Opening the door of knowledge...

... is tiring.

Today ends the second week of Helsinki Summer School. If we had thought the pace of last week's course was "just right", it picked up speed from Monday. We've had workshops and hands-on projects almost every day.

The students didn't really know what to expect as we begun the course, each given a broad outline. According to the programme, each day was described by a one-liner. Yesterday (Thursday), for example, was to be a two-worder: PD6 workshop.

It turned out to be the most intensive project we had to undertake, thus far. After a 1-hour introduction-cum-briefing, we spent the next few hours working on our assignment, finishing off with a prototype and presentation. Man, most of us were totally exhausted by the end of the day. We were rewarded with a BBQ, sauna and pool afterwards, for whoever cared to stay behind.

Again, I'd say that I learnt lots in the past 2 weeks. I met with many experts who were so willing to share their knowledge and threw myself into the assignments and learning from my team mates and classmates.

I have a very good team - enthusiastic, serious, knowledgeable and fun. We have built up excellent team spirit over the past few days, playing and working together.

The Summer School has organised an outing to the Nuuksio national park tomorrow. I tried to offload my place since I'm pooped and would have preferred a lazy day at home. It turned out that several of my classmates have signed up for tomorrow, meaning that those who are interested to go are going. Went to the supermarket after class today so I'm equipped with makarras, tortillas and possibly marshmallows.

I'm praying the rain will hold tomorrow. Daddy HG will be spending quality time to bond with the kids while I'm off to the wilderness. Should be fun.

What's the big idea?

Today is Day 4 of my Summer School course and the topic covered was idea generation.

How does one develop a good product? First of all, we start with a good idea. Or rather a whole lot of good ideas and pick the best one, or two, among them.

The class went through some drawing and idea generation exercises. I found the two workshops particularly intense because each team had to generate as many novel ideas as it can within short periods of time.

I enjoyed today's class very much since we spent less time listening and more time working out our cognitive faculties. I'm also happy that I can power up and get into the flow very quickly.

Thus, I am happy to announce that my team came up tops with the most number of ideas. Not bad for an official stay-at-home mom! Sshh... nobody in my class knows.

Yesterday, I went on a dragon boat safari on the seas around Helsinki. Enough participants from the Summer School came to fill up 3 dragon boats. We took about an hour to go from the Canoeing Centre around Seurasaari and back again. I've had guy friends (one of them is my dear husband) complain that their female friends tend to sit back to enjoy the "wonderful sea view and breeze" while they paddle like crazy during canoeing trips. Well, I really enjoyed rowing!

Nearly a week after I've started school, I realised that the competitive streak in me never went away - it was just latent. It's been a while since I've felt so challenged, so motivation levels are running at all time high.

Still, I have to remind myself that my classmates come from different backgrounds and live in various circumstances. Being over-zealous will, quite definitely, backfire on me. Besides gaining some hard-core knowledge, this course is also about learning to get along and work with others.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow!

Moon, class and Jules

We kinda know that the season is changing because the sun finishes its shift around 10.30 pm this week. I chanced upon a full moon tonight at 11.30 pm.

Today is officially my first lesson at my course. I think I have learnt a lot already, on the first day, about product development.

I was late because I couldn't find the venue - Aalto Design Factory, and was driving around Otaniemi (one of Helsinki's high tech region, quite like Silicon Valley) for over half an hour.

After a tour of the facilities, each student took turns to introduce themselves, their background, what they think are good and bad qualities of product developer, and companies or products they appreciate.

Again, it's fun to hear from everyone. Apple was an oft-quoted company and looks like it has many admirers.

After lunch, our lecturer Mr Kalevi Ekman gave an introduction to the process of product development. I came to the course thinking we'll be taught how to design new and innovative products. Then I learned (but really, it should be obvious) that there is much more involved and a lot more factors to consider before simply saying "I want to design a new product".

Besides getting lost in Otaniemi, today is also a challenging day because Jules has fallen ill. He awoke this morning to a slight fever (37.5ºC) so we decide to keep him at home. When I called during lunch, HG told me he had puked several times and not eating or drinking much. He couldn't retain any inputs.

Times like these really make me think about giving up pursuing what I enjoy and instead stay at home to fulfill my maternal responsibilities.

But I have a supportive husband, whom I have to learn to trust to take care of the household while I am away.

Jules hasn't rejected any food since dinner. He didn't eat much either but better than nothing. His fever is now hovering between 38.4 and 38.8, unfortunately.

I have a long day tomorrow. The class will meet at 8 am for a couple of industry visits and scheduled to end 5.30 pm. Just now, I read some pages from my textbook - rare! I'm looking forward to tomorrow and pray that Jules will be better when he awake.

Back to school

Summer holiday is over. The children started school this week. Their daycare centre was closed for one week and we missed 3 days before that when we took a cruise to Sweden.

The kids were very excited to go back to school. Finland starts the academic year in autumn so the kids went back to new classes. They are excited to see their friends again, and seem keen to make new ones.

But I am also referring to myself. Today is the first day of Helsinki Summer School where I have enrolled in a course.

Back to school after more than a decade. I'd thought I'll be the oldest student but it seems that I have a companion in Esther, a girl from The Netherlands. I may have dwelt on my agedness too much because she had to tell me that both of us are actually still young!

During the welcome ceremony today, the course coordinator announced that 60 countries are represented among the 360 participants, starting from Albania to Zambia. The largest representation came from China (40), followed by Germany (37) and a wide array of students from all continents (except Antartica). Seems that Finland has just around 10 students. Only 1 from Singapore... moi.

My course held a briefing today so I had a glimpse of my classmates. There's a German, an Italian, a Venezuelan, a Japanese, a Finn, a Swedish Finn... I didn't catch all their names and nationalities.

It's always fun to meet people from other countries and cultures. Everyone is different... unique.

I have a Chinese classmate who spoke fluent Finnish. Initially I'd thought he is studying in Finland and has taken Finnish lessons. It turned out that he is from Beijing but had lived in Finland when he was a young boy. His primary (elementary) education was carried out in Finland and he returned to China 8 or 9 years ago. He didn't use Finnish afterwards until he arrived in Helsinki 2 or 3 days ago. Amazingly, he spoke Finnish and to me, he spoke like a native. He claimed that he isn't very good but I believe that he just needs some time to "warm up". It's like someone had turned on a switch in his brain and he speaks Finnish all over again.

I'm sure I'll meet more fascinating people the next 3 weeks. Besides meeting new people, I also hope I can follow the course and learn something useful.

Celebrating family ties

The last couple of weeks felt like a whirlwind holiday. Together with our parents, we covered three countries - Finland, Sweden and Estonia - in 13 days. Whew!

Using Finland as our base, we took a 3-day cruise to Stockholm and a day-trip to Tallinn. Compared to holiday tours boasting 8 countries in 14 days, we travelled at a more relaxed pace. We spent more time shopping, going back to points of interest if needed and rest when we were tired.

Stockholm is a great shopping destination although we only had time for Gamla Stan and the area around T-Centralen. Shopping in Finland gets a little boring after a while because there are only a handful of brands and they are duplicated around town. In the homeland of H&M, I am re-acquainted with some favourite high-street names. I tried on a TopShop denim skirt which proclaimed my size but I couldn't pull them beyond my knees. Blame it on the good food my mother-in-law had been preparing over here.

I sailed away from Stockholm with only a book bought at a second-hand store - The Accidental by Ali Smith. Too bad we didn't have time for the Ostermalm district where there are many hip boutiques and cafes.

Tallinn Old Town from a high vantage point

Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia is about 2 hours by ship from Helsinki and is a popular destination among Finns, especially during summer time.

Tallinn's Old Town, a UNESCO heritage site, is a beautiful medieval city fortified by thick stone walls. According to this history brief, only 20 of the original 66 towers are left. Good enough because they are wonderful samples of ancient architecture that have withstood the test of time. Nearly 800 years after they have been built, the city walls and towers are still as tough as ever. Outside of the Old Town, remnants of Russian architecture stand starkly.

HG and I visited Tallinn about 8 or 9 years ago. This trip brought back many memories for us as we revisited the various locations. There's the Flower Street, McDonald's restaurant, Fat Margaret Tower, and the Artist Path where local artists display their works on old city walls. As I looked at the painted scenes of Tallinn, I'm reminded of the ones that still hang in our matrimonial home in Singapore.

One of these towers is nicknamed Fat Margaret. Guess which?

Tallinn's Old Town is very much a tourist haven. Almost every lane is lined with souvenir shops selling fridge magnets, old-styled Estonian apparel, pottery and amber accessories. It was only in our last hour in Tallinn that I stumbled upon a little shop selling hand-made clothes and jewelry. Sigrid Valgma studied industrial design and made jewelry as a hobby. Earlier this year, she turned her hobby into a business. She didn't abandon her major because she told me she built the furniture in her shop herself. You can click on her name to view her gallery of products. The work of her partner, Kadri Siirman, can be viewed here.

I bought a ring made of white jade, freshwater pearls and glass beads designed by Sigrid. I am very pleased with my purchase because I'd really wanted to buy a unique piece of local art.

Our visitors left today. I think they enjoyed their first trip to Europe very much, experiencing new environments, seeing different people and lifestyles, walking on cobblestones, trying out new foods... and of course, spending precious time with their grandchildren.

We are back to our usual routine... starting with a major clean-up tomorrow.