Sleep

Sleep, one of the most important parts of human life. It gets us re-energized, and makes us ready to face the daily life. So why do we need sleep? Well, as I already stated, during sleep our brains re-energize. Also our bodies recover from all the physical stress we've encountered. And we all know that when you're sleepy, you might be a little cranky.  

Research has proven that a normal 18-year-old needs about 8 to 10 hours of sleep every day. This means that if you’re going to wake up at 7am you should go to bed at 11pm. Some people might not agree with this, and say that they can manage with only six or less hours of sleep. I go to bed around 10pm, so I get at least strong eight hours of sleep daily. It’s true that some people need less sleep, but for me it would be like torture to feel sleepy. And if I was sleepy, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate at school. 

Taking a nap every now and then is a good way to get some energy. 30 to 60 minute naps are the most effective, because if you sleep like two hours and wake up, you often feel a little torpid and it might disturb your sleeping rhythm.

Cell phones

New cell phones are released nowadays on almost monthly basis. Big corporations compete for the consumers' money by trying to add more and more exciting features into packages as small as possible making them pleasing to the eye. But at what cost?

An average owner of a cell phone uses it for about year and a half before changing to a new one. The old phone can then be sold forward or recycled to save energy and resources required in the making of new phones. However, some phones are forgotten in desk drawers while others may end up in dumps. This is a pity, because phones contain valuable metals as well as heavy metals which pollute the soil and water when they are discarded improperly. If more phones were recycled, their price might drop a bit, because the rare metals they include could be put in good use, and the companies wouldn't have to buy so much of them.

Personally, I don't like to change my phone very often. I've had the same Nokia 2610 for nearly five years now, and it still works like a charm. I want to see how far I'll get with it before it dies completely. :) Plus, I have saved hundreds of euros by now. I recommend it to others as well, the money can then be placed into something you really desire.

Food wastage

Food wastage is a really big topic nowadays. People have noticed how much food is thrown into the trash. I read an article dealing with that same problem. It said that half of all food produced in the world end up in the trash! How shocking is that!
  We all know very well that our planet is not doing well. We produce too much everything.  And most of all - we are so incredibly selfish. For example, in Finland one of the world's wealthiest countries we throw 10-15% off food straight to the trash. We are so used to just say: "Oops sell-by date has passed but what does it matter!" And then we just throw it away. 
  In Finland we are (at least I think that most of us) used to go grocery shopping in supermarkets. There is so much food everywhere you look and people get large shopping carts full of food. But who can really eat all that they buy? At least in my family we always have to throw something to the trash because we have bought too much food. I guess that everyone know what I am talking about.
  Like I said there has been recently much talk about food wastage in the media. That has made me (and many others all over the world) to think more about our food wastage. It has even become a trend that food is made of residues.
   So what can you do to diminish your (and your family's) food wastage:

1. Go shopping with your parents and make them see that there is no point to shop so much if they have a habit to throw away food.
2. Make a clear shopping list before you go shopping and do not go shopping when you are hungry.
3. When you see that there is some leftovers (like meat sauce or mashed potatoes) then try to create something of them. For example a good sauce is great on top of a sandwich and bread can be made out of mashed potatoes.
4. Do not eat with your eyes. If you know that you do not want to eat much then do not take much food. There is always an opportunity to get some more.
5. Remember that you are very blessed to have food every day. There are too many people all over the world who are starving and dying of hunger.

There is my today's soup which I made from leftovers. There are 4 carrots, 3 potatoes, half onion, a little bit sweet pepper, spices and cream. With the veggie soup I like to have cottage cheese on top of it. On the table is the article which I talked about in the text.

Travelling - more advantages or not

Travelling is good way to learn languages and it encourge to speak other languages. Travelling is also good way to learn about other countries, their culture and it embiggens the way you see the world. Every country has their own style for living and through that people get many new experiences to try to fit there and visit there for a while. Travelling is also one way to just relax and forget for a while all work stuff and other stressful things.

People nowadays travel much more than 50 years ago and it has become more and more bigger source of income. Some places people and even cities could not manage without turism and all their incomes is based on turism especially in poor countries like Thailand. 

Because travelling is all the time increasing it means that all kinds of vehicles are used. Those vehicles like airplane, ships and trains may cause pollution. And because travelling is increasing it means that pollution is increasing. People are all the time developing new inventions against pollution and maybe one day someone invents something mind blowing, who knows.

There are also people how think about the pollution so those people use options which don't cause so much  comtaminants. Maybe this is the way how all people should think.

All in all travelling is good way to get to know new countries and culture and so on but let's still think about our beatiful world. :)

Internet - Bringing people together (?)

You often hear people talking about how the boundaries between countries and continents diminish because of the use of Internet. We can get a lot of information about different cultures and countries through Internet and adopt part of that information to our own lifestyle. That's how we all become more and more alike.
But is that always a good thing that we are becoming more alike with the people living on the other side of the Earth? Of course it's good to know more about the minorities so we can't jugde them because of our own lack of the information but that doesn't work necessarily. Although we know more, we're still afraid to be different and people who are different. The information we get from the Internet doesn't guarantee equality between people. It could quarantee that but it doens't. We could use our information as a benefit not as a way to rate people.
Internet also gives us a easier way to bully because it doesn't take so much courage to write a mean comment as an anonymous. Those people who are afraid to speak out and that's way they can't bully others, have this new way to bully which the Internet makes possible.
Last but not least, there's a problem with globalizing. We adopt pieces of the minority cultures to our culture but tend to force the minorities to adopt our whole culture. That's why the boundaries between countries and cultures fade away but that's also why the world loses many beautiful cultures.
So I guess my point here is that we should think about do we always use the Internet for the right reasons and how could we all benefit from it even more.

                                                      Picture from here.

Public transport

Nowadays we are often told to use public transport to avoid the global warming. When we cut down our own driving and use public transport instead, we don't produce so much greenhouse gases which is good for the environment.
I think public transport is a very good option if it's working properly like it does in Helsinki for example. In Helsinki it doesn't cost too much and it's quite fast and reliable. There's also quite good connections from one place to another. But when the public transport isn't working properly it's annoying to hear those comments about how much you can do good for the environment by using it. Like here in Jyväskylä's area the public transport doesn't work as it should.
For example if you need to get from Muurame to Jyväskylä there's normally only two busses in hour that go to Jyväskylä which is too little. Normally the travel takes twice or even triple the time which it takes when you drive with your own car. And on top of all that, it costs twice the amount it should cost judging by the functioning of it.
So on my opinion if there's a need (and I think there is) to reduce our driving with our own cars, there needs to be made an improvement in Jyväskylä.

                                             Picture from here

Saturday's flea market finds

     
This week’s Saturday was a dream day to everyone who likes to shop in flea markets. I started my day by waking up at half past six and then went to town (Jyväskylä) by bus at ten past eight. The first flea market opened at nine o’clock so I had to wait in the freezing winter morning quite a while. But it was worth it because it was the 1euro day at UFF second hand. So every cloth cost only one euro! I found seven garments (two dresses, three cardigans, a men’s shirt for lazy days and one t-shirt). I was lucky to find some garments which were made in Finland, they are so good quality even though there were a few things that I have to repair and make them look a little more fashionable.

       After UFF I went to Fida International. There was a sale too, 50% off on every cloths. There I wound one cardigan, skirt and scarf. They coasted me 3, 5 euros so the days total costs were 10.5 euros and with that I got TEN garments. I wonder what I could have gotten if I would have gone to Gina Tricot or Only to shop. Not much I think.

       It isn't very expensive to shop your cloths at flea markets. In my opinion when you shop in ordinary clothing stores you just need money. Everything you need is put right in front of you so it is easy to buy what is fashionable at the moment. When you try to find clothes at flea markets you need less money but much more time and patience. You need to train your eyes and mind by visiting different flea markets. This way you learn that what garments are your style, what the normal price level is (so you will not be scammed) and how you identify good quality. It takes time but after couple of mistakes you will be able to find cloths (and more) which are quite unique, cheap and suitable for the environment.