Minulla on Fabulous Pink Rug

Lookie what I found today! Theres loads of second hand tat stores around the town here, so thought I'd have a look for something to brighten up my room with. And I found a huge pink rug. It fits perfectly into my room, and I love it. The woman in the store let me chose my own price - think she wanted me to haggle, but I'm not used to that. In the end, I got it for nearly half what she first asked for it, so I'm happy :)



Also, I start work on monday, which is a bit daunting since I still have no idea what I'm doing. But at least now I know a time and a place, so thats a good start. Hopefully all will go well.

Feeling a bit lonely in my flat today. Gonna be a long weekend I think. I have one other flatmate but I havent spoken to her much. And then the other room is still empty to my knowledge. We had a 'erasmus student welcome party' at a club in town on thursday though, which was good fun. My tutor, Kirsi, invited us round to her flat for pre-drinks first - she makes a potent punch, hehe. So that was a nice chance to meet and chat to people. Hopefully this will continue, hehe.

A Little Update

So as predicted, I dont have internet in my new flat, so welcome to Cybercafe - my new home :)

My more recent days in Truku have been more successful. I met my student tutor/mentor, Kirsi, who is lovely and we whizzed round yesturday and got the most important things done. It also gave me a chance to see the university (which is pretty huge) and more of the town, which is actually really nice. It actually feels bigger than Helsinki, which is strange. Maybe because we stayed pretty central in Helsinki - didnt really explore very much. I've already seen lots of shops here that I want to go in, whereas I didnt seem to find any decent shopping areas in Helsinki.

Anyway, I'm still waiting to meet more housemates and such, and so its still a bit lonely, but today was the start of orientation, and so I got to meet a few more people. Most people seem nice (a few expections) but I think that once I'm more settled I'll be quite happy here.

Also just a quick note about Tallin I guess. It was lovely. Had a really nice day. The weather was a bit iffy, but the old town is beautiful and we went on a couple of those tourist-bus type things and felt like I learned something about the culture and history. They have some really interesting monuments and sculptures. When I have internet back properly, then I will be able to upload a photo album (there's quite a few).

Back in Helsinki already

After less than 24hrs, I'm already back in Helsinki. Needless to say first impressions were not that great. The town seems nice, but where im living is a 20minute bus journey away, and theres no-one else in my flat yet (in fact I dont think theres more than 5 people in the whole building yet!)

So I've come to Helsinki to kips on someones floor for the night, before taking a trip to Tallin with my language course buds. Should be good :)

P.S. as predicted I dont have internet. So this will be my last post for a while :(

Rock, Rytmi & Rakkaus

Last night's festival was a great was to end my stay here in the capital. It was a 40th anniversary so all the music was from 1968. The square was packed and the people were all over the steps of the cathedral. Great atmosphere.

Still cant believe I'm going :( I dont know if I'm sad to leave the city or the people I've met here. Both I guess. But I'm sure I'll be back numerous times (possibly even as soon as monday...) Most of my favourite people are staying in Helsinki, the others are going to Oulu and Seinajoki, so will have some travelling to do during the year. And hopefully I'll have the odd visitor too.

Anyhoo, I just thought I'd put a final post before I go, because similar to last time, I have no idea how long it will take me to get internet back again. Apparently it can take up to 2 weeks :/ But then thats what they said in Helsinki, and for an unlucky few it was true, but fingers crossed I can strike gold twice :)

Moi Moi!

Wayhay, we all passed!

Today we went in to get our exams back and get our certificates. Luckily we all passed! I got 96/100 on the written test, and passed the oral so got my certificate confirming I can speak at least a little Finnish. :)

We also gave our teachers some presents. We had a little class mascot, called Rapu, and so we decided to buy Rapu some friends. A hen that clucked for Mai, a pingu for Jarkko and some magnetic kissing dogs for Taina. They all got a flower each too. They seemed pretty happy with their gifts, and was a nice way to end the course.

Rapu

We went for our last lunch at unicafe (even if it was just yesturdays food reprocessed) and then headed back to our flats. Tonight we are going to the Night of the Arts which is lots of different stuff going on all over Helsinki city centre. Should be pretty good. They set up a huge stage on the steps of the university in the main square, so think it will be pretty busy.

Dont think anything could top the party last night though, but that story is for another time and place perhaps, hehe.

The Dreaded Exam...

So, these are my last few days in Helsinki. I am really sad to be leaving. This really isnt a very big city and I feel very settled and happy. I've also made lots of good friends, most of who are staying in Helsinki. So I'm sure I'll be back for the odd weekend :)

I move to Turku on saturday. After all the confusion, everything has finally been sorted. I was originally told we would have to move out by 10am on friday, which would mean taking all my luggage into uni with me to pick up the certificates (assuming I pass) and then getting on a train to head to Turku, My tutor (or pick-up person) never emailed me back, so I thought I would have to get my own keys, in which case I would have to arrive by 2pm, so would have to get the 12noon train - so very stressful.

Luckily, I have a friend in Turku doing the language course, who will still be there this week. And she kindly agreed to pick up my keys for me. Then today I was told, I could definately stay until sunday in Helsinki, so have arranged with my friend to move on saturday, which is less stressful for me and for her!

And then of course, there was the exam, which we had this morning. I actually thought it was pretty straight-forward, and standard stuff. I think my spelling was off in a few places, and I know I got some of my cases mixed up. I think I said that this moring 'I was to my room' rather than 'I was in my room' But oh well, the pass mark is only 50%. Then the oral exam was a little more difficult, my examiner spoke pretty fast and I didnt catch a lot of what she said, but overall we managed to have a conversation, and it was only 5minutes long, so I hope I passed! We will find out tomorrow.

For tonight - we party!

Film Review - London to Brighton

I actually watched this film last week, but I've been so busy I didnt have time to write a review. But I feel like I should. I heard a lot of good press when this film was around, and I'm always interested to watch British independent films, as they tend to be pretty gritty and realistic as opposed to the fake stuff we always get imported from the US. Not that there is anything wrong with hollywood, but you have to appreciate the difference.

So anyway, onto the film. London to Brighton starts with two girls (well one woman, one girl) in a public bathroom with running makeup and clearly shook up. It transpires that they are prostitutes running away from their pimp. The reason they are running becomes clearer as the story continues, and the whole picture isnt fully painted till near the end of the film.


I dont know why I liked this film so much, its pretty depressing subject matter - prostitution, child-runaways, gangsters, general criminal behaviour. But theres something in the character development and the relationship that forms between the two girls that make the film worth watching. If your not easily disturbed by these topics, I would recommend a viewing. The film is only 90minutes long, and well worth it I think.

Oh go on then...

So before coming to Finland I knew a little bit about the music scene, or at least thought I did. Of course most of the Finnish bands that succeed outside of Finland are rock and metal bands as this is what Finland do best. So, I will share with you some of my favourite Finnish songs from when I was more into rock.

Of course, I think Nightwish has to come first. Nemo was a huge hit in terms of metal-opera in the UK. I remember it being all over the rock-music channels at the time, and I really liked it. I've recently tried looking for some of their Finnish stuff, but it isnt as good, and with the new singer not being able to speak Finnish very well, I doubt they'll do any more. I actually read an article about the old nightwish singer in the Finnair flight magazine on my way here.




Next up should be HIM I think. This band were also pretty huge. In fact they were probably more successful if you consider the number of songs that did well here. Nemo was huge, but I dont know any other Nightwish songs, whereas I could name quite a few HIM songs. Funeral of Hearts was the first song of theirs I heard. Then of course Buried Alive By Love was also huge in the UK alternative scene. (All happy happy song as you can tell). But possible my favourite is Wings of a Butterfly, which was on the next album. I also want to mention their cover of Solitary Man, a Neil Diamond song. My mum is a huge Neil Diamond fan, and actually thought the HIM cover wasnt that bad! Ha! Anyway, this is Wings of a Butterfly;



Then, finally, the most popular Finnish song in the UK was possibly In The Shadows, by The Rasmus. I just remember liking it to start with and then it becoming rediculously over-played. Apparently they used to sing in Finnish, and then 'sold-out' and went into English. But i guess it worked - I just hope they kept the profits rather than spending them on the next album which turned out to be a bit of a flop.



Well that was a good way to waste time when I should be revising - Finnish test tomorrow, then move to Turku on friday - ah!

Its not all Rock and Roll you know.

This afternoon, after getting wet at the zoo, I thought I might as well get even wetter and went to a local music festical in the park not far from here. Because of the rain, there were few people there and to be honest the music wasnt that great. The company and food was good though.

Anyway, it reminded me to share with you another Finnish song that I'm liking at the moment. I havent actually heard it over here yet, but found out about it thanks to Dirrty Pop. This is a song by a guy called Kim Herold, called Social Butterfly. Its a bit of Jack Johnson style music, but its a pretty good summer tune to sit and while away the summer nights. Apparently he was a model before joining a band called Humane. Havent got round to listening to any of there stuff yet, but will check it out soon.

Puhutko Suomea?

Ah, what a great couple of nights. After the boredom that was thursday, I spontaneously decided to head to the ESN club night (erasmus student network) and met up with people from my course to have a drink and a dance. The club was quite nice, but the music was a bit strange - reggae is never good music to start with, its just too slow generally.

And then yesterday I thought I would be knackered. After the late night at the club, followed by a whole day of lessons on grammar, eugh. Then in the afternoon we went out in our small groups to ask people questions, like 'whats the time, where is the market square, is the fish fresh', hehe. Unfortunately we went to a tourist area, where most people we stopped and asked didnt speak Finnish, hmm.

After that we headed to Suomenlinna Fortress, and island that was used as Helsinki (and Finlands) main fortress. Its a lovely island, with beautiful views, old cannons, a beach, and a population of around 800. Theres a church, school, shop etc. Interesting, but maybe made better by the beautiful sunshine that made its way through the clouds yesterday afternoon.



In the evening, four of us just headed into town to chill out at a bar, and just chat about reason why we came to Finland, Italy, Vienna, Business and Cows. After that we tried and failed to get into a club, but with an age limit of 24 (!) this little blogger couldn't get in :(

Today I plan to go to the zoo, despite the heavy rain forecast!

The Past few Days

Hmm, tonights been a bit of a slow evening. Which is nice for a change actually. I've spent a lot of the time listening to the old logs of "Sounds of Europe". Is nice to here me and Rach joking around, I miss the fun we had doing the show. Listening to Finnish radio now, trying to seek inspiration for the new improved show in a years time.

Monday night we went to play lazer quest/quaszar/megazone - whatever you want to call it. You know the game where you run around with a lazer gun and shot your opponents trying to destroy their base. Basically, a paintball without the bruises. Was good fun, I came 20/29 but I had a laugh and no one was being over-competitive. After that we headed to the beach to sit and drink cider. I also had a paddle in the sea. Wasnt too cold and the sunset was just breathtaking.


Tuesday night I went to experience my first sauna. I didnt get the chance to go with the group last week, but instead a friend who is staying here for the whole year and so is living in a different place with its own sauna invited me over to try the traditional sauna. Her flatmate is a regular sauna user, and taught us proper sauna technique. Was good fun. Was quite refreshing, not the sauna part but the running outside into the cold evening air bit - can understand why people roll around in the snow now.

Then of course, wednesday was the trip to Porvoo, which I've already written up. Today after classes, I had a walk over to the rock-church again to get a glimpse inside. Was awesome. Looks completely different to other churches in that theres no stain-glass windows, and the walls are rough rock. But then it still has an aisle, candles and a big organ so still recognisable as a church. Apparently the acoustics are fantastic and I can imagine they are. Here are some of my rubbish photos.

Day Trip To Porvoo

Today we had a break from lessons and had a little day-trip to a popular tourist destination called Porvoo.

Porvoo is the second oldest town in Finland (after Turku infact). It was established as a town and allowed to trade from 1346. It has a pretty river which allowed it to do this. Along the river where little storage huts, which are so often photographed, and remind me a bit of the famous gazebo's in Ware, near where I live. So we had a tour guide take us all around whats left of the original town (aptly named the old town) which was really quaint. Little wooden houses, narrow cobbled streets etc. Also a very nice little cathedral which you can see in the background of the picture above.

Of course, it wasnt a complete break from learning. At lunch Jarkko had our table mouthing the difference sounds for ä and a. For ä you open your mouth wide, for a you keep it more closed. Needless to say we had some dodgy looks in the restaurant, but hey ho.

And then we headed off to a museum. By this point I wasnt feeling very well, so it was a bit tiresome for me perhaps. It was the house of Johan Runerberg, who wrote the Finnish national anthem (although he wrote it in Swedish). But the house was kept identical to how it was when it was donated to the state, back in the 1800's if I remember correctly. It was nice to look around. We then went to see the sculptures of his son, Walter Runeberg. I didnt like these so much.

After the Runeberg stuff, we had an hour of free time where we wondered around the shops. Not the typical tourist tack though, most shops were selling items of Finnish-made handcrafts. They were very nice, and I bought a few things. But the most popular shop of our group was the chocolate shop (of course having nothing to do with the free samples).

Anyway, I would recommend it for a day-trip for anyone in Helsinki. Its easy to get to, and a very charming little town, giving you an idea of what Finland used to be like.

SIbelius Monument and Rock Church

As you may have guessed, I didnt make it to the shops. Instead I decided to be more cultured. On the way back from Seurasaari Island yesterday, the bus went past a strange sculpture that I thought I recognised but wasn't sure where from. Today, I did some digging and found it was the Sibelius Monument, in honour of the composer (see my post on Finnish music to hear one of his compositions). And I recognised it from Eurovision 2007, when it was featured in one of the little videos before each song.

So anyway, I decided to head off and find it. Got lost trying to find the tram stop, and then got off at the wrong stop so got lost again! I'm not very good with trams apparently. Thankfully a Finnish woman saw me standing with a map staring at the road sign trying to work out where I was and just asked me if I needed help - that would Never happen in London. She showed me to the right road and I went on my way.

Here are some of the picture of the sculpture. It is made up of 600 different metal tubes, and weighs 24 tons (thanks wiki). Its pretty impressive and I studied it for a while. There is also a steel image of the composer to the side of the monument, but I found his cloudy eyes and bit creepy.





After that I wondered down to the coast just behind the monument and planned my next move. I decided to look for the 'rock church' marked on my map. When I found it, it didnt appear to look like a church at all. I was expecting a medieval style church made of rock, but instead it is like a church built in the centre of a giant boulder of granite.


I couldnt go inside as there was a service going on, but is just a few minutes from the metro so might make the trip another day after class. Instead though, I climbed upon the mound of rocks, and explored the views. Was very strange to think I was climbing around on top of a church while a service was going on below.

I actually really enjoyed wondering around today, and enjoyed the two sites I discovered, however despite that I am rather independent it was strange to be doing these things alone, and didnt have a friend with me to do the tourist pose with the monument and church. Still, it wont put me off searching out some more sites this week.

What a Journey

I have to share this video with you. It was made by Thomas Leterme, one of my coursemates. He has created a video of the journey from our building in Pasila to the University building where we have our lessons, using a time-delay thingy. Oh yeah, I know the technical terms. Anyway, I think its awesome.

The Week Reviewed.

OK, while my fish fingers are cooking I will try to write up all the stuff that has been going on this week. Maybe a day-by-day breakdown would be easiest, else I forget and get get lost in my own ramblings. So...

Sunday: At 2pm I managed to suss out the train ticket system and got myself to the centre, where Stephanie showed us around the uni buildings and then to a cafe and the supermarket. In the evening we went back into town to head to an Irish pub, Molly Malones. Was nice, but as with most places here, a pint was about €5. Hmmm.

The Main Train Station

Monday: Was a bit more chaotic. We met in the moring at the university for all the introductions, and then went to our first lesson. After that we were met by students who were going to take us to register residency so we could get a travel card for the trains/buses/trams etc. After we did that and then went and got the cards it was too late to make it to the accommodation office to sign the tenancy agreement (they close at 4).

Tuesday: So tusday was the first full day of lessons. We have 90mins in the morning, followed by lunch, then 90mins in the afternoon, followed by a tea break, and then another 90mins in a small group with Taina. Our teachers are really good. Taina is sweet, and she's studied lots of different languages. Jarrko studies drama and is witty and funny. Tuedays afternoon is when I decided I was fed up of not having seen any tourist sites, so went and walked around and explored. You can find the photos somewhere on the right ------->

Carvings on the Main Cathedral

Wednesday: Wednesday was more lessons. And then a trip to the Kiasma museum of contemporary art. This was a bit like a smaller version of the Tate Modern. Some of the displays were quite inetersting, but some I just didnt get the point of (a row of old hankies in a line constitutes art these days...?)

Inside Kiasma

Thursday: Again, we started the day with lessons, but for the afternoon they had a filmed planned. I was quite interested to see a Finnish film, as I often enjoy world cinema. But as you can guess by my lack of a film review it was rather disappointing. It was called Kauas Pilvet Karkaavat (the drifting clouds), Aki Kaurismaki. The pace was just too slow, and the humour was very dry, which would normally be a good thing, but in this case I just didnt like the style and I found it a bit boring. Shame.

Friday: We had our final set of lessons for the week. Jarkko arranged a small test, where we were put into group and had to play a game of sherades, where we would pick a card, act out the verb, our team would then have to name it in Finnish and conjugate it. We did quite well, but had some amusing verbs. I had to act out the verb 'to sauna' and Fillipo got the verb 'to love', which gave Taina a shock! In the evening, we headed to a resturant, which although was nice, was grossly overpriced (€12 for salmon soup!). After that the teachers took us to a bar, which was really nice trendy place. The cue for the bar was small, there were comfy sofa's and pool tables etc. And the cider was only €4, which seems reasonable for this city.

In the Bar

Saturday: we went to the Seurasaari Open air-museum, which is on an island connected to the land by a bridge. Old farmhouses and typical Finnish homes form the west, east and centre of Finland had been rebuilt from their originals on the island, and you could see the differences between the east and west of Finland, how the east had a stronger influence from Russia, and how the west were generally highly religious. In the evening was a party for Fillipo's birthday, which was interesting to say the least, and perhaps I should leave it there.

A Central house in Seurasaari

As for today, there is a trip to the natural museum planned, but since I went with Rachel to the one in London not too long ago, and since I've already seen 2 museums this week, I thought I'd give it a miss. Instead I intend to see what the shops are like here - if they're even open on a sunday :/

An Introduction to Finnish Music

So while we've been learning Finnish, each day we separate off into small groups of just 7 to go over a few things. My small group is lead by Taina, who is lovely and everyday she plays us a Finnish song or two. So I thought I'd share some with you - for better or for worse!

First up, we have a band called Eppu Normaali, and the song is called Suomi-ilmiö (The Finnish Phenomenon). Its a band that we're popular in the 80s and the song is about nuclear power.





Next we have some Folk music. Its a band called Värttinä (which means Spindle I think) and the song is called Linnunmieli. I have no idea what its about, as Taina said its like an old dialect of Finnish and most people dont know it.





Next is a Finnish girl band, called PMMP, the initials of their names (like ABBA someone pointed out...). Anyway, I guess it sort of indie-rock, and the song is called Pikkuveli, which means little brother.





Finally today, we had some Finnish hip hop followed by a traditional Finnish hymn. Both two very different genres. Anyway, the Hip Hop song is by a band called Fintelligens, and the song is called Kaikki Peliin. No idea what that means, but it was the song for the ice hockey world championship in 2003.





All I could think when listening to that was that the first line of the chorus sounds a bit like 'I want my mum'. Not exactly gansta, hehe. Finally the hymn was Sibelius, Finlandia-hymni; Its a patriotic song about the end of occupation and Finland's independence. "Your day is dawning, O land of birth".





Hopefully Taina will continue to intoduce us to what seems to be an actually quite varied music culture. I will write up more about my week on sunday, but tonight I am too busy, and tomorrow we are going to a museum again so will write it all up at the same time. Just had to do this before I forgot any of the songs. Moi Moi.

First Attempt at being a Tourist.

So I finally managed to get my camera working last night (as you could gather) and today after a gruelling day of speaking Finnish, it stopped raining and the sun came out! Hurrah! So I did a quick sweep of the harbour area and some of the other areas and took some snaps. I forgot my map, so just followed the english-speaking tourists. Its quite a lovely city, but the traffic lights take way too long to change.

Anyway, I've uploaded the album for your amusement.

Early Sightseeing in Helsinki

Edit: I've added some more pictures from the art museum today, and added some captions to explain what some of the pictures are of.

Broadway chips... Do they sing and dance?

Just for you Rach - I know how much you like dodgy foreign brand names. I present to you 'The Original Taffel Snacks - Broadway Sour Cream & Onion. Real Potato Chips, Right Taste' Cos we all know how much of a wrong taste those fake potato chips have...

And before you ask, I think Megapussi means mega value... or something along those lines.

Minun nimi on Keira

I think thats right, although there is supposed to be an umlaut somewhere...
Edit: Actually, it was supposed to be in Genetive, my name is... not I name is... Already getting the basics wrong.

Anyway, today was the first day of the language course, although we didnt really do much learning. Introductions, tours, registering temporary residency so that we could get the travel card (otherwise it would cost me at least €4 a day) and after all that I didnt even have time to sign my tennancy agreement :/ Still, we did learn some Finnish, and its actually quite similar to German. Not in terms of Vocabulary but the sentance structure is very logical, so hopefully I will get the hang of it :)

Of course, I ended up seeing even more of Helsinki today. But lets start with yesterday. We met Stephany who will be organising social events for us while we're here. She showed us round the uni buildings so we knew where we were going this morning. She then took us to a cafe where we could relax and talk to each other. Was really nice, and there is such a mix of people all very friendly. Most of my flatmates are very nice too, I share with 4 other girls; 1 Turkish, 1 Lithuanian, 1 austrian and 1 Hungarian. So a mixed bunch. In the evening we then went to an Irish pub which is popular with the students we were told. Was a nice pub but a pint seems to be very expensive (€5+).

Anyway, then today we walked all over the place, I cant even remember! But the university building where we have most of our classes is right next to the famous landmark church (very easy to find, hehe). And we walked down the main shopping street this afternoon, and was relieved to find some familiar names (well, one mainly:H&M). I've been having some issues with my camera, so no photos yet I'm afraid.

Most sadly though, the park bench outside the church in the Party 4Love video at the end doesnt actually exist! I feel cheated Jari...

Hellooo From Helsinki!

I actually have no idea how I've managed to get internet in my room - wayhay! It appears that they never clean the rooms, or at least dont look in the drawers - I found an ethernet (sp?) cable, and thought "lets plug it in and see", et voila!

Anyhoo, I arrived safe and sound. Making it to the airport was a little stressful, but made it in time for a quick fairwell drink with the family before heading through security. Not as bad as I had dreaded, although they did ask us to take off our shoes for scanning :/

Flight was good, no problems there - plenty of complimentary fluids, although I steered clear of the alcohol. Arrived and found my 'pick-up person' Jenni. She was very nice and didnt seem too annoyed that we missed the bus because I couldnt find my euros in time. So we waited for the next one at gone 10pm.

Managed to walk to the flat, and thankfully the building had a lift. I forgot to mention that I was spot on the 23kg weigh limit for my luggage! The scales kept flickering between 22.9-23. Had a few jumpers tucked in my hand luggage too, so that weighed a lot. Glad to settle in the new flat, which if a little grotty is a good size. Twice the size of my one in halls last year at Guildford. Also had a quick chat with the 2 girls already moved in. I have no idea how you write their names, but they're both from Turkey here to study IT for 6 months.

Not really got any first impressions of Finland. Jenni seemed really friendly, and the bus was clean and fast. Other than that it was really too dark to tell. The two Turkish girls think for a capital, its very quiet with hardly any people. Will get out and wonder around tomorrow to explore.

28 Hours Encounting!

Ah, my last day in rainy England (Ok, one shower in the last 5 days, but still). I've still got a ton of CDs left to upload, but perhaps I should pack properly first. It hasnt quite sunk in that I'm going tomorrow, and not coming back for a very long time. I'm thinking about Helsinki and not much after that, so feels more like a holiday. I thought to mark my last post in England for a while, I would mention some of the songs that I've heard since moving home for the summer that I quite like. Perhaps the British music scene is improving a little...

Kid Rock, All Summer Long - Every year you get a 'lets reminisce about summers past' song, and I fall for them every time. My favourite being Last Summer by Lostprophets, possibly because of timing if nothing else. Anyway, this ticks all the boxes for me this summer.

The Tings Tings, Thats Not My Name - Theres something quite catchy about this song, but I think I'll get sick of it as quickly as it grew on me. Despite the terrible 'The X X' band name formular, they are different to the bland regular Indie music that seems to have infected the British public and made them musically comatose, so I'll let them off.

The Script, The Man Who Cant Be Moved - This might be described as the bland Indie that I was just talking about, but its got more style than that, and the lyrics completely redeem it. I only heard this a couple of days ago but its very sweet tugs at the heartstrings.

Jordin Sparks ft Chris Brown, No Air - I heard this a lot at the start of the summer and I dont normally go for R'n'B type tracks, but I really liked the melody of this song. I heard a live version and decided I rather dislike the girl, but its a nice summer track

Usher, Movin' Mountains - Yes, more R'n'B, how strange. .But I've always liked Usher actually (another influence of my brother) and this track, although slightly overproduced, has good metaphorical lyrics.

Sara Bareilles, Love Song - I first heard this song on the way home from Guildford and heard it constantly while in Vienna (the fact we kept singing it didnt help) so will always remind me of that holiday and happy sunny times.

And thats my current summer soundtrack. I will no doubt make a whole new one by the end of next month. It'll be interesting to see what sort of music is being played around Helsinki. I hope to have internet at regular intervals - if not in halls then in the uni library, so there will be the odd update. I will definitely have a connection at my accommodation in Turku though, so will be back to boring you full-time by September (fingers crossed).