Life in Preston

In 2008, I lived in Preston for four months. A small city with a big heart, and my home through the summer. Actually I meant to stay there for just a month, but somehow time just flew.. Despite the complaints of my Irish friends who accused me of having a British heart ;), I became very fond of Preston. At first it was quite a shock to realise people actually are smiling at strangers and talking about things openly, but I adapted and grew a thick skin, so nothing (almost) surprised me anymore. :)


(the Prestonians - Tuija's & Gavin's leaving party. A lovely bunch!)

It was also great to travel around England, from Newcastle to Derby (and Birmingham, Blackpool, Leeds, Oxford.. and so on. :P). The best (long!) weekend was for sure Sign Circle, a BSL camp, in which I was volunteering in catering. As soon as I stepped into kitchen, I was told to grate cheese. I grated my finger instead. Gavin, the lovely (and bossy ;) head cook, told me to peel potatoes. Somehow I'm always finding myself peeling potatoes, don't ask me why. And the boys wrote a rude word into my cook's hat, so had to borrow Scott's hat in which read 'Punk boy' and be an amusement to people who bought food from me. :P I also got a stack of hay into my head. Not my fault. Enjoyed myself a lot! :D


(Eastbourne, 'God's waiting room'. yes, it's called that. Millions of white-haired heads everywhere. :D)

Prestonians became my second family, and I was at home with them. At first it was a struggle to learn BSL (damn fingerspelling), but eventually I realised I understand what the others were talking about! What an enlightening feeling it was, aah. I still sometimes think in BSL and I often use it when talking with international people (someone once said my international sign language is brilliant. I had to admit to him it was in fact BSL, erm.. :). I can't describe how much I miss back to my second home, Preston. I promise to visit you again as soon as I can! I'm really happy to get two Prestonians for a visit in June, it's gonna be a lot of fun :)


(celebrating brother's 22nd in Oxford. Love you, Risto!)

It was a culture shock to live in England, but much worse it was to return to Finland and realise I couldn't happily smile at people anymore. The very first day in Finland, I walked outside and smiled at my neighbour. He just looked at me blankly. Must've been thinking I'm crazy. I admit I was quite in shock for the first a few weeks and escaped to Albania with my mom. When I returned, full of Albanian sunshine, I was already feeling better and ready to adapt back to my homeland. And I'm still here ;) See you around, Prestonians!