Going random,

Music: Daughtry - Home

So I'm going home
back to the place where I belong,
and where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from,
no, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.

Thinking of those passions I've started to think on why didn't I ever apply to a journalist school. I love writing and photography.
Kun ajattelen listaamiani intohimoja, mietin miksen ikinä hakenut toimittajan tutkintoon. Rakastan kirjoittamista ja valokuvausta.

I've been eating rye bread from the freezer for days now and I almost forgot how good it tastes like. Dino also brought me a german version of finnish bread. Mmm!
Olen syönyt ruisleipää pakastimesta nyt monta päivää ja olen melkein unohtanut miten hyvältä se maistuukaan. Dino toi minulle myös saksalaisen version suomalaisesta leivästä. Mmm!

I'm invited for a dinner with Hanna and two italians guys I met in Banale time ago. The dinner was suppose to be on Wednesday but now Hanna and I are getting a haircut then, because the haircutter is moving to Istanbul this week. Probably the dinner will be on Friday then!
Minut ja Hanna on kutsuttu syömään kahden italialaismiehen kanssa, jotka tapasin Banalessa aikaa sitten. Kinkereiden oli tarkoitus olla keskiviikkona, mutta Hanna ja minä mennään parturoitavaksi silloin, koska hiusleikkuri muuttaa Istanbuliin tällä viikolla. Luultavasti siirtyy siis perjantaiksi!

I've painted in a diary style lately. I like it.
Olen maalannut vähän niinkuin päiväkirjatyylisesti viimeaikoina. Pidän siitä.

--
Dronero/Torino:

Kuulin seinän läpi Dinon ja Marion keskustelua ensimmäisenä yönä. Seuraavana yönä he valtasivat sänkyni, joten minun oli kuunneltava heidän pälinää koko yö.
I heard through the wall Dino and Mario talking on the first night. The next night they invaded my bed, so I had to listen to their pointless babbles all night.

Jätin Marion äidille viestin ensimmäisen yön jälkeen, koska tuntui että olisin jättänyt heidät aivan huomiotta olessani todella yliväsynyt. Pyysin viestissä käytöstäni anteeksi ja kirjoitin sen italiaksi koska en tuntenut pystyväni edes keskustelemaan italiaksi heidän kanssaan - ja hän ei ollut kotona kun lähdimme seuraavana aamuna. Myöhemmin Mario sanoi lukeneensa sen lapun: "Ma che brava!"
I left a note to Mario's mom after the first night, because I felt like I had ignored them totally while being really overly tired. So I apologized for my behaviour in a note I wrote in italian as I didn't even feel able to talk with her properly in italian - and she wasn't home when we left the next morning. Later Mario said he read the note: "Ma che brava!"

Menimme pizzalle Marion työpaikka-pizzeriaan. Hän ei pysynyt pöydässä lainkaan. Se oli viimeinen kerta kun hän näki työnkavereitaan ja he vaikuttivat isolta perheeltä, joten hän kulki kokoajan edestakaisin puhuen heille kokoajan.
We went for a pizza at Mario's working place, pizzeria. He didn't stay at the table at all. It was he's last possible moment to see the guys at work and they seemed like a really big family, so he was going around talking with the workers all the time.

Maistettiin lakritsijuomaa siellä myös. Paljon pehmeämpää ja makeampaa kuin Suomen salmiakki. Mutta hyvää!
We tasted also liquirizia drink there. It's much more soft and sweet than salmiakki in Finland. But very good!

Torinossa opin lisää kehonkieltä ja käsimerkkejä italialaisittain. Teen teille videon tässä jossain vaiheessa niistä. Hihi.
In Torino I learned some more body language and hand signs of italians. I will make a video of them for you sometime here. Hihi.

--

Giada: social life anche stasera!! Anna è già arrivata? Mi manca un pò Padova quando sono a casa! ho bisogno sempre più di indipendent life!!! (social life also tonight!! Has Anna arrived already? I miss Padova a bit when I'm at home. I need always more independent life!!!)
Milla: si, anna è arrivata ma fuori con andrea adesso. mi non manca padova mai, solo tu e marica un po perche mi piace quando siete qui :) padova è più bella. (yes, anna has arrived but is out with andrea right now. i never miss padova, only you and marica a bit because i like it when you're here :) padova is more lovely.)
Milla: anche conosco la tua feeling perche from the time i was in finland. (i also now the feeling from the time i was in finland.)
Giada: ohh crazie! si anche a me non è che manca proprio padova, è la life in the appartment that is funny! now it's our home! (ohh thank you! yes also for me it is not padova that i miss, it is the life in the appartment that is funny! now it's our home!)
Milla: you know.. actually, i haven't felt like home here before last thursday :) strange.
Giada: of course for you it can be more difficult to get used to live here...and to feel like being home! but next here I am sure that you will miss it a little bit! altough I have to admit that Padova is not so great....
Milla: I'm really sure of it now too :) And in Finland roommates don't talk even half of this much, so.. and right now, I would not want to go back at all.
Giada: so you will miss us!!!and we will miss you, because I have learned that living with foreign people is a really good experience!!!and in a mixed appartment life is less less boring!
Milla: yes because italians just study ;)
Giada: yes!!!! and if we are all italians,,,there are less things to say!
Milla: even though it was hard in the beginning (and it will be hard in the end)

Torino, Pisa, Firenze, Bologna and back to Padova.

http://picasaweb.google.com/milla.tulonen/TorinoPisaFirenzeBolognaAndBackToPadova

The trip was greeaat! Definitely the best one so far. When mom and Suvi saw the pictures they both said that in the pictures there's more laughter on my account than in any of the ones before. Yes, it definitely will carry me through some time.

The funny thing is that both of these guys were in exchange in my university for half a year and when they left Finland, I didn't know neither of them very well. Now I find myself in the same car going around the Torino area with them. Even though sometimes I felt like an outsider, since they are very close friends, it wasn't the kind of bad outsider feeling. I enjoyed watching their reunion on the side too. Plus.. hey, not bad in being with two good-looking guys, eh? ;)

I'll write later more about the trip. Now I have to start studying. I have an exam on 6th and 7th of February and I still would like to pass them, though it's very unlikely.. but I heard they are easy on Erasmus students.

Matkan jälkeistä alakuloisuutta ja onnellisuutta,

Istun tietokoneen edessä. Pöytä oli poissaollessani siirretty sivuttain ikkunan eteen, vaatekaappi oven taakse. Olin vihainen kun minulta ei kysytty. Koskaan touhtumustani julkilausumatta, uskallan sanoa nyt, että pidän tästä. Tietokone pyörittää samaan aikaan Freedom Writers-elokuvaa, jossa opettaja opettaa luokalle äidinkielen kautta elämää ja tapaa käsitellä vaikeita asioita. Kirjoittakaa oma tarinanne. Minun on vedettävä huoneen ovi kiinni kun monen ristitulen kautta neljän kuukauden kyyneleet puhdistavat poskia. Onnelliset tuskan vihvahtavat kyyneleet ovat raskaita itkettäviä. Huone vaihtuu suihkuun, jossa voi edes hetken olla yksin, kun pisarat ropisevat suuremmalla paineella iholle kuin aiemmissa kodeissa.

Olen tehnyt niin paljon. Ja tänään kevät yllätti minut. Tänään olin onnellinen. Istuin bussissa ja nukahdin aamutuimaan olkapäätä vasten. Kävelin bussiasemalta yksin kotiin ja kuuntelin melkein pölyistä mp3-soittimeni nuotteja. Tanssin kuin kesällä tanssin juna-asemalla yksin salsaa kuin olisin ollut yksin asemalaiturilla. Hymyilin nyrpeimmillekin naamoille ja deororanttipurkeille, jotka vahingossa kaadoin kaupassa. Hymyilin kaikelle joka sai minut aiemmin lannistumaan. Hymyilin kun Mario kertoi vuolaasti tuntojaan Singaporesta. Sain Lauralta ennen matkaa seinäkalenterin, joka oli tarkoitettu yhdessä kehittämäksemme onnellisuuskalenteriksi. Jokaisen päivän kohdalle kirjoitan jotain josta olin sinä päivänä onnellinen. Viime viikolle ei ole tarpeeksi tilaa tai ehkä en osaa valita mistä olin onnellisin.


Kun puhun ihmisille kuten Dino, he saavat minut tuntemaan itseni eläväksi. Kukaan ei aja ajatuksiani alas olemassa liian kriittinen. Italiaksi puhuminenkaan ei tunnu niin vaikealta. On helpompi puhua jonkun kanssa, joka nauraa kanssani virheille eikä minulle. Huomasin, etten viihdy kärsimättömien ihmisten kanssa kauaa. Monet varmasti kohottavat tai kohottaisivat kulmiaan, tätä lukiessaan ja katsoessaan ympärilleen kaveripiirissäni. Uskokaa pois, jokaisessa heissä asuu kärsivällisyyttä, luultavasti enemmän kuin kuvittelettekaan. Se tulee näkyviin asioissa, joita ei aina näe.

What is a Passion? It can be an object, person or something fictional like memories, fables, plans or an activity. These things become a passion if one likes it very much even so much that he can do it all day long. He probably will loose the sense of time and won't regret spending hours, days or even more time following his passion. You still don't have to do it all the time and spend all your time in it. Another sign for a passion is that he may develop feelings for it.

A passion can be for a part of a person. Abstract or concrete. Passion is something particular. Passion is a carrot, something that makes life worth living.

There is not necessarily difference between passion and love. But generally passion is more selfish. In passion one will try to avoid dealing with bad sides. In love it doesn't matter if there is bad sides. Which one, passion or love, comes first depends on the person. Love can be stronger where passion can be pushed back. Passion is a need and you can put them in order saying which of them is most needed. Both passion and love can have an end, because of an impact.

Tämä on minun ja Dinon yhdessä kehittämä määritelmä intohimolle. Inspiroiduin ottamaan asiasta selvää kun näin Bedford Diariesin jakson The Passion of the Beaver (nähtävissä youtubessa). Intohimo on niin erilaista jokaiselle. Dinolle intohimon kohteita olivat suurpiirteisesti: autot, hyvä viini ja hyvä ruoka, naiset, jalkapallon seuraaminen kun kyse on tärkeistä italian peleistä, urheilu (jonka jälkeen on aivan voipunut), matkustaminen, elokuvat, Italiassa oleminen. Minä en ole vielä ihan selvillä omistani, koska olen vielä selvittämässä mitkä oikeasti lasken tähän kategoriaan. Alustavassa listassa on kuitenkin tällä hetkellä uudessa paikassa oleminen ja eläminen, tutkiminen (research) tai enemminkin siitä johtuva ymmärtäminen on se mistä muodostuu intohimo, onnellisena oleminen, valokuvaus, vaatteet (niiden ompeleminen, yhdisteleminen, löytäminen..), kirjoittaminen, uusien ihmisten tapaaminen, tanssiminen ja värit. Kyllä näitä pitää vielä enemmän tutkiskella, mutta alku on kuitenkin jo.


Jos tutuista ei voi hetkessä tulla kavereita ja kavereista ystäviä, niin yhtä hyvin asuinpaikasta ei voi tulla kotia hetkessä. Tänään itkin ehkä senkin takia, että vaikka olin unohtanut aamulla antaa Annalle hänen pyöränsä avaimet, hän ei suutahtanut mulle illalla. Hän oli leppoisa ja... miten onkin vaikeeta sanoa tätä, mutta tänään tämä talon puitteet eivät tuntuneet täysin homehtuneilta. Kaikki tuntui hyvältä ja miten vaikealta se tuntuikin kohdata.

Luin joulukortteja uudelleen läpi ja haluan sanoa, että kaikki rohkaisut ovat olleet tarpeen ja ne ovat auttaneet. Being defeated is only a temporary condition; giving up is what makes it permanent. Ja minähän en periksi anna :)

Kaikkein puhdistavinta on kuitenkin huomata uudelleen tätä kirjoitusta läpilukiessani, että kirjoitan täyttä totta. Yksikään sana ei ole keksitty tai harkitsematon. Vaan täysin totta. On aina pelottavaa näyttää heikot hetket ja kohdat, mutta joka kerta se herättää oravanpyörän lailla uutta ja lisääntynyttä rohkeutta.

Strange goals, strange people, strange habits, strange standards.

Three things. One neutral, two positive and one negative.

Neutral. I must've been stupid to take this kind of reading job. My god. I decided to make in a shorter time that I first thought, 2 days to go, so I have to get this finished by Wednesday. At this time of the night, it's tomorrow. I'm now on the page 221 of the 349 paged book. That means about 65 pages per day. I'm now behind on writing down the underlines about 50 pages. GREAT! However the lovely thing is that this kind fo activation obviously brings my senses and creativity back. I've done a cartoonish painting and heard and realized suddenly so much more of what's going on around me.

Positive. I realized due to some events happened lately within some friends, that what I like in italians - most of them at least, even if some may consider it as dishonesty and fakery - is that they can get along with anyone and put their happy face on even when they don't really like someone. You can always be nice, you don't have to like everyone. They usually don't give people unnecessary attitude, though they love rumours and gossip.

Positive. I went to Banale yesterday after studying intensively for 4 days. It was really refreshing and I noticed a change in me from the time before Christmas. So the result of the evening was much more satisfying that before. New friends, phonenumbers and meetings afterwards :) What can I, I can't blame the people not wanting to spend time with me so much before... who would want to spend time with a bitter lemon lady? :)

Negative. This comes together in a talk I had with Dino today:

Milla: when you were in exchange, did you notice that many people would've cheated on their boyfriend/girlfriends while being there?
Dino: ...
Dino: yes
Dino: a lot
Dino: the most
Dino: everyone
Dino: :D
Dino: no, not everyone but as i know a lot
Milla: umf.. i feel like a freak here, because i'm not doing something morally unaccepted. people.. strange. me... does not understand.
Dino: so, i know kissing was something which really a lot did but not everybody did more I think
Milla: here too. more over.. i don't want to know.
Milla: i'm still shocked. i saw so many people knowing they have boyfriend/girlfriends at home, that i thought were really responsible people, kissing someone.
Milla: i hope my moral standards are still fine when i come back from here. :P

I lolled.

Background info: Dino is a half italian and half german boy, who was in exchange in my University in Finland.

Dino says:
so you have problems with italian guys...
Dino says:
let's solve it
Milla says:
and how? you know i've changed my look already, so it SHOULD GO BETTER! what's wrong with these guys :P
Dino says:
a lot
Milla says:
starting with?
Dino says:
so, first they have only their mom in mind
Dino says:
but you already experienced this problem
Dino says:
we can't solve that
Milla says:
yes, that's a neverending problem
Dino says:
hehe
Milla says:
next?
Dino says:
so, they have a lot of things in their mind. the first thing is usually not the girl which is standing next to them
Dino says:
that is not because they don't like them or something, it's just the way they look in to the world
Dino says:
they can look very far, but in a radius of 10m they are blind
Milla says:
haha :D that is so true!
Dino says:
luckely I don't have the first problem, but this problem is even something which impacted my life very hard because I can only see if it is too late, when I can look far back
Dino says:
Italian boys are concentrated on a few things
Dino says:
the mom (not my point), their friends, calcio*, maybe computer games, women in general (excluding the girls next to them) and the car/motorino
Dino says:
if you want to have attention just speak with them about one of this topics, excluding the mom of course (she is holy)
Dino says:
then you will have your well deserved attention
Dino says:
you see: italian guys = very easy

HAH, I say :D

* football

Talk continues:

Milla says:
what does women in general exactly mean? so far my experience on italian men is very bad. they either don't notice you at all or they think you are really easy and come way too close way too quick.
Dino says:
that's right
Dino says:
in this point a lot of italians think they are tough guys, but they are very weak...
Milla says:
so the question is... how the hell do they find the girls, because they seem to have a big problem finding the great ones :)
Dino says:
usually they don't want to have a relationship
Dino says:
first they are trying to strike very fast, if they think they can but if they see it is not possible they will be more careful
Dino says:
then they fall in love and they are changing completly and are getting very weak
Dino says:
you will notice that the girl is everytime the more powerful part in a realationship. Am I right?

research: Italy

Belongs to series about research: mind, Padova, Veneto, Italy. Here's what I found out through some serious researching about...


Italy


capital city - Rome
currency - euro
time zone - GMT +1
president - Giorgio Napolitano

Italy is a republic on the peninsula and its several islands in the Mediterranean sea. It has 301 000 km² (Finland: 338 000 km²) of land and about 59 million people (Finland: 5 million). The neighbour countries are France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The country includes two very small independent states, San Marino and The Vatican City.

The capital Rome lies in the middle of the country with another important city Naples, while the rest of the most important ones are in the North: Milan, Turin, Florence and Venice. Milan is probably the most important city of the country if viewed on the point of business. The official language is italian, though near the border there is other languages used too, mainly french and german. The language is also highly affected by dialects of different regions. Some people say that in the area of Florence people speak the most pure italian.

Italy's biggest religious group is catholics (87,8% of population, Finland: 0,08%).

(Wikipedia: Italy, Dino, Walter and Mario)


HISTORY

It became a republic in the year 1946 after being a kingdom for almost a century. The some of the most markable historical events of the country are:

962 - Otto the Great was crowned emperor, marking the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire
1796 - Napoleon Bonaparte conquered most of the northern Italy and established Italian republics.
1861, The Kingdom of Italy was formed, encompassing the entire peninsula except for Rome, Venice and San Marino.
1871, Rome becomes the capital of Italy.
1922, as Italy had entered World War I allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary, Mussolini became prime minister and rapidly assumed dictatorical powers.
1940-43, Italy entered World War II having previously formed an alliance with Germany in the end having to surrender.
1946, Italy became a republic by vote.
1952, Italy became a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community, which would eventually become the European Union.
1984, Reflecting the diminished influence of the church in Italian life, Roman Catholicism was de-institutionalized as Italy's state religion.

just to mention a few. (Chronology of Italy's history)


POLITICS

I'm not too interested on this part, so I'll keep it short. The republic is represent by a president, who is currently Giorgio Napolitano (elected 2006). The prime minister is Romano Prodi who won the place from Silvio Berlusconi, which if you ask me isn't such a bad thing.. after all he mocked finnish food ;)

Italy is one of the founders of EU and NATO. (Wikipedia - Politics of Italy)


CULTURE

Italy is world famous for its cultural and natural heritage, which can also be noticed at the number of UNESCO World Heritage sites it has. More than any other nation in the world. Aside from that Italy is known from its cars, beautiful women, eating culture and cuisine, wine, pasta, cheese, pepperoni, though some say that italian cuisine is just a mix of several others.

Visual arts

One of the reasons why I wanted to this particular country is the cultural heritage. In visual arts, the country has impressive list of artists and their achievements. Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello, Botticelli... The country has lead Europe to many artistic and intellectual movements like Renaissance and Baroque.

Literature

Poet Dante Alighieri with his greatest work, the Divina Commedia, is ofter considered the foremost literary statement in Europe from the Middle Ages and also on of the greatest works in the world literature. Other very famous and appreciated writers and poets are Boccaccio, Giacomo Leopardi, Alessandro Manzoni... and from the philosophic side a famous name: Machiavelli.

Science

In science, Italy has again an impressive list of names who made advancements towards scientific revolutions. Galileo Galilei and Leonardo da Vinci as leading men, Italy has been home for many scientists and inventors: the physicist Enrico Fermi, one of the fathers of quantum theory; the astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini; the physicist Alessandro Volta, inventor of the electric battery; the mathematicians Lagrange and Fibonacci; Nobel Prize in Physics laureate Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of the radio; and Antonio Meucci, inventor of the telephone.

Music

From folk music to classical, music has always played an important role in Italian culture. Having given birth to opera, Italy provides many of the foundations of the classical music tradition. Instruments associated with classical music, including the piano and violin, were invented in Italy. Italy's most famous composers in the world are Vivaldi, Puccini and Verdi.

Sports

Italians are renowned for their love of sports, from the Gladiatorial games of Ancient Rome, to the Stadio Olimpico of contemporary Rome, where football clubs compete. Popular sports include football, basketball (2nd national team sport since the '50s), volleyball, waterpolo, fencing, rugby, cycling, ice hockey (mainly in Milan, Trentino-Alto Adige and Veneto), roller hockey and F1 motor racing.

(Culture of Italy, Italian literature, Music of Italy, Sport in Italy, and Cinema of Italy, List of Italian painters)

GEOGRAPHY and TOPOGRAPHY

The country is divided administratively to 20 regions (regione), which divide to 110 provinces (provincia) and these to 8 101 communes (comune). The provinces are often named after the administrative cities. The regions: Abruzzo, Valle d'Aosta, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friulia-Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte, Sardegna, Sicilia, Toscana, Trentino-Alto Adige, Umbria, Veneto.

Because of country's shape, it's also called the boot country. The Apennine Mountains form the peninsula's backbone; the Alps form its northern boundary. The largest of its many northern lakes is Garda; the Po, its principal river, flows from the Alps on Italy's western border and crosses the Lombard plain to the Adriatic Sea.

The climate in Italy is highly diverse and can be far from the stereotypical Mediterranean climate and "land of sun", depending on the location. The inland northern areas of Italy (Turin, Milan, and Bologna) have a continental climate, while the coastal areas of Liguria and the peninsula south of Florence fit the stereotype. The coastal areas of the peninsula can be very different from the interior, particularly during the winter months. The coastal regions, where most of the large towns are located, have a typical Mediterranean climate with mild winters and hot and generally dry summers. Between the north and south there can be a considerable difference in temperature, above all during the winter: in some winter days it can be -2 °C and snowing in Milan while Rome gets +12°C and it is +18°C in Palermo. Temperature differences are less extreme in the summer. (Geography of Italy)