Four days in Oulu

On Wednesday afternoon I came to Oulu. Gagan fetched me in the railway station. Just after coming home I freshened up and ate rice with delicious chicken curry(vuna murgi) and shrimp mash(chingri vorta). At night we gossiped and played a new board game. Shanila won the game and I was the 3rd among three :P


The next day(Thursday) was sunny and it was a public holiday here. So we decided to go to a small beach nearby. We took different kinds of foods and tea with us and started by bike. Suddenly it started raining. So we didn't go to the beach rather we went to a nearby lake side. We couldn't be there for long time as the rain started heavily. So we returned and watched a movie titled "The last king of Scotland". Its a nice movie. At night Gagan makd a big pizza and we finished our dinner with that. After dinner Gagan and me played chess and I won.


Here are some pictures of Thursday.




Trying to be kid again :D





Gagan was trying too according to Shanila's instruction but couldn't manage well :P





Gagan said it as a romantic picture hahahaha...





Two fellows





Screaming with big grin





Gagan is making a huge pizza



The next day, Friday, I woke up a bit late. By this time Gagan and Shanila left for their own workplaces. I was just in home, browsing and chatting with my friends. Shanila came back around 12 O' clock and we finished our lunch. Gagan came back from office around 5 pm and we prepared "kacchi biriyani" for the dinner. Shanila made "borhani". The kacchi biriyani tasted awesome with the borhani. At night one Finnish couple(Nico and Tanja) came and we played a board game called Power Grid. It was a long game, took 2 hours to come to an end. They left around 12 midnight. We were still gossiping and finally went to bed around 4 am I think.


Some pictures from Friday:




Rainbow from the kitchen window





I am cooking the "Kacchi Biriyani", beside me "Borhani" is being prepared by Shanila





A closer look to the kacchi biriyani I made





Borhani is also prepared, everything is ready for dinner





Playing board game at night



The next day was Saturday, weekend. Again I woke up late. We took a heavy breakfast and found the weather turned into sunny. So we decided to go to Nallikari beach. We got ready and started biking towards the beach. Luckily we found that it was the day of marathon that is arranged once in a year in Oulu. So it was kinda festival mood in the beach area. We were in the beach for 2 hours may be. It was raining at the time of returning. At night Shanila made "chotpoti" and we made our tummy full by chotpoti only. We were very tired at night for long time biking. So we slept earlier than usual.


Here are some pictures of that day.





Going to Nallikari beach





I just stopped to have a look to the marathon, Shanila was still running.





So many participants





On top of a tower in the beach





A duck in the sea. I never saw like that before





There is a platform to get the nice view of the sea





Somehow Gagan grabbed me in a frame :)





With Gagan. Why the hell he is gaining so much weight these days :-S I look so thin beside him :(





I told Gagan, "A mermaid is sitting beside the sea"





Nice shade of light





Getting down from the tower





I was eating chips. I don't know why it seems so weird. May be because nobody eats chips while in the beach.





Shanila was really cheerful. She was making the court of "Ekka-dokka" :P





And here she goes, playing ekka-dokka





Shanila made Gagan to play as well. Look at him, how clumsy he is :D





Playing "Pentago". I don't know why the background seems painted :-?





The marathon was almost finished while we were coming back, people were coming back.





There is the finish line





Shanila made nice delicious "Chotpoti". We finished our dinner with that and we were totally full.





Closer look to the chotpoti


On Sunday morning I woke up around 10 am. The weather was gloomy. It was raining from time to time. We finished our breakfast with pizza and coffee. Then Shanila prepared a very nice spanish dish called paella. Since the weather was not so nice we were just gossiping and waiting for lunch time. Paella is a nice delicious dish and we ate until there was no empty space in our tummy :P Again we were gossiping and playing with some puzzles. In the evening, Gagan made a big cake and we finished half of it with coffee. Finally, Shanila made a delicious "Khichuri" and we finished our dinner with khichuri with scrambled egg and chicken curry. The next day is working day again for Gagan and Shanila. So we went to bed early.




Cake, made by Gagan, juicy and delicious :P





Shanila prepared a awesome "Khicuri". We ate that with scrambled egg and chichen curry as our dinner.


Today I woke up a bit earlier, around 9 am. Gagan and Shanila went to work already. I am just in home. The weather is really nice, bright and sunny. I may go out for biking. Let's see what comes next :)




Programming solution

Going to Oulu

Its 20 May, 2009. I am going to Oulu to visit Gagan, one of my best friends. Since I came to Finland, I have been thinking when I will be able go to his home in Oulu. Finally, the time has come and I am going there today.


I have finished my exam last week and my summer holiday has been started since then. I have no class, and no work as well. So, when Gagan invited me to visit him, I decided to take the opportunity and utilize my holidays.


I am going to Oulu by 12 O' clock train. Oulu is at almost 500 kilometers north to Tampere. It will take more than 5 hours by train. I will reach Oulu at 1712 according to the railway service time. I hope everything will be fine and I will spend a nice vacation there.




Programming solution

Eurovision night with pizza dinner

Yesterday was the final round of Eurovision 2009. We were thinking where we were going to watch the program. As always Miraj vi appeared as the reliever. He invited all of us to watch the program in his home in his giant flat screen television.


We went to Miraj vi's home at 9 pm. We were found that pizza making process was going on. We were gossiping and waiting for the pizza and the eurovision program to be started. The program started at 10 and pizza started to come to the living room. We were watching the program and enjoying the pizza. Seven big pizzas were made for 11 persons. So we could consume as much as we want. The pizza was nice. I ate a lots of pizza and coke. We eneded eating with ice cream and then tea.


I was also enjoying the program. This year the host is Russia since they are the winner of 2008. The Stage was nice and the lighting was also awesome. After all the countries' performance, there was 15 mins time to vote through sms. We were waiting for the result. There were 25 countries in the final. We were eager to see who will be the winner among those 25. The result was declared one by one nation. Finally, Norway won with a big distance to second place. Iceland was in the second place and Azerbaijan was the third. I am amazed, why Finland was at 25th position. Their performance was not so bad I think.


Let's check some videos from the participant countries.





Here goes Norway, the winner of eurovision 2009





Here is Iceland, 2nd place





Here is Azerbaijan, the 3rd place





Here is this year's Finald's performance





And here goes Finland's performance in 2006 when they wins eurovision. Its kinda weird :P




Programming solution

One academic year completed

Today I just attended the last one of three consecutive exams. The fifth period of academic year 2008-2009 has been over with this exam.

I started this academic year in August, 2008. It seems that I came here only few days back but by this time 9 months has been gone. To tell you the truth, I still haven't worn some of my cloths that I brought from my home. Those are in my cupboard as were folded in Dhaka. Time really does fly.

From today, the three months long vacation is starting. Its a long vacation. For few weeks now, I have been feeling like going home. I am afraid I wont be able in this summer :-(




Programming solution

Leaves are showing up

For two weeks now the weather is been very nice. The sun is shining almost all the time during day, and the day has become 17 hours long already. During day, the temperature is around +15, thus, it became very comfortable. May be trees are feeling comfortable with this weather too and that's why I am seeing new leaves are showing up.


For almost 6 months, there is no leaf in trees. I was not able to see anything green even though there are lots of trees in Tampere. I have been seeing thousands of trees, all gray. The blooming started with the first drop of rain last week. The trees are becoming alive again. Hopefully, a week from now, all the trees will be green and flowers will start to bloom as well :)




Programming solution

A short film

I just watched a short film and wanted to share it here. I am sure if you watch this while eating fried chicken you wont get the taste as you are supposed to feel :)

Here goes the short film



Now after watching the video how do you feel? Of course stop eating fried chicken and other nice food is not a solution to those hungry people. Well, I don't know what is the solution. But at least, don't waste your food; be thankful for what you are getting on your dining table everyday.




Programming solution

Vappu

Its May 1. This day is known to me as May day, the day dedicated for all the labors all over the world. In Finland its kinda different I guess. The celebrate it differently. Its a celebration day like new year in Bangladesh(Pohela Boishakh).


The whole country is in festival mood on this day. I am in Tampere so I just could see how it is here. I went to downtown to see how they celebrate it. I found lots of people, that is a bit unusual in Finland, gathered in the center. They were singing, dancing, shouting. There were many groups with different colors. They were waiting for the rally. I was just roaming and shooting pictures. Their colorful dresses and enjoying faces somehow captivated me.


I took a position from where I can take some front pictures of the rally. The rally started walking towards the lake. There were many groups. Most of the groups were holding a big sculpture of something. When all the groups gathered by the side of the lake they were preparing for the dipping program.


On this day they dip engineering students in the lake who are in their first year in school. As it is my first year here I was also eligible for this but I didn't go for it because I needed to buy a dress and a cap that cost around 100 euro which is a bit expensive for me. There were 2 big cranes for the dipping program. Each time 6-10 students, both boys and girls, got on the square platform(like a box) and the crane lowers it down to the lake water. The students were having fun of it. They were showering champagne while on that platform. I just saw 4 or 5 dipping and then came back because this same thing will be continued for 2 more hours may be. The weather was very nice today and so everybody was enjoying the wappu.


I am giving some snapshot here for you people :)





Music is going on





General people waiting to participate in the rally





A group in blue dress





Near the city center. Lots of balloons with spectacular colors





The first rally by general people





The main rally, escorted by a police car, is coming





One group in nice white dress





Another group dressed up just the opposite of the previous one





I don't know why this group is carrying the sculpture of Dalai Lama :-?





Pinky carrying a big spectacles :D





One group decided to run in the rally. They waited to make gap in front of them and then started running suddenly.





All the groups gathered beside the lake





The big cranes





Lots of people at the opposite side of the lake





Here goes the first dip. Only 4 guys I guess





Now they are in water. It was still very cold. The temperature was just above +10





Here goes another one





The lake has a dam at one end





A snap from the top of the dam




Programming solution

Ice cream distributor for a day

All of you know I used to work as a newspaper distributor. Staffpoint was my employer. Last Wednesday they called me if I am interested to work as an ice cream distributor for Friday morning. They said it would be a 3 hours job and I had to offer free ice cream to passers by. I agreed right away.


On Friday morning, I woke up very early, around 6 am. I went to the particular place they told me. The guy came with a big truck half-fulled ice cream. We were 5 people distributing the ice cream. There were 1500 pieces of ice cream in total. People, specially kids, were taking the ice cream so happily. There were 4 flavors. The kids were taking each of the flavors. It was fun to give them free ice cream. The temperature was around +5 but I didn't see them having any difficulties to eat those ice cream.


The best part came at the end. We stopped distributing at 10 am. There were still some boxes left. The head guy told us we can take as many as we want. I didn't take many, just 3 boxes and each box contains 35 ice creams :D I think for next 30 days I will be able to eat 3 ice cream a day. Will I be able to finish all those by eating like that :-? Well, use you calculator and let me know :)




Programming solution

I bought a bike :)

It was Monday. I went to a very big bicycle shop and bought one for me. As summer is coming I was planning to buy a second hand bicycle but just on Saturday Rajit vi went to that shop and he found a good deal. They gave sale to this model. After seeing Rajit vi's new bike I could not control myself(greedy me :P). I also bought the same. It has 21 gears; so I think it will give me good support to bike in bumpy roads. I got the bike for 150 euros after 60% sale. Still its expensive for me but I liked it so much and I couldn't help being owner of this one :)




Programming solution

Snow is melting :)

Its been more than 5 months I am seeing white snow all around. It was so exciting when I first saw it. In fact its so nice when the weather is sunny and the ground is covered with snow but still for few weeks now I was thinking when this tons of snow will go away. I am bored to wear my heavy winter jacket for over 6 months. I was craving to go out wearing T-shirt only and no jacket at all. When I go out this afternoon I saw water is flowing everywhere because the temperature is +4 and snow started to melt. I know its not the end; the temperature will fall again and may be snowfall will happen but still I feel good when I saw its melting. It gave me hope that its not so far away that I can bike around in a very shiny weather, in a very comfortable temperature wearing thin cloths. You know what? People of Nordic region pass their 8 months long winter hoping for the very short summer. Me, too, is eying the transition period; eagerly waiting for the arrival of summer right now.




Programming solution

Kesä on tulossa

I think you people are amazed a bit to see my post title. Yes, you guessed correctly, its in Finnish language. I think this is the most common sentence these days among the Finnish people, at least in their mind. It meas "Summer is coming".


For few days now we have been seeing sun here in Finland. The sky is also clear most of the time. It reminds me the sky of my home country. The day is getting longer with time while night is getting shorter. Just few weeks back I had to come to school in darkness and when I used to leave the school it is dark again though I was there only for 4 hours only. Now I come to school seeing the sun and when I go back home still its sunny. Somehow you will feel better in this kinda weather.


I never knew how precious summer can be. Now I feel it. Its really good that kesä on tulossa. I will be happier when I will be able to say "kesä tulee" means summer comes :)




Programming solution

Pitha utshob

Yesterday was 21 February - International Mother Language Day. Luckily it was weekend here. It was planned earlier that we will meet in Miraj vi's home around 5 pm and all the vabis will come with different kinds of "pitha(sorry for I don't know the exact English word for pitha, some say its cake but I don't think so. Cake doesn't represent what pitha really is). We named this event "Pitha Utshob"(pitha festival).


Around 5 pm we went to Miraj vi's home. Within very short time we became so hungry, may be knowing that lots of pithas are waiting for us in the kitchen. All the vabis came with different kinds of pitha. Just after 6 pm they came and asked us to taste those. We were amazed to see them; all of them were wearing sari. Not only that, they were wearing it in a traditional way like the Bangladeshi village ladies do wear it. As we went to kitchen we found lots of variations; most of those are sweet item, only 2 of them are hot and salty. So far I remember there were vaba pitha, jhaler pitha, pati shapta, pakon pitha, jhal puli pitha, narkel(coconut) puli pitha, 2 types of dudh puli pitha. After a long time we were enjoying those things. All of those are so delicious.


After finishing the pitha we were gossiping while having tea. Then miraj vi told us we can also take dinner in his home. He just needed some volunteers to cook the chicken curry. We agreed. Finally Miraj vi and Moni vabi(Miraj vi's wife) cooked it and they didn't needed us as volunteers. We took dinner around 1030 pm, again gossiped and finally left around 1 am. It was a nice gathering. We had some pictures also. Here goes few of those.





The dishes are on the table. More to come.





People started to grab the pitha acccording to choice.





Having tea after lots of sweet items





Vabis are in sari. From left Ema vabi, Moni vabi and mou vabi.





Nice couple Rajit vi and Mou vabi.





Another nice couple - Kamal vi and Ema vabi.




Programming solution

Losing my job :(

This afternoon staffpoint(my employer) let us know that Metro is stopping newspaper distribution in the city of Tampere, Turku and Oulu. They will circulate it only in Helsinki among the cities of Finland. It will be effected from March, 2009. So I am automatically losing my job after this month.


This is the only job I have been doing since I came to Finland. I don't know if it is because of the worldwide economic depression or what but I am pretty sure it will affect my economy badly. Hope I will find some new job soon.




Programming solution

A wonderful walk in the afternoon

Its really difficult to walk outside for a long time while the temperature is below -5 degree Celsius. This afternoon the temperature was -4 and it was bright as well. So we decided to go for a walk. We went to the nearest lake here. Today I saw a frozen lake for the first time. Whole upper surface of the water turned into ice; I guess at least 6 inch thick. There was snow all over that icy surface.


We crossed the lake diagonally on foot. Crossing a big lake by walk - interesting right? I forgot to take my camera with me. Well, Its difficult to carry a big size camera in this cold weather. I took some pictures in my mobile cam but cant share those now as I need to download those to my laptop first. I need bluetooth for that. Unfortunately my laptop didn't come with bluetooth. So I might share the pictures some other time. We walked for almost an hour. I was a bit excited while walking on the frozen lake. At every moment I was thinking if it breaks now :P


Well finally, after 3 days, I managed to get the pictures I took on that afternoon. Here are few of them.






The lake from one side... Fully frozen.





My companions on that day... Shaikat vi and Taslim vi.





My footprint. I removed the snow to see the transparent ice underneath.





Here I am. I don't know why I opened my mouth right at that moment :D





Taking Ur own picture is not so easy :P





Another one. Shaikat vi and Taslim vi are way ahead of me.





While coming back we saw some people playing ice hockey in a field.




Programming solution