Kaksi vuotta

Exactly two years ago, on December 8th 2007, I left Finland.

Many things have happened since then, but there is no single day which ends without me remembering a situation, a feeling, a face of my times in Helsinki.
After two years I'm still grateful for the opportunity I had: the work experiences, the friends I made, the places I saw, the different cultures I met, make me feel really privileged.

And you might be surprised that I can still remember some words in Finnish!

N900 is out

here

Congratulations my friends.

The real business

I'm meeting many people who claim to know how to make business. But only few succeed.
I should learn from them.

Andrea is back

My long silence might make you think that I decided to stay in Oceania: well, I was tempted, but eventually I had to come back.

The fact is that last months have been quite interesting for me.
New life as a married man, new house, new job.
Days are very busy, time flies and I always felt too tired to drop some lines to my blog.

But yesterday something happened: almost by accident (just for testing purposes) I put on my new PS3 the DVD of the good old times in Finland, and suddenly a very important piece of my life furiously appeared: hundreds of faces, stories, landscapes invaded my mind. Finally I had some minutes to stop and think, and I realized how many things happened lately, and how far I'm feeling those days, while it's actually just 1.5 years.

Friends, I'm missing you. Kuutamokatu I'm missing you. Itamerenkatu I'm missing you.

Don't worry: I'm not regretting anything, but on the other side I cannot hide that there is always some nostalgia when I think to my days in Finland.

That's why I decided to win my laziness and get back to my blog: I'm sure it will be a good way to feel still "connected".


Welcome back Andrea.

The long wait for the New Year

More than 12 hours waiting for the midnight, most of them laying under the strong Australian sun.
We found a great location: at the opera house, right in front of the harbour bridge. Thanks to a nice young couple from Hong Kong we also got a place in first row. The show was terrific: the 12 minutes of fireworks left everybody openmouthed, and very happy.

NYE08@Sydney

The countdown has started.
Everybody is very excited here in Sydney, looking for a good place to see the famous fireworks show. We're planning to camp on the Opera House area, let's if we're still in time for that.

Meanwhile, happy new year!!!

Blue Mountains

Today we went for a tour to the Blue Mountains: we could see the wonderful wild landscapes of Australia, and meet the most popular animals.
I got to touch a koala and feed a kangaroo!

Sydney Aquarium

Today we walked around the city and eventually visited the very interesting Aquarium at Darling Harbour. We just discovered a new species: the dugong. He's a big water mammal (somehow similar to a seal) with a funny face and he's very fond of lattuce!

Honey Moon - Last stop: Sydney

So, Christchurch was our last city in New Zealand.
After a nice tour on the hills around the city, we visited the Antarctic Center (very interesting interactive museum about Antarctica). They even put us in a polar storm (in a room at -8 C): interesting, but nothing compared to the real experience of a Finnish cold winter day...

Then we flew to Australia, saying hello (for ever?) to New Zealand, where we really had a great time.

Merry Christmas!

From Te Anau