Flying off to Helsinki, Finland
010109, 2100H, Singapore (GMT +8 Hrs)
I arrived at Changi Airport with my family at 9pm to meet Xiao Hui to check our baggages in. We would be transiting through London Heathrow to Helsinki Vantaa. From there, we would take a train to Oulu. The first flight is at 2255H, and that left us sufficient time to have a meal at Popeyes. The bread was powdery and nice, the whipped potato was better than KFC’s though KFC beat their chicken hands down.


010109, 2215H (GMT +8 Hrs)
Xiao Hui and I bade our families farewell and made our way to the gate. Laptops had to be removed from our hand carry bags to be screened separately. The computers were in use at the waiting area, so we just stood around waiting for time to pass.


010109, 2255H (GMT +8 Hrs)
We boarded the plane and made ourselves comfortable. Xiao Hui took the window seat on my right while I took the seat in the middle, with a British woman on my left.

We started fiddling with the in-flight entertainment system and were disappointed to find that the games did not work. There were movies that I wanted to watch though – Cars, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Hancock, The Dark Knight etc. Apparently, the 14 hour flight would zoom past with these movies and meals and some sleep. But it was not to be.

While I was at the beginning of Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, there was an announcement that several passengers were having problems with their entertainment systems (Xiao Hui included) and the system had to be restarted. This process would take approximately 25 minutes. Sadly, even after the reboot, they were still facing the same problems, so it was restarted again and again, even after I gave up watching the movie and decided to sleep. The screen would turn on and off every time they restarted, waking me up from my sleep. It was very irritating.

A few hours after I got enough rest, I decided to try the entertainment system again. The option for movies was gone, and there was only the flight information, radio and TV channels available. I flipped the channels and found that the Tomb of The Dragon Emperor was showing! However, it had already started for some time, so I had no choice but to watch from the point they were showing. It was the same case for Hancock. The other shows were quite crappy and the only other decent movie was Hellboy, which I wasn’t really interested in. Turned out it was quite crappy too.

There were 2 meals and a snack (a packet of nuts) served on the flight. The first meal I chose was Beef Pasta with salad, bread, chocolate. The second meal I chose was Omelette with bread, orange juice, pudding and fruits. The meals were fine, and the portions were acceptable, but I couldn’t finish any of my meals. I wasn’t hungry in the first place.


020109, 0450H, London (GMT +0 Hrs)
We arrived at London’s Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 4 at 0450H. The temperature was 0oC. The short trip from the plane to the airport was very cold. Either the insulation was not working properly, or it was designed that way. It was a good thing my mother insisted on me wearing a sweater. (Thanks mom!) Our hand carry bags were screened again, and shoes had to be removed to be screened as well. The metal detector detected my belt and keys while the one in Singapore did not, so the officer patted me down. There was no problem and we went in search of the shuttle bus that would take us to Terminal 1 for our connecting flight.

At Terminal 1, there were the usual shops that you’d find at any mall in Singapore. There were dining places, electronic shops, places selling clothes etc. There was nothing special about the place. Xiao Hui and I sat down and started reading, wash up, and observe the people to pass time. Most females wear boots here. Our next flight was in 6 and a half hours…


020109, 1120H, (GMT +0 Hrs)
Finally it was time to get on board once again. This smaller plane had no entertainment system as expected, but the trip would take 3 hours. There was ham and cheese sandwich, as well as tuna and corn sandwich and another chocolate bar. They came in a package, and I chose this over the vegetarian sandwich. At this point in time, I realized I did not take the packet of nuts and my chocolate from the previous flight. Wasted. After a short nap, it was announced that we will be landing at Helsinki Vantaa (the airport in Helsinki which is the capital of Finland) soon.


020109, 1620H, Helsinki, Finland (GMT + 2Hrs)
The temperature in Helsinki was -9 oC. Great. We tolerated the cold and managed to make our way into the airport where it was warmer. The officer asked a whole lot of questions – Where we are from, what we are doing in Finland, what school would we be studying in, what course etc. Not much problems encountered here as well. Next, we collected our baggage and went straight to the toilet to change into proper clothing. I also transferred all the heavy items from my backpack and laptop to the luggage so that my shoulders will not go numb from the weight. Here, I noticed that there was a small tear in the backpack. It was also a little dirty. Sian.


020109, 1720H, (GMT +2 Hrs)
After changing and packing, we went to the bus stop to take a bus that would bring us to Helsinki Railway Station. The journey costs EUR 5.90, and we arrived in approximately 40 minutes. On the way to the Station, I found that the streets were deserted, and it was already getting very dark. At the station, I placed my belongings in Xiao Hui’s care and brought my E-Ticket to one of the counters to confirm the details. The E-Ticket was bought in Singapore, online. The person manning the counter spoke fluent English and told me to simply present the ticket to the conductor on the train. Good, everything was proceeding as planned.

We found seats and took turns taking care of our belongings and exploring the place. There were a handful of convenience stores and even a bar in the station. A number of youngsters were hanging out there, and they seem to the Singapore’s equivalent of Ah Bengs and Ah Lians. There was a man going around begging for money and another searching the bins for what I presume to be drink cans. I never expected to see this in Finland.

Finns love dogs. They can be seen frequently in the station with their masters. Unlike humans, they are not dressed in warm clothes. Would a dog in Singapore survive in such temperatures? After we had enough of exploring, we sat down and I took a short nap.

There were some friendly people too. I guess it is because they are foreigners too. The first person that approached us was from Ghana. He had been studying in Finland for some time and had been a student tutor (Kummi student) before. He was waiting for his friend to arrive at the station. Not surprisingly, he thought we were from China. We chatted some more and he told us he was going to Belgium for Exchange soon. He introduced us to a shop called Lide, which sells cheap stuff, and it’s suitable for students like us as things are expensive in Finland. He quickly siam-ed to another part of the station when the old man beside him kept offering him some alcohol to drink. People who took that seat also left quickly. Good thing he did not harass us.

The second person that approached us was from Mexico. He was waiting for his girlfriend. We didn’t talk much as his girlfriend arrived shortly. But they were really nice people.


Train ride to Oulu (Oh-Lu, not ulu), Finland
020109, 2130H (GMT +2 Hrs)
I bought Snickers, Xiao Hui bought bread and we boarded the train and noticed everyone was placing their bulky belongings on the compartment overhead. We did the same for our backpacks, and the passenger in front of us helped me carry Xiao Hui’s luggage up. Lifting my gigantic luggage up was out of the question, and I left it at a corner. The train started and the conductress appeared shortly. I handed her our E-Ticket and she checked it against her records and printed 2 actual tickets for us. The train did not travel particularly fast and it was no wonder that we arrived at Oulu at about 6am, which is also the scheduled time.


Meeting our Kummi Student, Jukka-Pekka
030109, 0600H (GMT +2 Hrs)
At Oulu station, we saw a guy holding up a piece of paper, the kind you’d see at airports with a big name of the passenger they were arranged to meet. I was elated to see that our names were on it! He was Jukka-Pekka, the Kummi Student we were supposed to meet. I was half not expecting to see him there as we did not manage to finalize our plan to meet before I boarded my first flight to London, so it was a huge relief to see him waiting for us. He knows Finnish, Swedish, English, Mandarin and some German. Power. We took a taxi to the hostel and the trip costs approximately EUR 15. This was divided by the 3 of us equally. Jukka-Pekka brought us to my flat first. It is called Yliopistokatu 12, and my room number is 104. He had collected our keys prior to meeting us, and he showed me how to operate the door. This key gives access to the Yliopistokatu 12, my apartment (This apartment has 2 single rooms), my room, the laundry room, sauna and a sort of storeroom for tenants to place our bulky items. There is a heavy penalty if the key is lost as these common areas would be affected.

After he handed me my orientation package, we went over to Xiao Hui’s room which is in Yliopistokatu 16. He briefed her on the same things and we arranged to meet later at 11am to go shop for necessities with another of his student under his charge. Jukka also recommended we drink bottled water instead of tap water as we might not be used to it. Then I went back to my room to start unpacking. Finally, the traveling was over.

My flat mate appears to still be asleep. There was a blanket and a pillow left over by the previous tenant. I spread out his blanket on the mattress and placed my very clean bed sheet over it. His pillow was placed in one corner and I wanted to place the pillow case over my pillow. The case matches with my bed sheet. Nice. The only problem: It was a bolster cover, not a pillow case. Regardless, I managed to stuff it in and the result was a deformed billow which was the correct height I like for my pillow to be.  Even with the heater, I suspect my room temperature is about 14 oC. As I am typing this, I am wearing a singlet, a polo T-shirt, 2 long sleeved T-shirts, wool sweater, and my air force jacket. Only then I feel comfortable, but my hands are cold as I need to type without my gloves. I’m also wearing the socks my mother insisted I bring, though I didn’t want to, so I have to thank her once again. Thanks!!

After packing, I went for a quick shower. My new ‘shampoo’ seems to be producing very little foam. Turned out I brought conditioner instead. The heater was working perfectly which is very very comforting. However, after I wiped myself down, I felt cold immediately. I quickly put on some clothes and wiped the floor with the thingy to keep it dry and prepared to meet Jukka-Pekka.


Shopping at the supermarket
030109, 1130H (GMT +2 Hrs)
Jukka-Pekka was early, and I invited him in while I put on more layers of clothes. We went over to Yliopistokatu 16 where Xiao Hui was staying to meet her and to meet his other student, Lulu, who is also from Mexico. Lulu stays at Yliopistokatu 16, at the first floor, while stays on the fifth floor. She must be rich, carrying a Guess purse and a Coach bag. We took a short walk to the supermarket that Jukka-Pekka says sells low-quality stuff, but are perfectly fine to use at low prices. It was a big place and it sells everything that we would need for the 6 months we are here. Clothes, food, electronics, pet food, car rims, bicycle parts etc. BUT THEY DO NOT SELL THE ADAPTER I REQUIRE. We bought what we wanted and Jukka-Pekka brought us on an extremely short tour of the vicinity. There were pizzas parlours, restaurants (including a Chinese one. Must try one day and see what it is like), a post office and another supermarket where prices are higher. Lulu was struggling with her bags that were too heavy for her. My hands were full and Jukka-Pekka offered to help her carry one bag. But due to some miscommunication, she ended up carrying her own bags.

We were on our way back when Jukka-Pekka remembered we haven’t bought our SIM cards yet. The girls went back and I went with him to purchase the cards. One for me and one for Xiao Hui. Lulu can buy hers another time since she did not bring a mobile phone to Finland. Jukka-Pekka said metal studs can be purchased to be attached on our shoes. He also slipped on the ice and snow while wearing his boots. At the kiosk, he selected a card that he feels is most suitable for us and a good value for money. It costs EUR 4.90 and offered EUR 6 worth of talk time. Incoming calls are free too. Then, Jukka-Pekka went back to his apartment which is much further away and I made my way back to mine. After he left me, I got lost, but managed to find my way back in a short while.

I placed the items in the fridge and brought my orientation package with the forms to be filled up, a bottle of spring water and our SIM cards to Xiao Hui’s room. Since there was no way of contacting her, and I do not have the key to the flat, I had to wait for someone to enter or leave the building so that I can get in. It was literally freezing outside. The scarf my sister bought for me really protected my neck and kept it warm. I had no intention of buying it in the first place. Thanks sis! The temperature was probably -14 oC. Fortunately, someone came out in a short while.


2 more friends!
030109, 1330H (GMT +2 Hrs)
I climbed the stairs to make myself a little warmer. I pressed the doorbell and 2 Asian girls answered. I had woken them up from their sleep and the time was already about 1.30pm. I told them I was looking for Xiao Hui who lives in room 511. They discussed among themselves in what sounded like mandarin and told me the room has been vacant for a long time. I asked them in mandarin, “ni men hui jiang hua yu ah?” (you guys can speak mandarin?) and one of them said to the other, “pu tong hua ya?!” (mandarin?!) At this point in time, Xiao Hui came out of her room and met the 2 girls for the first time. I passed her the water and SIM card and we decided to ask the Chinese girls to see if we can borrow her laptop to send an email home. As she has been studying here for half a year, she had purchased and activated her internet connection months ago. I sent a short email to my siblings and mother and asked my sister to convey a message to Cherie. Xiao Hui and I could only get our internet accounts activated probably on 8th or 9th Jan.

We chatted with the girls and found that they were on exchange too. However, their duration is for a year. 6 more months to go. Guess we will all be leaving at around the same period. It turns out her parents are PRs in Singapore, and her younger sister is studying in Singapore also. He’ll be going for national service and studying in NUS after NS. They have a water flask that runs on electricity and I saw the convenience of boiling water in their own room. Should have listened to my mother and brought our home’s along. But my bag was already stuffed to the brim. But its ok. Seeing that they boil and drink tap water, and Jukka-Pekka himself drinks tap water straight, I decided to boil water in my pot and alternate between drinking it and the bottled spring water that I bought. Gradually, I would have to get used to drinking boiled water. The girls also lent Xiao Hui and me an adapter each. Now I would be able to use my laptop and mobile phone without worries. We filled up the forms the best we could and we arranged to have breakfast at my place the next day at 10. Next, I went to reserve a slot for the washing machine at 4pm, and the dryer at 5pm.


Phone call home, laundry and turning in for the night
030109, 1555H (GMT +2 Hrs)
I made a call home to my dad’s mobile phone. So exciting. I could hear the sound of majong in the background. It was Saturday night, and he was probably at my uncle’s house. I told him that all was fine and to ask my siblings to check their email accounts and also to inform my mother that I was alright here. The 74 seconds call cost me EUR 1.53. Very expensive…

After stone-ing for a while more, I brought all my clothes to be washed, the detergent, my rubbish and my camera down to the laundry room. Instructions for the washing machine were in English, so there were no problems operating it. The wash would take 34 minutes, and I went off to sort out my waste and recycle them. It was a hassle, but everything had to be sorted into biological waste (degradable kitchen waste – food leftovers, fruit peels etc), tetrapacks, packaging/paper bags, cardboard, glass, metal, batteries and miscellaneous (plastics, styrofoam, clothes, shoes etc). Next, I went around taking photos. It was tough as it was already very dark. Using the flash would not be able to capture the actual mood and atmosphere. In Finland, 3.30pm here is as dark as 7.30pm in Singapore, and 4.30pm is as good as 8pm in Singapore.

After taking the photos and feeling cold, I went back to place my clothes in the dryer. The laundry is the most comfortable place in my stay in Finland so far. It is neither too cold nor too warm. Just the right temperature for me. The sauna is situated inside the laundry room (the laundry room is big) and 3 guys stepped out from it wrapped in their towels and headed to the outdoors where the temperature must be about -14 oC. This is how the Finns enjoy their sauna:
Step 1: Cook yourself in the sauna room
Step 2: Step out into the freezing cold
Step 3: Repeat Step 1 and Step 2 till you feel like it
I’ll try that one day.

Meanwhile, I was figuring out how to operate the dryer as the instructions were in Finnish. Fortunately, a girl who understood Finnish entered to make a reservation for the washing machine, and she explained to me how the dryer is operated. I could only nod and say ok as it was impossible to learn unless I have a pen and paper with me, or even better, to record the whole process into a video. I thanked her and went back to my room to stone and to go back down in an hour to collect my clothes. They felt nice and warm after drying.

The time was about 6.30pm and it feels like it is time to sleep as it was pitch black outside, save for the street lamps. I had a mug of milk, a small orange and I went to wash my face, apply moisturizer, some special oil on my arms and legs and lip butter (I feel like a girl with a beauty regime) before reading the book my sister lent me on my bed. I dozed off soon and switched off the lights.


040109, 0530H (GMT +2 Hrs)
Feeling very awake after sleeping for 10 hours, but it was so early in the morning! My stomach was calling though I was not hungry, so I ate the Snickers that I bought, and drank some water, without brushing my teeth. Very hygienic. I sat at my bed for half an hour before falling asleep again.


Brand new day!
040109, 0930H (GMT +2Hrs)
My phone’s alarm woke me up and I went to wash up before packing my room. Xiao Hui gave me a call at 9.55am to let me know that she is coming over. I went down to open the door for her and she passed me the adapter that one of the Chinese girls lent me. We had milk, bread with jam and ham for breakfast. After clearing the table, we watched Korean drama that my sister lent me – Hello xiao jie. It was a pity Xiao Hui watched it before, otherwise we could have watched all the episodes together, and she wouldn’t be bored. She wanted to leave after the first episode, and I walked her down. We popped by the laundry room and she reserved a slot for washing tomorrow evening. Then I saw her back to her apartment without my gloves and beanie. My ears were going to go numb.

Back at my room, I transferred the photos from my camera to my laptop and spent some time looking at the photos my family took at East Coast Jumbo Seafood before I left for Finland. Then I started recounting my experiences from 1st Jan at 9pm and typed them in Microsoft Word so that I can upload it quickly when I have access to the internet. I spent about 4 hours typing before deciding to prepare a meal.


My first home cooked meal in Oulu
040109, 1430H (GMT +2 Hrs)
I heated up the stove and boiled some water for my spaghetti. I agar agar put some sticks into the boiling water in the pot and realized it was too little after they were almost done. Nevermind. Next, I heated up the sauce in a pan and added ham to it. Feeling lazy to wash so many things, I transferred the spaghetti into the pan and simply ate from there. It was an enjoyable meal, with the great feeling of warm food in my stomach. I finished off my meal with bread and jam and boiled water to try drinking. It was back to typing after my meal. I transferred the cooled boiled water to my bottle and decided to take a shower at 6.00pm and prepare my second meal at 7.30pm. There doesn’t seem to be any problem with me after drinking the boiled water. Everything that is wet has to be wiped down. There doesn’t seem to be any evaporation going on. My wet bottle that has been left overnight is still wet after a day. Also, up till now, I have not seen my flat mate. I suspect he went home for the weekend, and will probably see him tonight. I have no idea if he will be easy to get along with….


040109, 1630H (GMT +2 Hrs)
The temperature suddenly dropped and I have to put on my thick jacket again. Half an hour to showering. We’ll be meeting Juka-Pekka the next day at 8.30am to go to campus for our orientation programme that starts at 9.00am. Wonder if my family and Cherie are asleep now. It is already 11.43pm in Singapore. This paragraph took me so long to type as I was taking more photos and stone-ing around. Ok, time to prepare to bathe. Then, I will pack the stuff and money (EUR 240 for room deposit + EUR 10 for administration fees + EUR 39 for student union fee + EUR 5 for student ID card = EUR 294) that is required for tomorrow and then prepare spicy chicken cubes with rice. Yup, Sounds like a good idea.


040109, 2030H (GMT +2 Hrs)
I must have cooked too much rice and added even more water. Overall, it was an OK meal. Nothing to shout about, nothing to hiam about. Feeling very full and good now. I plan to wake up at 7.45am tomorrow morning and have cereal and some bread with ham. So I would probably be sleeping at 10 plus or 11pm. I really hope that we will be given some time to use the internet in school tomorrow. Can’t wait to read the email that my family would most probably have sent me over the weekend, can’t wait to let them and Cherie know how I am doing, and finally, can’t wait to assure my mother that I’m coping well in Finland. I also just realized that the floors are not cold, so there is no problem walking round without socks. Only when I sleep or go outdoors are socks required. Time for episode 2 of the show now…


Time to sleep…
040109, 2308H (GMT +2 Hrs)
Just completed 2 episodes of the Korean drama. I could have watched another, but must ration it so that I won’t get bored in the future as there are only 16 episodes. Still no sign of my flat mate. Time to finish packing for tomorrow morning and go to bed. Hopefully I’ll be able to sleep soundly. Goodnight everybody!


First day at school
050109, 0730H (GMT +2 Hrs)
It was freezing in the morning as usual. I heated up some water for my cereal before going to wash up. I had bread + jam and chocolate cereal. Jukka-Pekka came at 8.20am. He is always early, making me feel bad. We went over to fetch Xiao Hui and Lulu before making our way to school. The University is only less than 5 min walk away from the place we are staying in, so it is extremely convenient, and there is no need to spend extra money on bus trips.

A single bus trip IN Oulu costs a whopping EUR 2.90. I’ll probably be getting a 40-trip ticket which costs EUR 68 (you’d have to pay an additional EUR 3 for the card itself => total of EUR 71). That’s a whole lot of money also, but it is better than paying for each ride individually.

When we arrived at the University, we were treated to bread and coffee. We could take as much as we want, but since I already had breakfast before leaving, I went for one round only. Then, we had an introduction to the people working at the International Relations Office and we had a short break. The next activity was at 10am. We were given a brief on the orientation programme and paid EUR 39 for the Student Union Fee and EUR 5 for the student ID card. More money gone…. These ended at about 11am, and we had 2 hours for lunch before the next activity starts at 1pm. They really take their time to do things.

Lunch is nothing like NUS; rather, it is like a cross between eating at IKEA and eating in army camps. You take the utensils + tray + glass and you head down to the serving area. You can take milk/water, a reasonable amount of rice/potato, meatballs (7 of them), brown sauce, and you pay EUR 2.50 (The usual price is EUR 5.20.) at the cashier. This is already the student price. BUT, you still get to take some vegetables, potatoes, canned pineapples (they’re fans of it) with more sauce, and some bread. In other words, you will not go hungry at lunch time if you fork out EUR 2.50.

After our meal, Jukka-Pekka brought us to the library where we got to use the internet without using any password or userid. We spent the next 1.5 hours checking emails and replying to them. It was great to be able to exchange some emails with my brother as he was online at that time. I would have liked to use the web messenger to communicate with him, but the website was in Finnish. I was so glad to be able to contact my family! And I did not forget to email Cherie too. 

We went for more talks about language courses, and we were given a tour around the campus. It is impossible to remember all the places, and only a handful of signs are in English, so it will be quite troublesome if you are alone and lost. Fortunately, most students there speak English, and are fairly approachable.

We left the school at 3.30pm and I went with Xiao Hui to the supermarket to shop for food because tomorrow is a national holiday and most stores and restaurants will be closed. I couldn’t find detergent, but I can secretly use the one that is in my kitchen.

Oh! And it snowed lightly when we were on our way back from the supermarket! It’s like rain, but they just fall slowly, and it’s like shaved ice falling on your face. The kind used for ice kachang. The lighting made it impossible to capture the snow falling as it was already dark.

Jukka-Pekka suddenly called me, asking if I have seen his pink pouch that he carries around. He has a game console inside, and it’s missing. The last time I saw it was when we were in campus. Feel sad for him. He is such a nice guy, always eager to help us with any problems we have, no matter how small it is. And he is always calm and cool, even when he called me to tell me it is missing. Hope he manages to find it soon…

Dinner was fantastic. The amount of rice was just right, but it seems like there’s still too much water. Maybe it’s the rice’s fault… Cooking here is fun (at least it is fun so far…); my only complaint is that the waste has to be sorted out in the end. And I need to get a chopping board and a sharp knife. I ended up cutting my onion on my plate with a lousy knife that I found in the cupboard (I washed it very thoroughly k...). So I prepared Onion-Egg, Onion-Spicy Chicken cubes and rice. The meal was filling and satisfying, and of course it included a small orange. The time now is 8.53pm. I will watch an episode and retire for the night.

Ok, this wraps up today’s entry, and I hope time will pass quickly for tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, the day after after tomorrow and so on…. Haha...


Holiday in Finland
060109, 1232H (GMT +2 Hrs)
I woke up at 7.30am. Why did I wake up so early??? There’s absolutely nothing to do… All the shops are closed, there’s no internet, no TV, nowhere to go, nothing… so today will be spent relaxing. Haha… I washed up and rearranged the furniture in my room. Actually I was just getting the table out of the way of the radiator. Now I’m sitting on a cushion on the floor leaning on the radiator. Should have done this long ago. But I’m still not that satisfied because my fingers and feet are still cold. Only my back is toasty.

I also learnt that it’s a bad idea to heat up milk because it will stick to the pot and you have to scrub the residue off. Troublesome. Next time I’ll just drink it straight from the carton. Besides doing the laundry, the morning was also spent predicting the expenses that I will incur for the whole SEP. Now everything is so organized. Yay.

Lunch was spaghetti with pasta sauce, onions and hotdogs. Next time will buy more rubbish to put in it. Dunno why my sauce seems to be used up quite quickly. Or am I supposed to add water to the sauce when cooking? Den might not taste as nice already. And hot dogs in Singapore are nicer. I’m going down soon to put my clothes in the dryer. Den come back and watch drama. Sad, only 12 more episodes to go…


060109, 2028H (GMT +2 Hrs)
Wa, the clothes feel so warm after being in the dryer. I hugged them for about a minute before keeping them away. Had dinner at 7pm and completed 2 more episodes. Oh no, watching too quickly already. Having a hot, heavy and spicy meal in such a cold place is very very song! Will look forward to doing it again.  I have just removed the mattress from the bed and placed it beside the radiator. Feels a little bit warmer, and sleeping on the mattress on the floor reminds me of home. This feels great man… So I can do everything on the mattress, including playing games, watching videos, doing work in the future etc. But have to give this place a good mop in the future.

Tomorrow should have a chance to use the internet in school again. Can’t wait to read the emails my family sent me! After I finish this entry, I will read some and then sleep already. That’s the good thing about waking so early - you get sleepy early and can just sleep without worries because there’s nothing to do here. Haha… So goodnight!


Pizza!
070109, 2048H (GMT + 2Hrs)
Today passed really quickly, because we went downtown to the city centre after school (which ended at about 3.30pm). Nothing much was done in school. They simply briefed us on more stuff about housing and the academic system in Finland.

The academic system is quite different from that in NUS. Some of the differences are:
1) For registration of some modules, you’d have to go to the module notice board and write your name down on the piece of paper that is found there. Kind of primitive. But it gets the job done too.
2) Some lectures require a certain percentage of attendance, and you’d have to get the instructor’s permission if you are thinking of skipping a lesson because you want to go traveling or something like that.
3) However, generally speaking, there is a lot of room for negotiation with the professors or teachers if exchange students are facing problems. There should not be any problem asking for an English version of the exam paper while other students take it in Finnish. Of course, this should be made known when you sign up for the module.
4) It is also possible to ask to write an essay instead of sitting for the exam if the examination date is very late, and you’d have to return to Singapore.

We had to wait for about 15 minutes before the bus arrived. The temperature was -15 oC. It was torturing just standing there, so Jukka-Pekka told us to wriggle our fingers and toes. Even my usually flexible camera strap got really stiff. The trip to the city centre took about 15 minutes. It is also possible to walk there, but I’ll probably do that when the temperature is burning (to them, 25 oC is considered a heatwave. Amazing.).

From the bus stop, we had to walk a distance to get our internet connection, but the place was closed by the time we got there. Some places close really early. This one closed at 4pm. So we braved the cold and made our way to take passport photos and to exchange money (here, Lulu realized we have the same camera, but she bought it for a slightly lower price in Mexico. I’ll take a picture of her camera next time). Our toes were absolutely numb from the cold. I guess this is the beginning stage of frost bite. We then went to a shopping-mall-like place called ‘stockmann’ to get the Oulu version of the EZ-link card. Totally strange why it should be in there. It’s like finding a SBS-Transit office in Plaza Singapura. Anyway, Xiao Hui and I shared a 40-trip ticket. So we will get another one when this is used up.

Lulu and her friend went back to their apartments as they were meeting a friend, while Xiao Hui and I went for dinner with Jukka-Pekka. We went to an ‘affordable’ place called Ravintola Rosso that sells Italian food. I ordered a Fruttidimare, which costs EUR 9.50 (this is supposed to be cheap man. BTW, a cheap haircut costs EUR 18.). It is a pizza with onions, tomato sauce, tuna, mussels, and shrimp. Before the food arrived, we went to get some salad which is free. I guess a lot of dining places in Finland are like this. I got a shock when my pizza arrived. The good thing is that food can be easily packed away in Finland. Just ask for a bag. Amazingly, I could finish my pizza and my salad. It is because the crust is thin. It is so thin that the pizza droops down when you hold it, so I ate slices as a wrap. Tastes great!!! Really wonderful! Of course, Xiao Hui couldn’t finish hers. What is left over is going to be her breakfast and lunch for tomorrow. While we were waiting for the bill, Jukka-Pekka showed us his Nintendo DS which had lots of puzzles, IQ questions and games.

One of the questions he asked us was: Astronaut X went to a planet and saw that it was inhabited by the race, Octopians. There were 128 male Octopians, 267 female Octopians and 43 Octopians which were considered both males and females. How many aliens were on the planet?

After the dinner, we went back by bus to our apartments after dinner. Like our EZ-link, we just have to tap our card on the reader. Since we were sharing the card, I had to tap twice. I’ll dream of the pizza as I sleep tonight…