Off to the US

We'll be off to visit the US for the next few weeks, particularly to attend Kaliecia's graduation from the University of Utah, pictured above, on May 2nd. Hopefully we can catch a picture of her in a funny flat hat to share on our return. We'll miss Vappu Day on May 1st here in Finland, which is a country-wide party akin to Labor Day in the US, but also an end-of-year celebration for first year university students too. And I'm wondering when it will be getting dark when we return, as it's still light after 10pm now. The next big holiday will be Midsummer on June 21st, the summer solstice, and we'll report on that one. Back soon!

Stockholm - Norrmalm

Here are pictures taken from Norrmalm - the city center. One of the first beautiful things I noticed was the iron filagree spire of the Riddarholm church; there are city bikes for anyone to use; then we came across a guy catching a big fish right in town - it's in the net; ; and a rather symbolic clock on a building in the business district. We loved the Arlanda Express train from the airport right to the center of town, the excellent food everywhere; the exquisite architecture and a generally friendly vibe on the street. Being early April, it was also quiet as we walked into neighborhoods, though I can imagine it gets hectic with summer tourism as there is so much to see. It's not cheap but it is definitely worth a visit - one of the great cities of the world, to be sure. I've posted two more pages with pictures.

Stockholm - Djurgård

Here are pictures from the island of Djurgård. We rode a very well maintained historic trolley (the #7) to the Nodiska Museet where we saw cultural exhibits of the Sami, Swedish homes, and dress, and shoes (and where we'll return to see table settings through history as it was closed this time), the interior hall shown here, and then we saw some mounted police as we made our way back to the hotel. The Skansa outdoor musuem and the Vasa ship exhibit are on this island and we'll explore those another visit. I do recommend riding the trolley on its full run too.

A weekend in Stockholm - Gamla Stan

Gerald and I took a quick flight to Stockholm last weekend - and we even got a sandwich on our 45 minute flight on FinnAir. We really were impressed with this city. It was my first visit to Sweden where my grandfather was born and I'll return to research that soon. Gamla Stan is the medieval heart of Stockholm, on a small island that you can reach walking over from the center of town. I've posted pictures of a great pancake cafe, a statue on a small plaza by the royal palace, the palace guard on duty, and the parliment building traverse, all found on an easy walk across Gamla Stan.

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!

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!