Some cultural reflections

This mural is found in the Sea Horse restaurant in Helsinki and this image is their own, as they don't even allow photos of it. It was painted by Alvar Aalto back in the 30s and has been maintained since then, as has the rest of the decor. The food is straightforward Finnish - fish and meatballs and such, and we first found it in the late summer and had a nice meal with slightly surly service, as was the case at the beginning of our second visit with Claire and Kaliecia in December. The visit was turned around by a happy-go-lucky customer at the next table who decided to buy the entire restaurant Irish coffees. I then had a nice chat with a woman at his table who was somewhat embarrassed by his grand gesture, as they'd already had their fill of champagne. The buyer was a gold dealer we think, and so we toasted him with our coffees and he interrogated Claire about all the people he knew in New York - but believe or not - she didn't know the same people. Claire and I suffered a bit of caffeine insomnia as a result but it was worth it for an unusual night among the much more usually reserved Finns.

We sometimes laugh at the cliché of the quiet Finns as they can be very talkative, especially once they get to know you well. But there is some truth in it, especially in public spaces. I'm actually also prone to this trait so I'm very comfortable with the non-communicative style of public transport, for instance, and sometimes, if I'm in the front of a train heading to our stop at the end of the metro line, I cannot tell if I'm alone on the car or not, just by listening. I find it rather peaceful. Easy to get lost in thought. I do imagine it can be disconcerting for more gregarious types. Although when the transit cops come through checking everyone's tickets, it's intense. They travel in packs and all wear the same jackets and seem to enjoy their collective and domineering power. The 80-euro fine is definitely incentive to stay legal.

This past week the senior students celebrated the day before exams by parading through town standing in back of large open trucks and throwing candy out to passersby. Neither Gerald nor I had candy hurled our way but I did see a truck of them go by as I rode a train to a class. Now they are all buckling down and studying. It was also Valentine's Day, which is celebrated much less here and is instead called ystävänpäivää or friend's day - so Gerald and I agreed to be each other's friend here in Finland. And a belated hyvää ystävänpäivää to you all!

Potatoes - that's what Gerald has to share. They are everywhere. The main dish we have often is pyttipannu - a diced potato and beef or ham or sausage dish that is total comfort food. I can get bags of it frozen for an easy and quick meal after busy teaching days, though I feel compelled to add vegetables to it for nutrition (the Finns might not approve).

I'm glad that my teaching and our apartment location has given me a new appreciation of the maritime industry. Several of my classes are with a power company that builds BIG engines, for ships, etc. As I write, one of the big coal boats is sitting quietly across the canal on this Sunday afternoon after unloading yesterday. It's the one in the last post pic. And I few weeks ago I had a tour of the power plant factory floor and it was fascinating. There are engines as big as a small house, and then there are also parts that still need the care of hand work by specialists. I hope the best for these skilled tradespeople, considering the paper industry's mass layoffs just north of here, causing the same economic chaos of Detroit up in those factory towns. While Finland has some of state-of-the-art tech and design industries, it also has relied on some classic trades in wood and paper that are going through downturns. I do have to say my dad would have been very familiar with the strong work ethic here. This coincides nicely with the strong appreciation for the need to take time off to travel, or have kids, or just retreat to the mokki (cottage) and bake in the sauna.

There is a general sense of keeping a healthy balance in life here - and I hope the Finns can sustain this as the global market brings other pressures to bear. We are looking forward to our first summer when at midsummer, everyone basically checks out for a full month at least. We have to start saving our euros now to gas up the Z and explore!

Six months in Suomi

We've now made it for half a year here in Suomi (Finland) and we're doing okay. We've just had a brief cold spell with temperatures under 20F and so our canal has a thin layer of ice over most of its length. This may be the extent of our first Helsinki winter. The canal picture was taken at 4pm and still plenty of daylight so we're happy. We're gaining about 5 minutes and 25 seconds of daylight each day now. I don't know why the gulls like to sit on ice but they do, lining up in formation and hanging out in the sun.


Below are a few more pictures from tonight - one is a small park in the center of town, with a nice statue from the 20s of a female javelin thrower, with an idle fountain that should be flowing in a few months, and the other is a fellow metro traveler in costume - why? We don't know. Such is life here - we see odd things and then later discover what they were about - although snowmen on subways may be an anomaly.

Almost through with Tammikuu (January)

Here we are with one week left in January, and yesterday was the first blustery snowfall that gave us much accumulation, and now it's mostly gone from some rain as the temperature rose just afterward. It's been a most unusual winter in Helsinki. And a busy beginning to the year. I feel fortunate to have started this ESL teaching here (though it has kept me from blogging as much - I'll do my best). It is going well. I'm less stressed about everything since I know my way around better now, and I know the students a bit better. I think I'm helping them so there's that satisfaction too. Gerald had to go to Lisbon this week - and we can feel a little sorry for him because he was so busy with meetings he didn't get to sightsee at all, so he doesn't feel he even knows the town despite spending 3.5 days there. He did call me from the hotel patio a few times when he was absorbing the 64F degree sunshine on breaks.

We got this rug last weekend and it really pulled the living room together - it's a Persian Tabriz Mahi that is based of the design of a fish, appropriate with the canal right outside.
The craftsmanship is amazing. The saleswoman called it 'food for the eyes', translating a Finnish saying, and it is that. She also said not to get it cleaned, and the best thing to do for cleaning is to put it upside down in a fresh snowfall, then shake it off. We have years before that's necessary though.

Another local custom I find interesting is that Finns believe in putting their babies outside for naps every day, even in winter, well swaddled of course. If it's well below freezing they wouldn't, but otherwise the kids are sleeping on patios and balconies all over town. I thought this was so unusual until I told my mother about it and she said she put us all on the porch to sleep too, all bundled up, in Michigan winters. I was happily surprised to learn that, since it does seem to be a very healthful habit. I couldn't have managed it with Claire on our NYC 5th floor fire escape - that would have been cruel, but we did walk out and about in the cold and she slept well in her snuggli.

I should also share the latest sunset news: we had sunset at 4:12 this evening and we will gain 4.41 minutes of day tomorrow, so we've already gained an hour since the solstice. It's a very noticeable change, particularly on clear days.

Onnellista uutta vuotta!

Happy New Year! We couldn't decide if we should head to Senate Square for New Year's Eve, as that is where the official fireworks display takes place. We wimped out, contemplating standing for hours in the cold, and are we glad we did!
We ended up comfortably sipping our champagne and having fondue while watching almost all our neighbors provide an amazing display right out our living room windows. As we are on the canal, many come here to set their fireworks off over the water. We even turned the couch around to face the windows, so we wouldn't crimp our necks - total wimps - it was fantastic. People were all gathered along the walkways below drinking their champagne and were generally well-behaved, and luckily we didn't witness any mishaps.

On New Year's Eve, we ventured out of town on a train to the village of Fiskars, formerly the tool & scissors foundry town, and now home to craftspeople and artists. It was mostly closed up, but we did visit the small house/turned-museum, and Claire took this beautiful and classic Finnish picture that day. We'll drive the Z back there in the spring.



And here are a few more pictures from the holiday: at the Ice Bar, about the size of a walk-in fridge but fun anyway and such chic attire; and I'm happy to report, I was finally able to vanquish Gerald in Scrabble. It's been a while since we've been able to outdo him. And no we did not play in Finnish.

The girls are back in the US safely and ready for busy years, with Kaliecia graduating in the spring, and Claire beginning to teach in a theater program in New York public schools. It was a nice, long visit but felt too short at the same time.

Finn Family Christmas

Our first Finnish Christmas was a success. We managed to fulfill most of the requirements of the holiday: plum tarts and rice porridge and later ham on Christmas eve, gifts exchanged that night, but none of the typical casseroles yet. And then Christmas day is a quiet stay-at-home day here and we had glögi and gingerbread. On the 26th, we walked to a wonderful circus right in the neighborhood.

We also made it to an outdoor Christmas market where Kaliecia got herself a bear (karhu) bonnet, which came in handy as it was windy and rainy many of the days the girls were here. I read today that this was one of the darkest Decembers in Helsinki with only 20 hours of sunlight the whole month! The worst was 6 hours - imagine that. It compounded the girls' jet lag to have such dark afternoons, and they never fully adjusted. But the days are growing a few minutes longer each day this far north, and we had brilliant sunshine today and more on tap for tomorrow.


Here are the girls in Senate Square and Kaliecia took an interesting shot of some balconey supports on our way to the Design Museum in Helsinki. We also visited the National Gallery to see some compelling Finnish art. Claire and I went to a Moliere play in Finnish at the National Theatre, which is a spectacular venue. She filled me in on the story line.

Swan update

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.

Independence day

On December 6th, Finland will celebrate its 90th year of independence. It's a national holiday with the main event being a formal reception and dance at the president's palace. Here is an excerpt from President Halonen's website - www.presidentti.fi/en/ - which is where I obtained the coat of arms above too:

"As in previous years, invitations had been sent to all members of the Government, Members of Parliament, the Finnish Members of the European Parliament, senior civil servants and members of the diplomatic corps accredited to Finland. Also among the guests will be Finns who have distinguished themselves in some way or another and persons whom the President and Dr Arajärvi have met in the course of the past year. About 1,900 guests have been invited in all."

Other people joke about not receiving invitations and they stay home and watch the reception line on TV for hours, to see and judge all the formal gowns, and I plan to do the same. I think we also put candles in the window in remembrance of war veterans. Ninety years seems so young, particularly when Finland has such ancient roots too. And of course it's a day off!