Category Archives: Learning Diaries

Sixth week in Ústí nad Labem

During our sixth week in Usti. I worked at quality deparment at KONE. Heikki continued to work in the maintanence. At quality deparment i was checking incoming packets for any damage and/or deformation. Also i took part in a installation test of elevator parts. During our freetime we spent time with other Erasmus students and our friends from here.

Sight of Usri from a nearby hill

Here is one of the czech foods we made with our friend.

Ibiza, weeks 1-4.

So.. One month has gone by and i really like it here, the weather is always good and the people are very kind. The first two weeks were kind of slow, because i needed some time to adjust to this new lifestyle, i didnt really do anything except eat, sleep and go to work.

Im working at a company called Medori electricidad, all of the guys there are great, they dont really speak english that much except the boss and this one german guy,  Arved that i have been working with. So far i have done pretty basic stuff, like pulling cables and making cable routes, addin a few plug lines and switches. Like for example, last week we had to put a new main line to someones house

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also there was a case where we had to go to this wood wholesale place where they had a huge woodcutting machine giving a amlfuction code and wouldnt let the machine run, so we had to fix it by calling the german manufacturer for information about the machine.

There was also a pretty large fire in here, it  was some kind of a “forest” or a field under natural protection, there was a lot of people filming it, heres a few photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

on our free time we have visited a lot of beaches and coffee shops, we also went to Ibiza town to check out some shops for some souveniers and to check out the harbor in there, theres also the “old town” which is absolutely beautiful with its old buildings and Dalt Vila today we went to visit the local school which was a lot like our school in some ways, the students there were a few years older than me but i already made friends. They gave us a small tour of the campus area and made us some traditional spanish snacks. they all seemed wonderful, they were polite and very social. We talked a lot about the island and finland and places to visit if they ever come to finland etc, etc.

the “old town”

I like all the people in here very much because they are the exact opposite of a “traditional finnish person”. I dont think i have met anybody so far who wouldnt talk to me, even when i go to the store i always get to talk a lot with the guy who owns the shop, or for example when i went to order coffee from a coffee shop and of course i was trying to order it in spanish and i said it somehow wrong, then the coffee guy spent like legit 7 minutes teaching me how to order it correctly in spanish and explaining how i said it slightly wrong, it was hilarious. Its a shame im starting to get used to the coffee here, at first it was so sweet and creamy and yuck and if you ordered the coffee black, it came in a half a shot glass and tasted like death. Its gonna take me a long time to get used to the taste of finnish coffee again.

I really like it in here, i hope the next 4 weeks will be just as enjoyable as these past wekks have been

 

Hotel Reina Cristina, Cadiz, Spain

Today I got to know when will be my first day off, next friday and saturday. Them I`m going to use precisely because I`m gonna see something of this interesting , historical Cadiz. Before that my working days consist of working at the lunch and the dinner buffet. During the working day I polish cutlery, set tables, serve drinks to the customers; wines, beer, water, lemonade. Then I clean tables and carry dishes to the kitchen. The work is well known for me. Some working styles are sometimes very different from which I am used to. For example I have used to the system in finnish restaurants that every waiter has his / hers tables. Of course others help you if you have more things to do. Here in this restaurant everybody take care of every table. That`s my opinion but I think we loose much time when we all are walking around the restaurant all the time. I think also that the best service is possible only when the customer knows who is your waiter. But anyway  it`s interesting to see different styles for doing the same things. I am able to speak a lot of English because of many english speaking  customers. And because they are very pleased of my service it`s a great pleasure to work here. Always in the morning before working and at the break in the afternoon I use to go little around. The world is full of things to see.

Pansies, really! The same colours than I had last summer
Clever fish processor at the market place

Hotel Reina Cristina, Cadiz, Spain

Three working days done! If I hadn`t been working my whole career at restaurants and cafeterias this would probably be much more difficult. The staff in the restaurant don`t speak English, some little, some not a word! The biggest part of the customers are wonderful, polite, friendly tourists from England. They are all very interested to talk with me. Everybody wants to know my name, where I`m from and why I am here. And they are also pleased for my english. Great, sounds good for me!

Nice place to write these stories at my own terrace

This week my all workindg days are the same time 12.30 – 16 and 19-23.30. So if i want to do something else than work, I must do it in the morning or between the working times. I have been walking once to the right of the hotel . Today I walked to the left. There I found a Saturday-market.

 

Me and my working mates, Maria and Alicia
Little brake in a cafe on my morning walk

Week 3 in Ibiza


This week we  kept going to do cabel works at supermarket and we moved some internet box at the market because the boss who owns this place wanted to put there a security system. At wednesday we had day off, because here was Balearsday and every place was closed. Weather is getting here farmer everyday but somedays are still rainy because its winter time.