The swans are still in the canal and it's nearly time for them to head south before the water freezes over. They go to warmer waters of the Baltic. A woman in my conversation group said not to feed them now as it encourages them to stay. Unfortunately we did see someone feeding them yesterday and over the last week we had some freezing in the canal, but it's melted now and warmer temperatures in the low 30sF are forecast this week. So maybe the swans will be fine for now - something must tell them the right time to go. I watched one of the big gray babies glopping through the slush right at the shore line and he didn't seem too pleased, so that may be part of the signal to go. The one standing tall is the dad I think. They spend a lot of time splashing about as they preen. Then they go upside down to grab seaweed snacks. And my favorite is when I see them sleep/floating late at night - so peaceful. It's all very amusing.
I saw my first Lucia Maid procession at a work reception Friday evening - a Swedish/Finn tradition to bring light to the darkness. We gathered at the language school for glögi - which is mulled wine and berry juice and delicious. The lights were dimmed and two girls started the procession by singing some carols. Then they sang a particular Santa Lucia song (with the Italian song as base) and four young girls came in, each carrying a single candle and wearing long white dresses, while the Lucia Maid among them had a wreath of candles on her head (electrical, for safety I assume). They all sang a few more songs and then the older girls sang a particular song as the four proceeded out again. It was totally charming. They scooted back in the room soon after in their normal attire to grab some treats.
I have to share a funny interchange with a student the other day. We were practicing small talk - a common request in language classes here - and she was telling me how she raised 'ducks' and got awards for them and all, and so I asked was this on a farm, and did they raise them for food - for eating? She looked totally aghast that I could ask such a thing, and I wondered that someone could become so attached to water fowl. And then it came out that she raised 'dogs', Borzoi hounds actually - a beautiful large Russian breed, and we all had a good long laugh. Proves that I can be of some use in pronunciation, those g's can be tricky. Since the second language company hired me, I will now be teaching a total of seven classes a week after the holidays. I travel all over the Helsinki metro area and so I'm learning fast how to get around. It's challenging but also giving me a window into the working world here as I meet with engineers, bankers, and executives who I doubt I would meet otherwise. They are all insistant on working with a native speaker so I am in demand for once! And they do need help with fluency. They will speak very haltingly with me and then a moment later read a bit of text with almost no errors. So I will blog as much as time allows with all this welcome work, and certainly we'll have some holiday pictures when the girls arrive in just five days now!
Here are some dogs--I mean--ducks among the swans.
