tiia's log (FIN, SPA, SWE, EUS)

[tiia]

The language learning time might be less from now on, because I.. ehm might have gotten a job. That was a lot sooner than planned. Oops. I'll get to know the company during the next few weeks in order to see what I can do there. At least they let me finish my language classes. Let's hope it will work out.

I'll probably leave my travel challenge be. But that's how it goes. However I'll continue with the idea of travelling to more unknown places. (Maybe one day I can still fulfill the age<= number of travelled countries criteria.)

[Elenia]

Congratulations! Time will be limited of course, but travelling is a lot easier when one has a disposable income! (A non-disposable income also works. Really, just an income helps!)

[tiia]

We're having the first snow. Let's hope the temperature will drop a bit so that it actually stays during daytime. (Right now it's +1°C.) Hopefully we'll get more snow than last winter.

Next week we should get to know a first past tense in Swedish. It's still interesting how fast one can progress in terms of grammar compared to the languages I had learned before. I don't think I learned a past tense after just 13 lessons before.
What I find interesting as well is that Swedish has again a different ordföljd than other foreign languages I learned. Although the verb in the second position is a feature German already has, one spontaneously makes mistakes like: På mondagar jag äter druvor. instead of På mondagar äter jag druvor.

You may have heard that Wednesday Finland had the 100th independence day. They really sent a congratulation message to all the Finnish phone numbers:

Itsenäinen Suomi täyttää tänään 100 vuotta. Onnea Suomi ja suomalaiset! Det självständiga Finland fyller 100 år idag. Grattis Finland och finländare!

I can now understand the Swedish part as well. I don't have to guess it.

Today there's the annual Finnish christmas concert. So I'll hear, sing and probably talk some Finnish. The event is held both in Finnish and German.
It also seems like at least my Finnish tandem will work out at least until end of January when my language classes end. We'll have to find another meeting time then, as if I get the "real" working contract I won't have free Tues- and Fridays anymore.

About Spanish there's not much to tell.

[tiia]

So I listend to Finnish, sang two songs in Finnish. And just while leaving I also had a conversation in Finnish!

It was nice to listen to the songs and meet some people again. One of my former teachers there I told that I started Swedish. She protested and pretended to hit me. The reaction was not really unexpected. Too bad she doesn't teach Finnish anymore, as she was a fun and excellent teacher.

[tiia]

So preteritum in Swedish. I can now try to start writing a few sentences about my day.

Igår gick jag på en julfest. Jag kom hem ungefär kvart i två och gick och la mig klockan två. Idag var jag jättetrött.

En oo puhunut suomea tänään, koska mun tandemkaverilla ei ollut aika, mutta koska olin niin väsynyt, ehkä se oli paremmin niinpäin. Nukuin jo iltapäivällä, eli espanjan kurssin jälkeen, ehkä 1-2 tuntia.

Buenas noches.

[tiia]

Igår var lördag. På lördagar gör jag ofta ingenting.
Jag diskade inte igår. Därför måste jag diska idag. Jag tycker inte om att diska. (Vem gillar det?)
Inte heller läste jag en bok.
Vad gjurde jag?
På morgonen steg jag upp och åt frukost. Jag surfade på internet och skrev texter i det här forumet. Kanske läste ni den.
Gitarr spelade jag och sjungade en sång. Jag brukar sjunga på engelska och sällan också på finska. Jag tycker inte så mycket om att sjunga på tyska.
Jag tror, jag behöver en svensk ordbok. Jag vet inte många ord.


Ok, that's enough Swedish for now. Too many sentences starting with "jag" but, well I have to live with that right now. I hope it gets better, once we're not only using main clauses.
Maybe I'll later post something in Spanish or Finnish with less boring content.

[tiia]

I need some ideas. You know, I finished my studies this year, I don't have work experience, especially none that is related to my studies. Trying a few days at this company really made me think, whether I really want to to do this. The job itself could be fitting quite well. But do I really want to stay in Germany for another 1-2 years? Shouldn't I just try to find a job in Finland immediately? What should I do if that company is really offering me a job? Continue looking for jobs in Finland and just go after having worked for half a year? (Not really a nice move...)

There are quite some things to consider: a few friends here, old contacts in Finland, my parents at another edge of the country (and they're not becoming younger...). The amount of locations I already have, is actually why I ruled out any other place within Germany for now. I don't want yet a fourth location for regular contacts. Here I have a non-perfect flat, that a leaves me lots of space. That space and the high walls are real plus. I don't expect to find such a spacy flat again too soon. Otherwise it's difficult to find a flatmate, because of the other issues.
Then there's all the stuff I own. The organisation to move somewhere permanently is different than just going on exchange and leaving all the furniture etc. in a friend's cellar (which is what I did 5 years ago.).
What if I would loose a job there? How easy would it be to find another one, or would I have to go back to Germany again in that case? (Think of the "no previous work experience" point here.)
I feel somehow sick of starting somewhere new. But also here it feels like I have to start anew again. Not completely, but well, somehow...

I don't know how easily I would be able to revive the contacts in Finland, nor do I know whether I could keep in touch with those I usually just meet in person.

What would you do?


Just in any case: There's no (romantic) relationship keeping me anywhere. It's all about friends and family.

[Elenia]

So preteritum in Swedish. I can now try to start writing a few sentences about my day.

Igår gick jag på en julfest. Jag kom hem ungefär kvart i två och gick och la mig klockan två. Idag var jag jättetrött.

En oo puhunut suomea tänään, koska mun tandemkaverilla ei ollut aika, mutta koska olin niin väsynyt, ehkä se oli paremmin niinpäin. Nukuin jo iltapäivällä, eli espanjan kurssin jälkeen, ehkä 1-2 tuntia.

Buenas noches.

I was pleasantly surprised to sort of (maybe!) get the gist of the first part of the first Finnish sentence! You weren't able to speak Finnish that day because your tandem partner didn't have time (?) but for some reason it was maybe for the best? And then that evening you have one to two hours of Spanish classes?

Vad gjurde jag?

This is probably a typo (and you probably have already received a correction on it) but it's 'gjorde' with an 'o'

I need some ideas. You know, I finished my studies this year, I don't have work experience, especially none that is related to my studies. Trying a few days at this company really made me think, whether I really want to to do this. The job itself could be fitting quite well. But do I really want to stay in Germany for another 1-2 years? Shouldn't I just try to find a job in Finland immediately? What should I do if that company is really offering me a job? Continue looking for jobs in Finland and just go after having worked for half a year? (Not really a nice move...)

There are quite some things to consider: a few friends here, old contacts in Finland, my parents at another edge of the country (and they're not becoming younger...). The amount of locations I already have, is actually why I ruled out any other place within Germany for now. I don't want yet a fourth location for regular contacts. Here I have a non-perfect flat, that a leaves me lots of space. That space and the high walls are real plus. I don't expect to find such a spacy flat again too soon. Otherwise it's difficult to find a flatmate, because of the other issues.
Then there's all the stuff I own. The organisation to move somewhere permanently is different than just going on exchange and leaving all the furniture etc. in a friend's cellar (which is what I did 5 years ago.).
What if I would loose a job there? How easy would it be to find another one, or would I have to go back to Germany again in that case? (Think of the "no previous work experience" point here.)
I feel somehow sick of starting somewhere new. But also here it feels like I have to start anew again. Not completely, but well, somehow...

I don't know how easily I would be able to revive the contacts in Finland, nor do I know whether I could keep in touch with those I usually just meet in person.

What would you do?

I don't think I'll be able to give any useful advice, but I'll tell you my thoughts on the matter. I also have no experience within my preferred field* which has made finding the kinds of jobs I would like here very hard. I am also in an area with few publishing houses, which is something that would be less of a problem for you as you would be moving to a job rather than a person.

I'd say the main thing to do is to look at your financial situation. If you have a buffer built up, then I think you should start looking for something in Finland now. Big moves only get harder as time goes on and you accrue more friends and things, so if it's something you're really serious about doing in the future then it's better to start now. That being said, if your financial situation is a bit more delicate, then I would advise you to wait and build up work experience and savings where you are. If you do get a job offer at the company you're currently with, that will allow you to do both. I stayed in the UK for two years after I graduated trying to build up a enough savings to live off for a few months in the case that I was unable to find a job. I was moving to someone, and he is currently supporting me financially for the important things - but for most of the time that I was in the UK I was working only a few hours a week for low pay. Two years of full time work should help you become stable enough to take a setback or two after moving.

Of course, this is just me. My sister, on the other hand, moved to Bali on a whim this November. She made the decision in August. She is only planning to stay there for six months, so no long term concerns about storage for her to worry about. As far as I can tell, she's still loving it, and she's very glad she made this decision.

*Publishing, which is notoriously hard to get into.

[tiia]

So preteritum in Swedish. I can now try to start writing a few sentences about my day.

Igår gick jag på en julfest. Jag kom hem ungefär kvart i två och gick och la mig klockan två. Idag var jag jättetrött.

En oo puhunut suomea tänään, koska mun tandemkaverilla ei ollut aika, mutta koska olin niin väsynyt, ehkä se oli paremmin niinpäin. Nukuin jo iltapäivällä, eli espanjan kurssin jälkeen, ehkä 1-2 tuntia.

Buenas noches.

I was pleasantly surprised to sort of (maybe!) get the gist of the first part of the first Finnish sentence! You weren't able to speak Finnish that day because your tandem partner didn't have time (?) but for some reason it was maybe for the best? And then that evening you have one to two hours of Spanish classes?

Well done, but the last part is somehow different: The reason was, that I was very tired that day and therefore I slept already during the afternoon/after the Spanish course for 1-2 hours.

Vad gjurde jag?

This is probably a typo (and you probably have already received a correction on it) but it's 'gjorde' with an 'o'

Oh, I didn't look up how it's written and probably just memorised the pronounciation of the vowel. Thanks for correcting that.

Btw. in the first post including some Swedish I first wrote mej instead of mig. I mean there's no way of accidentally mistyping mig as mej... but I noticed it soon enough.


Getting a job in the publishing sector is for sure not easy. I've read quite some stories how it is for Germans in Germany and it seems like a rather difficult job search. Therefore engineering, though I have the specialisation in a rather small field, is probably a lot easier. The lack of work experience is just a hugh disadvantage, especially in Finland, where nearly every student seems to spend the three summer months having some summer job. (They're usually doing work related to their studies.)

I'm trying to get as much input from other people, as I would like to know what would the best for me. Somehow I don't really expect to get this job here (they will talk with me again in January). But in case they'll offer me one, I'd like to know what I want to do. I don't know how I would feel starting a (permanent) job while actually looking for a possibility to leave the country as soon as possible. If they don't offer me one, well then that's somehow easier: I could try to find another one here, but also look for something in Finland straight away.


I'm thinking of taking myself a week off in January and travel to Finland. It's almost two years I've been there the last time.

[tiia]

I'm having plans for developing my Spanish besides the course, which will end in a bit more than a month anyway. First I found out that a book store in town had a Spanish copy of Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal. I just had to get that one. When I'm done with it I might give it away to another family member, who is also doing some Spanish. I don't plan to read all the books again as I just finished them in Finnish. But there's at least the possibility to order also more than just the first book for a rather low price (~9-13€). It should be excellent material for extensive reading. In case I don't understand something I can still check the meaning using my Finnish copy. (I don't have the books in German myself.)
Otherwise I just found out I actually have access to all the eight Charmed seasons with Spanish dubbing. I probably never watched all the seasons completely, but I used to like them as a teenager and I haven't watched any of them for almost 8-9 years. So finally that's going to be my replacement for The Big Bang Theory.
I suppose the combination of Harry Potter and Charmed will give me lots of interesting vocabulary.

As I'm now at a place with a good internet connection for about a week, I can download the audio play of Sinuhe, egyptiläinen, which is available on YLE. Let's see whether I'm going to like it or not. (So far I've never listened to a full audio play.) However, I might wait until May, in case I'm going to do another Super Challenge. 22 episodes, each one with a length of 42-70 min, would form a really good base.
In case you can recommend other audio plays or books on YLE (or elsewhere) that are available outside Finland, feel free to name them here.

The year is nearly over, and so is the Super Challenge 2016/17. I reached my goal of doing a half challenge in Finnish. However, I do have to admit, that I didn't really do anything after the summer. I still haven't finished reading Lumilapsi, but I still want to do so. It was just that I couldn't stand reading about some people being happily in love, while at that very moment this particular part of my life turned into the opposite direction. Maybe I can convince myself to read the last ~70 pages before New Year.

Anyways, before that I'll finish Moon over Soho, which I started on my trip to Budapest, neglected it a while and now there're only three chapters left.* Reading a book in English every now and then might be useful for me as well.

And happy holidays to everyone.


*edit: I finished Moon over Soho last night.