St. Petersburg

Been at the airport 8h now and will be the next 16h as well. Have to spend the night on a six star sofa! Tomorrow morning at 9:30 I'm flying to Paris where i have to wait another 8h or so. From Paris the final destination will be to Beijing but the flight is probably gonna take like 11h or 12h. But new New Year is destroyed, when the year 2010 changes i'll be airborne somewhere over Siberia.

This is seriously the worse new year i ever had! Hope they serve a lot of vodka on the plane from St. Petersburg to Paris!

I'm so so pisst of with Rossiya Russion Airlines, I'm NEVER flying with a Russian company again! Regret so much that i took the cheapest tickets...

Farewell Finland, Welcome Russia

One of my best X-Mases ever spent in Finland this year! It was really nice to be home and feel the X-Mas spirits of home...Now the bad news:

This morning i woke up just before 6 and got a ride to the Helsinki airport. It was sooo packed with people and the queue was around 100m. But the staff there was really efficient and I only waited for about 20 minutes before the check-in. I had a transfer flight to St. Petersburg from Helsinki. When arriving to St. Petersburg the transfer desk was empty, once every hour there is somebody coming to sit at it for 5 minutes and then leaves. This airport is really ridiculous except for the free WiFi..!

Now I'm sitting in St. Petersburg and there is no flight to Beijing from here, i dunno what's gonna happened next. They told me to wait 15 minutes but now it's been 30min and nothing had happened yet :P Let's see if i can get home!

Well at least i had a great bacon burger at TGI:s!

Estonia

9 a'clock sitting in the bar of Eckerö Line with my best buddies sipping wine. This is a day cruise to Estonia! On the boat cosmetics and booze are much cheaper than in Helsinki so we did shopping for around 400 euros...

Tallinn's streets were covered with snow!. I've never been to that place in the winter and was really surprised how beautiful it was. Sun was shining, sky was clear blue and we were all pretty tipsy by 1 a'clock in the afternoon :)

The boat only stayed in Estonian shore for 2,5h so after walking around in the town for a while and drinking a glass of Glög in a castle dungeon we had to RUN back to the boat. We arrived 10 minutes before the boat departed which was a very close call because they actually stopped to check in 15 min before the departure. We were lucky not to be left on the shore :) Thanks for a great cruise to all of you!

Picasso

Picasso had an exhibition in Helsinki Ateneum Museum which had proven to be very successful and they extended it with a month so I was able to go and see it. It was forbidden to take and pictures inside the museum, däng. The museum also had all of Finland's most famous paintings like Schfenbeck, Gallen-Kallela, Wright brothers and many more. If you have time you better go see it, it's on until 281.1.2010!

This year I've seen the worlds most known painters work like Rubens, Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Munch, Picasso, Monet, Rembrandt etc etc. I could almost call myself Cultivated by now! :)

Aleksanterinkatu - The Christmas Street

The main shopping street in Helsinki is always Christmas decorated every year. I went for a walk in the morning and the whole town was totally DEAD! The only 6 people that passed me in the street were tourist from Spain and Japan...I even left the car in the middle of Mansku, never seen Helsinki so empty. The sea is almost frozen, winter came early this year!

When it's Christmas there is always the traditional Christmas food for a few days. Yesterday i went to my godfathers place to have a dinner. My cousins got a small puppy for Christmas present, really cute :)

There has been a smaller snowstorm last night and today morning was all about shoveling the back yard of snow. It's so great to be home eating good food, I guess I've already gained 5kg from this week in Finland ：）

Merry X-Mas everybody!

I only been one Christmas away from home back in 2007 when i was with Niko spending it with some Danish people in Shanghai.

Some Finnish traditions in my family on the 24th of December:

1. Morning Christmas Sauna around 10 a'clock

2. Eating Christmas porridge for lunch

3. Decorating the Christmas-tree

4. Taking candles to the cemetery

5. Huge dinner with Ham, Fish, Drinks, songs etc etc

6. Opening the presents in the evening

7. More drinking

We had the biggest Christmas party so far at my parents place this year. The closest relatives and grandparents all together enjoying traditional Christmas with huge amounts of food and drinks. We had a little trouble in how to get 17 people seated by the table at the same time but luckily i have a handy dad who extended the table 2m so that we could fit all chairs.

Food was great, thank you all for the lovely presents！

Back in Finland!

Last night around 1 a'clock i arrived at Helsinki. After a 16h trip the first thing i did home was drink some real champagne and take a hot 90 degree sauna!

Check out the tooth pick package from Air China! The seats were so small that i could not even fit my laptop on the table. Don't use Air China if you don't want to feel like a sardine....

Sweet, it's great to be home, tomorrow Christmas so now it's time to decorate the house with Christmas stuff!

Working Visa

Working Visa

In order for me to start working at Nokia Siemens i was suppose to receive a form where i could apply for the working Visa in Beijing. It took a pretty long time for Nokia to send it to me but i got it yesterday (should have arrived last week). It was fairly simple like you can see from below…

The problem now is can i make it in time? The application needs 5 working days in China to be processed and then sent to Finland by express mail. Today is 22.12 and 5 working days after this is 29.12. The 30.12 I'm leaving back to China so it will be kinda tricky if i can get it…I need to apply for the working visa in Finland because when you want to work in China the only way you can get a working visa is to apply for it abroad or from Hong Kong, which is kinda storage. Once my papers arrives to the Chinese embassy in Finland it will only take 2 hours for me to get it,so that's not a problem.

Think if the only way to get a working Visa to Finland would be in another country, i wonder why it's like that? Surely it can't be to preserve the nature and make people using less airplanes. TIC, good old TIC!

外 国 人 就 业 申 请 表

Application Form for Foreigner’s Employment in China

中文名：林赛博 Name in Chinese： Lin Sai Bo	外文名（大写）： Name in English(Capitalized)：	性别：男 Sex：Male
国籍：芬兰 Nationality：Finnish	出生地：赫尔辛基 Place of birth:Helsinki	出生日期： 1984 年 03 月 11 日 Date of birth： 1984 YY 03 MM 11 DD
护照号码： Passport No.:	文化程度：教育学士 Education: BSc	婚姻状况：单身 Marital status：single
受聘职务： Position：Logistic Coordinator	组织机构(企业)代码： Enterprise organization code：
用人单位全称： Full name of employer：Nokia Siemens Networks	办公地邮编： Zip Code：
单位办公地址： Business address：	办公地所属区(县): District:
营业执照（或注册证、登记证）有效期限至： 年 月 日 Validity of Business License (Registration Certificate): YY MM DD
用人单位联系人姓名： Contact of Company：	用人单位联系人手机： Cell phone of contact：
用人单位联系电话： Company Tel.：	用人单位传真号码： Fax Number of company:
申请人承诺如实向行政机关提交有关材料和反映真实情况，并对申请材料实质内容的真实性负责。 The applicant hereby declares that all the documents and information submitted to the authority are true, and shall be responsible to the authenticity of the documentation. (用人单位公章) (Seal of Employer) 申请日期： 年 月 日 Date of Application: YY MM DD	审批机关： Approved by： (公章) (Seal) 年 月 日 YY MM DD
就业许可证号码： Employment License No.：	有效期限至： 年 月 日 Validity： YY MM DD
说明： 本表用钢笔中文填写或打印。 外文名按护照填写。 表中“审批机关”、“就业许可证号码”、“有效期限至”三栏，由审批机关填写，申办单位不要填写。 4、本表不能复印。	Further explanations： This form should be filled in Chinese. Using a fountain pen or printer to complete the form. English name should be filled as it appears in passport. 3、The grids of `Approved by`, ` Validity ` and `Employment License No.` can only be filled by the approval Organization. 4、 This form could not be photocopied.

A cold and dry weekend

Weekends are as usually spent at teaching english, this weekend without exception. There was a really strange new teacher who showed up. He is black but has totally white hair, my guess is that he's some kind of Indian because he's accent. He told everybody here that he is American, hmm, i really doubt that!

It's COLD and really windy here, but no snow. The air is so so dry here, i bought some hand moisturizer and the English on the hand-cream tube was really interesting, one of those Chinglish signs again :)

Tomorrow James is going back home to England so i guess there will be some kind of goodbye party for that...

Police show and an empty Tian an men

There is a police show on national TV for all the policemen in China every year. The show is played in THE GREAT HALL OF THE PEOPLE just next to Tian an men square. All the most powerful and highest policemen attend this show, and of course Seba as well, security was TIGHT!! You have no idea how the people there were staring at me. What the ***** is that foreigner doing HERE?? The show was great and Jackie Chan entered the show in the end and sang a few songs! Now I've seen Jackie Chan live, how great is that!

I was also strolling around on the Tian an men in the night. The Square is off limits from the public after 6pm and it's full of guards and soldiers. They were also looking at me like "What the...." We even parked the car at the square in the evening which is something very very rare. Pictures!

It's -10 degrees here and windy everyday which just make the whole weather thing even worse...

My class B5 北京语言大学

I almost forgot to mention about the people i study with！
We got people from all over the world, they represent the following countries:
Canada, 1,
Germany 1,
South Korea 7,
Thailand 2,
Indonesia 3,
Philippines 2,
France 1,
Morocco 1,
Russia 1
and last but not least, Finland 1.

In the school there is another finnish guy but i never met him, i just saw his name on the board when we had the placement test, China does not seem to be very popular back home :P

A few weeks ago we had a huge class dinner to get to know each other better, here's the picture of almost everyone. Some are missing but this it's hard to get everybody in 1 place at the same time.
Lately less and less people show up for class. Yesterday there was only 6 people present. One reason might be monday, the other the cold! It's already a few minus degrees here, probably colder than Finland!

I can't afford to skip any classes anymore, i have around 40 hours of absence because i was sick for a few times and then on some trips. And soon i will come to Finland and then start working and miss 1 month of classes...Well i hope they still want to give me my diploma for this semester! 100 hours absent = NO diploma.

San lin tun 三里屯

This weekend was pretty much work and going out. On Saturday Tom had his goodbye party in Sanlitun. I hope you had a safe flight home buddy, welcome back to Beijing in February!
We went to a bar called The Tree Under which was in a very random dark alley. If you don't know it's there, you will not find it either. The beers and drinks were really cheap, all night beer for 1 euro a pint. We played some drinking games but i couldn't stay that late out because of work next morning at 9. By not that late i mean around 3am in the morning, next day i was pretty tired! Before going home i had to take some junk-food from this guys cart. Can choose all kinds of chicken and fries, probably half poisonous but it was good! Also have a lot of English books because the place is filled with foreigners who go out drinking. Could never tell your in China when walking around Sanlitun...

After work there was a birthday and i met a famous chinese movie director who was a really cool guy. He has done movies that the chinese government has banned. After the first banned movie he's movie company was forbidden to make a movie for the next 2 years. He fixed this problem by only writing the script and founding it with his friends company. The next movie was also banned :D
Banned movies in China means that they are not allowed in the cinemas but you can buy the DVDs in the street. I have to go and find one of his flicks and check it out.

Partying and writing

Yesterday i had a party to celebrate my new job! We went to a place called Helens in Wudaokou. About 20 people came and it was awesome! Helens have Whiskey buckets for 25 kuai and i ordered so many that they ran out of buckets! Thank you ALL for coming, this was one of the best nights out at Beijing! I specially want to thank James and Tom for the great speeches, warms my heart!!

We have a writing competition at school at the moment, i just finished my story, for those of you who can read chinese, here we go! Last semester i won the competition and i intend to do so again! :)

我的“宫爆鸡丁”生活

宫保鸡丁是我最爱的中国菜。这道传统中国菜肴由四个主要部分组成：鸡丁，花生，葱和酱。每一部分都不能缺少，他们共同组成了“宫保鸡丁”这道美食。
而这就像我在中国的生活。我像热爱宫保鸡丁一样热爱它。

鸡丁－学校生活

2009年一月份，我开始了在北京的生活。那时候我不能读不能写，更不用提说汉语了！于是，2月17号，我开始了在北京语言大学的中文学习。 我所在的A9班有16个同学，我是唯一的芬兰人。虽然我现在住得离学校很远，但我每天都很早起床去上学。因为我喜欢汉语，我真的想好好学习它。在上学的同时，我也在一个中国语言学校当英文老师，学生们都是大约6岁左右的中国小孩子。我太喜欢这些可爱的孩子们了！他们有的根本不能说英语，有的却能说得很好。我记得一个小男孩觉得我的名字mikael听起来像“馒头”，于是他就教我“馒头”老师，非常淘气。

花生－我的爱好

我爱好旅行，读书，健身还有和朋友聚会。在中国，我已经去过南京，上海，海南，杭州还有地震以后的四川。南京的中山陵很雄伟，上海有壮观的摩天大楼，海南的沙滩很舒服，杭州的西湖很漂亮，四川的食物很辣。每个月我都会读一本书。我可以读瑞典语，芬兰语和英语的书。但是以后我希望能够读懂汉语书。因为那真是太酷了！另外，因为我太喜欢吃宫爆鸡丁了，来中国以后我长胖了很多很多。所以我应该经常去健身。

葱－国庆节游行

中国国庆节的游行让我感到十分震撼！我在家里看电视转播的时候，中国空军的飞机正好从我家楼上飞过，那个画面太壮观了！好笑的是，我在看转播的同时在网上订了圣诞节时回芬兰的飞机票。但是因为游行太好看，我一不小心订错了飞机票的时间。现在我只能再买一次对的机票了。我觉得我很笨，浪费了很多钱，而且非常麻烦。哎！

酱－中国人

就像宫爆鸡丁需要酱来调味一样，我的生活也与中国人息息相关。每一天，我都会遇见不同的中国人。有时候我在逛街时，常常有好奇的中国人走过来和我说话。他们都很客气和热情。生活中我最常见面的中国人是我的朋友。他的家人对我非常好，和他们说话锻炼了我的中文对话能力。但是，我不喜欢中国人插队的习惯。当我看见有人插队时，我会直接告诉他们不要这么做。他们害怕我，就不会插队了。我觉得非常有意思。

Got a job in Beijing!

This is one of my best days here in China!
I got a confirmation mail about the job in Beijing! I'm gonna start working for Nokia Siemens Networks as a Logistic Coordinator starting from the 4th of January next year! I'm really looking forward for this job! Finally a jooooooob!

My school final exams are in the end of January but i don't think i will be able to do them, not that i care either. As long as i don't have more than 100 hours of absence i will still receive the certificate from BLCU.

On wednesday it's time for PARTY!

There is a building under construction just opposite our apartment and the workers in the building have no safety equipment, hope they don't fall down...

The wedding 2 weeks ago

I got hold of the Sichuan wedding pictures today! And here they are, from the Shangri-La in Chengdu!

Seban Kiina "niksit ja kiksit"

Now when i "mastered" chinese i want to teach you some very useful phrases:

- Electric brain = Computer (dian nao 电脑)
- Electric staris = Elevator (dian ti 电梯)
- Walk slow = Take care of yourself (man zou 慢走） This expression is always used when you leave a store or restaurant
- China = Central kingdom (zhong guo 中国)
- Sour milk = Yoghurt (suan nai 酸奶)
- White booze = Chinese vodka (bai jiu 白酒)
- Heavy want = Important (zhong yao 重要）
- Red tea = Black tea (hong cha 红茶）

And my personal favorite! The ABC when you are buying furniture

ATTRACTIVE! BEAUTIFUL! CLEAN!

Movie Quiz Night

Free day from work today!
Been doing some Christmas shopping and strolling around in a new clothes center. The people who have been here (in Beijing) knows Wudaokou clothes market, this place is 3 blocks from the original Wudaokou market and much bigger. Stuff is cheap here and there are NO tourist, not like that horrible Silk Market where i hate to go shopping. Again i witnessed some amazing China on the way to these places: First, the truck carrying some kind of wood (Niko check out them Logistics!) Second, huge MAO statue outside a university!

Had some Korean BBQ food today, wish they had this back home! They have a pot full of glowing coal and a fan by every table. You order some meat and put it on the grill. The restaurant provides you with all kinds of vegetable and extra things for the meat. They have huge salad leaves where you put the meat in and also fold other green things like garlic, peppers, kimichi etc. It's like having a Taco but the shell is salad :)

Every Wednesday night from 20--> there is a Pub Night Quiz at Lush. This was the first time i went there and it was packed with people! There are 50 questions with various topics and the winner will get a Jack And Daniels Whiskey bottle. Second and third price are smaller drinks and beer. My team didn't win this time but maybe next time, it still was a lot of fun!