So, Lahti ROK is a (ruokaosuuskunta) food co-op. People join in, it costs about 400€ a year, they have 10 hours of "voluntary" work during that year and when there's crop, they can just come and get it, no more exchanging money. Usually being in the co-op comes more cheaper than buying all those (organic!) vegetables and fruits from stores, and you know how the food has been grown and for many people just being in that community is the most important thing.
I was happy that they took me to work there, i was really looking forward to it; it's in Lahti, they have a large range of different vegetables etc., a field and a greenhouse, and the two guys that i met at the unofficial interview seemed very nice and i was able to understand the Irish guy, but as time went by, i realized that i can't really learn enough stuff at a place where the hired gardener isn't really a gardener, he didn't have the qualifications and the person that signed the contract with me, was never there. It was always like, "He _might_ come here this weeks Thursday, _maybe_ some time after four...", and even when he was there and i asked him something, pretty much whatever the question was, the answer was "Oh, no, that's not gonna happen" (and then it happened) or "Oh, it doesn't matter here, this place is different than those commercial companies", and that's it, no explanation how things should be, what's the optimum, the ideal situation. How could i learn anything in a place where the attitude is "Nah, good enough for us". And when i started asking for more guidance he always said that he's been so busy, that he has so many projects going on, but if he is so busy all the time, then why did he take me to work there, because we trainees, we don't get paid, you don't need to give us money, but you need to give us your time and teach us.
And i thought that the Irish guy would know what he is doing, even without education, because he had been gardening for 10 to 15 years in various co-ops and the like, i mean he didn't kill all the plants or anything, but i had to explain that there really is something wrong with some of our cucumbers when they are half the size of the other cucumbers next to them and when they can't grow more that one or two fruits at the time, and all the rest of the fruits that have just started to develop just die. I know that cucumbers abort some of the fruits when they're small, but not ALL OF THEM. But he didn't think there was a problem "It's just too small to grow more than one fruit at a time." And that's it. Period. He didn't start to think why the cucumber is too small and weak that it can't grow more... And i just had it. I was too tired to live in an constant uncertainty of what's going to happen and when, and i didn't get enough of guidance, i had to figure pretty much everything by myself and if i brought up something, or just asked, they acted like i was overreacting.
Rant over.
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I did realize how big the difference is between American English and British English. A ladybug is a ladybird in Britain. And when i called lanttu a rutabaga, the Irish guy laughed at me and said that that sounds like some kind of a car... They call lanttu a swede. There was some other occasions as well when i noticed that i speak more American English than British and i was told that sometimes i have a slight American accent.
Also new words to me: couch grass (juolavehnä), shoots (varkaat, esim. tomaatilla), a rake/raking (harava/haravointi) and chard (mangoldi).
