Finally we got a flatscreen TV for the living room, and returned our old one for recycling. Before flatscreen technology, large HD televisions (and therefore HD technology) were deemed impractical because they would have simply not fit through any door. Picture that for a moment.
Reminds me of the famous Bill Gates quote that nobody would need more than 640 kB of memory for a personal computer.
Don’t you just love ruska?
The September Equinox marks the start of the big changes for autumn and the point at which days become shorter the fastest here in Finland. This far north, for every day we lose 5 minutes of daylight, which is quite a noticeable difference.
If you haven’t bought a bright light lamp yet and you live hereabouts, you should.
I was very fortunate to have watched two Eurobasket quarterfinals in Poland (Russia-Serbia & Spain-France). Spain especially impressed me with their fast handling of the ball, tough defense and great offensive mobility. This Spanish team has 4 players in the professional leage of North America (soon to be 5) and it shows. No wonder the “ÑBA” won the championship in the end.
Quite a different story from the Olypic games in Barcelona in 1992, where the Spanish star Jofresa went to ask the American team for their autographs after their game if memory serves me right.
It’s 7 a.m. in Kraków, I turn on the TV and what do I see? A Mexican telenovela called Rebelde, which has spawned its own plastic pop group and of which I’ve written (and bumped into) before.
Scary way to wake up.
Last week I visited Kraków and Katowice in Poland on a business trip (photos here). I had a little bit of time to walk through the old city of John Paul II’s hometown and was very impressed. Kraków was the old capital of Poland, and as such has plenty of ancient architecture, majestic churces and even a castle, making it a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Given that another place I seriously want to visit is also nearby, it warrants another visit for leisure.
I was not that impressed with Katowice on first sight, but noticed that buildings that look drab on the outside may have completely renovated and rather pleasant interiors. On a few ocassions I remembered and missed some of my Polish friends and wondered what they’re up to.
This year we celebrated Mexican independence day in Helsinki. The reception, organised by the Mexican embassy, had very high attendance with over 300 people. You can check mine or Ricardo’s great photos of the event or a couple of videos below.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: given that the amount of foreigners in Finland is the lowest in western Europe, and that I have little if anything to do with the stereotype of immigrants here besides the fact that I’m a little bit darker than the average I continuously feel I’m some sort of pioneer on a mission to challenge those beliefs.
The latest episode was funnily enough with a teacher of Finnish as a foreign language. When I explained I’m very interested in knowing what kind of Finnish literature are teenagers exposed to in high school, she was more than a little surprised (I’m not sure in a positive way) especially since I continued by saying that it is so that I understand Finnish cultural references better as I haven’t been exposed to them in my professional studies (“Oh, so you have a profession?”) even though I have taken the Yleiskielentutkinto, the official exam of Finnish proficency.
I wonder what kind of reaction would I get if I told her I’m thinking of starting Swedish lessons, which would be my 9th language…
We have been visiting this small corner of Finnish Karelia a few time sin the past year because a good friend lives there. While it is far too small for me to even remotely think about establishing myself there, I was really glad to meet good friends and have Carelian pies (Carelian stew was not available this time, but it’s awesome over there).
