Day 21 - Summer potluck party

Went to a summer potluck party organised by the Finnish-Malaysian Association. It was fun meeting people and eating Malaysian food. At first it was a little awkward as I did not know anybody at all and everyone seemed to know everyone, if not most of the guests that attended today. The party was made out of married couples and families, many of them were Malaysian-Finnish. When asked how they ended up in Finland, 90% of the answers I got was marriage. 'Because I got married to a Finnish guy.'

Roast chicken, lamb, eggplant, petai, sambal ikan bilis, fruit rojak, stir fried vegetables, some kind of plain acar and tempe

Kuihs, oh kuihs

When asked what do they do for a living, all of them agreed that it is awfully hard to get a job here in Finland, more so when you are a foreigner. Even to the locals, it is not easy. That's why the people here would stick to the same job for a long time, unlike in KL where people would work for about 2-3 years and then move on to elsewhere. In Finland, you have no choice. And apparently, there is a hierarchy issue in the working world, for example, working with people older than you in age; even if you have experience and etc., you'd still be treated like a baby because you're 'younger'. Kinda scary if you ask me. But as far as health and welfare is concerned, the government takes care of its people well. For the women and children department, Finland stands third in the world.

This reminds me of some white friends I met in KL who told me that they love KL, but it's not a place where they would settle down and, or to build a family. They love KL for the entertainment and liveliness. I think I get 1% of their idea now.

Anyway, back to the party. I walked towards the house meeting a very friendly woman called Angie, at the patio. She greeted me with the widest smile ever and introduced me to her teenage daughter, who seemed to be dragged to a party she'd rather not attend. Met the host, Erkki and his wife, Laimes, who is a Malaysian. Once inside the house, I began to search for familiar faces. When I say familiar faces, I meant only the 2 people that I know will be there - Jerlene and Faizal from the embassy. Faizal spotted me and introduced me to two other Malay guys chatting with him. Did not chat with them at all and now I feel a little guilty. He also introduced me to the ambassador, Mr Cheah. We spoke for a while and then I was left alone again. A little awkward, but people were friendly, thankfully. Managed to meet some nice ladies, one with a baby on its way and another just arrived the same day I did.

Curry puffs! And the banana cake I brought

There was also an auction during the party, as there was in the past year. I managed to snag a shawl and a bottle of Pringles for 1€. Nobody wanted the shawl as it was black in colour. So I bidded =)

Auction at the garden

It was certainly nice to see and hear familiarity again - the food, the colour of the people, the language and accent, and everything else that's Malaysian.

The ladies

It has been 3 weeks since I arrived. Maybe I should start making some plans. To study or to work. Language is a barrier. Maybe I should just travel and do voluntary work. But what about my family. Maybe I should teach English. But it's not my native language unless there are people who'd want to learn Manglish. I should find something to do now to earn me extra moolah so I can travel/shop be prepared for colder days =D Things are really not cheap here ok =(