Time flies

We leave Finland in two months, or do we....?

I can’t believe it’s been three weeks since I posted here, and I can’t believe more than half of our planned stay has passed. Remarkably, there are still some green leaves around here, along with plenty of golden leaves, bare branches, and evergreens.

Today we have 9 hours and 32 minutes between sunrise and sunset, which feels perfectly reasonable. But daylight savings is this weekend. I’m nervous and excited about kaamos. (Technically, “kaamos” is the period of time when the sun doesn’t rise in the far north, but people also use it to mean the period of ridiculously short days in the further south).

I am happy to report that most of W’s homesickness has passed, we only look at plane tickets about once a week now. If there were non-stop flights at the moment, I’d send him home in a heartbeat since he really isn’t learning anything at school and would prefer to be home. But overall, for the most part, he isn’t unhappy here. Hurray! Meanwhile, his brother loves it here and would like to stay for the whole school year. Since he is actually learning some Finnish (thanks duolingo!), I’m all for it (apart from the physical wrenching sensation I get at the idea of not seeing him for six months). There is much to be figured out, so we’ll see. He would stay with my cousin here in Fiskars, but still very up-in-the-air.

This is from a walk I took the other day with a new friend. On that walk, I told her that Forest needs “sky shoes.” Which pretty much sums up the state of my Finnish. I was aiming for “winter boots,” but didn’t know the word for boots, so I went with shoes. When I saw her confused expression, I realized I’d mixed up “sky” and “winter.” But the good news is that she is incredibly patient and encouraging despite my weak skills. And practice, theoretically-speaking, makes less pathetic.

I came across this abandonded cabin near the village sauna.

Just so you know it isn’t all picturesque and precious around here.

So, I’ve told you how the kids are liking it here, but what about me? That’s trickier. Being here doesn’t quite feel like vacation, but it does feel a bit like play acting a real life. Still, all in all, I’m happy here. I’ve met lots of totally awesome women, I’m teaching two (in-person!) classes per week (one by candlelight!), I have three clients, I’m making friends, yarn is cheap, and sauna. All in all, it’s really chill here. Needless to say, people have their stresses and worries, but there just isn’t the same level of anxiety coursing through the veins of Finland as there are in the veins of America. That said, lets talk come December when it’s gotten cold and we’re getting 6 hours of daylight around here. (And of course I miss A, but we video chat and audio chat everyday, which helps a lot.)

Speaking of chill Finns. Here’s another difference between Finland and America: attitudes towards the human body and nudity. Saw this magazine while waiting in line at the supermarket.

“Vauva” means “baby.” Or her head is covering an ‘h,’ in which case it would be “Vahva” or “strength.” Given the cover, I’m pretty sure the topic is parenting, not body building.

Nudity in ads isn’t ubiquitous, but this ad for masks I saw at a mall is far from the only one I’ve seen featuring a randomly naked guy.

It says, “prevention is the best protection,” or something like that.

I hope all is well with you and yours. Much as I like it here, I also miss home and lots of you lovely people Stateside. Be well.