Yesterday Oliver and I went to Rotherham to get more Pimsleur language courses from the library and to find a coloring book. I guess it’s that time of year again, when different charities try to get others to sign up for stuff. There were loads of “Save The Blind” people around, but we managed to dodge them. Apparently they like to aim for the boyfriend half of the couple because he’ll be more likely to respond so he can show his girlfriend how caring he is. Which is exactly what one of the girls did. Didn’t stay to talk to her though. Just when we thought that we were safe, this guy in dark blue holding a clip board catches us by surprise. So there we were, having to listen to him talk about monks while I was thinking: “Wait a minute.. isn’t this the same guy we met in Blackpool in March??” I donated 1p, didn’t have more with me.. and that one just happened to what I had found 10 minutes earlier on the ground. When we finally got rid of him, Oliver and I just looked at each other and asked (pretty much at the same time): “Haven’t we seen him before?” After going to the market, we bump into him again and ask if he was in Blackpool. It was the same guy. Here’s the funny part: he thought that we were on our honeymoon back then. o_O

Still, what are the chances that we bump into him again while we’re together? I mean, I’m not over here that often. The monk thought the same, that it was “intervention from someone up there” so he gave us a book about his religion (Hindi?). About Visnu and Krishna anyway.. Just too bad that I’m not interested in religion right now. All of the Mormons that I’ve met have had nothing to do with each other so they can’t be sending notes to each other to track me. Is there something about me that makes these religious people flock to me? I mean, I feel like I’m being followed by Mormons and now this guy…

coincidences, religion, charities

Donated blood two hours ago. No wooziness. Good good. It was a pretty simple process really. Just fill out a form, answer some questions, tell them my name and birth date a dozen times and then just let them suck the blood out of me. Took about 30 minutes all in all. I was lucky, got a chatty nurse. Talked about loads of things. Turns out that she has a friend who just finished taking Drama courses at Aberystwyth. So we talked about dancing, how Oliver and I met, people getting squeamish around blood.. A fun person. ^-^

We’re gonna go to Meadowhall later today, after Ryan gets back from work. Y’see, this way we don’t have to pay for bus tickets since he’s got a car. Anyway, what we’re looking for over there are logic puzzle books and coloring books. I’ve got 130 crayons (admittedly not all different colors, but ah well) and I wanna use ’em! Then tomorrow we’re gonna go to Rotherham again. Get the Japanese Pimsleur CDs. The German ones are quite good. Still don’t know how to pronounce the R though. I always seem to have problems with the R in every language I try to learn. I’ve got the Finnish and English Rs down, but the French and German ones are tough for some reason. o_O

Almost done with Necroscope. Which means that I can finally start Harry Potter. That was the condition, Oliver said that he’d buy me the new HP if I read Necroscope first (which he bought for me as well). It’s a bit weird. And the beginning of it is really slow. I’m told that the rest of the series is better but the first book is needed to get the rest of it. Just like the Interview with the Vampire series. So hopefully Anji’ll let me borrow the rest of the series while I’m at Aberystwyth if I can’t find it in a local library there.

Ryan came over yesterday. Brought his laptop with him, I browsed through some of his music selection (over 2000 tracks!) and wrote down what I’d like. So he’ll send ’em to me through MSN or something when I finally get my own laptop at uni.

The few days that Oliver and I were here alone went pretty well. Didn’t starve. He did the dishes and made tea and pizza for me while I did the major cleaning up yesterday before his mom got back. It’s so nice to have a vacuum cleaner at my disposal. Okay so I don’t want to vacuum as often as my mom likes it to be done, but when I see dirt on the floor, it’s an instinct to go find a vacuum. Charlie (the dog) wasn’t much trouble either. Except for the first day that we were alone. Then she did both a number one and two on the carpet. *rolls eyes* Our own fault though. We forgot to let her out. At least she doesn’t need walking everyday. Just letting her out into the garden is enough. There is the slight chance that she’ll run away, but since she’s old she won’t get very far very fast. Easy to catch up with. Something I found out first hand. I was outside reading and Charlie was there sitting next to me. Then she slowly began inching her way towards the car. She does that sometimes and then just comes back, so I didn’t think much of it. The next time I look up, she’s gone. I get up and go as fast as I can in my very loose high heels. I caught up with her at the front door. So like I said, she didn’t get very far. Still, not good to lose someone’s dog. ^^;;

Speaking about the high heels, I need to do something to them so I can use them. The right one is fine, a bit loose but that can be fixed by just stuffing a little cotton ball near the toes. The left one on the other hand.. well, it’s supposed the same size shoe, but I swear it’s at least a size larger. So a whole lot looser. And that can’t be fixed with cotton balls. I tried. Ideally I’d need an elastic that wraps around the foot like the one on my yellow new shoes, but I have no idea how to get one attached to the shoe. So.. any ideas? Anyone?

blood, shoes, harry potter, necroscope

Yay for tests. ^_^ Tell me your results if/when you do them.

INTJ -The Mastermind
Your Type is 0% Extroverted, 12% Observant, 68% Logical and 87% Structured

You are more introverted than extroverted. You are more intuitive than observant, you are more thinking based than feeling based, and you prefer to have a plan rather than leaving things to chance. Your type is best described by the word “mastermind”, which belongs to the larger group called rationals. Only 1% of the population shares your type. You are very strong willed and self-confident. You can hardly rest until you have things settled. You will only adopt ideas and rules if they make sense. You are a great brainstormer and often come up with creative solutions to difficult problems. You are open to new concepts, and often actively seek them out.
As a romantic partner, you can be both fascinating yet demanding. You are not apt to express your emotions, leaving your partner wondering where they are with you. You strongly dislike repeating yourself or listening to the disorganized process of sorting through emotional conflicts. You see your own commitments as self-evident and don’t see why you need to repeat something already expressed. You have the most difficulty in admitting your vulnerabilities. You feel the most appreciated when your partner admires the quality of your innovations and when they listen respectfully to your ideas and advice. You need plenty of quiet to explore your interests to the depth that gives you satisfaction.
Your group summary: rationals (NT)
Your type summary: INTJ
vincex’s shorter version of this test.
My longer version of this same test. The real deal.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 0% on outgoing

You scored higher than 18% on observant

You scored higher than 83% on logical

You scored higher than 94% on structured

Link: The Quick and Dirty Personality Test written by unpretentious2 on Ok Cupid

ENTJ - Commandant
You scored 75 I versus E, 40 N versus S, 80 F versus T, and 80 J versus P!

Your ideal mate is known as The Commandant. As a romantic partner, this type is inspiring, but also somewhat challenging. They have a strong desire to be in charge and their clear need for an organized life and home can be overwelming to a partner. They like to confront conflict directly, discuss problems unflinchingly, solve them, then put them behind you both. However, they can be too impatient or unwilling to take the time to listen to their partners and give them a chance to express themselves fully so that their partners also have a sense of closure. They are generally uncomfortable dealing with emotions, so they are apt to dismiss their partner’s emotions as illogical. They feel most appreciated when their partners ask for their opinions, take their advice, and rely on them to get a job done right.
The group summary: rationals (NT)
The type summary: ENTJ

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 62% on I versus E

You scored higher than 31% on N versus S

You scored higher than 82% on F versus T

You scored higher than 62% on J versus P

Link: The Best Personality Type for You Test written by unpretentious2 on OkCupid Free Online Dating

Was at the lake again. This time we grilled just sausages. And roasted marshmallows. I was the only one who managed to not burn their finger(s). Then again, I have been nominated as the Fire Watched of our “tribe”. So of course I know how to handle the fire. And this time I got it going by myself too. ^_^ Yesterday I just kept watch over it, making sure it wouldn’t go out while our entertainer was putting on a performance. Jade came up with a really funny show too. Jaz, the leader, said that Jade has to play a rich city person. So Jade goes around these imaginary stalls buying with loads of bills berries that have to be carted around in a huge basket. In the end she gives it all to the leader as a present. Then Jade has to play a poor city person. So it’s another trip to the berry market. Except this time, she can only afford to buy one strawberry, one blueberry, etc each worth one coin. Then when she’s bought the basket for the berries, she checks her pocket, turns it inside out to show that she has no money left with a pout. She pours the few berries back into her hand, gives the basket back and gets her coin back before she presents the berries to the leader. ^_^ She killed us with the surprised pout. It was hilarious. Really. Should’ve been there. Trust me. The food we had yesterday.. *drool* There was filet mignon in two different marinades, blue cheese creamy potatoes, pickles (the American kind) with smetana (a sort of sour cream), sundried tomatoes.. Yum. ^-^ Haven’t had food that good in ages. The only times I’ve had my meat cooked exactly the way I want it has been when my dad grills it. He just knows when it’s a really nice medium-rare. Usually the rarer the better. At least with his style filet mignons.

Then Friday.. got chocolate cake. The good Sacher kind. ^___^ Very yummy that. The breakfast part was a bit of a mess that morning because there was no electricity for an hour. So we ate what they had managed to get cooked (mainly the bacon) and then the stuff that didn’t need cooking. Then later we went to Stockmann in Helsinki where I tried on a smaller version of the jacket my parents got me. It did look better, but I couldn’t wear anything thicker than a tank top underneath it. So I’m keeping the larger version. At first I was a bit iffy about the style and cut, but now.. luuuuurve. It’s fantastic. Baby pink, leather, round collar, zippers.. I got 50€ from my grandparents which I spent immediately. With it I got round toed flat yellow shoes that have a white elastic strap, a black hair clip, a loofah, hair ties, a hair band and a pair of black courdroy(? in Finnish it’s sametti.. and I dunno about the spelling) pinstripe pants. Very content with Friday’s finds.

There was a mini-storm here around noon. I woke up to the wind howling and the rain beating down. Then in ten minutes, it was over. Very impressive though. Too bad it didn’t turn into a good thunderstorm, like the ones in Florida. I wanna feel the fury of the skies. Feel the windows shake every time it rumbles. *sigh* But no, not here in Finland.. gotta go to Orlando to get that..

Leaving the day after tomorrow. Had to repack my suitcase. Decided to leave some shirts and two pairs of pants behind. Hopefully my parents can take them with them when they go to Belgium. More importantly, my shoes. I’m taking three pairs with me now, leaving four pairs for them. Two of those aren’t must haves, but it’d be really nice to have my silver strappy high-heeled sandals. I miss my shoes that are in Belgium. An outfit can’t be complete without shoes (unless you’re at the beach, then you’d look kinda silly swimming with shoes on). I have no idea how large my room is in Aberystwyth, but I’m pretty sure that I’ll be short on storage/closet space. I’ve really started to like shopping. Now that I’ve got my own money to buy things with. And I can find nice things that fit. Especially shoes. I think I’ve got like 15 pairs of shoes.. maybe more. What I now need are bags. The kind of bag that Jaz uses for school would be nice. It’s got compartments, it’s roomy, it’s not too big, won’t break easily with use. She’s had that one for two years now and it’s still pretty much intact unlike most of my bags.

I think the sauna is ready now. So it’s one more time in there before I leave. ^-^

I keep having really strange dreams. Most of the time I can’t remember what they were about, I’m just left with a strange feeling. I do remember bits of last night’s dream though. I had gotten myself a shift at a shop that looked like Alepa but I’m a Prisma cashier… Anyway, it was like 3 a.m. when I reported for duty. I ran into Daniela in the changing room.. didn’t talk to her, just waved and I went to my register. Some little old lady had left her groceries next to my register the night before. So I took all of them back. Then I run into Anji and Steve. They tell me that they’re the supervising kassapäällikkös or something. I ask if my shift can be modified a bit and they said that they’ll see what they can work out. We run into Dave and we all sit down at the café. Then this really weird old guy joins us and starts blabbling about something random.. we all start to inch away. Then it suddenly switches to morning and I’m in my bed. I remember sitting up and thinking that that was a weird dream. Then I hear my parents walking into my “room” with my birthday cake. And then I really wake up. And again, I’m left with a strange feeling.

I’m so sore.. I went blueberry picking yesterday. You have to be some kind of acrobat to do it. I was there perching on different sized rocks, reaching as far as I could to get to all of the blueberries. They were huge. Loads of them too. And every time I switched position I could feel the muscles in my legs stretching. I guess I should’ve warmed up before I went there and stretched afterwards. So I’m paying the price for it today. Hurts to move. ;_;

Inga just gave me 20€. The reason? Apparently she thinks it’s so great that I want to repair my clothes instead of just throwing them out (I asked her to take a look at my pants and see if the hole in them could be patched up) so because she can’t do it right now, she gave me money to go buy myself a new pair. I don’t want a new pair. Those were just fine. The hole just needs to be patched up. That’s all. And since she won’t take the money back (believe me, I tried), we’re gonna split the amount that’s left after our expenses on Monday into three. Which would leave each of us with 1,40€. That’s not much.

Hmm.. maybe I should go pack my suitcase. I know I won’t be leaving for another 5 days, but it would be easier for me to see what clothes I can wear over here if the ones I’m taking with me aren’t in the way. At the same time I’ll go help Jaz look for her clothes in the yksiö.

Yup.. a quiz for your enjoyment. ^_^
Now let’s see if this works.. what I’m trying to do that is..

Air
You are 59% Extroverted and 52% Chaotic

Virtue - Air people possess the virtue of knowledge. This does not mean they are more intelligent than anyone else but are generally well rounded and informed. They are good communicators. Most have a good grasp of the language and generally know a little something about everything. They have good personalities and are easy to get to know.

Core - These are mentally inclined people. They actively acquire knowledge through experience, education and association. They are curious, have initiative, are original, generally are well-disciplined and are quick thinkers.

Nature - They rationalize by thinking things out rather than being influenced by emotional or physical factors. They enjoy any type of entertainment where they can use their intellectual capacity and their ability to think quickly and accurately often gives them the upper hand.

Drives - These people have a tendency to judge themselves very harshly. They have certain standards they set for themselves such as hygiene, the way they dress, education, job performance and family.

Vice - When angered, they resort to trickery. These people are crafty, under handed and ingenious when it comes to evil. They are also prone to physical violence. They carry a grudge, and they are quick to express their opinion and are very opinionated.

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 82% on Extroverted

You scored higher than 94% on Chaotic

Link: The Which Element Are You? Test written by daemongod81485 on Ok Cupid

There’s just something that I like about getting up before everyone else, drinking tea and hearing the rain come down. Calming.

Getting checks is a real pain here in Finland. Okay, so on Friday we went to Lahti to get some from Sampo. The girl we got looked like she had no clue what she was doing, jumping up from her seat all the time to go ask someone if they knew. Supposedly the person who handles checks was on vacation and no one knew how to do it. So we went to Nordea. There they knew what a check was (unlike the girl.. we even had to explain what a check looked like) and everything went fine. The only really annoying this is that since checks aren’t used in Finland, when you ask for one it’ll cost you 22,10 €! *rolls eyes* Okay, so if it would’ve only been one check that we needed, I’d still be okay with that. But silly UWA wants two separate checks. One as the acceptance fee and the other for the two extra nights of accommodation that I’ll need for the New Students Induction Weekend. In the end, we have the two checks and all of the papers can be mailed as soon as I find one more passport photo of myself. Mom said she might have some in the yksiö, but she won’t let me go look for them. So she’d better do it today or then we’re going to get the pics done in Helsinki tomorrow. The papers have to be mailed tomorrow. They need to be in Aberystwyth by Friday. So I’m taking no chances in case the mail gets to Wales slower than to England. Shouldn’t do, but still… you never know.

Going over to Krisi’s tomorrow. Before that I’m meeting Wind. Haven’t seen them since.. February? Wow, that’s ages. Probably should call Auri too.. ask if she has the time to meet up either tomorrow or Tuesday. Too bad I always have to lump these social thingies together. Can’t really space them out evenly. I’m leaving in about a week which means that I don’t have the opportunity to meet them later.

There’s sinilevä in Syväjärvi. ;_; So yesterday when we went swimming we had to go to.. erm, I don’t actually know the name of the lake where we were. But the water was great. So was the sand at the bottom of the lake. Way better than the stuff they have in Syväjärvi. It’s just too bad that it’s too far away to walk to. Syväjärvi is a nice walk away, but this one.. well, either bikes or then by car. Unless you’ve got the whole day or you’re some speed-walker, then walking is out of the question.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I have huge hands. And short fingers. I’ve just been looking at my hands and.. like I said, they’re huge. My hands are even bigger than Oliver’s.. which is kinda weird. It’s normal that they’re bigger than Krisi’s (since she is such a tiny cute person anyway, so it’d make sense that her hands are tiny and cute too). At least it runs in the family. Even Jade has big hands. Maybe it’s got something to do with the fact that Finns used to need to cut down trees to make their houses (I’m talking about before machines were invented) and holding the axe was easier when the hands were bigger. Got a better grip or something.

Meh, rambling again.. I’ll go get dressed now.

Lady
You scored 61 princessness!

You’re a fine lady who respects herself. You get a wild hair now and then. You care about other people, but you feel you’re entitled to be a little selfish now and then. You’re not quite Princess material, but you’re pretty darn close.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 11% on princessness

Link: The Princess Test written by refulgentone on Ok Cupid

Spelling Nazi
You scored 89 Spelling smarts!

Okay so you’ve either cheated, or you know all the vocabulary rules by now. “I before E, except after c.” bla bla bla. Great job. You know how to spell, and you might be a bit anal retentive about it too. Not a bad thing mind you, but I get picked on for it. Please give my test a high rating. I’m rooting for the average knowledge tests. So sick of the top notch University/I go to Yale/I play Rugby type guys who form their own “easy” knowledge tests. Screw them. Let’s face it people, we’re not all capable of brain surgery. Well, I’m not anyway.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 48% on Spelling smarts

Link: The Everyday Spelling Test written by charlifeathers on OkCupid Free Online Dating

And I’ve finished the fourth chapter. o/ Dunno if drinking two cups of Persian Earl Grey tea helped or not, but I’m still happy. I would’ve gotten it done earlier, but a certain someone keeps sending me text messages and interrupting my train of thought. At least it’s done now. No clue right now how I’ll continue it, but maybe it’ll come to me tomorrow. Or then the night after that..

Anywayz, I’ve bought my ticket to go back to England. Leaving on the 26th. Jaz is (most likely) taking the same plane with me and then spending the first night at Anji’s with us before going over to Piia’s… My ticket only cost 31,10 €. ^_^ That’s including all of the taxes, etc. I also got a letter from Aberystwyth today telling me which hall I’ll be staying in next year. It’ll be Rosser… en-suite bathroom! Don’t know does that include a shower as well or just a toilet. But either way, I’ll be happy. Sure it’s like £200 more expensive than the other rooms, but no sharing. It’ll be nice having my own bathroom. And one of the pieces of paper said that there’ll be a vacuum cleaner on each floor so no more waiting around for a cleaner to come over. I get to vacuum! o/

Okay, going to bed now. Suddenly I’m all drained…

*yawn* I really should go to sleep. It’s just nice being up all by myself, having me time. Haven’t had much of that lately. It’s just so cramped around here. Seven people living together… soon it’ll be eight when my uncle gets back from my other uncle’s summer cottage. Good news though, I won’t have to put up with it for too long. Going back to Rotherham in two weeks! o/ Haven’t actually bought my ticket yet, but I’ll do it tomorrow. It was a bit too late to go over to the room with the comp when Dad finally agreed to let me go. More good news, my grandfather got out of the hospital a few days ago. ^_^ Still no clue what made his feet and knees retain loads of water but at least he’s back here. He said he’d like to come swimming with us, but the doctors told him to rest at least a week more before he’s up and about. Speaking about swimming, went to the lake today. Don’t know how but I managed to burn my face and left shoulder. Now why it’s just the left one and not the right one, I have no clue. I read for about 10 minutes before I went into the water.. I can’t burn that easily, can I? ;_;

I’ve decided that I like rum. I just had a cranberry Bacardi Breezer. The pineapple is nice too. Had to drink it by myself this late because of my grandparents. They think that people who drink any kind of alcohol are good-for-nothing drunks. They don’t even approve of having wine with dinner. Coffee is also a no-no. At least they’ve got tea here. I really like the herbal stuff they’ve got.

I’ve written four more sentences to OA. Go me. *sigh* I just can’t seem to figure out what comes next in it. I don’t know how to get to the evening part of the first day. But at least I’ve already got 8 pages worth of text. That’s in total, not just the fourth chapter. XP I just really want to finish the fourth chapter before I leave. I know that when I get over to Oliver’s I won’t have the time or discipline to actually write anything. I’ll be glad if I can even be bothered to update this. Maybe I’ll be more consistent with my updates when I get to Aberystwyth. I got a letter from them today. Said that the Fresher’s Weekend is the 24th-25th of September. The term starts on the 26th… I wonder how I’m gonna get all of my stuff there. The best way would be with a car but that might not be a possibility. Worst case scenario is that I go there straight from Rotherham on my own. O_O Not something I’d like to do, but if it’s my only option then do it I shall. That’d just mean that I wouldn’t get all of the clothes (among other things) to my room immediately. Like my new shoes. Yes, I’ve bought yet another pair. These are purple-y pink round toed two inch heels. I have a shirt that is pretty close to their colour, but surprise surprise, it’s in storage in Belgium. And how would I get all of my winter clothes there? It snows in Aberystwyth! Not much, at least I don’t it does, but I’ve seen pictures of the place when there’s snow on the ground. Pretty, but it means I need my winter coat and proper shoes and… mih. ;_;