Blogathon, 31. päivä: Uudissanat suomessa ja virossa - and a goodbye to Blogathon

Juttelin tänään erään virolaisen kanssa, jonka kanssa tuli puhetta uudissanoista. Kerroin, että suomen kielessä ei ole kunnollista vastinetta englannin kielen start up -yritykselle.

Viron kielessä on. Se on idufirma.

Puhetta tuli myös ravintolapäivästä ja termistä pop-up-ravintola. Sillekään ei tietääkseni ole suomen kielessä vastinetta (korjatkaa, jos olen väärässä).

Viroksi yhden päivän ravintola on ühepäevarestoran.

Sanoinkin juttukaverilleni, että suomeksi tuonkaltaista muotoa olisi mahdoton käyttää, sillä yhdyssanan sijaan pitäisi käyttää sanaliittoa, mutta sen lausumisen aikana ehtisi nukahtaa. Tai no, ehkäpä sanamuoto saattaisi vakiintua yhdenpäivänravintolaksi, mutta kömpelö se olisi.

Suomen kieli on viroon verrattuna arkaaisempaa. Virosta ovat monet sanojen loput ja kieltävääntävät diftongit kuluneet pois. Tällaisia esimerkkejä kuullessaan alkaa tuntua, että myös uudissanojen muodostus on viroksi helpompaa.

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This is my last post in Blogathon. It's been an interesting month. I started to blog in English and did it quite a while. Then I noticed I want to turn back to my native language Finnish.

Blogging is something I want to feel comfortable with. Blogging in English went surprisingly well and was definitely an experiment worth trying. But I sure feel most comfortable when writing in Finnish. For me, I think this was the greatest lesson of Blogathon.

Many thanks for the English speaking readers and a big hand to WordCount blog, the host of Blogathon. It's a blog I can warmly recommend for anyone who considers to work (or just to have fun) among freelance writing or blogging.

Hooray, I did it - Blogathon completed! The picture of me (made by my son) shows how happy I am. The hair style is also very correct.

Blogathon, Day 30: My Wordle Tag Cloud

Thanks to the tip in WordCount blog I decided to try Wordle.

It worked fine. It's just me who doesn't know how to use a computer. I can't add the pic in a decent size.

Please, use your goggles.

Blogathon, 29. päivä: Uhhaa ja muita viron kielen lainasanoja

"Okei, davai, tsau!"

Näillä kaikilla kolmella sanalla päättyy yleisimmin virolainen puhelinkeskustelu.

Yksikään sanoista ei ole viroa.

Okei on tietysti anglismi. Davai (virallinen kirjoitusasu lienee jotakin muuta kuin tuo) puolestaan on venäjää, ja se tarkoittaa hyvin montaa asiaa. Yleisin merkitys lienee suunnilleen sama kuin okeilla, mutta hokema davai, davai! tarkoittaa myös kaikenlaisia hyvässä ja pahassa lausuttuja kehotuksia kuten ala vetää! tai mennään, mennään!

En puhu venäjää kuin muutaman tervehdyksen verran, mutta davai on alkanut hiipiä minunkin puheeseeni, sillä se on erittäin yleisesti käytetty myös virossa.

Italialaista alkuperää oleva tsau ja sen versio tsauki on, hassua kyllä, yksi tavallisimmista virolaisista tervehdyksistä, niin kohdatessa kuin erotessa. Minulla kesti varmaan pari vuotta ennen kuin rohkenin alkaa sitä käyttää, sillä luulin pitkään, että tsaun käyttäminen on jokin vitsi. Ei ole.

Kuten näistäkin pienistä sanoista huomaa, viro imee jatkuvasti lainasanoja toisista kielistä. Mutta sehän ei ole mikään ihme. Niin tekevät kaikki kielet.

Joskus kuitenkin toivoisi, että aivan kaikkea ei lainattaisi.

Kävelin tänään Tallinnan keskustassa skeittaavien poikien ohi. Kuulin, kuinka porukassa joku nuorista kivahti toiselle "Mine vittu!" (mine = mene).

Teki mieli mennä sanomaan, että keksikää kiltit jokin omakielisempi solvaus.

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Kuvan pienessä valurautapannussa on Meri- ja ilmailumuseon ravintolassa tarjoiltua uhhaata. Opin viime viikolla lopultakin, mitä uhhaa tarkoittaa.

Se on kalakeittoa, jonka oikeaoppisesta valmistustavasta jokaisessa virolaisperheessä on oma käsityksensä. Veikeältä kuulostava sopan nimitys on peräisin venäjän kielestä.

Blogathon, 28. päivä: Kovan onnen lapsi

Mauri Kunnaksen kirjoja olen lukenut tenavana paljon, ja sama meno jatkuu edelleen, kun oma ulkomailla lapsuuttaan elävä jälkikasvu tankkaa Suomi-tietoutta Kunnaksen opuksista. 

Vaikka olen lukenut Kaksitoista lahjaa Joulupukille -kirjan kymmeniä kertoja, tajusin vasta nyt, millainen puulelu Joulupukin pajassa on valmistunut. Pieni yksityiskohta on yksi niistä syistä, minkä takia aikuisellekin riittää Kunnaksen kirjoissa viihdettä. 

Ja nythän kyseinen puulelu on taas kovin ajankohtainen. 

Blogathon, 27. päivä: Kaksi vadillista riittää

Kaliforniassa asuessamme oli sikäläisessä kodissamme useampi suihku. Muistan erään päivän, jolloin tulin kotiin ja lastenhoitajamme kysyi minulta ihmetellen, missä kummassa meillä on amme. Hänen olisi pitänyt saada pestyä leikkipuistossa möyrineet lapsemme.

"Olen kiertänyt täällä teillä joka huoneen, enkä löydä", hän sanoi.

"Ei meillä ole", vastasin. 

"No mutta missä te sitten pesette lapset?", hän kysyi. 

En meinannut hämmästykseltäni ensin pystyä vastaamaan. Selvitin, että perheessämme peseydytään suihkussa ja että se on sekä Suomessa että Virossa yleisin peseytymistapa. 

Jätin väliin kommentit siitä, miten vähävetisessä ja pahoistakin kuivuusjaksoista kärsivässä Kaliforniassa voisi olla varsin järkevää, jos ihmiset ammeessa lojumisen sijasta käyttäisivät enemmän suihkua. 

Kalifornian vedet tulivat mieleeni tänään kuvan järven rannalla. Siellä, rantasaunassa (voi auvoa!), peseydyin kahdella vadillisella järvivettä. Lapsille riitti yksi. Tuskin voisimme olla puhtaampia.

Blogathon, 26. päivä: Kaikkien aikojen viisusuosikkini

Alkukesän ilta-aurinko valaisee lasten makuuhuoneen kirkkaasti. Tenavat eivät voi käsittää, miksi pitäisi nukkua.

Mutta nyt todellakin pitäisi - äiti haluaa mennä katsomaan Euroviisuja!

Jälkikasvun tipahtamista odotellessa tarjoan blogikansalle omat kaikkien aikojen viisusuosikkini:

- Pihasoittajat-yhtyeen kappale Viulu-ukko vuodelta 1975. Kerrassaan hieno vääntö. Haluaisin jossakin kohtaa päästä laulamaan tätä jollakin a cappella -porukalla.

- Ruotsalainen Herreys-poikatrion kappale Diggiloo Diggiley vuodelta 1984 on minulle tärkeä biisi siksi, että se on ylipäänsä ensimmäisiä televisionkatselumuistojani, ja eriväriset silkkipaidat (ja toki myös kultaiset kengät) tekivät lähtemättömän vaikutuksen. Pitkään Euroviisujen jälkeen koetin harjoitella samankaltaisia tanssiaskelia kuin Herreyksen pojat tekivät.

- Anneli Saariston La Dolce Vita (1989) ei varmaan vielä kymmenen vuotta sitten olisi kuulunut tälle listalle, mutta nyt sen paikka on ilmiselvä. Komea biisi, uljas tulkinta ja varma valinta karaokeen.

- Latvialaisen Brainstorm-yhtyeen My Star vuodelta 2000. Bändin ja biisin hyväntuulisuus jäi lähtemättömästi mieleen. Brainstorm on sittemmin tehnyt soundtrackin virolaiseen Leiutajateküla Lotte -lastenelokuvaan. Positiivinen meininki on jatkunut sielläkin.

- Viron Urban Symphonyn eleetön Rändajad soi 2009 Viron radiossa tauotta, eikä syyttä. Tyylikäs kappale.

- Norjan Alexander Rybakin Fairytale vei voiton 2009. Intensiivinen, energinen ja positiivinen veto. Pidän edelleen kovasti.

No niin, nyt nuoriso kuorsaa. Kisastudioon, moro!

(Pahoitteluni, kappaleiden nimien piti viedä YouTubeen, mutta tänään linkitysyritykset aiheuttavat vain kiroilua.)

Blogathon, 25. päivä: Blogihaasteen loppusuoralla

Kuten arvoisa lukija on saattanut huomata, Eilisen uutisissa on menty toukokuun ajan kovasti englantipainotteisesti. Olen osallistunut Blogathon-blogihaasteeseen.

Kuvittelin kirjoittavani englanniksi vain silloin tällöin, mutta kävikin päinvastoin: olen sohinut vieraalla kielellä lähes koko kuukauden.

Haasteen alussa kerroin aina vannoneeni, etten koskaan kirjoita julkisesti vieraalla kielellä. Periaatteet on näköjään tehty rikottaviksi, ja aivan hyvä niin. Tämä kuukausi on ollut kelpo harjoitusta englanniksi kirjoittamiselle. Olen ollut yllättynyt siitä, kuinka helposti vieraskieliset tekstit ovat syntyneet, kun vain on ollut postauksen idea päässä.

Mutta eihän se omalta tunnu. Ennen kaikkea tuntuu tyhmältä, kun en pysty ilmaisemaan itseäni niin verevästi kuin suomeksi osaisin. Olen kipeän tietoinen siitä, että englanninkielinen tekstini vilisee kirjoitusvirheitä. Prepositioita työnnän tekstiin fiilispohjalta. Muutama päivä jonkin tekstin kirjoittamisen jälkeen huomaan ko. postauksessa naurettavan kirjoitusvirheen tai ajatus-aivopierun. Kämmenellä on tullut iskettyä otsaa jo aika monta kertaa.

Siksipä luulen, että Blogathonin päättymisen jälkeen palaan yhtä blogikokemusta rikkaampana hyvillä mielin bloggaamiseen äidinkielellä. 

Vaikka voisihan sitä kokeilla viroksi bloggaamista... 

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Blogihaasteen lisäksi tämän päivän toinen hauska haaste oli askarrella marsipaanista jokin hahmo ja maalata se karamelliväreillä. Kuvassa on vanha norsunmuotoinen marsipaanimuotti, jota voi ihailla virolaisen Kalevin makeistehtaan marsipaanityöpajassa. Kuvassa pilkottaa myös marsipaanista tehty kani, joka ei todellakaan ole omien kätteni työtä, vaan Kalevin koulutettujen marsipaanimestareiden käsialaa.

Blogathon, Day 24: In The Land Of Submarines

I've seen and experienced a lot today. 

For the first time in my life I've visited a submarine. Fortunately, Lembit was not under water but safely in Seaplane Harbour in Tallinn, Estonia. It still was claustrophobic enough for me. Hands down - guys working in submarines most be the toughest human beings on the planet. 

I took these two poor photos with my phone but I can assure you - this place is worth visiting. The building itself is amazing. No need to be especially interested in maritime or war history. There's plenty of other things to see and feel. There were also many nice details. For example the silverware used in the museum cafeteria was replica of the silverware used in Lembit the submarine. 

By now you are all singing Beatles, right? Happy news: there is a yellow submarine in the museum, too. 

Blogathon, Day 23: If I Started Blogging Today, I Would...

It's time for the second Theme Post Day in Blogathon. Today, we blogathonists are encouraged to finish the phrase "If I started blogging today I would..."

Now then, let's see.

If I started blogging today I would...

- read books and blogs about blogging before I start my own weblog. Now there is so much more information available about blogging than it was back in 2004 when I started my first blog. It's really easy for a newbie to get good advice and not to make stupid mistakes (even though stupid mistakes can be very useful).

- just start. If you want to try something, so go ahead and try it. You can't lose anything by starting a blog. If it isn't for you, you can stop whenever you want.

- try Wordpress instead of Blogger. Maybe not to start with but later at some point. I've always used Blogger and I have just been too lazy to try other options. As an eager user of Gmail, Blogger just somehow fits my needs.

- make a plan how to get a picture for every single post of mine.

- not be so terribly ashamed of what other people think of my writings. Posts don't need to be perfect. You can take your time, try different ways of writing and learn. Later, there may be some really good posts but not every post can be a work of Shakespeare.


The photo of today comes from a newbie writer (and maybe a-blogger-to-be). My son, 4 years, wrote his first children's book, as he said himself.

I must say that Disney/Pixar has done their product placement well - look at the first words of his book :)

Blogathon, Day 22: Small Step For Mankind, Giant Leap For An Expatriate

Few days ago I was sitting at a cafe writing. It's a small place in the centre of Tallinn with huge windows facing one of the most important ceremonial squares of Estonia.

It's not a fancy cafe, a cup of coffee (not served in paper cups) costs like one dollar, wifi works (as it does everywhere in the country) and I have a good place to work in peace and look at people coming and going. A salty slice of rye bread with herring and egg wakes me up.

It was an early morning, I was at the cafe all by myself, the waitress was doing her chores in the kitchen.

Suddenly she came to me and asked if I was going to stay at the cafe for 15 minutes or so. I said yes.

The waitress apologized and said that she needed to leave me alone for a second and lock the cafeteria door. She had to go outside to get some things.

Sure, fine for me, I said.

And there I sat, alone at the cafe with locked doors. It was a funny moment. In the very centre of the capital of this little country you can trust your client so much that you leave her alone in the cafe. I felt amused and honored.

I told this story to our Estonian babysitter. She started to laugh. She said that I've reached the point when I'm considered as part of the team. "Oh Silja, now you have lived long enough in Estonia", he said.

An expatriate usually always feels her/himself an outsider. In that sense I think this was a very good thing indeed.

Blogathon, Day 21: Haiku Day

Tänään Blogathonissa on haiku-päivä.

Haiku on japanilainen runomitta, joka suomen kielessä koostuu 17 tavusta. Haiku kirjoitetaan suomeksi kolmelle riville, ja tavut jakautuvat riveittäin 5 - 7 - 5.

Runouden muotona haiku on paljon muuta kuin pelkkää tavujen mittaamista, ja hyvää haiku-tietoutta on esimerkiksi tällä suomenkielisellä sivulla.

Minun Blogathon-haikuni, ja varmaankin ensimmäinen haikuni sitten yläasteen äidinkielen tuntien, on tässä:

taikaviitassaan
pieni seikkailijani
luo maailmansa


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Sorry guys - not a chance that I would start to write a haiku in English. I've got no idea on English spelling system. But just to let you know, my haiku is about joys of motherhood

Blogathon, Day 20: My 6 Rules For Blogging

After some years as a blogger I think I've created myself some kind of rules of blogging. I guess there's nothing exceptional in my list. These are just things that I've found most important to keep blogging enjoyable.

1. Be yourself. Write in a way that's natural for you. Don't use words that you wouldn't use in real life. Keep your own style, whatever it is. I have unsucceeded massively when I've tried to write somehow "fancier".

2. It's good to have a plan for your blogging - but it's not necessary. I blog when I feel like blogging. Works for me.

3. Use photos. Small thing, huge effect. This is the rule I unfortunately break most often.

4. Best posts are written fast and in flow. It's funny, sometimes writing even a pretty long post can take just a few minutes. You have everything ready in your mind. These posts usually don't need very many re-reads (of course it's good to check typos).

5. When you're having the flow moment, enjoy it, write many posts and schedule them to be published later. I do this a lot. I'm a mother of two little kids and I never know when I'm going to have a peaceful moment for writing. When I eventually get it, I try to write as many posts as possible. Most of my posts (this included) are written between 9 - 11 PM when I'm waiting for my kids to fall asleep.

6. Have your notebook, pen and/or smart phone available everywhere you go. Blogging ideas don't ask for time or place. Do yourself a favor - write them down.

Blogathon, Day 19: Thin Lizzy, ZZ Top, Iron Maiden and Estonia

As a wife of a drummer I just need to mention that there is something that combines some of the best rock bands of the world and Estonia.

It's shining. It's a cymbal.

It's Paiste with its roots in Estonia. Paiste, by the way, means shine both in Estonian and Finnish.

And there are some Finnish rockers who use Paiste cymbals. Listen to the song below, for example. This was the song me and my drummer listened to right after we had left the wedding church.

Blogathon, Day 18: Moments When You Hate Estonia

I like living in Estonia. Otherwise me and my family wouldn't have been here this long.

But there is no perfect place in the world and I sometimes sure hate my country of living.

In Estonia, customer service usually sucks. Unfortunately there's no prettier word to describe it.

We got friends from Finland for visit and went to a restaurant to have dinner. Four adults, four children. The oldest kid was five years old.

We placed our orders. We got our appetizers and drinks fast. Everything looked promising even though the waitress didn't bother to smile or show any kind of friendliness. She was just working.

Pretty soon us adults got our main dishes. We were happy: we didn't need to wait very long and we were sure that kids would get their meals at the same time. Of course it would have been better if the children would get their meals first, but well, sometimes restaurants just can't make it.

After this our blood pressure just continued rising. There was no sign of kids' meals. My husband asked the waitress for the first time. The response was, with a stone-faced look on her face: "they are not ready yet".

Well no shit, Sherlock!

We adults were already finished with our meals. Still nothing for kids.

My husband asked the waitress for the second time. She gave no clear explanation for the situation but asked colleague of hers to come to talk with us.

The colleague came and said that the portions we had ordered for our children couldn't be made. Dear Lord I was about to get a heart attack because of anger! They could have said this like, ummm, half an hour earlier!

The waitress said that they could prepare something else in few minutes. Would it be ok for us? Even though we felt we just want to run out from the restaurant cursing we decided to take the risk. What can we do, kids were hungry.

Finally kids got something to eat.

Needless to say there wasn't much tips left on the table nor nice words said to the personnel. We didn't heard any apology from the waitresses' side.

How terribly, unbelievably wrong you can do your job? How totally you can forget all the basic things of friendly human behaviour?

Back to the boring

Hah, I already changed the template at least three times and now I got back to this most simplest and boring one. I guess this is the one I used when I started this blog. Right now it somehow pleases my eye most.

My own little sandbox in the world wide web.

Blogathon, Day 17: Template Change

The more I started to post photos, the more I started to dislike my blog layout.

I don't code and I don't have very much time to search for interesting templates. So once again I decided to choose a template from Blogger's template options.

It's not perfect. But let's see for a while how it works. Luckily, this internet and this is my blog. A new change can always be made.

Blogathon, Day 16: First Etymological Dictionary Of Estonian Published

This day is a big day for Estonian linguistics. The first major etymological dictionary of Estonian language was published today. According to the news, the history of Estonian words includes 6 643 word entries. It took nine years to make the dictionary. Big, big hand for the job well done! 

Etymology is definitely my favorite among linguistics. It combines so many aspects of human life. History of words tells us history of ourselves. A tiny little word can have an amazingly interesting story to tell. 

Some parts of linguistics can be pretty hard to explain for a man on the street. But ta-dah: start to talk about etymology of a word and you immediately get interested looks and people want to find out more. Etymology is hard core linguistics in a public-friendly form. 

Let's take an example. 

The Finnish word for tulip is tulppaani. It has come to Finnish language from Swedish tulpan. Swedish has got its word from Dutch tulpaan. 

The Dutchmen started to grow tulips in the 17th century. Because of their powerful flower business the Dutch word found its way to many European languages. In written Finnish language tulppaani has been used for the first time in 1773. 

Aren't these kind of pieces of information just awesome! (I found the info about tulppaani in The Etymological Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish by professor Kaisa Häkkinen). 

I had a great morning visiting the Tallinn TV Tower. I'll tell more about it later. The tulips were blooming in front of the tower entrance and they were begging me to take pictures of them. Spring has reached its most beautiful point here in Estonia. 

Keep it simple

Finnish, my dear native language. 15 cases for nouns, always so practical, always so compact. Prepositions and postpositions are sooo lame.

The picture is from here.

Blogathon, Day 15: Doors Of Tallinn Meets Google Street View

I enjoy watching doors. Lucky me: I live in a city where there are plenty of delightfully beautiful doors.

In Yesterday's News I've started to show readers doors that have popped on my way and I've found beautiful and/or interesting.

The door shown today is on F. R. Faehlmanni street, pretty close the city centre. The door itself isn't very special but the round window with the decorations is great.

Today is also the day when Google Street View pictures of Estonia were officially published. If you want to see this door on the Street View pic, click here. The very door is there, on the left hand side from a lady with a blue shirt.

If you want to take a look at the previous door posts, click the tag "Tallinnan ovet" in the tag cloud.

Blogathon, Day 14: The Southern-Estonian Town Of Tartu

Tallinn is the official capital of Estonia, but Estonians often say that the town of Tartu is the real heart of the country. Tallinn may be the political and financial center while Tartu has strong academical and cultural heritage.

Talking about history: the university of Tartu was founded 1632. The university still is the heart and soul of the town giving it a youthful look. There sure is lots of young people in Tallinn, too, but in Tartu you really can see and feel that you are visiting a town with many academic students. 

Last time I visited Tartu was at the end of April. Here are some pictures I took during my visit. The university also has its botanical garden (founded in 1803) right in the town centre. In April only few flowers were blooming but I'm pretty sure it's going to be gorgeous in the summer. 

 

 

If you ever come to Estonia I recommend you to visit Tartu in addition to Tallinn. By car, it's only 2,5 hours from the capital. 

 

 

 

Blogathon, Day 13: Tallinn Seen From The Ambassador's Balcony

Yesterday, on the 12th of May, the Embassy of Finland in Tallinn, Estonia opened its door to everyone. The residence of the ambassador is normally not open to public.

The Finnish Embassy is located on one of the best spots in town, just on the top of Toompea Hill. There's a great view over the town from the balcony of the embassy. 

Roofs of medieval Tallinn. 

More roofs

Enough of the views. "Mommy, I want back inside!" 

Inside the residence.  

"Show me the pigs!!"

We Finns have our Nokia but right now The Big Thing is Angry Birds. Happy to see how well the propeller heads at Rovio have succeeded. Finnish playground manufacturer Lappset is doing great, too. 

These two have started cooperation and I guess there will be quite many AB playgrounds around the world pretty soon. The swinging red bird got tested by my daughter on the embassy yard. Lappset (btw, the Finnish word "lapset" means "children") just opened a new factory in Estonia. 

Here you can get a glimpse of the port of Tallinn. There's a huge cruise ship traffic between Estonia and Finland. 

Blogathon, Day 12: Coffee Times They Are A-Changing

I spent my quota of dollars at Starbucks while living in Silicon Valley. You pretty fast get used to the routine of buying your coffee on the go.

For a European cafeteria lover the American way of sipping your caffeine while running errands is somewhat uncomprehendable.

I guess for many Europeans, me included, it's a bit hard to understand why you couldn't stop for a second for a coffee, sit by a table, let the waitress bring you your latte and just keep that iPhone in your purse. Inhale, exhale, enjoy.

I've heard that American coffee-on-the-go culture has become more popular also in my country of origin, Finland, and especially in the capital, Helsinki. And yes, the green mermaid is there, too. 

I moved to Estonia 2008 and as far as I can remember there weren't very many grab-and-go cafes in the capital, Tallinn. 

Now, four years later, I'm surprised to see how many spots for example a chain called Coffee-In has in the town. And I really see people walking on the streets with their paper cups. 

Hell, this is wrong. Tallinn is a town with long cafeteria traditions. For example cafe Maiasmokk has been operating at the same location since 1864.

Tallinn and Estonia could survive without all that hurrying and paper waste.

(In the picture you can see my cup of tea.)

Blogathon, 11. päivä: Purkkapaperi - Sticky Fingers

Arvostan kyllä sitä, että tuottajat keksivät ratkaisuja ongelmiin, joita en tiennyt itselläni edes olevankaan.

Mutta silti tätä Jenkin purkkapakettia katsellessani en voi olla miettimättä, onko pakkaus mielettömän nerokas vai vahva ehdokas vuoden turhakkeeksi.

Xylitol-jäystön purkissa on mukana nippu pieniä papereita, joihin purkan voi jauhamisen jälkeen kääriä.

Nyt on kysyttävä kuten olen tyyliblogeista oppinut: hot or not?

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There's Finnish chewing gum in this little box. In addition to the gum, there's a bunch of little paper sheets. After you've chewed enough you can wrap your bubbly stuff into a paper.

As a consumer, I can not decide whether this is pure geniousity or the most ridiculous invention for a long time. Depending on the point of view the tiny paper sheets are great customer service or an irritating way to underestimate customer's ability to think independently.

Last word for the day

Last words for the day.

I need a new blog template. Like, umm, now. The one I have now is so Blogger, so seen-that-1000-times.

I want something elegant but still modern. Preferably black and white.

Recommendations are most welcome.

Thank you and good night.

Blogathon, Day 10: Why An Expatriate Needs A Blog?

I've been an expatriate for four years. I've been blogging all that time and would recommend it to every fellow expatriate.

Let me tell you why (even though I hate lists).

- Obviously, it is a great way to stay in touch with your dear ones in your country of origin. Sure, you should write letters, too, but nowadays it seems to be easier said than done. With a blog you reach basically all your family and friends with a one single post.

- Moving to another county is a huge change and a great adventure. Don't forget it. I always, always try to remind myself and others to write diary. Whether it is five pages every day or a sentence a week - write down what's happened in your everyday life. A blog is a kind of a diary even though you wouldn't reveal your deepest thoughts. It's great to read old posts about things and feelings that you had already forgotten.

- With a blog, it's easy to help other people who are moving to the same country or visiting it. For example, I've made a page where I write down places and things I like and recommend to see in my home town Tallinn. I know many of my friends have found this useful when they've been planning their visit. I've also got many, many mails from people who are moving to Estonia and have needed advice.

- A blog helps you to network with other expatriates in your new home country. It's great to know that you are not alone in the same kind of situation. For example, when I was moving to Silicon Valley I started to look for blogs written by Finnish expatriates who live in the Valley. I found one by a lady who had just moved to the area and was living in the neighbor town. Later, we met and got friends. The power of blogging can sometimes be just awesome!

- It's always interesting to read other expatriates' experiences. Following a blog written by an Italian who's moved to Canada can be good fun. Totally different countries than in my own case, but oh so similar feelings.

Blogathon, Day 9: Expatriate And Social Media - What's Practical For You?

Sometime around year 1910 my great-grandmother moved from Finland to Canada. My mother has told me that my great-granny was supposed to travel there on Titanic but she didn't get tickets. Lucky her, lucky me. 

By the Great Lakes she met another Finn and got married. Unfortunately they soon got to hear that her father-in-law was sick and the young couple needed to hurry back home to Northern Europe. Too late. My great-great-grandfather had already died. No way the message of his death could have reached them early enough.

1995 I moved to Norway. I wrote a lots of letters. Yes, those things you send in an envelope with a stamp on. I called my parents via land line approximately once in two weeks. I asked my parents to mail me newspapers so I would know better what's happening in my home country. My dear friend sent me c-cassettes so I could listen to some Finnish music. 

2012 I have internet and cell phones. I use Facebook, Twitter and e-mail. I blog. I Skype. I don't write much letters. I haven't used a land line phone for ages, not even in California. I listen to music via Rdio. My little son is pretty knowledgeable with an iPad. 

Being an expatriate sure has changed within a century. Sometimes I feel I don't live abroad at all. Estonia is next to Finland (well, there's the Gulf of Finland between), the language is pretty similar and most important of all - I have all the imaginable technical bells and whistles to stay in touch with my dear ones both in Finland and in other countries. 

For me as an expatriate the best combination seems to be to use Facebook and my blogs. In addition to the one you are reading right now, I have another blog where I try to keep my family members and friends updated what's happening in my expatriate life. But there's nothing very personal there, just some general observations. 

Facebook gets me a bit closer to my family and friends. Really private stuff I'll save for skyping and e-mails. 

Twitter I use as a more professional tool. None of my family members use it and only a couple of good friends tweet. I also have Google+ and Pinterest accounts but I don't use them at all. So none of these wouldn't work for staying in touch with the closest ones. 

It would be interesting to hear what kind of tools of social media are important for other expatriates. How many of you still write letters? I wish many! 

Blogathon, Day 8: My Love And Hate Affair With Texts With Lists

When I lived in California I really understood it: Americans love lists.

You know what I mean:

10 Ways To Get Perfect Gluteus Maximus For Summer 
7 Bullet-Proof Ways To Get Stinking Rich 
6 Reasons Why You Should Never Have Kids 

I must admit that I've never been great fan of lists. For me, it seems that the writer of a list is lazy. It is so much easier to make a list than a coherent longer text.

In Estonia, very many newspaper articles are written in question and answer format. It seriously annoys me. Does the journalist think that his/her questions are oh-so-clever that he/she just needs to get them on the paper? What do they study at the journalism school? You can always push the record button on your iPhone and then literate the interview into ink. Not much journalism and editing skills needed, huh? Are these guys able to write a normal piece of news with a beginning and an end?

But as always, I've needed to take a re-look at my own opinions.

Lists are practical. They are easy and fast to read. They suit extremely well for blog posts. Hell, I've even started to write posts with lists myself. By bookmarking well-written posts with good lists you can easily collect yourself a handbook of a topic that interests you.

I also try to think that even if all the blog posts in the world would be with lists, there will still be novels, short stories and other kind of longer texts. I keep telling myself it's great that there are different discourses.

The most important thing is that the reader enjoys the text and finds it useful. Nothing else matters. If it comes with a little help from a list I just try to keep my mouth shut.

Blogathon, Day 7: Theme Day #1

I already posted in Finnish today but since it's Blogathon and the first Theme Day, let me write down a few words in English, too.

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During Blogathon there are some Theme Days when we participants are encouraged to write about the same theme.

The first theme is "5 Movies That Have Inspired My Blogging".

Nope. This theme doesn't work for me. I can't name any movie that would have inspired directly my blogging. Instead, I can name four movies that have inspired me in some other way.

- The Unknown Soldier (in Finnish Tuntematon Sotilas) by director Edvin Laine. This Finnish movie is based on the book by Finnish novelist Väinö Linna. The book and the movie tell about Finnish troops in the Second World War. The book is really, really important for Finns and the movie by Laine is seen in Finnish tv at least once a year, usually on the independence day of Finland.

I was maybe 10 years old when I saw the movie for the first time (not a kids' movie at all...). It made a huge impression and I read the book right after seeing the film. Because of the book I learned to love the dialects of the Finnish language. And it somehow made me to choose Finnish language as my major at the university. So it's not very much exaggerated to say that  the film and the book made me what I am today.

Fellow Finns, I know: this choice is really blah-hah in all its cliche-ness :)

- Kill Bill I and II by Quentin Tarantino. I still don't understand how so much violence can be so beautiful. I'm not sure if I ever want to see the films again but for me the they were something totally different. A thing that is always inspiring.

- Lost in Translation by Sofia Coppola. I guess moving from Finland to Estonia is not as vast a cultural shock as coming from USA to Japan. Still, the movie is sometimes like watching my own life. And when I want a good laugh I just need to start to think about Bill Murray on a cross trainer.

- Alexander by Oliver Stone. I'm still sorry that I didn't dare to leave the theatre after I'd been watching the movie for 40 minutes or so. Maybe one of the worst movies ever. It taught me that I need to be stronger and braver and just leave if I'm surrounded by something extremely boring.

Bonus track:

- Stephen Fry in America. This tv series by BBC is not a movie but I just need to add it here as a recent favorite. I watched it while living in California and enjoyed it thoroughly. I didn't travel in many states in the US so watching this series gave me a wider perspective to the country that was my home for a while. And I guess I love everything Stephen Fry does.

Blogathon, 7. päivä: Älä tee näin vanhusten palvelutalossa

Kävin tänään tapaamassa iäkästä sukulaistani eteläsuomalaisessa palvelutalossa. Hän oli muuttanut talossa uuteen huoneeseen, joka oli entistä suurempi ja valoisampi ja siinä oli ilahduttavasti myös parveke.

Verenpaine kihahti hetkessä tappiin, kun sukulaiseni huomautti, että hän ei parvekkeelle itse pääse. Asuinhuoneen ja parvekkeen välissä on niin korkea kynnys, että pyörätuolilla liikkuvalla rouvalla ei ole mitään mahdollisuutta päästä ilman apua eteläseinustan parvekkeesta nauttimaan.

Jos rakennetaan vanhusten palvelutalo, johon oletettavasti tulee asumaan halvaantuneita pyörätuolilla liikkuvia ihmisiä, voisi kuvitella, että heidän liikkumisensa tehtäisiin mahdollisimman helpoksi.

Kodinomainen asuminen, jep jep.

Blogathon, Day 6: Let's Do It, World

Estonians are proud of Skype which is very much an Estonian invention.

But Skype is not the only Estonian product that is connecting people all over the world.

Let's Do It World (in Estonian "Teeme ära") is a world wide cleanup action that started in Estonia a few years ago and has now spread to many other countries as far as Brazil, USA, Malta, Ukraine and Belgium.

Read more here what's it all about. Maybe you can create a team or start a cleanup and make our globe a little bit cleaner place.

Blogathon, Day 5: Five reasons why you should join a mixed choir

While you are reading this I'm in my home country Finland celebrating the 25th anniversary of the university choir I was a member of back in the golden student days of mine.

It's going to be the whole nine yards: the concert, the cocktail party, singing, the ball (get to wear some high heels!), dancing until the sunrise, more singing, Sunday morning brunch with friends, singing with lost voice, sad-eyed goodbyes.

I don't exaggerate much if I say that spending awfully lot of time in the choir during my university years really changed my life.

Our choir is (or I should say "was") a mixed choir and students from all the faculties were welcome to join. Sure, some singing skills were appreciated.

It's never too late to join a choir and for those of you who think it could be fun I say yes - go for it!

Why should you? Because of these reasons:

- Doing music together is one of the greatest things you can do. It just feels good. You learn all the time about yourself, about your singing technique and most of all - about working together with others.

- You get friends for a lifetime. When you spend hundreds, even thousands of hours with the same people in rehearsal halls, tour buses, back stages and parties, you really get to know many of your fellow singers. They've seen you in a pretty vulnerable state of mind, singing your heart out, so nothing after that actually can surprise them.

- You get a huge network. I didn't think about it ten years ago, but now I see what a great thing it is when you always know someone who can answer even your silliest questions. Whenever I need to consult a doctor, a biochemist, a lawyer, an archaeologist, a music teacher, a historian - I'll just drop a line to some of my friends. Nowadays social media makes it so easy to stay in touch even though you live abroad.

- By singing both sacral and profane music you learn languages, history, popular culture - you name it. Music is not born in a vacuum. It reflects the time it was born in. It's quite of a time jump to get to sing medieval music in a medieval church. Man, then you really feel that you are just a part of this whole linear or circular system of generations. It somehow puts things at their right place.

- You get great friends and if you are as lucky as I am, you can even find The One. I couldn't have got any lower: I found him on the second bass section.

Blogathon, Day 4: Finns, those lucky bastards

My dear son, 4 years old, has just learned to read.

First of all - it is huge to follow the process. How amazing it must be when the whole world of funny symbols opens up to you.

I was six years old when I learned this great skill. I remember the moment sitting on the living room couch when I suddenly noticed that the subtitles of Dallas (yep, Bobby, Sue Ellen et al.) made sense to me. "Pamela, we need to talk. But first I need a drink."

Secondly: when I watch my son reading I feel enormous gratefulness. Thank God we are Finns!

Finnish is a language that is basically always pronounced the same way as it is written. A is always pronounced as a in the English word car. It won't suddenly change to something else like in the words cake or watch. It there are two aa's, it is just pronounced longer. Simple as that. 

I mean gosh, how do kids learning other languages make it? Finns don't for example need those silly spelling contests what they have in anglo-saxon countries. When you learn the letters and you learn to read you automatically are able to spell. 

I was talking about this with a lady I know. She suggested that maybe Finns' great success in PISA studies is just because reading, the basic skill, is learned so fast. You have plenty of time and energy for other things when you learn to read easily. Who knows. It certainly doesn't hurt. 

But to be honest - to learn the technique of reading is one thing. You also need to understand what you read and little by little get to know the vast amount of discourses in written (and spoken) language. That learning process won't end on your day of graduation. It is something you need to rehearse through your whole life. 

Blogathon, 3. päivä: Ulkosuomalaisen kovia kokeva äidinkieli

Mahdollisille uusille lukijoille tiedoksi: osallistun toukokuun aikana Blogathon-blogihaasteeseen. Postauksieni kieli on siksi toukokuussa välillä suomi ja välillä englanti.

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"No saatko sä hakkaamaan?" 
"Onko meillä sitä alkoholivapaata olutta?"
"Äiti, me korjattiin kiviä!" 

Tunnustetaan tosiasiat. Vaikka kuinka jääräpäisesti koettaisi ulkomailla asuessaan pitää huolta suomen kielensä monipuolisuudesta ja "oikeudesta", vieraskielisyydet hiipivät armotta omaan ja muiden perheenjäsenten puheeseen.

Kaliforniassa asuessa puheeseen alkoi ilmestyä varsin pian englantia, mutta minusta tuntuu, että anglismit on melko helppo karsia pois puheesta, kun taas viron vaikutukset tulevat kieleen salakavalammin. Viron ja suomen läheisyys aiheuttaa sen, että luulee puhuvansa suomea, mutta välillä yllättää itsensä puhumasta todella kummallisin sanakääntein.

Tämän postauksen ensimmäisessä esimerkkilauseessa kysytään, pärjäätkö sinä, selviätkö sinä. Viron kielessä se kysyttäisiin "kas sa saad hakkama?" Verbi saada hakkama on virossa hyvin tavallinen ja se livahtaa suomeen helposti. Mihinkään pieksemiseen asia ei liity mitenkään, ei edes sananpieksentään.

Viron kielen -ton- ja -tön-loppuisia sanoja muodostetaan usein lisäämällä sana -vaba pääsanan loppuun. Alkoholiton on alkoholivaba. Etanoliton kynsilakka on etanolivaba ja sokeriton suhkruvaba. Välillä joudun tosissani keskittymään, että osaisin käyttää suomalaista muotoa.

Viimeisin esimerkki tulee kaksivuotiaalta tyttäreltäni, joka pari päivää sitten kertoili tohkeissaan kivien korjaamisesta. En meinannut tajuta, mistä oikein on kyse, kunnes muistin: suomen kerätä-verbi on viroksi korjama.

Voi olla, että pidempiaikainen oleskelu Virossa vaikuttaa myös suomen kielen ääntämiseen. Viron kieli on paljon suomea etisempi, mikä tarkoittaa, että viro ääntyy suussa paljon edempänä kuin takavokaalien täyttämä, kurkkuun painuva suomi. Myös viron liudentuneet l-äänteet lisäävät kielen ääntämiseen laulullisuutta.

Suomeni ei varmasti vielä kuulosta virolta, mutta sen huomaan, että koko ääntöelimistö asettuu salamana toiseen asentoon kun puhuessani vaihdan lennossa suomesta viroon. Tuntuu myös, että puhun viroa korkeammassa rekisterissä kuin suomea. Aivot ovat ihmeellinen värkki.

Tartossa asuvien suomalaisten puhumasta suomen ja viron sekakielestä voi lukea tästä viro.nyt-lehden jutusta.

Blogathon, Day 2: Five Reasons to Come to Estonia

During Blogathon I may get new readers who have never even heard about weird little lands like Estonia or Finland.

Yep, EST and FIN are somewhere there up in the north. But just to make it clear: no, they most definitely not are part of Russia and no, there are no polar bears in either of them.

As a Finn living in Estonia I just must use the opportunity to write a few words about my new home country. One could ask why do I want to live in a former Soviet republic with 1,3 million people and terrible climate. But I guess me and my family sort of like it here.

Here are my 5 reasons, why you should come and visit Estonia, the land of warm people and appalling customer service.

- See the layers of history in Tallinn. One thing I missed when living in Silicon Valley was the history. In the Valley you'll be positively surprised if you find something older than 40 years. In Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, you have everything. There's the beautiful medieval old town, horrible-looking ghettos of Soviet era, skyscrapers of the 21st century and everything in between. It's sometimes a terrible mess but it still is way better than no history at all. The feeling of the town gives you roots. It helps you understand that you are not the first one on these streets.

- The size of the country. Estonia is tiny. It's great, it's practical. In 4 - 5 hours by car you are already in the neighbor country Latvia. Jump on the boat and take a two-hour cruise to Finland. One-hour flight to Stockholm, two hours to London. Not a big deal. Life is just too short to be spent in traffic jams.

- Wifi. It's everywhere. I mean e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. Estonians live in internet and you get used to it. I was shocked in Silicon Valley when I understood how ridiculously poor wifi connections they had there. Man, it's the Valley!

- Get a cultural shock of rude behavior. Just forget all your attempts to have small talk. They won't speak to you, those stone-faced, little-smiling Estonians. There's a total silence in a bus or a tram. They won't apologize if they bump onto you on a street. If you are lucky the cashier may greet you in a store but don't wait for good day's wishes. After you've spent here a few years you'll find the dry humor and remarkable friendship and hospitality Estonians have in them. It just takes time.

- Shoes. Ladies. I've got one word for you. Or actually three. When in Estonia -  go shop shoes.

Blogathon, Day 1: Once upon a time there was a blogger newbie

I started my first blog in 2004. It was part of my studies at the University of Turku, Finland. We were told to make some kind of portfolio of our pedagogical studies. I had just heard about things called "a blog" and "blogging" and wanted to make my portfolio online.

I must admit I did not know very much what I was doing. Neither did my teacher. But I managed to create a blog and write some posts. There was no interaction with readers (umm, I guess there weren't any), it was just a diary online.

Now I'm starting my very first blogging challenge. It's been a long and interesting way since the first posts in 2004. It doesn't seem to get less boring, either. You must try new things and The Blogathon is one of those.

As a some kind of enthusiast of my own native language I have always said that I would never, ever write in public in any other language than Finnish.

Never say never. Here I am, writing in my clumsy learned-it-at-school-and-by-watching-Dallas-English.

During the Blogathon I will try to do as many posts in English as possible. It's going to do good for my written English skills and demand some empathy from my possible English speaking readers. I'll do my best, but Finnish is still the language of my soul.

WordCount was one of the first blogging-related blogs I found when I moved to California in 2011. It soon became The Blog I turned back to when I wanted to find tips and get advice for my blogging and freelance writing. There may be thousands of similar kind of blogging challenges around, but WordCount's Blogathon was definitely the one I wanted to join.

Now it's only you and me, my dear laptop. Let's hit the road.