Confessions of a Party Girl

I might officially be a grown-up now. My midsummer was very nice and laid-back, instead of drunken crowds and binge drinking and late-night karaoke sessions it was all about spending lots of time in the kitchen cooking, picnics and other forms of outdoors life, and very moderate alcohol consumption. And I didn't mind at all! I suppose it's only healthy that when you start reaching 30, you find other ways of celebrating than being drunk out of your skull. (OK, some exaggeration there, but you get the point.) You also start appreciating being able to go jogging on midsummer Sunday morning, instead of crawling to the nearest shop for cola and chips.

Some years ago, I would have found this extremely sad, boring and middle-aged. Now I just find it refreshing. I've had some really great years being single and partying, and I wouldn't change it for the world. I think it's very advisable to enjoy life on your own when you're young, there'll be plenty of time for responsibilities and commitments later on in life. But it's also good to realise when it's time to move on, cause eventually, what's more sad - an ex party girl with Sunday morning workouts and lots of great memories, or a middle-aged party girl who doesn't realise the party's over?

But to get back to where I started, here's some pictures of my grown-up midsummer.

Pildammsparken in midsummer evening sun.

OK well some drunken crowds anyway...

Midsummer picnic. Strawberries and potatoes included!

Today, it was time to get back to reality - and my first radio broadcast. In my job as a news reporter, I've gotten used to short live broadcasts, and in the past I've also done some live reports. During my studies, I hosted some longer shows, but that was several years ago. (A funny detail: the last song I played on my last school radio show was the first song in today's broadcast. And our music is being chosen in Stockholm.) All in all, live broadcasts aren't exactly new to me, but I was still kinda nervous - there are all those buttons and slides and jingles and at the same time I need to sound like talking to the microphone is the only thing on my mind. But I'm happy to say that I didn't really fuck up, no wrong buttons or introducing the wrong interview or anything. And it was fun, once I got over my nerves. Can't wait to do it all again tomorrow!

After I left the office, I sat down at Gustav Adolfs torg, a marketplace in the heart of Malmö. I could suddenly see myself there, five years ago, life flashbacks in a movie. There I was, going to that café after arriving at Malmö and checking in to the hostel I spent my first night in. And there I was a couple of months later, shopping for halloween accessories at H&M with some exchange student pals. And here I was, going home after a day at work. In Malmö. Life sure has its twists and turns.

The one with the brown marquise is the one I'm talking about.

A little glimpse of Gustav Adolfs torg.

Malmö says over and out. Have a great week!

-Karoliina

Like the Midnight Sun

I'm alive! The lack of blog updates doesn't mean I didn't survive my new job, it just means that I've been suuuper tired in the evenings. But, everything's gone really well so far. I've been taught how to use all the different systems and programmes, and naturally they're completely different from the ones I've used before. But I'm getting the hang of it, and the people who've been teaching me keep telling me that I learn really fast so I guess I've been a good little student. I've also been in the studio while my colleague is broadcasting the local programme - and on Wednesday I got to participate by talking a bit and pushing some buttons. That was fun! Starting from Monday, I'll be doing that all by myself so I'm really glad that I've been able to learn the tricks of the trade quite fast...

While learning the technical stuff has been quite easy, my first assignment on Monday was a bit of a challenge. I was told to drive to a nearby city and do an interview in Swedish. The hardest part was neither getting there nor doing the interview, it was getting out of Malmö. The drive to the other city takes about half an hour, and I spent almost as long trying to find my way from the centre of Malmö to the highway... I had a map and I had checked the route carefully, but being a bit nervous, I took a wrong turn and spent ages trying to get back on track. And of course they have a lot of road construction work going on so that added an extra flavour. But finally I made it to the highway and I even arrived to the destination on time. Everything went pretty smoothly there (apart from the fact that I almost managed to get myself on a ferry to Germany).

So the first week went well, and I'm actually looking forward to getting started on the job, not just learning how everything works. Being the host of a radio programme is something I've wanted to try for a long time, and at least the make-believe shows during my training went pretty well so this should be fun. Here's the building I work in btw:

But now it's midsummer! I've always spent it in Finland, so I was curious to see how the Swedes celebrate it. It seems to be as important here as it is for their Eastern neighbour. And the menu is similar: the most important ingredients are new potatoes and strawberries. Well we've got those, and a whole lot of other stuff. And just like the Finns, the Swedes also like to retreat to the woods for midsummer. We decided to stay in the city, and retreat to a nice park with a picnic basket and some wine (ok, a whole lot of wine.) The weather's shaping up so it's going to be a nice evening.

It's funny, though, I haven't been seriously homesick but thinking of midsummer has made me think of home a lot. It's one of the high points of the year for us. It's also a time when so many Finns get so drunk and decide they're excellent swimmers or excellent at peeing from a boat, standing up - and then drown of course. It's amazing how we never learn. But it's also the one moment during the year when long, dark winter doesn't seem to exist and life is all about freedom and enjoyment. And friends and family. That's what I miss the most. I'm not very patriotic, and I could probably go for long periods of time without visiting Finland, but being apart from my friends and family kinda sucks. It seems to be a recurring theme in my life, wherever I am, I'm always missing someone somewhere. But I'm sure that those someones out there know that I love them a lot!

So, midsummer. Whatever I end up doing, it'll be quite different from my previous midsummer that I celebrated in Lapland, at a small but fantastic festival called Aawastock. It's being held on top of a vast hill, with a view to a beautiful valley. It didn't really cross my mind then that my next midsummer would be so completely different. But I'm definitely happy about the way things have worked out!

With these pictures, and with a song that really captures the Scandinavian midsummer, I wish you a wonderful, magical midsummer!

-Karoliina

P.S. Another thing I miss is the actual midnight sun - it gets pretty dark here and that's just so weird!

Princess, Half a Kingdom etc.

What a beautiful wedding! I'm talking about crown princess Victoria and Daniel Westling of course. They said "I do" yesterday in Stockholm, and Sweden was watching, in tears. I know I was. Despite being a bigass royal spectacle, the atmosphere of the wedding was surprisingly relaxed and down-to-earth. And so full of love! It was wonderful to look at the bride and groom, they seemed to be so in love and just immensely happy. This picture from SVTs wedding blogger, Ebba von Sydow, says it all.

There's something so fascinating about the whole story, an ordinary guy marrying a princess. I suppose that's the key, Daniel Westling brings the mysterious, intriguing royalty closer to us all. And the story isn't unique, of course, in the past years Scandinavian monarchies have seen several love stories between an ordinary person and a prince or a princess. Watching Daniel's parents throughout the day, I kept wondering what they're thinking of right now. Eva and Olle from a little village called Ockelbo, sitting among Europe's royalty, being one of the most important guests at a historic event. Sure they've had many years to get used to the idea of their son dating a princess, but still it must be kinda mind-blowing. Well, I'm sure one of the things they were thinking of was "well done, son!"

The Swedish press seems to be very satisfied with the wedding, and no wonder. The marrying couple was absolutely radiant, the dress was beautiful and elegant, the speeches were touching, even the weather was good. Like Aftonbladet put it, "we wanted magic - and we got it." Sweden certainly got its magic moment. Personally, I was delighted to see a little bit of Finland as well. Our president Tarja Halonen and her spouse Pentti Arajärvi were among the guests, and during dinner I was happy to see them engaging in conversations with other guests - and felt sorry for them when they were looking lonely, they were sitting quite far away from each other. But I'm sure they had a blast. Another Finnish input was having Mark Levengood as one of SVTs reporters out on the town during the day. Levengood is a journalist, and one of the most well-known and most popular Finns in Sweden. The little nationalist in me was happy to see him in such an important role. And he's really good, too!

Now that the wedding mania is vaning, I wonder what the Swedes will be obsessing with next: royal babies, or princess Madeleine's love life? There's always something to obsess with the royals. I won't have time for that, though. I'll have my hands full with my summer job, and it's starting tomorrow. But I'm sure if an ordinary guy from Ockelbo can rise to the occasion and become a prince, I can handle this!

-Karoliina

Happy Worker

So, my lay days are about to end, and on Monday I'm starting my summer job. I was lucky enough to get a job at a Finnish radio station called Sisuradio. That means I'll get to work in my own field, media, and in Finnish. Sisuradio is a part of the publish broadcasting company of Sweden, Sveriges Radio, and it's a national channel with local offices around the country. The main offices are in Stockholm. I'll be doing interviews and reports as well as hosting the regional broadcasts. I'm excited but a little bit nervous as well. It's always frightening to start a new job and this takes place in a region I don't know that well, and I'll have to use quite a lot of Swedish. But I do like challenges so this should be just the thing for me.

As for my Swedish skills, it's going better all the time. It's a language I've heard all of my life as my mom is bilingual, and I've also studied it for years. Still, it's been a challenge to start actually using it since it's just so much easier with English. But after coming here, I've made sure to speak Swedish whenever I can, and it's starting to pay off. It's just funny how much it varies from day to day, one day I feel like I can express myself very well and have decent conversations, then the next day it's a challenge to have the most simple little small talk. But I guess that's part of the process. Oh and it doesn't really help that I'm living in an area with the most difficult dialect in Sweden. My boyfriend told me that when he first moved to Sweden, he noticed that Scanian (the dialect of the Skåne region) was the only one they would text on Swedish TV. No wonder it's hard for me then.

But now it's time to put my language skills to a test. I'm starting my job on Monday, and right away I'll be sent to do an interview in Swedish. And not only that, I'll also have to drive to another city. I've never driven a car around here so here's hoping the car has a navigator. It'll go fine I'm sure, and at least the Swedes had the decency to switch to right-hand traffic decades ago.

First it's time to relax with a serious TV marathon, though - Saturday is the day of the royal wedding! They had an article in the newspaper today, asking different experts how to survive the marathon. So: loose clothes - check. Proper breakfast - check. Healthy munchies - check. One advice was to come to an agreement with your man about dividing TV time between the wedding and the football world championships, but luckily my man couldn't care less about football. So, let the royal games begin!

-Karoliina

Prime Time

First off, I’m pretty relieved with the choice for Finland’s new prime minister, Mari Kiviniemi. A good while ago, our then prime minister and the leader of the Center party Matti Vanhanen announced that he’d resign in June. Therefore, the party would have to elect a new leader who’d also become the new prime minister. On Saturday, the 41-year-old Mari Kiviniemi beat her older male contestants and will now become Finland’s second female prime minister – except that the first one only held the post for two months before she was forced to resign due to using classified information during her campaign. Let’s hope it goes better for Kiviniemi. Her victory was covered in the Swedish press as well. Dagens Nyheter, which is the biggest newspaper in Sweden, described her as fresh and uncorrupted by scandals, but not so colourful and quite distant, and not even a husband working in advertisement has managed to add colour. However, according to DN there are people who think that this might change now that Kiviniemi will have the highest power. All in all, DN presumes that Mari Kiviniemi is the only party leader candidate who has even theoretical possibilities of saving the Center party. Dunno about that, but it’ll be very interesting to see what happens with a youngish female prime minister after all those grumpy old men.

Sweden is also pretty occupied with politics at the moment. The parliamentary elections will be held in the autumn, and you can definitely tell by the amount of polls and political debates and speculations. I’ve been trying to get a hang of it all, since soon I’ll be working at a radio station and have to know what’s going on in this country.

This week is not about politics, however. It’s the week of the royal wedding! Crown princess Victoria will marry her long-term boyfriend Daniel Westling on Saturday, and the whole country’s going nuts. Seriously, I knew it would be a big deal, but I had no idea just how big. It’s everywhere. They have all sorts of special products, ranging from fridge magnets to chocolate to china. Shops have special displays of stuff related to the wedding and the royal family. The tabloids invite people to send their regards which will then be printed and sent to the royal couple. Last weekend, one of the TV channels broadcast wedding-related movies every night. One of the most overboard things I’ve seen was a campaign at our neighbouring mall, where they were searching for a look-a-like couple who’d be styled and photographed in royal style – and I bet that’s not even among the worst. They’re really making the most of it! But no wonder, the wedding will be a historic spectacle that costs about 15 million euros. I’ll certainly be glued to the TV on Saturday... Unless I want to go to a nearby park, Folkets Park, where they’re showing the whole thing from a big screen. Naturally, you can also get married in the park. I heard that June 19^th is a very popular wedding day this year, but come on! What bride wants to compete for attention with a princess?!

"The wedding is more fun on a big screen."

"Get married here on June 19th."

So that’s what’s going on in the kingdom. As for me, I’m still on holiday, and living accordingly. Yesterday, I met up with a couple of old friends, and we ended up in the aforementioned Folkets Park to look at some animals with the other friend’s 2-year-old son.

Scandinavian cooperation: Therèse from Sweden,
Smári from Iceland and Karoliina from Finland.

Per Albin Hansson doesn't seem to like Folkets Park.

Today I took a walk and discovered another great park called Pildammsparken. I don’t know why, but Malmö is just full of awesome parks! If only the weather would get better, I’m craving to go out for picnics and drinking wine in the sun. So far the summer here hasn’t been too kind, it was glorious during my first weekend but after that it’s been rainy and grey and chilly. Not nice! I’m in the South, goddamned!

Umm, ok.

Oh and KISS stopped by. We couldn't be bothered to go to the concert, but that wasn't even necessary cause we could hear it from our balcony and even see the fireworks. Now I'll have to find out if there'll be some concerts over the summer that might actually interest me.

Puss o kram!

-Karoliina

Seven Days a Week

It's been a week already, but so far only one blog post - I've been too busy enjoying my life instead of writing about it. And there's been a lot to enjoy: exploring Malmö and its streets, shops, cafés and restaurants, catching up with old friends and meeting new people, finding out new things about Sweden and the Swedes, and first and foremost, settling to everyday life with my boyfriend. After all those months of being apart, it's wonderful to wake up together every day and just do normal things like laundry, groceries, cooking, cleaning and watching TV. In the long run, and in "ordinary" relationships, those things usually become a bore, but real happiness lies in things like your partner offering to take out the trash for you. Skype won't do that. So appreciate everyday life while you can.

I think it's about time to show you the neighbourhood. We live on Per Albin Hanssons väg, about 3 kilometres from the centre of the city. Our street is named after a Second World War era prime minister who was born here. Well actually, here:

Here's Per Albin himself, his very own pub and one of the cute street signs on his street:

Our friend Per Albin wasn't born in a bad neighbourhood at all, it's very pretty around here. Lovely houses and blossoming gardens, plus a chestnut tree fit for Totoro.

Our house and our part of the street aren't as pretty, though. But, we live right next to a big mall, and we have a video rental store right downstairs so it's not that bad. We even have our own little wino gang, enjoying their summer days in the park across the street.

My first week in Sweden has been smooth sailing. The only thing interfering with our peaceful being has been graduating students driving around in convertibles and trucks, honking and shouting. That's another thing you don't see in Finland. But sure, they've earned their celebrations. I just hope they shut up soon cause I sure as hell have earned some peace and quiet!

-Karoliina

Du gamla, Du fria

So here I am! I've just spent my first weekend in warm, summery Malmö, and it's been awesome. Like I predicted, all stress and worries were gone with the wind once I got here. Now it's all about lazy, hazy summertime bliss. (Until I start my summer job, anyway.)

Finland and Sweden have a very special relationship. After being a part of the Swedish kingdom for centuries, Finland is a bit like a little brother, jealous of what big brother has and does. But we don't admit that of course, we disguise it with jokes and detraction. Well, I like Sweden and the Swedes. I think they're generally more open, social and friendly than Finns. I really feel at home here.

Today happens to be Sweden's national day. And their way of celebrating is quite different from ours. In Finland, independence day is serious business. We have pompous ceremonies and soldiers marching and it's all very dignified. What do the Swedes do? They put up little flags on buses and set up a stage in the middle of the market square where they have entertainment ranging from new circus to a concert by the Idols winner. They wear t-shirts in Sweden's colours and go out in the park to have a picnic. Sure, it's early June opposed to our 6th of December, but that can't be the only reason. The Swedes celebrate their country, we treat our independence like a relic. Maybe it's because independence is such a new thing to us afterall, less than a 100 years. I guess it's easier to be laid-back about it if you've been independent for a thousand years or so.

We decided to do as the natives and have a picnic in Slottsparken, an amazing and huge oasis right next to the centre:

So, congrats Sweden on your national day! Thanks for letting me be a part of folkhemmet for three months, I think we'll get along just fine!

-Karoliina

P.S. I do have the little brother syndrome as well: hearing the national anthem felt like a stab, thanks to hearing it so many times after yet another hockey disappointment...

I Believe I Can Fly?

This is it, then. My bags are packed, almost the entire 28 kilos they allow. (Dragging my luggage to the airport by bus will be a nice morning workout.) My home is ready to be "abandoned" for three months. I had bye-bye dinner with my sister and our friend. I even said bye to my sister's chipmunks.

As if it wasn't stressful enough to try to remember everything, Blue1 arranged a nice little surprise by sending me an SMS in the afternoon, saying my flight was cancelled. My first thought was, goddam volcanic ash, not again! But na-ah, it was a good old strike. Pilots gone ballistic about something. Now, I do believe that people should have the right to go on strike if they're being treated unfairly. But, after six months of combining frequent flying with endless strikes, delays, lost luggage, technical problems and - when all else failed - volcanic ash, I do believe in my right to skin these pilots alive. Seriously, I'm this close to getting rid of airlines for three months, and that's when you start misbehaving?!

At the moment things are looking good, though. They booked me on another flight, then cancelled that, but booked me on a third one. After queuing for ages on their service line, of course. All they did voluntarily was send me a text message.

Anyways, better go to bed and hope I won't be woken up by any unpleasant messages. Bon voyage to me, see you guys in Sweden!

-Karoliina

A Royal Mess

What's a better way to prepare for a long stay in Sweden than watching a documentary about the royal family? Nothing! A Finnish channel just broadcast the first episode of a documentary series about the Swedish royalty. Sure, monarchy is pretty outdated in today's world and only serves a ceremonial purpose and costs a hell of a lot of money, but I do have a sweet tooth for that stuff. I mean, come on! They have castles and horse carriages!

I couldn't care less about that tabloid thing they've got going on these days, scrutinizing the royal family members' every step and reporting their every move. Same goes for other celebrities. Who really cares? But to get an authorized glimpse into the life of the royalty, I just find it fascinating. Like a whisper from a forgotten world. A world that, for the most part, deserved to be forgotten, but it's nice that the romantic and elegant parts live on. I definitely wouldn't want to be a part of any royalty, but the fantasy appeals to the little girl in me.

Anyways, it's weird to think that I won't be here to catch the next episode. Or the ones after that. I've been sick for the past few days so I've been watching a lot of TV, and I've discovered a lot of programmes I won't see. I won't be able to attend my favourite festivals either. But hey, who cares about TV or festivals when I have a whole new adventure ahead of me, and with an amazing person!

It's getting real close now, about 30 hours and I'll be on my way. I came down with a badass stomach flu on Sunday, so for 2,5 days I could hardly remember where I was, let alone think of where I was going. Today I started packing for real, and I've now got 10 kilos of clothes packed up. I'm allowed to take 28 kilos in total, but maybe I'll save some space for the return trip - you know, for royal souvenirs!

-Karoliina

P.S. Can't wait to see the royal mayhem when princess Victoria gets married on June 19th...