I've now been back in Helsinki for a week and a half which has flown by as there has been so much to do. I returned here half way through the orientation week for new students, but around 50% of my friends were already here so we had a couple of days of chilling before the classes started again. Having the new people here is really strange, I'm not sure whether I like it or not. My main friendship group hasn't changed and to be honest, I don't think it will - yes, it has reshuffled and we have a few more 'regular' faces at our pre parties and lunch time meets of people who were around last semester and have now lost all of their main circle of friends, so have therefore joined up with us rather than befriend the totally new people. There are a couple of new people who I talk to in the corridors and at parties, but all in all, it has become an 'us and them' situation. They have their groups and get excited about all of the things we've already done, such as trips to Ikea, going to Tallinn and going to ESN club nights. And we stay in our little cynical group of older folk from last semester.
That paints a really poor light of it all, and I feel bad for that but it's sort of how I feel. I don't need to make friends with anyone. It's rather like starting second year at Edinburgh - there are loads of new people in your tutorials but you don't feel the burning desire to talk to everyone, get their mobile numbers and be best friends for life as you did when you were a fresher sat in a tutorial class. My friends have all said this too: it's not that we're being unfriendly as we do talk to the new people and have made a concious effort to include them in pre parties, invitations, and letting them know about parties in other buildings. But we already have our friends and would rather just hang around with them rather than do the whole getting to know new people thing again!
Anyway... moving on from the new people!
Courses started last week and I'm enrolled for 3 classes which run until March and then 2 of them end and I start another 2, whilst continuing with 1 of them. They're entitled 'sociocosmology of indigenous Amazonian peoples', 'religion and society in the global south' and 'Islam in Africa'. The Amazonian one is amazing and is totally what I am interested in: perspectivism, linguistic groups, and the translation of culture through language. The lecturer is really interesting and I am considering asking her if she will help me with some of my rough ideas for my dissertation at Edinburgh. I get really excited about this course even though I've only had 3 classes thus far. The religion one is pretty cool - it's about Christianity (and other 'northern' religions) which have a great impact on the developing world by aid work, missionaries etc and the way they're changing relgion in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Then looking at how religions from these areas of the world, such as Buddihism and Islam are working in northern societies. Then we are assessed by writing a report from a visit to an organisation in Helsinki which fits into either of these categories. The 3rd course is pretty self explanitary - Islam in Africa!
Onto other matters, I now have a job which is exciting. It isn't anything too fancy, just looking after a little girl who is 3 and speaking English to her! She only properly speaks Finnish at the moment but her parents have lived in the UK in the past and are keen for her to learn English from an early age so they wanted a babysitter who was also a native English speaker, so that I just communicate with her in English (she knows some English as she was born when they were in the UK) which will hopefully maintain the language she already knows.
I have 3 friends coming to visit me this semester which is exciting: 1 in Feb, 1 in March and 1 in April. I'm currently trying to plan a last minute trip to Lapland in 2 weeks for when the first friend comes to visit - she is on erasmus in Vienna so is also loving the erasmus life, and is fluent in German which is means she will join the German population in Helsinki. Aka: most of my best friends. Although this semester we also have a lot of Italians - 5 in my close friendship group, so they're compertition for Germany. I'm going to Italy for the Venice carnival with my Helsinki friends in Febuary, then going straight from there to Edinburgh for a week for early celebrations of my birthday at the start of March. Followed by a fleeting visit to my home in England, to return to Helsinki with visiting friend number 2 on the day of my 21st birthday. Fun times ahead for me!
