try new things

I just wanted to say that the hapkido course is one of the best new things I’ve tried in a while. :-)

I started the basic course of hapkido yesterday and based on the first training session it is exactly what I was looking for. :-)

A beginners course in hapkido starts tomorrow and I will probably go there and try it out. I’ll write more about it later.

Today Emilia, Maxime, Tiina and I went for a walk in a part of Tampere which I had never really visited before. It was funny because I felt like a tourist as I walked there and admired the old wooden houses and narrow streets. It felt almost as if I was in a totally different place, because the whole district was so quiet and peaceful, even though it is only a couple of kilometers away from the very center of the city.

Thank you Emilia! I really enjoyed the trip to Pispala. :-)

A couple of days ago I dyed someone’s hair for the first time in my life. I have had my own hair dyed at the barber’s twice but I have never done it myself. It wasn’t too difficult to dye someone else’s hair but I probably wouldn’t try doing it on my own hair.

I came home from my new job about an hour ago and I just couldn’t resist writing about my experience here. First of all, it was pretty much what I expected it to be. The biggest problems I had with remembering what to put in which drink and where all the stuff were located, but fortunately I could always rely on my workmate and ask about things. Today was a quiet evening, but at least there were some customers, with whom I could practice. Serving customers was actually fun and not problematic at all.

So overall it was quite a pleasurable experience and I will definitely go there again and see how it goes when it gets busier. I have my next shift on Saturday and that’s surely going to be a lot busier evening than today.

Tomorrow I will start at my new job. I’m going to work as a bartender, which makes me excited and slightly nervous, because I’ve never worked in a bar before. I hesitated a little bit when I heard about this opportunity for the first time, but then I remembered this goal and decided to go for it, even though it is outside my comfort zone.

This job will definitely teach me a whole lot of new things and I’m sure it’s going to be one hell of an experience! :-)

I’ve tried some new things lately. Perhaps the biggest thing was the trip I made last weekend with Hauki. It was nice to drive around, not being in a hurry, and stop by in interesting places. And of course I also enjoyed the hiking and camping, but that wasn’t new for me. A road trip with no predetermined destination would surely be lots of fun, too. I definitely want to get that one done during this summer.

Then I also discovered a very nice Finnish beer. It’s an ale with a very bitter, hoppy taste (like IPA). The best thing is that it’s relatively inexpensive and available in grocery stores. And it’s Finnish—there are not too many bottled Finnish beers that I really like.

I’ve also tried some new foods. I bought curry paste for the very first time in my life and tried some new cooking techniques with it. It’s actually quite a convenient way of adding flavor to several kinds of dishes.

I’m also attending a summer course at the university, which I haven’t done before. Right now it feels like a good way of spending some time because I haven’t been able to find a job, and I also get the student grant from the state so I won’t be completely broke.

So yeah, quite many nice new things I’ve tried lately and there’s surely more to come. :-)

Today I swam in a frozen lake for the first time in my life and it was great! Going from a hot sauna to freezing water is something everybody should try at least once. I’ll definitely try it again! :-D

Some time ago I decided to participate in a research project, in which I have to use two different web services with my cell phone, keep a diary of my user experiences and take part in a couple of interviews. It started today and I think it’s quite cool if my ideas help someone improve these services.