Some Traditional Finnish Things...

Today I went over to Kikka's flat - next building over, who has a sewing machine I could borrow and I decided to make some curtains.
I went to the fabric store with the pram and surprisingly didn't bump into a single thing all day! I found a lovely sheer orange (very pumpkin orange I suppose) material that was 3 Euros per meter and that will be for the kitchen. Then I found a kind of retro pattern with olive green for a background with a black print that kind of looks like eyes....and decided that would be great for the living room. Not too fancy or too bright...and thick enough to block the sunlight that's been streaming in around 6:30am.
So I never bought fabric before in Canada - so maybe this is the "norm" - but they have tags at the end of the tubes of material and they scan it, punch in how much material they cut for you and then print out a thick recipe with a bar code on it. You take that and your material to the cash and they scan the receipt and voila - you pay.
I went to the grocery store and loaded up on dog food and some lighter groceries and trekked home. I went over to Kikka's around 7pm to sew curtains and she did most of the sewing as for 1 - I suck at it and 2 I screwed up. I was sewing 2 sides instead of the top and bottom edges....ah well. I also learned a lot about Finns.

1. Norwegians eat more fish than Finns do.
2. It's (unfortunately) common for husbands to hit their wives and nobody says or does much about it. Usually instigated by alcohol.
3. Finns LOVE LOVE LOVE ice hockey...and Jyv�skyl� has one of the best teams in Finland thus far!
4. Hesburger is more popular here than McDonalds as it's origin is in Turku, a much bigger city than where I live now....
5. Kikka made "mocha pie" - which was a thin chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles and the lightest taste of coffee! I do not like coffee but this was so light you could barely taste it! This is a very common dessert and a very old one as well. It's popular during fundraisers/bake sales and is usually the first to go!
6. You cannot spank your children in Finland - or you go to jail. It's illegal.

I was really shocked about #2 being very common - however it sort of makes sense. The wife drinks and starts bitching and complaining....and then the husband drinks and back and forth bantering leads to physical contact I suppose. (I do not support it - I am merely pointing out the reality).

And there ya have it.