"Hey look at me, I'm Finland! I get really cold!"
That's nice, Finland. Thanks for sharing. I'm sure that the entire world needed to know that in fact, it is really quite cold sometimes in Finland. Like today. Today the temperature was -22C (-8F), without the windchill. 
Here is a list of what I wore when I had to go out to the math department.
My nose was runny and got a little frozen, as did my eyeballs. My feet were pretty numb - I really hope that I can start wearing my boots, because those little sneakers just aren't going to cut it.
Funny though, it *looked* like a beautiful day. Quite sunny. I didn't bring my camera though, because I knew that I wouldn't want to take off my gloves to take any pictures.
I am still quite sick. This is probably the worst cold I've ever had. I think it's complicated by the fact that it is really very dry in my flat. For example, my towel is bone dry about 15 minutes after my shower. I've taken to boiling a big pot of tea and then putting a towel over the pot and my head. This seems to help, but sleeping is a big problem - I wake up every 30 minutes or so all dried up; this morning I had a nosebleed and was coughing up a little blood (don't worry though - it's not a respiratory thing, it's just that my thoat was really dry). Ok, enough grossness.
I went to Finnish class on Monday and yesterday. Our teacher is a very young (26!) Finnish woman with an amazing command of american slang. "Tomorrow we're going to be in the ghetto classroom in building S, instead of this pimped-out room." MTV is BigBrother, evidently. Actually, she said her husband is from the states, so that's probably the source. So, now I'm slowly learning Finnish. It was difficult for me to learn yesterday though, because I couldn't hear out of my left ear (from being so stuffed up). Finnish seems like a really neat language, and I'm excited to get to learn it a little.
I haven't been doing so much math lately, because I'm finding it hard to get time with Pekka. He's quite busy - and I think I may have been spoiled by Mario, who is just amazingly generous with his time. Pekka had an idea early last week, and over the weekend I debunked it a little - now I'm kind of stuck as to how to proceed. Anyway, there's plenty of work I COULD be doing - I have no real excuse for not being super busy except that I'm pretty ill and I can't really think straight. I'm sure once the term gets going we'll have more chances to talk.
I hope I'll be on the upswing tomorrow. There is a "Stammtisch" tomorrow night for the international students - from what I gather its something the folks at the international center have been working on for a long time and I really wish I could go, but it seems next to impossible at this point (it doesn't start till 10pm). I'm just hoping to be ok for next week, when I might get another chance to talk to Pekka.
Anyway, I miss you all and thanks to all of you who sent get well notes.
Here is a list of what I wore when I had to go out to the math department.- cotton undershirt (the polypro one was dirty)
- heavy wool sweater
- REI softshell jacket
- heavy down coat
- boxers
- long johns
- wool pants
- wind and waterproof pants
- cotton socks
- leather shoes
- hat
- gloves
- scarf
My nose was runny and got a little frozen, as did my eyeballs. My feet were pretty numb - I really hope that I can start wearing my boots, because those little sneakers just aren't going to cut it.
Funny though, it *looked* like a beautiful day. Quite sunny. I didn't bring my camera though, because I knew that I wouldn't want to take off my gloves to take any pictures.
I am still quite sick. This is probably the worst cold I've ever had. I think it's complicated by the fact that it is really very dry in my flat. For example, my towel is bone dry about 15 minutes after my shower. I've taken to boiling a big pot of tea and then putting a towel over the pot and my head. This seems to help, but sleeping is a big problem - I wake up every 30 minutes or so all dried up; this morning I had a nosebleed and was coughing up a little blood (don't worry though - it's not a respiratory thing, it's just that my thoat was really dry). Ok, enough grossness.
I went to Finnish class on Monday and yesterday. Our teacher is a very young (26!) Finnish woman with an amazing command of american slang. "Tomorrow we're going to be in the ghetto classroom in building S, instead of this pimped-out room." MTV is BigBrother, evidently. Actually, she said her husband is from the states, so that's probably the source. So, now I'm slowly learning Finnish. It was difficult for me to learn yesterday though, because I couldn't hear out of my left ear (from being so stuffed up). Finnish seems like a really neat language, and I'm excited to get to learn it a little.
I haven't been doing so much math lately, because I'm finding it hard to get time with Pekka. He's quite busy - and I think I may have been spoiled by Mario, who is just amazingly generous with his time. Pekka had an idea early last week, and over the weekend I debunked it a little - now I'm kind of stuck as to how to proceed. Anyway, there's plenty of work I COULD be doing - I have no real excuse for not being super busy except that I'm pretty ill and I can't really think straight. I'm sure once the term gets going we'll have more chances to talk.
I hope I'll be on the upswing tomorrow. There is a "Stammtisch" tomorrow night for the international students - from what I gather its something the folks at the international center have been working on for a long time and I really wish I could go, but it seems next to impossible at this point (it doesn't start till 10pm). I'm just hoping to be ok for next week, when I might get another chance to talk to Pekka.
Anyway, I miss you all and thanks to all of you who sent get well notes.
posted by Kevin at 9:41 AM
4 Comments:
You should wear wool socks, not cotton ones. And I hope you feel better.
From what I remember about your philosophy with packing, it sounds like you wore everything that was in your suitcase!
Stay warm and healthy.
I haven't been doing so much math lately, because I'm finding it hard to get time with Pekka. He's quite busy - and I think I may have been spoiled by Mario, who is just amazingly generous with his time.
Out of curiosity, during the UM semester, how often would you meet with Mario?
For me, it's weekly meetings with Juha, and the only changes occur when I'm grading exams or some other time conflict. It's not like it's set in stone, but I never thought about the exact nature of the dynamic.
Hey Kevin-
Your blog entries are hiLARious, although I'm sorry to hear that you're so sick. I shrivel up everytime I go to Colorado cuz of the dry weather...sounds like Finland may be significantly worse. I hope you start feeling better and can find some time to rest and relax! I'll look for you on skype one of these days!
Abrazos,
Patty
ps- Spain's low today is something ridiculous like 15 C...you should come!
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