Finnish Heaven

I feel like I just died. And went to Finnish heaven.

Why, you ask? Let me tell you.

So, I'm back in Finland and Christmas with my family means eating and watching movies. Eating traditional Christmas food, chocolate, gingerbread,... After the huge lunch and dinner last night and the big breakfast this morning, I was feeling a little bit... Hmmm.. Fluffy.

Therefore I decided to resume my training and go for a 8km run. Let me tell you, running in Berlin is a piece of cake. I mean there are absolutely NO hills there. Like you can literally look all over the city for a hill without finding one. Unlike here. I felt I was running up or down the whole freaking time... But I ran until I was tired and then I ran some more. After a while it got easier and even though I felt like dying running uphill, running down was no effort at all and I was ready for the next one up! After zigzagging around my old neighborhoods it turned into a 10K (!!) and I even sped up the last kilometer.

Needless to say after that I was pretty wiped. But, the best thing about being back home, lunch was right on the table waiting for me. I love being home. After (another) Christmas lunch and some coffee, I went for the sauna.

Oh my god have I missed the Finnish sauna. Even though there's one at my gym in Berlin, it just doesn't even begin to compare. At the gym, with random people, you just can't relax 100%. I mean us Finnish people like our personal space. Like really like our personal space. Even when it's super cold. Like you see here in the photo which has gone viral all over the internet; "Coldest day in Finland this winter and personal space is still not sacrificed." And yes, this is real. Welcome to Finland!

http://i.imgur.com/2JHN1hn.jpg

I can tell you, living abroad in more southern countries, I was first taken aback when people came to my face to talk to me. I mean, hello, personal space? I need an arm's length from you to be able to feel comfortable. But to all you Finns out there, I promise you get used to it after a while...

Back to the point. Every Finnish house has a sauna. Like when you have your own house you have a sauna. When you live in an apartment building, there is a sauna. Even some apartments have a sauna. So yes, we do enjoy sauna. I mean after all, it's one of the few Finnish inventions that everyone knows!

But nothing beats your own sauna. Absolutely nothing. Just lying there, having it just as hot as you want, no one disturbing you, almost falling asleep. Perfection. And the feeling after it...

Oh my.

The best combination ever is working out and then going to the sauna to relax and let your muscles recover, also known as lenkkisauna (either after running, skiing, cycling, etc.). I tell you, I'm in a borderline coma right now. And I might just take a nap. Or not. Who knows, I'm just enjoying the peace, quiet and relaxing moments.

And maybe some gingerbread... I think I earned it. ;)

Have a great, relaxing Christmas everyone!

xx,
sofia

1st Anniversary - Thoughts on My Journey

Wow. It's been exactly 1 year since I wrote my very first blog post (happy anniversary, blog!!). At the airport in Helsinki. Leaving Finland to embarque on my biggest adventure yet. With a clear vision of where I want to be in my life in 2016 but yet nothing concrete to hold on to.

So, what can I say about this year and my adventures so far? Was it worth leaving everything familiar behind and taking a leap into the unknown, not knowing whether I would fall right down a cliff of unemployment and misery in a new country?

And my answer is yes. Absolutely, positively yes.

But that doesn't mean that I haven't been through hell this year. Well, maybe hell is a exaggerating a little but there have been some tough, tough times. First of all, starting a life in a new country is tough. Without a job it's even tougher. Being unemployed, for the short time that I was, is definitely not my thing. I was going crazy not having something where I could develop myself, interact with other professionals and use my full potential.

My days consisted of applying for jobs, working out, exploring Berlin (not the best time to walk around when it's FREAKING cold...), taking photos, blogging and trying to figure out my new life here. Slowly but surely the pieces started coming together; I did an internship, started a new job and a German course, met new people and just enjoyed the exciting new life. I've travelled quite a lot and continued exploring this wonderful city that I now call home.

Although it has been tough at times, I'm glad it all wasn't just a piece of cake, because now I can honestly say that it has made me so much stronger and I've learned a lot about myself as a person. And I also want to thank the people who have been there for me, my family, old friends, and new acquaintances - you have made the hard times a little better and the good times amazing, and I'm grateful for each and every one of you.

The biggest lesson this year has shown me (as much as I dislike like clichés) is that 'life happens when you're busy making other plans'. As I came here, I had clear plans of what I was going to do and what absolutely not to do, but as life tends to, things didn't really work out according to the plans.

Some things turned out better than I could ever have imagined in my wildest dreams.

xx,
sofia

Mediterranean Meets Scandinavian

As I hinted before, November was all about home decór. I love decorating and most of all, I love the Scandinavian, very minimalist style. In other words, white.

My old apartment in Finland was pretty much white, with hints of black and grey. So colorful, I know, but I love it.

So, when I was faced with a Mediterranean styled apartment with yellow and orange walls, it was a little... Hmm... Let's just say that yellow walls are not my first choice. But I've taken it on as a challenge and I am starting to... embrace this colorful environment.

There is still sooo much to do - but decorating always seems like a work in progress. And I'm starting to like mixing the two different styles, even though if I could choose, I would have white, wooden floors, white walls, white furniture with fifty shades of grey.

But anyways, here are a few sneak peaks into my project! As I mentioned before, I'm incorporating travelling into home decór... And this is how!

These are my shots from the trip to Prague a few months ago. I wanted to add more photos to the place and I thought... Why not my own? So, from now on there will be photos from every trip around the house!

The hallway also gives a glimpse to Prague as well as a paradise we found in the mountains in Switzerland!

Travelling and colorful things have also taken over the living room...

And I have a confession to make. I'm in love...

With this baby right here!

He's called Big Ben and I just melt inside when he plays Nirvana to me. I must say I never really got the vinyl hype before but oh my...

And some more music - the guitar corner. With the coolest lamp with three spotlights!

They say it's all in the details - this is a gift from my mom, to bring a piece of Finland into the place. I'm not so into Marimekko, famous Finnish design brand (and yes, there is such thing as famous Finnish design, look it up) but this little tray is adorable. Brings a little of the black and white color scheme I love.

Aannd a little more yellow to brighten up your day... At least I got to sneak in the Nirvana album to add more black! Meanwhile it's day 35 and he still hasn't noticed! ;)

I have to admit it's still a little colorful for me but I'm starting to accept colors into my life (while working on my secret evil plans of transforming the apartment into a black and white movie).

I'll keep you updated on my evil plans.... ;)

xx,
sofia

Out-of-Town October

Wow... It's almost half way through November already. What happened?

Well, as far as October goes, travelling happened. Out of the 5 weekends in October I spent one weekend in Berlin. One. Needless to say, I'm glad to have some time in Berlin now...

Anyways, here's a little recap tracing my steps in October...

First, we had a long weekend in October due to the German reunification day, so - day off. It was just too good not to use the chance and get out of town - so we decided for Prague! I'd never been there before and it was close enough to go by car - so - perfect! And apparently that was what the entire Germany thought - I heard more German on the streets of Prague than I do in Berlin...

Prague is so full of history, beautiful buildings and it just has a magical atmosphere... Going out of town with my camera was really needed. I got some good photos - which gave me a great little idea for home...

The next weekend was spent discovering Germany - more specifically, Braunschweig and the Hartz. It was good to escape the city and get back to nature by going hiking in the Hartz... I've never really hiked before last summer but I've really fallen in love with it!

After Braunschweig I went to visit family in Switzerland. Switzerland always leaves me speechless... Mostly because I still can't understand the Swiss German though.

Aaand last but not least; one of my favorite cities in the world - Barcelona. For a wedding. A Spanish wedding. My first one. And oh my... As I've mentioned before I fell in love with the Spanish culture and lifestyle when I lived in Spain and I was so excited to go to a more or less traditional wedding.

Aaaaaaaand it was amazing...

The venue was a beautiful, beautiful villa outside Barcelona, the weather was amazing, the decorations were the cutest, the couple was perfect - and the food... I have no words.

And reggaeton... Can't forget reggaeton. ;)

So, that pretty much wraps up my October... The theme for November seems to be home decor, I'll keep you updated on that... ;)

xx,
sofia

Throwback to Home

In July I went back to Finland again for the weekend. I know, this is a real throwback... But anyways the reason for returning home this time was a wedding. One of my oldest and best friends got married and there was no way I was going to miss that.

The wedding was incredibly beautiful, I might have gotten tears in my eyes (or cried like a baby) a couple of times. The bride was just so incredibly beautiful, the groom super handsome and everything was just perfect.

I was of course late for buying my dress but luckily found just the perfect one from my birthday trip to Mallorca a few weeks earlier.

And the funniest thing happened to me, which I think other expats might relate to...

I was at a shopping mall and I heard people talking Finnish. My first reaction - wow! Finnish people! I wonder what they're doing here, are they tourists or do they actually live here...?

Oh wait... I'm not in Berlin anymore but actually in Helsinki. Yeah. Nice one. And it was not the first time... Now I'm safely back in Berlin, only hearing German and Spanish! ;) And the occasional English of course.

I have to confess though that I might have gone to a Finnish café a while ago to show it to a friend, which was pretty much just an excuse to talk Finnish)! ;)

Till next time!
xx

Looking Back...

Do you ever feel like time runs too fast? Like you just keep running from one place to another and don't even have time to think? I sure do. For the past few months. Hence my looong blogging silence...

Getting to the point I wanted to talk about today; evaluation of your goals.

For me it's important to stop from time to time, consider my goals and evaluate whether I'm going in the direction I want or not. So, looking back, I've been in Germany for 9 months now. So far I've done an internship and gotten a job in the field I wanted, which was my goal and biggest reason for moving to Berlin. I'm doing things I've never done before and learning a lot - which is amazing. I live by the belief that you should never stop learning new things, whatever they may be, sports, languages, etc., which leads me to my next target: fluent German.

Back in Finland I studied German in school for 8 years but going to university I decided to give it up for Spanish instead. A few months after coming here I decided to really work towards this goal and registered for night classes in German. Somehow with a lot of luck (and a good head for languages I guess), I made it into a B2.2 course - which kind of changed my life here. Besides learning German, I met amazing amazing people and had so much fun...

After the course finished,  I was weighing my options whether or not to do the next one. After all, 3 hours of intense German classes twice a week after work is quite a lot. However, after some consideration and talking with a few classmates I decided to go ahead and do it - after all, stopping at this point would have been a waste.

So, now I'm working my way through a C1.1 course, which is a whole lot more challenging and I actually have to put quite a lot more effort into it. As I mentioned earlier, I happen to learn languages quite fast but it only helps you until a certain point, then you really have to work for it and that's where I am now... But I am very slowly but surely working towards my goal!

Also, not to make it too easy on myself I'm casually trying to retrieve my rusty Spanish on the side... You gotta have some challenges in life to make it interesting, am I right?! ;)

Have a great weekend everyone! 
xx

Birthday Getaway

I'm a summer kid. Not just by heart but also by birthday, which is in July.

For a few years in a row I had a good streak going on - I was always away for my birthday. Another city, a festival, abroad - just somewhere. The past couple of years however, I've spent my birthday at home with my friends, which was great - but this year I felt like it was time to go away again.

Travelling is something I really love, so it's the perfect thing to do for my birthday. This year the destination turned out to be - what I had been missing for a while now - Spain. Not mainland Spain though but Mallorca. I've only been there once as a kid so I was curious to see it again.

Totally. Worth. It.

We stayed in Palma, which is an absolutely beautiful city. I lost my heart to Spain just a little bit when I lived there and it was just amazing to be back.

Everything was just ridiculously perfect - the food - the beach - the wine. Just everything. I finally even found a dress for an upcoming wedding which I had been searching for in Berlin for the longest time!

And why ridiculously perfect? Well, the craziest thing happened...

On the eve of my birthday we had dinner in Palma to celebrate with some tapas and sangría - I mean what more can a girl ask for?  Anyway, we left the restaurant five minutes after midnight - and what happens?

Some random guy on the street started playing Feliz Cumpleaños on his guitar!! I mean. What are the odds?!

Pretty amazing. It's funny how these things happen sometimes - being at the right place at the right time. Seems a little like fate. Not sure if I believe in fate, but lately things have got me wondering...

Anyways, it was a perfect weekend getaway. Crazy how much energy the sun can give you! And as a plus, I got a nice tan for a wedding ! ;)

Hasta luego! 
xx

Homesickness.

Homesickness.

Something that normally doesn't affect me that much really got me a while back. I've been in Berlin for over six months now and until a few weeks ago I wasn't home sick at all, quite on the contrary.

It hit me a few weeks ago when I took a weekend trip back home to pack up my beautiful apartment and surprise my friend for her bachelorette party. The weekend was great, I saw old friends, old collegues (yes, I went to have lunch at my old office...) and my family - for once we were all in the same country at once which doesn't happen so often!

On a side note, I love Scandinavian, minimalist homes with black and white, just in case you can't tell... ;) 

And the theme of the party was 80's aerobics. Seems like stating the obvious again! We were quite a sight, 20+ girls straight out of an 80's home aerobics video wandering around Helsinki with a jukebox...

Getting back to the point - returning home to Berlin on early Monday morning turned out to be tougher than I thought. First of all, busses and u-bahn's were late and I was running to get to work early. Returning home there were a few set-backs and I was emotionally and physically exhausted, missing Finland and most of all my people there.

Although I haven't been in Berlin THAT long yet, I've met really great people and made some very close friends. But I also have awesome people who I really love back home and going back made me think of them more than ever. Also, since I was in Helsinki only for the weekend, which was fully booked, I didn't get to see any friends from different cities.

But back in Berlin, for the first time since I came, I felt lonely, just empty. Like all 'my people' were back home. Which was not true at all, since I have found people in Berlin who I really care about - but of course I wasn't able to concentrate on that.

After a week of making myself - and some others around me miserable, I decided that it had to stop. I'm usually a happy person and feeling down all the time was killing me. Realizing the difference between what I could control - what I concentrate my energy on - and what I couldn't - not having my family and my old friends in Berlin - brought me back to reality. I could concentrate on the present again and make the best out of my time and I did.

It's been about a month now since then - no more serious homesickness, although I do miss people back home. But it's more about remembering the good times and looking forward to more good times to come.

Now, with the summer - new challenges - new experiences - I'm just super happy. It took a case of homesickness to see that - but now it's cristal clear.

Great weekend everyone!
xx

Puzzle Pieces

Feeling like you belong is a good feeling.

As I mentioned before, for a while now I've had the feeling that I am exactly where I belong, where I need to be right now. Geographically and otherwise. But now it's really hit me that the puzzle pieces that are my life are finally coming together and I know exactly what I want to do (in the near future at least).

Maybe it's the summer, the warmth, the sun, but right now I just feel very, very happy.

EVEN though we lost to Canada in the Hockey World Championship last Sunday... Let me tell you, there was a bar full of very, very disappointed Finnish people in Kreuzberg when whistle blew (and Canada scored their last goal).

But as they say 'Hopee ei oo häpee' meaning 'Silver is not to be ashamed of' and at least we won the U20 (Juniors, under 20) Cup, so there is still hope for our little country! That's probably thanks to the Finnish 'sisu' (guts, resiliance, pretty much just that 'never going to give up'- attitude), which is something I'm incredibly proud of as a Finn and also see in myself. The tougher times get, the more I find myself fighting for what I want and doing whatever it takes to reach my destination.

But now, even though I think you are never quite at your destination (I mean, then you would just stop working for your goals), I can already see it in the horizon. And it's looking pretty damn good. ;)

As for incredible photos that follow, all thanks goes to my amazing and talented photographer friend Sonja. You can check out more of her works here.

I wish you all an awesome, sunny weekend!

Spring Tripping

For the long weekend couple of weeks ago I decided to change the scenery so I headed to Switzerland. For some reason I thought I would get to relax and detox from the busy city life in Berlin, but boy was I wrong!

Early Friday morning we hopped onto a train and headed for Domodossola, Italy! It's such a cute little town. I'm a little bit in love with the Mediterranean countries and cultures; living in Spain I just felt that something in me clicked with the culture. I just love the happy mentality (and reggaeton - which I know comes from South America). ;) 

Saturday was spent doing what all the Swiss people seem do on the weekends; hiking! We went to Meiringen, not too far from Bern - which I can absolutely recommend! There were a lot of different routes, some of which were still totally covered in snow! We took the Panorama route, which was absolutely beautiful with panoramic views (as the name might suggest).

Hiking is something I have never really done since I come from the nature. Originally I'm from a tiny town of 14 000 people, so basically the countryside. Not really, actually it's just basically a suburb of Helsinki, but there is a lot of forest and well, more forest. So I pretty much grew up running through the forests.

Also, hiking is not that big in Finland since, well, there are no real mountains unless you go far up north. But hiking in Lapland (far up north) is pretty popular, there are routes that you can take for days but just don't except to be walking up any big mountains!

Hiking was just what I needed, being a little into sports (some may say a little addicted) and being in nature, it was just the perfect thing. That being said, although I love nature, at this point of my life I could not live anywhere but a big city. And I'm in love with Berlin. Just a little bit. 

Sunday before flying back we spent a couple of hours in Zurich, which I actually never visited before even though I've been to Switzerland a few times. Just getting a little glimpse of the city, I definitely want to go back with more time.

Well, I guess it's arrivederci for now!