this week

daylight savings time happened sat. night/sun. morning, so i am back to being 10hrs ahead of portland.

i had originally planned on going to a choral concert on sun. @ johannes kirkko, but when i got there, it was 15e to get in & i only had 10e. so, i spent a couple hours wandering around helsinki taking pictures again. i ended up finding my way to the port, which is one place i wanted to go so i could take pictures of the amanda fountain ("amanda created quite a stir when she was first erected in 1908"). i then noticed the uspensky cathedral, helsinki's russian orthodox church; i made my way in that direction, stopping along the way to take a few more pictures. after i was done there, i needed to get back to the metro station because i was meeting heydi in kallio for karaoke @ 8pm, & inadvertently passed by senate square & the helsinki cathedral. since there was still some daylight, i took a few more pictures.

karaoke was a lot of fun. it had been a long time since heydi had sung karaoke solo, so she had me sing w/ her on a couple of finnish songs. it was extra difficult because the timing of the karaoke cues was fast. not only did i have to attempt to pronounce the words properly, i also had to listen to heydi's voice for pitch & timing. the poor cues screwed me up on the english songs i sang as well....poor heydi, she was screwed up w/ daylight savings & was an hour behind. she was 1 1/2 hours late to a meeting earlier in the day & thought she was 50min. early to our "date", but was actually 10min. late (not that i minded that). we also ended up leaving an hour later than she wanted (she had to get to work early the next morning). oops!...she wrote on her facebook that karaoke in kallio was fun & made the mishap worth it. :)

i was going to go to the gym on mon. & even got myself most of the way there, but i started cramping & feeling nauseous; i erred on the side of caution (i didn't want to throw-up or pass-out in the middle of class) & went back home. of course, by the time i got home, i felt fine....dammit

on tues. night i went to my 2nd & probably last kantele class. my fingers still did not want to do what they were supposed to do in the class setting even though i had practiced & they were working okay then. anu, the teacher, had us attempt to play chords & melody at the same time. i couldn't get the timing right & decided to just concentrate on the melody. after class, all the other students (4) waited for me. i needed to pack up my kantele & give it to anu, plus, i wanted to talk w/ her a bit. i asked her if she knew where i could get sheet music for the kantele. some simple pieces that i could play & more complicated pieces so i could study how to write for the kantele. she beamed at the idea of me writing music for the kantele & even mentioned the possibility of me sending the score to them & they would play it!...we're friends on myspace now...i was able to record the class, but no pictures. it's kinda hard to take pictures & play at the same time.

eno went off on me again wed. morning. i was in the bathroom & he tried to get in while i was in the middle of washing my face (i lock the door; i don't think i should have to since there are only two of us & if the door is shut & the light is on, the other person is probably in there; he tries the handle anyway & if it wasn't locked, he'd come right in...). instead of just calmly letting me they (elli was there) needed the bathroom as soon as possible, he rattled the handle, banged on the door & "yelled": "we take short showers in the morning, only short showers!" a couple min. later he bangs on the door again & said: "don't be in the toilet forever!" once i was able to leave the bathroom (finished dressing), i got out. about 30 min. later, i went in to finish up. not 2 min. later, he comes banging on the door again & asked rather frantically: "i need to use the toilet for the baby!" again, i finished up what i was doing & got out. once i could tell they were out, i went to go back & hopefully, actually finish up. he stops me & starts scolding me on bathroom etiquette. saying how in the morning, we only take a short time, i'm not the only one here, when it's just him, he doesn't mind, but when his baby's here, he doesn't know when she's going to need to use it....first, i don't think his request is unreasonable, i'm more than happy to step out of the bathroom to let someone else use it & then go back in; he just doesn't know how to act reasonably, he always has to over react. second, i've been here for 2 mos., he knows that i take a long time in the bathroom, this isn't a new development. third, if elli can't wait a couple of min. after telling you she needs the toilet, she isn't telling you soon enough. fourth, you aren't the only living here, so you can't expect to be able to use the bathroom whenever you want, sometimes you're going to have to wait, just like i do from time to time....then, he went off on cleaning again. telling me that he has been cleaning up after me & he's wondering what i'm thinking. i'm not paying for a cleaning service, i can go somewhere & pay 300€ / night & get that (um, no. shortly, i'll be staying in a much nicer place than this & only paying 64€ / night) - this is all in regards to the kitchen, by the way. he said he cleaned the fridge door & i use it, too (yes, but i don't put my grubby hands on the door, i use the handle), pointed to some crumbs on the counter & said: "this is all yours". i'll give him that, i did forget to clean up after making my dinner the night before. but i wasn't able to make it until after 10pm & midnight by the time i was done & they were already in bed; i didn't want to wake them because he had yelled at me last week for waking him up while making breakfast, so i was trying to be extra quiet, & just rinsed off my dishes...of course, if he hadn't pointed it out, i would have wiped them up later after making my lunch...then, he went to the stove & said that he cleaned up after me there every day...i don't use the stove every day, have only used the element near the wall twice & have checked the lid for oil splatter every time i've used the frying pan - no splatter. if the oil isn't splattering on the lid, it isn't splattering on the stove or the wall. however, if you fry meat & you don't use a lid, that will splatter all over the place - which is what he was doing tues. night (& i looked, there were oil splatters on the wall - i had to go, so i didn't clean it). he doesn't even have cleaning supplies other than dirty sponges, so his version of cleaning, isn't really cleaning....i'm going to see if i can borrow some from a friend & thoroughly (well, more thoroughly) clean the kitchen & bathroom a day or two before i leave....he went on to say that i like living there, "i think you like living here"; well, no, but i'm gone for the next two weeks & then i'll be in the process of moving out, so, whatever. and i could have friends over, but only the ones i trust "'cause i don't want them running off w/ my stuff..or yours." if i don't trust someone, they're not my friend....

another little note on eno. he only eats once a day & his "breakfast" is coffee & a cigarette. in the same conversation, he said that it's a good thing i work out because i would be fat if i didn't - for eating 2-3 times/day...he had asked me how many times i eat each day...

well, today i started my 2 wk tour of scandenavia. so....there will be no more blog posts after tonight until after i get back.....