Back to the winter - taka talvi

When everyone thought the winter is gone, the end of March brings us some white surprise. They call it here "taka talvi". That means after some pre-spring days, warm and sunny snow-less weather, suddenly in March or even April comes snow again. And so this is what we experience right now. It is snowing from early morning today. Unfortunately it is slightly above zero, so the snow looks very wet and there is already this yucky snowy goo on the streets. But kids are happy. Me too. It's nice, for a change...

Spring is in the air

This morning they started to remove all that gravels out off sidewalks and all the pedestrians ways in our neighborhood. The first signs of spring. It means we do not expect any snow fall before the next winter. And so the thick layer of hard gravel can be remove and keep for the next winter season. I don't know if this year's winter was so short or just the time is going so fast, but somehow I feel like it just started and now is the end. OK, there was almost no snow this year, similar to last one, very bad, grey, wet winter. I have an impression there were too little time for ice-skating and now they are closing all the rinks. We hardly used our sledge with the kids. The bad thing about Helsinki winter is that actually quite often the season looks like the passing one. And another bad news is that still the spring comes in May. So, now we can expect about two months of again grey and wet weather. OK, any optimistic news? Well, my experience of Finnish seasons is only four years and as long as I remember the green leaves comes in May and actually its second half... but maybe this year will be different? But today after a week of cloudy sky the sun appeared and you could really and truly feel the spring in the air. Positive. And days are suddenly so long again! I wake up at 7 and it is light and it is light up to almost 7 in the evening. Energizing. And birds are singing all day long. Love it.
What else has March brought us? My birthday, again. Less and less to celebrate and I was sick, very sick with high fever, terrible headache and stuffed nose for a week, so even less to celebrate.
I guess our final decision about us moving to Espoo.
My final internal decision about going back to work. What kind of? That's still among many questions including taking some courses or studies (for updating my brain resources) or internships (to check if I am able to become a part of a team again) or going back to writing (and prove I can still do this) - but again question for whom, what kind of writing etc. 

Time flies and my kids are growing...

When we moved to Helsinki Wanda was same age as Tomek is now, or even couple months younger. She was two. Now he is two and four months. Sometimes when I go to some places where I used to go few years ago with two-years-old Wanda I have this strange feeling. Because I am the same, the kid is same age again, but it is not the same kid. Recently I had to go to a store in Espoo, I was looking for a bed for our son and he was with me. While driving there I thought - wait, I did this before, this driving to that particular store with a toddler on a back seat. Or when I am playing in those playparks downtown or in our neighborhood I have this strange feeling again and again. Same me, same places, same age kid, but not the same one. Time flies. Year after year. It is hard to believe that we have been in Helsinki for three and a half years already. When we came here with a five years initial contract we thought it will be long. Now we are pretty sure we will stay here another few years, maybe another five, maybe more and now this time perspective doesn't seem to be too long. Just that. Life goes on. Friends are moving back to their home countries or somewhere abroad. Yes, just recently we had to say good bye to our super good friends from Mexico. She was the first person I got to know in Helsinki and we became friends immediately and our daughters as well. All those play dates, all those chats, all those girls-nights-outs and now, bye, and maybe see you in few years somewhere. Sad.

Long and sunny days

It is way too early to assume spring is in the air, but for sure the darkness is over. Just yesterday I suddenly noticed that still at 6 in the evening is quite light. The sun is shining for the last few days and the blue sky makes you feel happy and energized. With this new energy come some thoughts about our current work/living/school situation and some thoughts about future changes. Time flies and in one year we will have to decide what school our daughter shall start. She is now an English speaker, so the most natural way is to continue the English path. But there are not many schools or to put it differently there are two in Helsinki (Ressu and Maunula) and one in Espoo (they move to Suurpelto in August). And I am talking about public schools with no fee and for kids who don't speak Finnish. There are few more bilingual schools but unfortunately the kid has to pass a Finnish language exam to get a place. Actually I don't get that policy at all, because on the other hand our non-Finnish-speaking girl could go to a regular public all-Finnish school in the area of residence and she would get a supporting teacher and would take additional Finnish classes. All to catch up with other pupils. But for some reason she is excluded from those bilingual classes, although she could at least communicate very well in one of the teaching languages. But anyway, if you don't want to get bankrupt you won't apply to International School of Helsinki, the private institution following the IB curriculum. And besides, if you are lucky enough to live in a country best known (after the Nokia collapse) from its school system you don't pay for private education. So right now we have started with my husband a discussion about our moving according to the kids school. It would be great not to commute every day half an hour on a metro, bus or tram back and forth like we do for four years now. Having a school within a walking distance sounds like a dream. We have already checked Suurpelto and well, have mixed feelings. It looks a bit like it sounds and the meaning of the name is Big Field. Yes, a big field indeed, but also growing quite fast and most probably when they open the school in August there will be some more life coming. Ressu and downtown living would be cool, but unfortunately not with our current budget. And Maunula? Well, I don't have a good opinion about that city part, sounds for me even stranger then Espoo. But well, soon we will figure out something. I hope it will be a good decision. 

And back again in 2015

Hello and welcome back after shamefully long break of not posting any single word. After summer I sort of felt there is nothing to add about my life here about Helsinki and Finland or that everything I have already said or my life is boring enough to not writing about it at all or maybe I was excusing myself for being too lazy to write or not having enough time or whatever reason you could possibly find. Anyway, I was hoping to find out a new huge topic to post about to establish a brand new blog and to start my brand new blog-life and story telling. But nothing has come to me. On the other hand every week or so I do have something quite interesting to say or think about this simple life, those everyday events happening around me and my family or to comment about what is going on elsewhere. And so anyway, my New Year's resolution #1 is to continue this blog. Because I believe it is worth it. It is worth writing just for myself. Yesterday I went through some old and very old posts from the early days in Finland and it was such a warm feeling to read about my little daughter (how much has she changed since!) and my first steps in Finland (how much has my mind changed since!).

Because so much time has passed since my last post I would like to write a little about some past events. First a bit about our summer cottage experience. Second about my Finnish course which I started in September and now I am continuing it after the Christmas break. Third about my new routine having both kids in day cares and having some free time - not free actually, but kids free :). Fourth about my thoughts according to where do I belong to - those thoughts appear whenever I go to my home country. Fifth - about this and that as always on this blog, about my kiddos and their development, good and worse moods, weather etc.

A day in wooden Käpyla

That is a perfect half a day trip or Sunday walk with the kids. As you could know from one of my previous posts I am a great fan of those old Finnish wooden houses, the remnants of the past. And it is quite astounding how many of those buildings are still enjoying their being in Helsinki. I've read about the time in Finland, around the 60. and 70. when in many towns those wooden buildings or all parts of towns were destroyed and replaced by new but quite ugly and definitely not romantic concrete blocks. But apparently Helsinki managed to save quite a bit of those neighborhoods. So there is Vallila, Kumpula and Käpyla and around downtown you can spot some of those houses too. But Käpyla is so different and so amazing for me. Walking around I couldn't stop feeling being in a different town, some small town somewhere in the middle of Finland and not in Helsinki. It has it's long and broad Main Street with a tram lane in the middle which ends up with a big square. There is a park, a playground and a school building around that square. And other streets are surrounding that place. There is this quietness specific for small towns. And of course being surrounded by all those wooden houses, some of them single family houses and others more like detached houses, made me feel like I would travel in space and time. This time I did some pictures and I promise to upload them, but I need some time to browse though all of them.

First spring day

It's spring. And not only according to the calendar, but it really came to Helsinki. I've already spotted some early spring flowers. This year they came up so early because of no snow. And today is so warm and sunny. Warm, I mean, it depends on what you expect of course. For me it means something like +5C and sun and no wind. I spent with Tomek the whole morning outside. After we left Wanda in a day care we went to our favorite park. Tomek feels there at home because we go there for so many months already. And there are plenty of other small kids from serounding day cares. It's funny, because you can hear there many languages. There are kids from Finnish kindergartens, from a Swedish one, from a French place, from Wanda's place, that is English speakers. But it's nice. And after that we walked along the shore, passed Ruoholahti harbor and went towards Eira and the park at the sea side. You can walk there following the now biking/walking path, previously probably some industrial road. And you get strait to the beach. Yes, there is a tiny sandy beach. I missed it so much. I feel such comfort when I listen to the sound of waves, to the scream of sea guls. When I can look at the sea. The powerful nature. Calming and energizing in a same time. And my little boy was so amazed by the sea. He run strait to the water. I had to keep him tight. We were throwing rocks to the water and chased the waves. So much fun.

December began

Our third winter is on its way. Our third Santa parade was by the end of November. For the third time we are waiting for the first snow. Oh, actually there was a bit of white yesterday evening, but it melted already. Now I am preoccupied with thoughts about Tomek's future day care, about Wanda's future school and about my eventual future work, oh, and of course as always, about our future moving apartment. For each of those things there is still time, but it runs fast and I need to make plans in advance. But in a meantime our little son started walking and is even more cute than before. So I enjoy as much as I can that precious time with him knowing it will be gone so soon and in two years he will be a full time kindergarten kid and never again this cute little toddler. This winter will be again so different from the last year and the two years before. Easier I hope, kids are bigger. I am more relaxed. Knowing the city even better. Knowing more and more people. Being busy. Yes, too busy with I don't know what that I still didn't get any Christmas decorations! Nor any gifts for my parents who are coming for the holidays. But I'm getting better with baking goodies. Recently I've made my first hallah. It was surprisingly easy. Thanks to my perfect food processor making a yeast dough is a piece of cake. And it was delicious and beautiful. I'm going to repeat it. I would give you a link to a web page, but it was in Polish, so not for all the readers. Anyway I'm going to repeat it. Best right from the oven when still warm. We ate it too fast and no pics were taken. 

Puu-Vallila or Wooden Vallila walk

Today we went for a walk to this old district in Helsinki - wooden Vallila, old Vallila. It is few blocks with old wooden houses build in the beginning of XX century. They look a bit like those old small towns like Porvoo or Rauma. I mean that by walking down those narrow streets along those small wooden painted houses you don't have a feeling of being in a big city. You get the feeling of moving back several decades to some long forgotten old days. The weather was also perfect. Cold, a bit cloudy (and finally it started to snow a little), first sunny but soon quite dark. You know sort of the atmosphere from Kaurismaki's movies. Old fashion. Old Finland. Places you don't know where they are. And they hidden form the public eye. They hide nowadays between much higher newer buildings (still quite old though) which stand along main streets. For me it was sort of a surprise to "discover" the whole Vanha Vallila right behind a street which I used to drive almost for the whole last year (it was on my way to a day care). The houses still look quite good (some were under renovation) but what they say it is not a posh neighborhood. It used to be working class area but nowadays it is becoming trendy (or bohemian) like Kallio. I'm not sure about those wooden houses, but it is said about the whole Vallila. Unfortunately we didn't check the battery in our camera (it was empty) so no pics were taken. But I believe the one Helsinki episode from old Jim Jarmush movie has a scene either in this area or another with very similar old wooden houses. So, you can google and see that scene (when the drunk guy ends up being kicked out of the taxi around his house). Anyway, I like Helsinki for still having so many places like that. Preserved for decades without any touch of modern life.

Saturday at Haltiala Farm

Am I a hipster or simply an old lady?

Why this title? Because I am going to knit. Yesterday I bought some wool (nice and soft merino) and knitting needles! Gosh! Sounds terrible? My husband looked at me with big eyes. And he asked: Have you gotten that old already? No, I replied, I am a hipster, don't you see? Didn't you know that they are happy to do out of fashion stuff? Why not knitting? I took the tools and to my surprise I didn't forget how to do that! I used to knit when I was a child and I did all the clothes for my dolls and even a sweater for myself. It wasn't very well done but I loved to wear it. And so somehow I missed knitting. I don't know if I am going to get ready with anything like a scarf or a hat before the winter ends but at least I will have busy hands on those long winter nights :) Well, to be honest I don't know if I will be able to have free hands and to get busy with knitting, but why not giving myself a chance. 

after two years in Helsinki

It's been already over two years since we moved to Helsinki. Time flies I'd say. It doesn't feel like that. It feels like we moved just recently... Only if I look back and memorize the first months here with little Wanda... Yes, her age and how much she has changed makes me think we are quite a long here. And well, for her it is half her life! For her Helsinki is her home town I guess. And so will be for Tomek. Not just a stop on a life path, no, this is their home. And for me? Recently I've got some mixed thoughts about my life here. Our apartment - shall we look for something better? Renting or buying? Making long term plans for our future or live from day to day? Settle down here and planing more years or rather thinking about what's next, what's after Helsinki? Looking for a job and if yes, what kind of job? To make money or to be satisfied? You know, those thoughts without a real answer because there is no immediate answer to most of those questions and I really do not need an answer. It is more for my mind to wander and meander and weigh the pros and cons. But just about today I came to a simple idea. Our daughter's day care is located in Kamppi/Rouholahti. There is so nice there and I am there every morning. So, as simply as it is I can always spend there some more time. Going to a nice park and playground, strolling at the sea side (what I love doing! water! sea galls! ships!) and going back home a bit later. And I started to use my car again, so sometimes instead of going by metro we pack ourselves to the car and I drive and the good thing about it is that we pass on our way my favorite neighborhood - Kruununhaka - the very first place we lived in Helsinki. So I guess it is my own attitude whether I feel fulfilled with my life here or not. And as always - there are those small things, someone would say unimportant, even silly or childish, but no - those little things make your whole life. But anyway after the two years I still don't know any Finnish besides of some single words, Wanda can speak good English but not Finnish either. I have some friends but I feel like I need to meet and see more people - this is a job to do and not a difficult one. And well, I should really enjoy every day with my little boy who is one. Time flies. We should grab the moments - again the cliche! 

Past summer in the city - Suomenlinna, Linnanmaki and stuff

OK, almost two months without putting a single word to my blog is a shame. I really even had a thought to stop posting at all. But it was a stupid idea. I should keep writing, for me, for the readers, for my English (buhhaaah! it's on a slippery slope since I've left the States!). So, let's look back to the summer. That is to August. It was a nice month. It was really super warm and sunny in Helsinki, we really had perfect summer weather and we had guests. My two nieces and my sister came to visit us. Wanda and Tomek were amazed and I hope everyone was happy. I decided to be a good auntie and I planned busy and active week in the city. There were too many of us to use my car, so everything we did was planned in a way we could have reach the place easily by public transport what is of course easy in Helsinki. And so one day we went to the Olympic Stadium swimming pool. I wrote about that place before. It is one of my faves place to spend a warm summer day. I love the old school architecture reminding me of the past era and the forested area. It's perfect to spend even a whole day, cause there is also a play ground for the kids or even two of them - one for little ones and one for big kids. You can use sauna, lay in the sun, have ice-cream. The only weird thing is that you are not allowed to take pictures. And I don't know what's the reason - that accidentally you can take a pic of another person or that you are not suppose to document the premises itself. Of course I didn't know it and so I started to take pics of my kids (I've managed to take some)and the staff person reminded me not to use my camera. Oh, actually they reminded us of other things too - like when my daughter took her swimsuit off and wanted to run to the water naked (it is not allowed) and when my niece wanted to snorkeling (and this is also not allowed for some reasons). I felt weird, cause there were only our family constantly being reminded of things, burt anyway, I didn't mind. I respect their rules. Another day we went for a whole day trip to Suomenlinna. It is a must for any visitor in Helsinki and of course I've been there several times but this time it was a very different visit. I found out that you can go there to tunnels in a fortress and the tunnels are scattered around the whole island area. And so the day before our trip I bought two torches, we packed lots of food for a picnic, took a blanket, good shoes and we went to downtown market. Ferries go from the Kauppatori and it takes about 15 minutes to get to the island. The first thing we did there was a visit on a play ground! Yes, what a surprise :) next thing was a picnic on a lawn, because all of us got extremely hungry and we packed all the delicious stuff. And when we were finishing our food we notices the sign telling "The toy museum". All right. I've never been there and so it looked like we were in a perfect company to explore it. It is hidden from the view and easy to omit if you follow the main track and not stopping at the playground. You have to turn towards the shore and than the path follows you through some old maintenance buildings, but after that you see a beautiful cosy house with a cute cafe, flowers, colors and you are right there. The toy museum is small, there is an entrance fee for kids too, but it is packed with old toys especially for girls. You can find there all kinds of old doll houses with all sort of tiny equipment - furniture, kitchen utensils. All tiny and beautiful and you wonder how it was possible to make such tiny pieces of all that. One of my nieces was over amazed, she could have spend there a whole day looking at the houses. She's the fan on Sylvinian Family if you know what I mean :). And after we were ready with that the girls wanted finally to use their torches and see the tunnels. They are marked on a map and not hard to find. Some of them are not very spectacular - too light and not underground, but the best one is close to the Kings Gate at the end of the island's main path and that one was something! The kids were excited, it was dark, wet and long tunnel and you could have "discover" some different paths inside. On our way back home (we took the ferry from the King's Gate) and than the metro home, Wanda fell asleep and she slept up to the next morning. It was an exhausted and exciting day. Oh, and of course one day we spent in Linnanmaki and even I went to one of their roller-coster. But I am not a person who enjoys it... anyway kids had lots of fun. I was mostly amazed by the prizes: a single ride is 7 euros not depending on age , one good thing is that some small kids carusells are for free. What else have we done during that week? They explored the Natural History Museum which is fun for the kids, cause you can see the skeletons of dinosaurs and plenty of animals from all over the world. We've been there with Wanda twice already. It's good especially in a winter time. This time we didn't go to Heureka - again the car didn't fit so many people. But the girls were happy to play in our play park Myllynsippi, which is now brand new renovated and really nice. Oh, it's so good to memorize the summer!

Let's spring!

Spring is now official. Well, no wonder on May 20th... but I mean also a spring atmosphere around the town. Last Saturday there was a Restaurant Day in Helsinki. What it means is just everyone could establish a restaurant for one day. What does it mean in practice? You could make a stand somewhere in a park or on a street, cook or bake some meal, cakes, snacks, whatever you'd wish and you could sell them to the people. One of my friends established a "Mobile Cookie Jar", that is a huge basket full of home made cookies on a Christiania Bike and she was riding the bike and selling cookies for one day. We didn't make any restaurant, but we did try the goodies made by others. And it was fun. Some Mayan snacks, Indian vegan meals, Asian sweets, Eastern cookies etc. After such lunch my stomach was a bit confused, but I survived. Next Saturday there will be a Cleaning Day means again - everyone can become a seller for one day. Or a donor. So, you can sell or donate (to one of a few foundations like Fida, UFF) whatever you don't need anymore but what is still in a good shape and someone could use it. This time I'm considering to join the crowd. Most probably I will just donate some clothes and stuff. The spring/summer spirit you can see from people relaxing on the lawns around the town and from hundreds of bikers. There will be plenty of events but of course with a baby still depending on my breast it is hard to plan a night out. Talking about "night" - there is hardly any already. Yesterday right before going to bed I went out to our balcony to breath the fresh air and I was really astounded how light there was outside. And we have still a whole month to the longest day.
Oh, and I went to Poland for a week. Me plus the kids. I was a brave mom traveling by for the first time myself - first by car to Turku, then by plain to Gdansk. My in-laws were sort of shocked that I want to make it all by myself and that my husband should drive me there and help me, but actually it was a piece of cake. I packed the kids to the car in our garage and drove all the way (one strait like in Arizona highway) to Turku airport. And it is only two hours drive. Have you ever been there? Especially on terminal 2? It doesn't look like an airport. It looks like a wooden stable somewhere in the woods. Really. There is a forest around. You park right in the front of this building and walk inside. There is no people cause there are only a few flights from that terminal. One check-in point. One gate. One plain. And besides - my great daughter is just a perfect traveler. I love to travel in her company. She is alert, smart, smiley, ready to go.

May Day

There came May. And there was a may-Day or Vappu in Finland. Everywhere in the world people celebrate the Day of Labour, but in Finland people celebrate this day as it was a New Year's Eve. There is sparkling wine everywhere, people are picnicking in parks all over the city, the booze is everywhere and cheer mood too. We were considering going downtown and see all that silly crowd, but than I said - well, maybe our seven months old baby wouldn't appreciate that dizzy atmosphere. And so we just went for a long walk to the woods near by and we really appreciated the spring weather, the spring forest - green and free of snow! And again so beautiful with all the huge rocks and conifers around. And believe it or not on that special day we'd got a special weather. It was the warmest day so far this year. It was almost 14C plus full sunshine plus unfortunately strong wind, but in the forest we didn't feel it that much. And you know what, walking in the woods we actually noticed that this northern forests are quite smart. Because there are almost only the coniferous trees and on a ground there is moss - everything is green again the moment the last snow melts. It is smart in the climate where new green leaves come in mid May at the earliest. Anyway, my mood is of course much better now.

Glass half empty...

Yes. This is how I see everything right now in the middle of the Finnish winter. Is this the weather or some hormonal changes after pregnancy or something else I don't know, but my mood is just like it is: moody, gloomy, sad. The weather is bad. It is white, snowy, now came new white snow again so it covered the old grey one, but I didn't see sun for days and I know that for the spring I have to wait another at least three months. And that's a lot. When you go to downtown you can see more and more drunkards on the streets. It's disgusting, awful. And of course there are plenty of them in our neighborhood too, especially around metro station. Yesterday while being on a tram with my two kids there were three especially disgusting drunk bums. But I was surprised that no one on the tram said something although one of them almost puked on one young man. I would say something if I only could speak Finnish and I'm sure on a Polish tram people would react with a disgust to such a situation. In Finland they seem to be too discreet. And so such moments make me think over my all love to this country. I always saw glass half full from the very beginning. I appreciate everything what I get and experience here. But somehow recently I encountered couple of situations that made me ask myself: is this the place I want to live longer? I mean - longer that those five years as planned (and already 3 and a half are left). Those harsh and long dark winters, those bums everywhere (but really everywhere! like in the worst corner of a Central Railway Station in Warsaw years ago). But on the other hand every place have its pros and cons and probably after some time of living in one place you just start to encounter also the dark sides of the country. Well, I hope you have some better mood today and my gloomy post won't make you feel bad.

Santa visited us again :)

Unfortunately the weather was awful that Sunday afternoon - grey and rainy... but still we tried to appreciated that special event :)

Candle-light-breakfast-time

This means November. Dark when you wake up, grey when you go out at noon, dark again soon after a midday walk, long looong evenings starting around 4pm. So, the season of candle light breakfast is open now! Everyone's welcome! But every day when I'm driving to pick up Wanda from her school I pass a park - big central park in heart of Helsinki, the one with the Olympic Stadium. And guess what - there are plenty of runners, joggers and bikers who seem not to care at all about the weather conditions. It's rainy - so they put some rain coats. It's cold - well, not so if you're running fast enough. It's dark - so what? You can turn a light on on your bike. And so I have to have the same attitude, cause I can not spend all days at home. My baby needs some fresh air and I need some movements. So we also enjoy the weather. The good news? Yes. I still keep smiling, no signs of winter depression. Another cup of coffee anyone? Candle included :)

Ignorance, equality or rudeness?

Yes, those are the questions I ask myself whenever I get on a tram, subway or a bus. Me - 37 weeks pregnant and usually in a company of my three years daughter. In Poland in most cases people occupying seats would immediately stand up and ask me to sit with my child or if I'm by myself they would in most cases offer me a seat. In Finland, such a friendly and kids oriented country, no one ever even think about such a possibility. Like today. It was afternoon and we were going back from a daycare. We got on the tram which was quite crowded as for Helsinki standards. We stand just next to a sitting guy - middle aged, very nicely dressed, who only looked at us briefly and was sitting without any thoughts, that maybe it is not fair, that a little girl has to stand on a moving vehicle with her very much pregnant mother. In Poland such behavior is considered simply rude. This is our culture and this is how I feel. How is it in Finland? I don't know. But maybe here women made such a feminist revolution, that it would be considered rude to let a pregnant woman rest and let her sit down with her baby or small child? Does that mean Finnish way of equality? I'd be happy to hear how such situations are seen in your countries. Give me some feedback! :)

Aniversary

It's a year already! One whole year in Helsinki. Time flies I'd say. It wasn't long or I'm getting older and time seems to go faster and faster. But anyway I guess it was a very good year. And quite an easy one. It was definitely easier then our first year in the States (now that seems to me like being zillions of years ago). Any special thoughts? Not really. It's just life, simple life, a good and comfy life so far. With couple of friends, with a nice daycare for Wanda, with almost done pregnancy (!!!), a nice apartment and a nice, calm and steady marriage. It's our life in this country without knowing the language and to be honest not doing anything to learn at least something. It's our daughter who becomes with each day better and better with her English fluency. And I'm so proud of her. It's my life with a very warm attitude towards the city and country as a whole. Even to the weather! :) And I'm going to enjoy it for the next year and as long as we will be Finnish residents. Cheers!