Trip to Ukraine!

My squad for the trip! 

Last weekend, the last weekend of February was the first weekend this year that I was able to relax. January and February were full of studying and working. My boyfriend had a dancing competition with his partner in Ukraine and I decided to go with them. We had a nice small group going to Lviv. The competition was on Saturday and we wanted to stay for Sunday as well to go sightseeing. Saturday was a great start for the weekend as my favorite dancing pair won the competition! ;) After the competition we went for dinner to this amazing meat restaurant. The theme of the restaurant was torture but the food was nothing like torture, it was delicious! After the dinner we decided to stay in the city center for drinks.

Lviv is something very different from Poland or Wroclaw. Everything seemed to be old: buildings, cars, everything. The roads were in such a bad condition that I felt like jumping and hitting my head in the bus. Nobody was speaking English in there, I tried to communicate in English, Polish and showing by gestures and then I got understood. I wouldn't have survived without knowing any Polish. However, I really enjoyed the city. It was something different from the places I have visited before.

On Sunday we were walking around the city. We ended up eating in a restaurant that was very nationalist, we needed to say some password in the door before getting in (Ukraine first or something like that), people were singing nationalistic songs and the decor was Ukrainian military oriented.

On the way back from Ukraine we spent 6,5 hours in the Ukraine-Polish border. The bus was full of people, there were no extra places and the air was very bad. It was interesting to see what everybody needed to do to get in to the area of the European Union.

I came sick during our trip, so this week has been mostly resting. I wanted to go out so bad and enjoy the beautiful spring weather. I hope next week will also be as sunny and warm!

-Camilla

What do I miss from Finland? Top7

I bet there are some things everybody are missing from their home country if they live abroad. I don't know the next time I will be visiting Finland so maybe I feel a bit home sick and sentimental about everything related to Finland. I'm even planning to order a package online full of Finnish treats!

So, What do I miss from Finland?

1. Family and all my friends and loved ones. 
People I miss the most! I think this is quite obvious remark, but it is the truth. I can try to cook something Finnish here, but I can not spend all the time I wish to with the people that I miss. I'm happy that it is possible to stay in touch via skype, facebook, whatsapp... but it is still different when you are not able to hug and to be honest I'm not the best person to stay in touch via internet. That is why I really appreciate my friends who get that. When we are able to see each other again it feels that we just saw yesterday.

2. Sauna
The warm relaxing feeling without any stupid restrictions like: you can not throw water or there is a maximum temperature that is not enough or you can not bring children to sauna. I have tried sauna here a couple of times but it was like torture as I couldn't throw any water. The sauna was so dry it was almost impossible to breathe. Never again! I miss the normal Finnish sauna.

3. Food! For example: rye bread, black sausage, carelian pie, different milk products, liver casserole (maksalaatikko), hot wings.....
There are many kind of foods that are not sold here or I'm not able to prepare them on my own. Also our oven is the size of a microwave so that I'm not able to prepare everything I wish. I miss Finnish supermarket and all the products (just not the prices!). Before Christmas I'm planning to bake many Finnish treats, for example cinnamon rolls, gingerbread's and maybe even Christmas tarts.

4. Candy, specially all black candies! 
I can get good chocolate and normal candy from Poland, but salty licorice and salmiak! I also miss normal candy by weight, there is something similar in Poland but everything is always hard and dry and the selection is not as good. I can not wait to order my package!

5. Drinks, like glögi, longdrink(lonkero) and different kind of ciders.
I want glögi for Christmas, I think there is something in Ikea but the selection is not as good I could hope for. Lonkero is a soft alcohol drink sold in Finland, I don't like it so much anymore but as I don't like beer I hope to have bigger variety of choices. The same goes for ciders, in Poland you can find only a couple of brands and couple of tastes where as in Finland there is a plenty of different kind of tastes.

6. Easy instructions how to do things, for example for university
I feel that in Finland I was always able to find easy instructions how I should do something and here I just should know. Not any official infos about anything, everything I have learned about the whole university system is from my friends. We are now having a separate classes for writing thesis with our supervisors. At the same time I know that in Finland you could have a separate class for research, for writing and meetings with the supervisors. I miss this feeling that I know everything!

7. Nature
We live in the city so that it is hard to find a place just for yourself. I miss everything clean and green. I have grown up in a place where the nature was always close, just to go out for a walk in the forest and barely see anybody else. Playing in the forest and building some shelters, climbing to trees.... Maybe I wouldn't do the same things anymore but I miss walking alone, being able to pick berries and mushrooms.

There is many more things that I miss, the list could probably be endless. Even when I miss many things from Finland that doesn't mean I wouldn't be happy here. I feel happy and that Wroclaw is my home now. I could also make a list why I love my life here, but for now, feeling a bit sentimental about Finland list about the things I really miss felt more suitable.

-Camilla

8 things to do in Finland during the summer!

Sometimes I feel that staying in Finland is a different reality for me. Two months past so fast even when I was missing Poland. 

Me at my mums birthday

1. Spend time with my family

 It is important for me to spend time with my family when I'm able to do it. 

2. Enjoy the nature

Everything seems to be so clean and pure. I don't miss that so much while in Poland, but when I get to Finland, I need to get to the forest and just walk.

Mustamakkara

3. Eat Finnish food

I love to eat all the things that I can not find from Poland (or things that only grandma or dad can cook). Favorites 4ever mustamakkara (black sausage) and wings. :D

4. Work

Summer is the time to earn money for the next school year.

5. Spend time with my friends

It is important for me to see my friends, I always have a great time with them. Unfortunately I feel that I didn't have enough time this summer.

6. Sauna

Relaxing in sauna. Best is when there is also a lake and you can just swim and go to sauna and repeat for hours.

7. Road trips! 

Different kind of nature, more people to see... Perfect!

8. Shop Finnish design to bring  back to Poland

I didn't buy almost anything for myself, but a lot of things to our home. Finlayson, Iittala.... It is a great reminder about everything during the winter.

-Camilla

What I like in Poland? 3.Prices!

Time to continue the series about things that I like in Poland. The Prices are lower in Poland compared to some other European countries, in my case Finland. Everything is cheaper: living, shopping, food, entertainment, everything! I understand that for Poles the situation is different as they earn in zlotys and in relation to the prices. I still feel that the prices are way more cheaper for me.

I almost got an heart attack last week when I went to the Finnish supermarket. Everything was so expensive compared to what I have got used to during the time in Poland. For example in Poland I bought 3kg strawberries and it was 14zl (3,20e), in Finland I saw that strawberries costed 4 euros per one liter. Another heart attack!

Here are still some pictures from our summer cottage week, now starts my summer reality and work!

We went fishing and got this small pike, too small for our table so we let him back to the waters

Great picture by my brother!

Strawberry cake!  

-Camilla

Food!

This weekend I was a tour guide for a group from Finland. I need to admit that I gained so much more knowledge about the city while studying for this tour. Before I only saw a building after building but now I can actually say something about the buildings. In the end of the tour I learned that the group brought me some Finnish bread and chocolate. I was so happy to hear this! I got a huge sack of rye bread! :)

I have missed rye bread a lot! It seems to be so much more healthier and the taste is something I can only dream about! I know that in Wroclaw in Lidl you can find this kind of rye bread but unfortunately there is not any Lidl next to our place :( I would say that rye bread is the most popular bread in Finland. A traditional form of rye bread that is from western Finnish is thin and there is a whole in the middle. It is thin, there is a hole for hanging, and it is intended to remain for a long time. Western Finland, people ate mostly this kind of dried rye bread and baked only two or three times a year in large quantities at a time.

It seems that this week will be my Finnish food (and drink) week. I'm already preparing for Vappu! I started to make this special Finnish drink for 1. of May called Sima (mead). It includes water, lemon, sugar, yeast and finally some raisins. Sima will be ready to drink when the raisins rise to the top of the bottles, about three to seven days depending on the temperature of the room where the bottles are stored. Usually, the alcohol content is low and the drink is suitable for children.

Sima before bottling

 Next weekend I will also make doughnuts with sugar and our Vappu will be ready (+some sparkling wine)! :) I will write more about Vappu celebration in Finland later this week.

-Camilla