Those Finnish Faces

My friend Cindy asked:
I'm curious about the no facial expressions. Do they just not show emotion at all through facial expressions, or is it that they're just so different and hard to read, or that they're bundled up all the time so you can't see faces?

Great question, Cindy. A few thoughts:

1. No, they are not so bundled up. They actually don't cover their faces with scarves, no matter how cold, because breathing through your scarf makes it all wet, which then freezes and makes you even colder. So, bare face is LESS cold. I learned this the hard way, and also through observing how the Finns dress for cold. (In a driving life-style I always covered up my mouth and nose, but then, I wasn't out in the cold that much and I wasn't breathing hard from exertion. It's a whole different thing when I am walking.)

2. They DO make eye contact and don't look away, but their faces remain perfectly still. Very odd behavior if it was the US. It can almost seem confrontive or hostile, but I know it is not because it is so ubiquitous. They can't all be feeling hostile to me, can they?

3. From what we've read, Finns are SERIOUS introverts and the lack of facial expression is another aspect of that. They do not share themselves with people they do not know, but once they make a friend, our books say, they are friends for life. (One might ask, "Then how do they get to know people?" I do not know the answer to that. We have met people through Charles' work and through Kalee's school.) People we have actually met (as opposed to people we pass on the path) are very friendly and I feel like I can understand their facial expressions most of the time, even if they are a bit more subtle than ours. Finns are also very comfortable with silences in conversation. No need to fill every moment with some kind of communication. Maybe that is a piece of the answer, as well.

4. Our Finnish culture books also say that Finns distrust people who smile too much, like American business people. Finns don't smile unless they have a reason to smile. The smile with no relationship or specific reason to smile behind it is interpreted as trying to hide something.

4. Another thought I've had is that with sooooo many people on the path and on the bus, you would forever be smiling and acknowledging people and that could get sort of tiring. It is easier to go through your day without greeting everyone you meet. As I have accepted this as normal I (an introvert myself) have relaxed into enjoying an anonymous walk down the street, through the mall, along the path, wherever. There is a sort of freedom to it which I am coming to appreciate.

Quotable

Spring came closer. During the day, the soil under the trees steamed in the warm sun; the nights were ice cold and deep blue. It was a brilliantly beautiful time. ... One night, the wind began blowing in from the sea. Katri lay listening, remembering the spring nights when she used to go down to the water to wait for the ice to break up. ...

Katri couldn't sleep. At dawn she got up, dressed, and went outdoors. It wasn't cold, and the wind was strong and steady. The sun was ready to come up, and the same gentle, transparent, colourless light lay across the shore and the ice and the sky. Katri stood at the end of the fish pier and watched the dark ice bulge and bend over the swells moving in towards the shore, a long, slow, rising and sinking surge.

It'll break, but not yet. Ice is tough.

from the novel The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson. Makes me look forward to experiencing the ice melt here in Jyvaskyla.

Jansson was a Finnish author who wrote in Swedish (the other official language of Finland, spoken mostly in the western parts of the country). She is best known for her children's books about the Moomin Trolls who live in Moomin Valley. There is even a MoominWorld to visit in western Finland.

Explaining UUism to a Finn

"What kind of pastor are you?" I have been asked a couple times. This is the answer I have figured out so far (after they ask me what a Unitarian is). I say "I've read that in Finland nearly everyone believes in God but most people don't go to church. UU's often don't believe in God but do want to go to church." It is short and explains that UU's are different. Writing this now, though, I realized I am doing something I have railed against for years: defining UU by what it is not. I should add another sentence or two. "UU's want to gather with people and explore ideas of ethics and meaning and faith. That draws them to church. With or without God, church adds something important to their lives." That would work for a little sound bite.

Finns learning English

This video was sent to us by our Finnish teacher. She has a sense of humor. Words below.



LYRICS ('on' means 'is')

Yksi on "one", kaksi on "two",
Vanha on "old" ja uusi on "new."
Mitä on "what?", kuka on "who?",
Minä on "me" ja sinä on "you."

Kolme on "three", neljä on "four",
Katto on "ceiling", lattia "floor."
Vähemmän on "less", enemmän on "more",
Shakki on "chess" ja ovi on "door."

Kävellä on "walk", jutella on "talk",
Lusikka on "spoon" ja haarukka on "fork."
Korkki on "cork", possu on "pork",
Valmis on "ready" ja raaka on "raw."

Naama on "face", paikka on "place",
Rumpu on "drum" ja basso on "bass."
Ässä on "ace", avaruus "space",
"To start" on aloitus ja "stop" on seis!

Tiedän, "I know", kasvaa on "grow",
Nopee on "fast" ja hidas on "slow."
Läppä on "joke" Virta on "flow",
Kyllä on "yes" ja ei on "no."

Lyhyt on "short", pitkä on "long",
Soittaa on "play" ja laulu on "song."
Mieto maku "mild", vahva on "strong",
Oikein on "right" ja väärin on "wrong."

Tykätä on "like", fillari on "bike",
Levysoitin "turntable", mikrofoni "mic."
Yrittää on "try", miksi on "why?"
Märkä on "wet" ja kuiva on "dry."

Valhe on "lie", ujo on "shy",
Nauraa on "laugh" ja itkee on "cry."
Minä olen "I" ja riimi on "rhyme",
Kello on "clock" ja aika on "time."

refrain:
Hip hoppii englantii, siit oppii englantii
Hip hoppii englantii, siit oppii englantii

Tytöt on "girls", pojat on "boys",
Hiljaisuus on "silence", melu on "noise."
Valinta on "choice", ääni on "voice",
Huone on "room" ja lelut on "toys."

Sisko on "sister", veli on "brother",
Tämä on "this" ja toinen on "other."
Kylmempi "colder", kuumempi "hotter",
Leipä on "bread" ja voi on "butter."

Kuulla on "hear", pelko on "fear",
Kaukana "far" ja lähellä "near."
Kyynel on "tear", korva on "ear",
Nenä on "nose" ja täällä on "here."

Missä on "where?" No, siellä on "there."
Pöytä on "table" ja tuoli on "chair."
Reilu on "fair", karhu on "bear",
Kynnet on "nails" ja tukka on "hair."

Vuoro on "turn", oppia "learn",
Kastua "get wet", palaa on "burn."
Hattu on "hat", rotta on "rat",
Koira on "dog" ja kissa on "cat."

Isi on "dad", surullinen "sad",
Iloinen on "happy", vihainen on "mad."
Vähentää on "substract", lisätä on "add",
Hyvä on "good" ja paha on "bad."

Raha on "money", hassu on "funny",
Sateinen on "rainy", aurinkoinen "sunny."
Äiti on "mom", "mother" tai "mummy",
Vatsa on "belly", "stomach" tai "tummy."

Pöljä on "dummy", herkku on "yummie!"
"Nothing" ei oo mitään ja jotain on "something."

refrain

Hip hoppii englantii, siit oppii englantii. (4x)

Eka on "first", jano on "thirst",
Paras on "best" ja huonoin on "worst."
Kolmas on "third", lintu on "bird",
Toinen on "second" ja sana on "word."

Lapsi on "child", villi on "wild",
Vahva on "strong" ja mieto on "mild."
Silmät on "eyes", kaks kertaa "twice",
Tuhma on "naughty" ja kiltti on "nice."

Veitsi on "knife", elämä on "life"
Sulhanen on "husband" ja vaimo on "wife."

Vauva on "baby", ehkä on "maybe"
Laiska on "lazy" ja hullu on "crazy."

Tavata on "meet", kuumuus on "heat",
Juoda on "drink" ja syödä on "eat."
Kädet on "hands" ja jalat on "feet",
Rytmi on "rhythm" ja isku on "beat."

Kylmä on "cold", myyty on "sold",
Nuori on "young" ja vanha on "old."
Kun tarina on kerrottu, tarina on "told",
Päästää irti "let go", pidä kiinni "hold."

Taivuttaa "bend", korjata "mend",
Säästää "save", tuhlata "spend."
Lähettää "send", ystävä "friend",
Alku on "beginning" ja loppu on "the end."

Finnish Homework

Mun nimi on Jill. Mä olen Amerikalainen. Mä puhun englantia ja vähän suomea ya saksaa. Mä olen pastori. Mä opiskelen suomea.

Mä olen naimisissa Charles. Me asumme Jyväskylässä (until) Kesäkuu. Mun tyttö Kalee on 5-voutias (viisi)

Vapaa aikana mä tykkään neulotaan, luen, blogi, ja käyn kävella. Mä tykkään myös laitta ruokaa, mutta mä en tykkää kkäydä kaupassa.

My name is Jill. I am American. I speak English and a little bit of Finnish and German. I am a pastor. I study Finnish.

I am married to Charles. We will live in Jyväskylä until June. My daughter Kalee is 5 years old.

In my free time I like to knit, read, blog, and go walking. I also like to cook, but I do not like to go shopping.

Sunrise

Today we could see light growing on the horizon at 7:30am. It is 8:30 now and still not bright daylight, but light nonetheless (and snowing). When we arrived three weeks ago this process didn't start until at least 9 or 9:30 in the morning. Granted, we were sleeping at that time of morning when we first arrived so those are just guesses, but the light we have now at 8:30 is about what we had at 10:30 on our first day. The day grows longer quickly in these parts. It does, after all, have to get to 20 hours of sun-UP by the end of June.

Culture Shock, Culture Fatigue

When I think of "culture shock" I think of something big, shocking, like being totally surprised by the new culture you are in. When people ask me how the culture shock is, I say I'm not sure I'm feeling much. We read so much about Finnish culture ahead of time that the differences we are experiencing aren't that much of a surprise.

Instead of culture shock, I think I am experiencing culture fatigue. Living in a place where every little thing is different is exhausting. Some of it is culture, language and food differences. The lack of facial expressions makes me feel invisible. The language is ridiculously hard and although I am starting to catch some things in class, in real life people still talk too fast for me so most interactions come with the need to ask "do you speak English?." And then I feel like an American cultural imperialist who couldn't bother to learn any other languages. OK, that's an exaggeration, but there is some of that there. Does the fact that I could say most of what I need to say in German buy me an indulgence?

We are still foraging for familiar foods. I found dried beans this week, lentils, garbanzos and more. They are really expensive but the bean soup now cooking on the stove smells and tastes really good. It will be worth it. Yogurt, have I told you, is pourable? And it comes in 1 liter containers which is just too small for our family. We use two or three of them a week. Butter doesn't come in quarters with tablespoons conveniently marked, you have to weigh it.
Grocery shopping on foot must be done at least 4 times per week, so far. Sometimes more. One person can only carry so much.

Some of it is the apartment (dorm-quality couch and no dryer for example, but onoone has dryers. Finns just don't do dryers). There is no microwave and no toaster. We are surviving just fine without these things, but it is one more adjustment. Also, the apartment came with enough dishes only for 5 people. Dishes must be washed after every meal or there is nothing left on which to eat the next meal. We are having Kalee's school friend and her family over this afternoon for "tea." That is 7 people, total, so on Thursday I went to the resale shop and bought more dishes and silverware, and a little tea pot. Then we realized we don't have 7 chairs, so the kids will have their tea in the kitchen and grown up in the living room. For people like us who love to cook for our friends, this really cramps our style.

And there are transportation differences. Taking the bus and walking is different (for Kalee and I) because it takes so much time and means we have to actually dress for the weather. On the plus side, Kalee is becoming a great walker. A week ago she finally stopped complaining about walking and being tired. She started asking nicely (instead of whine-l-ly) for a push up the hill. And one day when we missed the most convenient bus home and had to walk 6 blocks to the next bus stop she didn't complain at all (she did ask how much further, several times, but she didn't complain about it). I was so proud of her.

Do I sound whiny myself? It's been that kind of a week. But there are lots of really positive differences, too.

• Finns make you pay 20 or 30 euro cents for every plastic bag you use. Guess what? Almost everyone brings their own bags!
• The hot water in the shower and sink is instant. No waiting, no wasting water, no running out of hot water after everyone else in the building has showered. They are engineering miracle workers.
• The city plows all the sidewalks and walking paths and then spreads gravel for traction. Yes, gravel. Serious snow requires serious measures. And it really works.
• Great bus routs. On time and frequent, warm and comfy. Though it is expensive, about 2 euros a ride or 60 euros for 30-day unlimited pass. I guess that's how they fund it. Still cheaper than a car.
  
• Sales people in stores leave you alone. They figure you will ask for help if you need it.
  
• Duvets. We really like a nice duvet on a nice firm bed.
• The cleaning lady who cleans the apartment and changes our linens (and duvets) every other Tuesday.
• Spoon-able honey (hunaja). A satisfying little tub from which you spoon it into your tea or spread it with a knife on your bread. We all know it's going to get thick like this anyway. Why pretend it's meant to be poured? It has a distinctive taste, too, because it really is a Finnish product from Finnish flowers and bees.

Panoramma from the Lake

If you could put all these shots side by side it would be as though you were standing in the middle of the lake and turning around in a circle. Looking at the bridge you are looking southeast, our apartment and the water tower are south (our building is the red brick one right in front of the water tower. We live in the cheep seats. The buildings right at the lake shore are clearly nicer. This whole neighborhood, we are told, was built just 5 years ago and the walking path around the lake was only completed last year. We see more building happening all over the city. I wonder what has caused the population explosion. the pedestrian bridge is west (Charles walks on the pedestrian path around the lake and then across this pedestrian bridge every day to get to the University)
the city is north.

This is a close up of the old city water tower. There are steep stairs the go up to the top of the hill and there is a restaurant (!) at the top of the tower. We plan to go there soon and enjoy the view.
And finally we are back to the boats again.

Sledding

Here are a few pictures from Kalee and Charles sledding last weekend while I was blogging.
This little blue thing ...
is a sled. Really! You put the round part under your bottom and hold the handle in front of you between your legs. Then lean back, lift up your feet, slide down on your bottom and hope it isn't too bumpy! The sled has little ridges on the bottom to help keep it straight, though spinning still happens a bit. This blue sled is one of the great toys our apartment came stocked with. We found them at the store for only 1euro so we bought two more so we can all sled together next time.

Week Three in Finland

Our week in pictures.

Kalee is influenced by Jyvaskyla's most famous son, architect Alvar Alto, and creates a post-modern house. Her aunt will be proud.
And adds a garage.
Laundry. Have I mentioned the laundry situation? Here are our washer ...
and dryer. The air in the apartment is quiet dry so hanging the clothes is pretty quick (24hrs) and improves air quality a bit (when we aren't ducking to avoid the pants). The washer only holds about half what we are used to so every other day our living room is decorated by drying clothing. This adds color to an otherwise drab room.

After writing the above about the "dryer" some angels appeared in our lives bringing a daily ride to school for Kalee (giving me an extra hour in the morning), an assisted grocery shopping trip for me (the translation help was invaluable), and a drying rack. The angels are Kalee's pen pall's family who just returned from their winter holiday trip to California, Arizona and Hawaii. So very generous. And here is the miraculous drying rack loaded up with TWO loads of wash, and still not full. This means we can take down the green laundry line that currently circles our living room ceiling.
Speaking of drab ... perhaps you noticed in some earlier pictures that the living room is quite drab and dorm-ish looking. The couch is not only stained, it is ripped, exposing the inner foam and tempting small fingers to pick it to bits. So I bought sheets to cover the ugliness. The sheets are bright and colorful. However, I'm afraid the total effect is even more dorm-ish, my attempt at covering it up only drawing more attention to the problem and looking as cheep as it was. Ah well. I prefer it with the flowers anyway.
The end of the week brought us temperatures of -14F. I do NOT enjoy these temperatures. It is just rediculously cold. I am dealing with it by giving myself permission to take the bus wherever I go. But you can't stay inside this little apartment all weekend, not even all day, so today (it was only -6) we went for a walk. Kalee had a lot of energy so we headed out on the lake and actually walked all the way across. It's not that far, but it is a pretty cool thing to do. In this picture Kalee and I have just started across the lake. You can see it's not all that far to the boat on the other side. This is the narrowest part of the lake.
The sun is just starting to go down around 3:30 and is reflecting beautifully on the bridge and hills.
We have reached the other side.
Behind the boat is the cutest little round wood hut where you can buy hot chocolate and coffee on the weekends. We hadn't brought our money so we came home and had hot chocolate at home. Although hot chocolate has become a daily beverage for Kalee, this was special because Charles actually melted chuncks of a chocolate bar into the hot chocolate. Kalee liked it.

The Weekend: Sauna, friends and more

Ahhhhhh. There is nothing more Finnish that a weekly Sauna. Our building has two saunas on the first floor (slightly nicer buildings have one in each apartment). Each apartment has an assigned weekly hour to use one. Our hour is Friday from 8-9pm. I had the first go this weekend while Charles stayed upstairs with Kalee. Next week we'll switch. Sometime we'll let Kalee stay up late and sauna with us. The heat, the relaxation, the solitude were all wonderful.

You'd think with Kalee at school and Charles at work I would have plenty of solitude. On weekdays, though, I seem to be spending most of my time forraging the city for food and household items, walking from place to place, or going to Finnish class. Right now Charles and Kalee are out sledding. I decilned to go in favor of a little time alone to write on the blog and drink some tea.

Charles had his solitude yesterday while I took Kalee on her first Finnish play-date. She has made a delightful friend at school and the two of them made plans to play on Saturday. The moms finally confered on Friday to work out a plan. I stayed while the girls played and had a great time making culture, food and vocabulary comparisons with her parents, a Finn and a Brit. They loaned us a really cool cookbook (in English) about the food and history of central Finland. We laughed alot and told stories about our kids. It was the most at-ease I have felt with anyone here yet.

Ma puhun vahan suomea. I speak a little bit of Finnish.

Mika sun ammatti on? (What is your profession?)
Ma olen pastori.
"You make pastries?" my neighbor asked. If I was really quick in such things I would have answered, "No, I heat things up to purify them." That pretty much sums up what pastors do, doesn't it?

That was our first day of Finnish Language class on Thursday. The two hour class turns out to only be 90 minutes. In Finland a class that is posted to run from 14:00-16:00 actually starts at 2:15 and ends at 3:45. So strange.

After learning lots of useful little phrases (like how to say what country we are from and what our profession is) the teacher gave a little lecture about Finnish language. There are some things, she said, that make learning Finnish easy.

1. No articles. None of that 'der' or 'die' or 'das' like they have is German.

2. No gender. Really, no gender! For example, you want to say "My friend and I went to a movie. She didn't like it." There would be no she. The word indicating another person is han, used for male or female. Charles says Finns speaking in English have a really hard time with he/she, often using the wrong one or switching part way through the conversation. It is even more confusing for Charles because he doesn't necessarily know if Finnish names like Paivi, Nuppu, Jorma, or Jonna (names of a few Finnish people we know who's gender we actually do know) are male or female, and then the speaker will switch pronouns half way through a conversation. Kind of confusing, but also refreshing. Separate words for professions (ex, waiter, waitress) also no longer exist in Finnish. They decided decades ago that gender in such situations does not matter. The exception, our teacher said, is there are still separate words for King and Queen.

3. No future tense. Fascinating. You say "I am cooking." "I am cooking tomorrow." None of this "will be" stuff to worry about.

4. 1:1 relationship between letters and sounds. You pronounce every letter (even/especially when they are doubled). The difference between 'meet' and 'kill' in Finnish is a single 'a' versus a double 'a.' Very important to pronounce those double letters. Also, every letter only makes one sound. There are no long and short vowels, 'c' only says one thing.

5. Stress is always on the first syllable. Makes guessing at pronunciation much easier.

There are a bunch of things that make learning Finnish hard, too. Her list was shorter but, to me, they were much more daunting and too complicated to even try to explain in a blog post, mainly because I don't understand them yet. So it goes.

Care Packages

Some of you have asked about sending care packages. The one thing we would really love to have is Good Earth tea, the original herbal "sweet and spicy" flavor. Kalee and I both love this stuff and I haven't found anything even close here. Boxes are expensive to send, but tea bags fit into envelopes really easily. We'll drink to you every time we have a cup!

Today's Walk

I walked to Kalee's school today to pick her up at 1pm. The 25 minute walk gets me out in the mid-day sun to soak up some good rays, especially on a day like today - crisp, cold (9F) and clear. Not a hint of wind (there is very little wind here, which makes the cold temperatures much more bearable).

This is the sun over the lake at noon. Just over the tips of the trees. Over the next three hours it will move horizontally until it dips below the tree tops again. And this is my shadow at noon.Are you laughing yet? I am.

Monday and Tuesday were WARM here, up to 30F. Then the temperature dropped and all the humidity froze onto the trees, leaving everything covered with a layer of frost. Really beautiful.This is a sculpture in the middle of the traffic circle at the end of our street, frost covered trees glistening in the sun in the background. And here is the sunset reflected in the eastern sky. What time is it? 3:30pm.

The Kitchen

Here are some photos of our kitchen situation.

The dishwasher/dryer. The two shelves above the sink are wire grating. Water drips back to the sink. Close the doors and drying dishes are out of sight.

The tiny stove. Two pots can cook next to each other if they are both small.

The giant refrigerator. The two doors on the left are the freezer, the two on the right are the fridge.

It seems so out of proportion. Currently our freezer holds one ice cube tray and that's it.

And finally, although there is much more to say about food sometime (I've requested such a post from Charles), here are how eggs come in Finland. Count them ... Metric eggs. Who'd a thunk?

Quotable

"I take life at a walking pace. Spirituality and speed don't go together. You have to believe that when God made time, he made plenty of it."
Heard on a podcast from Wisconsin Public Radio, an interview with Satish Kumar, founder of Schumacher College in England.

Today my walk home from taking Kalee to school took 85 minutes. I went the long way to try to go shopping at the thrift store, but it didn't open until 10. And then I got lost and walked almost all the way around the lake instead of taking the pedestrian bridge across it. It was a nice walk through an old neighborhood with traditional Finnish houses (instead of the modern apartment buildings that most people seem to live in). I had plenty of time. It was a warm day (in the 20s). The snow was beautiful. Finns walk a lot. I wonder how that slowness affects their outlook on life. I wonder how six months of walking will affect mine.

First Impressions

Looking out the windows of the Helsinki airport and past the runways (being brushed clear of snow by a line of 5 plows followed by a truck spraying something [de-icer?] over the pavement), one's eyes immediately run into a dense wall of trees. To call it a wall is not quite right as that implies something long and narrow, a boarder delineating two spaces. Rather, my immediate impression is that the airport is a small clearing carved out of the dense, ubiquitous forest.

Coming to our city of Jyvaskyla that impression has been strengthened. Everywhere that is not carved out for roads or buildings is covered in forest. The effect is enchanting. Clearly we are in a different sort of place when people and trees live so closely together. Our books call Finns "Forest People." Now I understand.

Finns do not smile at you in the street. Shop keepers do not ask you if you need assistance (which makes browsing much more pleasant). Cashiers do not make friendly chatter. We had read about all these traits in our books. They are true. I smile at people in the street if our eyes meet and receive only curious looks in return. I am probably making people feel uncomfortable. I'll have to work on my neutral face so I don't stick out quite so much.

This city is made for walkers. There appear to be more miles of walking paths and sidewalks than roads. The walking paths are at least 8 feet wide and perfectly maintained - plowed down to a hard-packed layer of snow that gives (mostly) decent traction. [Charles has been slipping around a bit but my new boots are keeping me sure footed, comfortable and warm. I cannot say enough good about these boots.]

As it is winter and the lake is frozen there are extra walking paths across the lake making the distance from our apartment to the city center three or four blocks shorter. These paths are used by walkers of all ages, parents pushing strollers (yes, they take their babies out in -8F and colder air), and bicyclers. I even saw one preschooler riding a tricycle when it was about -16.

Arriving II

Arriving in our apartment. 700 square feet seems quite sufficient. The layout wastes no space with hallways, the bedrooms are just large enough to sleep and dress in (Kalee's has space to play since her bed is smaller than ours). The kitchen/dining area is generous and, when the weather warms up, opens onto a balcony. We are on the sixth floor with a view over the lake towards the city center in one direction ...... and up the hill to a spaceship-like water tower in the other direction. The water tower glows blue at night. It is one of the many light installations the city has created to make the winter evenings more interesting. Every apartment building has it's own play area for children. Kalee hasn't let the snow deter her from enjoying ours. Actually, it probably makes it more fun.
Everything was spic-n-span clean except the kitchen. Charles spent two or three hours cleaning that. And the fridge smelled ... um... well... really bad. Bad enough to make the whole apartment smell. We've bleached it and put baking soda in. It is better but still not great. Any suggestions?

And we've had to buy things. Lots of things. Rolling pin and baking sheet. Tea/coffee cups that hold more than 3 oz. Cheese grater. Measuring spoons. Some extra blankets. Food.

Food shopping is the most challenging thing so far. Charles stands before the grocery store shelves head bobbing up and down from the packages to the dictionary as though he's performing some ancient ritual of supplication. It is effective, though. He has located flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and all sorts of other things that are not entirely clear from the picture on the package. And today he puzzled out metric measurements and made cookies to take to his colleague as a thank you gift. Very impressive.

We've yet to find anything like a hardware store or Target-type store. We have a long list of those sorts of needs. We'll have to ask.

Arriving

Arriving is not something that happens all at once, is it. I have a feeling I will still feel like I am arriving in a few weeks.

We physically arrived on Tuesday afternoon. The husband of Charles' colleague here picked us up at the airport. Luckily he drives a nice normal size station wagon so was able to fit all our suitcases in the car. He had already been to the apartment a couple days earlier to stock the fridge for us (including at least 5 different kinds of cheese, all of them delicious). It was too cold so he called maintaince and had it up to a toasty 22c when we arrived. Not only that, they had stocked the apartment with toys for Kalee - a keyboard, puzzles, games, some stuffed animals, a remote control car and a never-been-opened LEGO camper. The camper is so cool. They also gave us a cell phone to use. And they are having us over for lunch on Sunday. Such a wonderful and generous welcome. We are so grateful.

Our bodies are still in the process of arriving. I'm not sure what time zone they've made it so far, but they certainly haven't quite gotten to Finland. We are going to have to resort to using the alarm clock this weekend to try to get in sync and get Kalee to school before 11 am.