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!

Londres, London, Lontoo.

London is one of my favourite cities. My grandparents loved it, too, and must've visited over there at least 20 times. I remember them saying there's always something new to find there, and I agree. I've been there myself, hmm.. more than ten times, I think. It's always great to have a chance to show my friends around there so they can understand why I love London so much, and I also have a chance to see this magnificent city with new eyes, when I'm with my friends. This week-long trip with Netta was especially an unforgettable one ;)


(an ancient greeting - British Museum)

I will never, ever forget that visit to the downstairs of Madame Tussaud's. There was a warning 'Live actors', but we didn't take much note on that. How stupid. Chamber of Horrors, it was called. Haha, easy-peasy, we thought and went down. It was quite dark and there was prison bars everywhere. A wax figure was standing on the corner, and we approached it.. suddenly it became alive and SCREAMED at our faces. Netta totally freaked out, clunging tightly into my arm, and I started laughing (almost hysterically, I think). We ran and hands were trying grab us through the prison bars. Finally we reached the end of the tunnel, and there was the last one of those so-called 'live actors'. He tried to scare me, but I screamed back. He flinched a little and smiled. :P


(O brother, where art thou? Trafalgar Square)

It was also quite a spectacle, when we were on way back to our hostel by tube, and Netta got her hand stuck between the tube doors. Luckily I was still standing outside and took her gigantic purse, in stitches. I think I looked quite stupid, being left outside and laughing really hard with tears flowing down my cheeks. But what if I hadn't been outside but inside? Poor Netta would've had to have held her bag outside the tube doors till the next stop. Some words have to be said about tube safety. :P


(Once a king or a queen in Narnia, always a king or queen in Narnia, they say. Hamley's, a grrrreat toy shop!)

London is always a great experience, were you alone or with family/friends. You never know who you'll bump into there (Netta, remember HIM? I think my heart still pauses a little when I think about HIM ;). So full of life and fascinating places to explore. I once walked by Thames for maybe five kilometres, in the morning, when sun was rising. It was so beautiful I just kept sighing happily and looking at Thames, the very heart of London.

Welcome to London, you who haven't been there yet - and take me with you! ;)

Package holidays can become adventures, too.

In 2004, I went to Marmaris, Turkey, with Elina. The place itself was an awful tourist trap, but we decided to go around. The best part was definitely the trip to Pamukkale (meaning 'cotton castle' in Turkish), a totally amazing place with bright white cliffs of limestone which resembled waterfalls - there was hot baths, too. Even more exciting was to try to drive among completely crazy Turkish drivers.. Don't try this at home (they cannot be trusted!!).


(standing in the doorsteps into Heaven, Pamukkale.)

We also tried parasailing. We had no idea what it would be like, so off we went and I claimed I'd be the first to go. Imagine my horror when I rose, rose, and rose (yes, I'm afraid of heights, too. I and my many phobias ;) and was finally soaring above teeny tiny people on the streets. I kept thinking if I fell down, I wouldn't get there in one piece. Eventually I looked around and was amazed of the beauty of Marmaris Bay. When I got back on the boat, Elina asked how I felt. I decided not to terrify her, so I just shouted cheerily 'It was great!!!' and innocently she rose into the air, too. She later said had she known what it was like, she wouldn't probably have dared at all. heh heh.


(whooaaaaaah!)

In 2005 it was Gouvia, Corfu, with Netta. What an experience it was to sail to Albania and freak out because of a very, very suspicious-looking Albanian man, trotting around us and even following us. Now we can laugh about that, but that time it wasn't funny at all.. :D We called him 'the Matchbox Man', because he threw a matchbox straight in the front of us. An albanian way to show interest in someone? :P It was also the first time for us to get sun rash! We'd been sunbathing too much at this gorgeous beach, Paleokastritsa, and afterwards we stared blankly at each other's cleavages, full of tiny red spots. Nice.


(the Aqua Park, somewhere in the middle of Corfu)

In a right company, every trip becomes an adventure, was it a short flight to Denmark or a loooong way to Tokyo. You learn so much about each other, when you step out of the airport and think "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." (which by the way is one of the best feelings in the world!!)

The mind-boggling trip.

When someone asks me about my travels, this one is always the first one to pop into mind. Those glorious two months around the world truly changed my life and broadened my views about life.


(the sunset in Twelve Apostles, Australia)

I and my friend, Katja, wandered through Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Los Angeles, Mexico and London. It was simply wonderful to get the flight tickets - there was loads of them! We counted that we sat on the flights for 52 hours overall. I'm not very fond of flying, as you know, but it was sooo worth of it. Singapore and Malaysia were nice experiences, LA + Mexico as well, but Australia and NZ totally stole my heart. People were so easy-going and happy that I became one as well. New Zealand was like a magical portal into another world, I could only gawp mouth wide open.


(Deer Park Heights, nearby Queenstown, NZ)

I'm not saying it was just dancing and laughing the whole long way around the world - we grew weary and snapped at each other. But it was just natural, having to look at each other's faces for two months ;) Occasionally I felt a little homesick, especially when my bf that time flew back home from Australia and I had to be without him for a month. Yet I remember this trip with great fondness and still see dreams about it, for I had a chance to really see the world: slums in Kuala Lumpur, pat a kangaroo in Australia, the Walk of Fame in LA, smell the strange scents of Tijuana, Mexico, and so on.


(a weary traveller on the way back to Melbourne from a friend's BBQ party in her family's farm)

In fact, I really long for another trip around the world, but different continents this time (Africa, South America). Well, I hear Cape Town calling... ;)

That's all for now, folks!

'Tis the beginning!

For years, I've tried to be a decent blogger, dreaming of at least somehow inspiring a travelling blog and amuse you with it. Well, here I am, and at last doing something about it! You, dear reader, will see the places where I've been and people I've met during that time. Visual material will be provided ;)

Right now I'm just trying to familiarize myself with this blog - the last I time used it was at least a few years ago or something. So excuse my feeble attempts to poke around and wonder what that 'feature' thing will do.. And hey, what..?? 'Earn more money' link above this writing box. How very interesting... ;) Anyway, I'll put up the first, the very first decent writing, soon! And oolallaa, here we go!! :D