The other lorein

Camera care masoara cat zambesti

2008-07-03T09:27:00.002+03:00

Dimineata am aflat despre o noua gaselnita in ale camerelor foto. SONY DSC ceva. Nu am apucat sa tin minte toate literele, dar o simpla cautare pe google sigur rezolva problema.

Partea interesanta a camerei e ca detecteaza cat de mult zambeste persoana care urmeaza sa apara in poza. Deci, are inclus un zambometru si fotografiaza doar atunci cand persoana chiar zambeste.

Am inteles ca de obicei finlandezii zambesc cam de o liniuta...(cred ca sunt cel putin 5 liniute de zambeala).

Cutia Pandorei

2008-06-27T09:49:00.003+03:00

In principiu as zice ca oamenii sunt frumosi. Dar daca ar tacea din gura, ar fi si mai frumosi. Sau cel putin nu ar fi urati din cand in cand.

Mi-e groza de certuri. Nu imi place sa ma cert, nu imi place sa se tipe la mine.

E asa usor sa jignesti, doar ca sa te razbuni pe ceva. Si e si mai usor sa continui. Si tot asa, de la un cuvant la un gest la o privire apoi inca vreo doua cuvinte. Si inchizi gura exact cand ar trebui sa iti ceri scuze.

2

2008-06-26T09:32:00.003+03:00

Numarul magic e 2 se pare.
Mai sunt 2 weekenduri.
2 zile o sa mergem la targul medieval din Turku.
2 x 2 zile stau in Bucuresti, in 2 saptamani.
Am aplicat pentru apartament in 2 locuri.
Am stat in 2 orase pana acuma.
Am 2 ore de cand sunt la servici.
Am 2x2 ani de cand am inceput sa muncesc.
Am aproape 2 ani de cand am plecat din Ro.

Videoclipul asta nu prea arata bine, dar melodia imi place mai mult decat in interpretarea originala:

M-a facut mama vedeta de frontpage...

2008-06-24T15:47:00.002+03:00

Atunci cand lucrezi cu 3 calculatoare in acelasi timp, ai 3-4 webcams indreptate spre tine, eventual si niste telefoane pe care le butonezi, crezi ca nu poti fi mai narcisist de atat. Colegii radeau de mine ca uite ce mult ma iubesc, am atatea camere si ma uit in toate.

Ei da, se poate si mai bine. Se pare ca am fost protapita la loc de onoare .

Sugestie: focusul e pe partea portocalie din pagina. Si sunt mai multe poze :D

Tadaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam

2008-06-19T13:48:00.004+03:00

Dimineata am avut o sedinta cu toata compania, asa, de vreo 30 minute, un wrap up inainte de vara. Si in sedinta asta am primit tricouri editia de vara, ne-am laudat unii la altii, am stat la cioace intre suc si bomboane si CEO-ul a multumit in mod special catorva persoane din firma pentru merite deosebite. Mai exact, vreo 5 asa.

Cine a fost primul nume din lista? :D

Parca ma simt mai bine azi :)

Miercurea ca martea

2008-06-18T16:56:00.002+03:00

Se pare ca in ultima vreme gasesc cate o melodie definitorie pentru fiecare zi.

Ceva nou, ceva vechi, ceva imprumutat

2008-06-12T16:40:00.003+03:00

Am descoperit ca am o piesa prin playlist de care habar nu aveam. Multumesc celui/celei care mi-a dat-o :D

Ravin - Wish you were here

Unde e "Romania dodoloata"?

2008-06-12T09:28:00.003+03:00

De cand eram mica aveam impresia ca Moldova si Romania se vor uni. Si acum imi defileaza prin minte un oarecare Pod de Flori peste Prut, o vara in care moldovenilor li s-a interzis sa vorbeasca romana in scoli si au fost proteste.
Bunicii mei stau exact langa Prut. Tot timpul stiam ca din acelasi rau pescuiam si noi prin tufisuri sa nu ne vada jandarmii si sunt sigura ca si ei. La un moment dat taiasera copacii lor de pe mal. Si vedeam tara, la o aruncatura de bat. Vedeam dealurile cu casele lor. Si simteam ca e doar un sat peste o apa.

Dentistul meu de acasa e de peste Prut. E un om extraordinar. Am avut un coleg in liceu si facultate care la fel venea de peste Prut. A luat 10 la limba romana la BAC. Alta persoana a trecut printr-o groaza de probleme ca sa poata munci in Romania.

De cand ma stiu, niciodata oamenii din Moldova nu au fost numiti "venetici" de oamenii pe care ii cunosc, au fost doar "cei de peste Prut".

Se pare ca si altii din Moldova cred ca toti suntem romani. Insa se pare ca exact peste Prut a spune ca esti roman iti poate aduce condamnare la 7 ani de inchisoare. Nu conteaza ca esti la liceu. Sau ca doar ai pus niste comentarii pe internet.

Am vazut stirea aici.

Pop, pop, popcorn!

2008-06-10T11:01:00.003+03:00

Am vazut acum vreo 2 zile la Sebi un videoclip similar cu asta:

Bineinteles ca primul impuls e sa incerc si eu...

SATC - o premiera pentru baieti

2008-06-09T17:45:00.003+03:00

Na ca am mers si eu la premiera SATC, care a fost vineri in Helsinki. Ne-am luat de mana(la figurat) vreo 3 fete si am zis sa mergem impreuna. "Precondition"? Sa ne "gatim". Si ne-am gatit.

In fata salii de cinema, o mare de fete. Capacitatea salii: peste 300 locuri. Din toate astea, doar maxim 10 erau ocupate de baieti, care mai de care mai in agonie ca au fost "tarati" in sala.

De ce zic premiera pentru baieti? Pentru ca daca fetele au avut ce vedea pe ecran, baietii au avut ce vedea in jurul lor: macar 300 de fete, care mai de care mai aranjata, mai deosebita, mai fistichie(in sensul bun).

Cum m-am simtit? Ca la un fashion show in care imi statea si mie parul mai acatarii in sfarsit :D

Tara mea iubita...

2008-06-06T10:16:00.002+03:00

...vazuta prin ochii altora

Iar azi mi-am inceput dimineata cu articolul asta.

Pe scurt: suntem un popor de trisori, de tigani cu lanturi groase de aur(nu am nimic cu ei, dar eu nu ma regasesc in imaginea asta). De obicei cel mai urat lucru pe care il zic e "ce pisicii ei de treaba", dar de data asta imi vine sa urlu WTF?!
Simt atata frustrare incat sigur o sa imi vina o idee buna sa fac ceva in legatura cu asta :)

Acum vreo 2 zile o reporterita din Helsinki cauta o persoana care vorbeste romana si una care vorbeste rusa, pentru ca voia sa ia interviul cantaretilor de prin oras. Daca nu era in timpul orelor de lucru, ma duceam. Ar fi fost o ocazie buna sa ii spun reporteritei si alta fata a situatiei. Sunt tare curioasa ce o sa apara saptamana viitoare in ziar despre asta.

Happy happy joy joy, dupa cum ar zice un coleg de-al meu.

Vestile bune de marti

2008-06-04T11:16:00.003+03:00

Hmm, stiam ca o sa se intample la un moment dat. Si e foarte bine ca s-a intamplat acum.

Sebi pleaca in Suedia la master. Asta inseamna ca 2 ani de zile o sa faca ceea ce isi doreste de multisor. Felicitari!

Pe de alta parte, asta inseamna ca 2 ani de zile o sa ma bucur de Helsinki asa de una singura. Intr-un fel e ciudat. Ieri dimineata aveam aici tot ce aveam nevoie. Acum stiu ca peste 3 luni nu o sa mai fie asa.

Alta veste buna de ieri ar fi ca am aplicat deja pentru alt apartament. Si ca sa scap de nebunia de anul trecut cand Sebi cauta apartament full time, acum astept sa imi ofere orasul un loc unde pot sta. Sa vedem ce o sa se intample.

Si vestea buna cu numarul 3 e ca am a venit vara aici. De-adevaratelea. Pot merge afara cu maneca scurta. :D

Welcome centaurs, elephant-headed-human-shaped Gods

2008-05-21T16:06:00.002+03:00

I was browsing the internet today, of course not browsing as in "not working", but browsing as in "looking for news".
And I cam across to this article.

The article starts like this
Experiments to create Britain’s first embryos that combine human and animal material will begin within months after a government watchdog gave its approval yesterday to two research teams to carry out the controversial work.

Isn't that lovely? Soon we can order on the internet birthday presents like Small-Chihuahua-With-Mother-In-Law-Face.

Utopia de miercuri

2008-05-21T09:37:00.003+03:00

Vara aici e absolut minunata. Iti da multa energie, e foarte multa lumina, iti vine pur si simplu sa nu dormi deloc, sa te bucuri cat mai mult de lumina(asta avand in vedere ca tocmai am iesit din vreo 5 luni de intuneric). Soarele rasare pe la 4 si apune pe la 10, dar lumina e pana la 11. E timpul cafelei/ceaiului in balcon, al plimbarilor in parcuri.

Dimineata era asa mult soare, asa mult verde, pasari cantand, si mai si ascultam muzica in drumul spre metro. M-am simtit exact ca intr-un film. Sau ca intr-un episod din SATC(e la moda sa vorbim acum despre el), cand Carrie era pur si simplu indragostita de orasul ei.

Cu cheia sol la pascut

2008-05-15T22:00:00.005+03:00

Am o dilema. Am fost in seara asta cu metroul in oras, pana in centru. La dus, un duo nene cu un soi de flaut + o fata. Se inchid usile metroului, el da drumul la niste muzica, scoate jumate de 'flaut', tipa da cealalta bucata de flaut, le monteaza, si incepe sa cante. Si canta si canta...adevarat, a cantat frumos. Dupa vreo 5 statii(cam doua melodii asa), tipa merge prin vagon cu sapca in mana. Unii finlandezi pun monede, altii nu pun. Si coboara duo-ul. La intors, acelasi duo.

Acum, analiza pe text:
- erau romani(asta sigur, ca i-am auzit vorbind)
- la fiecare statie, tipa se uita sa vada daca nu vin cei de la Securitas
- poate ca au avut ceva ciocniri cu Securitas, pentru ca aveau grija ca in statii sa opreasca muzica si sandramaua care canta era invelita sa nu se vada
- erau destul de tineri...
- tipul canta bine, chiar daca eu habar nu am cum se cheama instrumentul ala(nu ca ar fi vreo legatura)
- sunt finlandezi carora le-a placut
- tipei ii zornaiau buzunarele, deci avusesera o zi buna
- imi aduc aminte ca i-am vazut si vara trecuta

Compunere libera:
1. De ce au venit aici daca nu pot sa se intretina?
2. Se considera cersetorie sa cante in mijloacele de transport?
3. De ce evit sa vorbesc in romana cand trec pe langa alti oameni din tara mea, dar care au indeletniciri diferite?

Good people share :)

2008-05-15T16:28:00.001+03:00

Am coborat din rai in iad

2008-05-14T21:09:00.004+03:00

Azi m-au mancat urechile si am fost la un concert de muzica clasica. 30 minute numai chitara, 30 minute numai acordeon. Nu am mai fost in viata mea la astfel de concerte, asa ca am zis sa incerc, sa vad cum e, mai ales ca inca mai am febletea pentru chitara si tataia avea sub pat un acordeon.

Chitara...ce pot sa zic...efectiv divin. Canta omul respectiv ca si cum mangaia chitara aia si vorbea cu ea iar ea ii raspundea. Parea atat de usor, atat de natural. Melodiile au fost superbe. Desi pot zice ca pe la sfarsit incepusem sa ma gandesc la nemurirea sufletului si rostul meu pe lume.

Apoi...a venit acordeonul. M-a uimit cum apasa tipa butoanele de pe acordeon, nici macar nu se uita unde apasa. Si toate butoanele alea pentru mine sunt identice...totusi ea le nimerea pe alea potrivite, ca nu am auzit un singur dezacord. Dar dupa prima melodie....prapad....

Inchipuiti-va ca va uitati la un film de groaza, in care momentul culminant, cu muzica din aia scartzaitoare si scrashnaitoare care se prelungeste pana la 25 de minute. Si acuma tzipa, acuma scrashneshte, acuma vin sunete grave.

Cert e ca am plecat de acolo cu un sentiment de groaza, asteptam sa vad cadavrele depozitate langa intrare :|

Cinderella, the cemetery, the squirrel and the horse

2008-05-12T19:43:00.004+03:00

Those are the words that can sum up my weekend. Why?

Saturday we had an enjoyable walk in the Hietaniemi cemetery. Nothing odd, just a beautiful kind of 'park' near the sea, with a lot of grass, flowers, trees, and tombs. Not cross kind of tomb, but just some square like stones with some names on them. And there are a lot of people walking there actually. Old ones, young ones, all of them with flesh and skin and breath.
At a crossing, one squirrel just jumped in front of us. Nice little squirrel, big eyes, friendly...waiting for food. So i took some nuts from the bag and gave them to it.
What I learned:
- squirrels like nuts
- squirrels are greedy
- squirrels can bite you when they try to take the food from your hand
- squirrels follow you if you leave them without their tummy full

Sunday I apparently had a huge surprise in store: I went horse riding in a horse riding school. One hour, walking around in circles, one girl holding the horse with a rope because I have never ridden like this before. Morri and I managed to create a bonding at some point: he started walking and running when I told him to do so, but he stopped quickly after starting. Anyway, I didn't mind.
What I learned:
- horses don't mind your language. the tonality is important, obvious
- how to 'climb' on the saddle
- i need a raise to get myself a subscription for the riding classes

About the Cinderella part in the title...the spell is over, back to work

Accesul interzis romanilor

2008-05-12T09:48:00.002+03:00

Dimineata ascult Cronica carcotasilor la radio. Si asta pentru ca ma binedispune si mai aud si eu cate ceva de acasa.

In schimb azi dimineata mi-a fost dat sa aud o stire foarte interesanta: intr-un magazin spaniol este interzis accesul cainilor si al romanilor.

No comment.

Un pas mai aproape

2008-05-09T11:13:00.003+03:00

Da, si ce daca am plecat din orasul meu, Iasi, si din Romania si imi place unde sunt? Asta inseamna ca sunt tradator de tara? Ca nu sustin economia "infloritoare" din Romania? Ca am fugit si las tara sa imbatraneasca?

Lucrez intr-o firma care imi place pur si simplu. Si pot spune asta in gura mare, fara sa simt ca fac reclama gratuita. Firma se numeste Movial, pentru cei care nu stiu.

Dimineata am primit un link din presa ieseana.

Sa fie oare o intamplare ca s-au uitat la Iasi? You guess.

Comment ca va?

2008-05-08T09:05:00.004+03:00

5 great days spent walking all day long, eating baguettes, chocolate and crepes. And just for the record, I put some kilos on me.
I guess Sebi already made a list of all the things we've seen(in Romanian, sorry). Well, I don't know how much it helps to put in a line the places we've been to. They aren't so many anyways :)

What impressed me is that after such a long time when I couldn't understand a thing on the street, I was actually able to communicate with people. I could understand more or less the menus. I ate chicken that tasted like chicken. I got sunburnt and a bit of sun stroke. I was picked up by a small girl who told me that she wants to break my arms. I convinced her she was a hippopotamus and she couldn't. I walked in the Jardins du Versailles and I wanted badly to have been someone at the court, to have the huge dresses and walk around without having to pay an entrance fee. And I wasn't afraid of those statues :)

What else? Boys are boys everywhere. Just smile a bit, ask for something and you'll get the something. Maybe it doesn't work in all cases and that straight forwarding all the time, but it worked when we needed a map.

Eiffel, Montparnasse, Notre Dame, Montmartre, Sacre Coeur, Versailles, Louvre, Arch of Triumph, Champs d'Elysee....feeling already the butterflies in my stomach, again.

Vappu, ay ay aaaaaay

2008-04-30T14:59:00.002+03:00

Today we are celebrating Vappu. That is, everyone is drinking and having fun.
Well, in (almost) all companies people have champaign together and also some snacks. My company is not an exception. So, we had a nice time in the kitchen around noon, some chit-chat over some alcohol glasses.

The result? This is the first day when I am actually tipsy at work, which is the closest thing to drunk I've ever got in months. I cannot concentrate and I am happy.

Well done!

Rwandan afterthoughts

2008-04-25T10:50:00.004+03:00

Some time ago Roxana recommended me a book, We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families. It is written by a journalist about the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Combine that with Hotel Rwanda seen while reading the book or just after reading the book and you have an idea of why my beliefs about the world have changed.

What hasn't changed is my will to go to Rwanda. And I will plan it for 2010.

Poveste de trezit copiii

2008-04-21T17:14:00.002+03:00

Era o data ca niciodata un bebelus. Si bebelusul crestea pe zi ce trecea, jucandu-se in fiecare zi cu Barbie sau cu jucariile colorate de la MacDonalds. Si copilul asta crestea intr-o zi cat cresc altii in 10, ca nu degeaba manca chestii super-size pline de Euri cancerigene si delicioase.

Intr-o zi, bebelusul s-a gandit ca i-ar sta mai bine bebelusa asa ca a trecut la fapte. A platit ceva, si apoi a mai platit ceva ca sa arate cat de cat a bebelusa. Zilele treceau si bebelusa a inceput sa viseze la cai verzi pe pereti, adica printi pe cai albi. Nu a zis nimeni ca printii trebuie sa aiba bani sa plateasca chiria, sa le ofere o floare din cand in cand, eventual sa nu bea ca porcul. Asa ca a venit un print pe un cal, hartoaga, dar na, era totusi un print, dar apoi a inceput sa o bata si a alungat-o de acasa. Bebelusa a inceput sa planga si sa refuze sa manance, ca a vazut ea ca Ileana Cosinzeana e de fapt slaba-slaba de putea sa i se numere coastele.

Si uite-asa Bebelusa a ajuns betisor, a ajuns apoi intr-un centru unde erau si alte bebeluse betisoare, a iesit de acolo sanatoasa si s-a facut editoare la o revista de bebeluse, unde a inceput sa impartaseasca din experienta ei. Si pentru ca a concluzionat ea ca barbatii toti sunt porci, s-a gandit sa isi caute o bebelusa suflet pereche.

Si asa a trait fericita pana la adanci batranete.

Noapte buna copii si nu mai visati la balarii, ca ele nu exista in viata reala. Oare daca am fi stiut de la inceput asta, am fi putut fi capabili sa luam niste decizii mai bune in unele cazuri?

Awful Iasi citizen

2008-04-17T16:42:00.003+03:00

I was browsing today Iasi using the Google maps. They have a wonderful detail precision and the maps look quite good.

However, I discovered I'm totally lost when it comes to look for my house. I wasn't even able to find it from the first try, even when the center of the map was set on Cetatuia, a monastery very close to my house. I simply cannot find my way if I see the map from "top".

Wouldn't it be great if the map was 3D and I could turn it each way I want, as a normal map, only with buildings on it like the kids books that have these carton personages that seem to stand up when opening the book?

Odd things happening when spring is late

2008-04-16T21:52:00.003+03:00

I am not a big fan of cooking. Some time ago(more precisely, one year ago or so) I was saying how I cut my fingers and burnt my hands while trying to cook something like...vegetables in a frying pan. I wasn't even able to fry some chicken legs already prepared for cooking.

Apparently these days there is something wrong with me. I started liking cooking stuff. Yesterday I did stuffed mushrooms, today I did tiramisu and stuffed baked potatoes. Next, I'm planning on a carrot cake and some salmon maybe. Yum-yum.

Bon apetit! :)

M-am catarat...

2008-04-08T21:57:00.002+03:00

...si vreau sa ma mai catar :)

Si acum concurs fara premii: spot the odd one :D

Ma urc pe pereti

2008-04-04T10:46:00.003+03:00

Imi vine sa ma urc pe pereti de bine ce mi-e in Finlanda. Si asta o sa si fac, imediat dupa pranz.

Cu mic cu mare ne adunam toata echipa sa ne cataram pe pereti. Indoor climbing, pe numele mai pompos.
Am si niscaiva experienta, daca a te cocota in copaci sau a sari gardul dupa zmeura se pune.

Astept cu nerabdare noi vanatai.

Ganduri febrate

2008-04-03T09:37:00.003+03:00

Si cum ma trezesc eu dimineata, dupa ce toata noaptea am visat peisaje spaniole, ape, ursi panda, draci care sareau din apa ca sa nu pot sa fac fotografii la cladirile din spatele lor, deci, cum ma trezesc, imi dau seama ca nu pot respira decat cu jumatate de nas.
Si asta pentru ca primul val de gripa pe anul asta a ajuns in Finlanda.
Afara frumos, primavaratec, eu stau in casa infofolita.
Colegii mei sunt la servici, eu sunt acasa.
Yupi.

Cunosc si romani fericiti

2008-04-01T12:30:00.003+03:00

Azi e marti. Cei care ma cunosc stiu ca in fiecare marti astept 3 vesti bune(contrar credintei ca martea are 3 ceasuri rele). Si prima veste, desi nu ma afecteaza direct, a venit.

E o veste mare, importanta pentru mine. Mai ales ca inseamna fericirea unei bune prietene.

TaDaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Una din prietenele mele pleaca peste ocean sa lucreze pentru Google!

Felicitari, RalucaD! >:D<

Happy and tired

2008-03-21T21:27:00.004+02:00

Today was a day off in Finland because this weekend they celebrate Easter.
So, we went hiking in the Nuuksio park, near Helsinki. We did something around 28km leaving home at 8:30am and getting home at around 19. Of course, we had one makkara break(grilling sausages Finnish style) and one sandwich break(when we actually needed something to eat).

The weather was great: sun shining, -6 degrees, no wind blowing, the snow shining, too. We got lost only twice, and that was for a few minutes only, so it doesn't actually count.

I wish I could have more Fridays like that ;)

I got a bonus from Skype

2008-03-20T09:40:00.005+02:00

I've been using Skype for quite a while now, especially to send documents back and forth. This morning was no difference. I got an xls document containing a test report.

But apparently Skype decided to give me a prize for being such a loyal user. Check the percentage for 'completed'. However, the remaining time still confuses me a bit......

Today I'm happy

2008-03-19T23:16:00.002+02:00

Today I am simply happy. Nothing more to add.

Being socially dead

2008-03-19T09:21:00.003+02:00

At the beginning of february I went home for two weeks. Then, after just a weekend in Helsinki, a left for a business trip in Lisbon. I do feel I had a busy time since february until now.
But this morning I just realized that I am being socially dead. Meeting no one, exchanging opinions with no one outside my apartment. Doing nothing except working and reading work-related stuff(lately) or life-related books. And then wondering why I have so much time to myself.
I don't even talk on the messenger that much these days. I don't even write short stories. I am thinking of quitting to attend the guitar classes. Also I am thinking of stopping to attend the finnish classes. The reason? Well, in the case of the guitar I missed a lot, and I know I have to take it from the scratch. And I don't feel I got too much value from them either. But that's because I haven't practiced.

Hmmm, that's a twisted way of wanting to have a beautiful life.

Lisbon in March

2008-03-16T10:13:00.001+02:00

Saturday, 8th of March, in Lisbon. One day of wondering around the city.
And the pictures, as promised.

Saturday in Lisbon

2008-03-09T13:02:00.007+02:00

I had a very busy Saturday. Worked all day long ;)

Just as a briefing: Lisbon is a magnificent city.

I will never forget how I was trying to gather 1.35 euros for a tram ride from 5 and 10 euro coins. The machines didn't take notes.

How in the garden of the Castelo de Sao Jorge there was a guy making interesting coins: cutting the metal and making different shapes in the coin. The guy was Romanian.

Also, in the same garden, another guy was massaging the back of an old guy, using his elbows. What has that to do with the castel I cannot figure it out.

The Pastel de Belém are really good cookies. 2 of them make you feel full already.

Some pictures will follow.

Someone must be loving me

2008-03-07T00:58:00.003+02:00

...and that someone is called 'work'.

So yap, I started a nice working period with a bit more hours than I should be doing normally. But it is confirmed. I am in Lisbon until next week. I just hope it won't be any storm in the meantime.

Otherwise, I have to buy some clothes, since I cannot wear dirty blouses.

But saturday is going to be my glory day. Finally time for visiting :)

Going from snow to yellow blooming tulips

2008-03-06T01:41:00.002+02:00

Home: snow, wind, cold.

Here: Almost 20 degrees outside, sunny, yellow tulips bloomed already, peace and quiet in the office, soup, sandwich and ice cream for lunch, charming people around, nice tasks, seeing the river from the window, what else can you possibly want more from a day at work? Maybe a weekend in this land of God.

Just wish for it. You get it. :)

Noisy Lisbon

2008-03-05T02:03:00.005+02:00

It seems I am back in Lisbon for a couple of nights. But this time, I don't have the nice river view. Instead, I see buildings. And I hear the metro. It's really loud and very noisy. Anyhow, the noisy afternoon started while being in the Amsterdam - Lisbon plane. Just after getting in, a strange noise was to be heard near the wings. Already Lost scenes came to my mind and I started wondering where the oxygen mask is dropping from in order to get closer to the place.

Hmm...seems that I am writing nonsense stuff. It's 2:05 finnish time, aka 12:05 portuguese time and 'time to sleep' loredana time.

PS. I just remembered that few days ago I saw an owl in a tree near the botanical garden. Beautiful 'Buhu' owl...

Browsing in Selgros in Iasi

2008-02-15T09:08:00.004+02:00

The other day I was out shopping with my family. And since the shopping centers fever is "blooming" right now in Iasi, I took the opportunity to visit the Selgros store just close to my home.

And I had the pleasure to see some interesting products...You can see a couple of them following:

Some "dezata" bear meat("dezata" means absolutely nothing in Romanian)

Some beer served in a special way apparently:

Getting ready for the mountain

2008-02-14T22:28:00.002+02:00

I miss the mountain. The snow, the trees, the smell of the cold.

Tomorrow I will be off to Vatra Dornei for the whole weekend. Girls trip. A lot of enthusiasm, a lot of food(at least a lot of food brought by others :) ).

I expect a lot of spicy conversations....

Having dilemmas and not dealing with them

2008-02-12T22:29:00.000+02:00

Sometimes, the things that you think are going to make you the happiest person in the whole world are away from doing that.
I have a couple of examples in my head right now, but I don't know if it makes any difference if I shout them loud. Maybe I should just enjoy what I have.

Anyways, today was a pretty full day. I found out I am going to need some sort of surgery to take out some teeth. Isn't that wonderful?

On Thursday I need to give some blood for some tests. Another yacky thing.

Yes, I'm enjoying my vacation....

Sum up

2008-02-09T22:46:00.000+02:00

I've done quite many things these weeks, but the first times are:

1. gone to the Opera, to see La Cenerentola. It lasted 3 hours and I yawned around 5 times. I guess this means I like opera.
2. saw Apassionata, horrible smell, great show. Details will follow later, plus pictures
3. went home, after nearly one year
4. been in the same plane with Sonata Arctica and wanted to talk to them 2-3 times. Yes, they were traveling with the rest of the world, at the economy class. No, I haven't spoken to them, mainly because I know only 2 of their songs.
5. ate a birthday cake that my mom did; i've eaten this type of birthday cake only once, when i was 5 or so
6. drank champaign and red wine

Cannot continue the list, still thinking that I could have made friends with the Sonata Arctica guys and be cool at least for once since I grew up....

Paris, here I come!

2008-02-01T10:01:00.000+02:00

Maybe the best decisions I took so far were the ones when I didn't think that much. And the trips that I enjoyed the most were the ones that I didn't have to prepare for weeks in advance. Just close your eyes, think where you would like to be in this precise moment, then buy the tickets.

At the beginning of May I should be in Paris. Well, i have to take 2 days off, and that is still unsure, but I bought the tickets anyway. And the good part is that I have 2 months to polish my French :)

What can be more beautiful than having an anniversary in Paris?

I can see sunshine on my street :)

2008-01-27T19:43:00.000+02:00

Seems that people are interesting beings.
At some point I was complaining about my guitar classes. Well, today I had the pleasure to receive some files from my teacher and also to receive a special email in English only for me. And that made me feel good. :)

So yes, I'll keep on going to the classes, see what happens.

Having loads of work to do

2008-01-24T12:16:00.000+02:00

I think it's a good thing that some of us are multitasking.
And it's even a better thing that I am multitasking.
But the best thing is that I can listen to some good music while working :D

Trying to be green....BUT

2008-01-23T11:34:00.000+02:00

Some time ago I found out about the green thing. Well, January's green thing was to take the stairs instead of the elevator. And i started doing that...

Of course, there is a BUT.

Yesterday I was in the building where I have the guitar classes. The classroom is at 3rd floor, and I was at 1st floor. Last time I took the elevator, but now I remembered about the green thing and decided to go by stairs. Well...there were 2 ways to get to 3rd floor: some stairs on the right and some on the left.

I took the stairs on the left. After going up maybe 6-7 stairs I notice that on a corner there was a statue, very close to the stairs. I huge black statue, showing a man stretching his hands towards the stairs. Instantly I got panicked. I am awfully frightened by statues. So, i went back, as quickly as I could.

Then, I took the stairs on the right. Again, after some stairs I start noticing another statue, a woman this time. Her figure looked a bit milder than the man statue. I though I can cope with that. So, i kept on going, of course, as closer to the stairs as possible and as far from the statue as I could. But, surprise! At the second level, a huge statue, very huge, was in the middle of the hallway. It seemed like an enormous octopus that was trying to swallow everything around it.

I felt my heart starting beating 3 times quicker than it usually does, panic filling in my body, so I ran back to 1st floor. And took the elevator....

Yes, I am statue-phobic. So what?

Tough courses

2008-01-22T22:41:00.000+02:00

I have never felt as stupid as I felt today.

I was very excited about having subscribed to guitar classes. I wanted badly to learn how to play the guitar. And since the instrument was laying in my room since last winter, I decided it was time to take action. So, I subscribed to classes. The description of the course was in finnish, but when I called to sign up it seemed ok that i spoke in English.
And the first class was ok. I understood what the guy was talking about.

Well...here comes today. When I was supposed to learn about octaves and intervals. I didn't understand anything. I stayed there for 1.5 hours trying to understand what the guy was saying. At some point, he asked if the numbers in my language are similar to the ones in italian. I said "yes". He said "the you will understand the octaves". That was it. And no, I couldn't understand.

At some point I was thinking that I would just stop going to the course. Last time I felt as miserable as today was when I failed the exam for the driving license. It was depressing, and I felt ashamed.

Then I thought...i can do better than that. I will try to learn the stuff on the internet, and hopefully next time i will understand more.

But just remembering me sitting in the classroom today with the guitar on my lap and looking at the teacher with this stupid look still pisses me off.

New beginning, indeed

2008-01-16T23:50:00.000+02:00

This is the way I was looking today, after having yesterday my real birthday and the surprise party today.

24 years. No worries.

Thank you!

Alo, Mara? - 4

2008-01-10T11:41:00.000+02:00

Partea 3

Am fost si mi-am cumparat papuci azi. Si m-am imbracat ca din reviste. Merit. Nu mai pot continua asa. Treaba lui. Cat am sa mai suport? Ne despartim si gata. Dar ca oamenii. Chiar sunt frumoasa. Am sa pastrez cu mine doar amintirile frumoase. Atat conteaza. Fruntea sus. Sunt atatea lucruri pentru care trebuie sa fiu multumita. Mara, esti o dulceata. Pot sa ma mut la tine pana imi gasesc o camera? Esti o prietena adevarata. Astept sa se intoarca, vorbim, si apoi ma mut la tine. Nu vreau cozi dupa mine. Vreau sa ma simt iar libera. Am nevoie de aer. Si am nevoie de mine. Saptamana la munte mi-a priit. Multumesc ca te-ai gandit sa imi aranjezi excursia. Cum de am fost asa oarba si nu am vazut pana acum ceea ce era extrem de evident? Viata e frumoasa. Stii colantii aia negri? Merg de minune cu puloverul ala rosu, lung, pe care l-am luat cu tine atunci. Ma simt alt om. M-am ingrasat un pic. Bine, asta nu ma multumeste in mod deosebit. Si am aruncat usturoiul si piperul din bucatarie. Ma simt bine. Am si zambit la facultate azi. Mara, sunt multumita. Vorbim mai tarziu. Nu-ti fa griji, ma simt perfect. Imi vine sa rad tot timpul, asa de bucuroasa sunt. Auzi, Mara, am gasit un sutien ca al tau sub pat, printre sosetele lui. Nu imi aduc aminte cand am fost sa ne cumparam impreuna. Parca totusi e marimea ta. Crezi ca se poate sa il fi uitat aici?

Bani? Am. Sacosa? Am. Pot sa imi iau ghetele inalte, pe care mi le-am luat azi.

Mara, nu a mai venit acasa de cateva zile bune. As putea trece pe la tine sa bem o cafea impreuna? A, e varul tau acolo. Ok...pai atunci te astept la mine. Auzi, sunt curioasa. Te-a sunat cumva pe tine zilele astea? L-ai vazut pe la cursul ala la care mergeti impreuna? Ok...o sa mai astept....A, am inceput sa merg la sala. Ma simt bine. Vreau doar sa vorbesc cu el, sa lamurim situatia. Inca il iubesc...Nu stiu ce-o fi in capul meu. Somniferele pe care mi le-ai adus? Am inceput sa nu mai iau. De ce sa continui? Nu mai am nevoie de somnifere. Daca s-ar intoarce, l-as primi cu bratele deschise. Imi lipseste mirosul lui, imi lipsesc ochii lui, corpul lui. Mara, il vreau inapoi. Vreau sa vina la mine. Il iubesc...Nu stiu eu sa ma port cu el...dar o sa incerc sa il inteleg. Il iubesc. Poate ca din cauza mea m-a lovit si s-a purtat urat cu mine. Trebuie doar sa nu mai fiu asa incapatanata. Il vreau inapoi. Fara el sunt nimic. Ai auzit, Mara? Nimic.

Alo, Mara? A venit acasa azi. Cand m-a vazut, m-a strans in brate. Am simtit ca sunt intreaga iar, ca am in sfarsit ceea ce am nevoie... Apoi mi-a spus ca sta la tine de o saptamana. Si ca sunteti impreuna de vreun an. Mi-ai nenorocit viata. Felicitari!

Alo, Mara? - 3

2008-01-09T12:05:00.000+02:00

Partea 2

Haina asta am cumparat-o cand cu sarbatoarea orasului. Nici nu imi aduc aminte cu cati ani in urma. Intr-un fel eram fericiti atunci. Cel putin stiam clar ca ne iubim. M-a trezit dimineata, imi pregatise micul dejun. Mirosea a omleta cu branza si cu marar. Si cu piper. Nu stiu cum oamenii astia in filme iau micul dejun in pat. Eu nu pot. Nici nu vad bine. Trebuie sa ma spal pe ochi intai. Si in plus, e incomod de mancat in pat. Doar nu-s bolnava sa stau sprijinita de perne si sa mananc. Perne, vorba vine, ca avem doar o perna mica. M-a trezit. Pana m-am spalat pe ochi, omleta se racise. Dar nu-i nimic. Stiam ca are grija de mine. Omleta a fost buna. Am mancat si ciocolata dupa. Obisnuia sa cumpere ciocolata. Niciodata neagra. Niciodata alba. Imi place in special aia cu nuci. Cumpara cu stafide. Ii placea. A inceput sa imi placa si mie. Nu imi pare rau. Imi pare rau doar ca sunt proasta.

E 4.

Plec. Nu imi trebuie cheile. Sper ca nu mai sunt aurolacii in jurul blocului. Poate ca eu arat mai rau ca ei acuma. Am sa fac asa cum am vazut in filme. Am sa ma imbrac misto, sa ma aranjez, si ma duc sa mananc in oras. Singura. Si am sa intorc ochii pe strada dupa mine. Am si slabit in ultima vreme, destul. Ok, dar nu cred ca gasesc vreun loc deschis la ora asta. De ziua mea, acum 2 ani, a inchiriat un loc. Sau numai el stie ce-a facut. Am fost doar noi doi, pana pe la 5 dimineata. Era un bar mai stralucit, care ca sa fiu obiectiva, arata chiar bine. Am luat cina impreuna. Am dansat. Am povestit. Daca cineva ar fi cautat poza cuplulului perfect, noi eram. Nimic nu ar fi putut sa strice noaptea aia. Noaptea in care am devenit mai batrana? Mai inteleapta? Nu. Noaptea in care am devenit pur si simplu constienta ca inca il iubesc ca la inceput. Il iubeam ca la inceput. Dar de la 8 seara pana la 5 dimineata, imagineaza-ti numai cate pahare a putut sa bea. Sa zicem 10 minute de pahar. Cu pauza de 10 minute din 2 ore in 2 ore. Mara, sper ca ma poti intelege. Stiu ca nu am ajuns ieri la tine. Nu imi aduc aminte ce am facut ieri. Imi aduc aminte doar ca era 4 dimineata. Nu stiu ce am facut. Poate am dormit. Am gasit somnifere langa mine. Nu stiu daca le-am luat eu, ca imi aduc aminte ca voiam sa plec. Aproape ma imbracasem sa plec. Mara? Ai fost tu la mine ieri? Nu imi aduc aminte sa iti fi deschis usa. Crezi? Hmmm...bine atunci. Dar voiam sa plec ieri. Nu inteleg de ce nu am plecat. Si vara trecuta voiam sa plecam impreuna. Undeva, inafara. Aici e mult mai scump. Inchiriasem masina. Facusem bagajele. Si am plecat. Am mers la munte la noi pana la urma. Nu mi-au acceptat pasaportul la granita, cica arata prea deteriorat. Mara, eu nu am ajuns inafara niciodata pana acum. Mergi cu mine la politie sa vad cum fac sa imi schimb pasaportul? Azi? Da, maine. Azi e cam duminica. Ok...maine dimineata? Imi trebuie ceva in plus? Ok, sper sa imi aduc aminte. Vreun formular? Gasesc undeva sau trebuie sa completez acolo? Ok. Ma duc sa iau paine. Ai idee unde gasesc niste branza proaspata la ora asta? Ok, merci. Am sa incerc. Pa.

Ma doare tampla. Ca atunci cand m-a lovit si am cazut cu capul de cada. Trebuia sa fie o baie romantica. Pusesem lumanari parfumate. Si cumparasem spumant de baie, din ala scump si care mirosea a lavanda. Am intrebat de ce m-a lovit. A fost o miscare proasta. M-am strans de pe jos. Mi-am luat papuci in picioare. Am iesit din casa. Poate maxim 30 de pasi. Am lesinat pe casa scarii. M-am trezit apoi acasa, cu mirosul de omleta si mult usturoi. Aveam tampla mov si umflata. Nu am putut merge la facultate in ziua aia.

E deja noapte. Ma duc dupa paine. Imi trebuie doar banii si o punga ceva. Azi m-am vopsit. Imi sta bine. Trebuie sa fac ceva pentru mine. Nu se mai poate asa. O sa lupt pentru mine.

Alo, Mara? - 2

2008-01-08T11:19:00.000+02:00

Partea 1

Ma arde sufletul. O arsita groaznica, un fel de benzina. Sau dero. Odata am mancat dero. Din ala cu bule albastre in el, care da stralucire la rufe si improspateaza culorile. Am banuit totusi ca are clor. Si atunci ma saturasem. Am luat doar un pumn de dero. Batea in usa ca voia sa ajunga la dus. Nu prea aveam mult timp. Am facut-o pe viteaza. Dar dero-ul ala avea un gust aiurea de tot, a trebuit sa iau apa dupa. Si am baut multa apa. Apoi...am asteptat efectul. Are dreptate ca sunt proasta. Daca aveam putina minte, imi dadeam seama ca daca beau apa dupa nu mai are nici un efect. Evident. Scrie pe orice ambalaj. Si la chimie inveti ca apa se comporta ca o baza cu un acid si ca un acid cu o baza. Deci neutralizeaza, oricum ar fi. Gasca proasta. Asa zice. Poate ca proasta sunt, dar nu sunt gasca. La urmei urmei, daca as fi proasta, ce? Prost sa fii, noroc sa ai. Ma doare capul de la atata plans. Nu voiam sa o sun pe Mara, dar e singura cu care pot vorbi.

Imi iau blugii. Si inca 2 tricouri. Trebuie dus gunoiul. Nu il iau, nu vreau sa ma intorc. Nu imi trebuie inelul. Nici la amanet nu il primesc. Plastic. Cumparat de la balci. Mai in gluma, mai in serios, ne-am logodit atunci. Sub roata mare, langa caruciorul cu inghetata de 2 lei. Era soare. Si imi zambea. Eu voiam verde. Dar voiam amandoi la fel.Si inele mai mari erau doar albastre. Am luat albastre. Si ne-am logodit. Mi-a luat un buchet de zambile, si o cutie de bomboane cu aluna in mijloc. In ziua aia am mers pe jos vreo 20 km. Cel putin. Era "luna noastra de miere". M-a luat in brate de cateva ori.

Prostii. Juramant facut intai pe un inel de plastic...calitate "made in China". La fel si covorul. Nu din plastic, ci made in China.

Ma intreb ce ma doare mai tare. Capul de la plans sau sufletul. Plasturi folositi pe jos. Minunat. Nu mai adun nimic. Nu mai fac nimic. Plec.

Alo, Mara? - partea 1

2008-01-07T13:15:00.000+02:00

Cum vrei. Nu ma mai intereseaza. Nu ai decat sa faci ce te taie capul. M-am saturat sa iti spun de atatea ori. Si m-am saturat sa iti spun ceea ce vrei sa auzi, chipurile sa te sprijin. Nu ma mai intereseaza sa te inteleg. Tu chiar nu vezi ca ai facut din mine o carpa? Nu iti mai pasa nici tie. Atunci ce mama naibii mai stam impreuna? Iti poti gasi o spalatoreasa mai ieftina. Care nu o sa te bata la cap daca nu ii faci cadou de Craciun. Si careia o sa ii placa piperul si usturoiul. Nu mai vreau sa fiu cu tine. Nu te mai iubesc. Si chiar daca te mai iubesc, e totuna. M-am saturat sa te joci cu mine. Gol. Asta simt. Un suflet gol. O viata goala. Negru, ploaie, vant, gol. Ar merge un ceai cald. Sau o ciocolata calda. As fi vrut sa ii pot spune toate astea cand a venit acasa. Tu ma intelegi, nu-i asa? Stiu ca e 3 dimineata. Stiu ca maine trebuie sa ajungi la servici. Nu mai pot, Mara, nu mai pot. M-am saturat. Si de fiecare data nu ii pot spune nimic. Bine, Mara, vin maine la tine. Somn usor. Ai grija de tine.

As putea sa ii las un bilet. Sau ar putea sa ma doara-n cot. Oricum nici nu o sa isi dea seama daca nu sunt acasa. Sau poate o sa isi dea seama numai daca nu are sosete curate. Nu imi pasa. Si nici nu am nevoie de nimic de aici. Trebuie sa plec. Trebuie sa scap.

Hello new year, new year goodbye

2007-12-31T12:55:00.001+02:00

Now, this song is especially for the New year. Last year I was looking forward to 2007, now I am just throwing it at the garbage bin and looking forward to 2008.

So, New Year...hello, i've been waiting for you :) May you bring only happiness to everyone.

Building bridges

2007-12-31T10:40:00.000+02:00

In Helsinki, Friday is a free entry day for visiting the museum. But if you are a tourist and if you have only a weekend to check the city,the last thing that you want to do(maybe) is to check the museums, especially if you have to pay for it. If they were free...maybe....
However, for Helsinki's day(again free entry for museum), I remember that at least the Modern Art Museum was packed with people.

Imagine you could go and check the museum at any hour, any day, for free. Would you go?

Starting the 2nd of january 2008, everyone can check for free 10 museum in Helsinki: starting with the Street Museum, The Museum for Children and going to the City and History Museum.

I'd like to see the day when I could just go in my hometown and visit the museum for free - the Palace of Culture.

The original news.

Febra

2007-12-28T21:29:00.001+02:00

Buna. Sunt Magda. Am 20 de ani. Sunt studenta. Imi place baschetul. Dar nu mai joc de mult timp. Am incercat acum 2 saptamani, dar nu a iesit nimic. Imi tremurau picioarele.

Nu am mai mancat de 3 zile. E putin, dar e un pas inainte. Nu mai pot manca. Am cosmaruri cu grasimea care creste pe mine. Acum am 40kg. Pana la Anul Nou vreau sa slabesc 5kg. Cand am ajuns aici? Acum 2 saptamani. Nu, nu imi cade parul. Da, pielea mea e mai stravezie acum.

Marius nu m-a vizitat. Nici nu cred ca o va face vreodata. Marius nu ma iubeste. Mi-a spus clar. Nu, nu vreau sa plec de aici. Aici va am pe voi. Si pot oricand sa fac ce vreau. Marius nu ma iubeste.

Am visul asta de 3 nopti la rand. Ma innebuneste. Mereu aceleasi cuvinte. Sau aproape aceleasi cuvinte. O fi din cauza examenului. Poate stresul e prea mare. Beau multa cafea. Si nici macar nu are nici un efect acum. O beau doar in loc de apa. Cine o fi Marius? Habar n-am. Si nici nu ma intereseaza. Am examenul asta groaznic si atat.

Dimineata am udat floarea din bucatarie cu ceai fierbinte. Minunat. Bravo! Era violeta pe care mi-a dat-o mama.

Automate. Stari. Tranzitii. Definitii. Atat. Nimic altceva. Viata mea s-a rezumat la a fi un automat jalnic, cu doar 2 stari: acasa, la facultate. Vorbind de facultate, am intalnit un tip nou. La asociatia studenteasca. Banuiesc ca abia s-a inscris, nu l-am mai vazut pana acum. Arata bine. O fi prin anul 2. Sau poate 3? M-a invitat la o cafea dupa sedinta. L-am refuzat. Sau mai bine zis, am lasat pe alta data. Am examen acum. Si nu am invatat mai nimic.

Buna. Sunt Magda. Am 20 de ani. Ieri am luat somnifere, sa nu mai mananc.

Ceasul. Am adormit iar cu capul pe masa din bucatarie. Am nevoie sa ies din starea asta de monotonie. M-am obisnuit sa am asteptari mari de la mine. Mereu. M-am saturat. In ultimele 10 minute mi-am scris numele pe foi. Nici nu stiu de cand stau in bucatarie si invat. Mot-a-mot. Recit. Ma doare capul. Acus vine noaptea, si imi visez iar discursul. S-au facut deja 4 nopti. Si nici macar nu ma odihnesc. In noaptea asta trebuie sa dorm linistita, maine am examenul. Un automat este...este ce este. Am rasfoit cursurile de 4 ori pana acum. E 3 dimineata. Nu mai am cafea. Trebuie sa plec peste 4 ore.

Buna. Sunt Magda. Am 20 de ani. Am ajuns aici pentru ca imi placea Marius. Iar lui Marius ii placeau fetele slabe. Eu nu am corpul cine stie ce frumos. Incap in masura 42. Uneori 44 la pantaloni. Trebuie sa slabesc, trebuie sa ma vada si pe mine. Trebuie sa arat bine.

Sa imi iau 2 pixuri.Si abonamentul. Si legitimatia de student. Trebuie sa iau nota mare. Trebuie sa ajung la timp. Autobuzul intarzie. Ar fi trebuit sa ajunga acum 5 minute. Mi-e somn. In principiu imi ia o ora sa ajung. Ma doare capul.

Buna. Sunt Magda si am 20 de ani. Am inceput sa visez ca duc o viata normala de student. Si ca am un examen. Vreau sa dorm, sa imi visez viata normala in continuare.
Sunt Magda. Si vreau o viata normala. Ajutati-ma.

New Year's resolution, or close to it

2007-12-28T09:19:00.000+02:00

I don't actually like punk, rock is ok, but I definitely like flowers. And I do wish to live in a world that does care.

Febra - 1

2007-12-26T22:40:00.000+02:00

Home, sweet home(s)

2007-12-21T10:01:00.001+02:00

Yes, we moved to our new place. Last week. We booked a van, took all the furniture, went across the town, took the furniture out, broke our backs and hands. And, of course, took a parking ticket. Which we contested.

So, if you think about sending some nice Christmas presents, recall them. The address is changed. And now, the nice thing comes.

Normally, one apartment has one address. It is like an unique ID or something. If you say street X, nr Y, building Z, apartment A you know for sure that there is going to be ONE precise place for that. To my mind, it should be normal the other way around, too: one precise apartment in one precise building has ONE precise address.

In Finland things are different. Since both Finnish and Swedish are official languages, for every street with Finnish name there is another name, in Swedish. So you expect that you can say your address in 2 different languages - thing that might bring a bit of confusion. (Following this rule,) our apartment has 2 addresses, too: one in Finnish and one in Swedish. But the most interesting thing is that those 2 addresses point to 2 different streets, and for the Finnish street name there is a corresponding Swedish name.

To sum it up:
- our apartment is situated somehow on 2 different streets, so it has 2 totally different addresses
- our new apartment can be referred to using 3 street names(the finnish one, the swedish for the finnish one, and the official one-corresponding to a neighbouring street)
- if you follow the official address, you might end up not finding the place if you look only for the signs on the street
- you might get free pizza in this apartment, as the owner said: there is a pizza place that promised that if they don't bring your pizza in 30 minutes, then the pizza was for free....well, when the owner lived there, they failed to find the building in 30 minutes, following the official address....

You are welcome to visit us! :)

What I wish for Christmas Eve

2007-12-20T19:47:00.000+02:00

I wish to have a real Christmas tree, without harming the forests. Artificial ones are out of question. One friend had the idea of buying an artificial one and put on top of it one of those Wunderbaum smelly things for cars: you have the greeness, you have the fresh smell.

I wish to have ideas for presents for all those that I want/remember to buy presents for. I was always short on ideas for mom and dad.

I wish to have the house full with spongecake and pork steak smells.

I wish to have friends closer, to share glöggi with. Or boiled wine. Or cookies. Or spiced details about the happenings while we haven't seen each other.

I wish to hear children singing carols. I wish to hear 4-years old ringing my doorbell and see them blushing when they forget the lyrics of the carols.

I wish to have snow. Lots of snow.
And I want to do something special.

What I want for Christmas? Almost nothing. Just a smile and a postcard.

PS. For those who don't remember my voice :) :

Finnish music

2007-12-10T14:31:00.000+02:00

I didn't know it, but apparently I ended up not only in the land of the Merry-Old-Red-Bearded-Man but also in the land of music. HIM, Nightwish,Sunrise Avenue, Rasmus...you name it. They are all (from) here. Now, i guess the mystery of Lordibeing so popular is solved.

And of course, as always when I don't have something specific to say, I put a song. It has been in my playlist for the past one hour continuously.

When it's all for one...

2007-12-08T17:11:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I got home somewhere at 1am. My feet were tired, my palms were red. I felt happy, excited and I knew that one thing on my wishlist was completed.

I arrived there almost one hour earlier, but after the waiting period was done, I enjoyed every moment of it. It was loud, there were lights, "4 ever" banners, shouting, sweat, guitars, incredible voices and above all, people enjoying themselves.

I never thought that Finns can be so comfortable so close to each other, with no private space around them. Or that they can start singing so freely without having a drop of alcohol before.

Bryan Adams was in Helsinki. And he had a great show. I was there. I will remember every moment of it.

Remember Taipei

2007-12-06T12:39:00.000+02:00

Today is Finland's Independence Day. Which means, "day off" and no obligations for the non-finns living in Finland.

I decided to use this day wisely so I put some pictures from the Taipei trip here

Enjoy them!

Looking for "The One"

2007-12-05T08:58:00.000+02:00

Looking for an apartment seems to be exactly like looking for a boyfriend.

At the beginning, you think Prince Charming in a shiny armour and on a white horse exists. After a few years, you can admit a Prince Charming without armour. But never a Prince Charming with a rusty armour. The same goes for the horse. It might be a Renault, but never a Dacia. Then, you change the looks: ok, he might have blue or green or brown eyes, it doesn't actually matter, as long as he is handsome.

And in the end, you might end up marrying someone with no armour, no horse, no looks, but a beautiful soul.

We started looking for an apartment around 3 months ago. At the beginning, we wanted something that is less than 30 minutes away from work. Yesterday we saw one that is maybe 35 minutes away from work. The day before we saw one with only one room(which had been unacceptable one month ago)... The agent that showed the apartment yesterday was the one that showed the other apartment on Monday. I start getting a 'deja vu' impression.

I just want an apartment. Is this such a big thing to ask?

DNF :)

2007-12-01T18:57:00.000+02:00

The text of this post has been written in the plane:

It's 1.12.2007. I couldn't tell the hour, because in the morning(last day of November) I was in Taipei, Taiwan, then somewhere in the night I was for one hour in Thailand. Next? Amsterdam and finally Helsinki. And all these cities have some hour change between them...

Anyhow, I used this day to its maximum potential. It started in the morning with planning different ways of teleporting people around the world and it ended with a session of proving that women are indeed multitasking. I won't share the top secret ideas about how to teleportate people efficiently. However, I can tell about the multitasking test.

Imagine you are in a plane, you have one 3.5 hours flight in front of you, then 2 others: one of 12 hours and one of around 2-3 hours. Doesn't this make you go crazy? If not, then you must be some kind of freak.

So, since I am here with one colleague and we were arguing that women are multitasking but men aren't, we decided that we need some kind of concrete proof. And here's the idea of the test: you need one laptop/pen + paper, one book, one girl and one boy. The following steps are to be followed by the girl and boy in turn:
1. create a txt file/prepare the paper and pen
2. start counting from 1, in english
3. the other person starts reading from the book
4. while the person is reading, start writing, while keeping on counting
5. repeat step 4 until the counting reaches 100

Following are the results of the test( the text doesn't really matter, but you can check it; hint: the text should make sense :) )

"
Lore: Counted to 100

well said henrietta hesitate a little you seem never to care for another.
how do you know?
what i care for? he cried with a big plus
just know i care to go to rome
henrietta looked at him in silence with a sad yet luminous expresssion
well he observed at last
i only wanted to tell you what i think
i had on my mind
of course you think it's none of your business
but nothing is anyone's business on that principle
it's very care kind of you
i'm greatly obliged to you said casper goodwood

*********************************************

Jani: Counted to 47 and dnf...

You want to heart her perhaps. Untill you help her. That´s the issue. It is he need in help. He asked slowly with a penetrating look. Most

"

Now, i suppose you can imagine what is "dnf". Guys, any comments?

I will leave to you the drawing of conclusions.....

La multi ani, Romania!

2007-12-01T18:54:00.000+02:00

No bineinteles ca incepem prin a ura dragei noastre Romanii un la multi ani spumos, cu miros de micisori, berica si pe ritmul lui Adi minune. Ok, poate la noi acasa avem ceva muzica populara sau un drapel agatat undeva de coltul balconului. Oricum ar fi, ce ocazie e mai potrivita sa ii urez tarii mele toate cele bune?

Si sper din toata inima ca anul asta o sa aiba o sarbatorire asa cum merita.

All good things come to an end

2007-11-29T18:29:00.001+02:00

This is my last evening in Taipei. Tomorrow this time I would be in the plane(if i don't miss it), enjoying delicious pea snacks :|

It has been a great week, that taught me a lot: how to order food in the restaurant by phone(me being in the restaurant, in front of the waitress), how to ask the Gods for help by throwing some red wooden halves, how to smile if I don't have a clue what the person in front of me talks about. Also, now I know that Taipei is not the best place for shopping: I couldn't fit in the square blouses with short sleeves. There are no magnets whatsoever so my fridge collection will suffer from it. I couldn't figure out why a nation that doesn't speak English baptize the kids with English names. Who can have this idea of naming his child Candy?

In Taipei are the first statues that I am not scared of. I went in a temple with huge Buddha statues, and I could just look at them, at their faces, at their eyes, and all I could feel is calmness. That was amazing for me, because when I see a statue I usually freak out.

I saw a temple in the mountain. It was the most beautiful thing I saw for a long time. So much stone, so many colours, so much wind and so much stillness in the same time, so much peace...

I saw night markets, black gods, animals of luck, laptops, smiles, motorbikes, girls wearing flip flops and winter jacket, people staring at me for being different, streets, poorness, jewels, octopuses, kids...

I discovered people.

We can be taller or smaller, we can have bigger or smaller eyes, bigger or smaller smiles, whiter or yellower skin, we could or could not eat sea food.

We all enjoyed walking, smiling, taking pictures from Taipei 101, eating satsumas, taking taxis or buses, drinking a good green tea or eating a cake at Mr Brown's.

We are all the same.

Life is tough...

2007-11-28T18:48:00.000+02:00

Let's make it simpler:

Tuesday morning...

2007-11-27T05:26:00.000+02:00

Why is it that sometimes people live only looking back? Why is it that sometimes we cannot enjoy the present because at some point someone or something kicked us so hard that we still feel we lose our equilibrium at each wind blow?

This is not meant to be a pessimistic post. Maybe more like an 'i don't understand' post. How in the earth could I live for so long and know so little?

Boiled or fried?

2007-11-26T19:04:00.000+02:00

Octopus or chicken heart? Crab or salami? Seaweed or shrimps?

How do you feel about cooking your own food? Are you a good cook? How do you feel about showing off your skills?

Some say cooking is an art. Which means that you can very easily mess up things big time. Imagine you go in a foreign country, and you want to get a glimpse of the life there. So you enter, like a normal person, to a 'restaurant' that doesn't look at all like a tourist place. You are lead to a table. Odd table. With some sort of round metal thing in the middle. And that metal thing has a pot in the middle. The waitress turns on the heating. And while you are smiling and looking with big expecting eyes at her, she shows the plate on the table and some place at the back of the room.

Go hunt! Of course we are natural hunters(or at least men are). And of course it's easy to gather some stuff on the plate and eat it with a fork. So...lunch was totally delightful. Or at least the perspective of having lunch.

The variety of choices was amazing: rice noodles, all sorts of seaweed products, rice products, crabs, shrimps, chicken hearts, meat, sausages, eggs, shells, fish...everything your heart desires. All this RAW. The meat was red, the octopus looked...raw, the shells were just brought from the freezer...the chicken hearts...all the rest you can imagine.

It was quite challenging. We had no clue what to eat. So we took it the 'exhaustive' way. Take some piece of everything. Next step: cook the stuff. Now I would like to thank to the people who were in the restaurant and haven't got pissed because I spied on them: octopus in the boiling water, chicken hearts on the metal hot 'plate', fish-looking(more like fishy-looking) stuff - on the plate....That was a difficult game to play. I felt like the people in the cage who just arrived from the forest/water/whatever with the dead stuff on their backs on the time when they just discovered fire and didn't know what to fry and what not.

However, the surprise was that almost everything had one of 2 tastes: sweet-in-a-yacs-way-like or fishy-in-a-bad-way-like. Imagine eating fish with soy sauce and honey plus sugar and salt. Everything except for the octopus. Well...to get you acquainted with the octopus: imagine an oval gray jelly-looking thing. At one end it has 2 black small balls. At the other end it has small gray fingers. Now, imagine you boil the thing for maybe 30 minutes. And then you put it in the plate.

Since it looked so much like a gray baby-mouse(you know, the pink thing without fur). However, following the principle 'it's now or never' we decided to split it. So my colleague stabbed the thing with one chopstick(i forgot to mention that there were not forks, only chopsticks). How could you stab the poor thing? :P Now comes a shocking image. Those with a poor heart and those under 18 please close the webpage and continue your life. As soon as the chopstick reached the octopus, some black liquid came out of it. Yap, ink my friend ;) And this was the end of the appetite and of the adventure.

The conclusion? There is a good reason for which the chinese food in Europe is different from the real chinese food. And the reason is that everything that looks bad, smells strange and is not sold in the tourist places should not be eaten by non-locals.

And you know what they say: curiosity killed the cat. I'm still alive, but you never know how much time I need to digest those things...

Breackfast at Tiffany's(or Chinoiserie)

2007-11-25T04:04:00.000+02:00

I decided to keep a record of the things I eat here. So far there are these:

- japanese sushi; i have only one word to describe it: GREAT. And please note that I don't like the sea food so much.
- chinese bread; it has some plastic-sponge like taste flavored with soy
- chicken with peanuts(don't remember the name); didn't like it
- some kind of algae, black and white and a bit crunchy - i loved them
- papaya i guess - one bit was enough
- a white fruit with black seeds, which resembled to kiwi - it was good
- a green fruit, that looked like yellow watermelon(how is this called?) - good
- full lunch with meat and bamboo soup, some spicy beans, roll of pork meat filled in with cheese and with some kind of sauce

I may get tired of writing here everything, mostly because I have no clue how most of the things here are called.

Until then, bon apetit!

My first walk in Taipei

2007-11-24T12:59:00.000+02:00

It actually started at 10:40 local time(which is 4:30am GMT+2) and ended at 19:00. Basically I've seen a part of some main street, the tallest building in the world(Taipei 101), the university, I've eaten in a fancy place, I've seen a temple, I've walked, walked, walked.

Taipei seems to me a charming city. It is very crowded. There are lots and lots of people going from all directions to all directions, apparently not respecting any traffic rules or traffic lights. I saw at most 10 people on bikes(and they were old people). However, the ones with motorbikes were everywhere. Motorbikes, cars, people walking are flooding the streets. Kanji everywhere and some English words, too. Everyone with almond-like eyes, everyone slim, everyone short.

There are wonderfully tall buildings, with lights, glass. There are very poor-looking buildings, with iron stripes in front of the windows. There are motorbike-fixing places everywhere. And there is green everywhere and even flowers. 23 degrees.

People are all polite and smile. If they don't understand what you mean they smile. And that is almost always the case, because they are not great english-speakers. However, I attempted today to withdraw money from an ATM. In Chinese. And ordering the food was quite interesting - asking the waitress and giving her credit for the choice :)

And of course we managed to get lost(me and the colleague that is here with me). But this can be only a good thing because we saw a good deal of the city :)

I'm tired of some smell that is near the food kiosks. I don't know what spice it is related to, but I definitely not like it.

Balanta Helsinki-Frankfurt-primele 30 minute in Taipei

2007-11-24T03:50:00.000+02:00

Mi-a placut:
- aveau reviste pe care oamenii le puteau lua pur si simplu sa le rasfoiasca

- boarding-ul s-a facut foarte disciplinat

- 'trenuletul' automat care face legatura intre terminale

- avionul era maaaaaaaaaaaaaaare si avea ecran asa pe scaunul din fata si am vazut si eu in sfarsit ce vede capitanul cand decoleaza :D

- mancare buna, serviciu bun, pe tot timpul zborului

- pasagerul care statea in dreapta mea si care tot dadea fwd cand aparea intr-un film o scena in care doi se pupau :)

- micul dejun de la hotel: sushi japonez extraordinar de bun, niste alge(banuiesc), o chestie de orez facuta ca o biluta(nu mai stiu cum se cheama)...cam astea imi vin in minte acuma, dar mi-am propus sa incerc toate ciudateniile pe care le au

- later edit: se pare ca asteptarea mea a dat roade, ca am primit camera la business level....camera care e SUPERBA

Nu mi-a placut:
- revistele disponibile erau DOAR in germana; In primul rand, terminalul 2 e terminal international. Asta inseamna ca daca tot pui la dispozitie informatii, oamenii respectivi( care vrei-nu vrei, nu sunt toti germani), trebuie sa inteleaga ce le spui. Si inafara de mine si de alti cativa( poate 20) europeni, restul erau asiatici. Daca numai 20 de oameni inteleg din 150, poate ar fi cazul sa iti pui niste intrebari.

- aplicatia de pe masinaria cu net( care se poate gasi de altfel in toate aeroporturile) este de o calitate proasta; serviciile erau impartite in free si cu plata; de exemplu, sa accesezi informatii despre aeroportul din Frankfurt era trecut la servicii free, dar cand clicaiai acolo aparea un zbang care iti sugera mai mult sau mai putin subtil ca poti folosi card de credit, cash, etc.
Daca schimbai limba aplicatiei( sa zicem ca voiai spaniola), fereastra de help se deschidea cu informatii tot in engleza( si mi se pare mie ca help-ul e destul de important). Si nu as vrea sa mai mentionez si groaza de greseli de ortografie....

- cand ajungi la terminalul 2, sunt 2 porti practic: D si E. Cum ajungi pe terminalul 2 cu sky line ala al lor, ajungi imediat la nivelul cu portile D1 - D30( sau ceva de genul). Daca trebuie sa mai faci si check-in trebuie intai sa mai cobori un nivel, mergi la check-in, apoi te intorci pe scari in sus. Nu zic, e fain sa explorezi, dar eu nu aveam asa mult timp intre zboruri...

- boarding-ul a fost intarziat cu aprox 30 minute cred, dar nimeni nu s-a sinchisit sa anunte nimic; doar cand deja intarziasera cu 15 minute au zis ca trebuie ca pasagerii sa astepte linistiti pe scaune. Atat.

- acelasi pasager care statea in dreapta mea dar nu a mancat prajitura de ciocolata din meniu. Ce fel de om nu mananca prajitura de ciocolata?

- pentru cina, se putea alege pentru felul principal intre chinese noodle soup si roasted chicken cu sos mediteranean; cand a venit stewardeza mi-a sugerat zambitoare ca eu as vrea chinese noodle soup si a fost foarte surprinsa ca as prefera pui. Daca ii dai omului posibilitatea sa aleaga, de ce nu il lasi sa aleaga efectiv? Oricum, mi-am primit puiul :D

- patura cu care trebuia sa ne invelim pe timpul zborului: era de un mov urat si mai era si super electrizanta

- dimineata ca am ajuns la hotel am fost anuntata ca nu au camera pentru mine, dar ca o sa am in aproximativ 2 ore; eu am ajuns in sfarsit la destinatie dupa 24 ore pe drum ( de fapt 26 ore, daca e sa calculam din momentul din care am iesit pe usa acasa); nu mi se pare prea frumos ca un om sa faca o rezervare de o saptamana si tu ii spui senin la 7 jumate dimineata ca nu ai camera pentru el

- desi rezervasem o 'limo' sa ma ia de la aeroport( dupa cum scria pe siteul hotelului), era doar o masina obisnuita neagra cu tapiterie de piele crem si care arata un pic mai fitoasa...

Sunt ciudata

2007-11-24T03:44:00.000+02:00

Minunat. Se pare ca avionul are intarzieri. Oricum, sa trebuiasca sa schimbi avionul in Frankfurt e oarecum o aventura. In primul rand, a trebuit sa merg de la terminalul 1 la terminalul 2. Cand am ajuns in terminalul 1 nu am vazut nici un dummy's guide cum sa ajung la numarul 2. Dupa ce am intrebat lumea prin jur si era sa mai trec printr-un control check asa, ca eram eu zeloasa, am ajuns cu bine in terminalul cu pricina.

Aici, bineinteles, iar control check. Jos haina, jos cureaua, jos ceasul(noroc ca eu nu aveam), scoate laptopul, scoate lichidele...dom'le, nu mai e deloc drept la privacy pe lumea asta...Ajung de partea cealalta de poarta galactica cu beculete verzi sau rosii, si ma ia o tanti la control. Eu in gandul meu, na mi se mai intampla si mie...poate ca sunt a n-shpea care trece poarta in ziua respectiva. Dau sa imi iau lucrurile si un tip de langa masinaria de iradiat imi inhata laptopul, ma intreaba daca e al meu, imi zice sa imi iau haine si celelalte si sa il urmez. Eu, galbena la fata de-acuma, ma gandeam ca ma duce in cine stie ce camera si ma pune sa marturisesc ce cauta marijuana la mine in bagaj. Sau mai stiu eu ce praf de stele or mai fi vazut prin iradiatii. Zic no bine hai ca merg. In mintea mea deja ma gandeam cum fac, pe cine sun, ca sa ajung la timp in Taipei si sa imi iau si laptopul inapoi.

Dupa ce il intreb daca e vreo problema, il urmez pe pinguinul respectiv si ajungem intr-o sala aproape de locul cu scanatul.

Deschide laptopul si:
Eu( draguta, ca sa recapat controlul situatiei si sa imi dau seama despre ce e vorba):
- Vreti sa ma loghez? Sa il deschid?
El:
- Arata-mi toate pozele pe care le ai pe calculator.
Eu de-acuma nu pricepeam care e faza. Puteau fi doua cauze: ori astia au ceva impotriva vehicularii de poze fara copyright, ori

cred ca eu fac trafic de copii sau de prostituate. Daca era treaba cu copyrightul puteam sa o incurc, ca aveam 2 filme pe care le dadusem jos de pe net( la urma urmei, calatoria mea dura 24 ore...trebuia sa am ceva de facut). Intr-un final raspund:
- Sigur, nici o problema. Numai ca daca o sa cautati poze cu copii dezbracati nu gasiti.( pe cuvant ca nu stiu ce mi-a venit de i-am zis si partea asta....poate doar mi se parea suspect ca vrea sa vada poze).
El ranjeste dintii la mine:
-Glumeam :D
Si ia frumusel o hartie si colecteaza praf de pe tastatura, si pune hartia intr-o masinarie. Eu am simtit nevoia sa i-o platesc(numai eu stiu ce palpitatii am avut cu privire la filmele alea) si ii spun:
- Ma indoiesc ca o sa gasiti ceva. De fapt, o sa gasiti. Niste urme de ton.
El face ochii mari si se uita la mine ciudat. Bine, eu stiu ca mintea mea functioneaza incalcit, dar a fost o satisfactie imensa sa ii spun:
- Glumeam :D
Se termina de analizat hartia si tipul se uita la mine foarte grav si imi zice:
- Domnisoara, ne pare rau, dar laptopul asta nu pleaca nicaieri. Trebuie sa chemam paza sa clarificam.
Eu:
- Hihihi :))
Si asa am ramas 'even', ca eu nu am cazut in capcana iar. Tipul de fapt nota toate laptopurile care treceau prin control check.

Pentru ei era control de rutina, dar pentru mine fusese ceva nou...

Nota: Randurile de mai sus le-am scris in holul hotelului, la ora locala 9, ora Romaniei 3am. Deci daca sunt niste incoerente in ganduri....e de vina oboseala

Are you meant to be a developer or a tester?

2007-11-22T21:33:00.000+02:00

Let's perform this small test:
You are in a factory. You walk in a production room and see a gas stain on the floor. What do you do?
1. Wipe it
2. Ask why is there

Pick your choice :)

This is known as the 7whys japanese method. A tester asks:
- Why is that stain there?
- Because it fell from that container
- Why did it fall?
- Because the container may not be good
- Why isn't the container good?
- Because we bought a cheaper one
- Why did we buy a cheaper one?
- Because we don't have enough money
- Why didn't we have enough money?
- Because we had limited amount and decided to invest more in something else
- Why did we invest so little in containers?
- Because we decided that there are other priorities and that the price/quality is good enough
- Why did we choose then a cheap container that we have to replace now?

In the original method the questions are more or less the same. However, the principle is that there are always 2 approaches for the same problem: the constructive one and the destructive one. Guess which is developer's and which one is tester's :)

Strawberry jam theory

2007-11-21T19:39:00.000+02:00

Strawberry jam aka testing coverage.
I started the famous course yesterday. Waking up at 6 to be in time. Today I was smarter: i woke up at 6:15 and I had breakfast there(the building where we have the lectures).
So...what is strawberry jam theory? Basically it is about the fact that testing is dependent on the context - it's not like putting butter on the bread. That's the way our teacher explained the fact to us. And I find the explanation quite appealing.

So, for you, dear strawberry jam (although i prefer chocolate cream, no offense):

Since there were some questions, i will put here the explanation too:
When you spread butter on the bread, you tend to put it uniformly, so you don't care that the bread is not "plain". You put more or less the same butter everywhere.
When you spread the strawberry jam, then it has some "lumps" - the quantity of jam is not the same everywhere: where you have a hole in the bread for example, more jam tends to go on that area.

Rock it, baby!

2007-11-19T21:07:00.000+02:00

Awfully beautiful month for me. It started actually in october, when I went for a business trip to Lisbon.

Last week I was in Minsk, Belarus for a few days. Tomorrow I'm gonna start having an important course for me. And on friday morning I'm flying to Taipei, Taiwan.

Let's see what future brings.

From the lyrics, for the non-romanian speakers:
Yes, I'm gonna reach my star
Whatever happens, I always believe in it
I don't look back, I don't live from memories
Even if I have tears in my eyes
I'm gonna find out on my own what my life is going to be like

Back to me

2007-11-18T18:37:00.000+02:00

I'd like to think I'm a drifter and I would like to have no roots, to be able to fly wherever I want. Liberty. That is what I want.

I'd like to have a dog that cuddles every time I get home. Attachment. This is what I need.

I'd like to have fresh flowers in a nice green pot on my table. Beauty. This is what I miss.

I'd like to eat mountains of chocolate and never get fat. Pleasure. This is what I'm afraid to take.

I'd like to jump with a parachute. I'd like to be bitten by a snake and survive. Excitement. This is what I'm looking for.

Saturday nigh mood

2007-11-18T00:55:00.000+02:00

Minsk - wrap up

2007-11-17T17:29:00.000+02:00

Aseara am ajuns acasa. Acasa in Helsinki, dupa vreo 4 zile petrecute in Minsk, capitala Belarusiei. Impresii si lucruri care mi-au ramas in minte:
- aeroportul international se numeste 'Minsk 2' - nume putin cam prea putin inspirat dupa parerea mea
- viza se poate obtine in aeroport, daca ai 2 poze si 140 dolari(taxa variaza); una din poze iti este returnata
- daca vrei sa mananci in oras ori trebuie sa le ai foarte bine cu ghicitul, ori sa te tii dupa un localnic; oamenii nu prea vorbesc engleza, iar meniurile sunt scrise cu chirilice
- limba oficiala e belarusa, dar toata lumea vorbeste rusa; oamenii nu stiu cum sa isi vorbeasca propria limba; ghiciti de ce
- exista un monument ridicat dupa cel de-al doilea razboi mondial cand toata lumea era bucuroasa ca au scapat de Rusia; monumentul e ridicat pe un delusor artificial facut cu pamant din Belarus, Letonia si inca o tara
- biblioteca centrala arata ca un diamant
- in magazine tantile arata ca tantile noastre comuniste de la alimentara
- 'bors', 'cartofi', 'sapca', 'masina' sunt cuvinte care au exact aceeasi pronuntie si inteles in romana si rusa
- nu exista mall-uri in Minsk
- din Minsk in Moscova se ajunge in 10 ore de condus
- am vazut cladirea KGB-ului, care era considerata cea mai inalta cladire in Belarus pentru ca de la subsolul ei se putea vedea Siberia; cladirea e de fapt cam de inaltimea universitatii noastre
- orasul a fost distrus complet in al doilea razboi mondial si a trebuit sa fie reconstruit, din care cauza toate cladirile de pe Liberty Avenue au acceasi arhitectura
- exista o cladire in toata regula pentru circ
- nu prea se gasesc magneti pentru frigider cu Minsk
- ca sa pleci din Minsk, in aeroport alegi intai poarta de unde pleaca avionul. Ajungi la o coada in fata unei usi. Un nene la uniforma deschide usa din cand in cand si glasuieste 'pajalsta', indemn in urma caruia persoana corespunzatoare la rand paseste prin usa magica; usa se inchide; cand a fost randul meu, am inaintat cu tot calabalacul dupa mine(inclusiv bagaj de cala); a trebuit sa imi pun toate bagajele prin radiatii, apoi fuga la check-in, unde tanti, dupa ce mi-a dat boarding pass-ul, mi-a taiat numele de pe o lista pe hartiuta, a urmat apoi al doilea punct de control, unde iar bagajul prin radiatii, iar 'pajalsta'...si in sfarsit in zona cu duty free. Zona asta arata asa ca un magazin de la noi de la tara, cu scaunele de plastic rosu, cu masute cu flori de plastic si carpa.

What is 'Carpe diem'?

2007-11-15T16:26:00.000+02:00

Ok, living every second. Maybe taking every opportunity? Maybe taking every challenge?
How would you react if you were asked:
- 'how do you feel about going to Botswana in 2 days?'?
- to try cheese with worms?
- to go to a party where everyone drinks but you?

Is there such a thing as 'a right time' for every thing? Do we have time for every thing?

Finland vs Belarus: lunch

2007-11-15T16:25:00.000+02:00

When I arrived in Finland, I was a bit puzzled. People were having lunch starting 11am, for 30 minutes usually. Basically the lunch time is 11am - 1pm and most of the Finns are having lunch at 11 - 12. Well...that reminded me of the 'big breaks' that we had back in primary and secondary - those precious 20 minutes when I could eat the sandwich from home.

Finns eat quickly, They have usually a salad to start with, then some main dish like fish/meat and rice/potatoes. Or some vegetarian dish. Then, quickly back to the seat in front of the computer.

Today I had the chance to have my first Belarussian lunch, the way Belarussians are having it: leave for lunch at around 12am, go to a restaurant and order: maybe some starters, the for sure soup, main dish, desert. Then, after one hour, go back to work. Of course there are exceptions, but the 'real way' is to have all these dishes. This sounds like a feast to me :)

Life's beautiful

2007-11-14T15:35:00.000+02:00

Sunt in Minsk. Intr-o sala de sedinte. Afara e zapada. Geamul e deschis si mi-au inghetat coatele. La pranz am mancat un fel de bors, si apoi salata. Nu am mai mancat doua feluri la masa de cand am plecat de la mama de-acasa.

In principiu nu prea am ce scrie pe blog, dar voiam sa ma dau ocupata, pentru ca nu prea inteleg despre ce vorbesc oamenii astia aici.

Clar, cand o sa fiu mare vreau sa ma fac si eu om destept :D

Romanul tot roman...

2007-11-12T21:44:00.000+02:00

Am fost azi la banca. Practic am un cont acolo si 2 carduri la el: unul de debit si unul de credit. Dar pentru un motiv pe care nu il inteleg, daca imi folosesc cardul de credit nu se pun banii din contul meu, ci cumva pune banca pentru mine si apoi eu trebuie sa ii platesc bancii. Asa se face ca acum am doar 80 euro pe cardul de credit, desi contul isi permite sa acopere cardul.

Deci ma duc cu jalba in protap la banca. La aia din centru, ca numai aia e deschisa pana la 6 cand ies oamenii normali de la servici. Si "ma asez la coada". Care se traduce prin: ma duc la masina de luat numar, iau numar. Am inteles ca a aparut una si la directia de finante din Iasi.

Numarul meu: 763. Ma uit stanga-dreapta: mare de oameni. Numarul curent: 759. De obicei dureaza foarte mult pana cineva isi rezolva problema - cam 10 minute, unii mai mult, altii mai putin. Deci timpul meu de asteptare era cam 30 - 35 minute.

Cum imi plimbam ochii de pe peretele din stanga pe peretele din dreapta si studiam cum se imbraca lumea, mi-au cazut ochii pe masuta cu masina de luat numar. Si vad doua tichete pe care niste persoane le lasasesera acolo. Un tichet avea numarul 761. Pai....era deja tarziu....eu trebuia sa merg acasa sa-mi fac bagajul....am facut un pas, am luat biletul de acolo, l-am pus la loc pe al meu..si am luat pozitia de "ufff ce mult dureaza", privire ingrijorata, fruntea in pamant....si am scapat de alte potentiale 10 minute de asteptat...

Acuma nu pot sa zic ca sunt chiar mandra de mine. Dar romanul tot roman...

Tester vs QA person

2007-11-08T23:01:00.000+02:00

I'm thinking about starting a short mini-series about some things related to qa/testing that I came accross. You'll judge if you want to read. But I feel the duty to write this, because I believe nowadays being a tester is seen more like "not being good enough" for something else.

QA(Quality assurance) sounds much better than "tester". That's why, nowadays, we are not "testers" or "testing manager", but "qa people", "qa manager".

And one reason is because people tend to think that testers are failed developers. Come on, face it. If there is someone working in your company and originally he was invited for the interview as a developer and he was hired as "tester", then you have a bit worse opinion about him. And that thing pisses me off.

"Testers" are the persons inclined more on applying stuff, and the "qa" persons are more for the process side. Testers are part of the QA process, but not the QA process itself.

Being a tester is a big responsibility, because the testing team is the one in charge with giving the current status of the project/product, and the manager or someone else takes the decision to deliver or not. And in the end, money is involved and the good partnership between the company and the customer.

Being a tester doesn't mean executing just a set of test cases, just clicking here and there and that's it. It means challenging the project, playing with it, trying to be smarter than it.

And if you don't believe testing is great, imagine you want to use Skype to make a phone call. You put some money in the account. Next time you want to pay the rent, your account is empty, although you used it last time to put 10 euros in the Skype account.

Does it still feel like testing is dumb?

I'm human so I have the same thoughts as everyone else

2007-11-08T22:27:00.000+02:00

It's amazing the power of human being to soothe themselves. We can make ourselves feeling extremely happy or extremely miserable.

We can hold ourselves and say goodbye to the pain. But still we need some teddy bear for this.
We can kiss sadness goodbye. But we cannot kiss ourselves.

Where are we heading to?

2007-11-07T22:53:00.000+02:00

Seems like the winter is in Finland. The suicidal wave should start soon. Until then let's entertain ourselves with some american-like happenings just few kilometers from Helsinki

It feels at list a bit frightening. Tuusula is on my way to the airport. At some point you turn right and there's Tuusula. And I was TN manager(AIESEC stuff) for a company in Tuusula, a trainee came to Tuusula. It's just some 30 minutes by bus from where I live...

When loneliness may feel lonely

2007-11-07T21:09:00.000+02:00

- when you discover you only hear the sound of your computer
- when no one takes out the bio-garbage
- when you make only one cup of tea
- when you can eat the whole chocolate bar
- when you have so much to talk about that you make a new post on the blog

Rushing latin blood

2007-11-06T21:42:00.000+02:00

It's kind of "fashionable" today to talk about italians vs romanians.

I have 2 italian colleagues at work. One of them has totally moved to Finland, which means that he stopped reading the newspapers in Italy and lost a bit the contact with his (former) country.

The second one however amazed me on friday by challenging me to an open discussion about romanians and their ways. Apparently he saw a TV show on Italy's TV where they were trying to figure out the social reasons for what the romanians act the way they do: "Maroccans deal drugs, romanians do all these kind of stealing and raping". And he was very surprised to find out at that tv show that women have such a low status in Romania. Also, he showed me some statistics in the italian newspapers presenting all kind of stealing, killing, raping facts done by romanians.

Why is it that I feel this urge to cover my face for being a romanian?

Close the door...

2007-11-06T21:27:00.000+02:00

...and open the window, let it snow inside and fill yourself with white, cover the darkness on your skin, on your soul, on your eyes...

Finnish-ising myself

2007-11-06T11:28:00.000+02:00

Situation number one:
I have to meet people and present myself. Of course, I say "Hi! I am Loredana."(Lo-re-da-na, saying it latin way, so that you can hear every part clearly, with romanian accent).

Lately, I say: "Hi! I am LOreDAna"(accent on 1st and 3rd parts, which means finnish way). The trouble is that although it wants to sound finnish, it doesn't and people don't understand it usually.

Situation number two:
I need to go somewhere. First step: checking journey planner. I wonder how I'm gonna perceive the transportation in Romania...

I still don't eat salmiaki, but who knows what future may bring...

My muse is alive

2007-11-06T10:26:00.000+02:00

These last weeks some musical projects came into my mind.

The first is to finally call someone to teach me how to play the guitar. I tried some time ago by myself, but I haven't got to any result except for playing "Twinkle twinkle little star" which I already forgot and a tiny part of the Swans' Lake. And now, that I wrote this and made it public, maybe I am motivated enough to call the person. I guess what stops me is the feeling that so many managed to learn by themselves, that I feel a urge to keep on trying on my own. But yes....I am not gifted in the musical area, so I guess I have to look for specialized help :)

The second project is to buy tickets for the Bryan Adams concert. Well...I should have bought them one month ago, but the main problem was that I didn't know whom should I go with. Today I have some idea...Hope they still have tickets. Otherwise, I can listen to cloud number 9 while cleaning my room and pretend I am at Hartwall Areena

So...let the show begin!

Nice to have met you

2007-10-31T10:48:00.000+02:00

From the series "I'm human, so I have the same philosophic thoughts as everyone":

When I was born, I used to like milk, chocolate, walking barefoot, then I went on to writing stuff, few poems here, few stories there, studying, listening to Backstreet Boys(hey, I saw that grin!), and trying to go on with my life while peeking to soap operas on TV and never admitting watching them(except for the 6th grade, when my friend and I were exchanging impression on our way to school).

I used to read stuff that people recommended in school. I was exactly like all the other girls the same age as me. Maybe a bit more fat and with a lower score in boys's eyes.

Then, the changes started to be trigerred and I found myself in an interesting chain of happenings. Maybe the most dazzling thing is that all the changes have been trigerred by people who have been for a longer or shorter period of time in my life.

- i started reading SF and writing SF
- i started listening to refined music, like Katie Melua, Norah Jones, Deep Forest, Kitaro and the list can go on forever.
- i fell madly in love with the radio and i wanted badly to work in a radio station.
- i learned how to smile in the morning when someone said hello.
- i started appreciating a bit what i had
- i learned that hugging toys in the stores was quite ok, especially if they were big fluffy bears :P
- i found out that there is no better way to spend the first part of a night than talking and eating chocolate from a plastic bag. And next evening, take it from the beginning
- i started feeling that hugging people is good.

To all of you, thank you. Of course I missed a lot of things, but these came into my mind just now.

Seems to me that everyone of you has something special. Something that I can tell straight away "This smells like X", "This is X style"... And on the other hand, I feel like being just pieces from each one in my life.

What makes me special? Have no clue. Does it matter? Maybe. Can it make any difference? Possibly.

Good morning...

2007-10-31T10:20:00.000+02:00

Nothing compares to a hot green tea and a good song in the morning...

Late autumn afternoon entertainment

2007-10-30T21:06:00.000+02:00

I did the laundry today. In the building that I live in, doing the laundry is far from being a trivial thing. First, you need to go in another building, book a machine(usually i book 2), then come back at that time with your laundry, plus cleaning powder and balm. And of course come back to pick your stuff, otherwise someone will take it out and leave it hanging on some chair.

Well..today the washing machines room turned into a nice chat room for me.
Arriving at the hour when I booked the machine, I found it already filled with clothes that were being washed. Imagine my astonishment. I admit I wasn't that patient. However, I waited for the washing to be finished, I put my own stuff and I left a note:

"B15, it would be nice if you respected other people's reservations." (B15 was the id near the reservation before me)

When I went and picked up my stuff, I found something that I could call an offline message: "G63, I'm sorry for taking 5 minutes from your precious life".

Ok, maybe I overreacted with my message, but I didn't want the hostilities to go on, and I just left a note(one more to my Washing-Machine-Room-Friend):
"B15, sorry if my message was a bit harsh. But I expected the machine to be ready when I booked it. Have a nice evening :) "

This feels a bit like the "asl pls" conversations that have been going on mirc: silly and totally misplaced.

However, there are plenty messages in there like: "You who took my white trousers bring them back or I will not respond of myself", "I found a key in the corridor. Call xxxxxxxx ", "Please bring the blanket back to a young freezing couple", "Who took my sheets? Bring them back" and the list can go on.

When I arrived home, a thought crossed my mind: should I go back to the washing machines room and write some more notes, for other people, just for fun?
Examples:
Come and pick your white trousers from S67(i live in G63)
or
I already sent the blanket home. Sorry.
or
Your sheets are in the drying room. Look better.

My favourite key - S

2007-10-28T21:34:00.000+02:00

My laptop eem to have got an identity of hi own. He kind of got ome life from omewhere, and hi own behavioural code. And of coure, at ome point it couldn't help it but reveal himelf and hi true intention.

And thi happened when I was typing tuff on the meenger. Actually, the root of the behaviour are dated some time ago, when I was ilently eating ome tuna in front of my computer. I till cannot figure out what had happened, but my tuna can flew out of my hand and it landed exactly on the keyboard. My effort of gathering all the oil were omehow in vain, becaue there eem to be ome eriou repercuion.

ince then, my computer refue to type a certain key. Now my pot look like a body without a thumb. We can happily live without a thumb...

But in the end, it' jut a key, right? Who give a damn?

....nake, ickne, eriou, urvive, ee, ecret, orrow, un, unet, treet, imulation, candal, olitude, ervice, ay, uffer....

Baby, it's a wild world

2007-10-27T22:07:00.000+03:00

People getting married, people having kids, people divorcing, people crying, people making other people cry, people travelling, people killing, people being killed, people watching movies, people eating fat-free yoghurt, people defending nature, people making love, people making out, people getting drunk, people reading, people going to church, people begging, people cheating, people listening to music, people dying their hair...

Sometimes we cannot see the tree because of the forest. Now it's the same. Sometimes we cannot see the PERSON because of the PEOPLE.

Why do we keep on categorising people? Why do we think that if a person is already in the category A that person will behave after group A's rules? Why in the earth am I trying to understand certain persons? It makes no sense. Why can't I just ask "Who are you?" and get a fair answer? Do I need some kind of magic wand to see the person beyound the shouts, the smiles, the criticism, the hate?

Cohen was saying "And my heart the shape of a begging bowl" in one of his songs. God, how I understand what he meant.

Who are you?

8-hours flight survival guide

2007-10-26T13:27:00.000+03:00

During these days I discovered that having to fly for 8 hours is quite an interesting experience. And of course, I learned something:
- take a big book with you. It is comfortable to pretend reading, if you don't want to talk to the strange person that keeps on looking at you
- ask for drinks from the stewardess every time you have the occasion; this way, you may need to use the loo, so the time passes quicker
- if you eat pasta in the plane, it's a good idea to drop some on the chair on the person next to you(the guy who was staring), that is asleep; so, you can spend the next 5 minutes thinking how to take the pasta back, without waking him up, and what explication to make up if he wakes up and your hand is somewhere near his hips
- take pictures. It's fun to hide from the stewardess to take them when you are not allowed
- if someone wants to talk to you, and you don't actually feel like talking, but the person is nice, encourage her to talk and nod from time to time. This way I found out about new skiing places near Helsinki

Anyone, more tips?

Nice to meet you, Lisbon

2007-10-25T20:29:00.000+03:00

This morning(2am) I got in Helsinki after a short trip to Lisbon. It wasn't intended to be a pleasure trip, but its side effects were quite pleasant :)
Florin warned me about the beauty of the place. My first reaction was: "It cannot be that good".
Well, it was. Eventhough people were telling that at 20 degrees it smelled like winter...

And some pics here

Sugar high

2007-10-17T19:49:00.001+03:00

And my heels are on fire :)