Happy Birthday!

Am 16. Dezember 1947 wurde in den Bell Labs der erste Transistor gebaut. Beteiligt waren William Shockley, John Bardeen und William Brattain.

Journeyplaner gustostückerl ;)

Ich nehm mal an, sie meinten celebrations ;) aber nett ist es trotzdem.

Am finnischen Unabhängigkeitstag (6. Dezember 1917) gibt es nämlich den traditionellen Fackelzug der Studenten vom Friedhof vorbei am Präsidentenpalast (wo wir "Niin minä naitonen" für die Präsidentin gesungen haben) zum Senatsplatz wo wir ein paar Reden gehört haben und die finnische Nationalhymne gesungen haben.
Es war schön, ca. 2000 Studenten mit Fackeln in 4er Reihen, auch wenn es geregnet hat und saukalt war ;) Man trifft doch auch immer wieder bekannte Gesichter.

life in otaniemi is hard ...

prinzipiell kommt man ned wirklich oft und viel zum schlafen; entweder es ist was los wo man leute trifft (pikojoule/pikkujoulu, chor/musikkonzerte, reunion treffen, sitzungen, leute von anderen guilds kennenlernen/vernetzen, ...) oder was für die uni tun.
a propos, bin jetzt toimarii (= aktiv in gilde), als 'helping international'

aber es ist schon ziemlich cool, wenn andauernd was los ist ;) da wirds wenigstens ned fad, u vo finster u koid kriegt ma a ned gor so vü mid.
Mei Pakistaner is fia 5 wochn auf heimaturlaub, und niko wird a ned gor so vü do sei üba weihnachten => sturmfrei!! ;)

I like this one :)

Amendment to Moscow

Just to get a feeling of the size of Kremlin: The red thing is the Red Square with the Museum of History on the short upper side and Basils Cathedral on the short bottom side. All the yellow stuff is the Kremlin - a huge fortress complex featuring a few cathedrals (at the blue x), Putin's administrations buildings (between the green line and the red square) as well as the palace of the republics, some buildings for the military and representative buildings used in official receptions.
The walking tour we did followed the green line, starting at the top. It took aproximately 2 hours although we only visited one building inside.

Where the name Österreich/ Itävalta comes from:

The German name Österreich can be translated into English as the "eastern realm", which is derived from Old German Ostarrîchi. The name was Latinized as "Austria", although it has no etymological connection with the name of Australia (which derives from Latin Australis meaning The South). Reich can also mean "empire," and this connotation is the one that is understood in the context of the Austrian/Austro-Hungarian Empire, Holy Roman Empire, although not in the context of the modern Republic of Österreich. The term probably originates in a vernacular translation of the Medieval Latin name for the region: Marchia orientalis, which translates as "eastern marches" or "eastern borderland", as it was situated at the eastern edge of the Holy Roman Empire, that was also mirrored in the name Ostmark, for a short period applied after the Anschluss to Germany.

Thx to the english wikipedia

About slush (some kind of snow)

Just as the Inuit have dozens of words for different snow types, the Finnish clime has inspired various different Finnish words for loska. So as not to get bored in the coming months with the overuse of loska in your vocabulary, we introduce the Loska Dictionary for Beginners.

Loska: grey liquid-like snow. Almost water.
Sohjo: snow mixed with water. Heavier than loska.
Räntä: very wet snow falling from the sky, turn into sohjo upon hitting the ground.
Riide, riitto: sohjo which has become icy after hitting the ground. Very slippery
Nuoska: snow which is made very soft due to warm weather

And once the real winter arrives, the following lumi-related words might come in handy.

Puuterilumi: powdery snow. Ideal for winter sports
Tykkylumi: snow accumulated in tree branches. Often seen in postcards.
Lumikinos: elongated drifts of snow formed by wind. Children like to jump in them.
Lumihanki: a thick layer of clean, pretty snow. The stuff white Christmases are made of.
Kantohanki: a thick layer of snow with a hard crusted surface. Try walking on this.

The lists are not exhaustive. Many more dialect expressions such as kohva, höykkälumi and rämpsy can be heard around Finland but translations are not attempted here.

originally by Anni Haataja