Thursday, December 3, 2009

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.

1 comment:

  1. How exciting! I spent a few days in Jyvaskyla a few years back and really enjoyed it. Have a wonderful time - and find a way to spend some of it in a cabin by a lake. My photos are at flickr.com/philocrites.

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