April 13, 2006
Its over..?!?!
So thats it lah. We're gone. Right now we're sitting in Sidney airport on the way to Kiwiland. Yeah!!!
Its probably pretty hopeless to expect that many people would visit us in Finland, but if yes, we'll show what Finnish/Lithuanian hospitality means! :) And if you're reading this blog, it probably means that you are our friend and it also means that you're welcome to come for a visit! I'm thinking now to take the blog off the password protected zone, as there's no more colleagues, bosses and students in Leijonakaupunki, they turned to be just friends overnight! :)
I can't believe that actually the whole Leijonakaupunki thing is over now.
I've been working till almost the last day, packing till the last minute, rushing through the apartment handover, squeezing the last lunch with friends and colleagues and last minute shopping. Everything in the same day.
This is all our earthly possessions that we've acquired during 1.5 years in Leijonakaupunki. Fortunately we didn't have to do that ourselves this time. And so far, I think, we haven't really shipped away too much of important stuff (when I was packing in Finland before coming to Leijonakaupunki, I packed away my Master's papers. How stupid one has to be?!?!)
Some more last minute pics from Leijonakaupunki.. It feels very surreal that its over and that we'll be having just fun and no definite plans or responsibilities for so many weeks. Great! Its about time!
I felt very flattered by the many farewell emails that I have received and at times almost brought to tears when saying all those many "good-byes" - its quite amazing, how many good people we've met here and how fast we managed to establish strong bonds, as colleagues and friends.. Well, we'll drop by on the way to Finland again and then we can have some more of those countless lunches.. :)
With colleagues..
With Giulianos.. Look at Luca - he's growing up to be a true Leijonakaupungilainen - sporting a bluetooth phone receiver! You should see how many cyborg-looking people there are! Yleensa noita korvakasvaimia nakyy ylipainoisilla miehilla jotka ilmeisesti ovat sita mielta etta ne ovat todella kool. Nayttaa tyhmalta! Mutta en voi kirjoita englanniksi, koska mun tyokaverit myos niita kayttaa! Hullua! Labai kvailai atrodo, jei manes norite paklausti, bet negaliu rasyt angliskai, nes kai kurie mano kolegos irgi juos naudoja! Siaubinga! Joanne, don't kill Giuliano, the bluetooth wasn't on!
With Yong...
And with Lynette and Shirlyn, no photos though...
And some more pictures - we had the diploma show almost 2 weeks ago, the headless students in the picture won't be bothering our lecturers anymore, they're officially "adults" (not adult enough to watch R21 movies though.. :) and kicked out to the real world that for most guys means 2 years of National Service...
And this is already in NZ, we've spent 2 days in Christchurch and I was really very culturally shocked first! Its so empty! So few people! The place looks dead! It actually reminds Finland a lot, especially Rovaniemi. The streets are wide, the modern architecture is horrible (some beautiful wooden villas still left), people look very pale, nobody cares about style as long as it is comfortable (haven't seen such a concentration of worn out fleeces anywhere else in the world!!). After Leijonakaupunki with its LV shops on every corner and countless style conscious tai tais (good looking ladies that married money and can shop throughout days), this is especially shocking!
Food is excellent here, and not too expensive, especially this corner souvlaki shop where we had falafel lunch 2 days in a row.. How adventurous! :)
And some excellent shopping done to merge with the crowd better! Well, these rainclothes may come handy once we go to more rural areas and try to start walking. So far, Christchurch feels even less cultured than many US towns with their drive-in cafes and worn down city centre. Lets see how it will go tomorrow, we're leaving the city and heading towards the coast. Back to Nature!