Stray leaves

What's up, readers? Are you feeling the cold, dark winter sneaking up on you? I am. It's pitch black outside, the trees are soon left naked, pretty leaves are flying restless alongside the pavement, the air is cold and crisp and the shops are already selling Christmas decorations. It's just a matter of weeks before good, ol' Santa breaks into your home - pipestyle! Some people don't fancy Christmas that much, but I for one actually like it. I like the atmosphere - it's truly magic. Gingerbread, julebrus (a red-colored soda sold only during Christmas in Norway), marsipan, Santa, Christmas movies. All of it! For most people it's a time spent with the people you love: girlfriend, spouse, family, kids etc. Some like to escape the cold winter in the north and go south. I've been on Gran Canaria once during Christmas. It wasn't bad, just different. I did miss the snow though, but with global warming and whatnot, who's to say we even get snow this year? The last years there's not been a whole lot of that white lovin' on the ground. Christmas just isn't the same when it's raining outside. It should be snowing! Let's wish for lotsa snow this year.

The last couple of weeks I've just been doing what I always seem to be doing. My life isn't exciting enough to write a whole lot about. I study and when I don't study one can usually find me at home in front of my beloved computer. Sounds boring, doesn't it? Truth is - I love it. I do miss having a social life, though. Just so that's clear. I hate spending too much time alone and only with the computer. It's fun for some time. Everything in moderation! Last week I actually went to Helsinki to see some friends (at that point I felt I really needed to see people, not only the ones I run into at the uni and in the city). So I went on Tuesday, but I already returned on Thursday. I got sick, so I decided it was better to just go home. Besides, I had an important assignment that needed to be worked on. Not to mention that my time schedule didn't exactly match that of my friends. I hate it when it becomes hard to see friends because of time schedule crashes. One is working, the other one is free. Stuff like that. Oh well, it was still good for me to see friends. Things are looking up socially; I'm getting to know people at school better and a good friend of mine is coming to Vaasa this week to spend over a week here. He's actually from Vaasa, so his family lives here. At least I'll have someone to hang out with for some time. My birthday is getting closer and closer. I'll be going to Estonia to celebrate it with another friend of mine plus a bunch of other friends (from mine and from her side). Looking forward to that.

I have a new addiction, people. It's called "Dexter". If you watch TV at all, you know he's America's favorite serial killer. You read right. Serial killer. One who kills people. A lot of them. And I support him! Sue me. Hear me out first, though. Dexter is the kind of serial killer that only kills bad people. He kills scum. He simply takes out the "garbage". His victims are murderers, rapists, pedophiles and so on. I don't see anything wrong with that. Besides, Dexter is so brilliant that it's impossible to hate him. The show is full of black humour. Gotta love it. I watch so much of it I feel like I'm part of the show. It's a great way to kill time though. And as if I didn't spend enough time on the computer already, I recently downloaded a SNES emulator. Only a true geek will know what that even means. Put shortly: It's a program that lets you play old Super Nintendo games on your computer. I've heard of it many years ago, but I never thought it would be anything for me. How wrong I was. I'm addicted to that shit now! It takes me back to when I was 10 years old and Mario was my favorite plumber. My little hero in red. My little ass-kicking fireball-yielding Italian. It's great to play those old games again. I find it so entertaining I easily spend hours on it. It just proves that gameplay is king.

A different chapter

Things have happened. I have moved. Moved from Helsinki, which was my hometown for three years. That means I had to leave some really good friends behind. That's what hurts the most. Helsinki is a great city too - it's the city I've enojoyed living in the most this far. Somehow it just fit my personality, although I gotta admit it wasn't perfect either. Sometimes it just felt too stressful and depressive to live there, amongst hundreds of cars, thousands of people and companies. Helsinki never really slept. Despite that, I still liked living there. I think a lot of it was due to my friends. Those were what really made Helsinki a place to love. I often find myself re-living those memories: the movie nights, the crazy nights in the bars, the freak-outs, the game nights and simply all the great, crazy stuff that happened over there. I'll always keep those memories close to my heart. I still remember walking into Eira High the first day, scared and nervous of how things were gonna go. After a few months however, I had already made plenty of friends, so the remaining time there went fast. Almost too fast...

Now I live in Vaasa, which is a city on the coast of Finland. I study at a university here. The first weeks are usually a bit awkward: you don't know anyone, you don't know the city and you miss your friends. That's how it felt for me too. Still feels like it to some degree, especially the friends part. But it has gotten better. I really hope this is the place for me to be. I enjoy my studies so far, more so than the nursing studies. Still there is some restless part in my soul that feels something might be missing. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's a normal part of student life - maybe a fear of committing to a certain education. Freud only knows. I wish he could psychoanalyze me. I also miss my dear Norway. Maybe I'll go there for Christmas though, to see friends and family. If things go well, I will be able to study in Norway next year too! That would be great for me. I just feel I've been gone too long. Besides, the last summer spent in Norway has been great. It's left me wanting more of that Norway goodness!




Not much else going on. Studying mainly, and of course keeping up my nerding hobby (playing games, listening to music, chatting, watching movies and so on). A dude has got to keep busy when he's alone! It's weird not to have friends around...there's just so much more time for myself. Don't get me wrong - I like being alone, but I miss being able to call to friends to go out for a cider or go to the movies. One thing is for sure though - I'm going to Helsinki at the end of this month (if not before) to celebrate my own and Vivian's birthday! The plan is actually to go to Tallinn! I'm really excited about that. A friend from Germany is coming over too. It'll be really great to catch up with him.



That's all for now, folks.