Okay, the clock is way past midnight and I should be in bed, getting my beauty sleep or whatever, but here I am. Because I finally finished it. It took me ridiculously long time to write, but it was worth it. So, let me present you: Sonata Arctica - The Days of Grays Review!

 

( Review under the cut (because I kind of got excited...) )

Oh gods, I don't even know how I'm going to survive this day. I got only a couple of hours of sleep last night, I have five courses starting today and half an hour for lunch between the classes. Great. Seems like the perfect opportunity for a migraine attack.

(Wishing that the Doctor icon would help me...)

My little sister and I arrived at Kemi at 1.30 pm. We walked from the railway station to where the gig was to be held - it was easy to find it, you can't really get lost in Kemi. So we sat down on the lawn and waited. One thing was really funny: the gates were actually open the whole time, at one point I just wandered through the gates and bought us ice creams and walked back. A bit later I did the same (well, this time I didn't buy anything) and caught Sonata on stage while they were doing sound checks. I'm not complaining, but it was really weird because never before have I been on a gig where you could just walk through the gates and no one's interested in where you're going. It wasn't like that when I was there to see Sonata Arctica Open Air in 2006!

 ( Gig Report Ahead! )

After finally watching Torchwood series 3, I've been left feeling empty. My friends will remember how, almost exactly a year ago, I was always talking about Torchwood and how much I loved it, how much I was waiting for series three, how much I felt I was way too addicted to it. And I didn't care about my addiction, because they come and go. After Torchwood it was Jane Eyre for a while, and then Doctor Who (yes, I watched Torchwood first and Doctor Who after it, but it didn't matter), but that's beside the point. The point is, now that I've seen series three, I wonder was it really worth the waiting.

 ( Why I was disappointed with TW3: trying to sort my thoughts )

...

Damn, it's long. I just needed to get it off my chest. Now I can go to sleep. I don't even want to know what time is it... (And oh, by the way, I know it's just TV series. It just happened to be one I really loved.)

I actually got a summer job, which is wonderful in this situation - many of my friends weren't as lucky as me. The thing is, I have to be at work at 7 a.m. I get up with the sun, yey! At first I thought it would be a nightmare waking up that early, but it isn't - as a matter of fact, I find it easier than to wake up when the school starts at eight. Maybe it's the sun. I've got used to this rhythm of life quite quickly; I'm hungry precisely when we have our coffee or lunch breaks during the day, it's just odd. And a good thing.

 Otherwise, the job is quite fun. I get to be outside all day, I learn all sorts of new plant names everyday, I like gardening, so it's really fun. The weirdest and perhaps the funniest thing as well - I haven't decided yet - are the people I meet. When you're wearing the uniform (lovely bright orange and green, by the way *grimaces*) people just come to talk to you (and folks, this is Finland! You never talk to strangers!). You wouldn't believe the stories I've heard. Really. Especially when some of the people are crazy. Honestly, one woman is very worried about wells. *rolls eyes*

 Oh, and people, please stop throwing away everything you don't need at the moment. Honestly, there are bins where you can put them, and still I find your rubbish on the ground around the bin. Shame on you!

 I think I'll go watch Doctor Who so I can forget about the people whose rubbish I pick up from the flower beds every day.

Bussi menee nenän edestä, en jaksa jäädä odottamaan seuraavaa. Kävelen kotiin tihkusateessa, ilma tuoksuu keväältä; vihreät versot ponnistavat jo mullan alta, vaikka paikoitellen maa on vielä lumen peitossa. Kaupunki ei ole kauneimmillaan tähän aikaan vuodesta: pikkukivikasoja, likaista lunta, värit tuntuvat toistavan joka paikassa vain harmaan eri sävyjä. Lumen alta paljastunut maa on roskien peitossa. Miksemme me välitä, mihin roskamme heitämme? Onko asuinympäristömme tosiaan niin yhdentekevä meille?

 Menin kirjastoon vain palauttamaan kirjoja ja tulin takaisin neljän kanssa. Ikään kuin luettavaa ei jo muutenkin olisi tarpeeksi... Mutta toisaalta, yksikään luettu kirja ei mene hukkaan. Ja minä nyt en voi vastustaa mielenkiintoiselta vaikuttavaa kirjaa millään, jos satun sellaisen kirjastosta löytämään. *hymähdys*

I realised today that there's only a few weeks left before summer holidays begin, and I don't have a summer job. I've sent so many applications I can't even begin to tell, but still - nothing. I have to pay the rent and eat during the summer, too! It's frustrating, I would gladly do almost anything, but nobody will hire me. Well, at least I'm not the only student in here who has problems finding a job...

 For some reason, I'm now more interested in English than I was a month ago or even last autumn. And I mean English as a language - my interest in literature has stayed the same all the time I've studied in uni, and I have to say I prefer Britlit and Amlit to our grammar courses, but I'm more motivated to learn English and learn it well. I don't want to speak the 'broken English' which is the lingua franca of our time: nearly everybody can speak English, but they can't speak it truly well, reach the same level as the native speaker. Of course, the broken English suffices in some situations, but it's not good for the language itself, either. I'm worried, because languages don't interest people anymore - even when there is need for them (for example, there is a great need for Finns who can speak Russian, but most of us just don't want to bother studying it). French, Spanish, German - few children study those languages nowadays. Nearly every child in Finland studies English and then they think it's enough - and of course it is enough for most of them, but those who need to use it in their work don't usually have enough knowledge about the use of language, what is appropriate, what is too informal etc. There's something wrong with people's attitudes toward languages nowadays, they aren't seen to be important anymore, when, in fact, languages are just as important to learn well as it was before - maybe even more important because of globalization and other things.

 Hmm. I didn't intend to ramble so, but it turned out to be quite long. Please bear with me.

 I bought The Collected Novels of the Brontë Sisters yesterday, I can't wait till I have time to read Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall again. Villette was ok but nothing really special, and I haven't yet read The Professor and Agnes Grey. I also have a yearning to read LotR again, it's been too long since the last time. And oh, The Mists of Avalon! I should really re-read it, too. Well, I know what I'll do with my spare time...

Too much going on right now in my life. First of all, there are the Internet problems, hopefully they are in the past now. Otherwise I'll have to make a couple of calls again... Secondly, I'm looking for a summer job and it takes a surprising amount of time. It seems that I have not enough time to do anything else. And well, essays and other homework have to be done, too. All I can say is hail, the winter holiday starts in a week! (Or rather, I start it next Tuesday because one wonderful, wonderful teacher of ours is somewhere else and his lectures are cancelled on Wednesday and Thursday.)

 My plans? Downhill skiing and snowboarding at Ylläs. It will be great, even though it's only for four days instead of a week like last year. Then again, last year it was the last week before the matriculation exams started, and now I don't have that kind of thing waiting till my holiday ends. (As if I studied that hard during the holiday last year, ha.)

 Mmm. Some day I will write a very long update, but not now. Too tired. It seems that I'm always tired these days.

Yay! I bought tickets for Lord of the Rings Symphony on May 2nd! I can't believe it took so long. I've known about the concert for a year or something like that, but why I didn't buy the tickets sooner I have no idea. It should be awesome: Howard Shore's music and Alan Lee's and John Howe's illustrations.

 Last weekend I read Tolkien's The Book of Lost Tales 2, and, well, it seems that my interest in Middle-earth is awaken again.  And as usually, it has a very bad timing - I should write six pages about relative clauses in English language. Which is more interesting, what would you say? Yep, don't I know.

 Yesterday was one of the best days I've had in ages - the sun was shining, Oral Skills class was fun, and Britlit tutorial was as fun as it usually is, we had quite good conversation after the troubles in the beginning (Really, what is it with people! It's not that difficult to start speaking!). And of course it was wonderful to see one of my friends from upper secondary. And the sun was shining, did I mention it? :D It was absolutely stunning outside with the snow (which we have quite a lot, I love it! Maybe I should post some pictures I took earlier...) and the clear blue sky and the half moon visible in the sky.

 And I can't help being excited about our next translation exercise, because it's a film review and it's about FotR. Finally!

Sometimes I feel like I'm only alive at night when I'm dreaming. During the day I'm - well, I don't know. It's not a lie, but is it really me?

newwie should recognise her own text, Susipolku. Translation from Finnish into English mine.

I am writing again. It feels good to be alive; for that is what writing is to me - being alive, breathing freely. And suddenly, suddenly I felt like Morgen and Cerdic were calling me, telling me to write their story, because it needs to be told. My Ghost Love Score story. But I still don't know what to do with the ending...

 I really should go to bed early, because I have an early morning tomorrow, but I know writing will destroy my plans tonight.

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

By Robert Frost.

I was reading this for Amlit II and I just had to write it here, because it made my day. There is no snow on the ground anymore, the rain made sure of that, so this poem was exactly what I needed.

 Why is the ending so familiar? I know I've read that line somewhere before and not in this poem, but I can't remember where. And miles to go before I sleep. Is it from Tolkien's works? Argh, help me, it's driving me crazy!

It's raining. In January. And my family says that it's raining in Oulu, too, so it is not just that I moved too south.

 It should be snowing, it's winter! Oh, what I would give to be in Lapland now! (Not my soul, though. Been reading Doctor Faustus for Britlit.)

I haven't felt like updating for a long time, there was always something better to do. I've spent time with my friends and family, as I should when I'm here in Oulu. Tomorrow I go back to Tampere, uni starts on Monday. I have to admit - it is good to come back for a visit, but I couldn't live here anymore. I've got used to making my own decisions - when to do the laundry or wash the dishes. Here, at some point, someone always starts telling me how I should do something, how I'm doing it all wrong. Argh, parents! (They're wonderful, but sometimes they are so annoying.)

 I can't wait to get back to Tampere! I'll buy a sewing machine soon, so I should go and see what different shops offer. I made a skirt today, I just need two buttons to finish it. Then I'm going to make a medieval dress. And I started another hobby: dipping candles! The first ones weren't perfect, but I'm getting better.

 Clearly, I have spent my creativity on sewing, knitting and dipping candles, since I haven't been writing anything during the holiday. Hmm.

 The day before yesterday I remembered why I loved upper secondary school so much: my friends. One of my friends had moved into her own flat and we all gathered there (except for Melli, who had got new rats on that day and she needed to be with them). I had forgotten how easy it is to talk and laugh and everything with those who one has known for many years. It's comfortable. There is no need to worry about things like 'will they understand what I mean', it's just conversation. One moment we are talking about school and suddenly the subject is 'how painful it is to give birth' (haha, that's why we were all wearing so loose clothes ;)). I love how random it is, how free. There is the healthy kind of insanity in our friendships. I hope that I will have same kind of friendships with my uni friends, too.

 Now my tea is cold, I completely forgot it.

Finally I can relax! It feels like my life has recently been nothing but studying for exams, eating and sleeping. I'm so, so tired. I'm thinking of watching a movie tonight, since I don't have to go to the university tomorrow and I don't want to use my brain. At all.

 It's been snowing all day, but the snow doesn't stay on the ground, it's too warm. Well, on Friday I can leave this southern winter behind me and head to the north. I can't wait.

 I bought two books for Britlit courses, both have over 3000 pages. (Yes, it's correct, over three thousand pages.) It will be a nightmare, carrying those books to uni and back, but I don't even care. When I was reading the contents, I was going "wow, wow, wow". So many good authors, short stories, poems. Beowulf, Arthurian saga, the Canterbury Tales, Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare (well, I wouldn't be a proper English student If I didn't at least mention Shakespeare), and the list could go on forever. Oh, wow. I will love Britlit.

It's so beautiful outside! The first snow came yesterday and it hasn't melted away yet. When I was walking in the woods near where I live, I realized how much I've missed winter. Every autumn I say it's my favourite season and then comes first snow and winter and they change my mind. Oh, winter, there is no better season!

I feel like writing an ode to winter, ha.

Actually, I feel like writing something else. That story of mine (which still hasn't got a proper name!) - thanks for newwie who commented, it was really helpful! - is on my mind all the time. During a lecture today I found I couldn't concentrate, because I was thinking "But what does Morgen do after that" and "Which of the endings I'm thinking of is the right one for the story" and so on. It's in my head, the outlines at least. Well, the text changes a lot from the first version, so I should just write and solve my problems when they hit me in the face.

 I visited an observatory today. Unfortunately, the sky was clouded so we couldn't watch the stars, but it was interesting anyway. I would love to do some stargazing soon.

As my computer has some problems with its memory, I brought a mini laptop from home. I quite like it, I have to say. Of course, it's a bit weird to write with this thing, so all spelling mistakes I might do are because of that.

 Early morning today, because my train leaves at 6.50 and I had to wake up at five o'clock. I slept in the train, but I'm still tired. But I'm so proud of myself because I managed to get Internet to work on this laptop! It took me about two hours, but now I have working Internet connection again! And I did it without any help, I'm so genious! ;)

 Everybody who hasn't read Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock, go and read it now. It's very interesting. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Well, the holiday is over and I'm back to studying. A couple of courses ended, so now I can sleep late on Monday, Thursday and Friday. Yay! But that's the good news, I suppose, because a couple of courses are new and my workload is still the same. I'm so tired! I've been translating a text from Finnish to English all evening...

 A Trojan horse was found on my computer last Friday, it wasn't easy to get rid of. We spent several hours trying to remove it! Nuisance, that's what those things are.

 Lately I've been reading Robin Hobb's The Farseer: Assassin's Quest and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (the latter is for my Amlit course). I'm having difficulties understanding Jim's speech in Huck Finn! I can stand Huck's double negatives, but it's just annoying to try to understand what Jim is saying. Oh, well. At least Assassin's Quest is easy to read in a sense.

Ensimmäiset kaksi tenttiä ohi ja perioditauko alkoi, ei voisi paremmin olla. Loman vietän perheen luona entisessä kotikaupungissani, ainakin tämän alun. En ole vielä päättänyt, milloin palaan Tampereelle.

 Kunnallisvaalit. Juuri selailin puolueiden ja ehdokkaiden sivuja, voisi käydä ennakkoäänestämässä. Mitä luultavimmin olen jo varsinaisena vaalipäivänä Tampereella, mutta silti tuntuu mukavammalta ajatukselta äänestää ennakkoon. Nukkuvien puolueeseen liittymistä en ole edes harkinnut, äänestäminen ei ole iso vaiva ja sitä paitsi, mitä muutosta voi odottaa koskaan tapahtuvaksi, jos ei edes yritä vaikuttaa, tehdä muutoksesta mahdollista?

 Paljon lukemista, ihanaa. Kalligrafiakin kiinnostaa, pienoisen tauon jälkeen on taas mukava päästä kirjoittamaan kauniilla käsialalla ja oikealla musteella.

Yay for Ahtisaari's Nobel Peace Prize! He has done a remarkable job and I think he deserved this.

 I need chocolate, I just don't have any. Shame.

Weekend in Oulu was fun! At the same time was held the Irish festival of Oulu. Luckily I was able to see a wonderful Irish band called Gráda performing and hear Irish storytelling. It was amazing, you really don't meet that many people who can tell a story interestingly nowadays. Well, at least not in Finland. Maybe in Ireland it's a whole another story... It was simply stunning how the storyteller could use his voice to create certain atmospheres in the room.

 I got to meet my friends, too. We had so much fun. I'm so happy that it won't be this long before I see them the next time.

 I love Metso even more than I did before! Guess what I found there? "Teach yourself Irish - A complete course for beginners". Oh. Oh. Wow. Yes, I had to borrow it. Folks, I'm going to learn Irish! And in Metso there was similar courses for Gaelic, Welsh and other Celtic languages! I'm officially in love with Metso. I thought that Oulu city library was good - and well, it isn't bad, it's just that Metso is so much better. I love living in this city.

 Oh, and Vohvelikahvila! Delicious waffles and maybe the best hot chocolate I've ever had. Yum.