The next generation
Project Findo
Dear Diary...
Sometimes I have the need to say things I feel. Most of those times I simply don't say anything. I want to be more open and show the other side of me, not the polished outside but the darker inner part.
I find it hard to talk to my friends and loved ones about this. It feels they're too close, it feels they know me. I am afraid they'll kick me right back into the grim reality. That reality can be confronting and that scares me.
Here's part of the real me, not my act of crazy joy and happiness, but my dark perception of reality.
A day in the life of León.
Finland 
On 17 August 2001 I quit my job at the IBM Call Centre in Greenock, Scotland to start a new adventure in Finland with my
girlfriend Maija. She is going finish her studies while I am going to study Finnish.
At midsummer, Juhannus in Finnish, this year on Saturday 22 June, the Finnish people go to their summer cottages to drink and grill sausages on the barbecue and go to the sauna. We went for a trip to Lapland. Since Väinö and Leila were on their boat, we could use their camper for this 1000km trip to the Arctic Circle and beyond. First we stayed at Rovaniemi and the next day we continued our journey to Sodankylä.
Map of Lapland 
Photo's of our Juhannus trip
School excursion to Helsinki.
Luokkaretki Helsinkiin
School picnic in Ruissalo.
Piknik Ruissalossa
Walking with cats.
We went to Maija's parents in Nousiainen and took the cats for a walk.
School excursion to the Cathedral of Turku.
Turun Tuomiokirkko.
Picnic at Ruissalo with friends.
Maija, Silva, Leeni, Tero and Elmeri.
Spring has arrived. We went for a walk and a picnic in Naantali on the southwest coast, a few kilometers from Turku. If you look closely you can still see ice where you'd expect to find water, but the temperature is well above freezing. Walking in the sunshine feels nice and warm. It's Easter in Finland.
Have a look at some of the pictures I took on Easter.
Last November Maija's father Väinö celebrated his 60th birthday. We went to an island on the south coast of Finland and spend a weekend at a Coastguard Station, since Väinö is a retired Coastguard.
Väinö's birthday.
Maija has a cat named Turre. León has a cat named Rakker. After Rakker recovered from the stress of the trip to Finland he found a new friend.
Turre & Rakker.
Wheels
In February 2000 I finally got a chance to go to the Netherlands to buy my car. Steven bought a new Volvo, so his old one was for sale. About three years before this I said to him I would appreciate it if he would contact me in case he was going to sell this "tank".
I reached 300000 km somewhere in the beginning of July 2001
Scotland
It was the end of August 1999 and I went to Scotland with 2 suitcases full of clothes and started a new way of living. Four soon to be colleagues arrived with the same airplane.
Pictures of us in the first weeks of our "adventure" in Scotland.
One of them became my flatmate, Rolf Hofman. He is an amazing guy. One of those amazing things he did was going out to do some windsurfing at force 7. That was quite tricky to do when he surfed between the coast and an island while wind-sheers pushed him towards the island.
Here are some pictures of him in better weather conditions.
Rolf Hofman surfing between Largs and Cumbrae Island.
In October 1999 my colleague Bas Burlage had his birthday party. Quoting Bas:
"I think my birthday was just an excuse for my flatmates to give a party, and thank I them for their efforts, for it turned out to be one hell of a party. Further I would like to thank everybody who was there and I hope you all had a nice time (most of you can't remember a thing because almost everyone was drunk). For all the people who were not there: YOU REALLY MISSED A GREAT PARTY!"
Bas had a birthday party. (These pictures were on the Dutch Party Page)
And then there were more parties. This series was taken at a housewarning party inthe Gorbals in Glasgow. Rolf Remie passed out again after drinking a very large quantity of stong liquor in a very short time. Harmen, on the other hand, knows how much and how fast he can drink. He is most likely the one that can be drunk and act sober and make poses to entertain the party guests.
Hey Boy, Hey Girl, there's a party in the Gorbals.
