Not much has really happened since my last post. Or then I’ve just got a really bad memory. Either way, there won’t be much text this time.

Right now I’m in England again. Got here a little over a week ago. Haven’t done much. But then again, I never do much when I’m here. XP On Monday is Oliver’s graduation (the reason for my presence here), which means that we’re going back to London on Sunday. I’m going back to Finland on Tuesday. *sniffle* But hey, it’s been a good three weeks when I leave. It’s just annoying that we have to spend six weeks apart before we can see each other again. He was supposed to come over to Finland for my birthday, but since RyanAir doesn’t do cheap tickets during the holidays, he can’t afford to come. That just means that I’ll be coming over here in AUgust again. I’ll most likely have to pay for it myself but that’s what I’ve done before too. Nothing new there. I wonder if I still remember how to use the register if I can get myself a couple of shifts after our trip to Dubai. I’d also need to be somewhere in the Espoo-Vantaa-Helsinki area if I want to work. Well, we’ll see. I actually kinda liked working. Okay, so the actual work wasn’t that exciting, but I sure did like the paycheck. *grin*

One thing I learned while Oliver was in Brussels was that there are bats in the parks. Did anyone else know that? We found a “bat roundabout” in Parc Josaphat. It looked like some of the bats were drunk; their flight patterns were so random. And hedgehogs are really noisy too! And kinda oblivious to humans until we’re blocking their path. Maybe they’re deaf or something…

I’m getting a new tooth. Wisdom tooth I think. Really hurts, because I keep biting my cheek accidentally. So now there’s this big gash.. ;_;

We met some Mormons a few days before we left Brussels. According to Oliver they were exactly the things you don’t like about Americans, i.e. loud. And I agree with him on that point. Sister Robins is loud. Especially when you consider the size of her. She’s tiny! And everything they learned about us they thought was great. That got to be a bit annoying. But in the end, I still liked them. I wound up giving them my e-mail address and Ellu’s address. When they heard that Tom was from Salt Lake City (at least I think he’s from there), they wanted to contact them. I guess I should tell Ellu about them. ^^;;

I like living on my own. Or at least when I do all of the food shopping and cooking. That way I get to decide what kind of food I eat. And it looks like that has paid off. If the scales I’ve been using are correct, I’ve lost 6,5kg in the last four months. o/ And I haven’t even had to cut off chocolate. It really helps to just drink water. At first we had iced tea as well, but we figured it’d be more economical to drink just water (half the price for the same amount). So all in all, I didn’t try to put Jaz or myself on a diet, we just slowly cut out the unhealthy stuff and replaced it with nice healthy stuff. Like the Vitalinea 0% fat yoghurt. That stuff is great. And I didn’t even notice a taste difference until we decided to splurge on some cake yoghurt. Sure the Nestle stuff was really nice, but I think I prefer the Vitalinea. Somehow less icky. One thing I have noticed now that I’ve been in Belgium again, is that they don’t have skimmed milk. None of the brands do. They have whole and semi-skimmed. No skimmed. o.O

Not much has really happened since my last post. Or then I’ve just got a really bad memory. Either way, there won’t be much text this time.

Right now I’m in England again. Got here a little over a week ago. Haven’t done much. But then again, I never do much when I’m here. XP On Monday is Oliver’s graduation (the reason for my presence here), which means that we’re going back to London on Sunday. I’m going back to Finland on Tuesday. sniffle But hey, it’s been a good three weeks when I leave. It’s just annoying that we have to spend six weeks apart before we can see each other again. He was supposed to come over to Finland for my birthday, but since RyanAir doesn’t do cheap tickets during the holidays, he can’t afford to come. That just means that I’ll be coming over here in AUgust again. I’ll most likely have to pay for it myself but that’s what I’ve done before too. Nothing new there. I wonder if I still remember how to use the register if I can get myself a couple of shifts after our trip to Dubai. I’d also need to be somewhere in the Espoo-Vantaa-Helsinki area if I want to work. Well, we’ll see. I actually kinda liked working. Okay, so the actual work wasn’t that exciting, but I sure did like the paycheck. grin

One thing I learned while Oliver was in Brussels was that there are bats in the parks. Did anyone else know that? We found a “bat roundabout” in Parc Josaphat. It looked like some of the bats were drunk; their flight patterns were so random. And hedgehogs are really noisy too! And kinda oblivious to humans until we’re blocking their path. Maybe they’re deaf or something…

I’m getting a new tooth. Wisdom tooth I think. Really hurts, because I keep biting my cheek accidentally. So now there’s this big gash.. ;_;

We met some Mormons a few days before we left Brussels. According to Oliver they were exactly the things you don’t like about Americans, i.e. loud. And I agree with him on that point. Sister Robins is loud. Especially when you consider the size of her. She’s tiny! And everything they learned about us they thought was great. That got to be a bit annoying. But in the end, I still liked them. I wound up giving them my e-mail address and Ellu’s address. When they heard that Tom was from Salt Lake City (at least I think he’s from there), they wanted to contact them. I guess I should tell Ellu about them. ^^;;

I like living on my own. Or at least when I do all of the food shopping and cooking. That way I get to decide what kind of food I eat. And it looks like that has paid off. If the scales I’ve been using are correct, I’ve lost 6,5kg in the last four months. \o/ And I haven’t even had to cut off chocolate. It really helps to just drink water. At first we had iced tea as well, but we figured it’d be more economical to drink just water (half the price for the same amount). So all in all, I didn’t try to put Jaz or myself on a diet, we just slowly cut out the unhealthy stuff and replaced it with nice healthy stuff. Like the Vitalinea 0% fat yoghurt. That stuff is great. And I didn’t even notice a taste difference until we decided to splurge on some cake yoghurt. Sure the Nestle stuff was really nice, but I think I prefer the Vitalinea. Somehow less icky. One thing I have noticed now that I’ve been in Belgium again, is that they don’t have skimmed milk. None of the brands do. They have whole and semi-skimmed. No skimmed. o.O

I’m so happy with myself right now. I’ve finished the second and third chapters to “Opposites Attract”. Haven’t started the fourth chapter yet, but hopefully this motivation streak will continue during the weekend. ^_^

The cleaner came today! o/ I had given up hope that anyone would come this week. I was geared up to go over to the BBF office and let them know that they’re not living up to the once every two weeks cleaning they promised. Now all I have to tell them is that no one has come to change the lamps even though I had called two weeks ago and the man on the phone promised me someone would come that day or the next. *sigh* Ah well. Otherwise I wouldn’t bother about two light bulbs, since I’m leaving in 2½ weeks but I’m going to pay the rent so I might as well tell them while I’m there. Won’t cost me anything. XP

Yesterday Dad told me that they had sent us “only” 1000€. A little over half of it is going for the rent, but that’s like 450€ for us. O.O Then he apologized that they couldn’t send us anymore (like we’d need any more! 200€ would’ve been enough to give to Jaz when she goes to London for food and train tix, etc.), but the rest of the money they had managed to get together is going to pay for Jade’s throat surgery. When I heard that, I was like: “What?! What’s wrong with her?” But it turns out that it’s only her tonsils. She had been complaining about them for about 6 months now, so it’s a good thing they’re getting it sorted out. Jaz had the same reaction as I did when I told her that Jade’s going to be operated on. She didn’t get over it as quickly as I did though. Then she began saying how scared Jade’ll be because she can’t talk because it hurts which’ll make her cry, then the crying will hurt her throat even more. Well, I guess Jaz should know. She’s had her tonsils taken out. I haven’t. But we’ll get to talk to her on MSN tonight. ^-^ Dad said that she might be a bit late because they’re seeing the doctor today, but she’ll be online before we leave. :)

I have no idea how we’re going to get all of our stuff to fit into the suitcases we have. I just might be able to fit my stuff into my suitcase and backpack if I carry my winter coat on my arm instead of packing it into the suitcase. It’s Jaz’s things I’m worried about. There’s just so much stuff! Art supplies, clothes, school papers… *rolls eyes* In a way I’m glad that I’ve managed to live for months with stuff that’ll fit into just one medium-sized suitcase. Makes packing easy. XD

I’ve changed my mind. I am going to continue the “Wait” story, only change the names and title. So the first chapter will still be named “The Wait” but the whole story’s title is gonna be something different. Not sure what exactly, but I’ll come up with something. Feeling very inclined to write now. I certainly was so last night. ^-^

It’s a wonder my legs haven’t begun complaining at me. Yesterday I had to go buy paper plates, napkins, white acrylic paint and fixative for Jaz. So I basically hiked from Schaerbeek to Evere, from Evere to Woluwe-St-Lambert and then back to Schaerbeek. rolls eyes God it was a long walk. Luckily it wasn’t raining, otherwise I would’ve protested. On my way from Carrefour to the mall, a man stopped me and asked where Rue de Colonel Bourg was. On any other given day I wouldn’t have had a clue, but since I had just consulted the bus map (I was following bus stops to find my way to the mall from Carrefour), I incidentally was heading for that street as well. The poor man was going in the opposite direction of where he was supposed to go. I told him to turn around and keep going straight until he comes to it. I continued on walking and after about 10 minutes, he showed up beside me again and gestured that should he keep going straight. I nodded, he waved thanks and went on his way. It’s so nice being able to help someone find something. :) Then, when I went to get Jaz from school, I noticed a man staring at me from his car going the opposite direction. The reason why I noticed him was because of his music. It was on so loud that even I could hear it through my headphones. I keep on walking but the guy turns his car around at the roundabout and drives past me grinning at me the whole time. I ignore him, but he turns around at the next roundabout (yes, there are at least 3 roundabouts on the way to VF) and drives past again, grinning the whole time! After this happens like 2 more times, I’m getting a bit freaked. So when he drives past me as I’m crossing the street, I let him go on to the next roundabout while I turn right and take an alternate route to VF. Didn’t see him after that. ^^;; Sure, I like getting attention (who doesn’t?) but sometimes when I’m walking alone it’s just creepy how some guys/men start following me. They should take some lessons from the ones who just say hi and wait for an answer. They’re polite. And usually somewhat cute. grin These followers are almost never cute or good-looking. They’re just creepy. shudders

Only a week and a half to go! ^_^

I’ve changed my mind. I am going to continue the “Wait” story, only change the names and title. So the first chapter will still be named “The Wait” but the whole story’s title is gonna be something different. Not sure what exactly, but I’ll come up with something. Feeling very inclined to write now. I certainly was so last night. ^-^

It’s a wonder my legs haven’t begun complaining at me. Yesterday I had to go buy paper plates, napkins, white acrylic paint and fixative for Jaz. So I basically hiked from Schaerbeek to Evere, from Evere to Woluwe-St-Lambert and then back to Schaerbeek. *rolls eyes* God it was a long walk. Luckily it wasn’t raining, otherwise I would’ve protested. On my way from Carrefour to the mall, a man stopped me and asked where Rue de Colonel Bourg was. On any other given day I wouldn’t have had a clue, but since I had just consulted the bus map (I was following bus stops to find my way to the mall from Carrefour), I incidentally was heading for that street as well. The poor man was going in the opposite direction of where he was supposed to go. I told him to turn around and keep going straight until he comes to it. I continued on walking and after about 10 minutes, he showed up beside me again and gestured that should he keep going straight. I nodded, he waved thanks and went on his way. It’s so nice being able to help someone find something. :) Then, when I went to get Jaz from school, I noticed a man staring at me from his car going the opposite direction. The reason why I noticed him was because of his music. It was on so loud that even I could hear it through my headphones. I keep on walking but the guy turns his car around at the roundabout and drives past me grinning at me the whole time. I ignore him, but he turns around at the next roundabout (yes, there are at least 3 roundabouts on the way to VF) and drives past again, grinning the whole time! After this happens like 2 more times, I’m getting a bit freaked. So when he drives past me as I’m crossing the street, I let him go on to the next roundabout while I turn right and take an alternate route to VF. Didn’t see him after that. ^^;; Sure, I like getting attention (who doesn’t?) but sometimes when I’m walking alone it’s just creepy how some guys/men start following me. They should take some lessons from the ones who just say hi and wait for an answer. They’re polite. And usually somewhat cute. *grin* These followers are almost never cute or good-looking. They’re just creepy. *shudders*

Only a week and a half to go! ^_^

Haven’t done much today; went to the store, did some laundry, tidied up, wrote something. grin And I finished it. Only took me two hours. Y’see, I got a review for something I had written ages ago, and that gave me the boost I needed to actually write something again. So I just sat down, began writing and voilà! “The Wait” awaits comments at http://www.fictionpress.com/read.php?storyid=1926096. It felt so good to write again. I’ll probably write something new later tonight. If I’m still feeling creative then. It’s funny how I get these urges to write. When I actually want to write, I sit and churn out something in a few hours. Then nothing for a few months. Hopefully I’ll be inspired enough next year to write more than once every four months, seeing as I’m majoring in Creative Writing. ^^;;

Urgh. This mess annoys me. Maybe I should tidy up this place a bit. The kitchen and my bed corner are relatively neat, it’s just this living room/Jaz’s art space/Jaz’s sleeping area that’s a mess. Can’t really blame her though. This apartment is way too small for us two. Especially since she needs to paint and needs space to keep her art things in order but still easily accessible. I just hope she won’t kill me for rearranging her things so that they actually fit into the small dresser that we have instead of lying around on the floor. The bit that really bugs me, is the lack of a vaccuum cleaner. I’d really like to clean this floor. They’re nuts at BBF if they think that the floor won’t get disgusting in just a week. rolls eyes At least I’ll be able to leave this place in just three weeks. ^-^

Yesterday I was looking at sites that tell about Aberystwyth. It’s a really small place. Very pretty with the sea and the hills, but still quite small. Apparently, there isn’t much to do around there on Sundays. But hey, it has a castle! Well, castle ruins. When Aberystwyth wasn’t an important strategic place anymore, no one bothered to repair the fortress. I think this happened in 1409 or something. I’ll look it up again today when we go online.

Hmm.. I hope it’ll stop raining when I go make photocopies for Jaz and pick her up from school. No fun walking in the rain. pout It was raining when I went to the store this morning. Very annoying lines. But then a new till opened and the man that got it before I did was kind enough to let me go first. I only had a basket of stuff while he and his family had two shopping carts. :)

yawn I’m so sleepy. Maybe I shouldn’t stay up late as often as I do. I just loooove getting up early in the morning. And I love staying up late because that’s when inspiration hits me. Usually.

The weather today has been so great. Sitting outside in the park for a few hours today was nice. Until the little kiddies came out. I was fine with the high school kids coming out to the park to spend their lunch break out in the sunshine. But the little kiddies.. rolls eyes They scream, they run around, they kick balls that fly right next to my head, their teacher yells at them while she’s standing right next to me. Urgh. Remind to never become an elementary school teacher. But, like every summer, I don’t put on sunblock and I burn. My shoulders are lobster red. Luckily my face isn’t as bad. So on Saturday when I go to Carrefour, I’m buying sunblock and shampoo. They had this special offer of buy 2 get 1 free on Timotei shampoos. Total cost would be around 5€. The reason why I’m gonna get three for me and three for Jaz is because we know that our mom won’t buy brandnames. And we prefer quality over quantity. So if a penny pincher like me is willing to buy it, it’s good stuff. At least their chamomile shampoo has lightened my hair a bit. Not as good as the John Frieda stuff that I got from Ellu, but still works.

I’m watching the movie about Elizabeth Smart. She was surrounded by some really nutty people. And the police weren’t that nice.. at least they’re not portrayed that way in the movie. I don’t know if that’s what really happened, it might be just how the Smarts perceived it. I’ll probably spend tomorrow’s online time looking up stuff on this.

Jaz had a funny reaction when I told her that I’m not buying anymore chocolate. Jaz: looks at the chocolate Can I have the rest? Me: Yes. Jaz: Really? grin Me: Yes. Jaz: Yay! picks up one bar and it flies up and then falls onto the floor Ooh. That’s a sign.

I’ve just spent 1½ hrs walking around Scaerbeek and Evere. I was looking for Brico, which I could’ve sworn that I saw the first day I came here. But now it’s disappeared! sniffle Ah well, I’ll go look for it again tomorrow. I did find some of the stuff that Jaz wanted from Carrefour. Hope she’s happy with it.

I love pencils. grin Last night I decided to use a pencil instead of a pen when I wrote into my diary. There’s just something that’s so nice about the sound it makes when it scratches the paper. The only downer is that I need to sharpen often. I guess I just write a lot. But! I do have a sharpener. All new too. :) I also love buying new notebooks and pens and markers and… Basically I love going shopping in the fall for school.

Yesterday I got the urge to paint. Didn’t actually achieve anything. But it was fun mixing colors. Got bored with it after 30 mins though. I’m not much of a painter. I prefer to draw with pencils. And color with markers and crayons! I really really liked the coloring books that Ellu has. And the markers she brought with her when she came to Finland. Maybe someday I’ll get the urge to write something soon. Dunno. It’s been ages. I just can’t seem to find any inspiration to write. I just stare at the blank screen and then after about five minutes I give up and either play Sims or Spider-solitaire. I really should try to write something. Just to see if I still can. I think the last time I wrote something was 1½ yrs ago. O.O;; No wait, I did write a poem about a year ago. Still.. has been a long time. But that’s what happens when life interferes with my imagination. XP

Only 19 nights to go. ^_^ And as soon as Oliver knows his seat number, I’m gonna go buy my ticket and ask if I can sit next to him. Or at the very least near him so we can see if someone would be kind enough to change places with one of us.

Yesterday Jaz and I spent the afternoon with Alex. The Av. de Tervueren was celebrating it’s 175th anniversary or something. A real festival/market atmosphere. Otherwise it was fun, but way too crowded. I don’t like huge groups of people. They just annoy me for some reason. Oh! Jaz said the funniest thing when we got back to Alex’s place. His mom said that we can call our parents and tell them that we’ll be a bit late (we said that we have to be back by 6 pm). Jaz replied: “Oh no, we don’t have parents.” His mother looked a bit shocked. She then did elaborate that we do have parents but they’re not here with us in Belgium. That it’s just us by our twosies. I also got to borrow “Horrible Histories: The Frightful First World War and the Woeful Second World War” from Alex. So I finally have something new to read. Reading “Size Matters” again was getting kinda boring. It was an okay book the first time, but reading it so soon after I had first read it… meh. What I really want to read again are our V.C. Andrews books.

In exactly three weeks, Oliver’ll be here. ^_^ Yeah, so I spoke with Dad and he said that I can go buy my ticket when I feel like it. I’m not buying a return. Because, well, I don’t know where I’ll be returning to. Will it be here or will it be Finland? We don’t know yet. But he’s willing to pay the little extra it might cost not to buy a return ticket now. So it’s all good. He’ll be arriving here on the 11th on the 22:10 train and the two of us will leave on the 21st on the 17:56 train. Three weeks of waiting will follow at least three and a half weeks of joy. grin

Why is one of my boobs bigger than the other? I know it’s common, but if I want them to look the same size, I need to use padding. And even then there’s still a bit more space on one side while the other cup is filled without padding! Annoying…

Maybe it was a mistake to say that men are idiots, even the wonderful ones. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings. Now that I think about it, I can’t remember a single thing Oliver has done that I’d class as being idiotic. It’s been mainly silly things, like not rinsing dishes after washing them with soap. Nothing that has been really not-so-smart to do or really hurt me. So what I’m trying to say, is that this is a sort of retraction. Not all men are idiots. Everyone has the ability, there are just some who decide not to use it.

This movie is pretty good. “Helen of Troy”. All of the costumes are nice and I quite like some of the names they have. Persephone is nice. :) They know how to style their hair too.

I don’t like being on webcam. Makes me self-concious. Although using it today wasn’t that bad. It made Oliver happy. And I got to show off my low cut dress. grin Ooooh! Speaking about that dress, it got looks! Some honked, but mainly they just stared. Some jaws dropped. Jaz said it was nice to have them stare at me for a change. XD

Dad’s on my case about driving again. I’ll get to it eventually. I’ve been studying the theory and I’ve decided that if the first time I don’t pass the exam in French, I’ll take it again in English or Finnish. It is possible, y’know. But if I take it in French then it’ll only cost like 20€. If not, then it’ll be 50€ extra for the translator. Aaaanyway, he wants me to start taking my driving lessons. But I can’t start them before I get the money to pay for them. So that’s all it takes. He thought that I’d need to pass the theory exam first, but I can do both at the same time. Now I just have to find out where the test center is… There’s an Autoécole Escam on the way to VF. I’ll stop by there and ask on Monday. If I remember that is.. But if I don’t get my license before I go to Aberystwyth, it’s not the end of the world. For me anyway. Like I said, I’ll get it eventually.

My throat feels a bit sore. I hope I’m not becoming sick. I don’t like being sick. :-S

1) Total number of movies/dvd that I own: Erm.. a whole lot. But they’re all in storage so I can’t go count. XP Maybe around 60?

2) Last movie I bought: Let’s see.. it’s been ages.. but maybe Bruce Almighty? It was a present for my mom though..

3) Last film I watched: This one’s easy. The American President.

4) Five films I watch a lot or mean something to me: Okies, Gone With the Wind because.. I just love it. Something about it that’s just great. Last of the Mohicans because of Daniel Day-Lewis (so hot! drool). Pirates of the Caribbean. Cry Baby. My Big Fat Greek Wedding (reminds me of my family somewhat..).

Tag 5 people and have them put this in their journal: bxl1040 galaxiaguy fairdoodles riisimaria lunareklipze

And then: Spell out your name & see what it means!

J - Jealousy U - You feel like you have to equal up to people’s standards. L - Love is something you deeply believe in. I - You are always smiling & making others smile. A - You can be very quiet when you have something on your mind.

Okies.. sounds fair enough. Anyone disagree?

And if you want to see what your name means… A - You can be very quiet when you have something on your mind. B - You are always cautious when it comes to meeting new people. C - You definitely have a partier side in you, dont be shy to show it. D - You have trouble trusting people. E - You are a very exciting person. F - Everyone loves you. G - You have excellent ways of viewing people. H - You are not judgemental. I - You are always smiling & making others smile. J - Jealousy. K - You like to try new things. L - Love is something you deeply believe in. M - Success comes easily to you. N - You like to work, but you always want a break. O - You are very open-minded. P - You are very friendly and understanding. Q - You are a hypocrite. R - You are a social butterfly. S - You are very broad-minded. T - You have an attitude, a big one. U - You feel like you have to equal up to people’s standards. V - You have a very good physical and looks. W -You like your privacy. X - You never let people tell you what to do. Y - You cause a lot of trouble.