Decision time

Well hello there. How are you?

Things have happened. I went to Manchester. It was great. Then today I got offered two jobs. They are very different and I have to make a decision. I'm now sitting on a train somewhere between Manchester and Edinburgh thinking about my options.

Job A sounds very exciting, but means that I would have to move away. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time, but doesn't have a very good salary.

Job B probably has better salary and I wouldn't have to move. I would also get experience in the field I needed.

But the job I needed the experience for is basically job A. So now I need to decide whether I want to jump straight into it or whether I postpone it and take the other job. That job is not bad either, I've applied for it several times before.

Jumps to unknown are easier to do when it doesn't mean a long-distance relationship.

Any advice or words of wisdom?

Terrible Valentine's Day cards

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! ♥

I had a great plan to write a post about my frustration with Valentine's Day cards and also to provide you with some advice on how to by a reasonable card. Unfortunately I'm a bit late for that. In case you failed at it though, I hope this post will help you understand why you got dumped.

As you know, today is Valentine's Day. In Finland we call it "Friend's Day" which is really a day UK should have too. But as awful as Valentine's Day is with it's cheesiness, it's a good excuse for people to let the person in their day dreams know that there are some pheromones flying around. And for those who already have caught that lovely person, it's a good day to remind them that they are still appreciated.

In order to prepare for this pink and fluffy day, I decided to buy a Valentine's Day card.

If you have any arts and crafts skills, I recommend you just make one yourself. But because I'm not very artsy-crafty, I had to go with what they sell in the shops.

It was kind of easy because all the other girls were buzzing around the "boyfriend"-shelf, and I got the whole "girlfriend"-shelf for myself. There were no men in any of the card shops I visited. Maybe they all buy Asda smart price cards?

It's not that bad a choice really. Compared to what these shops had to offer.

You felt forced to buy a card? Then this one is a great buy to ensure that you'll no longer have a girlfriend to buy cards for.

Panic and learn!

Hello!

I've been considering posting a video of myself talking English, but before I do that I thought I'd tell you how I learned English. I've briefly mentioned about my language learning techniques before, but never in much detail. So I thought I'd tell you know how I learned English.

I hope this post will be inspiring for those who feel they aren't very good at languages. You don't have to be good at languages to be able to speak them. You just have to forget that you can't do it and go and talk to some people who speak the language you're trying to learn. Or that's what I did anyway.

Scottish gear.

School

My Finnish school tried to teach me English since I was 7. I was very good at school – in everything except English. English was the one subject that I was always failing at. I was very worried that I would have to repeat a year, because I couldn't pass in English. I always managed to pass it somehow though. Occasionally, maybe out of pity.

On seventh grade, when I was 12, I started learning Swedish. A year after that I started learning French. And a year after that something meaningful happened. One of the girls in my school asked me to do her English homework because she hadn't done it and didn't have time to do everything before her class. I told her that I couldn't do it because I don't know any English (I was still just barely passing my English classes). But I tried anyway, and after her class she thanked me because I had filled in her exercises correctly. That's when I realised that I had actually started learning English. 

I believe that learning Swedish and French had helped me a lot. I had always wanted to learn languages and because I hadn't learned English I had chosen other languages that I thought might be easier and really put some effort into learning them. But turns out that learning one language really helps you learn another. Once you learn how languages work, it will be easier to understand a language.

I took part in a Nordic exchange program and hosted a Danish boy while I was at school.

Languages are not just sets of words tied together with different grammar rules. Language is something that people use to communicate with each other. Language is a tool for expressing yourself. Language is a frame for our thoughts. There are things you can't translate from one language to another. You need to understand things about the culture in order to learn a language properly. You can't know every word in any language. And you don't have to speak grammatically correctly in order to get understood.

Language exchanges

Although I wasn't good at languages, I always really wanted to travel and see the world. There are so many organisations that offer language exchanges for teenagers. My family never travelled abroad on holidays so the language exchange organisations offered me opportunities to travel and see the world on my own. And I probably got a better deal, because it gives you a better chance to learn about foreign cultures and to use the language if you live in a host family, than if you just stay in a tourist hotel with your own family.

Sweden

When I was 14 I travelled to Sweden, because although I had been studying Swedish for a lot shorter time than English, I felt that my Swedish was stronger than my English. I was incredibly scared to travel to a foreign country alone and to live with a family I had never met before. I was there for 2 weeks. My job was to work at a farm and to experience what Sweden is like. There were 8 Nordic kids there, 2 from each country. I met wonderful people there and apparently somehow managed to communicate with the others. I can remember things we've spoken about but can't even remember what language I used or how on earth I was able to talk about those things.

Photo from Jokar.se.

England

When I was 16, I wanted to become an exchange student and go to New Zealand. It, however, was too expensive for my family. Instead I got a chance to go on a language course in Oxford, England! Originally I was meant to go with a friend, but then she wasn't able to go. But because it is so easy to make new friends on language courses I went alone. And to be honest, I think it's better that I went alone. Maybe if I had had a friend with me I wouldn't have been so open and willing to get to know people. Language-wise the trip maybe wasn't the most useful because almost all the people I made friends with were Finns. But for my self-confidence this trip made a huge difference. For the first time I had a chance to meet new people who didn't know anything about me. No rumours, no gossip, no worries that someone might judge them if they talked to me. I made friends. It was incredible. I loved the people I met and I loved Oxford. And I wanted to return to UK one day.

So much love.

Denmark and Germany

When I was 17 I did a couple of youth exchanges in a row. I spent a week in Denmark and then one month in Germany. I spoke English with Danish and German people and we managed to communicate with each other. That's the whole purpose of a language. I also learned to understand German!

Time for making future plans

When I was 18, I graduated from upper secondary school (high school / reading school / whateveryouwannacallit school). It was time to figure out what I wanted to do next.

Big secret: I had no idea what I wanted to do next.


I had great dreams of becoming an air hostess or a lorry driver or anything to do with travel. But Finnair stated that you must be 22 before you can start training. I considered joining the army and getting all sorts of driving licenses there (because it would be just cool to drive a tank, right?). I phoned the Finnish Defence Forces and asked for a leaflet. I considered that I might need a realistic back-up plan though, and considered applying to Kuopio where I could study to become a sign language interpreter.

Army lorries from Yle.fi.

There was this Fayre about all sorts of universities and future careers in Helsinki that my school "forced" me to attend where I stumbled upon a stall labelled "Scottish Universities". That sounded fun! I had never really thought about Scotland possibly being a real country. To me it had been some sort of fairytale land. You know, Loch Ness Monster, bagpipes and kilts? When I realised that it was a real place, I thought it might be a fun idea to apply there.

Without actually believing in my chances of getting into a Scottish University, I also applied to a college near my hometown where I could study acting in English. I had decided that I would go back to UK and study there, but knew that I would have to improve my English. I got accepted to that college and I was happy.

Then, I got an acceptance letter from a Scottish University, and was ... shocked? I figured that I would of course go and do my best at studying there, and see how long they let me stay before they kick me out. I said bye bye to my army plans and asked my dad to book my plane tickets. (He didn't quite realise what was happening because still two weeks before the university started, he was under the assumption that I was going to go and study at the college near my hometown.)

Scotland and its piper girls and Nessie spotting.

Panicky learning

After I knew I only had a couple of months to properly learn English, I did the most sensible thing I could do. I practised English by reading Harry Potters. I watched a lot of TV series. I started with Friends. First, I had subtitles in Finnish and really tried to listen to what they said. The language they use was fairly easy to understand, so when I thought I was almost ready to let the Finnish subtitles go, I changed them to English. It was easier to follow the dialogue when I could read what they were saying and I didn't have to rely on catching every word. And when I was able to follow what was happening, I turned the subtitles off completely. And was happy to notice that I still could understand what was happening.

After I ran out of Friends, I chose a more difficult TV series: Gilmore Girls. It's brilliant, but they speak really fast. And a lot. I used the same 3 step subtitle technique. I really recommend it if you need to learn a language! When you have a long enough TV series to follow, you will get to know all the characters and start to understand them. It's like going on an exchange program and making new friends, except you don't have to go anywhere. But you will learn the language.

1. Choose an enjoyable TV series and watch it with subtitles in your own language while listening to what the characters say in their language.
2. When you're used to listening to their speech, change the subtitles into their language.
3. When you can pick out all the words, turn off the subtitles.

Obviously this technique only works, if you have some background knowledge on the language. But when you're desperate and really out of practise it does help.

I learned such useful phrases.

Scotland

So what happened to me after I trained myself to understand English by watching American TV series?

Well, I had learned to understand spoken English. I didn't need long to adapt for most accents I heard when I arrived. I lived in halls and there was a cleaner whose Doric accent was hard to understand. And so was my future flatmate's Geordie accent. But my accent was the hardest thing for people to understand. I had a strong monotonic Finnish accent. And Gilmore Girls had taught me to speak really fast. I have a feeling that hardly anyone understood me for the first 6 months. Apart from some foreign people. 

I spent my first year mostly socialising with French, Polish and German people. It was easier to speak with people who weren't native speakers. And we learnt to understand each other although our language skills weren't perfect.

But I survived. And after this experience I would recommend everyone who is trying to learn a language to visit a country where they speak that language.

So, um. Would you like to hear what I sound like these days?

Studenty challenges and tips!

Some people think that students are just lazy nocturnal creatures who don't need to do much apart from lying around all the time. Especially arts students who rarely have classes to go to. Because I have years of experience of what student life actually is like, I decided to write this blog post to show some of the challenges I've had to face during this past week. It's shocking how hard life can sometimes be for students. And because some of you are students and already understand what your life is like I have an added bonus at the end of this post where I will provide you with fun decoration tips that will make your flat look more student-like.

This week

There are a few essential things in life. The most important one is food. Students love food - especially free food. There's this wonderful pub called Korova in town. Before, I've only ever ended up there when I've been fairly drunk - occasionally too drunk for them to let me in. But last Wednesday we had a little flat outing and went there when they were serving free food. It obviously was mostly just a trick to get students in so that they would buy drinks. This assumption was confirmed when we walked to the bar to ask about the food and the rude lady behind the bar told us that "it's not free", and that we "have to buy drinks first". Well, we did that, and got a plate full of pub food. Not bad for less than £2.

You can't get free food everyday though, and sometimes you have to cook. Cooking is not easy though.

Kata experienced a pea attack.

Frozen peas especially are not easy to deal with. Sometimes they jump on you when you open the freezer. And then there's peas all over the floor - and that's a safety hazard.

Peas where they should be.

If you survive to cooking procedure, you get to eat homecooked food which unsurprisingly tastes a lot better than free pub food. But student life challenges don't end there. Sometimes after a meal you want something sweet. But student fridges are funny places.

Hygiene+ has kidnapped my Swiss chocolate!

My chocolate has frozen to the back wall of my fridge. Is it trying to ensure that I really want to eat the chocolate? Anyhow, it's very inconvenient.

The next thing is not really an inconvenience but it's a thing that students don't tend to do. 

Ironing.

Poor Pikachu.

I had to iron this week. Turned out that the Pikachu costume I ordered online was vacuum packaged and if I had worn it without ironing I would have looked like a very wrinkled Pikachu.

See, hard life isn't it?

Okay, now for the  awesome home decorating tips! 

Keeping boobs close to heart

Two days ago I got really excited about a new bra I found online! In this blog post I will tell you why a piece of underwear made me so excited. So bra-talk coming up! I've meant to write about this topic for a long time, but have always decided not to. Last time I posted about bras online it got judged by a group of my classmates as "fucking stupid".

But today, I decided not to care about my fears and people who judge talking about these things as "too personal". This is actually a fairly important topic because for many people this particular piece of clothing might be the most important part of their outfit. It prevents unnecessary pain, allows us to move smoothly, makes us feel more confident, and some of them can be really pretty too. In this blog post I will provide some bra-fitting advice and explain how the sizing works, which might help some of you, if you're struggling to find comfortable bras.

If you are over-sensitive about this topic, you might want to skip this blog post. Or if you really must, you're welcome to leave an angry comment.

Made in Preston Blog.

So, the other day, I was online and noticed a link to Made in Preston's website on Thin and Curvy blog's Facebook page. Made in Preston is an UK store that makes "fitted fashion for bigger boobs". They sell tops, dresses, swimming costumes and underwear. They have three different shapes of all their clothes to fit different size boobs. That's really brilliant! And they make bras in 26-back size! Now they only have two different styles available: Winter Punk Lace and Winter Brights. They make both styles from 26DD to 26J (and up to 38GG, but that's not the big news here).

Why do I think this is great news? Because I have never seen bras in 26 back size sold anywhere. And I've often wished they'd make it when I've had to leave a bra in the shop because the band wasn't tight enough for my ribcage. There really is a market for 26 back size bras. I'm sure if Made in Preston keeps making these bras, they will sell worldwide.

But why would someone spend so much money on bras, when you can get some in Tescos? Well, the most important thing about bras, is not to cover our boobs. Some of them - for some reason it sometimes feels like that most bras available in my size - are see through, and really don't. For instance, Freya's Lyla bra.

Freya Lyla Lingerie.

But what do Freya bras do then? They fit and give support. As long as you pick the right size. And based on my personal experience of the world, most girls wear the wrong size. And no, I did not go and check what the bra labels of people that I meet say, I have just gone bra shopping with some of my friends. I really enjoy going bra shopping. And seriously, one of the best things that ever happened to my boobs was, when one of my friends took me bra shopping for the first time. Having a supportive bra makes such a difference!

From what I've seen, people seem to be very shy about underwear and would rather buy it without needing to try them on, but unfortunately you can't do that if you want to make sure that the bra you're spending your money on will be worth any of that money for you. To make this even trickier, most high street clothes stores, such as, H&M, New Look, Primark, etc. only do a very limited range of bra sizes. Some lucky ones are able to buy their underwear there (it's cheaper!), but many unlucky people believe that they can get bras that fit them but in fact their size is something completely different. Some places offer a "bra fitting service", but they are unfortunately not reliable, as they most of the time will only offer you the closest fit from the bras that they have. Cheryl from Invest in Your Chest blog undertook a High Street Fitting Challenge, where she visited several high street shops and tried out their bra fitting services to see what bras they would suggest her. The results where shocking, as most fitters appeared to have no clue of what a well-fitting bra even looks like.

When you go looking for a bra that fits you perfectly, you can start anywhere that sells bras and has a fitting room, but your best bet is in a store that stocks a wide range of sizes. And no - a shop that does cup sizes from A to D, is not one of them. Even if you're used to wearing a bra sized 34B, like I used to, it doesn't mean that a shop with that range has a bra that will fit you. Most people need a tighter band than they wear, and when you go down in a band size, you need a bigger cup size. Cup sizes are not "static", they are dependant on the band size. 30D looks completely different from 38D.

Band size is represented with a number. It's the measurement you get when you measure the circumference underneath your boobs. It's a good guideline if you have no idea what you're correct bra size is, but you still need to try on bras to find out which one fits you best. 

If you're using a measuring tape in inches, the number you measure is the actual band size. If you're measuring tape is in centimetres, you need to take 12 centimetres off the measurement you get.

Cup size is represented with a letter. The letter is calculated alphabetically, and it's the difference between your band measurement and bust measurement. If the difference is 1 inch, you're an A cup, if it's 2 inches, you're a B cup. In different countries the cups are calculated slightly differently, but commonly in UK they are counted: 

AA, A, B, C, D, DD, E, F, FF, G, GG, H, HH, J, JJ, K, KK, L. 

There are doubles for some letters, and I is skipped completely. AA is the only cup that is smaller than A, all the other doubles are bigger than the single.

If you're measuring in centimetres, you need to compare the original measurements - don't use your band measurement to compare the cup sizes. Instead of 1 inch, each cup size is 2cm bigger than previous one. Note that, 1 inch is not the same measurement and that when you get to bigger cup sizes, European cupsizes don't respond to UK sizes well.

Freya Lingerie.

Trying to find a bra that fits perfectly can be challenging if you've never owned a bra that fits before. It's easiest if you have a friend who help you, but as the above example shows, shop assistants might not be trustworthy. But if you follow this guide, you can check whether the bra you're trying on fits or not.

1. Hook the bra to the loosest hook, and check how many fingers you can get underneath the band. If it's more than 2, go and get a smaller back size. 

If this is the first time you're trying on a bra that size it will feel very tight. You will get used to it, but if you wish you may buy the next size up - but buy only one because soon you will probably want to buy the smaller band size.

2. Once you're band is tight enough, look at the band and wires between your boobs. They should rest tightly against your ribcage. This time you should not be able to get any fingers underneath the band (in the front). If the wires are not resting against you, you will need to go up a cup size.

3. To check whether the cups are the right size, you first need to make sure that all of your breast tissue is in the cup. Then make sure you're not bulging out from the sides or from the top. No part of the cup is meant to dig in to you. 

Many girls wear too small cup sizes in order to get a "push up" effect. Please don't do that. It actually only makes your boobs look smaller. Get a bra that is the correct size and just stick silicone cushions in there that are meant to make the effect. Or socks. Everyone has socks. It will be a lot more comfortable, you will look better and your boobs will thank you.

4. If you're bra otherwise fits well, it's time to adjust the bra straps. You may have had to do this a little bit before this step, because it's impossible to try on a bra with super tight bra straps. Now it's time to make sure they are snug, but not too tight.

Many people who wear the wrong bra size, believe that the support in the bra comes from the straps, when it actually should come from the band. When you're band is tight enough, you don't really even need the straps. If you're bra does not stay where it should be when you take the straps off, you're bra is not the right size.

5. Does your bra still not feel right? You might be trying on a bra that's the wrong style for you. There are loads of different bra styles such as full cup, demi cup, balconette and plunge. Depending on your boobs' shape, some of them might not fit you, but most likely something will. You just need to be brave and actually try on different styles!

I visited Tallinn like I said I would!

I hope this helps someone, because finding out how bras are supposed to feel has really changed my life and improved my self-confidence. The sad part of finding out my actual bra size was that there actually are very few bras made in my size, which is exactly why I wanted to share the Made in Preston bra on Facebook, so that other thin and curvy women, could find out about it as well.

I'm going dancing tonight.

I don't write this blog as often as I would like and all of my blog posts have become ramblings about how I would like to live a happier life and how people should care about each other and do more things they would like to do. And guess what I am going to write today! Yes, exactly the same stuff, because I still think it's important. And this is my blog and you are voluntarily reading it.

My last post was about how I would like this year to be happy because last year was absolute rubbish. And that is more easily said than done. But there are a couple of things I am trying to do to reach this goal.

1) Work out what gets me down.

Of course depression is more complicated than this, but depressed people are allowed to enjoy life too. And most of us are unfortunate enough to know a lot of idiots. Which is why we should look for people whose company we actually enjoy and whom we love and spend as much time with them as possible to balance out those rubbish times with the scumbags whose company we cannot avoid.

2) Eat good things. 

I've discovered avocados. They are my new favourite thing. I am getting a vegetable bag through my university's Environment and Ethics committee. This means that every week I give them £6 and they give me edible things that I have never seen before. Here, for instance, is a fennel. I had never even heard of them, and suddenly I had one.

I might post a cooking related blog post as some point. I know all of you are anxious to try out my awesome recipes!

I also think you should be allowed to eat things you enjoy, and not only try and eat ridiculous healthy stuff that you have never even heard of before. So if you want that blueberry muffin, you go and eat the blueberry muffin. As long as you did not skip lunch.

I also believe in supplements, but instead of going with the multivitamin, I have filled a cupboard with loads of different things. Now I can choose what I feel like taking each day. Today I took C vitamin, D vitamin, iron and tyrosine.

3) Don't become a sofa potato.

I love my sofa. And it is freezing cold outside. It is either snowing or raining some icy stuff out there. But I am forcing myself to go out and do things and to gain life experiences. Last week I went bowling and tried out dodgems. Bowling involved throwing heavy balls on a long and slidy piece of floor and trying not to throw myself with it. A bonus was if the ball hit the cones that you are meant to knock over. Dodgems are little electric cars that did not feel much like cars, and crazy university students would drive around them really fast and bump into each other. They were probably meant for kids but it was surprisingly fun!

This week I have eaten pancakes, laughed, forced myself to go to pub for a drink with strangers and got on stage to pretend that I haven't forgotten what acting is. Today I am going swimming and dancing. I should probably leave now.

Basically, I still think that a world is a wonderful place but that sometimes the happiness is just very well hidden. I will keep looking for it. Let me know if you have seen it recently.

About unexpected situations!

Hello my dear readers,

I'm sorry that I left you without these very informative and enlightening blog posts for this long. But I hadn't forgotten you, I was just busy getting myself into situations I could write about. This time I will write about what to do when you find yourself in an unexpected and a tricky situation.

Heidelberg, Germany Easter 2010.

I will only write about practical situations where you've been physically in a difficult place. All of that emotional and social stuff that involves communicating with human beings and maintaining relationships with them, will need to wait.

Weekend in Comrie.

Okay, let's begin.

I want to write about this, because things keep happening to me. Usually when I go outside, something happens. I won't write about every possible situation in this post because it would turn into a book. And because it's very late and my brain is on its sleeping-mode already, I will only give a few scenarios that I've needed to deal with.

Gaiberg, Germany 2010.

I will list the situations first so that you may imagine the inconvenience of the situation.

The recent ones:

a) You parked your car at a parking garage which closed while you were out. The car can be accessed again at 12 noon the next day. Unfortunately you're flight departs at 11am, 200 kilometres away from the parking garage.

b) You're driving up a ridiculously steep hill and because you didn't change the gear to a smaller one on time, you stall.

Other memorable situations:

c) You thought you were going to fly but it didn't happen. This could be caused by many reasons. Just to mention a few examples, these are some of the reasons why I have been stranded:

i.    A bird flew into the motor of the plane.

ii.   You miss your flight because you were queueing to the wrong check-in desk.

iii.  It apparently snowed in Amsterdam and they closed the airport for days.

iv.  An Icelandic volcano erupted and there was an ash cloud floating in the air.

v.   The pilot gets ill.

d) You've visited a toilet in a wedding party but for some reason the door doesn't open and you find yourself trapped.

e) You're in a foreign city and you need to get from the train station to a bus station which is 10 minutes away. You're bus is due to leave in 25 minutes. The city has three bus stations and you're not quite sure what the one you need is called. You don't have a map.

Tiia in Heidelberg 2010.

Can you imagine the hopelessness of these situations? Well, I assume that because you're reading this you're my friend (or a stalker), and because I choose my friends very carefully and only accept creative and strange individuals who are very good at getting themselves into unbelievable situations or the unexpected situations just happen to them (and my stalkers must have some sort of urge to make their life less simple) that you have been in a similarly tricky situation before.

The advisable thing to do is to try and avoid these situations before hand. There is no reason to look for these situations. They certainly do make your life interesting but if you're anything like me, they will happen without actively looking for them. 

My car key photographed on a forest adventure trip in Finland.

If you occasionally would like your nerves to relax, make sure what time the car park or a shopping centre or any building that you visit closes. Note that the time that the car park closes can be different from the building it is associated with (this is what caused the situation a!).

When travelling, always make sure you've planned all parts of the journey and made sure that you have enough time to make it to your connection.

If you're flying, consider how late the airline you're using usually is and make sure there is enough time to get your next ticket and move your luggage to the next plane. Avoid flights that require a change of an airport. Always make sure you know exactly where you're flying! Airports are labelled with the big city they are near of but they are never in centre of towns and often they are somewhere far in the middle of nowhere. If you've booked a flight that comes with changes, you have less to worry about because your airline has the responsibility to take care of you, but it's good to check what the changes look like anyway.

If you're travelling by land, think about how late your transport is likely to be. Trains are often a little bit late. Buses are likely to break down, especially certain local buses and cheap travel buses. Traffic jams can occur. Make sure you've thought about how to travel all the legs of your journey. Remember that to check the timetables. For instance, there are places that do not have public transport on Sundays.

If you're travelling on a ferry, make sure that you know where you need to be, when you need to be there and what you need with you. It's more straight forward than flying but they will want you on it early and will require certain travel documents.

The Netherlands.

I would also warmly recommend you to always have a plan B. It's possible that your original plan will go wrong because plans just sometimes tend to do that. Then you will be grateful that you did think about alternative options and you don't need to panic so much when things do go wrong. And also you will be happier and more confident when they are going according to the plan, because you don't have to worry about what to do if it doesn't work.

And when things do go wrong, don't panic. Stop and think. What the current situations is and what you can do to get out of it? Don't worry about how you ended up in the situation and most importantly, don't start blaming anyone. The last thing you need is a fight when the situation is awkward already.

Tuomas in Tornio.

Okay, so how did I survive in the example situations?

a) You parked your car at a parking garage which closed while you were out. The car can be accessed again at 12 noon the next day. Unfortunately you're flight departs at 11am, 200 kilometres away from the parking garage.

I was with four of my friends visiting Helsinki. 

A few panicked. One started to calm them down by telling them what we needed to do if we couldn't access the car. How I would need to take a train back to my mum's place to make it to my flight and how some of us needed to stay behind and get the car out the next day. One of us phoned her brother who studies in Helsinki and was taking a care of a few things at his term time flat that day. He told her sister that she was too late because he's already at home, and because he was with his girlfriend he didn't really give much thought to the situation that his sister was in.

The guy at the restaurant that we had been eating in had said to us that we couldn't get the car out. He had apparently locked his car in there before and told that they refused to let it out of there when he had phoned them.

I wanted to find this phone number and phone them. There were, however, no signs anywhere telling me the phone number. One of my friends then told me a number that I could phone and ask for the number I needed. I phoned there but wasn't fully convinced about their professional abilities because the lady that answered the phone was at one point trying to find the number to the parking garage's security people on Wikipedia. In the end, she managed to find the number though and I got to speak to the guy who had just locked the car park. He told me that he had already gone home but he promised to come back after I explained our especially difficult situation because we didn't actually live in Helsinki and I was meant to be out of the country by the time the parking garage would open again.

A few of my friends then figured that we should complain to him when he comes how there aren't any signs outside saying that the car park will close before the shopping centre will. They were soon pointed out though that it wasn't the man's fault and that he was actually exceptionally kind to come and save us in his freetime.

Lesson of the story: Be nice to people and they will help you. If that doesn't work, use the plan B.

On the way to Tampere-Pirkkala Airport.

b) You're driving up a ridiculously steep hill and because you didn't change the gear to a smaller one on time, you stall.

Scotland has too many hills. And silly roads where people drive way too fast and squish poor animals. Anyway, so I was driving along one of these silly roads and didn't have quite enough speed and the gear I had on was too big for the hill that I was up against. So I stalled.

I wanted to panic because it's not ideal to stop on a road where people drive 60 miles per hour. Nor slide down that hill. No no, it was bad. But I stopped. And breathed. And to everyone's surprise did a successful hill start and drove up the hill.

Lesson of the story: When driving, stay calm. When something goes wrong, don't worry and do what you need to do. (And although not a part of this particular story, passengers please do not scream or give any unnecessary advice.)

Scotland 2012.

c) You thought you were going to fly but it didn't happen. This could be caused by many reasons. Just to mention a few examples, these are some of the reasons why I have been stranded:

i.    A bird flew into the motor of the plane.

ii.   You miss your flight because you were queueing to the wrong check-in desk.

iii.  It apparently snowed in Amsterdam and they closed the airport for days.

iv.  An Icelandic volcano erupted and there was an ash cloud floating in the air.

v.   The pilot gets ill.

Ah flying. If there isn't a strike or delays or cancellations, it's really quite lively. But if you fly a lot you will experience strikes, delays, cancellations and lost luggage. It's part of the experience.

i. I had been spending my winter holiday in Oulu when my flight got cancelled because of a bird that flew into the motor of the plane on it's way to the airport. I was then put on an extra flight that flew around midnight, so it was alright. And instead of being picked up straight from the Helsinki airport, I took a taxi to my dad's place and bused home the next day and ended up being late from school. Going to school was a bad move because I walked into my Swedish class and found out that we had a vocabulary test that day. Of course I got it all wrong.

Lesson of the story: Cancelled flights are nothing to worry about because you will be put on another one. Unexpected Swedish vocabulary tests are a serious problem.

Made it to school! This photo is actually from a Christmassy chemistry class but it'll do. Jonna, Anna and I.

ii. Queueing to wrong checking desks is something very idiotic to do. Some airlines are trying to confuse you by sprinkling several check-in desks all around the airport. It's a stupidity test and you have to find the right one. On time. Mine closed a minute after I found it but there was another lost person in front of me and he spent the last minute that there was left asking stupid questions. There was nothing I could do. I didn't get on the plane. I cried. I got the last of my monies out of my bank account and bought a new ticket. I slept at the airport because I had no money left. There were some construction workers jackhammering the floor next to the very uncomfortable bench that I was trying to sleep on.

It wasn't that bad really, there are lots of people sleeping at airports. They have interesting stories to tell. You learn a lot by socialising with people who are travelling as well.

Lesson of the story: Don't miss your flight. If you do, or if your flight leaves really early or arrives really late it's sometimes the best option to sleep at the airport.

Just an expected ending to a Scottish holiday really.

iii. I was trying to go home one Christmas and it snowed. When it snows in places that don't consider themselves 'north' they close down. My flight was cancelled. I spent the day in the new ticket queue with all the other people that were trying to go home for Christmas. And went back to the airport the next day. And my new flight was cancelled as well. So I did it again. Get the picture?

Those days were pretty frustrating and I didn't really want to spend my Christmas in my flat alone eating a pot noodle. A few of my friends then told me that I would be welcome to go down to their place for Christmas. I spent my evenings looking at the tickets to go down and was ready to book them if my third flight wouldn't get me to Finland.

That third flight however took off. And I even made it to my connection and didn't have to spend Christmas in Amsterdam.

Lesson of the story: Flying around Christmas time via middle Europe is a bad idea. If you need to fly around that time, do it via northern places.

Christmas in Finland.

iv. When volcanos explode or other such natural happenings occur there is nothing you can do. I was happily spending time in the southern Germany when a happy little Icelandic volcano called Eyjafjallajökull started to erupt. When I found out about this I was with my friend who had been aupairing in Germany for half a year and had a lot of luggage to move back to Finland. We were staying in a lovely hostel and kept booking more nights to stay there. The owner of the place pitied us and served us wine on the house and turned the radio louder when the song I believe I can fly came on. 

We were trying to follow the media to find out what was going on with the volcano. We came to a conclusion that we might need to stay in Germany for quite a long time before we could fly again. I had horrible assignments due soon so I really needed to get back to Scotland and my friend was starting work very soon in Finland. We then proceeded to buy a lot of train and ferry tickets. This was, however, more difficult than it could have been because we both had problems with our bank accounts. I managed to lend money to my friend and I was helped by a friend who was also stranded elsewhere who purchased me a ferry ticket.

My friend and I then separated and started our long and complicated train journeys to different directions. And all I needed to do was to find my other friend who had my ferry ticket somewhere in Belgium. This was suitably made more difficult by the fact that both of our phones were about to die. Fortunately I spotted her walking on the side of a motorway near the harbour. She even thanked me for my company on the ferry ride although it took 27 hours and I slept 25 of them.

Lesson of the story: Sometimes travelling by land is more reliable than flying. Never trust volcanoes.

Catching one more train to get to a harbour.

v. My flight got cancelled because the pilot got ill. I was then put on a new flight which left the next day. This was a problem because it meant that I missed my train up from Manchester and needed a new plan to get home. I phoned my flatmate who was lovely and made up a new plan for me to get home.

The airline paid for a hotel room and for the bus transport to and from there. This was one of my favourite experiences! I met so many interesting people who were on the same flight with me and came to the hotel. I don't normally even stay in hotels so I had to take everything out of the experience. I drank some coke, had a bath, walked around in the dressing gown and slippers, spent a suitable amount of time deciding which of the two beds I wanted to sleep in, looked out of the window, phoned my friend to tell her what happened and took photographs. Then I slept for the few hours that I had time to and went to the breakfast with my new temporary friends and I tasted all the good looking hotel breakfast foods and drank a lot of coffee.

Lesson of the story: It's not the end of the world, when the original plan goes wrong. Enjoy the adventure.

My room in Hilton Helsinki.

d) You've visited a toilet in a wedding party but for some reason the door doesn't open and you find yourself trapped.

 I was at a family wedding party with my cousin. We were little so we went to the toilet together. We didn't lock it but somehow it locked itself and we didn't know how to open it. We didn't manage to unlock it. We could see our parents out of the window and were wondering if they would notice us if we dropped our cardigans down. We did, however, think that it wasn't the most brilliant idea and decided to scream for help. Someone heard us and came to tell us how to unlock the door and after a while of trying we managed it and got out.

Lesson of the story: You never know when you get locked somewhere where you didn't want to be locked in. There are only two things you can do: to come up with a way to unlock it or to scream for help.

This window is actually from Bremen.

e) You're in a foreign city and you need to get from the train station to a bus station which is 10 minutes away. You're bus is due to leave in 25 minutes. The city has three bus stations and you're not quite sure what the one you need is called. You don't have a map.

My original plan went wrong and I found myself in a foreign city and I needed to get my self from the train station to a bus station. And I can tell you that having absolutely no idea of what the place you're in looks like and where things are is not an ideal situation. Always have a map with you. I did try to get a map but the lady in front of me got the last map at the train station. I tried asking people where I needed to go but soon found out that the city had three bus stations and everyone seemed to be pointing me to the direction of a different one. Always know the name of the station you want to go to! 

I was worried if I would walk 10 minutes to the wrong direction I would suddenly find myself 20 minutes away from the station and end up missing my bus which was the last one that day.

I phoned a friend who happened to be at a computer and found me out the route. I tried to follow it but it was difficult because I wasn't quite sure what the instructions would look like on the map and how long I needed to walk down each street. With the help of the instructions and the local people I did find the station on time though!

Lesson of the story: Know where you are and where you need to go. Ask for help when you needed. If you need to, get a taxi.

Ended up in Amsterdam!

So to summarise, when things happen, stay calm and think of what you need to do to solve the situation. Be creative and don't panic. Ask for help when you need it!

You never know what goes wrong. I have friends who often find themselves in strange situations: locked out, abroad without a passport, transporting more luggage than they can manage on their own and so on. I would tell you what they did, but it's their story to tell. And this blog post is already more than long enough for now.

Thank you for reading!