there is so much to learn

she/her (24) || learning Finnish and navigating life

[noellesnowelle]

05.08.2026

August is here...

... and this month will be a lot. Work ends, university starts and I have my first trip to take part in fresh man week... I am so nervous but also excited!

Last week I biked to work one last time because now my dad has his vacation time and not biking to work takes one stress factor off of me for now. Even though biking in general is fun... But I just need to survive these last two weeks without another migraine. I also think my job gave me some kind of impermanent ear trauma because the clinking of dishes is causing such a pain in my ear/brain it is actually driving me insane at home as well...

I have been also gaming a lot because my new laptop opened a whole new world of games that are now possible to play. And I love it but I also spent way to much time online right now...

August days of productivity

I am slowly starting to implement the 30 min. language study session but damn, it's hard to get back to regularly studying...

Besides that I ordered some new shoes (urgently needed) and clothes which I am excited for!

this week's

reading / watching & playing / listening

The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland (it is interesting but I have a hard time staying in the stories with the frequent POV swaps...)

Larppi (new series on YLE (Finnish) and I binge-watched it in a day and understood sooooo much!)

Deathstranding (I was surprised that it works so well on my laptop! It is also like movie quality)

Minecraft (building my castle)

Where Winds Meet (sadly this game is too much for my laptop and I deinstalled it again...)

brand new Chanel$ - Slayyyter

UNETHICAL - Faouzia

Gimme Dat Love - i-dle

[noellesnowelle]

August Days of Productivity

Goals

survive my last days at work (pls no more migraines...)

implement a 30 min language study session (Finnish, Romanian) every day (preferably morning)

make a plan for language study sessions (topics, different types of tasks)

get new shoes

do daily exercises to calm my anxiety and the physical symptoms it brings

test my tech set-up on Zoom

survive the first weeks of university

get the finance form filled out

redecorate my room

review math topics & the Finnish vocabulary for it

organize my student card

plan my luggage for the trip

make a meal plan for the trip

organize my wardrobe

alter my cardigan

Side Quests

bike to the lake

finish the painting

make a bike trip to the town

start my paper making project

daily drawing in my booklet

read a book

make kimchi

sit in the moss and observe nature

journal about living alone for the first time

get churros on the train

take the bus for the first time in Finland

approach someone during freshman week

[studywiththevampire]

By popular demand, I present you all with an August Days of Productivity challenge. As always, it is modelled after @learnelle's April challenge. I also organised one in June.

The guidelines are as follows:

Compile your August goals into one post and mark each item as desired upon completion. You may be as vague or detailed as you wish. It only needs to serve yourself.

Tag all relevant posts with #august days of productivity, that way we can more easily support each other and make this feel like a community challenge.

Starting 1st August, do one thing every day, however small, to bring yourself closer to your goals.

Regular updates are encouraged, whether they be daily, weekly, or just every so often, but what really matters is accomplishing the things we set out to do.

Enjoy the journey: you cannot "fail" as long as you are having fun!

On 31st August, we can reflect on the past month and congratulate ourselves for our dedication.

Additionally, I challenge each and every participant to actively contribute towards the community feeling by interacting with each other, beyond just leaving a like. Reblog, comment, congratulate, encourage. We are all busy and tired and stressed, and a kind word goes such a long way!

Reblog to participate.

[noellesnowelle]

Participating again this month!

[noellesnowelle]

28.07.2026

I had to take a mental health day off work today (not happy about that)... But at least it worked and I am now feeling better. Hopefully the rest of the week's shifts are better...

I used my free time today to also finish my assignments. Luckily I just had to copy my notes onto the mind-map and make it pretty - an easy and enjoyable task. And now I am finally done with this course! Everything is done, checked and uploaded and I can now relax a bit.

Things I crossed off my list today:

present assignment A visually

upload assignment A and B together

-All now done and dusted with 3 days left until the deadline!

[noellesnowelle]

27.07.2026

Today was not my day... I started very sleepy into the day after having a restless night and only managed to create a plan how I will be presenting my assignments.

Then I biked to work and had my first mental breakdown which resulted in me leaving early and spending my time in a dark room...

Things I did today

planned the visual presentation of my assignments

cried myself into a migraine

[noellesnowelle]

26.07.2026

Woke up earlier than I planned to and used the time before work to translate the mind-map.

Work was very chill today and I had a lot of energy left which I promptly used to tackle the scariest task of them all: writing the longer text of assignment B. And I even managed to upload the first part (no. 3) of the assignments!

With all of this I have now completed a big chunk of my work and am not so stressed anymore about completing my assignments until the due date during a very very busy workweek.

Things I crossed off my list today:

translate mind-map into Finnish

write the text based on the questions of B

upload the mind-map text of no. 3

[noellesnowelle]

25.07.2026

Very productive day today. Work continues tomorrow and I will have to finish all the tasks throughout the week. But at least now I have done all the reading and notes I need and just need to write the text, translate the mind-map and present all the answers in a nice way.

Because I was reading the curriculum anyways for the assignment, I organised all my courses for my first year at university at the same time. This way I won't have to read the curriculum again in a few weeks!

Things I crossed off my list today:

read the curriculum and took notes

organised my courses for my first semester in Notion

answered the questions of B regarding the curriculum

[noellesnowelle]

24.07.2026

Sick day number 3. I also found out my shift times for next week and I'm not happy :( I won't have much time to study next week before my deadline, so I have to complete most of it this weekend...

But generally I felt better today. My body is healing, I had more energy today and managed to get a good amount of stuff done.

Things I crossed off my list today:

read through all the information of no. 4

answer questions of no. 4

answer questions of no. 1

answer questions of no. 2

[noellesnowelle]

23.07.2026

Second sick day. I managed to do a little bit of studying and also went outside a bit. Our berry bushes are sooo full now.

Things I worked on today:

reading through the information of no. 4 - not yet completed because it is a lot

[noellesnowelle]

22.07.2026

I had to call in sick for work today and spent a lot of time doing nothing productive in order to finally rest a bit.

However I did manage to study a little and also got some speakers for my laptop which sound very nice.

Things I crossed off my list today:

read information of no. 3

answer questions of no. 3

[noellesnowelle]

20.07.2026

New laptop, new possibilities

I finally got a new laptop that I will keep! I am currently writing this post on it in bed which is so crazy to me because I couldn't use my old laptop away from a power outlet for years. And it is also crazy how insanely fast this new laptop is. Like, I knew my old one was very very slow but the speed and power of the new one is insane.

Most importantly the graphics and webcam have a better quality than the laptop I ordered before - which is the most important thing I need for my studies. So yeah, I am very happy with this new one.

The only critique point is that the speakers do not sound as good as my old one. But my old one also had very good speakers and it is hard to find something similar. And it's not like you can't do anything about it. Which is why I have ordered some external speakers for this laptop.

What is also very nice about this laptop is that it can handle running some games I couldn't play before on my old laptop. 16 GB RAM and a AMD Ryzen 7 are nice. I am curious to see if it will be possible to play a more demanding game like Deathstranding on this.

Work

I have less than a month of work left - which is crazy. And I have developed so much since the beginning of summer on all kinds of levels - my Finnish, but especially my skills in the kitchen and with customers and so on. I am so proud of myself and my co-workers also notice and acknowledge my development!

Last week was my first 35 hour week and it honestly wasn't as bad as I thought. It is probably due to the weather being at a nicer temperature, but yeah. Three weeks to go!

Studies

Speaking of time - I now have 10 days left to complete my summer course and I am a teeny tiny bit panicking... But I have made myself a plan and let's just hope my energy levels can keep up with it. I think I will do a daily update on my progress to keep myself accountable and kind of try out a daily post (I have wanted to try daily posting sometime).

Things left to do:

read information of no. 3

translate mind-map into Finnish

write no. 3 text & upload

read through the information of no. 4

answer questions of no. 1

answer questions of no. 2

answer questions of no. 3

answer questions of no. 4

present the question's answers of A as a text or visual

read the curriculum and answer the questions of B

write the text based on B

upload assignments A and B together; deadline: 30.07.

this week's

reading / watching / listening

The summer book - Tove Jansson

Sumupuiden kirja - Anja Portin

- (not much watching stuff)

red bikini - Hayley Kiyoko & Snow Wife

UNETHICAL - Faouzia

CRANK - Slayyyter

BEAT UP CHANEL$

[noellesnowelle]

13.07.2026

Time flies

How is it already the middle of July?! Time flies so incredible fast this summer... I only have about a month of work left and then my studies start?!

I honestly don't know how people work 40 hours or more a week - who the hell invented this?! I am already exhausted after 30 hours... And working in a restaurant in these temperatures is honestly close to hell (it fits well that the finnish word for heat is 'helle'...).

I haven't been studying a lot because finding the energy to study on my one day off between shifts is very hard. But I feel like I am slowly adapting to this schedule which means more drive to do stuff on my day off and not just waste it in bed.

Preparations

Which also cuts into my very limited free time is all the things I need to organize for my studies.

I am still waiting on a very important email regarding the financing of my studies because it is very hard to get ahold of anybody in Finland during the summer months (most people are on vacation...).

Then I ordered a new laptop from Germany which was so bad that I had to send it back - the camera and microphone quality was WORSE than my over 8 year-old laptop... Now I have ordered a new one - this time from a Finnish shop and it will hopefully arrive in the next few days. I just hope it is better than the other one because I NEED a new laptop before my studies start.

Other preparations include studying Finnish in general, as well as consuming more material and media about my field of study - I need to brush up not only on basic vocabulary but also on subject-specific words (I am sooo nervous to study in Finnish).

Somehow enjoying summer besides everything else

With the very limited free time I have I also try to reserve time for nothing else but stuff I really want to do - watching a movie, playing games, drawing, painting, reading, etc.

It is so important that I also have time where I don't have anything planned or to do because otherwise I think I would go insane...

Last week I was in the city, got some books from the library, went shopping in the second-hand shops and also visited the book store. I got myself new paints and a little sketch book and it has been so fun to draw more regularly!

this month's

reading/ watching / listening

Nenä - Nikolai Gogol (selkokirja, I read this in 20 minutes after procrastinating it for a month)

The Summer Book - Tove Jansson (it is finally the season to read this for the first time)

Sumupuiden kirja - Anja Portin (a 383 page long finnish book (help), but the Finnish is on the perfect level that I don't understand everything but most of it)

Shadow and Bone - Season 2 (finally finished it, still mad they didn't continue the series)

Mary and the Witch's flower (started it yesterday evening, so far very good and has Ghibli vibes)

red bikini - Hayley Kiyoko & Snow Wife (constantly on repeat in my head - also Hayley and Snow together in ONE song?!)

Gimme Dat Love - i-dle (such a good summer song)

Vanisher, Horizon Scraper Album - Quadeca (his albums are a whole journey you need to listen to in one go)

[sandersstudies]

Every time you go in a public place and something ISN’T disgusting it’s because somebody cleaned it. Every time you feel comfortable using a public bathroom or sitting at a restaurant table or setting something on a gas station counter or playing on a playground it’s because somebody cleaned it.

Thank you to everyone who cleans the world, especially those who are underpaid and under appreciated.

[titsay]

[noellesnowelle]

15.06.2026

So much is happening

The last one and a half weeks were so crazy. I started working again the same day my aunt and uncle came to visit - which was the first time I have seen other family members in four years. They were there the whole weekend (and I also needed to work the whole weekend...). Then monday I went to one big city for a doctors appointment - the city I will also be studying in (I AM GOING TO UNIVERITY). And then two days later to the other city to get my second pair of sunglasses and some clothes I needed (even my dad found something useful in the second hand shop).

Then I had work again and a new co-worker started - she seems to be my age and is nice! And then I finally received the news that I got a place at university! It was 8am and I screamed my whole family awake...

Now I spent the weekend and today booking my accomodation and train (I only have to be on campus a few times a year for the moment) and already started my packing list even though the start of my studies is still two months away... My mind wouldn't shut up otherwise and this way I could book everything a bit cheaper and also know for sure that I will have an inexpensive place to sleep!

I am so excited but also extremly anxious because I am going to study in Finnish (my fourth language and my third in fluency level...). It is going to be soooo difficult in the beginning. I just hope I can get used to it quickly and can keep up...

this week's

reading / watching / listening

Siege and Storm - Leigh Bardugo (4/5 - Stormhound!!!)

Run and Rising - Leigh Bardugo (4/5 - compared to only finishing Siege and Storm after a month, I read Run and Rising in a week...)

Der Spurenfinder - Marc-Uwe, Johanna & Luise Kling (it's weird to read in German again)

LeLaLes: Fluid Love (a chinese lesbian dating show by an independent production?! (screaming inside) - happy pride month!)

Limbo (a Finnish show on YLE which now has english subtitles - and lesbian plot!)

Shadow and Bone (Netflix) (I can finally watch it again now after finishing the book series; its honestly best to view the series as a fanfiction type of series that combines Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows)

Underworld - Born Slippy (a TEN minute song?! amazing vibe)

Crow - i-dle (hell yeah, SUCH a cool and epic song)

Halloweenie V: The Moss King - Ashnikko (I still need to wait four months until halloween...)

[noellesnowelle]

I GOT INTO UNIVERSITY!!!!!

Menen opiskelemaan korkeakoulussa suomeksi... Crazy

[noellesnowelle]

Focus on the Good~

- new summer look