Oh la la

Greetings from snowy Vantaa :)

Snow and it's attributes:

1. Cold
2. Is pretty when there is light rain of it coming down and it shimmers
3. Makes places luminous, reflects light
4. Can blind you if large bits of it fly into your eye
5. Can freeze your face of simply bitchslap you with a freezing cold wind
6. Can create massive obstacles when large amounts of it pile up so your life is harder as it takes you twice the time to get to places(20 cm = not good)
7. You can go sledding
8. You can make snowmen
9. It makes winter feel like winter
10. When melts becomes a shitty pile of wet, dirty snow that is the most frustrating thing in the entire world
11. Snowball fights
12. Skiing

aaand there's more if you can think of them :)

So many things to look forward to in February, birthdays, sweet 16, new term = chilling in school, a week long winter vacation, and my adorable french exchange is coming!

I'm super excited for the Lyon-exchange that we have in our school. Shortly put, the french students come here at the end of February for a week and we go there at the end of April for a week. I love new people and France, so this will be such a fun experience: new friends, practicing my french skills, showing people that Finland CAN be fun, going to Lyon which means SHOOOPPIING, french pastries, and warm weather <3 Though my french vocabulary is limited to food and such, I'm pretty sure it'll be awesome :D

Gonna go try out a peach upside-down cake now. Let's see how that turns out. :)

Win or lose

Racers, get ready. On your mark, get set, go!

Competition: it drives this world, really. You can't look anywhere without seeing competition in one way or another. School; where students compete for better grades, work; where workers try to get promotions by doing better, stores; where they try to get people to buy their products over others, games; monopoly, racing, and such. It might be subdued and hidden at times, but it's there, you just can't always see it.

It can get frustrating at times, competition, but there are good and bad sides to it. People usually think of it as either a win or lose situation, and nobody wants to be a loser, everyone wants to be the best. We feel bad when we lose, because we imagine then that we are not as good, or that you're being put down for your abilities. Also it arouses jealousy, since the other person got something we would have wanted. If your friend who's sitting next to you in biology class and gets a 10 on her lab report and you got a 9, at times you might find a little prickly feeling in your chest of envy or jealousy, though you might also be very happy for their success. Entrance exams are also the perfect example; they're dreaded due to the fact that you never know if you can make it. You'll have to fight many others to achieve your goal. These can be categorized as the negative aspects or competition, but I find that there are positive sides to it too!

Competition is used as drive and motivation for many; when they challenge themselves against others or just simply yourself, you find that you want to do better every time, no negative feelings necessary. You want to do your best, just for the sake of improving your own skills. You can say "Look, she's worked hard and is doing well, I'm happy for her. I'll try my best too!" It's going to push you, so then you can call it healthy competition.

Remember, YOU ARE YOUR OWN WORST CRITIC, so when you learn to accept loss or the fact that things won't always be perfect, you'll find yourself much happier. (hmm, there's a topic for another blogpost :D ) When I suck at something or I lose, I tend to laugh at my mistakes and learn from them, being a sore loser never helps. Who cares if your Yoshi flies off a cliff during Mario Kart or if you can do mental math as fast as your neighbor, just be the best that you can be.

When it comes to competition, just do it; but not for others, for you :) If you feel good, that's enough to make you a winner.

Bring it on!

I've been dead from blogging during the vacation, the lazy bug bit me. Pardon for that. Also I've adapted to being a couch potato, so all I've done is sleep and eat........and sleep some more.....and eat some more....and spent time with superb people. That sounds just about right.

Productivity level = 0, zilch, nada, none, zero, nolla

School is now back on track, and the hardest thing was getting up before noon due to my messed up sleeping schedule during the vacation. All I could think of was "I'm royally fucked, this ain't gonna work out." I managed though, and in a way it's worth it, I get to see all the wonderful people again (screw the work, it's part of the deal anyway, can't run away from it :D )

gotta get my game face on and focus this year

Also we finally have snow! (pictures courtesy of iPhone camera)
Everything is so white and luminous, bright lights are everywhere due to the snow reflecting it! :) The weather is undoubtedly chilly, but I prefer it this way, actually FEELS like winter now.

snow angles :)

Playing monopoly, my team owned it. All ours baby <3

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the corner of death. My team owned Scandinavia and some of eastern europe, and we planted houses like crazy. In the end, stepping there meant bankruptcy for that person and money for us. Also I stepped on Finland more than once; it's gotta be fate ;)

here's something for you to think about ;)

2011: living the dream

Tick tock tick tock
Time's almost up: we're at the end of 2011

Wow, this year has zoomed past. No seriously, so so fast. I can still remember last year's new years so vividly, every moment of it. and yet here we are, another year has passed. Omg.

This year has held so much for me, bursting with memories and experiences that I'm grateful for. The first half of the year was excruciating, since I had to work thrice the time than others, due to being behind in chemistry and physics (they didn't teach me those during my middle school years in China) and my Finnish grammar being crap due to not having written in in over two years. Extra essays, a huge Finnish project, exams, projects, homework, essays, the most supportive friends and BOOM: there went my 9th grade. I had slaved to get the best grades that I could, so I could achieve my goal of getting into an IB-school, my Finnish making the national side high schools a bit of a struggle. The entrance exams in April for the two schools I had aimed for went pretty well, the closer high school's exam being quite easy and more chill than the other one. I did my best though and it payed off, since on June 16th when the results came in, I had made it the my first choice high school. The joy can't be described with words: I just screamed and probably destroyed the eardrums of anyone near me.

The summer was amazing, I spent a lot of time with my friends, visited my cousins in London (I do pretty often since they're very close to me), spent time at people's cottages and had my first summer job. It was the best.

Another highlight of the year is the Hurts concert in Helsinki, 15.10.2011. It was part of their last tour, the Happiness tour and again I nearly died of joy when I found out they were coming SO CLOSE THAT I COULD GO instead of Ruisrock Festival which was too far and the earlier gigs being k-18.
I fucking love that band. I'm honestly addicted and in love.
The concert was FANTASTIC, AMAZING, so much joy, passion, love, inspiration, beauty, emotion and everything <3 It was the best night of my life, I had great company and if not for a small issue with my tickets, I could've gotten third row or something. But I still got pretty darn close and I swear Theo Hutchcraft made eye contact <3 I got so emotional and happy, they sound fucking good live. I mean seriously, so goddamn good. I even caught the flag that Theo had on stage during the last song and thew into the crowd, brough a slice of it home <3

Theo Hutchcraft asdkfjasghöaskghaskjg <3

ADAM ANDERSON <3

Evelyn killed it; Adam's guitar solo was love.

we are all illuminated, lights are shining on our faces, blinding <3

The best part of 2011 though is my new class and the amazing, wonderful people I can now call my friends. My class is open, fun, conversational, and we all care for each other. I could talk to any of them, and I'd have a good time. The people in Ressu are just....... :) I've met people that I want to be friends with until I grow old, and I just want to say thank you for all the good times we've had <3

Also my best friends who've stick with me through everything; I love you idiots <3
Damn this got cheesy. Well, too bad.

wehearit

Check this out with a mirror ;)

princess of china

I could have been a princess, you'd be a king
Could have had a castle, and worn a ring
But no, you let me go

Since I've been addicted to Princess of China, now I'm coveting Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto album. Birthday wish? Perhaps. Really though, the song is making me abuse the replay button. So damn good.

The Recipe to (my) perfect holiday:

- Lotsa sleep, the more the better. Pay off those sleep debts you've had from school and such! (I've been very good, most of my debts are gone now)
- A handful of your favorite foods, indulge, just go for it, ENJOY
- The best company
- Laughter (you'll live longer too)
- Hugs
- A marathon of a TV show you like, or movies (Top Chef: oh yeah, don't hold it against me)
- Your fave songs on replay
- Post-xmas sales! This is what I live for. I managed to raid Helsinki, coming off a winner. Hell yes.

Print shirts are so much fun. Gina Tricot, 5 €

Top buy of the day, the comfiest deep turquoise silk blouse. Originally 40€, 6€ on sale fro Monki. Scooooore!

5€, Acessorize

Cropped top, 6€ Monki.

Also there was an oversized beige collage shirt from Promod, which can be checked off the list of necessities now.

2011 is at the end of its run and I'll soon post a overview of the year; what it has held for me, the best parts, etc. :) ps. Found out my camera could do cool stuff on a walk.

Buildings can look pretty artsy when filmed this way.

I walk this lonely road, the only one that I have ever known

Shake it up, shake up the happiness!

I apologize for the tiny post, but I have no access to my computer at the moment :( I'll come edit it later though!

MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE, may all your wishes and dreams come true! I hope everyone stuffed themselves with food, got the gifts they deserved and had a warm, jolly time with their loved ones :)

Hyvää Joulua rakkaat <3
Joyeux Noel mes amis <3
Merry Christmas lovelies <3

all i want for christmas is new years day

This songs just gets me in a happy mood whenever I hear it :)

Ah, December has gone by so fast, and Thursday we have Christmas festivities at school, which sets the start for THE WINTER HOLIDAY!!! Can't be bothered with school really, since I know I'll probably end up forgetting most of the things I've learnt by next year anyways, so meh :D

I don't celebrate Christmas, but I love giving gifts, having the festive lights and the happy mood in the atmosphere. The shitty weather has been a downer though, I mean we're two weeks away from new years and it feels like September. The Secret Santa exchange in my class was a success, and everyone got something nice :D Also, we're all waiting for those post-Xmas sales........at least I am.

That was part of my brownie making process when I made some for my mom's work party and my class :) Three batches of hard work, with a sad loss of one batch that I dropped D: My heart literally broke into pieces........ tough luck I guess :(

All of the bells ringing out for Christmas, I'm singing goodbye to the year before
I know that the next one will be different, so much more!