after 4 months of learning finnish daily i still cant claim to be at converstational level. not even close. the last few days though ive started to actually have conversations with people in shops. well, not conversations, more so slight linguistical interactions. the pharmacy yesterday and two shops over the weekend. plus im starting to actually write a little bit. last nights homework involved writing a little story about some fella in a train station. when i first looked at it i was put off a little bit, but i did it anyway, and it came out okay. which was nice.

matti odottaa jonossa juna-asemalla. h�nell� on viisi matka-laukkua. matti haluaa ostaa lipun tamperelle. juna l�htee puoli seitsem�n, nyt kello 10 kymmenen vaille kuusi. joken h�n menee ravintolaan koska h�nell� on n�lk�. ravintolassa h�n sy� suklaakukkua ja juo kahvia. h�n n�kee kellon sein�ll�, se on melkein puoli seitsem�n. h�n juoksee laiturille, mutta junan menee pois. h�n itkee koska my�h�styy.

it may not be much to look at (or indeed read) but it gave me so much pride. then today, harri was trying to get me to come to ilosaari rock festival in mid july. on the sr message board i saw a thread in which he asked me to come to the festival.this is my reply:

dee here. man, min� en tule ilosaariin. anteeksi. koska minulla on kaverit islannista ja irlannista tulevat suomeen. h�r�ur ja anna tulevat kolmas hein�kuuta l�htev�t kymmenes hein�kuuta. natalie ja paul tulevat kahdeskymmeneskolmas ja menev�t kahdeskymmenesknhdeks�s. minun ensiminnen p�iv� level kolme suomea kieli on kahdeskymmenesknhdeks�s. minulla ei ole rahaa. anteeksi harrin8tor. menemme saunaan kun h�rdie tulee!

dw

okay okay, so some of the numbers are all wrong. dont blame me, blame the finns with the craziness that is finnish. anyway. im getting better.