Dear schools,

we would like to know exactly where and when The Drops Of Life has been performed.
If you have performed it (since 2007) please fill in the form here.

The Drops of Life will be widely performed by schools on the next tree planting day, 22nd of May. It has been translated into many languages. The latest translation will be in Arabic!

Students at Al-Dasma Inter. School for Girls in Kuwait city will have their premier on 21st of May 2009. Their teacher is Shirin Meysar Al-Khass who suggested this translation.

Shortly after having spent three wonderful weeks in Africa, I’m about to head up north to Lapland to spend a week learning how to snowboard and hopefully take some awesome pictures of snowy landscapes and perhaps even reindeers! Yeah I know, learning how to snowboard close to your thirties is probably a bad idea, but better late than never. Besides, beating myself up, falling over and smashing against trees sounds just like the thing I need right now. I need to wake up!!

Things took a strange turn after I returned from my three week trip to Africa a month ago. At first, I was struck by the usual culture shock that I always go through after having returned from a trip outside of Europe. However, this time all the energy and excitement I seem to have gathered during my vacation dissipated almost instantly. Not only that, but I became ill shortly after I had returned to work and wondered if it was something I might have caught on my journey. Considering half of the people from my floor at the office were also ill, it must have been the common flu. This bug turned out to be a resilient one though and it only let go weeks after I had caught the initial symptoms. This illness further drained me of energy and now I seem to be caught in some sort of twilight zone where I can’t tell whether it’s night or day outside. Not surprising really, considering it’s dark almost all the time here in Finland!

While I was in Africa, I felt awake, full of energy and just generally in a good mood. The sun was shining, it was warm outside and it reminded me of how fortunate we are to live on this planet. After having flown back to the north, I find myself in the opposite state of mind. I’m constantly tiered, uninspired and I have a hard time keeping my biological clock in sync because of the darkness. Hence, I go to sleep late, wake up early to go to work and end up sleepwalking through the winter days as if my mind was in some sort of hibernation mode. This begs me to wonder: maybe the bears got it right. After all, why would anyone want to be awake during this period of the year when the sun hardly shines through the thick layers of clouds in the sky and the temperatures drop way below freezing? It’s a shame our technological development outran our physical evolution. I’m sure, given enough time, our bodies would have adapted somehow and skipped this part of the year like the bears do: by sleeping.

Well, I figured since I’m going to have to endure this curse, I might as well do something exciting. This weekend I’m off to Levi, a ski-resort in the middle of Lapland, full of wondrous activities for tourists and landscapes that will give anyone a chill. The resort features 44 slopes with the longest one measuring about 2,5 km. A third of them have lighting so it is possible to enjoy them even after the sun has gone down. And yes, this is Lapland we’re talking about, which means we’ll be getting around five or six hours of sun a day - if we’re lucky. I simply hope the skies will be clear so we can recharge our internal batteries enough to last through the dark afternoons and evenings.

Downhill skiing and snowboarding are just a part of the fun. There are also a lot of other activities one can do such as cross-country skiing on illuminated tracks that span over 28 km or if you’re a lazy person like me, you might be tempted to rent a snowmobile and go do a winter safari (I had a hard time believing it, but it actually does exists). I’m obviously still working through some withdrawls from my trip to Africa and so far having played Far Cry 2 and shown my pictures to a handful of people seem to have helped me get through the worse part.

I’ll be back the next week and I apologize for not having had the energy or motivation to tag half a thousand photos during this past month (that’s less than a quarter of the total amount of pictures I took during my trip!). I know I should have tried to cut the amount down to fifty or perhaps even a hundred, but I don’t want to leave anything out! I’ll be sure to spam the link to the album as soon as I’m done publishing all of them.

Wish me luck!

PS. While on the subject of Lapland, did I mention a little project I was involved in?

Day 1: The long flight begins

10:33 - Schipol Airport, Amsterdam

When I showed up at the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport with two suitcases, a laptop bag and a backpack I knew I was toast. Luckily my KLM ticket allowed me to check-in two items and the rest I could carry with me on the plane. As usual I had stayed up all night, since there was no point in going to sleep for a few hours (packing took a bit longer than expected :D). The only downside to flying with KLM is that it leaves around six in the morning, which means you have to show up an hour or two before that. Having checked-in online, I was able to bypass the mile long queue. I passed out pretty much as soon as I sat down in the plane and slept happily most of the way to Amsterdam.

I ended up buying breakfast at the usual sandwich bar and got myself some surfing time from the KPN Communication Centre next to it. Since there’s about three hours to kill between flights, I figured I might as well write something and check my mails while waiting. As the sun slowly rises from the horizon, I realize I’m still tiered. Hopefully this fatigue won’t go away by the time I get on the next plane. It would be agonizing having to stay up for the rest of the trip considering I won’t be landing in Addis until ten in the evening. Wish me luck, this is going to be a rough ride

Day 1: The long flight begins (06.12.2008)

10:33 - Schipol Airport, Amsterdam

When I showed up at the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport with two suitcases, a laptop bag and a backpack I knew I was toast. Luckily my KLM ticket allowed me to check-in two items and the rest I could carry with me on the plane. As usual I had stayed up all night, since there was no point in going to sleep for a few hours (packing took a bit longer than expected :D). The only downside to flying with KLM is that it leaves around six in the morning, which means you have to show up an hour or two before that. Having checked-in online, I was able to bypass the mile long queue. I passed out pretty much as soon as I sat down in the plane and slept happily most of the way to Amsterdam.

I ended up buying breakfast at the usual sandwich bar and got myself some surfing time from the KPN Communication Centre next to it. Since there’s about three hours to kill between flights, I figured I might as well write something and check my mails while waiting. As the sun slowly rises from the horizon, I realize I’m still tiered. Hopefully this fatigue won’t go away by the time I get on the next plane. It would be agonizing having to stay up for the rest of the trip considering I won’t be landing in Addis until ten in the evening. Wish me luck, this is going to be a rough ride

22:05 - Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa

After a long flight, we finally touched down at Bole Airport. The plane had been filled up to the last seat – a clear indication that this route is very popular. We stopped at Khartoum (Sudan) where half of the passangers got off and new ones came in. By the time we got to Addis, I could hardly feel my legs, but at least the worse part was over.

I waited for my luggage for well over half an hour and started worrying that they had ended up somewhere in South America again. They came through eventually and although they had gone through a severe beating, nothing had been broken.

You know you’ve come very far when you step outside and see the moon tilted in a different direction than what you’re used to back at home. It was a mild 20′c outside, a nice change from the chilly weather in Helsinki. Lot of exciting times ahead and I hope I’ll get a chance to write some more in the days to come!

I´m new here in TIG so I thought it would be a good idea to write a blog about my life before anything else.
Well I live in Finland and at the moment I study in high school. I´m doing an IB diploma programm wich is quite demanding but also rewarding. My mother comes froom netherlands and therefore I speak dutch too as my mother tongue. English I´ve learned at schoolin addition Í speak swedish, german and portuguese. Next year I am going to move to portugal and study there for a while. I have two brothers and two sisters. So here in Finland my family in concidered to be quite big but i don´t really think so myself.
Finland is a great place to grow upand study because the education is one of the best in the world here. So I don´t really have much to complain in that part though my dream is to move abroad in some point. Well next year portugal and then back here. After that I hope i can go to a good university for example to USA or Brazil and study International relations.
I really want to study hard and succeed and use my talents in a good cause. I hope i can help others in the best way i can. So hopefully after finishing my studies with international relations i hope I can work for some organization where I can make a difference in someone´s life.
So basically that´s shortly maybe it. In the future I will write blogs about issues that don´t concern me that much and if someone has something to askI´ll be happy to answer:) I wish you all the best!

c'est moi
Automatically translated into French thanks to WorldLingo
I´m nouveau ici dans le TIG ainsi moi a pensé que ce serait une bonne idée d'écrire un blog au sujet de ma vie avant toute autre chose.
Puits I de phase en Finlande et au moment où j'étudie dans le lycée. I´m faisant un programm de diplôme d'IB qui exige tout à fait mais récompense également. Ma mère vient les Hollandes de froom et donc je parle néerlandais trop en tant que ma langue maternelle. I´ve anglais a appris à l'addition Í de schoolin parlent suédois, allemand et portugais. L'année prochaine je vais me déplacer au Portugal et étudier là pendant un moment. J'ai deux frères et deux soeurs. Tellement ici en Finlande ma famille dedans considérée comme le don´t tout à fait grand mais d'I pensent vraiment ainsi moi-même.
La Finlande est un grand endroit pour accroître l'étude d'upand parce que l'éducation est une des meilleure au monde ici. Le don´t tellement I ont vraiment beaucoup à se plaindre dans cette partie bien que mon rêve soit de se déplacer à l'étranger un certain point. L'année prochaine bonne Portugal et soutiennent alors ici. Ensuite que j'espère je peux aller à une bonne université par exemple aux Etats-Unis ou au Brésil et étudier des relations internationales.
Je veux vraiment étudier dur et réussir et employer mes talents dans une bonne cause. J'espère que je peux aider d'autres de la meilleure manière que je peux. Tellement si tout va bien après avoir fini mes études avec des relations internationales i espèrent que je peux travailler pour une certaine organisation où je peux faire une différence dans la vie de someone´s.
Tellement fondamental that´s sous peu peut-être il. À l'avenir j'écrirai des blogs au sujet des questions que le don´t me concernent que beaucoup et si quelqu'un fait être quelque chose à l'askI´ll heureuse de répondre :) Je te souhaite tout meilleur !

éste es yo
Automatically translated into Spanish thanks to WorldLingo
I´m nuevo aquí en el TIG así que mí pensó que sería una buena idea escribir un blog sobre mi vida antes todo lo demás.
Pozo I vivo en Finlandia y en el momento que estudio en High School secundaria. I´m que hace un programm del diploma de IB que está exigiendo absolutamente pero también está recompensando. Mi madre viene Países Bajos del froom y por lo tanto hablo holandés también como mi lengua materna. I´ve inglés aprendió en la adición Í del schoolin habla sueco, alemán y portugués. El año próximo voy a trasladarme a Portugal y a estudiar allí durante algún tiempo. Tengo dos hermanos y dos hermanas. Tan aquí en Finlandia mi familia adentro considerada ser el don´t absolutamente grande pero i realmente piensa tan mismo.
Finlandia es un gran lugar para crecer estudio del upand porque la educación es una del mejor del mundo aquí. El don´t tan I realmente tiene mucho a quejarse en esa parte aunque mi sueño es moverse al exterior en un cierto punto. El año próximo bien Portugal y entonces mueve hacia atrás aquí. Después que espero puedo ir a una buena universidad por ejemplo a los E.E.U.U. o al Brasil y estudiar relaciones internacionales.
Realmente deseo estudiar difícilmente y tener éxito y utilizar mis talentos en una buena causa. Espero que pueda ayudar a otros de la mejor manera que puedo. Tan esperanzadamente después de acabar mis estudios con relaciones internacionales i espera que pueda trabajar para una cierta organización donde puedo diferenciar en vida de los someone´s.
Tan básicamente that´s pronto quizá él. En el futuro escribiré blogs sobre ediciones que el don´t se refiere a mí que mucho y si alguien hace que algo al askI´ll sea feliz contestar:) ¡Le deseo todo el la mejor!

ciò è me
Automatically translated into Italian thanks to WorldLingo
I´m nuovo qui nel TIG in modo da in io ha pensato che fosse una buona idea scrivere un blog circa la mia vita prima di niente altro.
Pozzo I in tensione in Finlandia e dal momento che studio in High School. I´m che fa un programm del diploma di IB che abbastanza sta richiedendo ma inoltre sta ricompensando. La mia madre viene i Paesi Bassi del froom e quindi parlo dutch ugualmente come mia lingua materna. I´ve inglese imparato all'aggiunta Í di schoolin parla svedese, tedesco e Portoghese. L'anno prossimo sto andando muovermi nel Portogallo e studiare là per un istante. Ho i due fratelli e due sorelle. Così qui in Finlandia la mia famiglia dentro considerata come don´t realmente pensa così io stesso i ma abbastanza grande.
La Finlandia è un posto grande per sviluppare lo studio del upand perché la formazione è una dei la cosa migliore nel mondo qui. Il don´t così I realmente ha molto da protestare in quella parte benchè il mio sogno sia di muoversi all'estero in un certo punto. L'anno prossimo buono Portogallo ed allora sostiene qui. Dopo che spero posso andare ad una buona università per esempio negli S.U.A. o nel Brasile e studiare i rapporti internazionali.
Realmente desidero studiare duro e riuscire ed usare i miei talenti in una buona causa. Spero che possa aiutare altri nel senso migliore possa. Così eventualmente dopo la rifinitura dei miei studi con i rapporti internazionali i spera che possa lavorare per una certa organizzazione dove posso fare una differenza nella vita dei someone´s.
Così fondamentale that´s presto forse esso. In avvenire scriverò i blogs circa le edizioni che il don´t lo interessa che molto e se qualcuno fa essere qualcosa a askI´ll felice di rispondere a:) Gli auguro tutto il la cosa migliore!

dieses ist ich
Automatically translated into German thanks to WorldLingo
I´m, das hier in TIG also in mir neu ist, dachte, daß es eine gute Idee sein würde, ein blog über mein Leben vor noch etwas zu schreiben.
Brunnen I Phasen in Finnland und in dem Augenblick als ich in der High School studiere. I´m, das ein IB Diplom programm tut, das durchaus verlangt, aber auch belohnt. Meine Mutter kommt die froom Niederlande und folglich spreche ich Niederländisch auch als meine Muttersprache. Englisches I´ve, das an der schoolin Hinzufügung Í erlernt wird, sprechen Swedish, Deutsches und Portugiesen. Folgendes Jahr werde ich nach Portugal umziehen und dort für eine Weile studieren. Ich habe zwei Brüder und zwei Schwestern. So hier in Finnland denken meine Familie, die innen betrachtet wird, durchaus grosses aber i don´t so wirklich, selbst zu sein.
Finnland ist ein großer Platz, zum von upand Studie zu wachsen, weil die Ausbildung eine von den besten in der Welt hier ist. Haben don´t so I wirklich viel, zum sich in diesem Teil zu beschweren, obwohl mein Traum, auswärts in etwas Punkt zu bewegen ist. Wohles folgendes Jahr Portugal und ziehen dann hier zurück. Nachher, daß ich hoffe, kann ich zu einer guten Universität zum Beispiel nach USA oder Brasilien gehen und internationale Relationen studieren.
Ich möchte wirklich stark studieren und meinen Talenten in einer guten Ursache folgen und verwenden. Ich hoffe, daß ich anderen in der besten Weise helfen kann, die ich kann. So hoffnungsvoll, nach der Fertigung meiner Studien mit internationalen Relationen, hoffen I, daß ich für irgendeine Organisation arbeiten kann, in der ich bezüglich des someone´s Lebens unterscheiden kann.
So im Allgemeinen that´s kurz möglicherweise es. Zukünftig schreibe ich blogs über Ausgaben, daß don´t mich betreffen, daß viel und wenn jemand etwas zum askI´ll glücklich sein läßt zu antworten:) Ich wünsche Ihnen alles beste!

este é mim
Automatically translated into Portuguese thanks to WorldLingo
I´m novo aqui no TIG assim que no mim pensou que seria uma idéia boa escrever um blog sobre minha vida antes de qualquer outra coisa.
Poço I vivo em Finlandia e no momento em que eu estudo na High School. I´m que faz um programm do diploma de IB que esteja exijindo completamente mas esteja recompensando também. Minha mãe vem Países Baixos do froom e conseqüentemente eu falo o dutch demasiado como minha lingüeta de mãe. I´ve inglês aprendeu na adição Í do schoolin fala o sueco, o alemão e o português. Ano seguinte eu estou indo mover-se para Portugal e estudar lá por um quando. Eu tenho dois irmãos e duas irmãs. Assim aqui em Finlandia minha família considerada dentro ser o don´t pensa realmente assim eu mesmo de completamente grande mas i.
Finlandia é um lugar grande para crescer o estudo do upand porque a instrução é um do mais melhor no mundo aqui. O don´t assim I tem realmente muito a queixar-se nessa parte embora meu sonho é se mover no exterior em algum ponto. O ano seguinte bom Portugal e suporta então aqui. Em seguida que eu espero eu posso ir a uma universidade boa por exemplo aos EUA ou ao Brasil e estudar relações internacionais.
Eu quero realmente estudar duramente e suceder e usar meus talents em uma causa boa. Eu espero que eu possa ajudar a outro na mais melhor maneira que eu posso. Assim esperançosamente após ter terminado meus estudos com relações internacionais i esperam que eu possa trabalhar para alguma organização onde eu posso fazer uma diferença na vida dos someone´s.
Assim bàsicamente that´s logo talvez ele. No futuro eu escreverei blogs sobre edições que o don´t me concerne que muito e se alguém mandar algo ao askI´ll ser feliz responder:) Eu desejo-lhe todo o mais melhor!

detta är mig
Automatically translated into Swedish thanks to WorldLingo
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I´m som var ny här i TIG så mig, tänkte att den skulle är en bra idé att skriva en blog om mitt liv för något annat.
Brunn I direkt i Finland och på studien för ögonblick I i högstadium. I´m som gör en IB-diplomprogramm, som är ganska fordra, men belönar också. Mitt fostra kommer froomNederländerna, och därför talar jag holländare för, som mitt fostra spontar. Engelska I´ve som är lärd på schoolintillägget Í, talar svensk, tysk och portugis. Nästa förmiddag för år som I där går till flyttningen till portugal och studien för en stund. Jag har två bröder och två systrar. Så här i Finland min familj i ansett som är för ganska stor men I för don´t egentligen funderare så jag själv.
Finland is a great place to grow upand study because the education is one of the best in the world here. Har don´t så I egentligen mycket som däri klagar delen, fast min dröm är till flyttningen i något pekar utomlands. Det väl nästa året portugal och drar tillbaka därefter här. , att After jag hoppas, kan jag gå till en bra universitetar for example till USA eller Brasilien och studielandskampförbindelse.
Jag önskar egentligen till studien hårt och lyckas och använder min talangar i en goda orsakar. Jag hoppas mig kan hjälpa andra i det bäst mig kan långt. Så hopefully, efter avslutningen min studier med landskampförbindelse som jag hoppas, kan jag fungera för någon organisation var jag kan göra en skillnad i someone´sliv.
Så i stort that´s kort kanske det. I framtiden ska jag skriver blogs utfärdar omkring att don´t angår mig att mycket och, om någon har något till askI´ll att vara lycklig att svara:), Jag önskar dig alla bäst!

это мной
Automatically translated into Russian thanks to WorldLingo
I´m новое здесь в TIG поэтому мне думало будет хорошей идеей написать blog о моей жизни перед что-нибудь еще.
Добро iий в реальном маштабе времени в Финляндии и at the moment я изучу в старших клаччах средней школы. I´m делая programm диплома IB довольно требует но также награждает. Моя мать приходит Нидерландыа froom и поэтому я говорю голландеца слишком как мой родной язык. Английское I´ve выученное на добавлении Í schoolin говорит шведский язык, немца и португалку. Будущий год я иду двинуть к Португалии и изучить там for a while. Я имею 2 братьев и 2 сестер. Настолько здесь в Финляндии моя семья внутри рассматриваемые, что была don´t себя довольно больших но I реально думает так.
Финляндия будет большим местом для того чтобы вырасти изучение upand потому что образование одним из самого лучшего в мире здесь. Don´t настолько iий реально имеет много, котор нужно пожаловаться в той части хотя мое сновидение должно двинуть зарубежом в некоторый пункт. Хороший будущий год Португалия и после этого подпирает здесь. Поже что я надеюсь я могу пойти к хорошему университету например к США или Бразилии и изучить международные связи.
Я реально хочу изучить крепко и преуспеть и использовать мои талантливости в правом деле. Я надеюсь я может помочь другим в самой лучшей дороге, котор я могу. Настолько hopefully после заканчивать мои изучения с международными связями iий надеется я может работать для некоторой организации где я могу внести изменения в жизни someone´s.
Настолько основно that´s скоро возможно оно. In the future я напишу blogs о вопросах что don´t относится я что много и если кто-то имеет что-то к askI´ll быть счастливо ответить:), то Я желаю вам все самое лучшее!

dit is me
Automatically translated into Dutch thanks to WorldLingo
I´m hier nieuw in TIG zodat dacht ik het een goed idee zou zijn om een blog over mijn leven vóór iets anders te schrijven.
Goed leef ik in Finland en op het ogenblik bestudeer ik in hoge school. I´m die een diploma IB doet programm dat vrij eisend maar ook belonend is. Mijn moeder komt froom Nederland en daarom spreek ik ook het Nederlands als mijn moedertaal. Engelse I´ve die bij schoolintoevoeging Í wordt geleerd spreekt Zweeds, het Duits en het Portugees. Volgend jaar ga ik me aan Portugal en studie daar voor een tijdje bewegen. Ik heb twee broers en twee zusters. Zo hier in Finland denkt mijn familie in nagedacht vrij groot om te zijn maar I don´t werkelijk zo zelf.
Finland is een grote plaats om upand studie te kweken omdat het onderwijs één hier van het beste in de wereld is. Zo I don´t heeft werkelijk veel om in dat deel te klagen hoewel mijn droom zich in het buitenland in wat punt moet bewegen. Goed volgend jaar hier steunt Portugal en dan. Na dat hoop ik ik naar een goede universiteit bijvoorbeeld naar de Internationale relaties van de V.S. kan gaan of van Brazilië en van de studie.
Ik wil werkelijk mijn talenten hard bestuderen en slagen en gebruiken in een goede oorzaak. Ik hoop ik anderen op de beste manier kan helpen ik kan. Zo hopelijk na het beëindigen van mijn studies met internationale relaties hoop ik ik voor één of andere organisatie kan werken waar ik een verschil in het someone´sleven kan maken.
Zo fundamenteel that´s binnenkort misschien het. In de toekomst die ik blogs over kwesties zal schrijven die don´t betref me dat veel en als iemand heeft iets aan askI´ll gelukkig zijn te antwoorden:) Ik wens u alle beste!

هذا ي
Automatically translated into Arabic thanks to WorldLingo
فكّر [إيم] جديدة هنا في [تيغ] لذلك أنا هو كان فكرة جيّدة أن يكتب [بلوغ] حول حياتي قبل [أنثينغ لس].
بئر [إي] حيّة في فنلندا و [أت ث مومنت] يدرس أنا في مدرسة ثانويّة. [إيم] يتمّ [إيب] براءة إختراع [بروغرمّ] أيّ يكون الى حدّ بعيد يطلب غير أنّ أيضا يكافئ. يأتي أمي [فرووم] هولندا ولذلك أنا أتكلّم اللغة الهولندية أيضا ك [موثر تونغ] ي. يتكلّم [إيف] إنجليزيّة يعلم في [سكهوولين] إضافة اللغة السويدية, ألمانية وبرتغالية. سنة تالية يذهب أنا أن يتحرّك إلى برتغال ودرست هناك لفترة. أنا أتلقّى اثنان إخوان واثنان أخوات. هكذا هنا في فنلندا يفكّر أسرتي داخل يعتبر أن يكون الى حدّ بعيد كبير غير أنّ أنا [دونت] حقّا هكذا بنفسي.
فنلندا مكان عظيمة أن ينمو [أوبند] دراسة لأنّ التربية يكون واحدة من الجيّدة في العالم هنا. هكذا [إي] يتلقّى [دونت] حقّا كثير أن يشتكي في أنّ جزء رغم أنّ حلمي يكون أن يتحرّك في الخارج في بعض نقطة. يساعد سنة جيّدة تالية برتغال وبعد ذلك هنا. في ما بعد أنّ يأمل أنا أنا يستطيع ذهبت إلى جامعة جيّدة مثلا إلى [أوسا] أو برازيل ودرست علاقات دوليّة.
أنا حقّا أريد أن يدرس بشدّة ونجحت واستعملت مواهبي في سبب جيّدة. أنا آمل أنا يستطيع ساعدت أخرى في الطريق جيّدة أنا أستطيع. هكذا بكل أمل بعد ينهي دراساتي مع علاقات دوليّة يأمل [إي] أنا يستطيع عملت ل بعض تنظيم حيث أنا يستطيع جعلت فرق في [سميونس] حياة.
هكذا أساسيّا [ثتس] قريبا ربّما هو. [إين ث فوتثر] سيكتب أنا [بلوغس] حول إصدارات أنّ [دونت] يتعلّقني أنّ كثير وإن أحد ما يتلقّى شيء إلى [أسكيلّ] كنت سعيدة أن يجيب:) أنا أتمنّى أنت [ألّ ث] جيّدة!

I still find it hard to believe I will get a chance to visit Addis Ababa again. This will be the second time I spend Christmas in a nice sunny environment – something which probably every Finn dreams during the dark days of December!

Naturally I will be bringing along my Canon EOS 40D now equipped with a brand new 18-200mm EF-S lens. I even bought a circular polarizer for it which cost me a fortune since the filer thread is 72mm wide! It might not be a L-series lens, but under the circumstances it’s more than I could have hoped for. I bought it especially with this trip in mind, since it has sometimes been hard to get close to my subjects (such as lions or hippos) during my past visits to Ethiopia.

Speaking of which, I was looking through my stats on Flickr and saw that some of the pictures I took during my last trip were featured on a site covering basic facts about the Amharic language. Hopefully once I reprocess all my old print photographs, I’ll get a chance to compile all my African Exposure series in a nice big set and share them all in good quality. Unfortunately this will take some time as I’ll have to go through the original negatives and pick out all the photos I want the professional photo labs to scan. My own personal equipment is not capable of producing good digital results from these old formats, so bare with me!

I also bought a 32GB Compact Flash card recently and figured that it would cover my needs during my three week trip to Ethiopia and Tanzania. What do you think? My camera can’t even display the amount of photos it would be able to take even with the RAW+JPEG option turned on (the display only goes up to 999) so I think I’m all set! I’m dragging my laptop along just in case, but I’ll doubt I’ll have much use for it outside of Addis.

I’ll be returning sometime at the end of December with hopefully many beautiful pictures to share with you.

For those of you living in the Northern hemisphere, enjoy the winter (and snow if you have any). I’m off to the sunshine!

Phoenix2k

PS. Hajotkaa vaan koteihinne Ainoa oikea ratkaisu talvella on lähteä pimeyttä pakoon!

After half a year of development and testing, the third edition of Home Studio is finally here! Version 3 brings in a lot of new features such as a (working) portfolio, a shoutbox, on-the-fly translation (for blog posts) and of course a brand new look!

After a painful series of trials and errors, I’m glad the previous version is now finally out of the way. After it’s faithful two years of service, it had become a nightmare to keep up to date due to extensive hacking and customization. The whole thing had started to fall apart, so rather than spending months trying to repair it and keep it all together, I embarked on a new journey to redesign the entire site from scratch.

Step 1: The design

I spent the first month trying out different ideas in Photoshop. It went from promising to frustrating, then back to promising and finally to eureka. It’s funny though, I kept coming back to my old site’s layout because most of the features were already there - just badly implemented.

Once I was happy with the basic looks, it was time to make some print-outs and start planning on how to actually achieve all of that technically.

Step 2: The code

I already knew that my previous method of wanting to code everything myself and include parts of a CMS on my own site wasn’t going to work. So rather than continuing on a path of infinite complications, I decided to try it the other way around. Since I had become accustomed to WordPress, it seemed like a natural choice for managing my site’s content. Not only is it free, but it is also very flexible which was a key requirement to bringing this new site to life.

I started planning, carefully scribbling things on paper and listing all the features I wanted this new site to incorporate. Luckily WordPress has a huge following and most of the features were already available for download as extensions (or plugins). This not only saved me a lot of time, but it also made me realise how fortunate we are to have these types of open source communities who pour their hearts and souls into producing something wonderful collectively.

The coding and customizing took a little over two months, although it’s still ongoing and will most likely never stop. I had a lot of trouble getting the navigation to work and to some extent it’s still not up to the standard I envisioned in the beginning. This is mainly due to the way in which WordPress treats different levels when it comes to pages and the only way I figured out a way around it was to hard code some pages to display the links in the order that I wanted. In fact, there are quite a lot of things I ended up doing my way, either because it was not possible to do any other way or simply because it was the easiest way to do it

Looking back I can already see a few things I should have done differently, but these are all things I can put aside and take into account the next time I embark on a similar mission.

Part 3: The content

The hardest part was trying to merge my old site’s content with the new one - that is, until I found the export feature in the admin section of the site. Up until then, I had tried merging databases by exporting them directly from MySQL with, needless to say, disastrous results. Luckily I had taken backup copies and was able to bounce back each time. Once I figured how posts are supposed to be exported, the rest was easy.

If I would have done things correctly the first time around, I would have saved myself a lot of trouble. I must have spent a month or two simply going through my posts, tagging everything and adding missing information for SEO purposes. I wanted this new site to be easily accessible and have all the information necessary to be able to find things quickly and easily. I knew the search feature would play a great role in this, not to mention search engines themselves which have been previously blocked from many areas of the site.

Part 4: Testing phase

The last month was dedicated to last minute touches and extensive testing to make sure this site wouldn’t crumble on the first update or small change to its core structure. After all, this was the inevitable downfall of the last incarnation of Home Studio and I just wanted to make sure I wouldn’t run into the same problems again. Luckily, so far it has withstood everything I’ve thrown at it and by the looks of it, it’s running exactly as it was designed to.

Of course I can’t predict the future and with WordPress 3.0 looming in the horizon there are many challenges ahead. However, I’m very happy with the results so far even if there are still many areas which are in dire need of more work. Hopefully with your help, I’ll be able to make this site better and with time offer you a new experience again with v4 of Home Studio.

Thanks for reading and don’t hesitate to interact! There’s a lot of stuff to comment on and a lot of new pages hidden under many levels of navigation. User registration has now been enabled, so you don’t have to write your name and email everytime you want to comment.

If at any point you feel lost, there’s a new sitemap available to help get you back on track. If that’s not enough you can always leave a message in the shoutbox and hope someone is around to answer your question. I’d appreciate any feedback you can think of concerning the site and it’s contents (and please write in English!).

Enjoy your stay and see your around!

Phoenix2k

From two months to two weeks, we are now down to a few days before this web site is blown to pieces. Don’t worry, this time there won’t be a void left behind but rather a new big bang. Home Studio v3 is almost here!

After almost half a year in development, the third installation of this web site is almost ready to go live. The new site has gone through extensive testing - something which I didn’t do with the current incarnation of HS. Rather than building it as I went along, this time I sat down, planned, took notes, planned some more and before I even wrote a line of code, I already had a clear picture of how it was all going to work out.

Version 3 has been tested, broken and brought back to life so many times it is almost bulletproof. Over the course of this past half a year, there have been a large amounts of updates - not only for the plugins that are I’m using, but also to WordPress itself. With the old site, everytime I updated my blog the entire site collapsed. Pieces of code here and there stopped working and  I couldn’t for the life of me understand why - until I realised that rather than trying to include WordPress in my own work, I should try the opposite approach. And it worked.

The new site will be entirely managed by WordPress and will feature a lot of new goodies, but rather than spoiling the fun beforehand, I’ll keep quiet for now. I need to finish importing some material and go through all the pages one more time to check that all the info is in place, but as soon as I’m done with that, version 2 is history.

Phoenix2k

 

Du 15 au 17 Novembre, à Strasbourg en France, se déroulent les Journées Européennes du Développement. Rassemblant 3000 participants représentant plus de 1200 organisations de la famille du développement, cet évènement s'impose comme un évènement majeur de la Commission Européenne.

Partenaire de Plan International pour cet évènement, TakingITGlobal est représenté par sa Community Connector française, Sarah Toumi qui sera présente sur le stand 75 de Plan International pendant tout l'évènement pour aider les jeunes journalistes à communiquer avec les membres de TIG en ligne.

Jeunes membres de TakingITGloblal, des jeunes journalistes de Plan International réunis ici à Strasbourg pour le week vous ferons vivre l'évènement en temps réel.

N'hesitez pas à laisser des commentaires et à débattre avec eux, poser vos questions et participer virtuellement à cet évènement d'envergure qui donne la parole à tous : administrations, parlements, autorités locales, société civile, organisations internationales, milieux académiques, agences de développement, secteur privé et médias.

TakingITGlobal presente a los Días Europeos del Desarrollo
Automatically translated into Spanish thanks to WorldLingo
Del 15 al 17 de noviembre, en Estrasburgo en Francia, se desarrollan los Días Europeos del Desarrollo. Reuniendo a 3000 participantes que representan a más de a 1200 organizaciones de la familia del desarrollo, este acontecimiento se impone como un acontecimiento principal de la Comisión Europea.

Socio de Plan Internacional para este acontecimiento, TakingITGlobal está representado por su Community Connector francesa, Sara Toumi que estará presente sobre la caseta 75 de Plan Internacional durante todo el acontecimiento para ayudar a los jóvenes periodistas a comunicar con los miembros de TIG en línea.

Jóvenes miembros de TakingITGloblal, jóvenes periodistas de Plan Internacional reunidos aquí en Estrasburgo para el week les harán vivir el acontecimiento instantáneo.

No vacilan en dejar comentarios y en discutir con ellos, en plantear sus cuestiones y a no participar prácticamente en este acontecimiento de envergadura que da la palabra a todos: administraciones, parlamentos, autoridades locales, sociedad civil, organizaciones internacionales, medios académicos, agencias de desarrollo, sector privado y medios de comunicación.

TakingITGlobal presente alle giornate europee dello sviluppo
Automatically translated into Italian thanks to WorldLingo
Del 15 al 17 novembre, a Strasburgo in Francia, si svolgono le giornate europee dello sviluppo. Raccogliendo 3000 partecipanti che rappresentano più di 1200 organizzazioni della famiglia dello sviluppo, quest'evento si impone come un evento importante della Commissione europea.

Partner di Piano internazionale per quest'evento, TakingITGlobal è rappresentato dal suo Community Connector francese, Sarah Toumi che sarà presente sul supporto 75 di Piano internazionale durante tutto l'evento per aiutare i giovani giornalisti a comunicare con i membri di TIG in linea.

Giovani membri di TakingITGloblal, giovani giornalisti di Piano internazionale riuniti qui a Strasburgo per il week vi faremo vivere l'evento in tempo reale.

Non esitate a lasciare commenti e discutere con loro, chiedere le vostre precisazioni e partecipare praticamente a quest'evento di portata che dà la parola a tutti: amministrazioni, Parlamenti, enti locali, società civile, organizzazioni internazionali, ambienti accademici, agenzie di sviluppo, settore privato e mass media.

TakingITGlobal gegenwärtiges an den Europäischen Tagen der Entwicklung
Automatically translated into German thanks to WorldLingo
Von den 15 am 17. November in Straßburg in Frankreich finden die Europäischen Tage der Entwicklung statt. Dieses Ereignis versammelt 3000 Teilnehmer, die mehr als 1200 Organisationen der Familie der Entwicklung vertreten, und drängt sich als ein Hauptereignis der Europäischen Kommission auf.

Internationaler Planpartner für dieses Ereignis, TakingITGlobal ist durch sein Community Connector vertreten französisch, Sarah Toumi, die auf Stand 75 internationalen Plans während des ganzen Ereignisses anwesend sein wird, um den jungen Journalisten zu helfen, mit den online tig-Mitgliedern mitzuteilen.

Junge Mitglieder von TakingITGloblal junge Journalisten internationalen Plans, die hier in Straßburg für das week versammelt sind, Ihnen lassen werden das Ereignis in Echtzeit leben.

Sind unentschlossen, keine Kommentare zu lassen und mit ihnen zu erörtern, Ihre Fragen zu stellen und virtuell an diesem Ausmaßereignis teilzunehmen, das allen das Wort erteilt: Verwaltungen, die Parlamente, Gemeinden, Zivilgesellschaft, internationale Organisationen, akademische Kreise, Entwicklungsagenturen, Privatsektor und Medien.

TakingITGlobal presente aos Dias Europeus do Desenvolvimento
Automatically translated into Portuguese thanks to WorldLingo
Do 15 ao 17 de Novembro, em Estrasburgo na França, desenrolam-se os Dias Europeus do Desenvolvimento. Reunindo 3000 participantes que representam mais de 1200 organizações da família do desenvolvimento, este acontecimento impõe-se como um acontecimento essencial da Comissão Europeia.

Parceiro de Plano Internacional para este acontecimento, TakingITGlobal é representado pelo seu Community Connector francês, Sarah Toumi que estará presente sobre a tribuna 75 de Plano Internacional durante todo o acontecimento para ajudar os jovens jornalistas a comunicar com os membros de TIG em linha.

Jovens membros de TakingITGloblal, jovens jornalistas de Plano Internacional reunidos aqui em Estrasburgo para o week far-vos -ão viver o acontecimento em tempo real.

Não hesitam a deixar comentários e a debater com eles, fazer as vossas perguntas e participar virtualmente neste acontecimento de grande envergadura que dá a palavra à todos: administrações, Parlamentos, autoridades locais, sociedade civil, organizações internacionais, meios académicos, agências de desenvolvimento, sector privado e meios de comunicação social.

TakingITGlobal present at the European Days of the Development
Automatically translated into English thanks to WorldLingo
From the 15 at November 17, in Strasbourg in France, are held the European Days of the Development. Gathering 3000 participants representing more than 1200 organizations of the family of the development, this event is essential like a major event of the European Commission.

Partner of International Plan for this event, TakingITGlobal is represented by his Community Connector Frenchwoman, Sarah Toumi who will be present on stand 75 of International Plan during all the event to help the young journalists to communicate with the members of TIG on line.

Young members of TakingITGloblal, of the young journalists of International Plan brought together here in Strasbourg for the week will make you live the event in real time.

Do not hesitate to leave comments and to discuss with them, to put your questions and to take part virtually in this event of scale which calls on all: administrations, Parliaments, local authorities, civil company, international organizations, academic mediums, agencies of development, private sector and media.

TakingITGlobal gåva på europédagarna av utvecklingen
Automatically translated into Swedish thanks to WorldLingo
Från 15na på November 17, i Strasbourg i Frankrike rymms europédagarna av utvecklingen. Samla 3000 deltagare som föreställer mer än 1200 organisationar av familjen av utvecklingen, är denna händelse, den nödvändiga något liknande per ha som huvudämnehändelsen av Europeiska kommissionen.

Partnern av landskampen planerar för denna händelse, TakingITGlobal föreställs av hans gemenskapkontaktdonfransyska, Sarah Toumi som ska är närvarande på stativ 75 av landskampen planerar under alla händelse för att hjälpa de unga journalisterna att meddela med de on-line medlemmarna av TIG.

Unga medlemmar av TakingITGloblal, av de unga journalisterna av landskampen planerar kommit med tillsammans här i Strasbourg för den ska veckan gör dig att bo händelsen i real-time.

Tveka inte att lämna kommentarer och att diskutera med dem, för att sätta ditt ifrågasätter och för att ta del faktiskt i denna händelse av fjäll som appeller på alla: administrationer, parlament, kommunen, borgerligt företag, landskamporganisationar, akademiskt massmedia, byråer av utveckling, privat sektor och massmedia.

TakingITGlobal представляет на европейских днях развития
Automatically translated into Russian thanks to WorldLingo
От 15 на 17-ое ноября, в страсбурге в Франции, держите европейские дни развития. Собирающ 3000 участников представляя больше чем 1200 организаций семьи развития, этот случай необходим как основное событие европейской комиссии.

Соучастник международного плана для этого случая, TakingITGlobal представлен его француженкой разъема общины, Сара Toumi которое будет на стойке 75 международного плана во время полностью случая для того чтобы помочь молодым журналистам связывать с членами TIG на линии.

Молодые члены TakingITGloblal, молодых журналистов международного плана bring together здесь в страсбурге на неделя сделают вас жить случай в реальное временя.

Не смутитесь оставить комментарии и обсудить с ими, положить ваши вопросы и принять участие фактически в этом случае маштаба который call on все: администрация, парламенты, органы местного самоуправления, гражданская компания, международные организации, академичные средства, агенства развития, частной сектор и средства.

Aanwezige TakingITGlobal aan de Europese Dagen van de Ontwikkeling
Automatically translated into Dutch thanks to WorldLingo
Van 15 tot 17 November, in Straatsburg in Frankrijk plaats, vinden de Europese Dagen van de Ontwikkeling. Bijeenbrengend 3000 deelnemers die meer dan 1200 organisaties van de familie van de ontwikkeling vertegenwoordigen, is deze gebeurtenis als een belangrijkste gebeurtenis van de Europese Commissie noodzakelijk.

Wordt de partner van Internationaal Plan voor deze gebeurtenis, TakingITGlobal door zijn Community Connector Frans vertegenwoordigd, Sarah Toumi die aanwezig op de stand 75 van Internationaal Plan gedurende de hele gebeurtenis zal zijn om de jonge journalisten te helpen om met de on-line leden van TIG mee te delen.

Jonge leden van TakingITGloblal, jonge journalisten van Internationaal Plan hier verenigd in Straatsburg voor week u de gebeurtenis in real time zullen laten beleven.

Aarzelt om geen commentaren te laten en om met hen te bespreken, uw vragen te stellen en virtueel aan deze gebeurtenis van omvang deel te nemen die het woord aan iedereen geeft: besturen, Parlementen, plaatselijke autoriteiten, burgerlijke vennootschap, internationale organisaties, academische milieu's, ontwikkelingsagentschappen particuliere sector en media.

[تكينجتغلوبل] يقدّم في الأيام أوروبيّة من التطوير
Automatically translated into Arabic thanks to WorldLingo
أمسكت من ال 15 في نوفمبر - تشرين الثّاني 17, في ستراسبورغ في فرنسا, الأيام أوروبيّة من التطوير. يجمع 3000 مشتركات يمثّل أكثر من 1200 تنظيمات من الأسرة من التطوير, هذا حادث أساسيّة مثل حادث كبريات من الالمفوّضيّة الأوروبيّة.

مثّلت شريكة من خطة دوليّة ل هذا حادث, [تكينجتغلوبل] ب ه جماعة وصلة فرنسية, [سره] [توومي] الذي سيكون حاضرة على حامل قفص 75 من خطة دوليّة أثناء [ألّ ث] حادث أن يساعد الصحفيات شابّة أن يتّصل مع الأعضاء ال [تيغ] على خطّ.

سيجعل أعضاء شابّة [تكينجتغلوبلل], من الصحفيات شابّة من خطة دوليّة [برينغ توجثر] هنا في ستراسبورغ للأسبوع أنت عشت الحادث في [رل-تيم].

لا يتردّد أن يترك تعليقات وأن يتناقش مع هم, أن يضع أسئلتك وأن يساهم في الواقع في هذا حادث المقياس أيّ [كلّ ون] كلّ: إدارات, مجلس نواب, سلطة محليّة, شركة مدنيّة, تنظيمات دوليّة, أوساط أكاديميّة, وكالات التطوير, [بريفت سكتور] وأوساط.

For most people, upgrading to a newer version of software is usually a good thing whether it’s your browser, office software or operating system (although in the case of Windows Vista, I wonder what the hell they were thinking).

But when it comes to web sites, complicated databases and user accounts, upgrading to a newer version becomes a very delicate matter. Sampo bank, which recently upgraded their web site for Finnish curstomers was a good example of how wrong things can go. In my case, upgrading to the next version not only destroyed the administration area of the site, but also managed to lock the only person out who would have been able to anything about it: the admin.

So how did it come to this? It’s not every day that you leave your house only to realise you left the keys inside and unable to get back in. Luckily there is always someone who you’ve entrusted with a copy (in this case other admins who’ve ran into the same problem and discussed it extensively on the net). If not, you can always break back in with the help of a locksmith or a crowbar. You know, nuke the database, do a complete reinstall - something which I thankfully managed to avoid!

I find myself wonderinig why I went through all this trouble in the first place, when Version 3 of Home Studio is just sitting in the beta lounge waiting to be launched. Ah yes, content!

Merging databases from version 2 and 3 has turned out to be a complete nightmare. Exporting-Importing-Fixing databases just hasn’t worked and I find myself always falling back to the backup of the test site beacuse everything falls apart. Not surprising, considering the two sites have about as much in common as an amoeba and a… multicellular organism o.O? I’ve obviously watched too much TV when I resort to brute force of destroying databases when there is a perfectly quick and simple solution coded especially for the admins in the admin area. But there was one problem. I couldn’t log back in to admin area in v2.

So that’s why I wasted an entire evening fixing this site and hopefully soon - very soon - I’ll be able to bury it once and for all and make way for a brand new one which hopefully won’t collapse everytime I try to spice it up a bit.

What to expect from V3? A new layout, an enriched user experience, integration with other web sites such as Flickr, DeviantART, Discogs, etc. and finally my own Shoutbox!

Expect this baby to grow up in the next couple of weeks!

Stay sane. Stop watching nonsense on TV!

Phoenix2k

Today the truth finally dawned on us. After having spent a weekend wondering where one my best friend’s room mates had vanished, we got the answer we least expected. We had gone through a dozen scenarios, but nothing prepared us for this. It made no sense and to a large extent it still feels completely surreal. Our friend had passed away.

My best friend called me sometime before noon. I was still in the process of waking up, although I was already at work. It was Monday morning after all. I had set aside all doubts and fears hoping that our friend would simply show up at their doorstep and have some crazy story to tell us. But as soon as I picked up the phone, I knew something was wrong. My best friend had told me that today would be the day when all was made clear. Three days had passed since his disappearance. The message couldn’t have been clearer. Our friend was not coming back that day.

The circumstances under which he vanished, the fact that all his belongings were at home including his keys and mobile phones made it very hard to understand how he could have just disappeared into thin air. All the doors were locked, no sign of breaking in or him leaving since the car was still there. Where did he go? The prospect of having a stroke had never even entered our mind.

The third room mate had received a call from this person’s mother explaining the situation. The news travelled quickly.

Every person who was made aware of this was just as shocked as I was. Is this real? How could it be? My best friend had seen him leave to work that morning. Nothing unusual, just another Friday morning. By the evening it was clear that something was not right. Silence clouded the next few days. No notes, no messages, not even a phone call from someone who would have known where he was or what had happened to him. Come Monday morning, the world had suddenly been turned upside down.

It is still hard to understand. I had known this person for almost a decade and then one day he was gone. This is the first time someone this close to us has passed away. Everyone dies eventually, but this was too soon. Most people his age get a second chance, but despite the paramedics best efforts, there was nothing to be done.

Our friendship had always been different compared others and perhaps that was the thing I enjoyed the most about being around him. There was no childhood history, no unpaid favors or depts, simply pure conversation and stimulation of the mind. This person had a lot of insight and wisdom to pass onto those around him and the conversations we used to have will be greatly missed. I could write a book if I were to recollect all the interesting topics and experiences we shared over the years, but instead I will cherish those memories in silence.

All I can say is thank you. Rest in peace my friend.

// Niko