sym sym sym sympaatti sympaatti

Yesterday I returned all the music to my choir. I sung in this choir before I left to Iceland in 2006, and now I had the priviledge to sing in it for 1,5 years. I also played handbells in our ensemble. Good (and muscle-building, I played the bass bells) times.

stuff we sang during these 3 semesters

overtune singing - canto armonico

sometimes you just need all the energy...

...especially when you have to learn everything by heart in several languages

our wonderful cathedral

before our gig last Christmas

Picture by Kyösti Meriläinen

Picture by Kyösti Meriläinen

from here

from here

I will miss you hanurikertut so much, good luck! <3

wow, much nervous, so panic

Next week. I'm moving next week. Holy crap.

But I found a room! It's in Eixample Izquierdo, and I'll work near Plaça de Catalunya. According to Google Maps I can walk to work in 20 minutes. Me gusta. The room is quite small, but it looks really nice and cozy in the pictures.

I'm selling some of my stuff. I love this flea market; I don't have to be there myself, and I can see online if someone buys something. I took my stuff there on Saturday, and I'll go get the remaining crap on Friday.

Do you know the feeling when you're nervous or excited about something, and you have these tingles in your stomach? Yeah, that feeling. It's really annoying to have 24/7.

ticket - check

I just bought my one-way ticket to Barcelona, from Stockholm. I'll be flying on Sunday, Feb 9th. I paid 85€ (~$115), and I'm allowed to take 2 suitcases of 20kg with me. Not bad, I'd say. I'll also have free WiFi during the flight. 

I'm so fricking scared. I told my friend that I'm really nervous about this whole thing, and he said to me that

Its natural to be wary and get upset. You are human i'm afraid :P but its an exciting new start, even if its a scary one. If it didnt cause emotions to rise in you I'd be questioning if it was that big of a decision!

And he's right. If you read this, thank you once again. :)

My friends in Facebook have also been very supportive. It has been wonderful to read comments in several languages, and I think I'm gonna have to buy a hostel since so many people are coming to visit... 

I'm so stressed I don't even know how to continue packing. Ugh. 

hey gypsy

Argh. I've been going through my stuff today, and... it's a bit chaotic. I have moved a lot in my life, last time was in May. What the heck, let's count the places:

• Finland: 9 places in Turku, 7 in Joutseno, 3 in Rauma, 1 in Harjavalta, and 1 in Rauha = 21
• Iceland: 6 places in Reykjavík, 1 in Eyrarbakki = 7
• Italy: 1 place in Perugia, 1 in Cagliari = 2
• USA: 1 place in Harrisonburg, VA (4 times) = 1

Looks like I've lived in 31 different places this far, and sometimes I've moved back and forth, between old places... and there was a period of ~10 years when we didn't move, so it's like 2 new places a year on average. I'm such a gypsy. I wish I had a treasure though.

Like I said, I moved here in May, and before that I had moved from Iceland to Finland, so I didn't have that much stuff. It's funny though, how it just accumulates even if you don't buy anything. Today I decided to throw my stuff and clothes in 5 piles:

1. crap - yey for black trashbags
2. flea market - stuff that I don't need, but doesn't belong into a trashbag
3. storage - stuff that I don't want to throw away, but I most likely won't be needing in BCN (old diaries, some books, an expensive cutlery set I got as a graduation gift, etc.)
4. storage/BCN - stuff that I will eventually bring with me to BCN, that will stay in the storage until then
5. BCN - stuff that I will take with me next month, has to fit into 2 bags of 20kg.

And here's how it looks like right now:

This was when I only had 3 piles (and a trashbag): storage/BCN (next to the pillow/blanket mountain in the back), flea market (on the right), and omglolwtfhelp (rest of the stuff). I also have stuff that I'm gonna give to my mom and my brothers. It feels bad to get rid of some of the stuff, but let's be honest: if I have a beautiful pair of shorts that I bought from the States for $3, never wore them but still took them around Europe with me, I am not going to wear them in Spain. Someone will most likely find them at the flea market and jump for joy. And as soon as I'll feel comfortable wearing shorts again, I will buy a kick-ass pair of them.

The piles are calling for me. But before I go, I want to share a picture of my lovely little brother, who was named yesterday. I'm his godmother, and very proud. He's 2 months old, and in this picture he's getting acquainted with a fox I got for him.

Kettu Repolainen, me, and little Feetu. <3

I will miss him terribly... but he will come visit his crazy godmother, and together we will quest through the lands of Catalonia, or wherever life takes me.

Ah. More tea, some Michael Jackson, and those damn piles. Ta ta.

la entrevista y mi primera vez en España

Ladies and gentlemen, I got the job in Barcelona! This post might be a bit confusing, but I'm really tired. Sorry.

I had the job interview two days ago, on Tuesday. The company had paid for my tickets because I couldn't afford them in such a short notice, and so I packed my hand luggage and took a taxi to the bus station at 2:30am. The taxi ride was smoother than I thought, and I had to wait for the bus for 25 minutes, in -17'C/0F. Finally the bus came, and at 3:00am we headed towards Helsinki and Helsinki-Vantaa airport, which is the biggest one in Finland.

I really should quit drinking these. It's already a joke.

So early!

I had never been to Spain, so I was really excited. My flight to Barcelona left just before 7am, and man those 4 hours felt soooooo long. I flew with Norwegian, and they had free WiFi during the flight. 

Barcelona is in Catalonia, so all the signs at the airport were in Catalan,
English, and Spanish.

Outside the airport, the flags of Catalonia, Spain, and the European Union.

I took an Aerobus from the airport, and everything went so smoothly! It took us around 30 minutes to get to Plaça de Catalunya, which was the last stop. The office of the company was right next to it, and I had an hour before the interview, so I walked around a bit. I went to El Corte Inglés and wandered around their grocery store. I love grocery stores! They played my favorite Italian singer, Tiziano Ferro, and I thought to myself, that if this isn't a sign, I don't know what is. :)

I want this!!!

I went to Starbucks near the office. Here's some Catalan for you.

So close... The Starbucks girl was really sweet, and the coffee was organic and
super tasty! (I think the only Starbucks in Finland are in Helsinki.)

The interview went well, they basically told me that they just wanted to see me. It took less than an hour, and then I had an hour to kill before I had to take the Aerobus back to the airport. I wanted to do some sightseeing with tourist buses, but those tours were at least 2 hours. I decided to walk around instead.

La Rambla.

It was actually really warm, around 14'C/57F.

I went to Hard Rock Cafe shop and spoke Italian with the clerks.

Aerobus information in Catalan, Spanish, and English.

I wish I had time to be more touristy.

At the airport. "Veri" means blood in Finnish. It made me chuckle.

On my way back to Finland I had to stop in Gatwick, London. I didn't have much time, so I just quickly grabbed something to drink and eat during the flight to Helsinki-Vantaa.

I bought the yellow bag from Barcelona airport. It was easier to carry the goodies
I bought for my family. :)

At Helsinki-Vantaa. It was nice to see Icelandic currency too!

I arrived in Finland just before midnight. I took a bus to Turku at 0:30am, and I was at home at 3am. It was an exhausting 24-hour-trip, but totally worth the sleep deprivation! Yesterday I got the call, and now it looks like I'm moving to Barcelona in less than a month. Keep your fingers crossed for me, please!

vamos a la playa

Hola. I decided to make a new blog for my adventures in Barcelona, even if people keep reminding me about my other blogs... I just think it's nicer to start a new phase with a brand new blog. Haters gonna hate etc.