish Spring.

Today I had my Neurobiology exam (no more night exams!!!) and the professor said that the exam is harder than the last exam was... I don't know how that's possible... There were couple of questions I didn't know but I answered to everything... I did all I could, it didn't go well but then again that doesn't tell anything. As I have said so many times, even though you get bad points, you can get a good grade... Last time I got like 66/100 and I got B... So stupid...

But now to serious things. I heard this morning some awful news from Finland. About the massacre in Jokela high school. Oh my god... I feel so bad... And the most shocking part of this is that it was in news even in here! I really don't know what to think! And I've been thinking about it the whole day! I don't know why it touches me this much. I didn't know any of them, it was far away from where I live but still I feel awful. Maybe it's because it was even in here in news and it was said in news too, that schools have always been considered as a safe place in Finland and I myself have always felt that when I'm in school, I'm safe. Lucky me that I'm not in school anymore, I don't know what I'd do... I'm afraid of mentally unstable people, have always been, but somehow I'm even more afraid now... I can't understand how no-one saw this coming??? Please do believe that when a young people say that they feel bad, they do feel bad and it's not just a puberty!!! (That's what it was considered when I was in high school...) We really need to take some serious actions... Oh I still can't believe this happened! I don't know what to think... I'm mad that he died and he don't need to face his action, he got away from this too easily! He killed young people who had their whole life ahead and a woman who possibly had children! This is so unfair! Then again it's good that he died so that the government doesn't need to take care of him (which costs a lot money). And even though I don't believe in God, I want to believe that he won't get away from this this easily. There's got to be something waiting for him. Hell or something as bad. This is stupid, stupid, STUPID! I feel so sorry for all the parents and friends. As my worst fear is to lose my loved ones, I can only imagine what they feel like if I feel this bad :(

I don't know what to say about this anymore... I don't know what to think. I'm so glad no-one asked my opinion about this today. I might have bursted into tears...

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Halloween

Ok, finally some time to write here again... First about my amazing weekend:
On Friday we went to carve some pumpkins and of course me and Meike decided to take the most difficult one, we need some challenge for the first pumpkin carved ever :D We had only 1,5 hours time and we run a bit out of time so we just had to do some short cuts... But it was beautiful! And quite well done for the first pumpkin ;) After that we went to Loris place to eat some pizza and pumpkin pie (it was warm and one piece was enough... I can't decide if it was good or bad...). And after that we headed to Frightmare Forest in Cedar Rapids! It was so fun, FUN! There was this forest where they had set up some "haunted house" though it was in a forest. And as it was night we went there, it was dark and there was this dimly light path we had to follow. Me and Kaisa squeezed each others hands so tight! (I love the fact that I can put my brains aside and be frightened about stupid things.) The first third part we went first (there could be up to 6 people in one group) and it was the scariest part! It was mostly outside and there were these actors that followed us and kept scary noises (they had masks on and looked like really scary monsters!) and the "haunted house" part there was these corners behind which the actors jumped and screamed. As did we too :D Then we didn't want to be the first ones anymore though it was scary anyway. Quite in the end there was this bump in the ground and behind it there was a person who crawled towards us when we passed the place and started to follow us! And oh my god how we ran! :D Too bad you couldn't take pictures in there... It was so fun!!! And the path was like over half an hour, usually they are something like 15 minutes... There were some really lame things too of course, but you have to have something for everyone. After that we went to a bar and had only one drink :)


The next day I had ticket to the football game and I picked really good day to go there, we won and the game was the most exciting game ever! (Though nothing compared to the NHL game ;) After I got finally home, I just relaxed and in the evening I decided to go out with friends though our bunny ears hadn't arrived (everyone wore costumes because of the Halloween) but I did emergency solution and painted some blood in my lips and neck (and I still have some of the color in my neck, it looks like someone really bit me :P). I drank only one again but it was fun. First we went to a house party but it was boring and they had only beer so we decided to go downtown and there we met some other friends too. I got home in decent time and went to sleep after I had laughed at half naked guy running around the corridors. I woke up when Ashleigh came home and oh my god how drunk she was... Luckily Dezerae went elsewhere to sleep so I could go and sleep in her bed (I was afraid that Ashleigh would vomit all over though she didn't). After about 5 hours of sleep I woke up to read (though without alarm as usual). I was supposed to go and see Meikes soccer game but no-one else went there so I called her and she said it was ok if I didn't go either :) So I read a bit more...

This week I have two exams, so I'm quite busy... Oh and some random things:
We had fire alarm again few weeks ago, someone kept some stuff under the oven... Really smart. And on Monday our endocrinology professor moaned to us that we should be prepared to the exam in time (we had a review session on Friday, the exam is tomorrow) and ask questions on the review session, not after that or worse, a day before exam or even worse, after exam! I was like WTF??? How am I supposed to have time to read all the things that early?? The weekend was only coming and that's when I really have time to read... And I can't always realize everything that early and if you go and ask questions after exam, doesn't that just say that you're really interested?? So weird..
And today Kaisa said: "Taina knows everything, the thing she doesn't know, you don't need to know" :D And that was because I knew what to do with banana flies :D

Tomorrow is Halloween officially. I don't know yet what we're going to do, though I have exam until like 6 pm and I have exam on Thursday too... But we need to wear our bunny ears!

And Oh I haven't written anything about our prank!
I heard I think in the middle of last week at night some laughter and running on the corridor but was too tired to get up. On the morning someone knocked on our door but I had only just woke up so I didn't open the door. As people were walking past our door I heard giggling. I was like oh my god what's wrong there?? (I suspected something in the night too...) I thought that I need to finish my morning coffee before I dare to open the door. So when I finally opened it, there was this huge pile of Daily Iowans that just flooded in :D I was laughing so hard that Ashleigh woke up. We've had before like 3-5 Daily Iowans (we have this white board that says No Daily Iowans, please, and someone wipes the No off and puts random number in it and correct number of Daily Iowans). And on our board, it said 169 Daily Iowans, please :D It was so funny :D

So, something has finally happened :D Though my days still include mostly studying. I've started to miss Tarmo really much. And I mean really much! And I'm ready to go back Finland too, though not that badly as I know that it's so dark in there in this time of year and in here it's like Spring :D I miss our daily routines and I'm starting to be ready to write my Thesis. And for some reason I've planned what kind of courses I could keep and what kind of teacher I'd be :D Not really but only a bit ;) But enough about missing, I don't want to think about it, it makes me only sad.
I should take a shower but I think I'll do that in the morning, I'm too lazy now...

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Not So Good Week

Finally I have the mood to write here. This week was pretty shit. But luckily it's over. After Mondays bad news I suddenly got in the middle of a "fight" of friends and my friendship was questioned. I felt so upset though I blame myself too. If I had kept my eyes open, I had seen this coming and wouldn't been so upset. But unfortunately I've been living inside my head and didn't see what I was supposed to see. And I usually see those things! I know I'm confusing but I don't want to get into details. So I felt miserable. Then I got sick. What a perfect week.

But I feel a lot better, we figured out the fight and hopefully that was the last time... And I think I had some fever last night too... But I feel a lot better in that field too. Today we cooked with friends in my place (and I had to clean the kitchen, again :F). It was fun and refreshing. But I still need to read something for Animal Behavior, I'll have exam on that on Tuesday. And then I'll have exams every week again until December.
So no rest for this girl until Thanksgiving week.
And it's two months even to see Tarmo!

My roommates were out last night and brought some friends with them but luckily they were here only about an hour. On Saturday I went to bed already at six! I didn't sleep but I felt so bad. And on Friday I tried to go sleeping early too but my roommates went shopping and came back and wanted to show what they had bought :)

Eight weeks... I've been just studying and living inside my thoughts. Tarmo said that our home doesn't feel like home because I'm not there :) I feel quite weird too. I feel like I'm here only like a week or so but the week is never ending week. This feels so temporary (though it is that :D)

But I don't have much to write. Just wanted you to know that I'm still kicking :)

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Better Tuesday

Today was better day.

But now I've visited ER in US! No, my godmother didn't die here (can't believe I make a joke about this, but laughing has always been my method to hide from sorrow...) but I took Kaisa to there instead. She had some abdominal pain again and I tried to get her to see a doctor on Sunday but she refused to go. On Monday while we were having our lunch I said, OK, now lets go to the ER! And I'm glad I took her there, even though they still didn't know what's wrong, she got some antibiotics, painkillers and she needs to see the doctor soon again. And if the pain is not gone by tomorrow, I'll make her to see the doctor again :> And even though I missed two lectures, I'm happy that I had something to do yesterday. I was too sad to read and listen during the lectures (almost bursted in tears when Meike said that I look so tired...). And I can go to other lecture on Thursday so I actually missed only one lecture and Endocrinology isn't that bad to miss... Not that I'd want to miss my lectures but it's the easiest course I have. We were at the ER like three hours, waited only 20 minutes to see the doctor! And it was quiet and surprisingly nice there. There was even an aquarium at the waiting room (in Finland all the drunk people would brake it...). Then we went to get her medication and bought some dye for our hair! So my hair is now dark brown (and the color was supposed to be light brown though I knew this...) and I bought two lipsticks too... Beauty things make me feel better, always!
I should buy some of those everstay lipsticks for my mom too, they're so cheap in here!

So it was pretty long and exhausting day yesterday... I was so tired when I finally got back home!

Today I've been studying and I had lunch with Judith. Though I needed three cups of coffee today and even still almost fell asleep during neurobiology lecture! So I think I'm still quite sad... I laugh and sleep my sadness away... My dad sleeps also if he's sad. I believe I got the same thing. But oh my god how stupid people can be! We had our neurobiology discussion today and there was this one question about photoreceptors and something about yellow receptor... And people were so confused... I was like "RGB system people, RGB system!" And I think (and want to believe) that I eventually did well enough on my neurobiology exam, I got B! Though I didn't get good points, but the average was 66/100 and to get A you had to have 74/100... So it was pretty hard exam!

It's getting cold in here. And people dress up so weirdly! There are people with shorts, flipflops and t-shirts (though not all these combined together) and then there are people with winter jackets! So funny...

And sorry, no new pics...

And oh, I just realized, I'm half way done! I've been here 2 months and 6 days and I still have 2 months and 5 days! Or lets say this way, 2 months and 5 days until I see my darling! But that sounds too long, I prefer thinking in weeks because they go by faster than months :> But at the same time I don't want to leave all these wonderful people... And that makes me confused!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Two Months

Two months! I've been here for two months! And still 71 days left until I see my babe...

AND, I did something radical today! We didn't get any place to stay at Tennessee so we're going to leave two weeks earlier than we were supposed to leave. I just changed our flights from 18th to 4th January! We still need to book a hotel... But anyway, we're going to save quite a lot and I get home earlier!

AND, my connection is working!

AND, I had exam today and I will not have exams for two weeks!

Oh happy day!

So, connection problems solved and I can relax a bit. Though I talked with my parents this morning using Ashleighs computer. They were a bit concerned already... And I got yesterday this wonderful reflector from my mom! It's so cute ^^ What else has happened? I had long day, just got home and I'm quite tired... Oh yeah, I saw my global buddy, I haven't seen her for such a long time... We had fun time :)

ps. Tarmo said something wonderful to me this morning and I was one big smile for the whole day ^^

Monday, October 8, 2007

Dream

I had a dream last night that I was back in Finland and we were shopping a couch for us with Tarmo in Tampere. On our way back home I held his hand, leaned in his lap and cried, I don't want ever to leave from you again...

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Chicago Baby!

Our weekend was so amazing, I had such a good time!

The city and our hosts welcomed us warmly with hot weather and a cold glass of wine. We were at Chicago at eight and after some chatting we went to downtown to Hancook Center to see Chicago at night time. We were there just in time because it closed just after we were ready with our tour. After that we spent some time trying to find some place to eat and finally went to small pizza/bar place and ate traditional stuffed Chicago pizza and were back home about at one am. We were supposed to get up at seven on the next morning but finally got up at eight and had some breakfast. After that we headed to the Shedd Aquarium, missed our stop and walked all through Millennium Park back to the aquarium. And it was huge and so beautiful! We spent there like four hours, went through all the displays and watched a dolphin show. And I loved the sharks! The wall of that aquarium was curved so that it was on you too! And the sharks were BIG!
After that we walked again through Millennium Park and got to Navy Pier. There we ate good ice creams and continued our trip to the NHL hockey game! Chicago Blackhawks against Detroit Red Wings. And it was so easy to yell "GO HAWKS!" :D Oh we were so excited about the game with Kaisa, there was Tuomo Ruutu playing too! And he made a goal too! And of course we won (though Iowa Hawks didn't win, they had game too that day). The game had some different rules from Finnish hockey, after first 20 seconds there was a fight between two players and the judges didn't do anything! And of course there were all kind of shows in American style. But it was fun to yell PERKELE! And to see hockey, which is kind of the only sports I get excited.
After that we went back home and it was again after midnight and we were so tired after all the walking. Oh yeah, and I almost forgot!! Before the game we went to the beach and took some really nice pictures from there! I just have to get them from Meike first.
On Sunday we got up at nine and had some really good breakfast our host family made (stuffed pancakes) and at 11 am we left again to downtown just to walk around and see the Chicago marathon. There were a lot of people and the weather was hot. We browsed some souvenir shops (and the only thing I bought from Chicago was a Chicago magnet where you can put a pic or card...) and headed back at 2:30. And finally left back to Iowa City at 3:30. So I was in time to see Desperate Housewives!

And the host family was so nice! And oh my god their apartment! It was so beautiful and big! We're going to get some gift basket for them. I really felt welcomed!

So the weekend was really nice, I'm glad we went there. But back to reality, I have Endocrinology exam on Wednesday and I really haven't had time to read for it yet, so I'll have to live at the library again for a few days. And then I need to start to catch up everything else. But then it's no exams in two weeks! And on Tuesday morning I have the appointment. Blah. But I really hope that we can figure out things so that I could talk with my parents again!

On our way back home I listened to Poets of the Fall and dreamed about Tarmo. When we were at Savolinna for the first summer we dated, he took me to a rides and showed me all the pretty places there and we listened to Poets of the Fall then. So it always reminds me of our first summer ^^ And when we were at the beach, I drew his name on the sand <3

ps. I'll post the pics when I get them out from my camera... I was lazy now, sorry! And here's an article about the marathon, someone actually died (there were ambulances running all the time...) http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071008/ap_on_sp_ot/run_chicago_marathon

Monday, September 24, 2007

Stupid Introduction

I got Finnish candy today! Never ever has salmiakki tasted this good <3

(part of post deleted because blogger.com didn't know how tho handle my pic and decided to erase half of my text and ARGH and I'm too tired to do that again... So it just continues from here and no pics this time :P)
...
because I felt that I should had learned only details and not the basics in detail...) Well I just need to see how it goes. And about the Animal Behavior course, since I spent so much time in developmental biology, I didn't have enough time to read for this course and I lost my interest because of the detail thing... Luckily I have some time to go through my notes tomorrow morning... And luckily I can take my classes as passed and not with grades... I just hope that I pass! I really prefer Finnish system. We have usually only one exam during the course and by knowing the basics you pass and by knowing details you get an A. But in here you have three to four exams in a course and they seem to ask mainly details... In Finland we have few questions where we have to define some things plus two to four essays (real essays, you need to write two to four pages!) and it usually takes two hours to complete the exam. In here you have ten pages of multiple choices, some defines and short essays (meaning sentence or two!) and you complete the exam in an hour. And did I already mention the details??? In my opinion you can't measure your knowledge by details, you need to know the basics and big concepts and by details you show that you are smart and interested in that thing... It might seem easy but it's not, you really need to understand the big concept before you can understand the details! And what's that about grading people with Gaussian function??? That does not measure knowledge, if people are stupid, they are stupid and still get A's! (I just chatted with my suite mate for an hour so I lost my thoughts.) But I think that was enough anyway. And I'm starting to miss home. I've chatted with my mother in law and she sent me nice pictures of their new house and I'd just like to visit there... I'm starting to miss my own bed, my own kitchen... And I'm starting to miss Tarmo so much that occasionally it makes me depressed. I really need to keep myself busy now so that I don't get time to think too much. I still love Iowa City and I don't want to leave yet but this is getting worse... Maybe it's because now I have only my courses and I really don't have time for socializing anymore, at least not as much as I'd like to have... My normal day begins at 7:30 am (and I really wake up without alarm clock), I get up, make breakfast and back my bag and get ready, then I come to talk with Tarmo and then I go to my classes, after that I study and I get home at 8 pm. And by that time I'm just so tired that I'd just like to sleep but I try to do things and get bed at 10 pm. I don't like being at home because I don't like this room as much as I like my own house and I have my computer in here so I really can't concentrate in here. And it's noisy. Moan moan. Not really. I got chocolate and salmiakki!! But now I got stuck with my mouth again. And it's late enough so that I can go bed again! I have the same thing my dad has, if he's sad, he sleeps. Maybe that's why I'd just like to sleep.. Though I love sleeping :>

I've been thinking about future a lot. I've kind of started to realize that I'm going to graduate next Summer. And then I get money, at least a lot more money than I get now, and then I'm able to save some money! I already planned that I'd get my drivers license next Spring. I just need to start saving which means that I need to save in here too, but that's not hard, I don't have the time to do any shoppings anyway! And I could ask some money from my parents as my birthday and christmas gift... And then I'm graduating and we need to start planning ti get a car because we don't get the discounts anymore so it'd be worth of buying a car... And then... some family things I've been thinking... Oh I hate this baby boom! And then again I love it :D I'm crazy, I know.

But the bed. It calls me.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Three Months

Three months! It's three months for me to see my baby <3 1,5 months is over, that's half of the time that it ahead (see, I can do some maths ;) It will go by fast.

And I'm happy because Tarmo is much cheerier than he has been for a while. He got lots of food and some money :) Makes me cheerier too!

And I have to read the whole day for the Developmental Biology exam. I started yesterday and I got really interested. It's so interesting! I wasn't always interested in it because I didn't understand gastrulation etc, but now I do and it's so fascinating! But I have a lot to read for the exam and I have my Animal Behavior exam next week too. Luckily it doesn't have that much reading in it though I need to have few days to go through all the notes...

See, I got motivated again :) I was just tired. And I'm not in my best when I'm tired. But the funny thing is that I laugh all the time. As Paola said (about Kaisas jumpiness): "I always scare her and Taina laughs." :D Though that is true. (I love you too Kaisa.) And Sira actually said that she'll miss that she can't localize me at our university by my laugh for a six months :D So I'm quite known for my laugh, though I try to think that as a positive thing :D

But I'll go back chatting with my babe and then I'll go to my class and then I'll go studying... Luckily I don't have my endocrinology class today, I can study longer. I also plan to go out tonight though I plan not to get drunk because I need to read tomorrow too... :P

Thursday, September 20, 2007

I Know What Sunlotion Is

Something to report again :)

I had my first exam and it went ok. The professor asked some questions I didn't really expect but I knew the answers for most of the questions. At least I think so... We had 5 pages of questions on both sides of the papers, multiple questions, true/false or short answers. I was done in half an hour though I didn't believe it, so I checked my answers, didn't change anything and watched someone else to return their paper first. It was funny that people kept asking questions about the exam during the whole exam time (like some details about the questions or asked some clarifications), in Finland what you see is what you get. If there is not some mistakes about the question and you ask something about it, the professor just says that you see the question, answer to it...

I also had my first "proper" lab in animal behavior. Last time we just watches the March of the Penguins and wrote short proposal for that, today we played with zebra fishes. We had a male zebra fish alone in a tank and we were supposed to tease it with a fake female/male fishes and write down its behavior. In the end we wanted to repeat the trials but our fish got tired and was only interested in me :D (it stayed only in the corner that was on my side) I laughed that even the fish is interested in European girl :D

And I felt really special at the beginning of the week when people came to say to me that "Oh we missed you!" I was away only one weekend :D Tymon was best when he said that "Oh, the Asians are no use, you need to come to the bar with us!" I also talked with my mother in law today! She was visiting Tarmo today and we talked via Skype and webcam :) So I saw our kitties, Tarmo and my mother in law <3 It made me happy but it also made me miss home. Talking by just writing is easier though I love to hear Tarmos voice, but it makes me miss him and home more. Though time still goes by so fast, it's already Thursday night!

People are still teasing me about my red face. "You know what sunlotion is? You know, S-U-N-L-O-T-I-O-N." "Yeah, I thought you were red! You want me to get you some lotion?" Thanks, but I can handle this and believe or not, we do have sunlotion in Finland too :P I just supposed that we were going to bar to see the game but we didn't, so we stayed outside and it was cold and and... Which reminds me that I'm kind of waiting for the colder weather. It's windier now so it's not that warm even though the temperature is close to 30C. And the trees are dropping their leaves... I want to wear my winter skirts and boots :P And many people have asked me if the girls in here are like in every American movies: all made up and fresh and beautiful 24/7. No they aren't. I leave out the sorority girls ;) They're just like we normal people ;D But I hate the water in here, it's so hard that it makes my hair so dry...

Oh I should do some vacuuming to our floor but we don't have a vacuum cleaner... And I never hear anyone to do any cleaning (vacuuming), now I've just picked up the trash every time I see one... Though I don't really spend that much time at home, I mainly sleep in here and I am keeping my laundry clean ;) And I keep my side ordered (most of the time...).

And some random things: people in here don't really know how to drive. They just get their drivers license. Well they know how to drive but they can't back up the car... In Finland we really need to learn how to do the backing up in small places before we get our license :P And Aston Kutcher and Elijah Wood have studied in the University of Iowa ;) And I had a troijan horse in my computer. The virus detector was funny, it gave this alarm (and scared me) but it said "there is no reason to panic..." Well that's a program for women! Because if it hadn't said that, I would've panicked :D And oh yeah, I bought Windows Vista and Office 2007, for total of $20 :P

We're going to Chicago in two weeks! We need still find a place to stay... And after that it's not long for out Thanksgiving trip and after that it's not long for finals and after that it's not long for me to see my love!

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Missing Him

Ok. My network still sucks but I e-mailed to them again. Lets see what they say this time.

There are some things I want to tell you. Guys in here don't really have manners. They keep their caps on inside, even during lectures! Though one guy amazed me at the bus, he gave me his seat but I really think it was because he couldn't see his buddy. And about my professors, my endocrinology professor is just hilarious. I think I mentioned him earlier. Oh shoot and I'm so sick are his most used words during the lectures :D Though I'm a bit worried of him, he limps and seems really tired. And he actually was in hospital last weekend... And even still he keeps joking all the time. And my Animal Behavior professor says "emm" at least 15 times in 5 minutes (I counted). And that continues the whole lecture. And the news papers. They are so weird shaped! They're long and narrow and so hard to read unless you read them on table! And buses don't run in time starting from the evenings (I don't know about the morning and daytime buses because there are so many anyway so it doesn't really matter if they run late).

I went to play frisbee with Danny, Tymon, Meike and Paola (after Paola and I took a nap on the lawn) and now I can barely walk! My legs and bottom are so sore! What a good exercise! :D But then it started to rain and we went to eat to Chinese restaurant and after that we went to Java Juice to meet other international students and our global buddies. I was home at 10 pm but although I was tired, I was too hyper to go to sleep so I was awake until midnight and now I'm really tired. And Josh has been trying to reach me, every time he called me, I missed his call. I was in class or deaf. And I didn't even realize that it was he who had tried to call me! And then he tried to come and see me at home but I wasn't home :(

And about my phone. I got this AT&T prepaid thing where messages and calls cost 25c, both sending them and receiving (both of) them. So it's quite expensive but I thought that I wouldn't do so many calls nor that someone would call me. But I really don't want to buy any plans either because they're quite expensive and I can't have any other type than prepaid because I don't have the social security number. And it's so stupid that I really don't have service in Mayflower, so people can't call/send messages me and vice versa when I'm home. Sometimes when I put the phone on my pillow, there comes one block but that's all. So that's why I'm better reached via internet, and I'm actually all the time in internet when I'm home, so take this hint ;)

I'm looking forward to this weekend. I don't know why but I just do :) I want to go to some bar!

And I miss Tarmo. I really do. Badly. I dreamed of him last night and the night before that (and other one of them actually was That Kind of Dream ;) There are so many things I'd like him to see. There are so many people I'd like to introduce to him. There are so many things I'd like to tell him. And we do talk almost every day (at least we try to get a change to talk every day) and I do tell him everything but then again I can't remember everything I was supposed to tell him. And then I forget those things. I'd like him to hang around with me. I'd like to sleep with him. I'd just like to cuddle... That's the biggest thing I miss.
I really love being in here. I love Iowa City. So I really don't miss home (though I miss our bed), I just miss him. And of course I miss our kitties. I miss their purring and playing. I miss the thing that I just sit and I can feel someone passing me by and just touching my legs slightly. I miss the touch. The magic touch Tarmo has. The slight loving touch our kitties have too (if you are laying in the bed they just come sleeping against your back. I will alway remember the first night we had them, other one was sleeping in my armpit and other one was sleeping almost on my head and I could feel them breathing and my arms just went numb because they were so cute that I didn't dare to move). And that touch I can't have in here. I don't even want to have, I want that touch just from Tarmo. I do give hugs, I always give hugs. For both men and women. But it's not the same thing. I am touching person. I always touch people when I talk to them, especially when I'm exited and tell some hilarious things :D And even though I love hugging people, I can't receive long hugs, they're too loving and get me in tears. And I don't want to hug ALL the people in the world. I give hugs only to people I care. And I don't want strangers to hug me. That's just harassment.

Oh I really can see from this text that it's getting late and I'm getting tired. I always get so sentimental this time of the day. And I just miss Tarmo. And I like writing about it because it makes me feel better. And I prefer writing over talking because writing doesn't get me into tears as easily and I actually express myself better in this way. At least in English :) And I don't really feel so confident of my speaking. I know I can speak but it's just so much easier to write. My vocabulary is so much better when I write because I tend to use easy words because I'm too afraid to say the hard words wrong. Yes, I'm perfectionist. A tired one, so I'll go to bed now. Good night!

ps. We had a fire alarming today at Mayflower... We had to stop studying and go outside and couldn't continue studying because we were shocked, right Kaisa? ;)

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Missing My Babe

I had such a fun night last night :) But unfortunately I can't (still!) post any pics because they just won't upload. :(

But anyway, yesterday morning we went to the Farmers Market to get some fresh food. And we also found this organic food place and I bought some fruits there. Then we got back home and Meike reminded me that the church had a give way day and so I headed back to downtown, almost missed the transportation there but thanks to Paola and Meike we (Kaisa and I) got a ride there. I found night table and small shelf plus some kitchen items. Then I got back home again, waited for the items to arrive and headed to City Park for FIS (Friends of International Students) picnic. We ate a lot and had a good time. When it ended I once again headed back home to change my clothes because we went to see this free movie at Old Capitol. After that we headed to Brothers, were there until 1:30 am and after that we went to Nathaniels place and had some vodka. I was back home at 5 am and talked with Tarmo for a while and finally got some sleep. Though I slept only like three hours because it was getting so light that I just couldn't sleep anymore.
And I've just been listening to Tori Amos and chatted with friends. In a couple of hours we're going to IMU to get some free lunch and maybe after that see another free movie.

But I had such a good time last night. We had some deep discussions with Nathaniel and he also offered me to stay the night at their couch but I wanted to come home because I knew my love would be already wake and I really missed him. So Nathaniel walked me home because it was night and little girls aren't supposed to walk alone at night time :D But yesterday was the first day I missed Tarmo really badly. I do miss him all the time but last night was just overwhelming. I know that alcohol had something to do with that :P And I've just been listening Tori Amos with my Kisu (Kittie) and my head aches a bit because of the vodka (Russian one!) and because I didn't sleep enough, I think I'm still a bit drunken :>

Americans are so funny. Yesterday we were wondering how to get to the super WalMart and this church lady said that she could take us there some time and she actually gave us a call today and asked if we would like to go shopping :D And yesterday I would've had a car taking me home but I preferred walking because it sobers me up. And then Nathaniel walked me home. I can't understand why they are so friendly. :D Not that I don't appreciate that! I do! But for a Finn friendly people are just fantasy. And yet again I always fear that people get the wrong impression of me because being a European woman in America seems to make me interesting and I love chatting with people. And all the other exchange students are so nice too! I just need to always first make clear to them (well, to all the guys) that I'm engaged and I'm not planning to have any kind of messing around in here because I love him so much and I'm only one mans girl. (There is actually one guy that is engaged !! but says that she doesn't need to know, want to mess around with me? I don't care if you have a boyfriend. And that's just awful! So that makes me a bit cautious.) But it's kind of complicated. Because I try to be friendly to all and you really can't just say "Hi I'm Taina and I'm engaged, how are you?". You have to chat first for a while and I always try to bring up this thing in a subtle way because I don't want to be rude. Oh this is so difficult to explain what I mean. I can't explain it even in Finnish either but I hope you get the idea what I'm talking about. But I'll drop this thing now before it gets too long. I just needed to get this off my chest :)

Oh yeah, and I met at the picnic this guy who loves HIM and he had a HIM shirt! That was cool! And he said that people from Finland always speak perfectly English :D I also met my other "roomies" on the other side of kitchen and bathroom. They were really nice.

And I have this huge pimple on the side of my nose and it hurts so much and I hate it!

ps. edited: I added pics finally in here too ^^