First week at AKK down

[cimorene]

I'm busy from before sunrise until the verge of sunset for the next few weeks (the mini course the employment bureau case worker sent me on) and this has meant it's nearly impossible to take any photos because, even inside, artificial light doesn't look very good (unless I turn the sunlamp on, but the cats can be very stubborn about taking direction for some reason). There's been an appalling drought in my kitty pictures lately as a result.

Also my brain is happy to be engaged for 6 hours a day, but using Finnish for 6 hours a day without a good solid dose of quiet solitude in the middle to recover my ability to socialize is a little much. I get overstimulated by about 12:30 and spend two hours with my mental queue so backed up on "NOPE" and "WHY IS IT SO LOUD IN HERE" that it takes me extra seconds of hesitation to produce a sentence in Finnish. (I can't even explain that my brain is slow because I'm tired in Finnish without pausing to try and remember the right case endings, in spite of how often I've done it before. Answering a question at the bus stop yesterday felt like trying to talk on the phone when you've just been woken up.)

As for the course content itself, it hasn't been more than slightly helpful so far, but I remain hopeful. The intended audience is wide, so the range of advice and information is also pretty wide, and I think they just haven't gotten to the part that I wanted yet. A lot of the stuff in the second half of the week was aimed at people who want to switch from one career to another and there's a fair amount about adult education and professional certifications and stuff and that is stuff I've heard a lot ("" "") of times already and also it doesn't apply to me at all.

Trying to be sociable has probably been good for me, though.

There's a black-hoodie-wearing fuchsia-haired lady with adult children who sits next to me, and she saw me drop my phone at the bus stop and the next day she brought a skein of yarn and made a little phone case out of 4 granny squares with a carrying strap, stitched it together and finished it off all within a couple of hours, and then spontaneously gave it to me like this:

"[SHOVES THE PHONE SOCK CASUALLY OVER TO ME] There. That'll cover your phone up. Should fit. Keep it from getting banged up. If you drop it again. You dropped your phone at the bus stop yesterday, didn't you. It's soft. And if you listen to music the holes in it are big enough to get through to the touch screen."

XD ♥ Finnish people are frequently this gruff, yes. It was really sweet of her though. I was watching her make it all morning from the corner of my eye while I was knitting, wondering what it was going to be.

Also overheard this week, from a long-haired working class dude with a goatee:

Meil on sitä, että lähemmät napurit ovat metsä ja pelto.

For us... the closest neighbors are woods and a field.

I had a hard time not laughing out loud, but then I couldn't explain to myself why this was funny except that it was SO SO FINNISH, but then I told waxjism and she laughed just as hard as I wanted to (though maybe it was the delivery), so at least I wasn't hallucinating.

Comments

[princessofgeeks]

I love these posts. Thank you.

[msilverstar]

Oy, too many people in too little time! I've been known to spend some quality alone time on the toilet.

But yay for your classmate who made you the pouch!

[devon]

I get that language overstimulation block, too, but in my native American! I sometimes get flustered trying to order a sandwich if I've been talking all morning. Don't let it get to you - they have tons of interactions with rude and horrible people, so you are not even remotely on their radar for any mistakes you make.

I'm so glad you found something that's okay to occupy you. I sometimes wish I had something like that, but I sometimes can't stay awake for 6 hours in a row, so I'm not sure how I'd accomplish it.

The Finnish "neighbors" thing is hilarious, btw. Thanks for sharing!

[cimorene]

Yeah, this class is actually more exhausting than the Finnish language classes, even though I think it takes slightly fewer hours per day. They're trying to cram in too much stuff and there's a sort of sad desperation attached any time you talk about unemployment and the current state of the economy - particularly with unemployed people. It's also a bit more crowded - 30 people - which is also more taxing. It's a bit much for me, honestly - I don't have the energy left over to keep up with dishes and laundry, let alone to simultaneously get involved with some independent professional development or jobsearching prospect like the teachers keep suggesting.

[cimorene]

I have given serious thought to this but the nature of the toilet cubicles has dissuaded me thus far XD

[cimorene]

:)! That is lovely to hear!