The end is near

I have been lazy with this writing stuff lately.
The end of my exchange is near, less than three weeks now and have to start thinking about going home. Blah. :/
I would've liked to stay longer and nothing was stopping, but maybe I have to take myself from the neck and finish my school back home. Maybe then it is time for another adventure. It has been that, Great adventure. They said, when I applied to exchange, that it will be one of the greatest experiences and it will change you. Yes it have done that. A really life-long-experience.
There is one legendary line that Finnish javelin thrower Seppo Räty said when he lost place to finals in Stuttgart 1993:
"Saksa on paska maa"
Loosely translated: German is crappy country.
He was/is known about his straight comments without any snobbery.
But I would say it is good country, it has it's own problems like everywhere else. For example if you have to make any paperwork or documents to goverment or any office. It is not a legend, the German bureaucracy.. :)
Or lowpaid workers that don't give a shit about your problems. Usually there is really good service but sometimes the lower prices come with this side.
I also have been learn much to speak Deutschesprache, still have long way to go for longer discussions though. But I am happy with that. :)
 And I got many new friends. Of course some of them might drop off some point for not beeing in contact but I think there is few people that might be longer friendships, atleast the Finns and few Finnish fans. Yes, there is foreign people that like Finland for other reasons than social benefits from goverment!
My god it is really confusing feeling that same time I would like to stay and I miss Finland and would like to go home. 

So now for the news, football is over now and have to say that here it is really more than game. It is amazing how these people are supporting their team. Cars have flags(some have even more than two) and sidemirror sleeves with German flag colours. When people go out to see a game from big screens (in every bar and restaurant and kiosk) they wear German colours and flags and blowing their vuvuzelas (German flag coloured vuvuzelas of course). 
Everywhere was told how the game was going, train timetables, train announcements and so on. Even the polices were sometimes wearing something flag related. People got free time from jobs because of German game. Crazy. But it was so sad when they lost against Spain. :(
 And I had two trips also, to Barcelona and Berlin. 
Barcelona was very interesting place and hot. Boy it was nice weather for a walking there. Saw first time ever a living palm tree outside in nature and that is the most southest point I have been this far. And it was first time in Ryanair trip, that was interesting experience too. Flight left from Memming which is in border of Bavaria and Baden-Württenberg and ended to Reus, about 100km east from Barcelona. Hometrip was from Girona-> Memming, so we had to travel quite a while to get to aeroplane, but there were few spectacular views in those trips.
Berlin was really confusing place, in same time really good old eastern block, modern, historic and new. Like there is old DDR building looking like it is going to collapse and next to it has new modern glas and steel building. They can really make out interesting stuff about times of a Iron curtain. People selling stamps to your passport from DDR, old soviet stuff and trabant safaris. And there was a gay pride also, wasn't there but saw really many of them. It is kind of sad that wasn't there, even if I'm not same kind of a people. :/

Quite much to tell in one post, but I have been lazy and this is how it backfires. I'm sorry. I know there will be spelling errors and stuff, but I don't really care. I'm sorry with that too. I still write relatively good english, I hope. Atleast it is better than my German.. :)

Atrial fibrillation and roadtrips

Well, now I have tested German healthcare system. I had a old friend of mine, Atrial fibrillation, visiting me last week. Nothing serious, but if that is not treated properly, there might be fatal side-effects.
I'm properly healthy man, no heart diseases or structural flaws in my heart, according to cardiologic doctors. Had a nice weekend in nice warm Stuttgart in hospital room inside.. :/
Well, now that episode is behind and new adventures ahead. Going to Barcelona this weekend and next weekend to Berlin.
I had also a nice weekend driving around Bodensee, which was a quite nice place. I rented a car from Europcar and had 900km included. Route was Stuttgart-Ulm-Bregenz(Austria)-Switzerland-Liechtenstein-somewhere near Zurich-Konztanz-Stuttgart, something around 700km and 13 hours. Nice memories and landscapes and one angry Swiss farmer from driving his private road. I blame for that our GPS navigator, which lead us to that situation. :-)
Mountains were unbelievable and how Swiss people can drive so fast in those small, curvy and narrow roads, where if you drive from the road you end up falling several hundreds on meters..
And I think whole Switzerland decided to either go driving a rally with their cars on the roads or go with their bicycles for a ride..
And my co-pilots Markus, from Austria, and Karen, from Canada, knows now very well what vasen and oikea means, left and right in finnish. :-)
And I was amazed how someone can drive faster in motorway when you already as fast as you can. They don't have speedlimits in certain sections of German motorways, called Autobahn, but still they feel so safe to drive if you keep your eyes and ears open. Have to be really careful when going go pass someone slower, because there might be someone coming over 200km/h from behind..
We also made with remaining kilometers, from that trip, another trip on sunday. This time it was shorter and much quicker. It was to Schloss Solitude, which was originally hunting lodge to duke of Württenberg, and to Maulbron Abbey, which is old monastery and UNESCO world heritage site.
Schloss Solitude is quite near, only about 6km from city center to west and there is bus connection also.
Maulbron Abbey is little bit more away, about 30-40km north-west from Stuttgart, but the road there is not so complicated and to half way it is Autobahn 8 (E52).

Ice age

It's very cold now in central Europe, don't know why.. :/ I hope that the summer comes back to here.
I had my birthday and I went to see Ice Hockey World Championship tournament to Cologne, the game was FIN vs. USA. Like a present from team Finland, we won and got first position in our group. Jey!
But as temperatures are near freezing it wasn't so good trip. And it was holiday so everything is closed, so didn't have so much to do because I don't want to freeze myself.
Frühlingsfest went and it was very nice experience. Big beers (really BIG!), dancing, singing and festivals. If somebody happens to be here in same time, it is worth of trying.

Status update

So do the time fly past and there is quite time from last post. I think I'm getting lazy with this..
So what has happened me? Life in Germany has got in it's tracks and before you know, it's almost at the end. I wouldn't want to think about leaving here yet and go home. I would like to stay. Maybe it is all the new things that have happened to me here and I'm not bored here as I did in Finland. Or maybe it can be strenght when I go home to finish my school, there is so little left of that. Little luck and I'm done in a year, atleast I wish that.
When I go home I have tons of stuff to do, have to get new home, have to get a new job and have to learn to live in restricted and cold country. I can't say that I miss Finland, there is some good things still there. All the people that are important to me and good atmospheres when it get's right with the people.
What have I done here so far? Learned a lot. Not the new things in school, but that there can be so much different ways of living your life. It was true when they said that it's life long experience.
There is also a sauna here in our Wonnheim(asuntola). How amazing is that? Well it was electric version, but it got hot enough for go there. They even had a vihta there, but it was made from unknown tree branches.. Not from birch branches. Didn't want to torture others in there so much so I had to hold my urges to get proper löylyt, American allthough surprised me and they were all in the game. :)
Even managed to start making photos from here.
http://jaris.pictures.fi/kuvat/
And start to travelling littlebit. First trip was to Karlsruhe, which is near French border and second was to Heidelberg with other Finns that live here. We planned to go sometime in near future again to little fieldtrip.

Plans

Easter wasn't that bad, I had good food and good parties enough. And if I would went somewhere, it would've been still holiday so everything is closed.
New plans though, excursion week is coming in start of May, maybe I'll get chance to do some trips now. And just ordered ticket to IIHF World Championships game FIN vs. USA in Cologne. We should not be depressed what happened in Winter Olympic Games.. :(
Experienced also sauna here in  student Wonnheim, it was semi-OK. Not the best I have been but not worst. There was also vihta was made from odd looking branches and looked kind of funny. And americans could stand suprisingly well in there with me and I was saunameister.. :-)
Also I have met some of the other Finns, totally about 10(+ spare Finn Tor-Erik from Norway :-)), that live and study here, usually have been drinking beer with them. :)
One of them lives in apartment in downtown and he invited me to little house party to welcome their new Finnish resident Anna. I think it was funny night, I can't remeber what happened in later night. Maybe that "small" 0,5L drink had something to do with that amnesia..

Small differences

Been while from last post, maybe it's time to wrap the month.
So, feelings. Well, it has been good trip and starting to little bit feel like a home. I have never been living long times in one place, so it's easier to adjust living in different places for me. I don't even have "home sickness", I do miss my friends and family though.
School is starting to go as routine and language skill is improving. Even little small talk could be done now.
Despite that there is so much common things to Finland, there is also equally much differences. Language is of course different but also the general feeling is little different. Feels like people here is trusting you even if they don't know you. And they are polite to each other. Sure you also have to be strong and rude if necessary.
If I compare, for example, security, I don't see camera surveillance so much or big, baldheaded security guards, who try to be so important, as much as in Finland. Sure, there is polices and locks in doors and even cameras sometimes, but generally you get safe feeling even without the surveillance that you are not going to be stabbed or robbed whenever you go out. Or maybe this is only so safe city and outside world is pure evil. :)
Every good thing has it's dowsides too. Here it is something that I can't really describe, don't know why. Little things that annoy you sometimes. Something like shops are closed early (for example small grocery store here in campus area at 17:30 in week and on saturdays it's open only 9-12) or completely random times every day and all shops are closed on Sundays. Or things that could be done more effectively and precisely and maybe even more easily, like school's IT-systems. But that's the country way, so not complaining.
I don't know if I would liked to be much more in somewhere else, but currently I'm (still) happy with my choice to come here. Little different place, but not so much.

At least the beer is cheap and it can be found even from vending machines. Prost! :)

P.S Going to rotten in Vaihingen the whole eastern. Had a plan to go roadtrip, but everything is closed so what the heck. I have still time to travel. Maybe some other weekend is better for that.

Lange Nacht

Last night there was in Stuttgart an event called Lange Nacht der Museen. There was events, museums, art galleries and other cultural places open until 2pm. Ticket to the event cost 15e and with that ticket you could go those places. And there was busses running special lines between places.
We went with our exchange people and I saw

- Kunstmuseum, modern art gallery
- Planetarium, space and star exhibition
- Staatsgalerie, state gallery
- Porsche museum, museum of Porsche cars

It was very exciting event and I think it has required huge work to make that event.

What else has happened here?
Well, the weather went better, almost t-shirt weather and that friggin snow is gone. :)
School started with selected courses, most exciting is the Interactive Media production course(12 ECTS points!) where I participate to project to make Flash based multiplayer game. Wow! Nothing less easier.. :)
I have four courses selected and German language course and with those I think my total ECTS are something like 24 points. There was also one smaller project course(6 points) but I didn't get response from professor, so I might remove that course.
And got some good news and bad news from Finland.. But it's no time to worry things, they have a habit to get in order.
Eastern holiday is coming and I should start to think what to do with all that free time, maybe little trip. There was people interested to go see Berlin for example. Maybe we will be able to gather a group so traveling with Deutsche Bahn is allmost free. :)