I finally had the first couple of lessons of my finnish course - and I did not learn a thing. Actually my private lessons back in germany were so much of a help, that I even fear all the course will ever do is give me some practice (which of course is important as well). Furthermore "Principles of Chemical Reaction Engineering" started and turned out to be quite interesting apart from the methematical segment (as usual).
I have been in "my" department of chemical engineering (it is not a beauty, maybe there will be pictures of it following nonetheless) before though, on a party in its cellar - and an excellent one. It had all a party needs: music, relatively cheap beer, a crowded place, a dance floor and some tables in case that's not sufficient...
the less room the more atmosphere
...and not to forget some nice decoration.
"Hat hier jemand Schnaps gesagt?"
I guess partying in finland is worth an whole own article, but until I will eventually have become an expert on that a few words on the exchange students welcome party. Obviously some cellar is not capable of hosting for an estimated more than 1000 guests, so instead it had to take place in the three story club "Klubi". That is an enormous building including 4 warderobes and 6 bars... well, maybe I got lost and counted some twice. The interior was rather weird (or at least old), but funnily you could hear some finnish music occasionally.
unintentional 70s party on the 1st floor
Because I live some kilometers from the town centre and according to Murphy's law the buses always drive exactly when I do not need them to, I decided to simply jog home. Unfortunately that is not necessarily the best idea if you had some beer, do not really know the way (especially in the rainy dark), had some more beer, and not to mention did not bring a jacket. Anyway in the end I was about 40 minutes quicker than waiting about two hours for the bus would have been - and had a bad muscle ache for four days. "Great success!".
Additionally to getting completely lost walking allowed me to see a bit of Turkus suburbs and sort of stay in touch with nature.
hanging out with a squirrel
I am definitely looking forward to take a closer look at the area around my new home soon. But for now let me proof to you how much there is to be seen inside, as that is what many people asked me for: some pictures of my flat.
the kitchen (with balcony in the background)
The kitchen is about as spacious as its furniture is not sophisticated. Also there are roughly 1000 compartments (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWLFLg7k3w0) for the two of us and two huge fridges: one for beer and... I forgot what the other one was good for.
more kitchen
Then there is the corridor. Like all the rooms it has a plastic floor that makes perfectly awkward smacking sounds if you walk on it barefooted. Although it is really oversized I always manage to bump into the only piece of furniture in it: that wardrobe thing shown on the picture, that has the ideal height just for that (annoyingly my flatmate is one head smaller than me, which makes it a good laugh for him).
"Mal ganz natürlich, Herr Stromberg"
The bathroom is pleasantly spacious and, speaking as a former civilian servant, easy to be cleaned. It uhm has floating water and everything... no idea what else to say about it.
note the exceptionally professional mounting of the curtain
And now, finally, we come to my very own room. In contrast to all previously shown rooms I would not mind it to be larger. At least it has a huge window with not too bad of a view.
"mein tiefergelegter Bürobolide"
To all of you asking "Dude, where is your sofa? How is it possible to exist without?" I can only reply "Aaaaaaah, I know!! It'd tie the whole room together.". For a good sofa I would love to give away all my furniture (almost turning my room into art), including even my bed. Speaking of which...
finest foam material on a luxurious plank of wood - does it not look inviting?
Amazingly it actually is slightly more comfortable than the floor!
Another fantastic feature is the door, which locks automatically when it shuts. That means if you leave your room without your key (and of course you only have a single one) and pull the door behind you just like that, you locked yourself out.
Nonetheless my flatmate and me already feel very much at home here.
Furthermore I feel enough like a tourist taking pictures of literally everything (and like a schoolgirl writing into her diary) for now, so none of Turku this time either. But there will be in one of my next entries as soon as I run out of more urgent things to tell, maybe next time. Maybe in one year.
