Quotable

Here begins a new thread: quotes from and thoughts about what I/we are reading.

In the face of an overpowering mystery, you don't dare disobey.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery in The Little Prince which we are reading to Kalee right now, and which Charles and I are both reading for the first time.

Luggage Repreive

We were becoming more anxious by the day about the 44lb checked bag weight limit for our trip so Charles called Finn Air and spoke to an actual human being. And GOOD NEWS ... we can each check two 50lb bags! We are going to try to make it with 5 bags, not six, to leave us some room to bring home extra things. Plus, we will have to move all these bags (plus the carry-ons) around on occasion, so less is more.

The LIST

18 days to go. Need I say more?

Where is Jyväskylä?

Jyväskylä is in the southern third of Finland, right in the center, at the northern tip of lake Paijanne (a 100 mile long lake), about 270 km (170 miles ) from Helsinki. The town is about the size of Kalamazoo.

Pen Palls

While we are in Jyvaskyla, Kalee will be attending an English Music and Play School. Her class will have 8 students. Their group is called the Pirates and their teacher is James. He is from the UK. Kalee's class at Northglad Montessori Magnet School sent some drawings and letters to her Finland school telling them what makes them smile: pizza, my kitty cat, my mom, and (my personal favorite) "my mouth!"
The Pirates of Finland sent back some great drawings about Christmas.

A snowman a present and a star!

Father Christmas' Sofa











A House and a garage with Father Christmas Overhead!

This last picture is drawn by Kalee's pen pall Konsta. He and his family (mon, dad and little brother) lived in California for over a year. His english is fluent and he knows what it's like to be in a foreign land. Konsta's family have already been so welcoming (and we aren't even there yet!), offering toys and books, playdates and family excursions. I'm so grateful to the Playschool director for connecting us.

Finland by the numbers

Three is a magic number,
Yes it is, it's a magic number.
Somewhere in the ancient, mystic trinity
You get three as a magic number....

A man and a woman had a little baby,
Yes, they did.
They had three in the family,
And that's a magic number.

- Bob Dorough, Schoolhouse Rock

As the three of us prepare for our magical trip to Finland some other numbers are on my mind, too.

31 - the number of days until we depart for Finland.
62 - the number of pounds each of us can take to Finland. That's 44 for the checked bag and 18 for the carry-on, including the weight of the bag. I thought space was going to be the issue, but it turns out we have plenty of room in the suitcases, we just aren't allowed to fill them.
99 - the number of cents it costs to mail an old-fashioned letter to us in Finland. PLEASE send us some mail.
268 - the numbers of dollars it would cost to send a 20lb package from Kzoo to Finland via UPS. Crazy expensive. But it looks like the USPS can do 20 lbs for 42$ - 54$ depending on the volume of the package.
700 - number of square feet in our two-bedroom apartment.
5 - the number to which Kalee and I can consistently count in Finnish. Yksi. Kaksi. Kolme. Nelya. Viisi. Charles, thankfully, has figured out the whole counting thing.
less then 50 - the number of Finnish words I know.
5.5 - number of daylight hours in Jyvaskyla on Jan 1, but much of that is like dusk.
11.5 - daylight hours on March 16
19 - daylight hours on June 16, but the remaining 5 hours are like dusk, never totally dark.
178 - number of days we will be in Finland.
countless - the number of anxieties I have about this trip. I did take care of one serious anxiety on Monday. I purchased some awesome winter boots that are warm, waterproof, comfortable-on-my-nearly-unsatisfiable-feet, and have really good grippy soles for walking on snow and ice.