The Six Million Dollar Man

I thought that it was already high time for me to write a few verses about my new home, Lisbon. After all, I've already been here for more than a month! And on top of that, I had a very pleasant day of sunbathing today.

There's one excellent reason why you just have to love this place: it simply never rains, nor is it even cloudy, and we've already had plenty of at-least-twenty-degrees-celsius-days during this past month. And today was one of those hot early March Lisbon days with a scorching (I'm a Finn) outside temperature. We went with LP to a nearby 'miradouro', a sightseeing terrace/plaza, from which you could see the whole city. Not that I was really paying any attention to the city, that is! I was SUNBATHING. And as anyone with any brain knows, the only real way to do sunbathing is to... Well, to do nothing else. You just bask in the sun, and love the world.

But as anyone with any brain knows, I'm not too bright. And that's why I was reading a cell biology book. But you know what?!? I loved it. It was a sin to be sure but I loved every second of it. Of course, at times it was a bit hard to keep concentrating on my book with all the godly female figures around (LP), all the dogs racing around the park, and the occasional gust of wind turning the pages of my book. (Thanks to my brother MS, for loaning me the book!) Still, I was able to make some progress. There's just one thing I have to be frank with you about: that cell biology stuff sure is complex. I mean, really frustratingly complicated. It's all 'this enzyme phophorylates this one, and then when a protein is improperly folded and sent for degradation to a lysosome a baby unicorn comes and sneezes'! You see? I think I almost got it, but I guess even I have to work at it some more... Some more.

The city itself has been nice, too. And I really mean 'nice', not fantastic or fabulous or anything else of such an immense magnitude. Thus far it hasn't been a mind-blowing experience for me to walk the streets, but I have this feeling that the city might grow on me eventually. But let's face it: it's not like I'd have the optimal circumstances to get all infatuated with Lisbon. After all, I don't know the language nor do I have any attachments of my own to the city. I mean, I don't study or work or anything. Still, I think I just might love this place after a month or two. And what's more, I already prefer Lisbon to Madrid. My apologies to all Madrid lovers, that's just the way it is.

For me, it is kind of exciting to compare the two cities, actually. First, here in Lisbon most of the buildings (and people, too) are in less-than-perfect shape (outfits), whereas in Madrid everything seemed to be tip-top, always. Furthermore, here in Lisbon you can find a café (or two) around every corner, whereas in Madrid... Well, you'd find a tavern. And finally, here in Lisbon it is customary to go to those cafés for a quick lunch (an espresso-type strong shot of coffee with a sweet pastry of some sort is a usual choice), whereas in Madrid it is customary to go for a quick lunch to one of those many taverns (the usual choise might be something like a glass of beer and some bread with serrano ham and cheese).

So, to sum up:

• People in Lisbon tend to eat sweet pastrys, drink lots of coffee, and walk around looking like piles of rags.
• People in Madrid tend to walk around looking all neat and tidy, drink beer, and eat ridiculous amounts of ham (read: atherosclerosis)

So there you have it: I have these two cities all figured out already. Wow, I'm so... perceptive.

By the way, today is the International Women's Day! So, this is for all of you pretty ladies who are eagerly reading all of my blog updates! Here goes:


Feel free to make any assumptions based on this clip about my feelings toward unindependent women. *chuckles*

Things are quite different now compared to what was going on when I last posted something here on my blog. No wonder really since it has been a while already. Let's try to catch up with all the stuff that has been happening to me lately. This sure is going to be a lengthy post, but bear with me, ok? Sadly, not all of it is going to be pretty...

My last post (A Day to Remember) was about me getting engaged in November 2011. After my trip to Portugal, where I proposed to LP, I again had to focus on my studies at UC3M. Or, I SHOULD have focused on my studies. Instead... I dunno really..? Something just happened. To tell you the truth, something had been happening even before that. I mean, I've considered myself the type of guy who gets things done. (No laughing, please!) Still, during my time in Spain I was kind of... numb? It was hard for me to get ANYTHING done. (see My Spanish Buddy and a Weird Weekend... for more 'details') And where did that lead me to? I'll tell you where. Nowhere. Here's a sort of a list you should take a look at:

1. I had to drop out from one of my UC3M courses (Biomechanics) because I lacked any interest in the subject and was unable to force myself to study it.
2. I spent all of my time in my beautiful prison cell (a.k.a. my apartment) in Leganés, totally separated from the rest of the world.
3. There were lots of days during which I spoke to NOBODY. And then, there were at least as many days during which I spoke only to LP on Skype.

[EDIT: I think I should still point out a few things in my own defence. First of all, I lived alone in Leganés, a place where no students live because it's so boring. Furthermore, there were very few exchange students studying at the Leganés campus of UC3M. Why is that a problem? I studied in English anyway, right? That wouldn't have been a problem if the Spanish students would have been more willing to talk to me in English. But the truth is that most Spaniards, even the ones who speak English, prefer to stick to their native tongue. I can't really blame them, can I? I mean, to me it seems like a very natural code of conduct. Do that which is easiest. And it's all fine, except when it comes to lonely exchange students. Aha! I hear a voice in the crowd yelling 'Why didn't you go to one of the ERASMUS language courses at your university, jackass?!?' Well, the reason is that all the courses were taught at a different campus. I wouldn't have been able to study my engineering things if I had taken a Spanish course at UC3M. On top of that, well... They don't even give you credits for those courses at UC3M. So, there you have it: no language courses for me.]

I guess it's not hard to understand that when the holidays were starting to close up and it was time to visit my friends and family in Finland I was more than happy to leave Leganés...

Luckily my stay in Finland was filled with laughter and joy, so to speak. No wonder, since my family and friends are all awesome. But, on the 5th of January it was time once more to take a plane to Spain. This time I wasn't leaving alone, though. LP came to Madrid with me! She didn't have to go back to Lisbon before February, so she was able to spend most of January with me in Spain. Thank you, love! It really was an amazing month. We had so much time just for the two of us that we almost ran out of things to see in Madrid! On top of that, we also visited the astonishing city of Barcelona. Despite the terrible (read 'freezing cold') accommodation the trip was fantastic. But, back to businness. Let's focus on my studies for a second.

My spring semester started with a bunch of tests. You know what? I failed one of them. I've NEVER failed one single test in my whole life (except for one geography quiz on 8th grade). And to make it even worse, the course was on basic university-level chemistry. Can you believe it? I sure as hell still can't. But there's no denying it 'cause that's what really happened. Well, at least I got something done although 12 ECTS credits is not a score to be cheerful about. (The goal for a single semester is around 30 credits.) To look at the bright side of it all, I got sort-of-ok grades from the two courses that I passed. And on top of that, I scored around 95% from my two oral biochemistry presentations. (Actually, what that really means is that I was one of the few people in our group to speak proper English. Sorry guys, but let's face it: it's true.)

And then what? Well, here comes the big news. I quit. I left Madrid. Totally, utterly. And where am I now? Ha! You guessed it:

I'm in Lisbon!

I won't go now into details about all the administrative mess I still have to sort out. Instead, I could tell you about my general 'plans' for this spring:

1. I'll stay in Lisbon until the 19th of May. (I already have my flight booked.)
2. During my time here I'm going to study biochemistry-related topics for work. I'll continue working at Micronova on the 21st of May, more or less.
3. I'm going to be in pro-athlete shape by the time I come back to Finland. (We bought gym cards for the whole spring.) You know, I was kind of startled by the fact that my body fat percentage was very close to the ideal 15% for guys. It was actually 15.3%. So, the only thing left for me to do to look PERFECT is to generate muscles. And I mean it literally. I can't just 'grow' them. I truly have to generate new muscles, from scratch.

And how has my life been here in Lisbon so far? Not bad. I mean, I've met a lot of people, I live in the same apartment with LP (and four other people), and I've already been robbed. So, it's all good.

So, I guess that's it. Now that I got this 'post gap' covered with this scribble I can finally continue posting on a more or less regular basis. Until later then, suckers!

I've been thinking about my life recently. I mean, really thinking, a lot. And you know what? I even reached a conclusion: there was something missing, so to speak. Something was making me less exciting and less of a man than usual. (Although, I'm not saying that I'd be very exciting or much of a man in general.) On top of that, there's that little something that I've been thinking about non-stop since moving to Spain. That had to stop. Or change, at the very least.

I visited my girlfriend in Portugal this weekend (30th 0f September - 3rd of October). And I had plans for the occasion, something besides trying a pastel de nata or seeing Belém. Some of you might not believe this, but there's a downside to everything, even MY plans. Once more I have to add a date to the 'list of dates that I have to remember for the rest of my life'. The date that I'm talking about is 1102011 - or the 1st of October 2011. But why is that?

Well, that's the day I got engaged to LP in Belém, Lisbon... That's right! I'm engaged.

I first thought that it would be hard to be the guy who proposes to a girl. But, I found it to be quite simple. Here's my advice to all you would-be-proposers: 'Just say something! You'll sound stupid anyway, so don't worry!' I guarantee it, it works. (Or it worked for me, at least.) I can also tell you, that you don't even need a ring! Don't get me wrong, though. It's not like LP wouldn't have a ring in her finger at this very moment because she does. But, I didn't fall on my left knee holding up a gazillion dollar ring in my hands as I proposed to her. No, no. I'm a Finn, remember? In my opinion loving someone shouldn't be about money, social status or even about fancy rings. (Please, feel free to disagree with me.) So, to emphasize my opinion (and because of my total lack of self-confidence), I felt better doing the proposing thing quite naturally, letting the words come out without forcing them in a very minimalistic fashion as we were walking towards the Belém Tower. Ha, it worked! And now I'm happy. I couldn't be happier. But, there is still one thing I have to do to get this engagement-thing all sorted out:

I still have to buy MYSELF a ring.