in english

To all my readers

I apologise for the infrequent posts, and have to say that this will be the tonic for at least a few days (most probably slightly over a week).  My personal life is about to go through one of the most important rites of passage, and of course it will take some time.

I can assure you I'll be back with more insights later on.

en español

¿A qué hora crecimos?

Durante el último año, varios de mis amigos se han casado, y varios más lo harán dentro de poco.  Incluso a mí me queda menos de una semana de vida como soltero, y los invitados ya están empezando a llegar a esta esquina del mundo.

En un ratito de tiempo que tuve con mis amigos en la última boda hace unos días, empezamos a acordarnos de lo que hemos pasado juntos, y no pude de dejar de notar cuánto hemos crecido sin darnos cuenta.  Varios de mis amigos ya se están graduando de la maestría, y algunos ya empezaron incluso a tener hijos.  Muchos están (estamos) desperdigados, muchos en México, algunos en diferentes partes de Europa, unos más en EU, un par en China incluso.  La mayoría trabajando, y algunos ya metidos en esto de las hipotecas y el estrés de la vida adulta.

Lo bueno del asunto es que después de todo seguimos siendo los mismos y seguimos siendo amigos.  De eso se trata, ¿no?

in english

It’s so nice being back

Today I really felt back at work.  Even though July is high holiday season in Finland and some parts of Europe, there is enough interesting people and interesting projects to work on.  Starting was a little slow, but now we're doing what we're supposed to: helping bring interesting services and devices to consumer's hands.

You may have heard that we're working with Flickr and have teamed up with Vox.  What you probably didn't know was that if you're living in Europe you can order prints of your photos (not only in quality paper, but as calendars, posters and teddy bears too).

If you're interested, would you try these out and give me your thoughts?

in english

Places I still want to see

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A few friends of mine in Facebook added an app called "Cities I've visited", and after filling it myself I found out and confirmed a couple of interesting things.

Even though I've been pretty much to all the countries in what is traditionally considered Western Europe, I'm still missing Switzerland, Greece and Ireland.  Furthermore, even though I've been a few times to France, quite big parts of the country are still virgin territory to me.  I already knew that I'm missing southern Spain & southern Italy, as well as huge swathes of Eastern Europe, and funnily enough after all these years I haven't been to Norway or Denmark yet (many times through Copenhagen airport, but not to the city itself).

I have been to the big 3 countries in Latin America, but the rest are still virgin territory.  Same with most of Asia, and all of Africa and Australasia.  Definitely still a lot to be discovered

in english

Disaster at Congonhas

I'm deeply touched by the Brazilian airport accident that happened yesterday.  Not only for the dead count (which is unfortunately quite high) but also because my family used this airport (and airline) frequently, and I have been also a passenger myself.

Given that the situation at Congonhas is very similar to what is found at Benito Juárez International, I can't help but wonder if we would see something like that in Mexico City next.  I really hope not.

in english

Copa América Roundup

Now that the Copa América finished with Brasil winning 3-0 over Argentina, we can safely say that effectivity won over beauty.  The Argentines had an excellent semi-finals game against Mexico, who had come from thrashing Paraguay 6-0, and had beaten Brazil and Ecuador and tied with Chile in the first round.

In the U-20's WC, the kids lost also against Argentina, this time in quarters.  Furthermore, in the Pan-American games, the women also lost against the albiceleste, this time in the group stage.  So, if you bet in a Mexico-Argentina game, don't say you don't have enough background =(.

A good summary can be found here, where they basically say what I was going to write about:  Mexican football has grown and most probably the third place won against Uruguay reflects its status in the continent, but is still missing the leap in quality that will let it win when it matters against the top teams.

in english

How have I changed in a year

2 Comments

Being back in other familiar surroundings I have noticed about how I have changed during this past year.  Some bits and snippets below:

  • I automatically say Merci or Dank u instead of Kiitos.  Furthermore, I read French words such as "entrecote" in French (and with the circumflex accent even when there's none written).
  • I kept on wondering about the large expanse used by Finnish cities, which is needed given that people really like being surrounded by forests.  In Belgian standards, living in western Espoo is like doing the Mechelen-Brussels commute every day.
  • Life without Central European TV is not the same.  That's why I got the cable package that includes it.
  • I understand business issues much, much better, but now have to get up to speed with what happened at work during my absence.
  • I understand even less the Nordic attitude towards alcohol, summed up as: let's drink until we're not constrained by social rules, and then drink even more. Finding a bunch of absolutely wasted teenagers on my first day here made it even more painfully clear.
  • I appreciate the purity of Finnish water and the cleanliness of Finnish streets (except for the occasional saturday morning vomit – see above) even more.
  • I'm even more of a cultural mess, for good or bad.  My home here feels more like my home not really because it is in Finland, but because all our furniture, our clothes and, most important, our stories are with us again.