having a break

this far the winter included: not blogging. moving to a bigger flat, yes, with G. trying to get rid of the old. working, working, working.

this spring will include: probably not blogging. working, working, working. Hoping to get something ready.

see you later alligator

getting used to the cold again

Every time i talk to people here about how its getting cold again i get the same comment - but you don't care, do you? and i sigh. first, because i heard that comment dozens of times already, and second, because although i'm from finland, i, too, must adapt to the cold. yes, really. no matter whether it comes in the end of september or in the middle of november, its still colder than summer/fall before that, so i, too, need to cloth myself warmer and start to use gloves :) i'd have my thick winter jacket here as well, but +7 C is not enough for that.

berlin is a big city (or so one would think)

however, i have managed to almost double the amount of finnish(speaking) people i know in berlin in the last couple of days.

on monday, when walking home carrying my violin after a concert of my orchestra, a young woman stopped me on the street.
she: "hei (the finnish version of hi)
me: "hei?
she in finnish: "i'm sure i know you from somewhere..
"...??
"did you happen to play violin in this orchestra in this small city X in finland like some 15 years ago?
".. ?? .. actually yes..
"i played there too!

and i could vaguely remember her face. so we chatted a while about how weird it's to talk finnish in the streets of berlin, and maybe we'll go for a beer (or visit a sauna) together sometime. i found it amazing that she could remember me - i used to have a long hair and i always imagined my face had somewhat changed since being teenager, but obviously i'm wrong or she's just really good in recognizing people after years.

***

this morning, leaving my house i was waiting to cross the street. a young man with gorgeous yellow vespa asks for advice.

he: "sorry, sorry, can me tell me where the next gas station is?
"uh, you just walk straight...
he interrupts in finnish: "do you happen to come from finland? you have this accent and i thought...
"yes...
so we chat a while in finnish, i get his card and he and his pal (who obviously didn't understand a word about what was going on) start rolling the vespa towards the gasoline station.

***

both of these accidents made me smile widely, not only because i like talking finnish, but because i just find the odds to even meet someone finnish speaking just like that so small. so it's kind of winning in a everyday lottery.

finnjazz in popkomm

popkomm brought lots of finnish artists to berlin this year, again. the concert i picked out was a jazz concert.

first, Lenni-Kalle Taipale danced on piano (as G put it). i laughed out loud for his body language and performance. the music sounded pretty improvisational, in a very good way. i had heard Iiro Rantala performing live before, so i knew to wait for a good show in his case as well. the beat-boxer he brought with him to the stage was more than surprising and sounded simply amazing. but he might have kind of stolen the show.

the last was UMO jazz orchestra. they played well, but big band music was never my favorite, and having heard two amazingly good shows already, both me and G had difficulties concentrating, so we went home. thanks to blessed bvg, (trams and metros etc. of berlin) which operates almost all night through, we were home in no time.

so all of you who are in berlin and like jazz, but weren't in wabe last night, you really missed something.

one last remark: carcassonne is a nice game. spinn-off hunters and garherers seems to be addictive; i've played it at least ten times with G since tuesday when we bought it. hence, waiting for the next game night with friends.

so-called vacation

the long, sunny month in france is long gone, more like a dream now. after that i headed for a week to finland to a summer cottage, bringing couple of german friends with me. i enjoyed my time there, of course, it my favorite place in earth (honestly). but you can barely call that a vacation. first couple of days i spent explaining where what was and how this and that worked. on third day i got sick, and laid the next two days down in my bed. the last two days would have been near perfect, unless... we'd not have managed to burn the sauna down. yes. really. luckily no-one was in, the fire was noticed immediately and it didn't take too much time before the firemen were there. and it was nobody's fault, but rather something structural waiting there for who knows how long to catch fire. so these people are still my friends. and follow-up in the next summer: building a sauna. wait to see more.

so coming back to berlin last wednesday i was more than exhausted and felt like shit. after sleeping trough friday and weekend, i'm working again. and the energy i got in france for my work seems to be still there.