Summer -- time

We will be moving our clocks up tonight, and this is called summer time. Not to be confused with summertime, as we had a true blizzard this past week and I was late for class for the first time due to transit problems, which is not bad after a full winter. Today is warm and sunny despite the snow.
While we are often on the metro, we really do enjoy the quiet and cute trams here in Helsinki. These pictures are of the #8 which is the tram in our neighborhood.
They give such a good sense of the neighborhoods they travel through, given their slower speed, and they feel a little timeless in a way.


Daylight update - we are speeding ahead now with much longer days, gaining over five minutes a day with a half hour more of daylight than Michigan now, heading for that June midnight sun.

Below is a picture of a schooner, the Kathrina, that is docked by the central market these days. It has a cafe aboard but we haven't tried it yet. I was quite surprised to read the engine specifications - small world!

Attracting witches to your door

One way to attract Easter witches to your door is to decorate a woven star on your door with colorful feathery chicks. Despite the fact the you may have bought the star at a Christmas market, it just may fool them. If they do come, be prepared with Kinder Eggs (chocolate shells with small toys hidden inside), to give to the witches after they sing this song,

Virvon, varvon tuoreeks, terveeks,
Sinuelle vihta, minuelle lahja.

I touch you with my magic branch
 - That will refresh you and keep you well.
 You get the branch, I get a reward.

Then they will tap you with a virpomavihta — pussy willow branch, that they have decorated with colorful feathers (just like the chicks on the star) which they give to you in exchange for a treat, casting a spell of good fortune on you as Spring approaches.

These are the ACTUAL WITCHES who came to our door today and we were prepared! I was nearly ready to concede that as we are in a locked apartment building, and we have those odd names on our door, we may not be lucky to have a witch visit this Easter, but then the doorbell rang. Children this young don't have much if any English yet (though they start by age 9 in schools with at least one language) but we successfully made it through the ritual, I'm happy to report, and they even consented to have their pictures taken. You can see how brave they were, indulging the over-excited foreigners.

Hyvää pääsäiänen!