My amount of "busy" has certainly not lessened however it is thankfully somewhat moving away from the frustrations of the first several days here. I've been here three weeks and one day now - in some ways it seems like I've been here way longer and in others, I'm surprised time has gone by this fast.
I had my residence permit appointment on Monday, June 1. I asked them how the timing of my 90 days allowed in the country worked and they (immigration) said they didn't really know, that they had heard different things, and that I should call border patrol during one of the three hours they are answer phones a week. Seriously. The attorney checked in after my application and seemed to think it was taking around 2 months to process specialist applications (what I applied for), but that they couldn't guarantee anything with summer holiday coming up. Awesome. Looking like I would probably get kicked out (run out of my 90 days) before the permit comes. In addition to that, I got several stories again on whether or not I can actually get a Finnish ID card without the permit - the card which is required for online banking. I was able to register with a temporary address at least at the magistrate office so I could then get the metro pass at a regular rate vs the super jacked up foreigner rate. The good news on the permit is that I can track it online (to a certain point) and shockingly, a decision was made on June 5. Now I'm in the last period tracked online, the "notification period." Unfortunately this means I just sit and wait for them to notify me of the decision..presumably by mail. And then have to hope that decision is a permit not that they didn't get one of the required ten documents or something like that. It has been a week and a half since the notification period began - hoping it isn't much longer but have no way of knowing.
So until then I will continue to be banking blind. I have to go to an ATM with my debit card (finally got a pin at least!) and guess what the screen is saying in Finnish to stumble on a balance printout to find out how much money I have. My internet bill is due Thursday. So I have to go to the bank tomorrow before work...the bank which doesn't open until 10am to pay that bill. Entirely productive. Not.
My second week here was my first monthly close at work "alone" - ie the first was when I was in Singapore for training and the second was in Austin sitting in the middle of everyone who knows how to do everything. This one was flying solo...or more like on the phone until midnight with Austin one night and several hours across a few other evenings. I managed to survive close - the job is still very, very overwhelming. It should get better with time but new insane job in new continent is a lot. Plain and simple. The treat at the end of close week was that my stuff was finally delivered - only 12 days late. Someone at my office in Finland finally called (not their job at all) and was able to get a delivery date/time set immediately. Frustrating the people who had been working on it for a week from the US couldn't get it straightened out, but glad I finally got it. The even more fun delivery was Caitlin on Friday afternoon.
Caitlin and I grew up in Beaumont together and were inseparable at many points before college. It is amazing she and Peter ended up in Amsterdam when I ended up here. We have several trips we want to do. I had my first "pinch me" moment yesterday when we were trying to plan a trip to Paris just like it is a trip to Houston or something. Having her come visit was just what I needed. She got to Amsterdam in early April so is out of the initial shock of moving overseas and was there to lend a helping hand when I was still fully in my initial shock. She helped build a lot of furniture, we went to Ikea, cleaned up the sauna and tested it out a few times, and just hung out. Saturday two of my co-workers took us to Suomenlinna, a sea island fortress just off the coast of Helsinki. We had a good time exploring despite the dismal (50s and drizzle) weather.
This past Thursday three co-workers came over to help me with my Ikea stuff. I am so grateful for their help. We got 2 more pieces built and sadly realized the last piece was delivered incorrectly - only after destroying the 2 boxes it came in. Realized Ikea delivered two box #2s and no box #1's. They should rectify that situation this Thursday morning. Until then, I have a pile of dresser parts on my living room floor. That was slightly frustrating but I guess good in a way too because it meant we didn't stay up forever building - seeing that I had to leave for the airport at 6am the next morning. I went to Oslo Friday and Saturday. I had some work meetings Friday and then the office summer party Friday night. It was super fun. They are such a fun group of people. I got back to the hotel at 3:30am. The Norwegian office has their own company band and they made up a few songs that were quite entertaining. Our CEO was there and brought gifts to a few who are leaving the company. Those gifts were Stetson cowboy hats and Luchesse ostrich skin boots. Not unlike the Luchesse ostrich skin boots I bought myself the day before I moved here. All of a sudden my boots were that much more popular :-) Hours after the gift presentation an intern asked me on the dance floor whose boots I took. I told her they were mine and she didn't believe me at first - just assumed I swiped a pair that was given. I told her I was from Texas and she said "oooooohhhhh that's awesome." Pretty funny.
Saturday morning hurt. Despite our amazing headaches and lack of sleep, my Norway co-worker Nari took me around town in Oslo. It was awesome. To me, it is soooo different from Helsinki and I cannot wait to see other European cities to compare/contrast. Their waterfront area was awesome. There was a diving competition going on and then a random little beach with kids running around swimming. And boats everywhere! Funny the weather in Oslo was amazing - 70+ degrees and sunny Friday while it was in the 50s in Helsinki. This is my second trip to Oslo from Helsinki and both times, the weather was significantly better in Oslo. Not cool.
We have the Finland summer party Wednesday and work holidays Thursday and Friday. My job isn't such that I can take off entirely, especially now, but I'll still enjoy working from home and relaxing a bit. My parents get here Thursday afternoon. Saturday is the national midsummer holiday here. I knew nothing about it - just kept hearing the city would turn into a ghost town. I wasn't that concerned. Then the more I heard about it, I realized it is like Christmas when it comes to what is open and what is closed and they don't have Waffle House here. No idea what I was supposed to do with my parents Friday and Saturday. Turns out Estonia also celebrates a midsummer holiday, but a day or two later. So we're going to take the high-speed ferry to Tallinn for the day Saturday and then hopefully everything will be open here again in Helsinki on Sunday.
All in all, I have to say I'm doing alright. That, and that my apartment is pretty darn cool. Now that it is getting more settled and that some of the quirks are getting fixed or figured out, I really like it. It is feeling like my home which is great. Now I just need lots of visitors (and not just in the summer...I have a sauna to get us through the 11 months of non-summer).
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| Finally got the 2nd twin bed built |
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| Caitlin! |
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| Living room before |
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| Living room during |
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| Glad one of us is flexible |
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| After. I quite like it! |
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| I bought the pink vacuum cleaner. This should come as a surprise to no one. And to be fair it was actually the cheapest at the store. |
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| Suomenlinna with co-workers and Caitlin |
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| Caitlin's mom thought it was a typo when we sent it to her |
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| Sauna is up and working! |
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| Sad sad sad about the 50 degree windy rainy weather. Happy happy happy to break out my duck boots v2. |
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| Postcards sent to Camp O |
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| Caitlin and I found a Mexican food place - it wasn't terrible |
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| Caitlin and I played in my attic with my new boots. Random shotgun shell finding. |
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| Taking matters into my own hands |
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| I'm official! My metro card...and pink was one of the four options for card covers. Guess which color I picked? |
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| My new desk at home. |
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| Human Lars carrying Cardboard Lars. The Norwegian band wrote a whole song about "is Lars human or is he cardboard?" that I cannot get out of my head now. |
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| In front of the palace in Oslo |
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| Harbor in Oslo |
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| HUGE ski jump |
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| There's a zipline from the top. Think I'll be doing that soon. |
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| Finnish book properly portraying a typical Finnish look. |
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