Non English Songs In ESC2018

What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do – especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.

William Least Heat Moon

Blue

Hey folks, 

Thought I might actually want to update this thing once in a while... 

Some of these stuff are seriously two months old but for what it's worth I wanna have it all on writing and out there as a proof to myself that I've actually did all of this..

SOOO my birthday... ages ago I know but gotta mention it since it was my first one abroad..Big plans, big plans to get wasted and the hit one of the many night clubs of the city and party my ass off. BUT let’s just say that the first goal was well achieved but the later ones… not so much. Thank you girls again for holding my hair and for the thousandth time my mortified but the sincerest apologies. But at least it was my birthday I was ruining and no one else’s. But oh well... #finnish #stillmortified 

And as my hang over cleared I made the long feared bookings in order to come home in the end of July. On 28th to be exact. Friends and family in Finland, make a mark in your calendars. Read above why I wanna come home and rest of the blog for the reasons why not. It’s incredible how fast time has passed. It feels like yesterday when I was planning it all, counting days and preparing me and the world around me for the grande aventure...Today I have less than 60 days left of my Montréal year. How depressing is that… #stupidstudies #dontwannagohome

It’s been quite stressful and tight in moneylike cause I have to pay some of the student aid I received (too much) back in 2012 to the Finnish government (which is always fun). But luckily Mtl is full of activities that you get to do without paying a penny! 

Speaking of free..

Made my way to the famous Tam Tams finally which is a free Music event at the park of Mount Royal happening every Sunday afternoon. When the weather allows it I guess. Starting at noon and going on for hours until the evening. Insanely popular:  hundreads of people, young people, old people, parents with small children and friends, newcomers, tourists having picniks or just hanging out and enjoying the beaux temps. 

It is not an officially sanctioned nor sponsored event so no one really knows when the first Tam Tams took place. Somewhere between 1970’s and 1990’s apparently. But today it’s one of the best known summer events of the city and the musical scene has developed from the traditional drum circle to DJ’s. Different kinds of vendors, performance artists and exhibitonists can be seen too. 

(pic from http://montrealagogo.tumblr.com/)

More free stuff! International this time. Made a new discovery called “Jane Walks” which are free walking tours insipired by American activist and urbanist Jane Jacobs who started organizing them first in New York and later in Toronto. Today they’re organized worldwide on first weekend of May annually.  The idea is to get the people to discover the neighbourhoods of their cities in a new light. Anyone who wants to share their knowledge and experience can volunteer to organize one and anyone who wants to learn more can join in for free. Here in Montréal there were over 100 different walks to choose from during in three days all over the city.

I took one in the neighbourhood where I live in, the lively and lovely Mile End which I’ve become very fond of over the passed months. During the two hour long walk I was never further from my front door than maybe just a few blocks but still I learnt so many interesting and fascinating facts about this neighbourhood. The theme was street art which  “is anonymous and the entire city is its canvas”. Totally recommend everyone to check their neighbourhoods and cities by joining Jane walks next year! I’m definitely gonna do the same next year, wherever I’ll be. 

For more information: http://www.janeswalk.org/

One of the landmarks of Mile End.

To do

I’ve been living in MTL for almost four months now. My internship will end within a month and after that I’m gonna face the reality. I need a job, a real one, which they’ll actually pay me doing for. If I don’t find one I’ve been thinking of moving to Toronto where my crappy French won’t be a problem. Going home would be a wise thing to do since I still have my thesis and some courses left to do. But I hate to have my visa which is valid until next summer to go waste. And besides there are still tons of things I want to see and do here.

Below of my development in my to do-list:

Go up the Mont-Royal, visit old town of MTL, main sights etc.

Number of museums of MTL visited: 2

Eat Poutine 

(Poutine -

French fries with with a light brown gravy-like sauce and cheese curds)

Eat Smoked Meat-sandwich

Discover the cool neighbourhood of Mile End and Plateau (never enough thou)

Visit Jean-Talon Market

Survive canadian winter

To make a phone call using the old fashioned pay phone - silly I know but I've never used one! 

Drink beer (québecoise)

Eat bagels

(The famous bagel store where I go - not so often thou anymore - and which is just around my corner)

Learn French and being able to understand Québecois accent (working on it)

Do some ice-skating/snow shoeing or whatever winter outdoor activity while I’m here (and nevermind that I could do this in Finland as well! I'm convinced that it's more fun in here than there..)

Write my first cheque (silly I know but we don't have them anymore)

Visit a National Park (any will do, as long as it has that classic “Canadian nature” scenery with the lakes and mountains)

(This is what I wanna see! Summer's not necessary)

Visit Québec City

Discover true Toronto

Watch an ice hockey match

See a real canadian mountie

Visit Niagara Falls

Visit Ottawa

Events:  Picnik Elektronik

                        Igloofest

                        Fête des Neiges

                        Festival de la lumière & Nuit Blanche

                        Laura Pausini concert

                        Pride Parade

                        Tam Tams (free music event at Mont Royal)

A month ago did a day trip to Berlengas Islands, 10-15km off Portuguese Coast and the city of Peniche (90km from Lisboa). Only one of them big enough to have a harbor is habitable. The paradise for sun bathing, scuba diving, seagulls.. There were tourists but it wasn’t covered with them which was super nice. The island has a hostel in the old fort but not so many proper restaurants. A small boat trip about the caves was super interesting. Such a paradise!  Took like 1000 photos in one day, here comes the first part

Biggest growers of ESC 2018

Not every song hits you on a first listen. Multiple songs this year didn’t give the best first impressions but along with these spring months my opinion of them is changing and probably keeps on changing as the rehearsals start. 

ALBANIA - Eugent Bushpepa - Mall 

AUSTRIA - César Sampson - Nobody but you

ARMENIA - Sevak Khangyan - Qami

BULGARIA - EQUINOX - Bones

ESTONIA - Elina Nechayeva - La forza 

F.Y.R. MACEDONIA - Eye Cue -  Lost and found

GREECE - Yianna Terzi - Oniro mou

ITALY - Ermal Meta e Fabrizio Moro - Non mi avete fatto niente

THE NETHERLANDS - Waylon - Outaw in ‘em

SWITZERLAND - ZIBBZ - Stones

UKRAINE - Melovin - Under the ladder

UMK 2024 Song Review - Sini Sabotage

The hype is very real around Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), the Finnish national selection for Eurovision and the race to Malmö continues with another rap entry!

Sini Sabotage - Kuori Mua

Sini Sabotage is one of the best known Finnish artists but at the same time one of the rare female rappers in the country. She started her career with a banger Levikset Repee roughly a decade ago and has since released 3 studio albums and multiple radio hits. She has fought her way to the top.

Despite of being somewhat a dream name for UMK for years the idea of sending her new Kuori Mua song to the competition was actually proposed to her by the songwriters and producers.

Kuori Mua which means peel me in Finnish is bold even as a title. If you're familiar with her personality and music you'll notice how this instantly fits her like a glove.

Kuori Mua begins with inviting piano notes and moves quickly to the electronic beat. The song has heat, rush - it tells you how to move and focus. This screams gay anthem. All the banger elements are here and they're well produced.

The lyrics and beat are energetic and sensual - some might be irritated by the Finglish here but I'm not a Finnish rap expert enough to say if this is common for Finnish rap. Chorus is a bit flat, it doesn't bunch me as I'd wish it would. This needs several listens even though it is memorable though. Musically I especially enjoy the beginning of the second verse and the bridge here. The piano based moments give the juiciest sounds. The song improves towards the end but still doesn't meet the expectations in my opinion.

Kuori Mua is not on top of the Youtube and Spotify lists when comparing the UMK24 tracks and I think it hasn't grown to become the banger they'd hoped for even in domestic levels.

What comes to the live performance music video promises several options and it must be big since this has been chosen to start the UMK show on Saturday (Feb 10th). I have no doubt she wouldn't be able to deliver this live.

What do you think of the sixt UMK24 track and would you vote for Sini Sabotage to go all the way to Malmö? UMK final takes place on February 10th!

In May I visited Helsinki, where I lived for 2 years. Awesome new museum AmosRex and amazing new library Oodi. Check these out if you’re in town! 

The perspective that wasn't mine yesterday

Somewhat continues from the post below..

But anyways news for those who haven't heard that I changed a job. Still in a video game industry but found  a better deal in a different company where I started  as a Linguistic tester a month ago. As much as I loved working at Babel, they couldn’t offer me anything else but functionality testing on call contract with evening shifts. Now with Enzyme Testing Labs I’ll actually get to do the linguistic stuff and have better pay, better working hours (no more evening shifts!) and the location is slightly closer to home too. 

This is actually the first time when my employer is making a contract of any fixed hours with me. I’ve always been on call and luckily the shifts, often more than I could actually do, have always come in. So I do feel like I’m being tied down a bit. Can’t do any big or (at least long term) travelling plans or anything cause the summer is high season for video game industry and naturally employees aren’t encouraged to take much time off then. And not that I would have money for travels anyway...But so far I’ve been more than happy to explore and discover the city of Mtl and that’s why haven’t traveled much in Québec/Canada so if this is the furthest I can go I’ll be fine with it. 

However, I did some travelling in April. 

Made a Easter voyage to the Québec’s capital, also named Québec which is over 200km from Montréal to north. It’s been one of my “must go” destinations for years and it was truly a fascinating and charming journey to see all those places where the history of not only Québec’s but also of Canada and North America took place. This is where it all began. The place where they established hospitals, schools, newspapers, museums and churches among others earlier than anywhere else in North America. The city was a battle ground for wars and battles that later came to define Canada and Québec.

Moi, en Québec finalement!

Today the city is known mostly for the most photographed hotel in the world Château Frontenac and for Vieux Québec, the old part of the city which is partly 400 years old and obviously a Unesco World Heritage Site. If my trip to Ottawa last fall was an eye opening experience in Canadian culture and history, this trip was exactly the same in la culture et l’histoire québécoise. I could seriously go on forever about history of this city... #historyfreak #quebecoise

I ain't wearing my winterboots in April anymore damnit!

But what we actually did in Québec: stroll around in the still empty streets of vieux Québec (no masses of tourists yet), did some shopping, ate well and visited the musée de la civilisation where the First Nations were represented respectively too. The more northern location was easily noticed in the chilly weather and the amounts of snow they had in the parks and the streets. The three days were seriously a good exercise too cause the city’s been built on hills and it seemed like there was nothing else but a staircase after another. Oh boy did my feet hurt on Monday after the trip! But it was vraiment québecois and there is no place where you could feel the political atmosphere (anglos against the francos) clearer than in Québec in my opinion. This is not a criticism just an observation. 

Moi sur les Plaines d'Abraham.

Weatherlike...Summer has finally kicked in! Had a few days of tropical +30 temperatures but otherwise it's been comfortably warm even thou spring was clearly late. In the beginning of May it was still quite grey and bald in naturelike but now everything has catched up. J'aime ça!

However, there is a one big down side in my life and year in Mtl. Room mates.. who I've had 15 in total by now and this doesn't include the new changes coming up at the flat within a few weeks. As much I love this appartment, the room and the location, it truly sucks that we don't have any saying about who's gonna move in. My landlord is great but he doesn't really care how we get along with each other as long as everybody pays their rents and don't seriously destroy anything...

Nothing major issues I guess but just stuff that truly bugs me. Having soirées late in the night during the week and not participating of the expences that we share together. Nobody cleans. It's also hard to have any kind of system with room mates that keep on changing this frequently. But oh well.. less than two months and these problems will be far away cause I'll be living with my mom again! And how much fun is that gonna be - NOT! 

Allrighty then, I think that was it for now.. thanks again for reading! :)

Coming back is feeling growth

Hey guys. Felt like rambling again.

Leaving Montréal and Québec behind me was as difficult as expected but it feels good to be home too. Autumn is on top of its beauty with the multicoloured trees, the air is briskly cool, leaves are falling down slowly. Rain or shine, this kind of autumn is my favourite time of the year. 

So I made it home allright. In one piece. With all my luggages this time.

At the Toronto airport, very cool lounge I must say. Luggages were full so I was forced to wear my winter stuff..

On my way home, on the flight from Reykjavik to Helsinki, there was this old man on board.An  80-year old, originally born and raised in Finland and on his way home for the first time for the 30 years which he had lived in the States.  As life-changing I’ve described my Montréal experience, it made me and my year feel quite small…and it is compared to that! His eyes were shining when he told how he hadn’t heard Finnish language been spoken so widely for decades and how he had missed Finnish food during the years he was gone. He had his grand-daughter and son-in-law with him to whom he wanted to show the country where the family's origins are from. It was touching to listen to his stories.

And when I did arrive in Helsinki, there was a pleasant surprise since some of my friends were waiting for me at the airport. What a luck also for them that my changes of flights went smoothly and I arrived as scheduled.

My favourite: Sallad with goat cheese buried in DEVIL'S JAM!!! :)

Surprisingly didn’t experience any jetlag. I just went to bed on the first night and that was all the sleep I needed. Almost disappointed, I was so prepared for it.

And as for what am I doing now. I’m back at my studies, more or less back at my old job and I’m living with my mom for the simple reasons that I don’t have any money for a flat of my own or any idea of a city, a place which I’d like enough to live in at the moment.  Not exactly the place in my life where I’d like to be at 27 but… However there are possibilities, good options even in Finland but I just haven’t made up my mind yet. Somehow moving to a new Finnish city not knowing much people or having a job, scares me more than what moving to Montréal did. Weird eh?

Otherwise haven’t had much difficulty with settling in back to my old routines if you don’t take into account that I still keep adding tax to all the prices I see in the groceries, cafes, restaurants etc and that I find myself repeating ‘how are you?’ or ‘have a nice day’ to total strangers which is not the most common thing in here. I also have a strong desire to do so in French. Apparently I’ve picked up on some of the local ways of Montréal. Also some of the news that were just distant headlines in Québec are happening If not right here but pretty damn close anyways, across the eastern border. Scary eh?

Lahti

My québcoise journey had a bit of extension, if that is the right word for it, when a friend of mine from Montréal made a stop in Finland on her travel through Nordic Countries. Four days we did almost non-stop sightseeing in three Finnish cities and I gotta admit it was a quite eyes opening experience for me as well. After the year being abroad my perspective has definitely changed and I look at my country and culture differently. I appreciate the smallest things the most.

There is a change going on in my home town which seems to be noticeable only to my eyes. But still for my comfort the most important things are never changing like friends, family, the lake and ice cream section at the local groceries. People have been welcoming and it's been nice to see that I wasn't forgotten. 

So for four days I fed my friend with traditional Finnish delicacies like salty liquorice, different ice cream flavours, blueberry cider and more or less fascinating facts about the Finnish history and society. Good trip overall! Merci Annick and I’ll see you in UK!

A medieval castle in Turku

Through my studies I also took part of the ArtSaturday which is a day version of La Nuit Blanche which I told you about last spring. Clearly way smaller over here and the reason why the night version was changed into this new day version is because people got too drunk. This is Finland for you! Anyways it was a blast this year, bigger and wider program of different activities than ever before in the city center.

Shame on you, Lahti folks who missed it for some crappy excuse! I was positively surprised by the entire project, the people organizing it and the experience itself. Good networking it was, met cool people. I wouldn’t have imagined that there are people in this town who care about this city enough to make such efforts for better Lahti happen.  I wanna do it again next year! If I’ll be here.

So this what I’ve been up to after my québecoise experience which seems like a dream that happened only in my mind at this point. I can’t believe it, a year ago I was just beginning my dream, searching for trainee job and building up my new life. I miss the city, endless amount of possibilities whether it was about a job, social life or any free time activity you were looking for. Couchsurfing community and the friends I made.

Even thou I’ve been totally broke and I don't know if I'm ever gonna see any of the people I met in Montréal… Some might say that it was total waste of time.. But I still don’t regret a thing about the year I spent there. However I have a feeling that I might not be returning to Montréal anytime soon. Unless something super-surprising happens to me. But so far it looks like I’m gonna stick with Europe. UK and Spain attract me the most. But now as it feels it might not be a bad idea to live in Finland either. Feels kind of nice actually for a change. 

I visited Palace of Queluz last January which is one of the best kept secrets in Sintra / Lisbon located literally between the the fairytale town of Sintra and the portuguese capital. This is the most beautiful room I’ve ever been visited. And the best part was that I was the only person there!