maanantai 9. joulukuuta 2013

from December 2012

Sadepisaroita ikkunalaseissa,
kahvitahroja pöydällä,
silmäpussit todistavat; uni on hukassa,
helteinen jouluaatto,
pakkasta keskikesällä,
istun keskellä risteystä,
mutta autot eivät osu minuun,
rytmit muuttuvat,
minun kuplassani aika hidastuu,
mutta autot ajavat kovempaa,
kontrastit kasvavat,
värit erottuvat harmaasta massasta,
meteli voimistuu,
mutten kuule sitä,
tänään sulautuisin taustaan,
ja olisin onnellinen hiljaisuudessa

sunnuntai 1. joulukuuta 2013

Countries visited. Hopefully there'll be many more to come :)



maanantai 18. marraskuuta 2013

Somewhere where it's warm

So, change of plans, and a great one. I am heading to Singapore next fall, to the country, where the record lowest temperature is plus 19 Celsius degrees. It's going to be so much better than this Finnish November, cold and dark. Novembers in Finland are just so not for me. I want the heat, the sunshine.

Four more weeks and I'll fly off to Spain for Christmas and then the next trip is probably going to be the one to Singapore. But at least I know I won't have to watch another miserable, dark and cold November pass by as I doze off to sleepy, depressing winter.

But now, I am counting days, first to Spain, then to summer and then to Singapore. So sunshine, I won't have to let you go again once I get you back!

maanantai 28. lokakuuta 2013

Three wishes from a time machine

A friend of mine asked me a question the other day and that question stuck in my mind.

If you could go back in time to go and see three events or moments in the world history, where would you go? Let's assume you couldn't change anything, you could just tag along for the ride as a spectator.

I started thinking whether I should pick Cortés, Magalhães, Columbus, Marco Polo or some other adventurer from the past to join to their wonderful journey. Or should I go and see the big decision makers of the history? Could I learn more from visiting Alexander the Great, or the Mayas in the Yucatán?

Where would you go and why? What are the places, events or moments that would intrigue you? Who are the people you would want to see?

Lapland

http://www.lappikuva.fi/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/saana-kilpisjarvi-lappi.jpg
picture from: http://www.lappikuva.fi/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/saana-kilpisjarvi-lappi.jpg
















It has been too long since I have been there. With the flu draining most of my energy and the stress of having to progress piling up, I find myself wondering to the spacious fresh air of Lapland in my mind. I miss that peace Lapland has. I've always felt like time doesn't exist in Lapland. There is the dark and the light, but they don't follow daily rhythm like elsewhere. There is just the nature, the unpredictable, cruel and beautiful nature and none of that knows nor cares about time. Being there, in the midst of the Lappish mountains, I gain perspective. I am so very small and I have so little say in what happens. A storm might hit the hardest at the most inconvenient moment, but what is that in the harsh but beautiful wilderness of Lapland?

tiistai 2. heinäkuuta 2013

A year from now

I look forward to the next trip. I always have a next trip to look forward to. This time I have several. It's not unusual at all. I love traveling. This time I have four countries in my sight and hopefully in a year they're all reality. This blog is some kind of a continuum to the first public blog I had; the Day After - a story of an exchange student. I've been blogging since 2008, but this blog hasn't happened yet, and right now it feels like it's been on its way for a while now, so I might as well start it already.

Why Despues del Día? I'm hoping to learn Spanish like I learned English, and the name is only appropriately named after my first blog that told about my encounters with another culture. This time the blog will discuss cultures and traveling in a different way. After all, I am not seventeen anymore. I still have to figure out what this blog is really for, but I have a feeling that this would be an outlet for my need to fly and run. I want to dream and I want to travel. I want to meet people and learn from them. So here we go.

My quartet for the next year looks something like this:
1. Spain: The Canary Islands
     I know, a tourist destination, but I will visit my mother there, since she is moving there.
2. Iceland
     A destination I cannot wait to see, and I am happy I finally have a good reason to go there.
3. the USA
     I miss my other home and I cannot wait to go back there for a visit.
4. Mexico
     This one is still kind of open, I hope I'll be accepted to go there to finish my degree. It would be an adventure of a lifetime. And I do like those ones. And after that I might be able to add Spanish to the list of languages I can speak, for now it is pathetically short a list.

These are the trips I am hoping to go on during the coming year. Obviously there might be more trips coming, if my financial situation allows so. Or maybe even if it doesn't.