Wednesday, November 29

 

 

This morning I got up, washed and dressed, and left without breakfast. I had to get to Arcada by 8:30. I wore my winter jacket for the first time and felt that I probably should have started wearing it a week ago.

I just missed one bus and raced to the other bus stop to try to catch that one. Conveniently it arrived ten minutes late and I got on to find it completely full. When I had a chance to look I realised that the front half of the bus had people squashed together standing, while the rear half had plenty of seats. A combination of Finnish habits caused this. Firstly many people in Helsinki have the odd habit of standing on buses and metros, even when seats remain available. Secondly, few people seem to want to cause a fuss by trying to get past these people.

I did. Gaily shouting “anteeksi!” I pushed past and got a whole empty seat at the back. A few seconds later I noticed two of the people I had pushed past joining in the melee and grabbing their own seats at the back of the bus. Perhaps the second habit involves not standing out as the first person to make a fuss.

At Arcada Jutta and I sat through the first pecha kucha in the new book exam. Instead of writing dull essays that nobody needs, students will now read a text and make a pecha kucha style review of it. Those that pass will get posted online for other students to watch and use. Tova passed, and she will now make a final movie-style version of her pecha kucha for our YouTube channel.

I looked at YLE online and discovered a wonderful coincidence. Yesterday I added Albert Munsell’s colour theory to Topic 9 of the Nobanet e-learning course, and today the EU announced they will issue a Munsell colour chart for restaurants to use when preparing french fries.

At 12:20 Nathalie and I left to meet Irma, Kipa, Emelia and Josefin for a lunch to celebrate their participation in the Buddyschool branding project. We met Irma and Kipa at Rautatientori so we didn’t need to find the restaurant.

We had a long and interesting lunch. Irma gave the girls certificates and gifts, and everyone left happy. The restaurant, Boulevard Social, had a gimmick. The food came on big plates and you had to all serve yourself. Later it turned out that it had another, altogether less pleasant, gimmick. The waitress arrived at the table holding two caraffes and asked if we wanted still or sparkling water. When Irma checked the bill she discovered at the end of the meal it turned out that the still water cost nothing and the plain water cost 6.50. Hmm.

Four of us catch the metro back, leaving Emilia and Josefin to explore the centre. I get off at Sörnäinen, while the others carry on to Itis. The rain has more or less stopped by the ground remains shiny. Waiting for a tram I look around and decide how difficult it feels to decide the time of day. It seems like any time between sunrise and sunset.

When I get back to Arcada I will do a lot of work very quickly and leave thirty minutes later than usual. I will still arrive home first.