Christmas Peace

It's the evening of Christmas Day, and all the excitement and anticipation that comes with a family Christmas is over.

Yesterday was very nice, as we celebrated Christmas Eve in the traditional way. The boys were understandably a bit restless at first, but the centuries-old, annual declaration of Christmas Peace at noon put them in the proper mood.


Christmas Peace was declared in the city of Turku at noon, Christmas Eve










Before going to Grandma's and Grandpa's, we stopped - as most Finns do on Xmas Eve - at the cemetery (in Helsinki) to light candles at the graves of family members buried here and for those loved ones who rest in other cemeteries and cities. The sight of a large cemetery lit up with thousands of candles is always moving, even on a snowless Christmas (Helsinki was without snow, but we had and have some centimeters).






After that, it was a very nice evening with Marko's family. The boys enjoyed themselves (and Grandma's famous Xmas dinner!) immensely and Santa himself dropped by and brought them just the stuff that had been on their letter to Santa! Seasonal magic :)














Not that presents and gifts are the important stuff of Christmas, but it has to be said the kids have been having a great time with their new stuff: lightsabers, vintage Donald Duck comics, Simpsons stuff - and a little synthesizer! It's a basic Yamaha for Atte who had been plag--- I mean, entertaining us for many a pre-holiday week with his non-stop I'll-learn-to-do-this-by-myself piano playing. He's very enthusiastic (and pretty talented) about it, and so we thought it would be nice if he had his own keyboard instrument... with a headphone connection ;-)



Reko gets into the comics Christmas spirit with a collection of vintage Donald Duck Christmas tales (1945-1963) by the comics legend Carl Barks.














So now it's 11 pm, the kids are very much asleep and Annu is putting finishing touches on our Christmas Day special for adults: re-arranging the downstairs bookshelves! We think we'll watch a movie yet before lights out - we've slept so well the past couple of nights that we can do a late nighter, like in our younger days... :)

Hugs to everyone!

Birthdays and Christmas headbangers

Atte will turn seven on Tuesday but he already had birthday celebrations during this weekend. We had guests over on both Saturday and Sunday. It was an extra busy weekend since Reko's music school had their Xmas concert on Saturday and the boys' school's Xmas bazaar sale was today; hosting both adults and sugar-high firstgraders on top of those was a decent test of stamina for us.

Atte's birthday weekend was nice, though. He got a new bike - we know it's a strange season for bicycles but his old one got stolen earlier in the autumn, and he asked for a new one for his birthday already then. And thanks to the help from grandma, grandpa and auntie, we got him what he wanted and needed: a seven-speed beauty with 24-inch tires, a far cry from the kiddie bike he rode before. Atte just loves to ride his bike, so this one he really appreciated.

Snow has been coming and going and the temperature hovers one day just below, then just above freezing. We did have quite the winter wonderland again for a few days, but that's pretty much gone now, too. Santa will probably have to use reindeers of the flying variety because the sleigh's no good on slush. But there's no way weather's damping our Xmas spirit, and gingerbread cookies have been baked as they should. Even by adults.

We planned to go the top Finnish heavy metal musicians' 3rd annual "Heavy Xmas" concert on the 20th - they play wonderfully and the arrangements are pretty tasteful and respectful, really. But it seems others like this stuff too: the concert's sold out and we now try to get someone less enthusiastic than us to separate himself from his tickets for our benefit. There's a nice musicians' web site that may turn out helpful, but we have to be prepared to face an evening at the movies in the end.

One working week to go, and then we can settle into holiday peace. Some family members have already done that:


And now - where's the hot glogg...

Winter dropped in for a visit

This winter has started out so typically for these times... First, autumnally mild weather continues deep into November, then winter storms in (literally, this year), and just as the kids have all their sleighs and skis out, the temparature soars, leaving but muddy puddles of slush and the all-encompassing wet blackness and feeling to match.

A week ago we had the most severe blizzard since 1961, with predictable consequences. The electricity was gone for a while (we had it easy with only about an hour's outage); all traffic, private and public, on land, air and sea, was in total chaos; some folks in the countryside got genuinely snowed in. Within 24 hrs, southern Finland got about 40 centimeters (~16 inches) of snow and a good 15 cm more in the 24 hrs after that.


The Helsinki Lutheran Cathedral and Senate Square, right by Marko's workplace

We felt the fury of the storm pretty strongly, because we were driving home, having picked up the boys from Grandma's and Grandpa's where they had stayed overnight. The storm really hit just as we left Helsinki, and we had to crawl at 60 km per hour on the northbound expressway where the customary speed is over 100 km/hr.

The days following the blizzard were beautiful, with such winter wonderland scenery that Helsinki, a city with very little snow nowadays, has not seen in a long, long time. The tourists were overjoyed, even if the traffic mess must have caused them some problems. And here in Järvenpää, we were pretty sure that the Real Winter had arrived for good. It's just sad when everything melted and we're left hoping Christmas could, in the end, be white.


Atte skiing by our home in the Nordic winter's blue light

Otherwise, things are just dandy. Annu worked really hard a few weeks ago, very longs shifts and a lot of them, so now she's been enjoying the benefits of having days off and taking it more mellow. Marko's finally pretty happy with the way things are going at work: his interest in new internet tools, the social media and the ways organizations could benefit from using them is paying off. There may be some new tasks is store for him next year, but that remains to be seen.

We have been so proud of our boys and the way their school is going. Both are very good at math at this point, and they do just fine with the other subjects as well.

Reko has had to take some extra practice with his handwriting, but that too is getting better really nicely. He also participates in the reading club in his class. After trying out some books he wasn't too excited about, he finally found something that he can spend hours with, immersed in reading:


The book is in Finnish but the name is Star Wars, even in Finland

Atte's drum teacher is not teaching anymore and we try to find him a new teacher. Atte is also interested in the guitar, and we'll do our best to give him the opportunity to try that out as well. Music will obviously be a part of his life, and we hope we can support him in this so that it will be a richness and not a burden for him.

And hey: Christmas season in Finland begins today! We start decorating the house today, and maybe bake the first batch of traditional Nordic Xmas cookies. Mmm... :)





Good cheer to all!

Episode I: A New Hope

It was such a special day today, for America and for the world. We are so glad we got to see this coming true... We feel there is more hope in and for the world now than there was just 24 hours ago.

It has been no secret we have been for Obama all along. And now that the near-impossible has really happened, the future truly begins.

Last year in the States, we heard people talking and newspapers writing about Obama, who at that point was practically unknown in Europe. There was a tangible sense that this is someone who can "talk right down to earth, in a language that everybody can easily understand", without compromising his ideals, intellectual integrity and political vision. To put it bluntly, Obama and his message were making sense to so many people who had lost all faith in politicians. Because we share most of his views, we have been holding our breaths as the election day drew nearer.

Some, of course, have been more enthusiastic than others ;-) Marko was glued to pre-election polls for weeks before the actual day... and early this morning, at 4 am Finnish time, he crawled out of bed to watch CNN's election broadcast live. He had taken the entire day off just to be able to really take it all in. Well, we all have our little... eccentricities, no?

After the results came in, there was low-key but dedicated rejoicing in our household. The Stars and Stripes was brought out, a few happy tears were shed, and for lunch and supper only American-style food was served. Someone from the younger age group in this household complained that the German-made peanut butter we had can't hold a candle to the real stuff. At this point, we adults usually tell the kids to keep the noise down and eat, but this time he had a point. American peanut butter really is better. So, congratulations, America, wherever you are... And as for our family, there is now all the more reason to be excited about next summer. Visiting Washington DC during our stay is something we look forward to with extra enthusiasm.

On a less official note, we celebrated Halloween with friends last Saturday. Our American days got kind of kickstarted there. Apple pie, Jello, real pumpkin Jack-o-Lanterns... It's always fun throwing that party, so welcome to our Ghostly Grove of Gruesome Gremlins again next year, if you dare be around these grey and unlit corners... ;-)

But we have got to get past the holiday season first before can really even think summer. The winter spirits have already been hovering around. We put winter tires on the Volvo today, and some icy mornings Marko has really had to watch it on his bike. The dark and the cold tend to be downers, but there can beauty to it, too. This is what the ground looked like on the very first subzero morning about a week ago. Downright Christmasy, wouldn't you say, even if it was taken on a morning about a week before Halloween:









Looking at that, you can almost hear a bell far away... but it can't be, yet...

Best laid plans... : (

It's fall break week in our town, and Annu had long since planned to take herself and the boys to Kuopio to her mother's. It's such a long drive that one will not take it lightly, especially with kids.

And then the impossible happens: Reko is taken down with a nasty bug: a high fever, with belly cramps and headaches on the side. It began yesterday for good, although he was a bit out of it on Sunday already, but we thought he was just tired. He was, but for a reason... Mind you, our boys are very, very rarely down with anything, but on the rare occasion when something manages to break through their defences - well, it tends to be pretty tough going then.

There was extra drama with Reko's falling ill, because Annu had a day off and she was spinning and bodypumping away (yes indeed!) in a nearby town - without her phone that she always carries like 10 centimeters from her. But not yesterday, so the school calls Make at work, and when Annu remains unreachable, he leaves work for the day, takes the train home to Järvenpää and worries himself sick on the way. The sight of Annu's mobile on the kitchen table was such a relief - rarely has Nokia made someone so happy, for real!

Reko is so brave and he tries hard not to worry us unduly. He fails, of course, but it's moving to see him try to keep a brave face. We naturally hope this is nothing really serious, and that he will be back on his feet in a couple of days.

Annu is in a sticky spot; not only will she miss her Mom, but with Atte healthy (at least for now) and Reko the way he now is, there's little chance of leaning back and enjoying the fall break :-( Make is no help, he's working this week all week.

Before things turned the way they are now, us adults in the family celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary on Saturday. A very nice celebration it was, and we also learned that the legendary restaurant Kosmos in the downtown Helsinki nowadays offers delicious veggie dishes too!

Fight the fall season bugs, people. And take care of someone, ok? Of yourself at least, if no one else happens to be around.

Meeting family - and some royalty...

Spent a few pleasant hours last night at Make's half-sister Hannele's place. Make's half-brother Kullervo and his wife Jatta were also there, so it was very much a family gathering, in a way. Funny that even though the three got together for the first time ever only less than 2 years ago, it feels like there's a lot longer history together. As, in a way, there is, but that's another story.

We enjoyed ourselves and were thus reminded that we ought to visit people more, maybe. Annu more than anyone has been saddled with work; on top of her regular hours she's put in some extra time. But a week from now it'll be autumn vacation: Annu and the boys will travel to Kuopio to her mother's. And Make will spend some time watching horror, flying virtually and whatever middleaged men do when they're by themselves. Drink beer and check out the sports channels?

A week ago we had a fabulous time at the Finlandia Hall, when the vocal group Rajaton, along with Sinfonia Lahti and some top-notch rock musicians performed a full set of music of Queen. Most often the rock+classical combinations don't work but this time it did, wonderfully. The singers in Rajaton were in good shape, and the orchestra, arranged and conducted by Jaakko Kuusisto, was very much in the right wavelength. We got the cd as well, and even if you just can't beat the originals, Rajaton and Sinfonia Lahti have made a very respectable and enjoyable tribute to the greats.

Coming up next Sunday: our 12th anniversary! So many years... and we hope to have countless many more - every second's been worth it! Cheers, everyone!

Go and be good to someone, ok?

After a tragic week, nature blazes

A week ago a tragic act of violence shook Finland to its foundations. It was made even more disastrous because it was the second of its kind within ten months. In both instances, the atrocities were carried out by young, alienated males, with handguns, whose primary contact to the world was the Internet.

There's been so many questions on how we Finns bring up our kids, and what kind of people we really want them to grow up to be. There is no single answer that would solve everything but we hope our leaders and decisionmakers will wake up to the fact that what we do need are policies that support caring, tolerance, social skills, openness and creativity instead of the current forces of greed, self-gain and alienation.

Needless to say, we also strongly question the reasons why any civilian would ever need to carry a firearm.

All we can do, as parents, families and individuals, is carry on and do our honest ten cents worth to give love strength and alleviate suffering. Given the hard edge of our times it may sometimes be a tough call. But we have no other option, and neither should we.

And oh my: what wonderful colors we have had through these sad and confusing days. We spent the last weekend with friends, about a 120 north of Helsinki, where we enjoyed the season's quite possibly last outdoor games of soccer and badminton, and where the autumnal nature really showed her best. If we city dwellers had any chance of actually surviving in the countryside, we could move out there. Now there's a surprising thought...

Peace.

Planes, trains, soccer, drums and exercise

Oh, it's such a stuffed life with kids, isn't it? There seems to be little time for anything else than the obligatory stuff, but when you look closer... at least some of your daily hours are spent on doing something voluntary.

Atte has picked up two new things to do. He goes, with Make, to a model railway club at our town church. The kids get to both drive the model trains and in time they will learn the maintenance and landscaping tasks of a fairly big model set. And when he's not there, he loves to fly! The Microsoft Flight Simulator has totally taken him, and it's truly cool to watch him learning to read the real instruments in a plane's cockpit, and learn the genuine basics of civilian aviation. (Make too has a few flying hours under his belt by now...)

Reko has started soccer last week. He seems real enthusiastic after he got bitten by the Euro Champs this summer; his skills are not top notch compared to most others in the group but at least for the time being he makes up for it by going headlong into the game (sometimes literally).

Annu is trying to accomodate herself to a work with extra long shifts (even 24 hrs at a time), and she enjoys the rewards - days off in the middle of the week - immensely. There's plenty to learn and internalize yet, so the job at this point is probably more draining than it will in time be. She loves it though! She's kept up with her jogging, and taken up swimming on the side as well. The boys in the family try to keep up with her :)

Make has joined an ex-work buddy's band, so the drums stay in the picture very much. He even remembers to take his earplugs to rehearsals nowadays, although remembering anything else is something of a chore. Oh well.

Signs of autumn

We spent our traditional annual end-of-summer day at Make's stepdad Raimo's and her mother Vivi (who Reko thinks is one of the world's greatest cooks, along with grandmother's Lea, Kaija and Jeannette!) place near the town of Porvoo. Annu and Make gathered blackcurrant leaves (no berries this year) for a delicious natural drink, and the boys played soccer and flew a model airplane. Well, the adults got into some of that, too...





Annu at a blackcurrant bush














Atte takes it easy














Reko's become a little hippie. Peace!

















Annu shoots...














...and Reko saves!













Make, Atte and the airplane












Annu, Raimo and Vivi













The leaves are turning













Off into the dark season...

The Everyday Grind: Welcome to the Machine...

Well, it's definitely September rolling in. Raining, raining, raining, and grey - so hello you guys there Down Under, we're not sure if you'd really like this or not... Truly, Finland between September and April may be pretty way over in Lapland or something, but otherwise. Oh well.

The boys' school has somehow just started running like an engine. Atte's strange in that he shows no signs culture shock; for him, school just... began. Probably his reading and other such "school skills" help in that. On the other hand, his school routines like homework do need some looking after - they don't come so naturally. "Work before play" is a principle that will take some time to be learned thoroughly.

For his Religion class, Atte had to draw a picture of himself with other God's creations. Well, the six-year old artist came up with a drawing of himself, some trees and animals, God, the Great Wall of China (Atte's been using Google Earth a lot) and a Finnair jet on its way to Australia, carrying Lorraine with it. It's a very nice picture but it will probably need some explaining for the teacher :)

Reko is very fastidious with his homework, but sometimes gets frustrated if he doesn't get it right the first time. There's a lot more homework on 2nd grade, and a lot more English, too. By the end of the year he will probably have a working grasp of the language. Today, for instance, his English homework consisted of math tasks in English (numbers in English etc) and an English hidden words crossword puzzle. The rest of his time is spent with Pokemon trading cards. Oh well, again.

Both boys seem to have many friends, and they spend their time with them, too. "Where's Atte/Reko?" "Oh, outside with his friends somewhere" - a pretty common dialogue these days. They're growing up...

We're past the 2nd Harry Potter novel for bedtime reading, and in Chapter 8 of Tom Sawyer! It was a gamble, because there was no telling whether they could get excited over 19th centuryAmerican boys, but they can! It seems very little has changed in a boy's life over the past 150 years, which is kind of hopeful, really.

Annu is pretty deep into her new job even though it officially starts next Monday. She seems very happy with it, and even the pay is, for a change, decent. It's close to what she's studied for, and she feels she really can contribute to that community. Even if everyone else there is at least ten years younger than her. Oh well.

Marko joined another band on top of his E.L.O. tribute band. Earplugs, now more than ever! And also on the music front, we got the wonderful news that our great favorite, the perhaps-the-greatest-songwriter-alive, Mr. Randy Newman, will give a concert in Helsinki on Nov. 14. The tickets will come available on Monday.

So we're pretty busy but will keep on blogging - next time we hope to have some new photos too.

Summer's out, school's in

Well, here we go with our very first blog in English! We started this so that we can share our everyday doings (and undoings) with all our friends abroad, post pictures and links right on the page. We will keep emailing everyone personally, of course, but the general diary-like things we will post in this blog. Do write your comments here, too - maybe we all can end up having some interesting discussions :)

So - hello everyone in different parts of the world, wherever you are!

Our vacation season is well and truly over. Marko's been back to work for three weeks, and the boys' school started last week. Atte is now an eager first-grader, and Reko enjoyed joining his classmates for his second grade year.






Atte's first school morning








Reko's 1st morning on 2nd grade









Annu has been working shifts at a group home for young people, and evidently she has made an impression: the owners offered her a full-time job for a year that she promptly accepted. She will begin her new job on Sept. 1.

The summer vacation itself was fun. We did a bit of travelling around Southern Finland, visiting friends, relatives - and theme parks.





Atte and the Skywheel







Close to the end of our holidays old friends (hi Suvi, hi Ingo!) celebrated their marriage, so we had the chance to catch up with both them and a mutual friend, Lorraine, whom we got to know during Suvi's early days in Singapore.

Lorraine flew here from her current home in Melbourne, Australia, and spent a whopping three weeks all over Finland, plus a trip to St Petersburg, Russia. We were lucky to host her twice during her Finnish journey. She left only yesterday, and we're still smarting - it was ten years we'd last seen her (seems we've specialized in overlong periods of separation). Reko said that she brought extra joy to our home, so Lorraine, we do hope and believe we'll meet you again in about 330 days time, in Toronto, corner of Dundas (it was not Spadina after all!) and Bloor. Ok?





Annu and Lorraine, farewells at Helsinki Airport







Our next summer's plans have evolved a bit again. We have found a very nice apartment hotel in Toronto. We plan to stay there for four weeks and spend another four weeks in Virginia and Michigan. (Sterling & Kathy, Jack & Jeannette: we'll ask about your schedules for next year over email very soon) This means us staying in N. America from about June 7 to the beginning of August.

Even if this summer's fun and games are now the stuff of memories, one has to have fun, too. The Living Thing, Marko's Electric Light Orchestra tribute band, played their second concert on the 17th, and at least we got a picture of the stage, if not the band:





10 minutes before going on stage...




Neat, eh? We'll try and get some pics of the band too, next time ;-)