Goodbye My Long Hair (chop chop)

It’s a sunny day today in Ireland, and here in Ireland we don’t have the privilege to enjoy the sun much around the year and now its coming the summer season, yorky weather with heavy rain, dark cloud, “crazy” wind has been still haunting us…So at least today we have a break from them and hopefully it’s a long one 🙂

Well let’s get the story short, last month i decided to cut my hair short, the shortest hairstyle i have ever had in my entire life. Yes, 29 years old to-be this year and this is the first time i have short hairstyle. Do I regret it? NO. Do I love it? HELL YEAH. This hairstyle will stay with me for a very long time for sure 🙂

 

 

I always wanted to have short hair when younger, the thing is my mom didn’t like that idea. Like other traditional Vietnamese women, she likes me having long hair because it not only symbolised Vietnamese women, it suited my my “big round” face LOL and my mom was right for a long time, she has a good taste of fashion, I have to give her that. When i was in schools in Vietnam, my mom used to braid my long fine hair before i went to the classes, she braided it so hard that it stayed in place all day long. My school friends back in Vietnam, they still remember my “unique appearance” as a student: tomboy clothes, a backpack and long hair braid. It was cool at the time, you know, i was different from other Vietnamese girls, i was a lot bigger than them and my style of fashion wasnt like any others either.

Then since i moved to Finland to study and reside in Ireland after, my mom was no longer my stylist, finally I had a chance to dress myself the way i wanted to, i put on makeup and had my own decision on my long hair 🙂 However, i was never brave enough to chop my hair over the shoulder, the perception about having long hair made from my mom was still around my mind. I was afraid that short hairstyle may make my face look bigger and it would ruin my confidence. So for the past few years, the shortest length of haircut i got was just a bit above my chest, and i was till loyal to the braiding hairstyle until…last month 🙂

It goes without saying that people cant stay the same forever, and changes in appearance can positively affect the personalities and the confident level of an individual, and risk is always taking place. To be honest, im fed up with my long hair care routine big time, extremely time consuming really, i used to spend nearly 2 hours washing, blow-drying and then styling, too much for my busy life 🙂

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Then i did a bit of research online about having short haircut for long round face like myself. It worked 🙂 Miranda Kerr was one of the first celebs I came across in my mind, and she recently chopped her long hair to go with the bob hairstyle, then its Selena Gomez also changed her hairstyle into short style. They both have round shape faces except for Miranda whose face is bit edgy from the cheekbones. But they all gave me the idea of me having a bob hairstyle. I knew the haircut may not work out well for my face shape but i was ready to take the risk, my hair grows very quick so i have nothing to lose haha.

And the result was beyond my expectations (thanks the Buddha :)), i felt literally relieved and fresh after the hairdresser chopped off my hair, great feeling in general. My friends love it, my mom was bit shock at first, then she agreed with me that the new hairstyle suits me (Thanks the Buddha, again!). But the main point is that the short hairstyle’s saved me so much time regarding the haircare routine and my hair has the best volumes than ever before. Im now able to style whatever way i like to with my hair, my favourite style so far is the wavy beachy one, its easy to do and makes me look younger and more stylish (OK enough of self-promotion lol)

So that was a bit update on my hairstyle and hope you’ll like the post and hope it’ll give some kinda motivation to girls out there who are thinking to get a short hair cut like myself 😉

Now im off to the park enjoying the sun while it lasts 🙂

Lucy xx

 

 

SMASHBOX WATER PRIMER | FIRST IMPRESSION

OK… I know its been forever ages since I abandoned my WordPress. My last post was done exactly 3 years and 2 months ago LOL Where have I been? Why did I stop writing blogs? What happened? Bla Bla Bla

Well, for the past 3 years my life has been significantly changing and until now, it’s been an up and down journey living and working away from home country, Vietnam. I’d love to share highlights of the past 3 years of my disappearance but they’ll be in another post. Today, let’s just focus on the beauty session 😉

Well as you may have known, I love wearing makeups and playing around with them. They not only make me feel prettier and more confident, they also give me a chance to discover the creativity inside me. When it comes to makeup products, I usually pay more attention to primers and foundations, i mean i’d be willing to spend extra bucks on them. This is because they are applied directly to your skin and can decide your whole makeup look, and the last thing you want to do on your skin is to damage it by using cheap make-up products.

It is recommended to use primers before applying foundations on your skin as they’ll keep the makeup products last longer and protect your skin as well. I used to use the Benefit pore minimal primer for a long time until i found out about the Smashbox water primer. The main reason why i made a switch was the Benefit one gave my skin bad pimples over the last few months i used it; by the way, my facial skin type is combination but bit over oily side so it’s very acne-prone (according to my experience). Then i went online and searched for primers that are friendly with combination skins, and this Smashbox Water Primer received a bunch of positive feedbacks from online beauty gurus and websites, plus i also heard a lot of good things about Smashbox primers in general, so all of those excuses make me purchase this bad boy and so far it hasn’t failed my expectations.

PROS:

1. Extremely light-weight, it’s literally like you spray mineral water directly on your face.
2. It does make the make-up look fresher.
3. Multi-task, can be used either setting spray or refresher during the day, it actually makes the makeup last longer (roughly 7-9 hours)
4. The product lasts very long time, so if you are looking for an high-end makeup products that dont run out quick, this is the one 🙂
5. Last but not least, because it’s sillicon, alcohol and oil free, it suits my skin perfectly and hasn’t made my skin irritated or gettng pimples, BIG PLUS for this bad boy 🙂

CONS: So far the only downside of this product is that you have to wait for roughly 30 to 45 seconds  before you apply the foundation as the primer takes its time to dry out 🙂 But it doesn’t really bother me.

I also make a first impression video about this primer on my YouTube YouTube Channel, check it out. I hope this post and the video will give you an idea about this product if you are thinking to get one. I got mine here 

 

Stay tuned for more beauty tips and beauty products reviews 🙂

 

6 key beauty benefits from lemon

Good day, everyone!

Hope you had a relaxing weekend, and a great working week ahead. I’m at school now and sitting in the library waiting for the next lesson…it sucks! Anyways, at least i have some times to update my website 🙂

If you follow my recent posts, you will notice that i wrote about my coffee allergy last week, in which i mentioned to switch to another healthier drink. Indeed, I’ve been drinking a glass of lemon juice without adding sugar every morning since last Tuesday, and i feel good so far, so sign of allergy but it gives me better mood, better digestion and much more! so in today’s blog, i will highlights 6 key beauty  benefits that lemons can offer you. I hope you will find my blog useful somehow…

Abolish Acne:  Lemon contains citric acid, which can be effective in treating acne. The vitamin C found in citrus fruits is vital for that healthy glowing skin while its alkaline nature kills some types of bacteria known to cause acne. You can drink the lemon juice without sugar every morning before or after breakfast (i prefer drinking it after breakfast cos the lemon can give you a fresher breath :))

Cure Corns and Calluses: Lemon poultices applied overnight are a good home remedy for corns and calluses. Place a slice of lemon approx 5 mm thick on to the corn, bandage and fasten. Dabbing the affected area with lemon essential oil also helps accelerate the healing process. Take care to only use the undiluted oil on the callused area using a cotton ball or Q- tip, as it is too strong for un-callused skin.

Energizes You and Enhances Your Mood: The energy a human receives from food comes from the atoms and molecules in your food. A reaction occurs when the positive charged ions from food enter the digestive tract and interact with the negative charged enzymes. Lemon is one of the few foods that contain more negative charged ions, providing your body with more energy when it enters the digestive tract. The scent of lemon also has mood enhancing and energizing properties. The smell of lemon juice can brighten your mood and help clear your mind. Lemon can also help reduce anxiety and depression.

Aids in Weight Loss: Lemons are high in pectin fiber, which helps fight hunger cravings. Studies have shown people who maintain a more alkaline diet, do in fact lose weight faster. I personally find myself making better choices throughout the day, if I start my day off right, by making a health conscious choice to drink warm lemon water first thing every morning.

Dandruff removal: Lemon is a good for your hair too, as it helps in removing dandruff. Rubbing or massaging lemon juice on your hair regulates the blood in your head helping in hair growth. The glands are regulated too which help in producing oil to have a beautiful and shiny hair.

Hydrates Your Lymph System: Warm water and lemon juice supports the immune system by hydrating and replacing fluids lost by your body. When your body is deprived of water, you can definitely feel the side effects, which include: feeling tired, sluggish, decreased immune function, constipation, lack of energy, low/high blood pressure, lack of sleep, lack of mental clarity and feeling stressed, just to name a few.

 

Savonia UAS | Varkaus Campus
Finland

Information flow within the organisation

Information is the lifeblood of an organisation, and communication is used to convey the information, either by verbal or written forms. The bottom line is to make sure that the communication’s method used to deliver the information is understandable by its intended audience, or else the communication is wasted and the company may suffer from its negative consequences.

The picture bellow illustrates information flow within a company. Communication channel and medium both act as an invisible bridge to deliver desired messages from the senders to the intended receivers as well as transferring feedbacks from the receivers back to the message’s senders. Both company’s leaders (ranging from senior managers to team managers) and employees are in charge of keeping the information flow running through the organisation.

Source: http://www.bized.co.uk

Internal communication is one of the two main corporate communication channels. It regards communication within the organisation’s context. Internal communication forms include face-to-face meetings, conversations, reports, intranet emails, newsletters and memos, communications among co-workers or between managers and subordinates.

Internal communication processes a critical role to play to ensure that employees know what is going on in the company’s community and that they have equal opportunities to raise their voices about certain matters happening in the workplace. In other words, internal communication supports line managers in strengthening employee engagement. Effective internal communication will not only increase work productivity and chances to successfully complete the desired goals as employees know exactly what their bosses expect from their work performance, it also boosts the level of job satisfaction and employee’s retention since the employees perceived that that they are being empowered by the company’s leaders, that they are part of the organisation’s community, and that they are contributing to the company’s well-beings.

Despite the benefits of having effective internal communication, a majority of companies are struggling to build up the practice because of the following mistakes they commonly make:

• Complicated content in the message: being over used of jargon or technical words in the message makes it hard for employees to interpret what their leaders want to inform them.
• Too much information in one message will also overwhelm the receivers, which may make employees feel more under pressure about their work.
• The content of the message are either too formal or too social: Being too formally informing certain news will, again, pressure the receivers. But being too laid-back in delivering the message will make the receivers underestimate the importance of the news.
• Lack of physical contact with employees: in some companies, managers heavily rely on forms of electronic communication (e.g. emails, online meetings, etc.) over the actual physical interactions (e.g. face-to-face meetings or conversations) with their employees. This pitfall will gradually lead to poor employee engagement with the company’s leaders.

In order to create a successful internal communication within the company, those in leadership should not only consider common pitfalls above, they also need to possess a clear acknowledgement of the company’s goals, business strategies, products and services. Career strategist, Denise Cox (2013) suggests the three following important elements that company’s leader should keep in mind in order to enhance the effectiveness of communication within their organisation:

• Clarify the mission and vision: It is essential to take the time to explain the company values and mission, whether as part of corporate training or as a regular reminder to employees.
• Concrete connections with subordinates: Managers who spend time getting to know their employees and are willing to listen to them will find it easier to communicate and keep direct reports on track.
• Facilitate open conversations: by allowing employees to contribute their ideas to certain issues and keeping them updated with sudden changes, progress and future plans of the company, the quality of internal communication will be lifted.

References

Cox, D. 2013. Creating Effective Internal Communications for Business Leaders. [online] Available at: http://www.newsweaver.com/creating-effective-internal-communications/ [Accessed: 25 Jan 2014].

Channey, P. 2013. Benefits of Effective Internal Communications. [online] Available at: http://www.bizzuka.com/company-blog/benefits-of-effective-internal-communications [Accessed: 25 Jan 2014].

Trang Thuy Vo
Finland 2014

1st blog for Feb 2014

So the Spring semester has started. I was a week late coming back to school from Christmas holiday, but it wasn’t a big deal for me because there’re only 2 courses that i have left to graduation this term, and they’re pretty easy for me to catch up what i missed in the first week 🙂

The only thing that makes me concern a lot this final semester is my graduation thesis. So far i’ve finished the half way of it, meaning the theoretical part. The second part of my thesis work is am implementation of a mini research, in which i plan out a formal questionnaire using a special programme so called “Webropol”, then deliver the questionnaire to the target recipients which is Irish small and medium sized companies.  And right now, i manage to collect enough respondents for the survey, which i hope to get around 150 answers by the end of this month.

I gotta say that i hate sitting around and do fuck all, but that what i am doing now! Homework-done, half of the thesis work-done, and now just wait to get enough respondents for the fucking survey in order to write the rest of the thesis. Honestly, it’s hard for an ordinary student like me to contact with company’s reps who i am pretty sure that he/she will spend a little of his/her time to complete the questionnaire for me. All i could do was going online, search for genuine company’s contact emails, which is usually like info@blablabla, and i know that the chance of getting replied from these emails are fucking slim! Lucky that i know some of my friends working in marketing or sales depts in local companies, and they all took part in the survey, that was a great help! But it’s not enough to start analysing the survey’s result. i do hope that by the end of this month, with a bit of luck, i will get 100-150 answers to the survey. Finger cross.

Tomorrow is Friday again, this week has gone quite quick for me, which is great! my husband and I really look forward to our summer holiday in Vietnam in July this year. We will definitely have a fabulous time over there with my family! but at the moment, i need to concentrate on my thesis work and i aim to get it ready on my supervisor’s desk by the end of March, so i can graduation in the early of May. Well, ler’s hope that everything will go smoothly as planned 🙂

Lemmikinkatu 1A 3A
Varkaus
Finland

Brand identity of Clarins

Hi everyone,

The very last exam was over yesterday and i cant wait to go home next week, yay! Now it’s time to think of what gifts i should buy for my lovely husband and my little boy, ahh so many ideas in my mind now that i cannot think which is the best gift idea, it could be that i am so excited over the trip back to Ireland next week 🙂

Many of you will wonder what topic i will write about in this post as the opening isnt related  to the title 🙂 well i myself dont really know what to write lately but about my study, somehow WordPress seems to be a very good notebook to keep notes from lessons, so you never lose them, and also they can be shared to others interested in certain topics. So today’s post will be all about branding, specifically it is about the core of brand association, which is brand identity and the company case is Clarins, a well-known French cosmetics organisation. I actually completed this note for one of assignments in the “brand building” course, and i want to share it to public as someone else may find my note helpful 🙂

BRAND IDENTITY OF CLARINS

Finding an ideal beauty product brand for oneself is a very time-consuming process which requires loads of efforts in searching the brand, trying its products on, then collecting advices and personal opinions from those who have been using the products, etc. I used to be in that process but at the end I’ve fallen in love with Clarins_ a French luxury Cosmetics Company, which manufactures high-class skincare, makeup and fragrances products, and it is the No.1 premium skin care brand in Europe.

From my own point of view, Clarins reveals itself in the mind of its female customers with the following statements:

• State-of-the-art skin care solutions
• Luxurious beauty product range with typical French cosmetics’ style (i.e. unique rosy scents, sophisticated colours and designs)
• Reasonable price range (≥€30 up to roughly €500) compared to other premium beauty brands such as Dior, Channel, Lancôme, etc.

1  CLARINS AS A PRODUCT

Clarins is well-known as a French Cosmetics Group specialising high-class beauty products ranging from skincare to fragrances. Women from 20 up to 70 years of age use Clarins products to:

{  Improve and enhance their skin conditions

{  Look sexier, more confident and sophisticated with French beauty style.

{  Save time preparing themselves for work or other occasions (as the products are easy to apply and last for all day long)

Clarins’ products are characterised with being self-confident, sophisticated, urban looking and “scientifically” beautiful (i.e. the products are developed by the professional R&D team working in Clarins Laboratories which have been awarded high-level accreditations that go beyond the required regulatory standards and commitment to consumer safety)

2 CLARINS AS AN ORGANISATION

Clarins is a French Cosmetic Group which is:

{  Scientifically oriented, aiming to offer female customers top-qualified beauty solutions.

{  Internationally recognised and it operates all over 52 nations worldwide.

{  Environmentally friendly (i.e. reduced greenhouse gas emissions in the laboratory, say NO to testing products on animals).

{  The No.1 luxurious skin care brand in Europe starting from 1990.

3 CLARINS AS A PERSON

Clarins beauty products range can be symbolised as a woman who is:

{  In her early 30s.

{  Married with children

{  Urban citizen, very confident and successful in her career and marriage life.

{  Sexy and elegant

{  Independent, out-going, dynamic and love socialising.

4    CLARINS AS A SYMBOL

Clarins’ logo is simple but very eye-catching with pretty dark red coloured capital letters stating “CLARINS” and a smaller sized letters stating “Paris” which is where the company was first launch its first beauty store in 1954. This logo is standardised all over Clarins stores worldwide.

In my opinion, the red colour of Clarins logo does not only make the brand stand-out among other brands, it also represents the colour of roses which are associated with beautiful and sophisticated women in particular. From that message, I think the company aims to transform every single woman in this world with the beauty concept of French Cosmetics Industry.

Click here for printable version.

Hope you guys will find my post useful somehow 🙂

Lemmikinkatu 1A 3A
Varkaus, Finland

back to my blog :)

Phew! It’s been such a busy time i’ve gone through since the beginning of this month. Due assignments, thesis report and revision for upcoming exams are driving me banana!! That is why i did not really have time to update my blog page for a couple of weeks, and i miss it.

Anyways, i just finished the first exam yesterday and there are 3 more to go; this time next week i will be more relaxing than i am not as all of the exams are done. It will be the time for me to concentrate more on my thesis report which i aim to get the theoretical part ready before i fly back to Ireland for Christmas on the 2nd week of December. I cannot wait to come home with my little family, it’s been almost 3 months im away from home, gone through both tough and happy time over that 3 months, homesickness has never bothered me as much as it is now…

But it’s good to get back to my blogging routine, i love to keep myself busy with school stuff so i wont be missing home so much. Only 2 weeks and 4 days away to the day i go home, and i really look forward to it 🙂

Lemmikinkatu 1A 3A
Varkaus, Finland

Value proposition Canvas applied on Mango clothing

Hi everyone,

Such a busy week i’ve gone through, and i still have to finish up the term assignment at Friday night!!! but the good thing is i’ve just booked the flight back to Ireland in Xmas on 14/12, im so excited to think about it, only a month and a half left for me to go home and spend time my my little boy ❤

But before i can enjoy my 1 month off from school in Xmas, still i have loads of school stuff needed to be fulfilled. As i said, i’m working on the term assignment about brand building, and below is some notes about value proposition canvas which i use to identify the value proposition of Mango, the Spanish fashion clothing brand, and it’s the case company i chose for my assignment. I hope this piece of information may come handy for someone as a reference. Enjoy 🙂

Value proposition canvas allows the company to have insights into its brand and product’s value proposition for each customer segment. In this section, MANGO will be used as a case company to illustrate how to apply value proposition canvas in practice. Steps to set up the canvas are marked as numbers from (1) to (6) and will be explained in details as below:

(1)     Customer jobs:
MANGO’s target customers try to get the following jobs done:

• Functional jobs: to solve the basic needs which are clothing, keeping warmth in the winter, etc.
• Social jobs: to own urban looks, cool, fashion-conscious, and gain higher social status in the public eyes.
• Emotional jobs: To feel comfortable, safe and to be proud that purchasing MANGO product is a wise investment on clothing.

Some MANGO’s customers can be act in other role other than just an ordinary buyer, for instance, they could be a fashion blogger whose jobs are to update latest fashion trends, predict incoming trends, write about fashion related articles, etc. In this case, the job that a fashion blogger want to get it done with MANGO clothing products is to inspire her to come up with new cool fashion ideas, as well as allow her to dress herself according to the on-trend fashion as part of her actual job.

(2)     Pains:
After identify what specific tasks that the target customers want to get done, this section will list negative emotions, undesired costs and situations, risks that the customers could experience before, during or after getting their jobs done.

The following lists are common negative experiences that MANGO’s target customers may have:

• High costs for high quality clothes with cool designs.
• Feel time-wasting and insecure when shopping online for clothes.
• Clothes with affordable prices can go out-of-fashion in a short time and can’t allow them to express themselves in public (e.g. social status, fashionable, urban looking, etc.)

(3)     Gains:
This part describes the benefits that the target customers expect, desire or would be surprised by. In the case of MANGO, these gains would be:

• Better chance to access high quality and on-trend fashion clothes with reasonable prices.
• Able to shop for clothes online without any hassle or insecurity
• Able to be informed amazing deals at special occasions throughout the year.
• Looking cool and confident with clothes they are wearing.
• Hassle-free when it comes to refund or exchange policies.

(4)     Products/Services offered by the company:
MANGO offers high quality and well-designed clothes at reasonable prices for young and urban women all over the world. “Amazing fashion. Amazing prices” is what the company aims to emphasise in the mind of its target customers.

(5)     Pain relievers:
This part will describe how MANGO products eliminate the customer pains.

Customer pains	Pains relievers
High costs for high quality clothes with cool designs.	MANGO offers good quality clothes in accordance with the latest fashion trends and at affordable prices.
Time-wasting and insecure when shopping online for clothes	At MANGO’s online store, clothes and accessories are all visualised which allows the visitors to have a closer look at a certain piece of clothes they want to purchase. The payment methods at MANGO online stores also appeal to be trusted with the Norton’s online trading fraud protection.
Clothes with affordable prices can go out-of-fashion in a short time and can’t let them to express themselves in public (e.g. social status, fashionable, urban looking, etc.)	MANGO clothes are made in the way that they allow users to free up their creativity, which means the users can easily mix up the clothes to create another new and fresher looks for themselves at any time.

(6)     Gain creators:

MANGO is able to help customers create their gains by the following incentives:

Customers’ expected gains	Gain creators
Better chance to access high quality and on-trend fashion clothes with reasonable prices.	MANGO currently has a total of 2,415 stores in 107 countries worldwide and plans to carry on store expansion in cities of the stature of Tokyo, Beijing, Erlangen or Verona.
Able to shop for clothes online without any hassle or insecurity	Shopping at MANGO’s online store cannot be handy anymore thanks to the visualised site features applied to every single piece of clothes and accessories, which save the browsing time for the visitors. The he payment methods at MANGO online stores can be absolutely trusted with the Norton’s online trading fraud protection and discrete private information.
Able to be informed with amazing deals at special occasions throughout the year.	Every month, registered customers at MANGO’s online stores can receive emails about sales alerts, or any amazing deals at MANGO stores. So as long as they check emails regularly. They won’t miss any good deals from MANGO.
Looking cool and confident with clothes they are wearing.	MANGO’s designs are associated with latest fashion trends inspired from famous fashion guru and designers. Also MANGO clothes are carefully tailored according standard female sizes which can be worn by women whether they are Asians or European nationalities.
Hassle-free when it comes to refund or exchange policies.	MANGO allows customers up to 30 days to exchange unwanted clothes since purchase, and 14 days for refunds. The process is time-saving which normally takes 2-3 business to solve the issues.

Would you like a cup of coffee? No, i’m good, thanks :D

Hi everyone,

It’s Monday, again. Nothing special about it, isn’t it? to me, it is special as i have to be up around 6 in the morning to prepare myself to go to school. That’s the busiest day in the week for me. I went to school with a sleepy face (the worst ever) after taking a full cup of coffee before i left the dorm, would you believe it?? maybe not and you’d think i’m pulling your leg! so let’s the blog today explain the story on my behalf

I’m never big into coffee but since last Weds, i felt very sleepy  after i had 10 hours sleep, i took green tea as usual but it didn’t help. Then my friend suggested me to try a cup of milk coffee, and it worked! straightaway it woke me up, i felt excellent 🙂 and decided to buy a jar of coffee on the same day. i thought that i couldn’t drink coffee at all as i tried it few years ago and my body system went strike on it!

Then the trouble’s come to see me yesterday and today. I wasn’t feeling right since yesterday morning after finishing a cup of coffee to wake me up. I felt dizzy and couldn’t concentrate on my work, but i thought it was just because i didn’t sleep long enough the night before. So i took it easy for the rest of the day, just chilled out, talked to my family, and watched a movie, then went to bed ready for the busy Monday.

This morning, as usual, a cup of coffee with lovely porridge for the breakkie. I felt good before leaving to school. Then when i arrived at my college, things started going wrong. i could even walk straight, and my head is getting lighter. I felt like i was in a high for weeds or something (just want to describe my true feeling, please dont think that im on drug, i havent and never ever will involve in that shit). I thought (again!) it was just the weather which was a bit chilly this morning. Then when i sat on the class, i felt funny and kept twisting my hair with my light head, and of course with the empty mind…that was bad! i couldnt pay attention to the lecturer. So i went to the restroom and splashed my face with cold water plus I drank 2 big glasses of water. I felt better!

Things started clicking to my head, that maybe something to do with that bloody coffee. maybe my body doesnt agree with it like the last time. So i spent the rest of my Monday with orange juice, a bit of biscuits and no caffeine. i felt better at the end of the day, and i know the fact that i will never be friend with coffee again! From now on, a glass of lemonade (without sugar) will replace a cup of coffee in the morning. It sounds healthier isnt it? 😀

Lemmikinkatu 1A 3A
Varkaus, Finland

P/S: Interesting poster below for those suffering from the same coffee allergy like me. it’ll give you some motivations to switch over to other healthier drinks:) Cheers.

Source: https://www.google.ie/search?q=say+no+to+coffee&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=dsVuUoqFIqbj4QTttIDgDg&ved=0CDEQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=667#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=-pfXZfFGFBzJqM%3A%3BRbvvpJzuRHBzgM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F4.bp.blogspot.com%252F-7f3ARflrh70%252FT4vqh0MfvcI%252FAAAAAAAAAcg%252F4ALgk7iPJoE%252Fs1600%252Fsay%252Bno%252Bto%252Bcoffee.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fmuseshank.blogspot.com%252F2012_04_01_archive.html%3B741%3B960

 

My own living experience in Finland

TGIF (Thanks God, it’s Friday!),

Well i bet lots of people around the world would definitely say it today 🙂 especially those who probably have had a rough working week and now it’s time for the weekend! To me, i’ve had a very relaxing week from school; I don’t have to go to school everyday (which is good! especially in this shitty weather lately) and i spend most of my time on self-studying at home. I used to study in the library alot, but lately there’re SO MUCH noises in the school library caused by some Russian students (I often called them as wankers). Ahh, i just don’t want to mention those dickheads in my blog too much because talking about their studying attitudes is like a never ending story, they never listen to the lecturers or their fellows whoever try to tell them to shut the f***up or be aware of how annoying they are in the school. 

Anyways, back to the main topic. It’s been the 3rd year i’ve been studying in Finland (well i actually spent my the 2nd academic year in Ireland under Erasmus exchange programme)… Looking back that long journey, i’ve been having some great and bad experience living and studying in this country which is well-known for the motherland of Nokia and the Northern Lights wonder 🙂 I still remember how excited i was when i first arrived to Finland, i was amazed with its savage untouched nature scenery, excellent educational facilities and the nation’s educational system in general, plus the internationally-oriented campus where i’ve been pursuing a BBA degree in International Marketing. However, apart from those good things, there are a few not-so-nice things happening to me during the time i lived in Finland (for the first year):

• Language barrier –>English is used in my courses at school so i dont have any language troubles at school, but outside the school it’s a big problem as i don’t speak Finnish at all!)
• Very high cost of living (compared to Ireland) –> my family supported me for the 1st year in Finland and every month my mom had to pay up to €500 for my living expenses over here, which mean a lot of money to pay when you convert it into Vietnam Dong. But luckily that she no longer supports me as my husband is now taking care of it.
• Extremely long-lasting snowy winter–> i don’t have to explain any further about this matter of fact, because it’s a common knowledge for everyone when mentioning about Finland…I remember the first winter i spent in Finland was just a nightmare. Freezing. Lonely. Homesick. But i got over it after all. Sometimes in life it’s good to experience things that challenge your will, your emotions and state-of-mind to make yourselves stronger!

I’m spending my last year living and studying in Finland, and i can’t wait to get everything done with a excellent academic result after all hard works and efforts i put into my study. Sometimes I miss my family in Ireland badly, especially my little baby boy Brooklyn, but i keep reminding myself that I’m doing this for his future, one day everything’s gonna well pay off, and i look forward to that day coming…

Lemmikinkatu 1A 3A
Varkaus, Finland