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!
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