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I came back from a holiday in Finland yesterday. To read about my trip, and learn more become a fan of Frozen in Finland on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/frozeninfinland

Dear critic(s)

So I've noticed this week there suddenly seems to be an influx of comments intended to put me/what I have to say down, and generally needlessly complain. They're all anonymous, and I expect they are coming from only one person who has taken an irrational dislike to this blog, but of course I can't say for sure. Some of them I have just deleted as I have nothing to say in response, some I have left as I had something to say in reply.
What I will say generally is this: if you disagree with something I have written, and wish to make that point in a civil, dignified manner, please do so. If, however, you wish to comment in a sneering, critical tone, please don't bother. I'll either delete what you have to say, or tell you exactly where you can go.
What I write here concerns my opinions, observations, and experiences. At times I may say something incorrect, or write something as a result of misinformation. I have never claimed that this is absolutely 100% accurate. It's one thing to point out something I probably don't know, tell me more about something I mention, or to make a helpful correction, but it's quite another to intentionally write something insulting, or knowingly word your comment in a way that inevitably comes off as insulting. Personal attacks are also ridiculous.
I don't know who has been writing these comments, and frankly, I don't really care. If you are the kind of person with nothing better to do than attack strangers on the internet, you are far beneath me, and will certainly not succeed in upsetting me. If you find what I write so distasteful or unpleasant that you can't just let it go, you might find it easier to stop reading it. Because I'm going to write whatever I want, regardless of how you feel about it.

Well, now I've cleared that one up, we can hopefully all move on to nicer things.

Lovely friendly Finns

Once again, what's all this about Finnish people being cold? Because, once again, a nice Finnish person who I've never met emailed me to ask to meet me! This lady invited me to a summer party tonight at a kindergarten, but as the weather has been crap today I decided against that, and also invited me to visit her home and family sometime. I'd be very happy to meet her at some point. So, I ask for the hundredth time, if Finnish people are so cold and horrible, how do these things happen?
Several of the friends I have in Turku are people who contacted me after reading this blog asking to meet me or inviting me to do something with them. Additionally, there are various friendly well-wishers, some living in Turku, some in other parts of Finland, who I have never met but who often write nice messages and comments for me. Then there are also the numerous people who have sent me emails or messages with advice and good wishes about looking for a job or adapting to Finnish culture. Last week a Finnish girl even wrote to me to ask for my advice in helping her foreign boyfriend settle in this country. For such a cold and anti-social nation they're all being very nice to me. Most Finnish people are quiet, and often seem shy, but they are so clearly not unkind or unpleasant. I've found lots of cheerful, friendly, cheeky little Finns. Plus, I'll be honest, I do quite like getting the "fan mail", so please keep it coming. Really, if any of you end up alone in a foreign country, just write a blog - you'll make loads of friends.
It's nice that this is happening, because apart from this the weather is rubbish and I'm running out of ideas when it comes to the job hunt. I tried applying to Itella/Posti this afternoon but their online job search decided not to work for me. Thanks for that. I decided to try listing some paintings on eBay as well as Etsy, but every time I go near eBay it decides to be naughty too. It seems that we're just not compatible. I'm looking forward to getting paid so I can call the council and get permission to sell paintings in Kauppatori, which hopefully will bring forth money, and be a lot of fun. I'd still like to do some tutoring or childcare, as I know I'm good at it and could probably make some reasonable money. If any of you need to be taught or looked after you know where I am...

My new favourite magazine

Kissafani. "Cat Fan" to the non-Finnish people of the world. I've just found my dream magazine for when I'm a crazy old lady with 10 cats. I found this about as funny as I found Kunto. Also, the new Facebook page is misbehaving, and has a tendency to delete things and hide the people that like it. One minute it says 7 people like it, the next it says 0, then it changes again. It's gettng rather irritating now.

Frozen on Facebook

Look over here! Frozen in Finland now has a Facebook page for you to like. Because, obviously, this just isn't enough for you. Now you can go there and write little messages of love to me, and probably read about some of the more mundane things that are happening to me. It's not very exciting yet - it was made five minutes ago - but I hope to eventually have more than two fans, one of whom is myself. So go there. Go there now!

Silly Finland

So the building we live in, which has at least 72 flats in it, has a little laundry room with a single machine, which I am required to book a time to use. I have hardly any clean clothes, and the earliest slot was for tomorrow afternoon. Does anyone else think this is a bit stupid? I assumed the laundry room would be like the one in Gubbay Hall, for those of you who were "lucky" enough to have lived there. But oh no. The laundry room is in a bizarre underground labyrinth, much of which is without lighting. Not happy.
Also, near the laundry room is a very strange place, where any tenants can put old furniture/ornaments etc that they don't want, and other tenants are free to take the items there. There wasn't actually any good stuff, but it's apparently quite common in blocks of flats.
I've also finally got a Finnish sim card. However, the network is having technical difficulties activating new sim cards, so I'm still waiting for that to work. I understand that random people are reading this, so I won't be putting the number on here, but my friends will be able to find it on Facebook when it starts to work and I know what my number is.
Also our internet contract is due to finish any moment now, as we've been using Jussi's friend's contract. Jussi arranged our own today, but it won't be installed until the 17th, so hopefully I can get an iPhone app to continue writing, should my sim card decide to work. But if I briefly disappear, rest assured that I'm still alive and well.