The Fall Was Beautiful

Flowers in my granny's garden

We are already in the middle of November, which makes me wonder how in the earth can the time pass by so quickly. I didn't do most of the things I thought I would do, but on the other hand I did some things I didn't even consider doing. I suppose life is the best when it's unexpected and leaves room for surprises. Don't you agree?

Such beautiful colors nature lets us see...

During the fall season I got to admire the beauty of this season through the warm weather, sunny days and colorful leaves falling of the trees. Last year I was in Thessaloniki, Greece during this period, therefore it was more exciting to see the Finnish autumn again. Not that it would have been different, but absence from home makes you appreciate it more.

From Aulanko, Hämeenlinna, Finland

Some weeks ago I had a chance to meet my longest term pen pal, Emilia. We have been snail mailing since 2005, first met in 2010 and now was our 10th pen pal friendship anniversary. Pretty cool, huh? The time of knowing someone doesn't define the friendship, however, I appreciate her very much as she is always there to help me and has helped me to grow as a person. In a short way, she is very important to me and I hope our friendship would last as long as we live. <3

For you, Emilia 

I also got to visit Hamina, as I do pretty many times a year. I like to go there to spend some quality time with my grandmother and to relax. I don't really have internet connection there, apart from my phone with a slow connection, which makes it easier to relax and let other things be as they are. Hamina is also a beautiful tiny town, which I enjoy a lot. This fall, I tried to take some pictures there, which would show the town in a different light.

I wish I could show more pictures, but unfortunately my phone went crazy, so the pictures disappeared with it. That's why I'm not able to use Whats App for a while, just to let you know. If you are interested in knowing your letter status or just chatting with me, please send me a message on FB. To give you a short situation status, I've got three letters to reply: Emma (Australia), Inga-Siv (Sweden) and Mari-Liis (Estonia). I will try to reply as soon as I can. 

For the past few weeks I've been concentrating on my studies and trying to follow my sport schedule that I have set for myself. Naturally, as a Christmas enthusiast, I'm also excited about the approaching Christmas and wishing for the snow to come soon. 

Have a great day! :)

Summer Is Almost Gone

Summer post must start  with a beautiful flower picture, right?

Suomenlinna, June 29th. 2015

Soon it'll be mid-August, how fast can the time actually fly? I can't believe how fast the summer has gone, because I feel like May started just a few days ago. I guess, my thoughts arise from the fact that I have felt myself busy most of the summer even though I haven't actually done much. 

Grave yard of Kalvola

Found my mom's old sunglasses. hehe.

I have been working most of the week days since the mid-May and on this Friday my summer job on the grave yard is coming to its end. My feelings are very mixed about it, because I actually like the job, well mainly the people there (however, it ain't so nice to work under a heavy rain). On the other hand it's nice to be able to enjoy the holidays, finally. What I don't like is the fact that the beginning of my 3rd university year is getting closer a day by day. Let's just say my motivation has run away during this year. haha. Hopefully, I can regain that motivation before going back to school. 

Flowers are beautiful, and I take lots of pictures of them ;)

A view from our summer cottage in Hämeenlinna

A view from our summer cottage in Lappeenranta

So, how have I enjoyed my free days (= weekends)? I have been spending lots of time on both of our summer cottages. There I can really relax and be happy - being at a summer cottage equals happiness. I can't imagine a summer without special days at summer cottages. To my surprise, I have spent time picking up berries and collecting mushrooms, which I haven't been keen on doing before. 

Collecting mushrooms

Picking up blueberries

In early July we also celebrated my brother's birthday by throwing up a small party. I like such events because I get to see some relatives and family friends. Of course, it's a great reason for eating unhealthy things. haha. 

Me at my bro's party.

After Midsummer, I have visited Hamina once. It was a nice visit, which followed the same pattern as always; watching TV, chatting a lot, going out to eat, visiting my grandpa's grave and going for a walk. I did see pretty views during this trip, though.  

One weekend I visited a housing fair in Vantaa (Southern Finland), which was nice. I wasn't too fond of the actual houses, but I liked most the lamps. Besides, the company was great and that matters much more than the stuff we do or where we are. :) 

That's about all for my quick summer post. I'm sorry I have been such a slow blogger, as well as snail mailer this summer. I hope to get back to business soon. I wish all the best for everyone for the rest of this summer! 

Midsummer '15

Midsummer has always been one of the celebrations that I look forward to during each year. It's a time when I get to relax, think nothing and be myself (my true self). This year our celebration started with a day at my granny's place in Hamina. We didn't do much; went out to eat and visited a grave yard. ''Haminan Ristiniemen hautausmaa''

As every summer I also got to admire all the beautiful flowers at my granny's garden. 

Later we headed to our summer cottage in the Eastern Finland. We have spent Midsummer there as long as I can remember and therefore it has become a tradition. I don't know what else to do than go there and celebrate Midsummer with some relatives. I really enjoy their company because they are such relaxed and funny people. I will look forward to meeting them again this summer! 

 On Midsummer day we went on a little car drive and got to see the country side a bit more. 

I hope you are all enjoying this summer! 

Summer Work on a Grave Yard

A cemetery in Thessaloniki, Greece

One day I went on a walk here in Thessaloniki, and ended up walking on a cemetery. I was actually planning on exploring cemeteries here because I was sure Greek cemeteries would be different compared to the Finnish ones. I was rather surprised when I saw how they looked like - everything was so white and they surely don't have any gardeners working there. Also the way of burying people was different, as the ''coffins'' were on top of the ground compared to Finland, where the graves are underground with only a grave stone seen on the top. There is one exception, however, which is very old graves, which may be covered with sand and small decorative rocks. 

However, this made me think of my previous summer job on a grave yard. I want to share this story, who knows maybe some Finn finds him or herself reading this text while considering a job on a grave yard next summer. 

My great-grandmother's grave

My summer job search was long and tiring, I already started to feel I wouldn't get any job for the summer. Then I was called for an interview, which ended up me signing a work contract for Hämeenlinnan seurakuntayhtymä = congregation of Hämeenlinna, which consists of congregations of Hauho, Hämeenlinna-Vanaja, Kalvola, Lammi and Tuulos. I worked on the grave yard of Kalvola, which is situated in Iittala, a smaller part of Hämeenlinna. It is an old grave yard, where the oldest grave stones have been replaced or even stolen. The grave yard has older and newer parts, and also a specific burial place for war heroes.

My job started on May 5^th, 2014 on the grave yard in Kalvola and continued till July 31^st. I worked every week day, work starting at 7 am. Every week I worked for 38 hours and 15 minutes. In the first place it was a bit difficult to wake up so early, but I got used to it. Besides a big plus for work starting so early, was also getting home rather early. It meant there was time for other things in the evenings, not that I would have actually done much. 

A grave yard of Kalvola, Finland

The job that I was conducting there was mainly related to gardening. In May we took care of the overall look of the grave yard before starting to do the maintenance of the flowerbeds and fertilizing. After the flowers were planted for those, who paid the service, the job was mainly about taking care of the flowers, watering, cutting the grass and doing some things to make the grave yard look appealing. 

One of the job tasks was to do customer service, every time that someone came to me for some help, I tried to help him or her with the best possible way I could. It also is a nice touch to greed people, who visit the grave yard – it makes them feel welcome even though grave yard can be such a miserable place. It was also important to remember the emotional bonds that a person can have, when visiting a grave yard. One extra duty for us was to open the door to the church and switch the lights on before a volunteer came there to work as a guide.

The work taught me a whole lot about gardening as I have never been such a green finger before. While working I understood how much the quality of our work had to do with the amount of customers that pay for gardening services. Grave yards would not look as good as they do now if people did not pay taxes to the churches and if people did not buy the services. 

A grave yard in Hamina, Finland

I was able to enhance my team work skills as the job was almost always done in pairs or in a bigger group. The age difference between the youngest and the oldest worker was 40 years, which naturally taught me to work better with older people. I was lucky to have such great co-workers, with whom I got along very well and we sure laughed a lot. 

Working at the congregation of Hämeenlinna, on a grave yard, was great and I truly enjoyed my time there. I was lucky to work with such amazing people, with whom I got along very well. After finishing my work on the grave yard of Kalvola, I worked two more weeks on a different grave yard in Hämeenlinna. 

For anyone thinking of a work on a grave yard, you should be ready to: 

- wake up early every morning 

- be ready to work in any weather condition 

- believe the work is physically more demanding than you may think 

But over all if you like to be outside, this job would suit you very well, so go for it!

A cemetery in Thessaloniki, Greece