Monkeys and Sausages

The biggest difference in Australian English is all the abbreviations. Everything is shortened. Jeff bought me a book about Australian language and culture and it has actually been quite helpful. I've already heard a lot of words that the book had listed, such as:

brekkie - breakfast

sunnies - sunglasses

barbie - barbecue

cardie - cardigan

goalie - goalkeeper

jarmies - pyjamas

postie - mail deliverer

sparkie - electrician

kindy - kindergarden

arvo - afternoon

avo - avocado

rego - registration

The book also says: "Nicknames are all but compulsory in Australia and only rarely will a person be called by their given name." This is very true. Rebecca would be Beck or Becky, Lachlan Lachie or Lacho, Matthew Matty, Joanna Jo, Michael Mike or Micky... And It's not always about shortening the name, sometimes the nickname is longer, as in John would be Johnno.

Noah and Felix don't really have nicknames but Maya is sometimes called missy or missy moo like are a lot of little girls here. Jade and Jorja have a lot of nicknames, the most common ones are probably Jadie and Jorjie. Or monkeys. Sausage is also a nickname for a little child. At first it sounded really weird but now I think it's actually really cute. Timothy would probably be the king of nicknames: Tim, Timy, Timtam, Timo, Timomatic... And the Finnish one that I gave him - Timppa.

I've only come accross a few words that have a different meaning or are completely different. The woods is called the bush and hiking is more often referred to as bushwalking. I did have a situation that could have been quite funny if Hannah hadn't been handing me her flip-flops as she said that I could borrow her thongs... XD

xo.

Mily (my new Australian nickname)

ZOO, Swimming and Other Stuff

This week has been absolutely wonderful! It's the school holidays so we've been up to all sorts of fun stuff. I've also spent a little more time with the Sharpe's.

On Monday I had a lovely time drinking ice chocolate and playing tennis with the kids' nana (grandmother) and her lady friends. I went so that she could give me some pointers for my netball game the next day.

On Tuesday we had a massive water fight with Noah and Maya. Then we packed up scooters and a netball in the car and went to Lapstone courts to throw the ball and scooter around. In the evening I had my first netball game. First time ever playing netball and it was an actual game. I was a bit overwhelmed trying to play and get the hang of all the rules at the same time but I think I did ok.. I was WD = wing defense. Hopefully I'll get to play the same position next week or I'll just be even more confused :D Luckily my team's very nice!

Wednesday was probably the high light of the week. The Sharpe family took me along to the ZOOOO - more precisely Taronga Zoo in Sydney. I'll just let the picture do the talking:

Timomatic and Bryan

:Snake

The Giraffe house

A giraffe in the city.

The most adorable animals on the planet: Meerkats

Yay, face paint!

My best friends Jorja and Jade. Oh and the city skyline.

The heartwarming sight of elephants having fun together in the water.

Seal Show

A wallaby. I think. Or is it a kangaroo..?

There are at least four different species of kangaroo.
Wondering which one's meat they sell in the stores.. :D

Enjoying the skyrail ride.

A big thank you to Josey for these photos!!

On Thursday we went for a swim in the Springwood inside pool. They'd opened the water slide as a school holiday special. I had fun playing in the water with the girls. We tried putting Timy in the water too but he really didn't think that was a good idea.

On Friday we took Maya with us and went to the Jellybean pool in the national park for a swim. A lot of water play this week. I also had dinner with the Sharpe's for the first time. We ate fajitas and had ice cream for dessert. Yummy!

I ended up looking at pictures form Finland this week and felt a bit teary as I realized how long it's actually going to be till I see my family and friends again. Luckily I'm having the time of my life here so I didn't feel too bad.

xo.
Emilia

Burning off Breakfast at the Beach

Burning off

I got a couple of worried texts from my family about the bush fires that were out of control yesterday. I saw a lot of smoke but they weren't near enough to be of any danger. Scary things though, bush fires. Sometimes I forget how safe Finland is. No bush fires, no earthquakes, no floods, no highly venomous animals, no sharks... Just a bit of slippery ice in winter :D

Bush fires are very common in Australia. Before summer there are a lot of hazard reduction burn offs. Meaning they deliberately start a fire in controlled conditions to burn off bush so that in summer there will be less bush to burn. Making a fire to avoid one. Clever.

Glenbrook village and burn-off smoke

Breakfast

I was warned about Australians being morning people. That is very true. You don't necessarily need to wake up super early but when you do you get up and get going. It's not at all unusual to meet up with your friends for breakfast. I've done that a couple of times already and it was actually really nice :)

I've been eating very healthy but breakfast has been the one meal that I've managed to indulge in every once in a while. Pancakes, ice cream, French toast... Yum yum! I should have taken pictures, I know :c

Beach

Last weekend we went to Maroubra beach. The weather was beautiful and the waves were amazing. Luckily the Australian winter is over and the spring here is like Finnish summer. Not complaining. Not at all.

The title was a bit misleading as I haven't really done any sports since my arrival. That'll change soon though as I've taken up netball! It starts in two weeks. I'll try to write a few times before that though...

xx.

Em

Sunday Funday

Today was a good day. Kids had been invited to a birthday party and I got to tag along as the party was held in a skate park. Kids had a 1-hour "ride with a pro" and I got to watch all the unbelievable tricks he did with his scooter. Just wow. The food - especially the chocolate cake - was also really good so I was extra happy.

Kids and The PRO

After the birthday party we walked across the road to Skoda Stadium to watch an AFL game - the only game in the world where you get points for almost scoring a goal! The field was almost round which was interesting. After the game people got to go on the field. There was a band playing and AFL balls flying everywhere. The atmosphere was amazing!

Fangirling

Cheeeeese!

Falling asleep.. Now Zzzz..

Ems

Enjoying and Adapting

I've been here for two weeks now and already feel like home. On my free time I'm still a bit at a loss. I love my peace and quiet and need my own time but doing stuff such as going to the movies, shopping or having lunch in a cafe alone just feels plain weird and lonely. But no worries! I'm sure I'll have friends soon. I've already made plans for next weekend with a girl my age that even lives on the same street! Can't wait :)

Me and Maya at Glenbrook park

Few of the things I've ENJOYED:

• Social and talkative people
• Playing with the kids
• Good food - Especially today! Felix's soccer team came over before their game and we had a pancake breakfast. There were so many toppings to choose from... yam yam!
• The nature and the animals - It's all so different here. I still haven't seen a kangaroo or a koala (*tears*) but even the birds have gotten me excited here. Oh, I did see an opossum right above my door one evening! And sometimes you can hear them screaming on the roof in the early hours..
• Speaking English - I've been pretty confident about my skills and I'm glad I've been able to keep up so well. Understandably understanding is a lot easier than talking yourself but I'm sure it will get easier soon too. It's nice to be able to talk a lot of Finnish as well though!
• Fridays with homemade pizza and a movie

Boys swinging in the back forest

Things that need(ed) a little ADAPTING:

• The wrong - sorry "left" - side traffic (slowly starting to feel right) - I'm always trying to go the wrong way in escalators. Oops! Driving the car doesn't scare me anymore. I got the hang of it pretty quickly. Going routes that I don't know yet on the other hand.. I'm known for my bad sense of direction.
• The changes in temperature during the day - It's freezing in the morning, hot during the day and then freezing again. How many times do I need to change my clothes?
• Freezing inside the house - The heating here is poor since it's only needed for a short period of time. But stillll, come ooon! It is NEEDED. It's uncomfortable for a Finn that's used to feeling warm inside the house. Electric blanket is my savior though so no worries. I'll manage :D
• Different currency - Not necessarily the prices but recognizing the bills and coins when trying to pay something...
• Being so far away from my family and friends - Especially when the time difference makes Skyping a bit challenging. I miss everyone but luckily I don't feel homesick :)

The families I'm working with are amazing! All of the kids have wonderful personalities and the parents are very considerate and encouraging. Couldn't have hoped for anything better!

xx.

Ems

Here I am!

I made it to the other side of the Globe on Tuesday after about 32 hours of travelling. (To be clear: it was still Monday in Finland since the time difference is 7h) Was it worth it?  OH YEAH! All the people here are so nice and welcoming and I get on with the kids really well. I still haven't taken it all in. Even the fact that I'm really here has taken me some time to really wrap my head around :D Next Monday I start working for real and then I can start getting use to the routines and properly settle in, I guess.

I'm doing Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays with the half Finnish family that I live with and Tuesdays and Wednesday with the neighbors. The neighbors moved here from South Africa about 8 years ago and they have three children. Two young girls and a baby boy that I mainly take care of. He's a lovely boy and such an easy happy baby.

I still haven't made any friends outside the families as I haven't really left the house by myself yet. There's a bike that I can use and I think the train station is within walking distance so I can go to Penrith and Sydney if I want to. I'm probably going to take up some sports to make friends and keep myself in shape :D Right now I'm thinking Australian Touch Football. We'll see.

GILBERT - my new best friend

SYLVIA, GLODIE OR BRONZIE - can't tell them apart yet

xx.
Ems

Weekend @ My Kinda Sister's

I spent my weekend at my friend/sister's place. Elli's dad and my mom used to be married so we're kinda like sisters really. She moved to Vantaa with her boyfriend and I've been meaning to visit them for quite a while now - finally made it! Friday after work I headed for the railway station, bought a bag of salty liquorice and the July edition of UK Cosmo and hopped on a train.

We went to see Man of Steel, made tortillas, went golw golfing, did a little shopping... 

Jungle Juice! I took Berry Baboon and Elli took Choco

Bumba :D There were like a million different ones that you

could choose from. We should have this place in Turku.

We did gorgeous and tasty mint chocolate cupcakes :P

Well Elli did... I did the dishes :D

I didnt't glow :(

Half of the course was horror themed and was in a darker

room. There my blondish highlights started glowing tho :D

Luckily Elli was smart enough to take a picture before we

started playing! Our scores were somewhat depressing

compared to Mikko's XD

I don't paint my nails very often but when I saw this color

in Elli's collection I just had to!

I had a pretty awesome weekend. Thank you, Elli!

xx.

Ems

Midsummer Madness

My JUHANNUS
(The Finnish holiday for celebrating the summer solstice)

Thursday:

I got off work, drove straight home to pick up the chocolate mousse I'd made the day before (quite delicious might I add) and then I was off to Adele's where we had a girls' night slash Milja's going away party. She left for Spain to be an au pair. She'll be back in three months but by then I'll be aupairing in Australia. Felt so weird saying bye and knowing that the next time we'll see each other will be almost a year from now. Anyhow we had a great time chatting and eating as always. We watched a stand-up comedy DVD (Sami Hedberg - Kokovartalomies) as many of us are big fans of stand-up, I included. Probably why I found it amusing that I'm flying to Australia with none other than... Aaaaair CHINAHHH XD (Just type "Air China" in YouTube if you don't get it even though you should.)

Friday:

I drove to Loimaa to visit my grandparents. Almost ate myself to death and then made a little bonfire with my brother as Juhannus is not a Juhannus without one.

Saturday:

My folks also came to Loimaa and we had a nice family day. We ate pancakes (the thin ones that Finns eat, not the thick American ones!) with ice cream and strawberries. Yum yum! When the folks headed back home I went to visit my other grandmother who also lives in Loimaa.

Sunday:

I headed back to Turku. Not home though! I decided to stop by Kaisa's. I helped her pile up some firewood in the storage and as a reward we got to take her step-dad's convertible for a spin. It was AWESOME. I don't think I've ever felt that cool in my life XD (Probably cuz I'm anything but... :D) After that we went to Bodybump.

Overall I had a great Juhannus. Had fun with my friends, a good time with the fam, slept well, ate well, even exercised a little... I'd say that my Juhannus was a success :) Now off to bed and back to work tomorrow.

G'night!

Ems

New look

I went to the hairdresser's today. Last time I cut or dyed my hair was over a year ago so I thought it was about time to do something :D I shortened it quite a bit though it still isn't short as it was basically a kilometer-long before... I also took some blonde highlights and now I think I can call myself blonde. Maybe. Almost. Idk. Blondish?

Since today was a day of change, I thought it'd be appropriate to update the look of my blog as well. Hope you guys like it! The background isn't as good as I'd hoped but I just didn't feel like editing it anymore... It's good enough! :D

Old banner

New one w/ shorter hair! Still  © Em btw 

Short and sweet this time! Or at least shorter :D
xx. Ems

In a land far far away...

Ok, I'm just gonna kick it off with the facts. I'm going to Australia as an au pair in August !!! Yes, you heard me. AUSTRALIA. I'm pretty much losing my mind here. I can't remember the last time I was this excited. Studying has totally drained me and I need to DO something. Leaving my home country for about 9 months and working as an au pair is definitely that. I feel like the luckiest person in the world right now.

I found the nicest family possible, I think. I skyped with the mother and the kids and they all seemed very warmhearted and the kids were adorably energetic. The mother is Finnish and the kids all speak Finnish, which is nice. Although I reaally reallly want to improve my English, I don't think that speaking Finnish will stand in my way. I'll be working with the neighbors as well and they're not Finnish, just like most of Australia's population, so I'll get my fair share of English as well :D

I'm not a big worrier. ...Ok, I just imagined all of my friends screaming LIAR! Let me put it this way: I tend to worry about insignificant stuff while the big stuff doesn't scare me at all. Like right now, my biggest worry is driving a car on the left for the first time (right side is the right side!). Not the long flights and waits at the airport all by myself, not whether or not I'll get along with the kids, missing home or being so far away. Just NO. I know I'll manage all of that. And of course I'll manage the driving. I've got my own car here in Finland, I know how to drive. I guess that's just my own freaky coping mechanism, picking a stupid little thing to worry about rather than the big things. Like huge kangaroos jumping towards you... Not scared at all XD

I'll try to write more this summer. I know I've been a lousy blogger. I'm working the whole summer again. The same office but a different job. Now I get to just pack the stuff, arrange the papers, glue and cut and things like that. It's easier and I get to move around rather than just stare at a computer screen. Let's hope that I'll manage staring at it at home while updating this blog :D

'til next time!
Em

Graduate - Oh that's me!

On Saturday, 1st of June, I got my matriculation examination certificate and my student cap. After the ceremony at school we had a celebration at our house. It was a really special and nice day. I enjoyed all the attention :D No complaints. Here's me and my cap:

I don't really feel like writing about school stuff anymore. I've got some big news that deserves a post of its own...

Ems

Week Report

I should be studying right now. Effit. It just wasn’t working out. I’ll study tomorrow…  And the next day and the day after that and... Oh can’t wait!

Enough complaining. Everyone has to study for the finals. I’m not the poor only one. It still sucks tho. How about I just write about my week? Ok, here goes.

MONDAY wasn’t at all that bad. It was very nice actually. I drove to Loimaa (alone!) to see my grandparents.  As usual I ate waaaayyy too much. Both of my grannies can’t seem to understand that even my stomach isn't bottomless even though it sometimes seems like it. I also got some studying done and printed out the terrifying amount of pages that I have to study for the English entrance exam. The University of Turku takes in 60 English students every year and last year over 300 applied. Not nerve-racking at all. I desperately want in.

TUESDAY was pretty much the same as Monday: studying and basic Loimaa stuff like chilling, eating, and watching TV. Me likey.

WEDNESDAY morning I drove home (alone! The reason I’m mentioning this is that I’ve never ever driven such a long way by myself. Ok 70 km but still!) In the evening I had the children’s exercise classes that I instruct. We had loads of fun as always. I might have even scratched myself quite badly in the arm while overly excitedly throwing balls in a ball war game. Oops. Hurt.

On THURSDAY Milja and I made tacos. Delicious! Great, now I’m hungry again. In the evening I went to Ronja’s and we had a proper girls’ night. We played board games, laughed so hard that tears were rolling on our faces and ate chips, candy and chocolate to the point of feeling a bit sick. As I said, a proper girls’ night.

FRIDAY was hot yet the weather was cold. Milla came over and we went to sauna (hot) and watched a Finnish movie Kohta 18 in which the actors were freaking hot (HOT HOT HOT).

SATURDAY aka yesterday I went to Body Attack and realized that I desperately need more exercise. The sweat was streaming down my face and hurt my eyes for god's sakes! My face was burning red for an hour after, which was awesome (not.) as I stayed in the center with Adele. We went shopping for a quite interesting birthday gift for a certain 19-year-old who's in Switzerland at the moment.

SUNDAY, fun day, happy day! Woke up a few hours ago. Tried to study. Couldn't concentrate. Reached for the laptop. Story of my life. Going to the movies today with my dad as I haven’t seen him for ages. We’re going to see some Finnish crime drama 8-pallo. Hope it’s good. Then off to the gym!

Next week’s gonna be boring as hell. No life, just studying. I’ll try to think of something interesting to write about. Till then, CIAO!

Love, Ems