‘Twas the Night Before First Day of School

‘Twas the night before first night of school, and all through the house
every creature was stirring, even the mouse;
The backpack were hung at the doorknob with care,
in hopes that the school bus soon would be here;
children were tossing all restless in their beds,
while visions of new school danced in their heads;…….

And so forth and so on. The excitement and the anticipation of entering a new school turned out to be too much for Nea to fall asleep at regular bedtime at 8pm. Finally at 11.30pm, when I lay down with her, and we talked about what was going on in her mind, she calmed down enough to sleep. It was the basic things: I hope we won’t miss the bus, what kinds of kids will be in my class, will the teacher be nice, will it be easy to find my classroom, etc. Nothing earth shuttering, but big things for a little third-grader. Especially big for a little girl who tends to ponder even the simplest every-day things deeply and thoroughly.

Saku, on the other hand, after meeting his teacher couple of days earlier, and realizing that his best  buddy would be in the same class with him, was roaring to go. No pondering here. He fell asleep as normal, with a big smile on his face: “I’m going to Kindergarten, and I’m going to ride there in a yellow school bus.” He got up in the morning an hourly earlier than usual, and was ready with the backpack on his back, at 7am. The bus comes at 8.20am. It was a long wait.

“Is the school bus here yet?”

Nea getting ready to go with her traditional first-day-flowers for her teacher.

The bus stops is just a hop and a skip from our house, and the spot is marked with beautiful sunflowers.

Saku screaming: “Here it comes! The bus is coming! Everybody, the bus is coming!!!”

All kindergarteners met at the library, and Saku hooked up with his buddy right away.

Off we go…..no sad goodbyes here!

Getting to know the class room and all the exciting things in it.

Third graders met at the cafeteria, and Nea found a good spot right in the middle.

Nea’s classroom door was closed, so I could only get this poor picture through the door window.

……..
They sprang to the school bus, with a big wide grin,
And away they drove, as I watched with shivers on my skin.
And I heard them exclaim, as they drove down the curve,
“Happy First day of school! Here we come, ready to learn!”

Getting back to the swing of things

We are all getting back to the swing of things. Getting there, but slowly. Slowly because we can’t get motivated, and slowly because the damn heat is kicking our butts. All we can find the energy to do, is to chill at the lake. That’s not bad either, right? Here, since they had a miserable rainy summer, everybody is thrilled of the heatwave. I’m trying to keep my mouth shut from complaining of the humidity and heat, but find myself not doing that so well.  Sorry about that.

Kids have adjusted beautifully. Besides for the rest of their toys they beg us to bring down from the attic, which we refuse to do until the weather cools down a bit, they are loving being back home. In the matter fact, somebody, can’t now remember who it was, said to me that after a couple of weeks in the US, it won’t feel like you spent a year in Finland. Well, it is true. In an odd way, it already feels like a distant dream. Nothing has changed here, so we just jumped right back on where we left off a year ago. It almost fees like somebody pressed the pause button in North Adams while we were gone, and resumed the play once we were back. Disappointing in some ways, and comforting in others.

To remind us of the fact that we did spend a year in Finland, is the fact that the kids speak finnish to each others. This makes me happy. I’m sure that it will diminish somewhat as the school starts, but we’ll have to try to keep it going at home. Saku still keeps convincing me how he is so tired of speaking finnish, and is so very, very happy to be back in America so that he can just speak english, and doesn’t have to speak anymore finnish….all this in fluent finnish and hops onto the next subject, in finnish again. It is wonderful to know that these two languages are so fluent for him now, that he doesn’t realize which one he is speaking! Happens to me occasionally, too.

We do miss our friends and family in Finland, though. Dearly. So many things going on in there, that I wish I could be close by to share them with them. To rejoice and to comfort. Be a part of the everyday life. Saku and Nea had one solution to see more of their cousins in Finland: “Why couldn’t Sanja (my sister-in-law) marry an american man, too, so then they could live in America with us?” I just nodded and didn’t bother to go into the details that her children wouldn’t really be their cousins then. But obviously this thought was a possible solution to their cousin, too, since after pondering it for a while, found a possible problem: “But then I really couldn’t speak with my dad!” Kids logic. Magical. Easy. So simple. We should all think like kids more often, and life might be just a tad more simple.

For you who doubted that we couldn’t fit our suitcases in our Volvo…here is the proof. It was a tight fit, but we did it.

At the airport we couldn’t wait to unload our luggage to the check-in counter!

Once at home, Nea climbed up to her room, saw her bed, and simply crashed! A big thank you for Brent and Carl for carrying the beds (and everything else) in for us!

Next day’s meal, was…..yes, farm fresh corn-on-the-cob. Kids (and us, too) had been waiting for it, and devoured it. Delicious!

Now we are waiting for the school to start in a week. Or Nea is…Saku…well…”I don’t think I really need to learn to read and write. Really! It really doesn’t matter. I don’t care. It’s ok.” A ride in a yellow school bus and a new batman backpack doesn’t seem to be enticement enough to start school. No matter what, September 2nd it starts….

Once again

I remember the first time when I came to the States and the Berkshires, specifically. People would greet me like they knew me. “Hello! How are you? ‘s” rained on me where ever I went. I remember the confusion thinking what am I supposed to answer to that? I wasn’t used to this kind of friendliness. In Finland, you pretty much just greet the people who you know…sometimes barely even them, I think. It is a quiet, solemn country, where greetings are rare. Bus stops, grocery store lines, usually remain eerily quiet.

Well the confusion hit me again. Second morning here, early at 7am I went to the grocery store to fill our empty cupboards. First, oh yes, you Finnish readers, you read correct, some stores are open here as early as 7 o’clock in the morning. Oh USA, the land of convenience. Oh, and I had forgotten about drive-through ATM’s. Sweet!

Anyway, back to the grocery store. So in I go, and I think there are only two more customers besides me. Couple of grandma’s broadly smiling at me, and nodding, and thinking, “Well, there is a good young mother, shopping early, getting her chores done, and not laying in bed, all day! Good girl!“ Little do they know that I’m suffering from a serious jet-lag, and can’t sleep past 5 am in the morning! Besides the ladies, there are quite a few store clerks getting the store ready for the day. And every single one of them picks up their head, turns to me, and wishes me a cheery good morning. First one spooked me, second one surprised me, third one I was ok with and, finally at the check-out counter my confusion was gone, I was used to it once again and chatting happily with the lady as I paid my outrageously high bill. (Boy, the prices have really gone up here, haven’t they!)

The moral of the story is that besides how sad I have felt this week, and how badly I miss Finland, I’m happy to be back where I now have built my home. The past year was amazing and I wish it could have lasted longer, but it didn’t. So you Berkshire folks, if you see me moping around, it is not that I’m not happy to be here, I’m just adapting slowly. Just say your cheery hello’s and I’ll get over it. I’ll get back to the swing of things soon. And you folks in Finland: Fly over and stop by. Anytime.

And yes, everybody else in the family is doing great. Happy as can be to be back and getting back to their lives here.

A week to go

So here it is, our last week in Finland.

Where did the last year go, remains a mystery. This must have been one of the fastest years of my life. I’m not even going to try to recap it, because there is so much to remember and miss. Too much. My heart aches of all the things I’m going to miss and hope that I could take with me. But for consolation, at least this time, finally, I’m bringing over some of my own things and some things that I’ve inherited from my parents and grandparents, with me. I’m sure my brothers’ are happy to clean up their corners of my stuff they’ve been storing for me, but I’m also happy to finally have my “life” travel with me.

I know there are people across the pond missing us (yes, grandma, we are coming!), but I know we’ll leave people here missing us, too. There just isn’t a way to pull these two great countries together, is there? Anybody?

Anyway, we’ve been talking a lot about leaving. We have to, just to process it. We’ve talked about things we’ll miss in America and we’ll soon get to enjoy again, and the things we’ll miss in Finland and we can’t have again for a while.

We tried to pull together a quick list.

Saku was quick with his. Here we go.
This is what Saku misses in the US:
- Thomas the Tank Engine train track
- Grandma
- his bedroom
- his little piano
- his books
- his car mat
- our whole house
- swing set
- playhouse on the yard
- the little swimming pool and the slide with it
- his bed

This is what Saku will miss in Finland:
- sauna
- bunk beds
- cousins
- my cousins’ tramboline
- my favorite dark bread
- ice-cream cones
- beach and the sea
- biking

Nea only wanted to list the things she will miss in Finland. She didn’t even want to talk about the things she misses in America. Not sure how to take that? Then reading her list, looking at the two first things she listed…she might be worried she will lose the independence she’s gained here…?
- going to the store on my own
- going to school on the bus on my own
- my cousins and their home and their yard
- candy
- muesli
- short days at school

My list? May I just omit family and friends, because their are just obvious, aren’t they? They will be/are missed the  most.
Here is what I miss in the US:
- our house
- my kitchen and  my “stuff”
- my stove
- corn on the cob
- Ben & Jerry’s, Friendly’s ice-cream
- the smiley encounters with people
Here is what I will miss from Finland (and not in any particular order)
- sauna
- candy
- bread
- the nature
- the beach
- the easy-going life
- the trust in children
- Nea’s little school & Saku’s little daycare
- picking berries in the woods
- being able to show the children where I grew up and tell stories as we walk along

And let’s not forget Rick. There must be something he will miss from Finland, too? No friends and family listed for obvious reasons. Again, not in any particular order.
From the US:
- steak
- place of our own
- his motorcycle
- his cars and the affordable price of gas
- his tools

From Finland:
- sauna
- the sea
- the sense of community
- smell of the fresh sea air

You must have noticed that sauna was listed on the lists a few times. But it just might be that that will be the one thing we don’t have to miss. We are shipping a sauna stove to the US with us! I’ve told many of you about the crazy Finns’ sauna culture, and now we are bringing it with us to the Berkshires. Get ready!

We’ll see you all soon!

Too much for 2 am.

Tickets are bought. The shipping container is booked. Some boxes are packed and waiting in the living room corner. The car is inspected and the “for sale” ad is ready to go. All this swirls in my head at 2 am, and I can’t sleep. Too much for 2 am. And it doesn’t stop there. I toss and turn and start to ponder how I thought it would be so easy to for example, to write this blog and share our life here with friends far away.  How it would be easy to pack up and go. But it wasn’t.

First, of course, there just aren’t enough hours in a day to simply to find the time to write. And second, the inspiration to write doesn’t happen when one does have a few minutes to type. But third, the most important point is the most complicated. It is utterly frustrating to know that I can’t or I don’t know how to, put down on a paper (or the computer screen for that matter), the intricacies of our life here. I know I’m not doing justice for all the wonderful things Finland has to offer by showing you just little tidbits of our life. I battle with this, comparing countries, finding positives and negatives, and feel like I’m trying to convince the other country about the good sides of the other. I’ve seen both, love both, but where ever I go, I always find somebody who judges and argues that things are better on the other side of the pond. And I find myself defending each country at a time. It just isn’t that black and white. Both places are great, not perfect, but great.

Anyhow, for a few more weeks, I’ll try to continue to show you what goes on in the everyday life of a regular Finn. After that, a  hop and a skip to the other side of the pond, and perhaps I’ll continue to entertain you Finnish readers about the life of regular American. And maybe, maybe I can show that the regular folks are just regular folks in both places. No more, no less.

So here is a recap of the events of the last few weeks.

We paid a visit to my great-grandparents home dwelling, where my lovely godparents now reside over the summer months. My godfather has dug his heels deep into the dirt of genealogy and shared with us wonderful stories about how and why my great-grandfather changed his last name, and the arson and resurrection of the local church. One day, I promise, when I have the extra time, I’ll try my hands in genealogy. He has done an amazing job at tracking my mother’s side of the family far back, and perhaps I’ll get around doing the same on my father’s side.

Here, my ever-patient godmother is instructing Nea on the secrets of rug weaving on the loom.

On a more sporty side, we, as a part of a group of friends, participated in a Beach Soccer Tournament on Yyteri beach. We surprised ourselves with our success by winning three games out of four. And Rick did shake hands with Kati about us coming back to play again next year….

I took another trip down the memory lane by visiting a couple of my friends from the art school times. We realized that, yes, we may have a few wrinkles here and there, but we were still the same giggly friends we were at ’92. I wish I had a scanner so I could share with you a younger picture of us to compare to the current one here. We really hadn’t changed that much!

Thump. 3.45am and the morning paper drops through the mail slot at the door. Since I haven’t slept yet, I might as well read the paper now.

I’m sure I’ll sleep better tomorrow.

That’s what you get

That’s what you get when you go moving things around. 1955 the midsummer holiday was moved always to land on a Friday between the 19th and 25th of June. The original midsummer was on the 24th. To convenience of us all,  so that no extra day-offs from work would be needed: everybody celebrates over the weekend. Well, Mother Nature doesn’t always comply to our whims and wishes of convenience. This year was a perfect example. The celebrating happened on Friday, although the actual midsummer wasn’t until early following week. We followed the made-up schedule, but Mother Nature followed the original one. Friday and Saturday looked like this:

And next week like this:

Oh well, live and learn. But despite the crummy weather, we enjoyed a great weekend at the cabin with my younger brother and his family. We ate well, we enjoyed the hot sauna and a few beers. A quite lovely, normal family kind of a midsummer.

Since I can’t post pictures of the actual bathing in the sauna – way too much bare skin, and steam on the camera lens, here is a pic of me getting the sauna “started”. Meaning starting a fire under the “kiuas” – the stove with rocks in it.

And here is my brother making us “vihta” – the bouquet of birch branches that you gently whip yourself with in the sauna. Sounds a bit weird, I know, but it feels great, invigorates the blood circulation, and the birch makes the sauna smell good. They’ve tried to bottle that smell, and you can buy a birch fragrance to drizzle in the water that you throw on to the kiuas. It works, but is not quite the same.

For many others, though, quiet is not the way to celebrate midsummer. The sales at the government-owned liquor stores go up by 70% from regular days during the midsummer week. It is known that Finns are big drinkers and it is well demonstrated under the midsummer night sun. Historically it was believed that the more noise you made, and the more you drank, the better harvest you would get that summer. The noise and the racket would also scare away all the evil spirits. I have my doubts though, that maybe it was just some clever, thirsty Finn that came up with these excuses to be able to have another drink!

Historically, another, more peaceful way of chasing away the evil spirits was to burn big bonfires on the shores and on the lakes. Despite the continued rain, the cabin owners got together and built a big bonfire, and with the help of a few gallons of gas, were able to lit it in the rain. It burned beautifully on the opposite shore, and we had a perfect spot to admire it from the sauna porch, covered from the rain.

Traditionally the midsummer night is also the time for various folk magic tricks for young maidens to see into the future love life. Our young maidens wanted to try this out, too, and collected seven different flowers to place under their pillows. That night in their sleep they should have then seen their prince Charming. Unfortunately the prince Charming failed to appear – perhaps because the girls forgot to actually put the flowers under the pillows. No harm done, since at ages 8 and 9, they still have many more midsummers to try out the magic!

Compared to Americans, Finns rarely demonstrate their patriotism publicly. (If you don’t take into the account the World Championship ice-hockey games.) Only on the dedicated days that are marked on every calendar, do the Finns raise the flag onto the flag pole. Furthermore, on those days, there are specific hours, when it can be raised. I like it this way. It keeps the flag respectful and ceremonial, and every time the flag is up, it makes the day special. Midsummer is one of those days when the flag is raised. It is actually the designated celebration day of the Finnish flag. It is raised up 6pm on Friday night, and taken down 9pm on Saturday night. We followed the suit, and with the help of the girls, my brother pulled the flag up the pole. My sister-in-law attempted to get everybody to sing a song that you are supposed to sing while the flag is raised, but since nobody else knew the words, it ended up being a solo performance – a good one at that. Thanks Sanja. I felt very patriotic.

And here is a midnight picture from the real midsummer, not the rainy, made up one.

70 degree drop

It started already at home when she heard where we had decided to go on our vacation. The careful measuring of her height – 131 centimeters – just one centimeter over the required height limit of 130 centimeters. And then the begging and pleading to let her get on.

Fast forward one week and here we are.

I, screaming my lungs out, as Nea sits quietly, although a completely terrified look on her face, next to me, as we lounge down the 70 degree drop of the Balder roller coaster at the Liseberg amusement park in Gothenburg, Sweden. So she had won (once again, if I may say). I was hesitant to let her go in on the coaster at first. The protecting mother in me was cautious and kept whispering in my ear not to let her in, “Anything can happen. She could just fly out of the car!”, but the little roller coaster devil from my other shoulder egged me on with, “Oh come’n. What’s gonna happen? You love roller coasters, too! Don’t be such a wuss!” The little devil had a point. I do love roller coasters, (as does Rick) and Nea must have inherited that little thrill-ride gene. So on we go. As the car climbs up the first high hill preceding the drop, Nea excitedly points out how high we are. “Look down, mom! Wow! We are so high! Look around! Cool!” I have to admit that with age, the edge of my roller coaster gene must have softened up, because I couldn’t open up my eyes. I squeezed them shut and held tight, and only opened them, simultaneously with my very loud vocal cords, as we shot down the drop. What a rush! A great, smooth roller coaster ride, but oh boy, my throat hurt after screaming so much. Nea just jumped around and giggled with excitement – and wanted to go again.

It was a fun ride. As were the many other rides we sat on, over and over again. The day was a bit overcast and cool, so the Swedes had decided to stay home, and left the park for the tourists. There wasn’t too many of us, so it felt like we had the park for ourselves. Fun times!

Saku and Nea on the kiddie roller coaster.

Saku's favorite: the bumper cars.

Saku and daddy in the (very fast) spinning cars.

Here's Nea getting a sugar high before getting on....

..this. The Balder!

What was also fun was to get to know my long-lost 17 years older half-sister and her daughters in Sweden. My half-niece (is there such a term?) who is only three years younger than I, opened up her doors to us to stay with her and her husband for a week. They’ve already visited us in the States five years ago, so we weren’t complete strangers. With the fact that we’ve only known each others for a short time, it is amazing how well we get along, and how….alike we are. Family ties must run deep. My half-sister I’ve only met when I was Saku’s age, so I didn’t have a recollection of her at all. It was very lovely to finally to meet her and hopefully to start to build a connection that has been lost for so long.

My sister and I in deep conversation.

My Swedish family.

Our wonderful hosts, Nina and Chris.

So terrifying roller coasters and complicated family ties topped with beautiful Swedish countryside, meatballs and quality time together makes a recipe for a memorable vacation. I’d heartily recommend it for your next vacation, too.

And oh, apologies for you all who don’t like fart humor, but I promised to Nea to share these “fart” jokes with all you similarly minded across the pond. So here, couple of Swedish traffic signs for you entertainment. Got giggles from the back seat every time we saw them.

"enter"

"exit"

"Speed bump"

School’s out for summer!

School’s out for the summer.

Last weekend was full of graduation parties and the traditional spring hymn was sung in schools across the country. I got to reminiscence and got all choked up fumbling for the words from my memory as at Nea’s school, the whole gymnasium, filled with students and parents, bursted out in a song. It brought back memories from so many school ending ceremonies with girls in their dresses and boys in clean shirts. Each waiting for their turn to perform, to read a poem, to sing a song. And each anxiously waiting for the report card that would show their accomplishemts for the year.

I had to bite back tears to watch Nea get up in front of the whole school, first to sing with her class, and then to recite a poem in English. She was so proud to do that, and heck, I think I was even prouder watching our shy little girl so comfortably perform.

Nea's class performed a song.

Nea reciting a poem.

Zooming back to her seat after receiving her (very good) report card.

Saku’s daycare is done for the summer, too. He has high-fived his friends goodbye.

He loved his daycare, especially all the friends he made. So many good buddies and nice gals. One of those nice gals got a big surprise smack-of-a-kiss right on the mouth on the playground last weekend from our little charmer boy! And then they just casually continued playing. Talk about friendship!

These friend have also been more than just play-pals – without knowing, they’ve also been the best language teachers Saku would have gotten. Just a month after he started at the daycare, he was comfortable enough with Finnish to participate in all the activities. The daycare teacher told us that Saku was always determined to speak Finnish,and refused to use English to help him out. He’d rather explain his point in Finnish until it was understood. He still speaks in a pretty cool American accent, but the other kids don’t notice….and hey, it seems to work with the girls!

No report card for Saku, but a nice book of drawings from all his friends.

Here is the whole crew

And here couple of special friends.

Tomorrow is also my last day at work. No spring hymns at work for me, but cake and hugs goodbye. Just like the kids, I’ve met some cool guys and gals whom I’m sure to miss.

But our time in Finland is drawing to an end, and alas, the end of July will come sooner than we think. We should start packing, and cleaning and….and…all that. But before (or while) we do that we’ll make sure to have a memorable summer. Next week we’ll take off on a week-long trip to Sweden to meet my half-sister and her daughters in Göteborg. In early July we’ll participate, with a team of friends, in a beach soccer tournament in Yyteri beach. Then we’ll take a trip with my brother and his family to a family theme park, Puuhamaa. And if the Finnish summer favors us, we’ll swim, swim, and swim some more on the beaches near by.

Ready – set – go! Summer! (We got a little sneak peak last weekend!)

Cabin fever

But not the bad kind. Not the kind that drives you crazy because you are cooped up inside and going crazy. Rather the kind that makes you want to HAVE a cabin that you could be inside in.

Confusing, I know. Please go ahead and read this article about a Finnish luxury. Then hurry back to read more here.

So cooped up in a cabin can be good. Very good. We spent the last weekend at my brother’s in-law’s cabin and had a wonderful time. No frills, no fuss, just simple togetherness, easy meals, relaxing and enjoying the surrounding silence. The cabin is located on a little island, just a two minute boat ride from the mainland. It sits in a calm bay, surrounded with more similar little islands, with similar little cabins on them. The Finnish Dream is to own a cabin by the water. In the matter of fact, out of a population of 5.2 million, close to 500,000 lucky cabin owners have fulfilled their dreams. No wonder then that the little islands dotting the shore are filled with small cabins, just like the shores of the 100,000 lakes that dot the country. And since the average summer vacation in Finland is 4 weeks, that leaves you plenty of time to disappear in to your cabin, enjoy the nature, the silence, and to take easy. To heal the good kind of cabin fever. Pure luxury.

Thank you for my brother and his family for sharing their luxury.

A Finnish dream on an island.

No running water, so dishes are done like this. Even our own "Paris Hilton" finds it a fun chore to do!

No runnig water, so no flushing toilet, either. The outhouse certainly was an experience in-itself for the kids. “How do I flush?” “Well, you don’t. Just throw some of that sawdust on it in there.” A turn of a head with an “are you kidding look”, “Really? Cool.” And that was it for a while, until Nea heard us talking that we should empty the container….I’ll save you from the rest of that story. On to more pleasant things.

A perfect father-son moment. Fishing from the dock. No fish, but even catching seaweed was exciting.

My brother had to show off (pure luck, we say!) and catch a good-sized pike.

A beautiful mother-daughter moment, sitting on the dock, listening to the birds at 7am in the morning when everybody else was still sleeping.

It was warm enough so the kids demanded to go swimming. The water was freezing, and Saku made the decision not to dive in, but....

the girls were determined to cast off their "winter-fur". Here goes cousin Milia,

and Nea follows right after.

Doesn't Rick just fit right in with his boonie-cap?

We got to enjoy a nice quiet moment after sauna, sitting outside and admiring the view.

Here, looks even better without our toes!

The young photographer

Could I get your attention for a moment, please! Thank you. Thank you.

I’d like to introduce to you a young – just budding, but so talented – photographer. With his photography he is able to capture the texture, the fleeting moment of an object’s existence. For now he prefers to photograph inanimate objects with the rare self-portrait thrown in. We are excited to see what the future holds.

Here. Please. You are the first fortunate ones to view his artwork in public.

Cars, for some reason, seem to be one of his favorite topics. Look at the wonderful color composition!

A reminder about the complex power struggle between a parent and a child.

A billowing texture of a blanket, captured.

A close-up of the cozy pants.

Smooth lines of a rocking chair

A careful close-up of the coffee table that tolerates the speeding wheels of a monster truck race.

A rare selfportrait of the artist himself.

It is not easy being an artist..one needs his sleep, and takes it anywhere he can.