A third of our time here is gone!

I'm still alive. Gypsies did not kidnap me and make me tell fortunes after the last post. I've been busy busy with some outside writing, and as I keep saying, Finland is just too normal! This season is flying by. A third of the season has come and gone. First time in a long time that I am not wishing the time to speed by.

But have some things saved up that might be somewhat interesting. Fresh start in November.

Have to tell you about the crazy Finnish/Swedish rivalry in pretty much everything. They are ruthless!

Well they look cozy here! (source)

I had a really fun Halloween night out with the girls. Well, it was about as much Halloween as Europe gets! I'll have to share pics next week.

Remember this? Well, I didn't get surgery on my hair but they sure butchered the color. Oh how I love getting my hair done at a different place every year! It's like spinning a big wheel full of hair colors, and maybe landing on one that is not a crazy, fake shade. Lady luck was not with me this time.

Not what I look like, but it's what I feel like! If it were Prom and it were 1999, I'd be super styling! (source)

And have I mentioned that we are somewhat stranded in Finland right now?? Our passports with the new, extremely-hard-to-get Finnish Visa has yet to arrive from Helsinki. Gulp.


Also, got this amazing and beautiful bracelet in the mail. 100% of the proceeds go to help the families affected.

 

"On Sept 7, 2011, 44 lives were lost in the worst tragedy in professional hockey history. A plane carrying crew members, hockey personnel, coaches and players of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team went down, breaking the hearts of their loved ones near and far. In a united effort to show support for the grieving families, hockey wives and girlfriends from around the world have created this website in hopes to raise money for their dear friends"

Get yours here. 


Blogger is telling me this is my 200th post. Yowzers! Ya'll have been around for a lot of 200 random ass, rambling posts?? You must really be bored online ;)

Everyone have a great and safe Halloween! I can't wait to see pictures. I'll be internet stalking today, and see you in November....which is 2 days away, lol.

Euro Vision: Gypsies!

 

Finnish Gypsies

 

So after the worldwide premier of My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, that awe-inspiring train-wreck that some how or another did not win any Emmys this past year, everyone is fairly familiar with the gypsy stereotype. The show makes them seem to run rampant in the U.K. Adamantly refusing to adapt to local cultures and ideals, and being somewhat of a nuisance to those who are forced to live around their clans.

So ridiculous, and so awesome. Reality TV at its finest! (source)

I really expected to see gypsies in Germany. In a country where multi-culturism has officially 'failed', that according to Merkel, I never ran into a clan of gypsies. We saw them in Rome, I encountered large families in Greece, at a distance. But they seemed to be even more of a stereotype. Think Esmeralda of The Hunch Back of Notre Dame.

But it wasn't until this year in Finland that we came across gypsies. I guess the gypsies really stand out here and we have seen quite a few traveler families out and about.

How can tell they are gypsies??

You really can't miss their 'traditional' dress. The women wear hoop-skirts in black velvet, accompanied by an apron and ruffle shirts. The men dress in dark black suits. Along with their olive skin and dark features, something you can imagine stands out in Finland, it all lends to  their somewhat derogative name of Mustalasia, coming from the Finnish word for black: Musta.

Traditional woman's dress (source)

These are the Romani Gypsies, a distinct group that started in what is now northern India. The wandered the European continent for hundreds of years and were nearly wiped out by Nazi prosecution during WWII. The are known to have occupied Finland since the 17th century. Men traditionally held jobs as horse traders, but more modernly are involved in horse breeding, car dealing and scrap metal trading. Women continue their traditional work as fortune tellers or handicraft artists.

Seen here at a fast food restaurant, Hesburger. (source)

Check out this great gallery of Finnish gypsy photographs!

While gypsies are not fully welcomed anywhere in Europe, Finland doesn't seem to be one of the more racist countries. Yes, for those of you unaware, Europe can be very, very racists. I guess so can any closed-minded and ignorant person, no matter where they hail from. But still, gypsies were and still are to some extent discriminated against here as well. People seem to tolerate them around, although I can imagine they still get treated as inferior to this day. The thought from long ago is that they are lazy, not hard working and bring in criminal activity. While some might say this is still true, I think it is an unfair assumption to be born into.

More shots of their dress, and the men in black (source)

And there seem to be quite a large number here. Recent figures put the Romani population at anywhere from 6,500 to 10,000. That is a big chunk for a lesser populated country. To put it into perspective, Finland's nomadic indigenous people, the Lapps, only have numbers in the 2,500's. So it's not uncommon to run into a gypsy at Ikea, the mall or grocery story. I see at least a few a week.

But for me, it is no big deal. I just try not to stare, but I'm nonetheless intrigued at how people living like this are still around. Fascinated might be a better word. If anything, I guess it is just one more thing that reminds me that I am still in Europe!

Doubled that baby up. Euro Vision and a More You Know Monday!

*Information gathered from: Source 1, Source 2

People With Two Blogs are SOOO Annoying

Before you get all huffy with me, read on ;)

Sooo, I'm feeling a lack of inspiration lately. Been enjoying hoping around and reading blogs, enjoying working on a few side projects that I've had, and really been enjoying the day-to-day here in Finland.

What I'm not enjoying is the lack of inspiration this 'normal' country is giving me! Way to be too easy to live in, Finland. What am I supposed to do now?! Have I become that, gasp, European!?!

Well, I did go to not one, but two coffee shops this week in the middle of the afternoon. And we recycle more than anyone else in our building. And oh shiznit, we loooove sparkle water. What are we doing?!

Hold on a sec here.

K, I'm back and better. Just wasted some water, talked really loud in public and told everyone in I ran into on the streets that they better start speaking English or they can leave this country.

Phew! I feel so much better now.

'MUURRICAA! (source)

I do have a Euro Vision post lined up for Monday. And I'm sure that after this weekend, I will encounter a few 'weird' things that I can post about. Today is just not the day.

But, um, hello, after the genius posts like Weird Souvenirs Around the World, The Best Halloween Costume, and the now infamous Bidet Post, what can you really expect. Your demand is high, people. ;)

Instead, I'll give a shout out to my other blog (hence the name of the post today),

Nobody Need Wait!

Someone actually took the leap and submitted a fantastic story to the site. You will not want to miss this inspirational piece. And no matter how corny you might think this idea is, who doesn't love a feel good moment. Those kinds that make you hold back a tear, in a good way.

Enjoy ya'lls weekend!