3 months / Culture shocks

It's been a damn long time since I've even thought of writing here, one thing led to another and I had just kept putting it off!
A lot of what you read here won't exactly be chronological but more an amalgamation of my experiences and opinions after three months in Finland.
In this segment I'll focus more on the cultural difference and tidbits and next time an overview of where I have been and what I've done.

In a lot of ways Finland is very different to Ireland, but not in any huge ways it's all the little things.
Here are a few I can think of off the top of my head!

-Small talk: In Ireland the vast majority of us can talk about nothing and it's normal, but Finns for the most part won't say anything that doesn't need saying. This took me some getting used to and has thought me to think a bit more before I talk, so not a bad thing. Be it in conversation or in nature most Finns enjoy a nice bit of peace and quiet.

-Coffee: No matter how early or late, whether its before or after food or if they're happy, sad, in a rush or relaxing! Offer a Finn a cup of Coffee and they'll take it. Finns from what I've seen drink more Coffee than us Irish drink tea and that's saying something.

-Shoes off: Enter any Finns abode and you'll quickly be taking your shoes off! Probably one of the most widespread differences from Ireland. Here you are expected to take your shoes of it would actually be rude not to if you're delving further into the house than the hallway. This is second nature now.

-Sauna: Oh man where do I start.
Alina was worried I might not be able to sit in the 80-90*c heat without melting but not only do I handle it but I've embraced it with both hands.
Sauna regardless of social class, gender, age or creed is an absolutely integral part of not only Finnish culture, but life.
Someones celebrating, someones sad, someones died, it's Saturday, it's cold out.
Finns will Sauna for absolutely any reason, as if they need one.
This is one difference I wish more of the world had. Oddly enough going from 80+ to -2 isn't bad, its quite a relaxing way to cool off before heading back in,
but I'll never forget the kick into the heart of adrenaline I got when I went from the Sauna to rolling in the snow!!

There are many more things that are different here than Ireland, hundreds more! But having been here for three months these were the immediate and consistent differences that I saw.

That's all for today folks thanks for reading and pop by within the next week or so for a loose recollection of where I've been and what I've done.

Peace & Love,
Gregg.

Suomessa - In Finland: Tampere

Moi!

Me ollaan oltu Suomessa nyt lähes kolme kuukautta.

Kaikenlaista on ehditty tekemään. Ainakin itse oon ollut toistaiseksi ihan tyytyväinen paluuseen ja Gregg on kyllä tuntunut viihtyvän, vaikka uusia asioita ja kokemuksia on ollut paljon, uskaltaisin sanoa, että toistaiseksi sauna on niistä ollut parhain.

Hi all, we've spent a while in Finland.

We've already done so much but on the other hand we could have done a bit more too. Anyhow, I'm glad to be back for now and Gregg seems to get along very well even though there's been a lot of new things and experiences he wouldn't have had before. He says the Sauna has been the best thing ever for him.
-A

Lähtöpäivä / Departure

Veli tuli tyttöystävänsä kanssa hakemaan meidät Helsingistä ja jatkettiin siitä Tampereelle, missä viivyttiin muutama seuraava päivä.  Käytiin Pyynikin näkötornilla katselemassa Tamperetta yläilmoista ja kierreltiin pitkin kaupunkia.

My brother and his girlfriend came to pick us up from Helsinki airport and brought us to Tampere where we stayed the next few days which was lovely as the weather stayed nice and we got to look around a city we both weren't used to .
We went to Pyynikki where we could climb the tower and see Tampere from above.
-A

Pyynikin näkötorni

Seuraavatkin päivät kului kaupunkia kierrellessä ja ilmakin sattui pysymään aurinkoisena ja lämpöisenä. Mukava paluu itsellekin syksyiseen Suomeen.

Tampere was sunny and warm - what a nice welcome for us in the country I was expecting to be already cold as it's autumn after all.
-A

Tampere

Torni - Tower sky bar

Välipäivitys - A small update

Hello!

Tehdään tällainen pieni välipäivitys tähän. Kahdeksan päivää jäljellä, vähiin käy.
Mä oon nyt tässä lomalla ollut keskiviikosta asti ja vielä sunnuntaihin asti saa laiskotella. Ensi viikolla pystyn olemaan töissä maanantain, tiistain ja keskiviikon. Torstai onkin vapaa ja perjantaina täytyy ennen puoltapäivää järjestää kyyti / mennä junalla Corkiin ja sieltä bussilla Dubliniin, koska meidän kyyti kentälle peruuntui.

Nää vapaapäivät menee pakatessa ja rentoutuessa. Tänään oltiin lounaalla Gregin isän kanssa, jonka tapasin ensimmäistä kertaa. Vielä pitäisi mummokin tavata ennen lähtöä. Illalla mennään meidän läksiäisbileisiin, jotka on vakkaribaarissa ja jonne mennään joka tapauksessa joka torstai kuuntelemaan kaverin lauluesitystä. Ensi viikolla kun ei oo enää aikaa.

Mitähän muuta?
Viime viikolla oli täällä Midletonissa ruoka- ja juomafestarit, joihin lähdettii kiertelemään töiden jälkeen. Syötiin hyvät hampparit ja ostettiin tuliaisjuustoja (chili, kahvi ja Murphy's -olut).

Ollaan koitettu tehdä iltalenkkejä mahdollisimman usein nyt, kun sää on pysynyt kivana ja maisematkaan ei oo mitään huonoimpia. Ja se on sellasta kivaa yhteistä tekemistä myöskin. :)

Töissä pyydettiin, että myös mä kirjoittaisin englanniksi, joten tästä lähtien aion tiivistää nää mun osuudet muutamaan lauseeseen englanniksi, jotta myös mua ymmärretään.

Hello all, 

I was asked to also write in English because, surprise, no one can understand Finnish. 

It's eight days now and then bye bye Ireland, I'm honestly counting days and that's why they feel so long. 

I've been on my holidays since yesterday until Sunday, then I'll hopefully work from Monday to Wednesday, have one day for packing and then it's time to start our trip to Dublin before midday on Friday. 

We haven't been up to much lately. There was this food and drink fest in Midleton last week what we went to have a look, had nice burgers and bought some chili, coffee and Murphy's stout cheese to take home.

We're also trying to be sporty and have some evening walks - it's a nice thing to do together.

Ah, and the leaving party is tonight as we're too busy next week! 

- Alina

Whats the craic lads!

Hope you're well, not too much happening over the past week and not much to do as we have most of our stuff sorted out.

There was a few little happenings such as the annual Midleton Food & Drink festival,
we walked the town looking for strange foods and in the end we both settled for a burger and some strangely flavoured cheeses such as Chilli, Coffee (wtf) and Stout and then where else but Banner's for a pint ;)

Speaking of, we went to Banners last night for the Wednesday Jam Session, where a Bassist, Drummer, Guitarist/Vocalist feature with more local talent, I enjoy these nights because each week brings a different energy and dynamic with the weekly rotation of guest musicians.

Alina found a Harmonica in my room and after a little explaining of how it works, different notes, etc, I convinced her to play along with me as I played my guitar, although shy and apprehensive at first she really got into the swing of it and we really enjoyed the moment, it was a great laugh, I'll make a musician out of that woman yet.

Speaking of Banner's AGAIN, it is where I will be having my "Going Away" party tonight, even though its a week before I leave, but I ain't getting on no plane hungover!
Tonight I will be seeing some people possibly for the last time for a year or maybe more (or less) so I'll try make the best of the time and get some good laughs in too.

Next week the real excitement begins and I look forward to sharing bits and pieces with you, until next time.
Peace & Love,
Gregg

Levitate, Levitate, Levitate.

Valmistelut - Preparations

Hei kaikki!

Tämä on uusi blogi, jota minä ja Gregg alamme yhdessä pitämään. Tekstit tulevat olemaan sekä suomeksi että englanniksi ja koitetaan lisäillä kuvia mahdollisimman paljon meidän elämästä ja reissuista.

Blogi on julkinen ja kaikki on sitä tervetulleita seuraamaan, joten kerron ensin vähän meistä.

Minä kirjoitan suomen osuudet ja olen 23-vuotias. Muutin Ranskaan vuodeksi vuonna 2015 ja sieltä lähes suoraan Irlantiin syyskuussa 2016. Irlannin reissun oli tarkoitus olla vain parisen kuukautta - mutta tapasin Gregin mun ekana viikonloppuna ja tälle tielle jäin. Nyt vuoden jälkeen olemme yhdessä muuttamassa Suomeen 22. syyskuuta. Minulle tämä on vain paluu kotiin, mutta meille yhdessä meidän ensimmäinen seikkailu ja hyppy kohti tuntematonta. Suomessa vietämme ajan X - emme halua suunnitella liikaa, mutta tarkoitus olisi ainakin vuosi-kaksi olla.
Gregg on 24-vuotias irlantilainen ja todella innoissaan Suomeen muutosta. En malta odottaa näyttää hänelle kaikkia Suomi-juttuja.

Olemme tienneet Suomeen muutosta maaliskuusta asti. Lentoliput varattiin kesäkuun aikoihin ja nyt onkin enää 20 päivää Irlannissa oloa.



Tänään tehtiin ensimmäinen ns. virallinen askel ja rekisteröitiin Gregg migrille, joten nyt odotellaan kaikkien lupa-asioiden olevan kunnossa ja voidaan aloittaa työnhaku, saada sotu ja pankkitili jne. Hirveästi hommaa ja minä olen se, joka stressaa vähän liikaakin. Mutta askel kerrallaan, hyvä tulee.

- Alina



What's up everybody!
Or whoever is here, you are all more than welcome,
I'm Gregg, a 24 year old Irish man who's life has been and continues to be changing dramatically over the last year.

A classic boy-meets-girl scenario, how cute...

I managed to trap Alina her first week here and I still can't fathom how I captured a very rare, lesser-spotted Finn, who are not normally found this far west.

Contained in this blog will be the shared experiences of my better half and I, hopefully a lot of smiles and loads of pictures.
So I believe the best place for me to start is today which is not only the real start of this blog but of our journey.


I moped around the house restlessly as my course has finished and Alina was at work and also because I knew I would be registering with Finnish Immigration today. Now everything is getting so real I feel a mixture of fear and excitement.

It's currently raining outside and it feels nice to be sitting at home drinking a cup of tea, one of my many creature comforts.
I know I'll be leaving friends and family behind and in one aspect I'm a little sad, but that bit of sadness is overshadowed by the massive anticipation and wonder of getting to not only travel to but live in a new country with someone I care for very much.
Through pictures and anecdotes hopefully we can share this adventure with all of you and keep you all up to date and involved.

Until next time my friends,
Peace & Love,
Gregg