"Not in service" and cheeseburgers.

Note to people traveling in the UK:
If a local bus shows "Not in service" instead of a line number, you bet your ass that that bus is not going to stop and pick you up, no matter how late you are or much you wave and look at the driver angrily. Yapping on about it to your husband after the bus passes will not help either. So, wen you see a bus with "Not in service" on it, don't bother waving and make a fool of yourself on the bus stop.

From buses to snacks, without a donkey bridge.

Walkers, a crisps factory* has got somekind of campaign going on, most probably to boost their sales. They have launced 15 new flavors of crisps, and if you do some stuff on Walkers' web page based on which flavor you liked the most, you can win £10.000.

Some of the new flavors are Japanese Teryaki Chicken, British Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding and Argentinean Flame Grilled Steak. Today, I found another flavor. American Cheeseburger. My first thought was, "whaat?! No way, these prolly taste like mud" (I did use another word than "mud" in my mind, but sssch!).
I decided to buy them just to taste (now you see where the boosting sales-part comes in) and I'll be damned! They really DO taste like a ceesebuger directly from the heat tunnel at McDonald's!
Now THAT'S weird!

Hmm.. No pictures yet.. Oops.. Just tell me if you're very bored with text only :)

*Crisps are the british name for "potatischips".

Midway seminar, ashes and such

I know I promised pictures in this post, but since I am at work, that is not going to happen.
Sure, I can edit and put in some pictures later, if that makes you happy ;)

Last week we had the midway seminar, where all of the BRC volunteers got together and talked about thow the projects are going and had a a few lessons, like deaf awareness where we learned the BSL's (British sign lnguage) letters and a bit more aswell. We also got to look on an emergency response vehicle and it's equipment. Aaand we also had a bit of a self defence training! That was FUN! Even if we didn't get to hurt anyone :P
Most of all, we were able to talk to each other. Most of us haven't met since Guildford in September, and it was really nice to see all again! I don't think I could have gotten a better group of volunteers! :)

Next week, Sandra is meant to come and visit me (wihuuuu!!). BUUUUUUT because of Eijafjatlajökull, that might not happen! :(
We've been looking forward to this week for, hmm, four months now. BLARGH!
Let's hope the ashes have mercy on us.

One month here or there..

The last month has been kinda.. well, not quiet, but not that much new things have happened at work.

I can tell you a few new things.
I will be giving our normal STI presentation on a year 13 assembly in April, 240 students attending at once. Yikes! :D

And last Tuesday me and Lera went with Josh, one of our supervisors, and also the line manager, to a college, and sat in on his homophobia presentation. Me and Lera will deliver the same presentation on another campus this Friday. Really good presentation, and it seems to have got the young people thinking about what they say to each other and such.
I do look forward to delivering it myself, after a few adjustments to the Power point presentation we have.

Also, our computers got upgraded to Windows XP last Thursday. We have been working with Windows 2000 up until then, and still two computers are left with the old OS on them, and one is not starting at all A fourth wont let anyone log in.
The nice man from IT who came up from London to upgrade our computers is off work this week, so we will have to cope until next week.
I got to play a bit of an IT man myself last Friday, when one of the computers wasn't connecting to the main system. Oh well.. Next week we should be all sorted again.

This weekend I went to Liverpool to celebrate a fellow vol's birthday. I had a blast! Even if the traveling there takes about 3,5 hours...

Until next time, try not to hurt yourselves ;P

Mate..

I just threw in a "mate" when I asked one of our volunteers (I'm recognized as a member of staff) how he's doing, just to see how it felt.. Man, dit it feel wrong? :D
But the volunteer didn't seem to mind, so it's prolly just my head.

Wow.. The wrongness.

December 2009

I just remembered quite a funny thing that happened while I was home in Finland in December.
I bought some stuff from the local-ish supermarket, and paid with my British debit card.

The cashier asked "Bank or credit?"
I found this a bit funny, since it's a debit card it doesn't have any credit side. It's basically a normal bank card.

When I said this to the cashier she looked at me and started to say something, but the cashier from the till behind mine interrupted with a reminder to my cashier:
"Since it's a Swedish card, we'll have to put it under credit" (The correct term would've been "foreign", but maybe everything outside Finland is Sweden for him..?)

Still trying to convince both cashiers that it doesn't have a credit side, but they didn't seem to listen, so I said "Ok.. Credit it is then.."

When the transaction was finished and I'd signed the receipt my cashier said:
"These Swedish bank/credit cards can really mess things up sometimes"
I could't help myself from saying
"It's in fact British, and it does not have a credit side, but I agree."
I like the look I got. Can't describe it though..


I miss Finnish sweets.

Red Cross element

A (big) part of my EVS year is to be a part of some Red cross group or doing some work for the Red Cross. I haven't done anything yet, but the circus around that begins tomorrow when I'll be going to Abingdon to a Red cross HQ to meet up with a volunteer organizer (no, that is probably not the right term, but anyways) and have an induction to Oxfordshire's Red cros and see what they're up too.
So hopefully tomorrow I'll know what I'll be doing for the last six months or so. Wow.. Am I soon o be half way through? Geez..

I've found some misusage of the Red cross symbol. Should report that aswell. A childrens doctors costume and a nurses dress for Valentine's day.
People who come up with these dresses seems not to have been to a hospital, well.. at all.

Oh, and that text to the Finnish Red Cross.. Haven't started yet. But there are no plans for the weekend either :P Buuut.. I guess there are now ;)

New music.

I was asked to write a text to the Finnish Red Cross' website about my first half of the year here.
Good thing I started this blog! Gives me some help.. Otherwise I wouldn't know waht to write.


I've recently discovered the Swedish duo Far & Son. They sing the amazing song Panik, and another good song called Tjeckoslovakien. One of the guys in this band is also a member of Maskinen, who plays kinda the same music. I really like Maskinen aswell.
The first song I heard from Maskinen came out when I was in the army.

Can't describe the bands music, so I guess I'll just have to show you some videos.

OH! Speaking about Maskinen. When I first arrived in the UK, a French guy listened when i played Maskinen on my computer and said, with his perfect English with the perfect French accent
"This sounds quite like a French band!". I'll give you that aswell.

Enjoy!