Winter in Finland

Actually the winter in Finland has not looked like the image here that I took a couple of weeks ago. The winter of 2007 in Finland has really been mild. When I say mild, I mean in Helsinki it is 33 to 34 degrees and raining instead of snowing.

Boo to the rain.

We have seen some snow but most days it has been cloudy and rainy. It has slowly started to get warm with temperatures in the upper 30's but just a few weeks ago it got cold, below freezing and it snowed. One thing that is definitely different in Finland, is when it snows there are NO snow days. Kids still have to go to school, buses still run, cars get around fine because of snow tires. So here is my track through the snow on my way to work.

This is a shot of where Tram 6 picks me up in front of our apartment. It takes me down Bulevardi to where Bus 42 will take me on to work.

Here is what it looks like at the bus stop near my work.
And here is a picture of my work building, KONE.

A Finnish lady, I work with, told me she is mad at the snow because it wasn't here for her when she needed it a couple of months ago. It might sound like a funny thing to say, but I can relate and agree with her. In Helsinki, they didn't have a white Christmas and it was rather dark. The whole of winter has been really dark as the sun rises after 10:00 and sets around 3:30 pm and there isn't any snow to reflect the light which can help make things look bright. So it has really been a dark and dead looking since mid October.

I remember when we first got to Finland in February 2007. There was lots of snow but it was also really cold. It was my first time to experience -20 C temperatures and what it meant to be properly dressed for the winter: wool socks, spikes on boot heels, scarfs, hats, gloves and dressing with several layers before the coat is put on. By the way, I had none of these items when we arrived, but Greg quickly took me to the Finnish sports stores to stock up on these items.

It didn't seem like we had been here long before Greg actually expected me to walk around outside in this winter weather. You would think that because he is from Australia that he likes warm weather too and would be just as scared to venture outside, but NO. He loves it when it is cold and even talks about how crisp cool days are his favorite. Shhh, I think the heat in OZ must of fried his brain a little or maybe it was one too many bites of bread with Vegemite.

A couple of weeks after being here Greg wanted me to see Suomenlinna. We walked down to the harbor (yes walked) and jumped on a ferry. It was pretty cool (literally and figuratively) sitting on the deck of the ferry watching it as it made its way crushing up through the ice to take us to the small island 15 minutes from Helsinki. See that white stuff behind Greg and I, well that is ice instead of water!

Suomenlinna Fortress Island was built late 18th century to protect Swedish Kingdom from Russian Empire. The fortress was lost to Russia (along with the whole of Finland) in 1809, when a confusing order made the Swedish soldiers to give a retreat order instead of engage. Doh! hehe silly Swedes.
At early 19th century, when Helsinki became capital of the new Grand-Duchy of Finland and the capital was being built, most of the workers lived on this island. There are a few hundred people who still live on the island and it looks like a great place for kids to grow up. Well, not from a parent's point of view, but from a child's point of view. As there are cannons and bunkers and old places carved out of the hill to hide in. Here is what it looks like during the summer. In 1991, it was included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

I never associated swans and ice before I came to Finland, but here they are enjoying walking on water.

In Easter 2007, Greg had two friends from Australia come to Finland, Craig and Katie. They joined us in Kuopio a city 5 hours north-east from Helsinki. This is where Greg's Finnish family lives and they were very excited to see Greg...oops I mean us.
They have a lovely home out in the country side of Kuopio. Raili, the Finnish mother, decided she would teach us to cross-country ski on the frozen lake right by their home. Here we all are (I am in the baby blue outfit) trying to learn to ski .

We also made it to Puijo hill, which is a famous landmark of Kuopio, and the ridge of Puijo is among the most popular recreation areas of the city. There was some downhill ski event, where people made ski items (for example, someone had a small house on skis). They would push these items down the hill to see if they made it in one piece and which one made it in the quickest time. At the end of the event you heat sausages over a grill and drink champagne out of plastic champagne flutes. Wasn't too bad, I just wished the Finns served bread with the sausage instead of just a stick... it would make it a lot more filling and less messy.
Here we are sipping champagne and freezing our bums off. Ahh, nothing like drinking champagne with a mitten on.

Here is a cute little girl all dressed up for downhill skiing and has wings to boot! I wonder if those wings help her get more hang time??

At the end of a hard day of skiing and eating sausages, we made it back to the Finnish Family's place for dinner and a relaxing sauna.
I even experienced my first Avanto, which is ice swimming. A hole is made in the ice of a frozen lake or sea and you jump in after a sauna and swim around a little.

See that house in the background? Well, that is their sauna. See that hole in the ice? Yep, that is the hole that I jumped in for my ice swimming. Greg was proud of himself for cutting it out of the ice and I was proud of myself for getting in at all! Greg talked about avanto like it was no big deal, so I didn't believe him when he said it was a real nice experience. The Australian girl, Katie and I looked at each other like heck no! Her man, Craig, gave it a shot and talked on and on about how wonderful it made him feel. He said that it made your body tingle and you felt clear headed and relaxed. I thought if it makes you feel so great, maybe I will give it a shot. And you know what? It did make my body tingle and any stress I was carrying around in my head disappeared. Probably because my brain was shocked quickly into thinking 'Holy crap, you just jumped in a hole through the ice, are you crazy or something'??!

We Made It, Our One Year Anniversary!!

With Christmas so close by and so much planning to do for it and for my trip back to the US, I forgot to blog about a really important event.

Our One Year Anniversary!

Not only did Greg actually remembered not to take a work trip during that time he also booked us a fancy hotel and got me a really sweet one year anniversary present.

Paper is the gift we get for making it one year, whatever! Greg was very pleased it wasn't gold, but paper! As Gob, on the TV show Arrested Development, would say; COME ON!

Anyway, Greg got me a subscription to Women's Heath which is a magazine you cannot get here and one of my favorite magazines. I thought that was a cute idea and love looking forward to my workout magazine once a month.

So, here I am packed up and ready to go to hotel Kämp. Greg thought it was funny that I had a whole suitcase packed to go right down the street for an overnight stay. Greg might be fine sticking an extra pair of underwear in his pocket for the next day, but that doesn't mean I want to live so lightly. Men, they just don't understand do they!

Here I am all bundled up ready for the cold in my Michelin Man jacket.

For those that have heard me talk about trying to keep warm in Finland, well I found the trick. It might not be cute or figure flattering but who cares when it is COLD, and wind and snow/rain are whipping you in the face and soaking you to the bone. With this jacket, I am invincible and my bum stays warm.

We were able to get on Tram 6, right near our apartment and it dropped us off at the center of town. Here is a shot of the tram near the city center. As we go down Esplanadi Boulevard, we see the Swedish Theater (Svenska Teatern) to our right. It is a pretty building with a great little bar area up top.

In the picture below, Greg is carrying the suitcase to the hotel. Since Greg's only article of clothing fit in his back pocket he was able to carry my heavy suitcase, ahh what a gentleman.

Here are some shots to hotel Kämp, which is considered the "Creme de la Creme" of Helsinki, with it being the only 5 star hotel in Finland. Is that saying much?

um.... not sure because we are talking about Scandinavian hotels, like the kind that say 'Spa Resort', but give you and your husband wooden bunk beds for a Spa Room.... that is a whole different kettle of fish and I will blog about that later. But it is the nicest hotel in Finland, so I do have to give props to Greg.

It really was a great day and with the sun setting around 3:00 p.m., before we knew it was night time.

It was December, so the downtown area was decorated with lights. Bright lights everywhere.

They also had these little Christmas booths lined up on the main street. I have heard that this is how the Germans do it as well and it was really festive and cute. We had a good time checking out all the stalls and I bought some items as presents for people back home in Texas. I know it will be hard to see our faces in some of these photos but it will hopefully give you a good idea of what it looked like.





After cleaning up at the Christmas booths and walking around town, I had worked up an appetite. So Greg and I went next door to get sushi. It was really cute and funky in its design.

Here Greg is giving me the eye.... wondering who is going to get the first sip. I am always taking "sips" from his beer and before he knows it, it is gone.
As you can see he didn't seem to mind that all his beer was gone and he only got 3 sips.

Wow, what a year we have had. Moving to a new country (well for me), getting a new job. Trying to adapt to a new culture and way of mind. Oh, I am not talking about adjusting to Finland either. I am talking about marriage!

Did you know that when you are married you have to share the TV?! You can't just turn the channel when a Friends episode that you have seen for the 100th time is playing and you look over and your husband is cracking up, because it is his first time to see this episode. As a matter of fact, you have to share most things even food in my fridge! Oops, I mean OUR fridge. For example, the ice cream you think is hidden in the freezer only to find when you have a huge craving for it, that it has been found and eaten!

Needless to say, I am trying to adapt to this sharing business (shhh...not really. Instead of hiding ice cream, I just hide chocolate items that don't need refrigeration). Anyway, I am growing and learning how to be a better person, there are just a lot of new things to adapt to.

It has been a fun year though and I think I will end this blog with something that will make Greg blush...as you can see in the video he is embarrassed. That's another thing about marriage, the wife enjoys hand holding and a little kiss or two in public.

There's No Place Like Home

There's no place like home,
there's no place like home,
there's no place like home...

Closing my eyes, tapping my heels, thinking of sunny warm days and friendly people with smiles.
-nope still here in Finland.
YIKES

It is Good Friday today, and here in Finland we have it off as a public holiday oh and Monday too....but don't be jealous there isn't much to do. All stores are closed, ALL STORES, ALL restaurants. Closed over the whole weekend!

Since everything is closed today I thought it would be a good time to reflect back to January 2008, when I was back home in Texas.

The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm with temperatures in the 60's! ahh! God was looking out for me because it didn't rain one day that I was there. Not one!

My sweet cousin, Leslie, and her cowboy husband, James, picked me up (in a truck of course) at the airport. It was really nice having warm friendly faces hugging me and squeezing me tight.
It made the 18 hour flight and the fact that American Airlines lost my luggage a little more bearable!
I arrived at night, so I didn't really get to appreciate how great being in Texas really was. But it didn't take me long, the next day I woke up to a sunny sky and temperatures in the 60's.
I saw the sun and couldn't wait, I pulled the sleeves up on my long sleeved turtleneck shirt and ran outside. I think Leslie thought I was going to die from exposure to such harsh weather, but I told her that this was summer in Finland and not to worry.

It has been an ugly time in Finland since the temps have been right above freezing and so when a daily storm comes in, it just rains instead of snowing. But enough about Finland, I am reminiscing of good times back in Texas.

ahh Texas and Tex-Mex! No, not Mex-Tex, silly Norwegians in Bergen!



I almost poured the bowl of queso down my throat when we went to Gloria's the first night. I think I made myself 10 pounds heavier on margartias and chips and queso. YUM!
Leslie was really sweet and threw a fabulous New Years Eve party with wonderful food. yumm, the goat cheese stuffed dates wrapped in prosciutto and basil were such a wonderful delight...i can send you the recipe if you ask.


yumm Cream Cheese with Raspberry Chipotle BBQ Sauce.

Even though I was having a blast, I had to make it over to see my best friend Tamera, and her new baby Soleil.
ahh she was sooo small and so beautiful
Mommy looked great and Sal looked like a very proud papa.

I was very impressed that he was taking such an active roll and was really helping Tamera out. Soleil was so tiny I was afraid I would break her but after watching Sal change her, I figured if he can do it I can surely do it. See Sal isn't a real gentle type person, he loves to ride the skateboard in the house hooping and hollering and scaring the heck out of Tigger and Zahra. Vacuuming Tigger is his favorite pass time.
Anyway, He told me I would not break her and just handed her over in my hands.
I started sweating and freaking out a little but when she didn't fall out of my sweaty palms, I figured I had this holding a baby thing down pat! I surprised even myself when I offered to change her diaper.
See the baby is still in one piece.

I was really excited to see my friends Staci, Amber, Jennifer, Summer, Sandi and Trinette.
Since Tamera just had her baby it was good timing to have them come over to visit with me and see Soleil as well. Soleil got all of the attention but I didn't mind sharing the spotlight with such a pretty little girl.

Amber gave me a beautiful picture of her family and one of all the girls and their families. It is up on my fridge and I always smile when I look at it. Thank you Amber, it was such a sweet gift. What a great photo, wish I could of been a part of it :-(

My dad drove up all the way from Houston and came over to Tamera's.
He took me out and about doing all the things I can't buy or do in Finland, like Walmart shopping. I miss Walmart! All the stuff, all those great prices! Finland doesn't have anything that can compare but I think they are proud of that...well too bad for them!
I walked in and went down every isle. EVERY isle. Taking it all in.
I stocked up on items like Playtex tampons, green chillies, jalapenos, and thin white t-shirts. I love those really soft Hanes thin shirts. I sleep in them and workout in them....poor Greg he is always seeing me in these shirts. Maybe I should add more to my wardrobe than than white shirts?? hmmm...

Central Market & Whole Foods. Again I love going in on a Friday or Saturday and eating my way from one end to the other on the free samples. I stocked up on items like peanut butter, the kind that has no sugar, just nuts in the ingredients.
There isn't any peanut butter, not even Jiffy in Finland! A can of pumpkin, Karo syrup (for pecan pies)
Then I drug my poor dad to the mall. We went to North Park and the Galleria. Poor dad, he didn't mind me trying on clothes after clothes. You are a good sport, dear ol' dad. I have to brag on my Dad a little, after all I am a daddy's girl and have a boat named after me to show for it.


Picture of my Dad and my brother Byron

It was nice catching up with Dad, but I then had to go to my Mom's on the 5th to make it for her belated Christmas dinner.
The smell of the house when I walked it was heaven. The smell of bread, cornbread dressing, turkey, pies (pecan, pumpkin, apple, minced meat) ...yeah my Mom went all out. It was me, my brother Byron, Mom, Randy, Memo and my cousin Casey.
I also invited Jan and her finance Mark over and we all had a blast! Jan has been my
friend since I was 18 when we worked at Eckerd Drugs. When I went off to UT we lost touch but later on when I came back to UTA I ran into her again at my
job as a teller and she was working at the same bank. We didn't lose touch since and she is always makes me laugh. Crazy fun Jan.
Oh and her man Mark can put up with my loud mom. As a matter of fact he thinks she is really funny and those two sit down and crack each other up. Christmas part deux was great. Thank you Mom for such lovely yummy food

and thanks Jan for making it so much fun.

Shopping was a great part of the trip but packing all that stuff was not fun. I thought the weight limit was 75 pounds for my two check-in luggage but when I verified later on after an hour of trying to get in just to the correct weight in each I found out it was 50! HA! remember Byron all that stepping on the scales and then getting on with the luggage. My poor brother spent the whole night trying to help me figure it all out and I finally had to get another suitcase from my mother to use as a carry on. YIKES! and thanks Little Bro....you are the best!!!

I had a really good time and it ended way too quickly. Until the next time I will dream of Good Ol' Texas, Tex-Mex, Sunny Warm Days, and Good Friends and Family!