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 [...]

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 [...]

Exams Suomalaisittain

Posted on February 22, 2010 | by Markus Stocker

A note regarding the title. Suomi; Suomalainen; Suomalaisittain. The first one is easy, just point to Finland on a map. The second one is like in Suomalainen kielen, i.e. Finnish language. Now, the third one is where the fun begins. Suomalaisittain is the distributive adverbial case, one of 12 adverbial cases that exist in addition [...]

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 [...]

A Curious Detail

Posted on October 1, 2009 | by Markus Stocker

Recently, I discovered a curious little detail about Finnish grading that seems to be true at least for the university at which I’m currently a student. The grading scale goes from 0 through 5 (best), integers only. Up to here, not a lot different to the Swiss system which goes from 1 through 6 (best) [...]

Listen, Leaders Are Talking

Posted on September 26, 2009 | by Markus Stocker

What an interesting day. Listen, world, listen: The World Leaders have expressed their opinions. Please, applaud, A New World Order has emerged. On one occasion, three leaders stand on a podium, with serious faces, wearing each an anthracite-black suit, tie and almost certainly well polished black shoes — hopefully without white socks. They accuse Iran [...]

 

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