I haven't written about the YKI because, well, a very unfortunately timed flu prevented me from taking it.
"Oh, so you didn't end up traveling to Joensuu?" I hear you wondering.
But I did, in fact.
I was supposed to leave at 17.00 the night before. I sent a text message to my ride at around 16.05 and cancelled the whole thing. At around 16.30 I put a call in to him, cancelled my cancellation, and we were on the road by 17.00 after all. Coughing, sputtering, fever rising, I made it to the hotel and we had a bite to eat.
In short, it was a huge mistake to go there in the first place. I coughed all night, and I was feverish and very ill by morning. During the ride back to Lappeenranta, sick, defeated and depressed, I kept wondering if I could have made it through - if only I'd shoved the fever and raw throat to the back of my mind. I'm still wondering. The good news is that I'll be taking the test in August, at which time I won't even have to travel a kilometer to get there.
During the two and a half years that I've lived in Finland, I've been called many things. My family and friends pronounce my name with the emphasis on the second syllable. For most of my life, it was a somewhat unusual, even exotic name. I was almost sure to be the only Elena in any given social situation. Now, I'm simply one of a seemingly massive minority.
The one fact of my name that remains here in Finland is that no one can pronounce it correctly.
People often call me "Ellu" without so much as a moment's hesitation. I like that. It feels familiar. It feels like my Finnish persona. It also feels like an escape from being called "Ellen" with an ugly [ʌ] tacked on the end.
I've often thought of going by my middle name. It'd solidify, exemplify the transformation I have made, and it would keep my real name and my previous persona intact. Still, it would require confusing a lot of people, so I've done nothing other than toy with the idea.
"Oh, so you didn't end up traveling to Joensuu?" I hear you wondering.
But I did, in fact.
I was supposed to leave at 17.00 the night before. I sent a text message to my ride at around 16.05 and cancelled the whole thing. At around 16.30 I put a call in to him, cancelled my cancellation, and we were on the road by 17.00 after all. Coughing, sputtering, fever rising, I made it to the hotel and we had a bite to eat.
In short, it was a huge mistake to go there in the first place. I coughed all night, and I was feverish and very ill by morning. During the ride back to Lappeenranta, sick, defeated and depressed, I kept wondering if I could have made it through - if only I'd shoved the fever and raw throat to the back of my mind. I'm still wondering. The good news is that I'll be taking the test in August, at which time I won't even have to travel a kilometer to get there.
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During the two and a half years that I've lived in Finland, I've been called many things. My family and friends pronounce my name with the emphasis on the second syllable. For most of my life, it was a somewhat unusual, even exotic name. I was almost sure to be the only Elena in any given social situation. Now, I'm simply one of a seemingly massive minority.
The one fact of my name that remains here in Finland is that no one can pronounce it correctly.
People often call me "Ellu" without so much as a moment's hesitation. I like that. It feels familiar. It feels like my Finnish persona. It also feels like an escape from being called "Ellen" with an ugly [ʌ] tacked on the end.
I've often thought of going by my middle name. It'd solidify, exemplify the transformation I have made, and it would keep my real name and my previous persona intact. Still, it would require confusing a lot of people, so I've done nothing other than toy with the idea.
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My professional life is undergoing big changes. It looks as if I will be able to do what I always intended to do and what really suits me best: teach. I'll save the details for when the Ts are dotted and the Is are crossed. Basically, forget everything I said before. As usual, I'm just riding the current, hoping I don't smash my face on a rock.
Sorry to hear about the flu, but good to hear you'll be taking the test in August. Stay healthy!
ReplyDeleteThe name thing is funny, because I like the way the Finns call my name. It's more in tune with what people call me in Indo. When English-speaking people call my name, it feels weird (it's like saying Amelia Earhart's name) because in Indo people call me Amel/Mel with the same kind of pronunciation as how the Finns would say it (except more often than not, people here call me Ameli instead of Amel HA HA HA...).
GOOD LUCK with your professional life! It's normal to think about different options, especially when you're not in your home country. :-) I also once thought seriously about opening an online business and even went to a crash course (yrittäjäkurssi) he he...
I wouldn't pronounce your name like Amelia Earhart's, but that might be the Finnish influence on my general speech coming out. I constantly notice the Finnish language (as well as English spoken by Finns) making a huge impact on the way I speak!
DeleteThanks for the good wishes. Mind if I ask what sort of online business you were interested in starting? :)
I suppose that second-to-last (using "penultimate" would be pretentious, and also ever-so-slightly wrong, maybe?) paragraph then begs the question: What is your middle name?
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing/hoping it's not one of those <male name> + "a"/"ette", we-were-hoping-for-a-boy names like Roberta/Whitfielda/Ashcrofta/Dillingera/Walkera/Cooperette/Stanislava/Gaylorda/Nilesette. I'm guessing probably not Danger or Trouble, either. (Or the feminine versions Dangera or Troublea.)
I'm going to have to speak to my parents regarding why they didn't name me "Dangerette/etta". Now that has a feminine ring to it.
DeleteIt's Christina, which you might consider a feminization of Christian, or possibly Christopher.
Nah. I don't think your name is clumsy enough to qualify. You could always change it, if it's not cool enough, though.
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