Twitter Is Not The World

Posted on July 1, 2010 | by Markus Stocker

Sunday I was back from three days without computer and any type of connectivity. Unusual circumstances, nowadays. I spent the days in a Finnish summer cottage that is built on top of a little rocky hill with a fabulous view on the Baltic sea located a good 30 minutes drive from the closest town where [...]

Kiitos

Posted on June 15, 2010 | by Markus Stocker

The single most important reason why I consider living abroad interesting is because living and working abroad is more, at least to me. It is even more the more intimate your relationships with locals grow. It is when being for a few days among a dozen people who share a language you don’t isn’t an [...]

7:8

Posted on May 29, 2010 | by Markus Stocker

The semester ended with a seminar presentation, one out of ten this academic year. The meanwhile classic introduction-materials-methods-results-discussion-conclusions presentation template today had an additional final slide. It said, 7:8. I asked the class if anyone could guess what it represents, adding the hint that it is not a C:N ratio. After a few seconds, one [...]

Winter Suomalaisittain

Posted on March 28, 2010 | by Markus Stocker

What is that falling from the skies? Wait a moment, water? Markus, where have you been lately? Don’t you remember what rain looks and feels like? In four months only snowflakes had been falling from the skies; coming back to a wet umbrella seeking season feels, indeed, like if I had been an actor in [...]

To Relocate. Or Not.

Posted on March 15, 2010 | by Markus Stocker

When I first entered my room with private bathroom after moving to Finland — and first saw what had been quietly enduring my repeatedly delayed departure — I thought, “OK, but as soon as I get a chance I’ll move out again.” The room wasn’t, and still isn’t, exactly welcoming. A cheap student flat but, [...]

Blood Donation Suomalaisittain

Posted on March 6, 2010 | by Markus Stocker

(For a note regarding the title, please see previous post.) I think, it was September 2009 when I first asked a colleague for information regarding blood donation in Finland. He wasn’t familiar with the details but he gave the first hint: the address of the local Red Cross Finland Blood Service. After I first visited the [...]

Is There Anybody Out There?

Posted on March 2, 2010 | by Markus Stocker

A step ahead the threshold, a hand afar the frame, the door behind you slowly turns to rest, appearing weak and tired of withholding the chill. I sneak past like a ghost not caring for its lament. Your pace is slow, emphatic on the door’s weariness. I get ahead of you when, suddenly, a gleam [...]

Ihanaa Ystävänpäivää

Posted on February 14, 2010 | by Markus Stocker

In our modern world of the news running fast and the hip spreading wide it is sometimes easy to forget that what we think to be the accepted standard is a belief that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I think, I’m probably correct in stating that most people I know across countries and continents [...]

Äiti!

Posted on December 15, 2009 | by Markus Stocker

Slowly, I walk down the grocery store’s aisle. A few frost proofed layers are laced up when, some steps away, a little girl points over her left shoulder calling for — Äiti! — and smiling back at her mother. The exclamation felt to me as if it was my very own first time calling for mother and instantly [...]

The Warmth Of Flames

Posted on October 11, 2009 | by Markus Stocker

The air is chilly. The handle of the thick hardwood door cold. Halfway open, the indoor warmth of a few dozen people and flickering flames begins to melt the ice crystals of my exhale. The romantic light blends with the golden ornaments. The people standing, facing East, seem to blend with the walls of the [...]

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