Peapod

These last two weeks, in Cambridge and in Finland, I've been teaching myself to crochet. I have finally finished this peapod. I got the pattern from a book called 'Amigurumi Two' by Ana Paula Rimoni.

Paper animals

Still very cold outside, so we made these paper animals. I like them.

Finland again!

Pretty cold out here. -21 degrees c. We went sledding. Wore three pairs of trousers and four sweaters under my coat, and somehow the snow still got in my pants. The wind is the coldest part. All very beautiful, blue skies and big piles of snow. Snow everywhere:

fridge poem

I'm not sure about this whole Cambridge thing.

I wish today that I was different or that I was in a different place. I'm not sure Cambridge and I are bonding as well as we might. I don't yet know if this is irreconcilable.

Why am I doing this? I just want to write my novel, but all the time I'm going to lectures on science and maths and 'professional studies'. I am confused as to how I got here, and why. I feel that I'm making a big sacrifice of who I am as a person.

Summer was fantastic. I don't know if I should have stayed in Finland for winter, too. I thought I needed a 'career'. Maybe I really do need a 'career'. And maybe the reality of teaching will fit me better than the course. It's sort of hard to know in advance. But I feel frustrated because I think writing is what I'm best at and it's what I should be doing.

I'll be in Finland in under 48 hours, stay 10 days, and then back for 6 more weeks. After that I'll be 1/3rd done.

So I moved to cambridge.

I live in Cambridge. Not just in Cambridge, but in Cambridge University. Homerton College, pictured above. Here are my observations from week one:
- we are allowed to read alot of picture books and play musical instruments and play ball games during lesson time
- no bottled water in the library
- 'the buttery' contains only an average amount of butter
- there are a lot of Japanese tourists in the town
- even when I only live a five minute walk from bed to lecture hall, I still possess a remarkable capacity to be five minutes late
- more often than not, lectures start 5 minutes early and finish 10 minutes late. maximum value for money then!
- everyone ive met is serious about studying
- the poetry scene is good
- on campus, no one walks on the grass, drops litter or is noisy. people hold doors and say hello when passing strangers. no one rushes.

Living in Finland

Things which are popular in Finland:
- Licorice
- Sausage dogs
- Frowning
- Walking Poles
- Sitting opposite strangers on the train when there is enough space not to
- Weather (it is the whole front page of the newspaper each day)
- Coffee
- Kebabburgers and Kebabpizzas
- Raindeer meat
- The truth
- Visiting one's relatives
- Rye Bread
- Empathy
- Precision
- Moomins
- Forests
- Plaits
- Renting
- Second hand stores

Things which are not:
- Vegetables
- Facial expressions
- Interrupting
- Spontaneity
- 'Trend' fashion
- Talking on public transport
- Flashiness/ boasting
- Short skirts
- Exaggerating
- Sandwiches