Important!

I wanna stay in the country where I can get Coconut Yoghurt from grocery store.

San Francisco

There are at least following things in the picture: big boat on the sea, Golden Gate Bridge, Alcazar, The Haights, Buena Vista Park, Golden Gate Park, Palace of Fine Arts and Downtown.

I was in America

12 days and 3750 kilometers.

West Coast fashion, part 2

2 pairs of socks, elastic pants, 2 shirts, warm sweater, brown thick down duvet.

I really like our mansion. There are 5 rooms, kitchen and 2 bathrooms and nice wooden floors in every room except kitchen which has black and white tiles. This is a nearly 100 years old heritage building and because the city itself is pretty young and mostly condo houses and glass towers, it's not very easy to find heritage apartments.

However, the heat system is either ON or OFF. There is nothing between and lately it has been quite a lot OFF until it broke down and we spent 3 days jumping around in a cold mansion without heat and hot water. Fun!

West Coast Fashion, part 1

It's Spring time and these are my brand-new spring shoes. Highly fashionable with Gold AND Silver and Yellow and White. Unfortunately I have a cold and I had to stop training for awhile but I promise I will get back to the track next week!

Kanadalaisia mittayksiköitä

Lämpötila mitataan Kanadassa celcius-asteina (°C), mutta joskus fahrenheit-asteikolla (°F) tai sekä että.

Mehuissa ja maidoissa käytetään kaupassa millilitraa (ml) tai litraa (l), mutta kahvi ja tee mitataan kahviloissa unsseina (oz = ounce). Pieni kahvi on yleensä 8 unssia (Starbucks-asteikolla Small), keskikokoinen 12 unssia (Tall), iso 16 unssia (Grande) ja suurin Starbucks-kahvi on 20 unssia eli nimeltään Venti. 16 unssiahan on sama asia kuin 1 pauna (lb) eli 1 naula.

Leivonnassa nesteet mitataan kuppeina (cups) ja kiinteät aineet unsseina.

Pieniä asioita mitatessa mittayksikkö on tuuma (", inch). Yksi tuuma on 2,45 cm ja tuumina voi mitata ihmisten pituutta, postipaketin kokoa ja paperin leveyttä. 12 tuumaa on 1 jalkaa (', feet). Lumen syvyys mitataan kuitenkin senttimetreissä (cm) ja etäisyyydet kilometreissä (km).

Meidän koira on käynyt kaksi kertaa eläinlääkärillä punnittavana. Ensimmäisellä kerralla koiran paino ilmoitettiin paunoina, toisella kertaa grammoina.

Suorat tiet.

Euroopan kaupungit rakentuvat kirkkojen ympärille. Tiet muotoutuvat mäkien mukaan ja jos seuraat katua päästä päähän, joudut tuskin lännestä itään vaan ehkä lounaasta lännen kautta kaakkoon.

Mutta kun eurooppalainen muuttaa uudelle mantereelle, vieraaseen maisemaan, ottaa se viivottimen mukaan ja rakentaa ruudukkokaupungin.

Tuolla on itä, tuolla länsi. Tähän väliin tulee suora tie. Mäet ei haittaa. Tien nimi on Ensimmäinen, seuraava samansuuntainen on Toinen. Ja niin uusi maailma pysyy järjestyksessä.

3 Reasons Why I Dont Update My Blog

1.2.

3.

Photo by Lori

Keis Bakery

Random Stuff from Our Flat

- Gibson ukulele
- The Session Man amp
- 3 guitars
- huge collection of games (for x-box, psp, ds, you name it)
- 80 cm pile of letraset (we just got more!)
- sewing machine
- microscopes
- metal and wood types
- books about everything
- great collection of novels (dostojevski, borges, calvino...)
- huge Swedish Post sack full of wool
- book making supplies
- art supplies
- silkscreen supplies and printing table
- Korg, Casio and other weird old school keyboards

(to be continued)

findings

Tofino

Yesterday we took a ferry from Vancouver to Nanaimo and drove cross the island. We have a little rented cabin by the stormy Pacific. I found odd things from the beach. I collected shells and tasted oysters. It rained all night and we slept well.

When rain was over, eagles flew over the beach. This is Tofino.

I'm addicted to

- Dynamite rolls (sushi roll with prawn tempura)
- Starbucks Double Tall Latte (I started with short lattes but now i'm drinking already tall ones)
- Scones (different kind a bit sweet baked thing, different than anything we have in Finland)
- Raisin Cinnamon Oatmeal breakfast

I'm also addicted to Poupee even that's not eatable.

Weather Report

+14 °C, aurinko paistoi koko päivän ja pidimme ovet ja ikkunat auki. Jätimme ensimmäisen kerran takit kotiin ja veimme Charlien rannalle juoksentelemaan. Ilma on kuin toukokuinen Helsinki. Eikä täällä edes tuule.

Holga Photos for Lumikki

Happy Chinese New Year

I slept 12 hours and it was so nice to find out it's Sunday. And the Chinese New Year Parade day. However I ate my oatmeal breakfast and headed out and it was just raining and that ruined my biking plan. So I took a bus to Chinatown and kind of missed the parade but found nice dragons who got lettuce to eat on every shop door. I also ate my tummy full of steamed buns. Yam! and took 2 rolls of pictures with Lori's Holga medium format camera. I hope they will turn out well.

Lazy Friday

Today I went to school and I got 2 popsicle sticks.

Now I'm just home drinking Starbucks coffee and wanting to go to sleep.

Little Houses

All around the city, behind shopping streets and on every avenue, there are cute houses. Every one of them is different.

Yesterday I took my bike to get fixed and on the way back I found these houses just few steps East from Main. It's hard to choose which one I will get when I become old and rich.

Englanti

Ihan uskomatonta kuinka ärsyttäviä englannin aksentteja ihmisillä voi olla.

(mun kaveriks pääsee vain ne joilla on kiva aksentti)

GIANTHROPOLOGY

Like I have told you, everything is bigger in Canada. So while you are waiting for my next upload, take a look at the GIANTHROPOLOGY by Emily Carr teacher Henri Robideau.

Or watch the movie.

Snowshoeing

No, this is not a groundhog. It's me snowshoeing. What a super fun sport.

This morning we took a bus with Katrin to Commercial Drive, then another bus to Boundary, 3rd one to Phibbs Exchange and 4th one to Parkgate Mall which is crappy little mall under the mountain. There were supposed to be a shuttle bus up to the Mount Seymour but because the bus driver was lost and already 15 people were waiting to get in to that tiny bus, we decided to hitchhike up. After few minutes we were in a car with 2 nice women who were also going to snowshoeing.

First it felt absolutely ridiculous to have those big shoes on feet. It's like walking but with difficult shoes. After awhile you notice that it's fun to walk like Yeti and have shoes with cleats like paws with claws so you can go down the trails and climb up easily.

So we did a really nice tour in the snowy forest. Everything reminded me of Finland but things are just 10 times bigger here. The trees are huge. It's impossible to have your arms around them. Snow is deep. The signs said that at the moment they have 4 meters of snow. And the mountain was so high that we had clouds below us.

FEB 2: Groundhog Day

Punxsutawney Phil (in photo) wishes Happy Groundhog Day for all of you. According to Phil we will have six more weeks of winter: "As I look around me, a bright sky I see, and a shadow beside me. Six more weeks of winter it will be!"

And yes, I learned all this today while watching National News in Matt's & Kate's house. Unfortunately I haven't seen a real groundhog yet but I will let you know when I meet one.

While waiting that you can enjoy this. Check also Wikipedia and learn more about famous groundhogs and their weather reports .

Snow Day

Koulu on tänään suljettu, koska on Snow Day. Hyvä juttu sillä aioin lintsata tunnilta norppatöiden takia ja nyt en siis lintsannu.

Another sushi lunch

working

Sorry, not updating

I'm ill and quiet for awhile. (Biddell won the Project Runway! and Pax saw him other day downtown). On the weekend we are going to friends' house to watch some Canadian News and tv.

Project Runway Canada

Don't tell me who is going to win! I still have 4 episodes to watch and It's so exciting that I can't even decide who is my number 1 favorite. I like both Marie Genevieve and Bidell.

Everything is just 10 times bigger

On Sunday we were hiking in Lighthouse Park which is the forest from fairytales. Rocks are bigger, trees are bigger, water is bigger, plants are bigger and everything is green and lush even it's still January.

Grades

If something is different, it must be the fact that student gets grades from courses. That means that everytime we have a class, there are rules how you get the grade and everyone tries to do his/her best to get an A.

On Design Now course we get Popsicle Sticks when the answer is right. Red Stick is 1 point, Violet 2 and Orange 3 points. If you have done homework successfully, you will get 3 points. (i got that!). If you know something extra, you will get extra points (that was so cheesy that i didn't even care to try too hard). In the end of every class, you bring the sticks to a teacher and he marks up how many points you have got. And once you have earned enough points, you don't need to come to classes anymore. How simple.

Popsicle Stick class is still one of the best ways to value the progress. It feels somehow ridiculous to collect huge piles of notes and source material just because that way you will look more hard-working in the eyes of certain teachers.

Laundry Day

I was planning to work with my magazine project all day but I didn't. Instead I did the laundry (it was the blue door), went to school and met other exchange students (from France, Ireland and Germany. Really nice people!) and had a long walk with Charlie, Pax and Lori to the Kits Beach where you can see the lights of downtown in the darkness.

I've Discoved New Species

I did a long bike ride over the bridge, along the seaside and to the Lost Lagoon. 15 kilometers if I believe the google map. And what did I find? Big fluffy black squirrels, really big Great Blue Herons, lots of Canadian goose and ducks (pullasorsa), little cute birds called Spotted Towhee, Swans (kyhmyjoutsen) and 2 raccoons.

Weather Report

Sisällä on lämmintä, mutta ikkunalasit paukkuu. Tuuli puhaltaa 65 km/h. Puuskissa kovempaa. Pysyttelen sisällä. Seattlessa (4 tuntia etelään täältä) sataa lunta.

Mountains

Olen ollut täällä viikon ja vihdoin pilvet poistuivat niin kauas että vuorten huiputkin tulivat näkyviin. Kuva on otettu aasialaisen kauppakeskuksen ruokailukerroksessa, jossa istuimme Chunin ja Ruthin kanssa juomassa Bubble Tea'tä ja Beard Papan Cream Puffeja. Bubble tea on isolla pillillä juotavaa jääteetä (eri makuisia, maidolla tai ilman) jonka seassa on mustia tapioca-tärkkelys palloja. Cream Puff on pikaruokaleivonnaisversio tuulihatuista.

Aberdeenin kauppakeskus oli muutenkin aika hämmentävä. Ensinnäkin siellä on kaksikerroksinen Daison myymälä eli japanilainen 2 dollarin kauppa. Ostin itselleni papereita, askartelutarvikkeita sekä kätevän laukun kaikille piirustusvälineille. (Tänään luokassa huomasin että joka toisella aasialaisella – eli puolella luokasta – on samanlainen Daiso-toolbox). Olen aiemmin ollut vain Lontoon, Amsterdamin ja muiden isojen kaupunkejen hieman nuhjuisissa China Towneissa, joissa myydään perinteistä kiinakamaa. Aberdeen on enemmänkin hongkongilaisia vinyylileluja, singaporelaisia vaateketjuja ja hienoja kiinalaisia herkkukauppoja. Näimme Ruthin kanssa koko päivänä vain kaksi muuta valkoista.

Shoppailun jälkeen ajoimme Chunin ja Wain uuteen kotiin kahville ja moikkaamaan MeowMeow'ta, joka on suurisilmäisin ja ihanin kissa mitä olen tällä matkalla nähnyt.

Tänään pilvet palasivat. Kävelin 20 minuuttia kaatosateessa koululle.
Sade jatkui kun kävelin takaisin.

Shopping

I already know which coffee I have to order to get Finnish kind of "Maitokahvi". It's called Double Short Latte at Starbucks. I also know that toilet is called Washroom in Canada. But I don't get used to the self-flushing toilets. That always freaks me out.

(If you want to shop: Check out all the little shops on Main Street. Dressew is heaven for sewing supplies ... and Santa heads in case you need them)

glass town downtown

Kaupungin keskusta on saarella joka on täynnä korkeita lasitaloja. Talot eivät ole liikehuoneistoja vaan asuntoja, jotta ihmisillä olisi lyhyt työmatka. Ajoimme yöllä talojen välistä. Upposin takapenkille ja koitin kurkottaa ja nähdä korkealle ylös. Huomenna syömme ehkä ramenia jossainpäin downtownia. Yksin en ole vielä uskaltanut suurien lasitalojen väliin. Tutustun kaupunkiin vähitellen hiljalleen yksi kortteli kerrallaan.

omg

Ok, it seems like this won't be 4 months holiday. I have 4 courses for the spring semester. Three of them are workshops (and those courses started already): Illustration, Complex Type IV and Communication Design IV. On Friday starts the academic course "Design Now" which means I need to write stuff.

But you know what, I need to do homework for every single class meeting. That means that every 3 hours class requires 6 hours of homework. Please someone come to help me.

Learning:
- new words (inconvenience, Rhodesian ridgeback, guts)
- how to order the right coffee at Starbucks
- how to be polite and remember to have "how are you?- i'm great, and you?"-conversation at every shop

School project:
- Time travel and Zine – don't ask what are these. I don't know yet (Illustration)
- Publication about Rain Forests (Complex Type)
- Information graphics about the biography and life of Lewis Carroll (Communication Design)
(it seems like presentations and final projects aren't enough. We need to have notes about process, learn methods for working and document every move we make. Also punctuality is evaluated)

People:
- I live with 2 lovely people and Charlie.
- thanks to them (and livejournal) I have met many other lovely people.
- First persons i got to know at school are a Russian girl (who called me a neighbour which is really nice. She is from St. Petersburg) and Taiwanese girl who gave me dried mangos today. Those tasted good.

Things I have bought:
- brown polkadot umbrella
- brown North Face raincoat
- used couchsurfer mountain bike
- a mechanical pencil with baby blue graphite


This week:
- Ruth is coming on Friday!!! eeeep!
- Going to meet Chun on Friday too. Exciting ^____^
- Korean dinner on weekend
- Lots of homework to do.

Tuesday night

Charlie the Dog is sleeping, there is fire in the fireplace and we are listening to Sufjan.

I'm not going to write everything in English (sorry for the inconvenience)

Muutaman päivän hämmennyksen ja kulttuurishokin jälkeen voin vihdoin aloittaa blogin täyttämisen. Tuntuu että parissa päivässä on tapahtunut niin paljon, että olen läkähtyä. Onneksi tapahtumat ovat olleet vain mukavia asioita.

Neljän päivän aikana:
- olen kotiutunut
- avannut pankkitilin
- ollut kahdella kurssilla koulussa
- tutustunut kämppiksiin ja heidän ystäviin ja omiin nettiystäviini
- ulkoiluttanut Charlieta
- syönyt kahdesti sushia
- oppinut olemaan jo melko kohtelias

Way to school