Like old times

I'm writing from the very same spot I wrote from during my time in Germany. I'm there right now. It's sort of funny coming back. It feels like "home" but it's weird seeing people I thought I might never see again. My workshop thing yesterday went quite nicely. Nice people and all. The only real bad feedback I got that I'm not emotional enough when I do my presentations and such. I apparently don't seem truly interested in my subject even when I am. Well I know I have this problem but I really don't know why and when it started. Am I not an excitable person. Now I've been trying to figure this out but it's not really working. I think I may be a totally boring person. At least to the outside world, as in people who don't know me. Or maybe more and more even to the people who do know me. "Oh my gosh, I have to do something about this." I have to get crazy. Totally loony or actually just start talking to people or something. "Oh why should I be a perfect person... Why can't someone else be 'what I could be'?" Ok, getting too weird.

I'm flying home tomorrow. I hope the trip goes nicely. I haven't been getting enough sleep. But I has been fun and interesting and all that. I am really into what I'm going to be doing. I hope people get that. Oh, but I#m really waiting for the weekend. Tons of fun things to come. Later.

Exciting times ahead

I just glanced at my last post and was like "oh I have chocolate in my drawer...:)". It's still there. I also have some other candy. But I've been eating grapes at work today since I had to take them with me so they don't go bad over the weekend. Very good grapes.

So I'm going off to see a friend this weekend. It should be fun. I haven't seen her in ages really. Last time really quickly in June.

My work at work is finally really starting and it feel great to finally have something to do. not that I've "really" started yet. The planning stage is just going on right now but that gives me enough to do too. On the other hand it feels funny that I have to do something other than reading and writing. I have to sort of grow up and get the stuff working on my own. Plan the stuff and execute what I plan and so on. It's sort of scary to have to go around soon and ask people for stuff and things and to teach me how to work things. And in a way it feels like it would be so much easier to do the actual experiments in the lab I was in while in Germany. I had all there mixers and heaters I needed there but not here. But I like the fact that I get to arrange the lab how I want and there's not going to be anyone bothering me too much with the work. Not that I felt bothered in Germany by the people in the lab. But yeah, exciting times ahead for sure. It's been a lazy summer in a bad sort of way. Though I have to say I've had good times.

Random thoughts

So I came back from Switzerland on Friday. The trip back went quite well. The vegetarian food on the airplane was actually good. It actually tasted like something. I think I should comment on it to Finnair so they'd know that it was appreciated. Though next time I fly and there's a meal I have to ask for lacto-ovo-vegetarian since the other people got chocolate as dessert and I got a few hard candies as the food was strictly vegan. I didn't even get any milk for my coffee though I did get some when I asked for it later so no harm other than having to ask. But I was really drooling over the mini Lion-bar the other people had. (*takes out chocolate from her drawer at work*)

I had a nice weekend. I saw some friends and tried to orient myself back into having to actually cook food by myself and having to go to the store to get some and so on.

I can't drink the water at the university because it has e.coli-bacteria in it. It would have to be boiled. I wonder whether running out of drinking water is a good reason to leave work early. Granted there are drinks machines. But I do have this huge urge to clean my apartment.

My old lunch boy sat at the same table as me at lunch. I was feeling really bored and tired so I didn't even say anything. My eyes just felt like closing all the time and I was just stabbing at my food. I had just sat three hours straight at my computer mostly working so my eyes had a right to be tired.

I'm leaving for Germany next Monday and coming back on the Thursday. Just a quick trip since the company apparently wants to pay for my flights there. Can't say no when it's free now can I. There's this workshop thing I'm going to where they apparently tell me about career opportunities at the company. It should be interesting. And I get to work on the article with my boss there and go climbing. It should be fun.

It feels like it's Wednesday or even Thursday though it's only Tuesday. I don't know why this is.

Exam over presentation to come

I just got out of the exam. Eight questions and one has to get the equivalence of 5 totally correct. I answered seven. I think it went surprisingly well taking into account that I did not really study as i did not really have time to do so. But it's pass or fail. I think I should pass it.

Now in the program of the final day of the course we have two hours more to prepare presentations about our structures and then present them. I finished mine yesterday. I did figure out an error on it last night so i just have to fix that. It's a six minute presentation so I'm not really worried about it. It should be fine. At least I don't have to worry about my English like many other people on the course. I've had way more experience in having presentations in English than in Finnish.

Tonight we'll have dinner at a Chinese restaurant and then I'm off the next morning. I'll be traveling the whole day really but it should all be like being at home after I catch my train home. I can't wait to get to my apartment where I have access to clean clothes and my own bed.

I have to say that I really like Zürich. As in the city. I could imagine myself living here. Partly it's probably that I'm reminded of Germany but it must be something else too. Just like when I was going to the hotel right when I got here, I did not even have to pull out my map. Ok, so I'd rememberized the route. But it just seemed really logical. And then I rememberized the tram routes to the hotel and back in just one day. Maybe the city is just logical in some way or "maybe I lived here in a former life"...:) So yeah, I like Zürich. They've just got everything I'd need. And well as a side note I do have to mention that there are quite a few handsome males at the university here.

But I have to get going to the lab before they miss me since I was kind of supposed to go there right after the exam but I decided to take a break since I was the first one to leave.

Do this, do that

I think I think slower than the other people here or else I'm stupid or just seem like it. I think people are starting to treat me like I'm stupid or slow. It's sort of annoying. Or well more than sort of annoying. But there's really nothing to do about it. I know I've never been one of those smart people who let other people really know about it. Like I think some people here are. I think that's just annoying. Or like socially not that smart. Or at least I like to think that I have some advantage in comparison to the others here. But in the end it doesn't really matter. I cope.

Was supposed to go see the Street Parade today at lunch (now) but the weather isn't that good so I'm at the university just having lunch. Kind of a disappointment but I don't really care. Who wants to see people having fun and dancing without cares while having to constantly watch the time in order to get back to lectures.

But I think I can handle people telling me what to do like I'm slow. I think i can handle the constant rain. I just have to find my ipod and listen to some music tonight. Like at breakfast I heard some music and it was totally weird how it went like straight to the hearth sort of and made me feel better even though it wasn't my favorite music. I haven't listened to music all week. I hope the rain ends since we're having a barbecue tonight.

Post #170: Fourier transform and reciprocal lattices

It's lunch time. I've got half an hour to write a bit of how it's been going...

The food has been good and there has been enough of it and the company has been fun too. We don't really have "any" free time but it's OK really. I'm hanging out loads with my Russian roommate whom I met at the hotel as I got there. The lady at reception told me she was my roommate and I was like "OK, thanks". I went to talk to her and asked if she wanted to go see the city with me after we got our room and that's what we ended up doing. We saw the center and then also decided to go see the zoo. All in all it was really nice to have company for the tourist thing. I mean I got totally lucky again. She just happened to be there at the hotel at the same time as me.

So the actual school is going quite nicely too. I am having problems understanding all the things but luckily I'm not the only one. Since people complained about not getting things yesterday at our last discussion, one of the teachers decided to have like an extra class at the hotel after dinner. It was sort of weird going to learn like math at nine in the evening but of course I wen t since I want to understand. Attendance was not required of course. But finally last night I think I understood something. The teacher started speaking the same language so to say. I've been getting really frustrated with these exercises we've been getting since they just give us a question and want us to solve it but don't tell us what to do. And if I don't know what to do, I don't do anything. And we don't even have proper examples before the exercises so it's really impossible to know what to do and I want to know why I do something. But yeah, maybe it will get better now that I know I'm not the only one and the teachers know that they are sort of just asking questions we don't understand.

Now we're getting a bit away from the math into more practical things and it's great to finally know what I'm doing. See I've done the practical. Not totally from start to finish in a way I really understand the steps but that's what I'm here to do. So it should all work out just great.

Oh, I've gotten people to go with me Saturday at lunch to the Street Parade. I also know where the climbing center is and how to get there. I may just not have any time. And the funny thing is that they apparently have like automatic ropes for the easier walls.

In Zürich

Really quickly. I'm in Zürich and having a good time. Getting enough food and learning loads.