So yeah, my being sick continued again for a while. Apparently I got the stomach flu somewhere in the ward. Was absolutely horrible for a couple days with a fever. We were supposed to go out on Friday proper but that didn't amount to much. Wasn't feeling too hot so I just kind of sat around when people partied. But hey, that's okay. Today I am finally feeling good enough to write something on this blog of mine. Went out with for a jog with Pasi again today, feels good to be doing some sports again. Then we went out to Wyndham Arms for dinner, double cheeseburger was absolutely delish!
Tomorrow going to reconsider shaving my mustache and probably gonna go get a haircut in town, time to trim this badboy down. Not sure what kind of a cut I'm gonna get, something awesome I'm sure. We've been exploring the opportunities of going out for some bowling in Cardiff some day and doing paintball while we are out here. Never done paintball my self to it should be a freakin' blast. Gave my mum a phone call to Finland. My detoxing of Salmiakki was getting way too bad so I just had to ask her to send me a couple bags of it. For those of you who don't know what this awesome delicacy is, its like a Finnish salty licorice that pretty much nobody non-Finnish likes. But it is awesome in all ways possible. I'm kind of starting to miss proper coffee. The coffee here is okay but its always crystal coffee so its not the real thing. But it does the trick! I was also proud to hear that my brother is following my footsteps in becoming a Explosives&Ammunitions unit storage guy and getting out of the Finnish army in 6 months. So he is pretty happy with that I suppose. (Army is mandatory in Finland!). Was tired of not having a proper music supply so I put myself back on Spotify so I have music at my disposal 24/7 with a small data usage.
Kinda feeling homesick for the first time since I've been here. But nothing too serious. Just sent off an email to the student coordinator asking for the exact dates of when my last practice ends so I can start buying tickets for my epic trip around Europe in April. Cant wait. I also met this awesome dude over here in Wales and we are going to go check out the music scene a bit in Cardiff and possibly Wales. There's gonna be some good DJ's around, can't wait!
sunnuntai 26. helmikuuta 2012
keskiviikko 22. helmikuuta 2012
Random thoughts
So as it turns out.. Forrest Gump was never in Vietnam. He was actually in Wales. Saturday morning we had a bit of welsh rain storm over here. It seriously felt like being in a blender. Water was flying upwards, side to side and sometimes it just looked like it was going around in a circle midair.. kind of like a baby tornado or something.
Today I got to go to see three surgeries, which were very interesting to see. The only bad thing was that my clothing I borrowed from the surgical wards dressing room wasn't very good. I got some ghetto shoes that had surgical cleaning liquid and blood stains on it and something like KABOOM written on it. Also my pants were torn and had dried blood stains on them. My shirt was fine except for the fact that it had a very deep V neck opening.. so I got to show off my manly chest hair. So I guess it was pretty awesome actually. Better than my first visit to the operating theatre anyway, then I had a bellybutton shirt and pants so tight they made me feel like I was Freddy freakin' Mercury. Anyways, we have these I.D tags at the hospital, you gotta wear them visible at all times. I got back to my ward after the surgeries only to notice that I had forgot the damn tag in the dressing room at the operating theatres. So I ran back, asked the desk if any tags had been returned and none were. So it wasn't in the dressing room or anywhere. So I was like damn, didn't know what to do. Then I just touched my chest.. and felt the damn chain through the shirt. I had it on the whole time under my shirt. Made me feel like a damn moron. I guess the 12 hour days are doing my head in after all. Had a good laugh about it later!
Oh well, gotta power through tomorrow and then I'm off for four ( 4 ) days.
AWESOME!
Today I got to go to see three surgeries, which were very interesting to see. The only bad thing was that my clothing I borrowed from the surgical wards dressing room wasn't very good. I got some ghetto shoes that had surgical cleaning liquid and blood stains on it and something like KABOOM written on it. Also my pants were torn and had dried blood stains on them. My shirt was fine except for the fact that it had a very deep V neck opening.. so I got to show off my manly chest hair. So I guess it was pretty awesome actually. Better than my first visit to the operating theatre anyway, then I had a bellybutton shirt and pants so tight they made me feel like I was Freddy freakin' Mercury. Anyways, we have these I.D tags at the hospital, you gotta wear them visible at all times. I got back to my ward after the surgeries only to notice that I had forgot the damn tag in the dressing room at the operating theatres. So I ran back, asked the desk if any tags had been returned and none were. So it wasn't in the dressing room or anywhere. So I was like damn, didn't know what to do. Then I just touched my chest.. and felt the damn chain through the shirt. I had it on the whole time under my shirt. Made me feel like a damn moron. I guess the 12 hour days are doing my head in after all. Had a good laugh about it later!
Oh well, gotta power through tomorrow and then I'm off for four ( 4 ) days.
AWESOME!
sunnuntai 19. helmikuuta 2012
Day N' Night
People have been pulling my virtual sleeve asking me to write some more stuff so here I go.
Working two nights was pretty interesting. Was weird to go in at 7 instead of the usual 9.15 that most wards in Finland start their night shift. Obviously I wont be going into details but overall the shifts were interesting. I was mostly just assisting in what ever I could, doing small stuff. Gotta love the way people talk in Wales, even though I'm half american I have a hard time understanding everything sometimes. The "report" at the change of shifts was a bit hard to follow. Never having worked at a pediatric ward and never having done healthcare in English.. good luck trying to understand whats going on. I can only imagine how hard it is for my companions who don't speak English as well. Its useful to know that I can always ask if I'm unsure about something. Also the staff is very nice and I'm getting along well with everyone. It gets really hectic and busy on occasion, but then there is times when its easier. I'm going to be working 12 hour shifts for the whole 4 weeks, but the good thing again is that its only 3 days of work a week. Which frees me up for more exploring around!
Anyways, that's enough about work. I have been battling with a far more serious personal issue lately. It is a true crisis that many men, old and young, face during their lifetime. It is a problem so serious that over thinking it can actually cause earthquakes and black holes into space. It is the matter of whether or not shave my mustache. I have several options on the matter. I can either shave it off, and look like a 5 year old boy left alone in the park or then I can keep growing it and suffer from the damn mustache going to into my mouth all the time. Then that got me wondering. Is there a certain place where I can get it finely tuned to it wont be either of the before mentioned outcomes? Do they solve problems like this at barbershops? I don't think so.. I think what I need is some kind of "Mustacheer's Shop".. problem is that I have never seen one of those in my life. Input and comments of others in similar situations much appreciated.
So anyhoo, today we went out for a jog with Pasi. Was quite a rough experience since I haven't really exercised since I got to UK. We went around, trying to find a good place to run, some track sort of forming a track around the hospital/town area but we were unable to find anything.. was fun to explore anyways. Got to ask some of the local people we know to show us around! Had a chance to drive in the new running shoes and "Rocky style" college pants and hoodie I got from the outlet mall. Also got a bloody hilarious pink tie for going out, I'll be putting some photos of me up hopefully by the end of next week so ya'll can see what I look like. Be careful though, you might turn into stone!
Till the next episode of pointless babbling,
Mikko
Working two nights was pretty interesting. Was weird to go in at 7 instead of the usual 9.15 that most wards in Finland start their night shift. Obviously I wont be going into details but overall the shifts were interesting. I was mostly just assisting in what ever I could, doing small stuff. Gotta love the way people talk in Wales, even though I'm half american I have a hard time understanding everything sometimes. The "report" at the change of shifts was a bit hard to follow. Never having worked at a pediatric ward and never having done healthcare in English.. good luck trying to understand whats going on. I can only imagine how hard it is for my companions who don't speak English as well. Its useful to know that I can always ask if I'm unsure about something. Also the staff is very nice and I'm getting along well with everyone. It gets really hectic and busy on occasion, but then there is times when its easier. I'm going to be working 12 hour shifts for the whole 4 weeks, but the good thing again is that its only 3 days of work a week. Which frees me up for more exploring around!
Anyways, that's enough about work. I have been battling with a far more serious personal issue lately. It is a true crisis that many men, old and young, face during their lifetime. It is a problem so serious that over thinking it can actually cause earthquakes and black holes into space. It is the matter of whether or not shave my mustache. I have several options on the matter. I can either shave it off, and look like a 5 year old boy left alone in the park or then I can keep growing it and suffer from the damn mustache going to into my mouth all the time. Then that got me wondering. Is there a certain place where I can get it finely tuned to it wont be either of the before mentioned outcomes? Do they solve problems like this at barbershops? I don't think so.. I think what I need is some kind of "Mustacheer's Shop".. problem is that I have never seen one of those in my life. Input and comments of others in similar situations much appreciated.
So anyhoo, today we went out for a jog with Pasi. Was quite a rough experience since I haven't really exercised since I got to UK. We went around, trying to find a good place to run, some track sort of forming a track around the hospital/town area but we were unable to find anything.. was fun to explore anyways. Got to ask some of the local people we know to show us around! Had a chance to drive in the new running shoes and "Rocky style" college pants and hoodie I got from the outlet mall. Also got a bloody hilarious pink tie for going out, I'll be putting some photos of me up hopefully by the end of next week so ya'll can see what I look like. Be careful though, you might turn into stone!
Till the next episode of pointless babbling,
Mikko
torstai 16. helmikuuta 2012
UK Vs. Finland
So now that I am feeling better, I had an idea to write a little post about the differences I have noticed between these two countries during my two week stay here.
- Taking a shower or washing your hands is quite different between these two countries. In Finland you have one lever that controls how warm or cold the water is. Usually the same one controls how strong the flow of water is too. In the UK, usually you have two taps. One tap produces water similar to a polar bears breath, or a glacier being slammed onto your hand. The other taps water is warm enough to sear off the fingerprints off ones hands, which is something I would think that the Pink Panther or other jewel thieves would find to be very handy. So basically your options are a bucket of ice water or a deep fryer on your hands. Only the wisest of individuals can find the perfect balance between the two. And oh yeah, another thing to note is the fact that the taps are far away from each other so you can either splash boiling water from your hot hand to the frosted glacier that is the other hand, or then you can fill up the sink with water so you can wash your hands like that.. which takes time.
- The people are different. The Finnish stereotype is that everyone is quiet, loves awkward silences and keeps to themselves mostly. Although I don't think this stereotype holds true with the younger generation anymore. But in the UK people are way more social and it's rather easy spark up a conversation with a complete stranger. Also people don't really use "Hi" or "Hello" over here, its more like saying "Alright", to which you respond by saying Alright. Its kind of like saying "Whats up" in America. People say the same thing to each other but they don't really want to know whats going on, its just saying hello. First I thought it was a bit silly but now I'm getting used to it. Also, people don't drink as much tea in the UK as the stereotypes might perceive. Hey.. what do ya know!
I'll continue the list another time, Ciao!
To finish this post off, here's a quote from one of arguably the greatest comedians of all time: George Carlin. May he rest in peace. By the way, don't get offended if you're religious. It's just a joke ;)
"Religion easily has the best bullshit story of all time. Think about it. Religion has convinced people that there's an invisible man . . . living in the sky. Who watches everything you do every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a list of 10 specific things he doesn't want you to do. And if you do any of these things, he will send you to a special place, of burning and fire and smoke and torture and anguish for you to live forever, and suffer, and burn, and scream, until the end of time. But he loves you. He loves you. He loves you and he needs money."
- Taking a shower or washing your hands is quite different between these two countries. In Finland you have one lever that controls how warm or cold the water is. Usually the same one controls how strong the flow of water is too. In the UK, usually you have two taps. One tap produces water similar to a polar bears breath, or a glacier being slammed onto your hand. The other taps water is warm enough to sear off the fingerprints off ones hands, which is something I would think that the Pink Panther or other jewel thieves would find to be very handy. So basically your options are a bucket of ice water or a deep fryer on your hands. Only the wisest of individuals can find the perfect balance between the two. And oh yeah, another thing to note is the fact that the taps are far away from each other so you can either splash boiling water from your hot hand to the frosted glacier that is the other hand, or then you can fill up the sink with water so you can wash your hands like that.. which takes time.
- The people are different. The Finnish stereotype is that everyone is quiet, loves awkward silences and keeps to themselves mostly. Although I don't think this stereotype holds true with the younger generation anymore. But in the UK people are way more social and it's rather easy spark up a conversation with a complete stranger. Also people don't really use "Hi" or "Hello" over here, its more like saying "Alright", to which you respond by saying Alright. Its kind of like saying "Whats up" in America. People say the same thing to each other but they don't really want to know whats going on, its just saying hello. First I thought it was a bit silly but now I'm getting used to it. Also, people don't drink as much tea in the UK as the stereotypes might perceive. Hey.. what do ya know!
I'll continue the list another time, Ciao!
To finish this post off, here's a quote from one of arguably the greatest comedians of all time: George Carlin. May he rest in peace. By the way, don't get offended if you're religious. It's just a joke ;)
"Religion easily has the best bullshit story of all time. Think about it. Religion has convinced people that there's an invisible man . . . living in the sky. Who watches everything you do every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a list of 10 specific things he doesn't want you to do. And if you do any of these things, he will send you to a special place, of burning and fire and smoke and torture and anguish for you to live forever, and suffer, and burn, and scream, until the end of time. But he loves you. He loves you. He loves you and he needs money."
keskiviikko 15. helmikuuta 2012
So my practical training didn't start exactly as I wanted it to. First day went fine, obviously the whole experience was entirely new to me as I hadn't worked with kids before. Kids sure do bring their own challenges to healthcare. I learned a lot during my first day and I am surely going to learn more and more every day I'm there. I was supposed to work yesterday on Valentine's Day but I wasn't able to as I woke up with a fever and crazy flu. I went to the store and got myself some medicine, feel a little better today. My next shift is on Friday night so hopefully I will be okay to work by then. That's the thing about healthcare though, there's no going to work if you are sick so that you wont get others ill. Not a whole lot to talk about this time I'm afraid. I have been keeping to my bed sleeping and watching movies like 18 hrs a day. My nose is red and irritated from all the sneezing. Feels bad.
Hope I will have some better news and more stories for you all next time!
Mikko Chwydu
Hope I will have some better news and more stories for you all next time!
Mikko Chwydu
maanantai 13. helmikuuta 2012
Vol. 3
Saturday and Sunday were mostly just days of chillaxment, taking it easy before I start my training. Went out for a walk on myself on Saturday and took some pictures of the city. Not a whole lot of pics and they're not great quality as I would like since the cam isn't great but I'll share some none the less. On Sunday we went out to the local outlet mall to do some shopping. I had wanted to buy a vest forever so now I finally got to fulfill my dream of becoming a proper british/welsh gentleman. Now I just need the monocle and top hat, Ayee! The vest was only like 14 quid, not bad at all. I will put a photo up of it later on when we go out and I wear it. Sometime.. within the next century or so. Anyhoo, I was buying myself a pair of Adidas trainers on sale when the card got denied at the counter.. this was not only embarrassing but also puzzling as I have more than enough on there for a pair of shoes.. Ended up buying the shoes with cash and heading over to the cash-o-mat to see whats up. Entered the pin and it seemed to be working just fine. Then I tried to check balance, the machine stopped me by saying that my bank had blocked usage of my card.. so I was like what the fudge. Basically what could have happened was that someone had gotten my info abroad and emptied my account, or my bank had blocked usage of my card due to it being used out of country even though I let them know before I left. Needless to say, I was supremely agitated. So I rushed home only to rush this mystery worthy of "Sherlock Holmes"-type status. Of course the bank wasn't open so I sent them an "In-bank" mail. Situation kinda sucks since I only got like 15 pounds in cash. Luckily a flatmate of mine is willing to borrow me money if need be. Anyways, today I called the bank since they hadn't answered me only to find that they had no markings that there was anything wrong with my account. No markings had been made and there was no problems. The bank lady suggested to me that I try the card as soon as possible and call back if there is any problems. She was about to check something for me when suddenly the line went dead and I get a message from Orange(my service provider for payasyougo) saying that my balance is 0.92£. I hadn't been making very many phone calls at all. I guess my "120 free international minutes monthly" weren't quite as free as they seemed. FML.
- Random dude I saw who looked funny
- Street on the way to town
Hey hey hey its time for another adventure in the mind of Mikko. I have been here for seven days and I just started my practical training today at a pediatric ward. But before we go into that, lets all hop into a magical timemachine and go to last Friday. I had promised the other exchange students that I was going to cook them an awesome Texmex dinner. So I went to the store and bought all things necessary needed to create such a magnificent feast. Then I got to work. We had a ton of different veggies: Lettuce, tomatoes, red onion (3 huge ones), red peppers, jalapeno, cucumber and something else. Then we had minced meat and chicken(which I had to chop up with own two beautiful hands). Then we had some Peri-Peri chilisauce and spices for the meats and stuff. So I chopped and prepared everything. Everything was ready and all I had to do was to cook the meat. So I put the cooker on. So I put oil in the pan. So the goddamn oil lit on fire and set all the fire alarms in every single apartment and hallway of this building on. So I made a whole bunch of friends by providing the neighborhood with some much needed Friday night entertainment. Luckily nothing happened and we were able to cook the meats after the smoke cleared. The meal was awesome. And oh yeah, did I mention the alarms were on for forty five minutes? After the meal I went out with some new friends I met from next door through my firealarm. Good night all in all!
Saturday and Sunday were mostly just days of chillaxment, taking it easy before I start my training. Went out for a walk on myself on Saturday and took some pictures of the city. Not a whole lot of pics and they're not great quality as I would like since the cam isn't great but I'll share some none the less. On Sunday we went out to the local outlet mall to do some shopping. I had wanted to buy a vest forever so now I finally got to fulfill my dream of becoming a proper british/welsh gentleman. Now I just need the monocle and top hat, Ayee! The vest was only like 14 quid, not bad at all. I will put a photo up of it later on when we go out and I wear it. Sometime.. within the next century or so. Anyhoo, I was buying myself a pair of Adidas trainers on sale when the card got denied at the counter.. this was not only embarrassing but also puzzling as I have more than enough on there for a pair of shoes.. Ended up buying the shoes with cash and heading over to the cash-o-mat to see whats up. Entered the pin and it seemed to be working just fine. Then I tried to check balance, the machine stopped me by saying that my bank had blocked usage of my card.. so I was like what the fudge. Basically what could have happened was that someone had gotten my info abroad and emptied my account, or my bank had blocked usage of my card due to it being used out of country even though I let them know before I left. Needless to say, I was supremely agitated. So I rushed home only to rush this mystery worthy of "Sherlock Holmes"-type status. Of course the bank wasn't open so I sent them an "In-bank" mail. Situation kinda sucks since I only got like 15 pounds in cash. Luckily a flatmate of mine is willing to borrow me money if need be. Anyways, today I called the bank since they hadn't answered me only to find that they had no markings that there was anything wrong with my account. No markings had been made and there was no problems. The bank lady suggested to me that I try the card as soon as possible and call back if there is any problems. She was about to check something for me when suddenly the line went dead and I get a message from Orange(my service provider for payasyougo) saying that my balance is 0.92£. I hadn't been making very many phone calls at all. I guess my "120 free international minutes monthly" weren't quite as free as they seemed. FML.
Anyway, here is some pictures of Bridgend.
More to come on the Adventures of Mikko..
- Home sweet home
- Bridgend City
torstai 9. helmikuuta 2012
Chapter dos
So after spending a day relaxing yesterday, today it was time to get back into the groove of things by doing some stuff at the hospital. We filled forms out in the library to get our library cards so we can rent books, then we got some papers to fill out from occupational health. Typical starting out stuff. Paid a visit to the pediatric ward I will be doing my practice at next week. Seemed very busy and interesting. I will have the opportunity to work three 12 hour shifts from 7 to 7 every week and then have the rest of the week off. Which means 3 days working 4 days off every week, doesn't sound bad at all! I am sure that the long days will take some getting used to but I will worry about that next week. Tomorrow we are going to get registered at the hospital and meet up with the person handling our exchange at this end concerning our practical training and a massive 2500 word assignment that we are going to have to do regarding the differences in Finnish and Welsh healthcare.. Whhaaah! But after that we will have the weekend to relax before work begins. Gonna go see Bridgend at night on Saturday and on Sunday we will be going to a pub to watch the Rugby game between Wales and.. Ireland or something? Should be fun!
Amaethu nefas tro
-Cofion Mikko
Or Till next time
-Regards Mikko
keskiviikko 8. helmikuuta 2012
First entry
Hello everyone.
This is going to be a post about me and the situation in my life explaining what I am doing in Wales.
My name is Mikko and I am a Finnish/American 21-year-old nursing student currently on exchange in the fantastic country that is Wales. My mother is Finnish and my dad is American, so I guess you could call me multicultural. As far as siblings go, I have a little brother in Finland, called Niklas. I was born in Finland and I have lived there for most of my life. I've also lived in St. Petersburg for a couple years when I was younger and then I spoke Russian fluently but I have since forgotten nearly everything about the Russian language, except a couple words, such as idiot and carrot (Yes I do know that those words wont carry me very far in Russia). Im studying to be a nurse in HAMK University of Applied Sciences, in Hämeenlinna, Finland. I am now living in Bridgend, Wales. I am here on exchange from my school to learn how healthcare is done here. I am here with four other exchange students from HAMK. Two of them are my age and two are older. But all of them are a great bunch and I'm sure that we will have a blast. The first week of being here is just initiation, getting used to things and getting registered at UNI and the hospital. I start my practical training at a pediatric ward next Monday. I am greatly awaiting the challenges that the work in a welsh hospital will bring.
My trip over here was quite smooth. There were delays on some parts of the trip but I was able to make my connections every time so its all good. I spent a couple days in West London at my mate Simo's place prior to coming here so I got sort of a soft landing to the UK way of life. The person over at this end handling the student exchange is just an awesome guy so I think things will be just fine as far as that is concerned. I have also found that the local people here are very eager to help out if trouble occurs. Its nice to know that you're not 100% screwed if you cant figure something out on your own. This blog will mostly be me talking about my boogie concerning the exchange and the differences between Welsh and Finnish healthcare, spiced up by my own colorful personality OFC.
Till the next episode, Mikko --- Out
This is going to be a post about me and the situation in my life explaining what I am doing in Wales.
My name is Mikko and I am a Finnish/American 21-year-old nursing student currently on exchange in the fantastic country that is Wales. My mother is Finnish and my dad is American, so I guess you could call me multicultural. As far as siblings go, I have a little brother in Finland, called Niklas. I was born in Finland and I have lived there for most of my life. I've also lived in St. Petersburg for a couple years when I was younger and then I spoke Russian fluently but I have since forgotten nearly everything about the Russian language, except a couple words, such as idiot and carrot (Yes I do know that those words wont carry me very far in Russia). Im studying to be a nurse in HAMK University of Applied Sciences, in Hämeenlinna, Finland. I am now living in Bridgend, Wales. I am here on exchange from my school to learn how healthcare is done here. I am here with four other exchange students from HAMK. Two of them are my age and two are older. But all of them are a great bunch and I'm sure that we will have a blast. The first week of being here is just initiation, getting used to things and getting registered at UNI and the hospital. I start my practical training at a pediatric ward next Monday. I am greatly awaiting the challenges that the work in a welsh hospital will bring.
My trip over here was quite smooth. There were delays on some parts of the trip but I was able to make my connections every time so its all good. I spent a couple days in West London at my mate Simo's place prior to coming here so I got sort of a soft landing to the UK way of life. The person over at this end handling the student exchange is just an awesome guy so I think things will be just fine as far as that is concerned. I have also found that the local people here are very eager to help out if trouble occurs. Its nice to know that you're not 100% screwed if you cant figure something out on your own. This blog will mostly be me talking about my boogie concerning the exchange and the differences between Welsh and Finnish healthcare, spiced up by my own colorful personality OFC.
Till the next episode, Mikko --- Out
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