This city (not feat Lupe Fiasco)

Hi again!

Enough of the practical shit, now it's time for me to tell you about my new hometown, Bordeaux. I'm sure you are interested because you're all gonna visit me, right?!

First, I want to explain something about the name of my blog though (I know, I never get to the point right away. Well, consider this as an intro.). Being "homeless in France" doesn't mean that I don't have a place to stay in Bordeaux - now I do!! It means that as I have moved so many times during this summer, I don't really feel that I could really have "a home" anymore. As a great band put it: "If home is where the heart is then we're all just fucked". Yeah, so here I am and I feel like the rest of my life is gonna be moving from one place to another. So let's be homeless in France now!

Some deep shit, sorry for that :P Now to the point!

The place where I live at the moment (where I've been whole week) is near the Place de la Victoire, in Bordeaux. It's very old and ugly - thanks to UNESCO. In my opinion, someone should have bombarded this shit a long time ago so that the cars could actually fit in the streets. But no, UNESCO prefers the time when there was no waste disposal system. I'll show you:

 This is how narrow the streets are. I can almost feel the epoch of the witch hunt.

And this is how the French people park their cars. This is what happens when you surrender in the WW2!! No bombardment!

This is how the French people keep their environment clean. There's also dog shit everywhere. I mean, in the middle of the street! Where you can easily step on it!

This is what happens if you don't take your trash can inside. Every night we look outside and laugh at the neighbors who are desperately trying to fill someone else's trash can because their own cans are full!

And this is how people dry their clothes. Welcome to the slums, everybody!

But I have to admit, Bordeaux is not all ugly and filthy. Believe it or not. We went to the Bordeaux centre, the old town. It looked actually kinda nice:

Yeah, and that's the "old" town. Let me compare it with the new town where I live now:

Can someone explain to me why exactly the new thing looks like crap and the old one looks like a place where people actually live?!?!

We saw some other stuff in the center:

OK, I didn't know at first what this is but now that we searched it in Google maps with Heidi, I can tell that it's the Grand-Théâtre - "the Great Theater" - and it's located in la Place de la Comédie. Nice building anyways.

There was a cute carousel in the center. :)

And also this big-ass cathedral:

But France is full of these so no big deal.

So today we were supposed to go to the bank and meet a nice (and cute!) guy who had said that he could help us with everything. And as we needed help with literally "everything", we were glad to have a reason to go see him again! :D We asked if he was available but because we were late (big surprise!) the bank had already locked him behind some wall to count money or something. Such a shame! 

So, as we didn't have that specific, helpful, funny guy, we couldn't deal with our bank affairs. So we had to leave and do something else as useful: find a "pâtisserie"! That way we could both see the city and have some cake. We had to celebrate our new apartment!

We took the tramway and ended up here, in the center. This is a smaller street where everything doesn't cost everything you own.

This is Heidi enjoying her new hometown where she has an apartment. Did I already mention that I got an apartment? Well, I do, so take that, haters!! Or something.

This is a bigger street. Did I tell you that we have people in our city? We do! Lots of them! Look:

Yay! It's like in Shanghai! People! But these are not Chinese... I think the one in the right is a viking or something...

We wanted to find the perfect place for our celebration. Finally, we found a nice square somewhere in the center:

As you can see, there is another church. France is full of them. Weird. They are not very religious anymore. Well, fine by me!!

There was a nice pâtisserie and we ordered chocolate éclairs:

Notice anything wrong? At first we were like "yeah, nice, let's take some pics!". Then I realized that they had brought the wrong éclairs. Those are coffee, not chocolate. They don't look anything like the ones we wanted. Damn we are stupid! But since they looked delicious, we ate them anyway. It was damn good! Jealous much!?

While we were eating, there was a wedding next to us. Since I am a paparazzi, I decided to take lots of pictures. I still don't know who the groom was :D

Damn, I want to get married! So romantic! Anyone wanna propose to me? Don't be shy, the comment box is just for that!

Ok, I get it, you're not going to write the comments even if I ask you every time to do so. FINE BY ME! I write my own comments! They're so much better anyway! You know, cuz I'm awesome.

And those of you who did write comments: write more! Thank you very much! Love you <3

So, back to Bdx. on the way home, we found a castle:

I don't know what castle that is or why. It's just chilling there. With Heidi.

Then we went to the tram station by the river:

That's the bridge:

Hey, even you see that all of those building's look exactly the same! Imagine coming home drunk and trying to find the right door!

So, this time I told pretty much everything I know about this city so far. Not much. You can thank me for making a short blog entry this time. Worship me! Although this was the second one today...

Next time I will tell you about... something. I miss all of you and want to hear about your lives, too! Keep coming here, maybe next time there is something actually worth reading. I don't guarantee it!

Going to sleep now... with Heidi ;)

Hyvää yötä!

Not so homeless (Warning: might contain some educational material)

Hi, everyone!

It has been a good day for me, in spite of that I had to wake up at 9 AM! Actually, I should've woken up at 8, but as you know, I was up last night writing this blog, so the waking up thing was just too hard for me. Anyway, I'm glad I did go out that early, because... I GOT AN APARTMENT! In this post I will tell you about my flat hunting. I realized that some people may want to learn something about living in France. But don't worry, I'm sure that there is no use reading this blog anyway. Hey, let's try:

Lesson number one: If you are considering going to France for a year, you must first ask yourself WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU THINKING?! WHO WOULD EVER WANT TO SPEND A YEAR IN FRANCE?! At least that is what I did not do. I should have. If you do it, you don't need to learn anything from this blog.

So now that it's clear that you won't be learning anything, I can move on to my favorite thing: complaining. As you probably know, I had problems with mosquitoes back in Finland. Well, I managed to almost avoid them there, but here, it's even worse!! Not only the mosquitoes, but also the small flies bite!! So, as a result, I look like this:

 Very attractive, I know... And this is just my hand!! I can't even count how many times I've been bitten and I've been here for fucking 6 days!! That's my right hand, a.k.a. my handshake hand. Can you imagine me going to a presentation of an apartment with this hand? "Hi, I look like I'm dying, please shake hands with me and take me to live with you after that."

How lovely!! Luckily, the French like to kiss rather than shake hands. I don't know if I like that either.

But OK, enough of my gross hand, let's talk about the flat hunting! I will start at the beginning.

On Monday, I was really sick, so I basically searched some apartments and slept rest of the day. I felt really stressed because I thought I would never have the energy of finding an apartment.

On Tuesday I bought a prepaid connection for my phone so I could call the people about their offers. Yes, in French! And no, it didn't go well. I managed to speak to them but when it was time to understand... oh là là!! it was horrible! The guy kept talking and talking with no pause! And eventually we understood that the apartment was already gone. Like, what the fuck, French people?! Why do you talk so much if you have just a simple thing to say?! I definitely do not understand.

Too afraid to call again, we waited until the next day and went to the university to ask if they could help us. They said they didn't have time for us, gave us some web pages and told us to go to some kind of student helping thing that was right next to where we live at the moment. So, in brief, the university doesn't really care if you live under the bridge.

Next day, we tried calling to a woman who sounded very angry for some reason. Probably didn't like foreigners... She asked us where we come from. I said "Finland" and she said: "Uhhuh, and do you have the guarantor?" Of course, that's what's wrong with the French system! If you don't know French people, you are not trustworthy. I got a credit card in Finland, goddammit!

Then we tried a real estate agency. Of course, they wanted a guarantor as well, so we had to walk away almost immediately when they realized that we were this kind of horrible people who don't have French lovers or something.

We started to feel really desperate. There was no use calling the people and the real estate agencies threw us out. Then we found the student helping thing. Suddenly, everything was brighter. The people were really nice and they wanted to speak English! I mean, speaking French is not a problem for me but when I speak English, I feel home again.

The girl said that she could call the people for us if we gave her the phone numbers. What a great guy!! No more awkward phone calls for me! Fuck yes!

So that is why I didn't have time to update the blog that night. Heidi the slave driver made me look for apartments all night. I sent 3 emails for people just in case, even though I had heard that the French people wouldn't answer those.

By the end of the day, I received an email! It was a guy who asked us to come see the apartment the next day at 2 PM. Needless to say we were excited. And terrified. I went to look for my first own apartment ever and sadly, it's in France.

Heidi was nervous as hell. She worried that the guy would be some kind of 50 year old pervert and that the place would be awful. Then I told her that we would not probably even get the place, so that's when  she started panicking about us not getting the place! Rational or what?

The guy was not 50. He was 22 and pretty shy. He asked if we were noisy. I told no. I lied.

Many people came to visit him and we felt really desperate. We could never get the house! The apartment was really nice but cost damn much, 450 euros per month. And it wasn't even in a great place!

We went back to the student advice thing and the girl called the people. Apparently French people are really bad at answering their phones. None of the apartments were available so the girl looked for new ones on the Internet. She called a guy who said we could come see the place immediately. We were tired, so we went to bank instead.

How I love the bank people! The guy was so funny, he was joking all the time and speaking English!! He even wanted to help us with the apartment thing so we had to close the door when he looked for one, because "his boss would be angry if he knew that he was doing not-work-related things"! :D

Still no apartment, but I received an email that asked if we could go see an apartment the next day.Of course I said yes, even though it required me waking up early!!

So, after hurrying to the place (because we had slept way too long!), we found this place:

Résidence les Sables. It was pretty nice, compared to the ugly buildings from the Middle Ages. It even had some kind of green things.

Terrified, we went in, waiting to see some guy again. Instead, there was an older woman. She showed us all the places, saying that there would be tidier. Like she was really trying to sell the thing. The place was old but roomy. She asked us if we preferred a girl or  boy roommate. WTF? We didn't even live there! Then she asked whether we wanted a room where the sun shines in the morning or not. Needless to say, we chose the ones where we could get some sleep!!!

I went to ask her if we had any chances to get the apartment. She asked us if we wanted to sign the papers right away. Fuck yes!!!!!!!

Heidi signing the contract. I feel so grown up, signed my first rent contract after having to translate the shit in Finnish. The lady had some problems writing "Jyväskylä", my home town :DD

The view from the window. I wonder how our roommate will be. The Madame said there was 5 people waiting to get the apartment. Besides us!! Why on Earth did she choose us immediately?! Anyway, kinda cool.

See this? It's Heidi using our brand new keys for OUR APARTMENT!! Which we do have. We own it!! We don't have to sleep under the bridge!!

And guess what! Near the apartment, we found this:

That's right! Cake every day! The best thing ever! How many of you guys have a pâtisserie next to your house? That's right, bitches!

And we have also this:

It's some kind of park. We can have picnics! Close to our new apartment! Which is ours! Our own!

And the place is also near the university. Yes, the slum!

So this was a really boring update about boring practical stuff. The moral of the story is: children, everything is possible. And if you don't want to use your phone, use the email!! The less you have to talk to people, the better you survive!

Hope you don't stop following me after reading this one :DD I'm planning to write another one about my real life in Bordeaux - with a lot more pictures! So please comment if you don't want to read the educational shit anymore!

See you later! PS: I have an apartment!!!!!!!! :D

Sleepless in Paris

Dear everybody,

I know it's been a long time (like two days! xD) since I last updated this blog, so you must be starving... from... hunger to hear about me? So here I am, still no apartment (big surprise) and fed up with France. But you will hear more about my flat hunting later, because now it's time for (drum roll...) the Events of Paris!! DUNN DUNN DAAN!!

This is going to be a long post, so if you're not that interested about my last week (but of course you are!!) then just see the pictures or... wait! No! You have to read all of it!! It's gonna be awesome!!

So let's go back in time.

MONDAY

It was the 19th of August and I woke up tired as hell having been busy all week spending time with my friends for the last time (ever!! :P) and arranging my exchange things (which I should have done a long time ago). Anyway, I felt excited cuz I knew that I was going to spend the whole week with my dear friend AND SEE FALL OUT BOY FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE!!!

So damn right I was excited. Terhi was like this:

 Really excited as well cuz she knew she was going to spend the whole week with ME. And you know, I'm awesome. This pic was taken on the buss ride to Lahti. In Lahti we played the song "The Phoenix" like a million times, so I'm sure we made a lot of enemies. The buss driver from Lahti to Helsinki was awesome. Even though he was kinda old, he really appreciated my hat.

At the airport we found Mira but she didn't have a plane seat near us. That's why she couldn't get in this really beautiful picture:

Terhi, I and Riina. I know I look like I'm high or something. Maybe I am. After all, I was on a plane :P OK, I'm sorry, it was a bad joke.

I tell you a cool thing. We experienced a whole new country on our way to Paris. Denmark! We used all our language skills in the airport of Copenhagen. Sadly, the only thing we knew in Danish was "Hjælp, jeg er en fisk" - "Help, I'm a fish". We didn't even know how to pronounce it! Good movie though :)

This is a picture of Terhi, Mira and Riina in Denmark. I know, the most amazing country you've ever seen! The prices were really high, though. Don't go there.

So we happened to arrive in Paris. It was really weird that we had almost no problems getting to the Olympia Hall to cash the concert tickets - except that we got a bit lost. But when I asked the guy from Olympia if I could cash the ticket, he said "not until the concert". What the fuck?! Then there was no way we were going to get in the front row!! Paris!! Never works!!!

This is me in the door of Olympia hall. Pretty excited about Fall Out Boy!!!! It was finally going to happen!!

So we found our Auberge de Jeunesse or Jugendherberge or Youth Hostel or whateveritiscalled. It was pretty nice except that the lock in the door didn't work! Luckily I had with me only ALL MY STUFF I WAS GOING TO NEED DURING THE FOLLOWING YEAR! So no big deal.

Annoyed by the fact that I was in Paris again - I hated the city when I went there for the first time - I went to look for the only good thing the damned place had to offer: the food.

  

Here's Riina and I in the restaurant, outside. Paris is a lot cooler place during the night. And when I get food!

TUESDAY

We didn't wake up so early as a good Fall Out Boy fan should have. But we were really really really tired because of all the travelling. Luckily there was a nice way to wake up properly. The hostel shower. There was an open window through which everyone outside could see me and through with the cold wind came in. There was two kinds of water: ice cold and cold as death. And when I tried to turn the water off, the handle came away and fell on the floor, leaving me trying to grab it under the cold shower. Nice. And I kept thinking: "Only 5 more mornings like this!"

So, having woken up, we went to see how awfully long the line would be. Surprisingly, it wasn't too long. There was a nice French girl in the line saying that we should have the tickets right away. Terhi went to check if it was the case and guess what?

I got the ticket!!!!! Daang I was so happy!!! Finally!!! Mine!!! Fall Out Boy!!!!

So, the line was starting to become huge and we had little to do. We met an awesome girl from Norway when she asked if we were from Finland. She was a real FOB fan and she had this kick-ass tattoo:

So we finally had a model to realize our war paint. You know: "Put on your war paint!" We only had my crappy eyeliner, so the result wasn't the best:

But I have to admit, Terhi did a damn good job. You agree with me when you see the next picture. This is what I did to Terhi:

Yeah, I know, I am an artist. No-one else can screw up a simple thing like this. I'm just so unique and original and other shit.

We met other cool people too. 

These are Alex and Céline, two spies who claim to be German but are actually Italian and French. They had talked to Patrick and even hugged him, so they are basically gods. Plus they were really nice!! They even brought us water after the concert, that's true friendship!!

At this point I have to mention that Mira and Riina were really helpful during the whole day, carrying us water and cookies and gods know what. Good slaves. They even took pictures of us:

I don't know what Terhi's thinking in that one. Probably that I'm awesome. At least that's what I'm thinking in that one.

Then, finally, we got inside the Olympia hall. I was so nervous because I feared that I wouldn't make it to the front row. This was my first concert ever, after all. Losing my virginity. So, of course, it had to be perfect. And guess what?! We made it to the second row!! For a moment, I was in the front row, but some idiots kicked me out. More about that later, but first:

All these people were behind us!! Losers!! Or something! Damn I was so lucky! Or was I...?

Dear people, I will tell you this: never go to a concert in France!! The people are the most aggressive kind! And naïve! They kept saying me: "This is not you initial place, go away, we have to be in your place!!". What the fuck!? There were no initial places! My initial place was in front of the door, in the line. And I swear to you, so were theirs as well! 

So when I didn't back off, they started calling me names in French and laughing. Really mature! Then, as I didn't run away crying, they started to hit my hand. Really mature! Then, a guy SCRATCHED MY HAND! REALLY FUCKING MATURE!! But I did not back off because of the French idiots, I stood there through the whole concert, being elbowed, kicked, hit and stamped on. I can assure you that I would have enjoyed the concert more without having bruises and wounds as a souvenir.

So when I say that my blood pressure goes higher when I hear French language, I can tell it's because of the idiots from the concert. Damn, I haven't fought since I was in the elementary school! I bet the people weren't even FOB fans, they were just fans of fighting and that's why they just had to get in the front row: the best fights are there.

So now that the complaining part is done, I'll move on to the better stuff.

There was this flag that went to Fall Out Boy!! <3<3<3

And I got to write in it! I told them to stay awesome. And I wrote there somewhere the address of my Fall Out Boy blog. Which, by the way, is falloutspam.tumblr.com . Yes, this is an advertisement :P 

But, no matter how much I had to fight, I have to admit that our places were AWESOME!! We were just right in front of Patrick! See:

There he was! Like two meters from me! And he was even more beautiful in real life that in pictures! My heart is still melting <3

Patrick threw his pick right where I stood but I didn't get it :( I tried to look for it after the concert, though. Here's the empty-ish Olympia hall:

and me, looking really fresh and stuff. I had just seen Fall Out Boy!!

After the concert I bought a T-shirt and complained a lot about the French idiots. Here's my new awesome T-shirt:

And yeah, there's also the place where FOB played :D

Also Hill Valley played there. They were OK :)

These are my awesome concert friends, Terhi, Alex and Céline. The Norwegian guy had already left :( but she was awesome too! I kept complaining about everything (mostly Paris-related things :D) and the German spies said I should be a stand up comedian. For some reason not the first time I heard that :DD

We stayed there for a few hours waiting that Fall Out Boy would come, but they didn't :'(

I was invited to Germany though, and I'm coming!! Just let me find the apartment first!!

So, now that I notice that I've talked all kinds of nonsense about "Help, I'm a fish" and the hostel shower, I find it hard to believe that anyone will have time to read this crap anymore. So let's make a thing out of this! I call it "The Paris extra", I post it every... well, when I feel like it! So you can hear more about the Paris week later, if you are curious about what happened with the German spies and the hostel problems and find out if Riina and Mira actually did something during the week. I don't promise to answer any of those things.

Anyway, please, leave a comment (you can complain about the length of this and how it has no point regardless of that!) and let me know if you want to hear more about Paris or Bordeaux. The truth is, both stories are borin... I mean amazing! My life is like a movie! 

If you made it here, thanks for reading! 

XOXO Gossip Girl