Some Observations

Well, I've been here for just over a week now and still adjusting. It's fascinating how the little things can differ between cultures, and how those little things can be the hardest ones to get to grips with.

There are the obvious ones like driving on the right (took me a minute to work out there!), the language and the geography. Finnish is fascinating to listen to, so many sounds and letter combination that don't occur as frequently in English, and my lecturer doesn't sound like she breathes when she talks either! Turku is an archipelago of islands, but not shallow little blips on the water, more like green sandcastles protruding out proudly from the water, trees all the way to the edge. I don't live in centre of the city but they're aren't great expanses of fields or heather hills like Scotland, it's a lot more wooded, which makes a nice change, you feel less like you're in the middle of nowhere, cause you kinda can't see anywhere.

Then there's the completely alien, like having a shower head on a hose coming out of the wall in a room that only has a sink and a toilet. I've not ventured as far as to use it yet, the sink is pretty small. Also the saunas are relatively unfamiliar territory - I'll let you know when it's conquered.

The candy bar I ate with Scott (see 'Buses' 30.08.2011) is not a great representation of Salmiakki. Usually it looks like liquorice does, except it's saltier. It's kinda strange, alright, but not something I'd go out of my way to buy.

Here's one we like a lot – all cans of cider and beer (water bottles and stuff too) are bought with a little 0,15 euro deposit so that you take them back to the store to recycle them, then you get you're money back. However, it kinda just feels like they're giving you money to recycle - nothing like a money incentive to do something you should be doing in the first place... Subsequently you see a lot of people raiding through bins.

Also, lunch is very early. I think they start serving at 11am(!) and stop before 1pm. Was kinda weird today eating breakfast at 8am then lunch at 11.30am. A lot of my classes start at 8.15am so I guess it kinda makes sense, just makes a change from lunch at 3pm in Spain!