Ambulance Fees

When calling for an ambulance - instead of the trusty ol' 911 like in North America - it's 112.  Just so you know.

Oh and if you REALLY NEED an ambulance, Kela will cover a good chunk of the fees!
Some examples of really needing an ambulance:

• Heart attack
• Choking/stopped breathing
• Labour/giving birth
• Major accident

So, how much do you pay for an ambulance to pick you up and take you to the hospital?  If it's for a really good reason (as mentioned above in the examples): 9� and some change.

Scrape your jaw off the floor!  I was in the middle of a frozen lake with my dogs when I heard about this!  I'm so impressed! And the distance doesn't matter between your current location and the hospital.

A friend of mine's son was choking and they were billed afterward for the ambulance ride and it was only 9,20�...(possibly 9,80� - terrible memory right now)!!  I am not entirely sure (and neither is my Finnish friend) as to how much it costs if "you don't really" need the ambulance...She looked online and found two possible answers for me.  One person said it cost them 200� and one fellow responded to this forum stating that they were an ambulance driver and he's only charged someone 88�.

Either way it's a nice fee!

I looked up Nova Scotia's ambulance fees and they're not as bad as I thought (as long as you're a resident):

Ambulance fee

3     Fees for transportation by ambulance shall be billed according to the following table:

	Medically Essential Transportation Fee	Inter-facility Transportation Fee
Resident	$134.52	$0
Non-Nova Scotian	$672.57	$0
Non-Canadian	$1008.84	$1008.84
New Canadian	$1008.84	$1008.84
Stipulated third party insured	$672.57	$672.57

Currently - my family and I are considered "Non-Nova Scotian" as we are no longer considered residents of NS.  

For more information on NS's medical fees for ambulances (it's a pretty hefty read) check out this.

Even if you're dead - someone has to pay for you to get shipped via ambulance! "The fee for ambulance transportation of human remains is $534 and shall be billed to the Office of the Medical Examiner."




*And yes, if you do see an ambulance (or other emergency vehicle) with sirens and/or lights flashing - please, don't be an ass and pull over to the side.

Chocolate kisses

No no, not these kind of chocolate kisses!

In Finland, a long time ago, there weren't many people of African descent (from here on called "black") and the "N" word was loosely used.

How so?
"Brunberg" chocolate kisses used to be known as "N-Kisses".
Only in recent years was it changed to just chocolate kisses....or chocolate kisses filled with _____.


The same company (I believe) also sold licorice faces.  Licorice is black and they were known as "Black faces" or something of the sort.  Finally someone pointed out that it was too racist (understandably so) and now I think they're just licorice faces.

Restaurant Review: Rosso Pizza

Each month - or as frequently as I can - I will do a Restaurant Review for a restaurant that I have eaten at in Finland.

1st one up to be reviewed is Rosso's Pizza.  Rosso's Pizza is a chain restaurant (think Pizza Delight, Pizza Hut or East Side Mario's) and here are some pro's and cons of the place.

Pro's

• English menus are available
• Credit cards, Visa Electron (debit) and cash
• Serves alcohol for those who wish to sip and dine
• Kid friendly - child menu and play area usually available
• Reasonably priced lunch menu
• Nice salad bar throughout the day
• Wide variety on the menu
• Lots of seating available and pretty spacious to include stroller space!
• Friendly service
• They use FRESH WHITE MUSHROOMS!!!  Most pizza shops here use canned and already sliced mushrooms.

Con's:

• You can end up waiting a very long time for your bill.  I've previously had my child dressed and my coat on and the table was cleared but no bill was presented until almost 15 minutes later.  Oh and it wasn't packed or overly busy.  15 minutes to me is incredibly long when your 15-month old is screaming his head off!
• It can be quite expensive and many other pizza shops sell a pizza of a similar quality and flavour for a fraction of the cost.
• Vegetarian?  Well there are some good options (notice I'm not saying fantabulous) but not many.  And the pizzas often all have tomatoes on them (I hate tomatoes)...unless you make up your own pizza, which is more expensive (I think).

There are fortunately 2 Rosso's Pizzas in downtown Jyv�skyl�.  One is inside the Jyv�skekus (?) with the movie theater and H&M and the other is located across from the Town Church.

Oh and as typical of all Finnish restaurants - you're charged for water (plain water that's right) and refills.  **Remember - all prices include taxes and you don't tip here.**

Sticks in banks

I'm not referring to monetary banks but snow banks!
As you probably know if you live here - we have a lot of snow.  Well, during a walk to downtown, this elderly lady came over to us and started talking in Finnish.

This is odd because Finns do NOT go to strangers unless for very good reason (the rare social ones offer to hold the door open - or tell you you've dropped something)....and she seemed happy - so we had no idea what she was saying.

She then, picked up a branch and stuck it in the snow bank.  Then I thanked her (what else was I supposed to say?!) and she went on her merry little way.

We continued walking and noticed where the lady was coming from because on both sides of the path, there were branches sticking out in the snow banks!  

I could NOT for the life of me, figure out what she was trying to do.  And she spoke too quickly for me to try and decipher any of it.  So I asked a friend and she said that there are times when the cars are too close to the sidewalks and because you can barely see the sidewalks (thanks to all that snow) - sometimes people put branches along the edge of the road and tie reflective string to them so the cars can see pedestrians better.

But in general the pedestrians all wear night-reflecting tags of some sort so they are seen pretty well.

It seemed odd that the lady placed branches on the specific path we are on - because it is completely separate from the road! It's higher than the road....weird huh?

It's not "V-Day" ...It's "F-Day"

In Finland, Valentine's Day is not a super romantic/huge marketing scam for chocolates and sex.
The 14th of February (most men hate this date - some women too) is "Friendship Day".
So there are no flying � naked babies (aka Cupid) shooting people with pointy heart-shaped arrows, not many paper hearts or heart-shaped boxes (I bet those are for the Finns married to foreigners!).

I remember last year, we took V�in� to Rosso's for pizza on Valentine's Day - and it was also to celebrate my birthday and our anniversary (a wee bit early).  The waitress wished us "Happy Valentine's Day"  somewhat hesitantly as we were getting ready to leave.  I guess it's just not common.

Another V-Day is February 17th!  As previously mentioned, everyday of the calendar has a name (or several varieties of a name or a couple different names for male and female).  Some people name their child the name that is listed on the child's date of birth - and some pick specific dates (a parent's birthday) or some people - like us - just picked a name regardless of the date it's labelled on.
So our son V�in� has his name day on February 17th and to celebrate it (it's kind of like another birthday I was told) - we'll get him a little cup cake and an extra DVD for the month.
Some people throw parties, some give gifts and some don't do anything for it at all!
I like the idea of giving a little gift and a treat...but that's just me.

-40*C

There is an article a friend shared on Facebook, stating that Finland should be expecting -40*C next week.

I jokingly put on my Facebook status that this would be the prime time to pick up lots of ice cream and stock up for the summer time!  Then you do not have to worry about it melting on your way home!

Presently it is -19*C (feels like -26*C) and yesterday it felt like -33*C!  So for it to drop down to -40*C and feel like who knows what - will be a first-time experience for me!

There are times when it's in the -30*C range that when I go out with the dogs, my breath fogs up my glasses and then they freeze....my eyelashes freeze...my nose leaks for all of 3 seconds and then THAT freezes....

So -40*C should be pretty interesting!

Canada versus Finland

I've previously mentioned the various difference between my "Home country" and my "Now country".  Well, the interesting thing is whenever a Finn asks me where I am from (and whether or not Tim is Finnish or not) and then they ask, "How do you like Finland?"
The answer is always the same.  "I love it here.  I prefer Finland over Canada honestly."

And about 99% of the Finns look at me and think I am crazy.  It's not that they "hate their country" - it's more so that they always thought Canada was one of "THE" best places to live - so media portrays us Canucks.

Then the Finn will patiently wait for my reasoning as to why I prefer Finland over my home country.  Aside from the language barrier - I prefer Finland for its safety, it's health care benefits are much better than Canada, their public school system is considered the top in the world (look it up - you'll find tonnes of articles and interviews!) and the weather is pretty consistent.

That's not true of all of Canada - but where I am from, in good ol' Nova Scotia (we have Ellen Page, Sidney Crosby, blueberries, Jost Winery and are fairly close to Anne of Green Gables on the Island) - there's a lot of negative things.
Lots of humidity (minor detail), a poor bus system (at least for parents with children in strollers), lots of violence and drug wars...the list goes on.

Don't get me wrong - I miss home often but I am hoping that Finland can be a permanent home for us, especially where we have V�in� and are trying for another.  It's the ideal place to raise a child!  I'm sure there are many beautiful places all over the world that are children friendly and welcoming, but for us and for now, Finland is great!

The funniest Finnish saying yet!

The other night I went to a friend's place as she was hosting the knitting night and I brought these Domino truffles (recipe can be found on Kraft under "Oreo truffles").  Well, one of the ladies took a bite and didn't say anything at first...and then she kind of made these choking sounds.  I was getting a little worried and she said, "Oh that was so good my tongue went down with the food."

I just chuckled, smiled and nodded and thought silently to myself "I hope to God that's a Finnish saying!!"

Well, I went to a friend's home and brought the same treats and something similar happened.  I then asked them "Oh there was this lady kind of choking and said her tongue went down with the chocolate - what does that mean?!"
They laughed and confirmed that YES it is a Finnish saying (translated in English) - simply meaning that the food was very good.

I'm going to try and incorporate a word of a week or a saying of a week on this blog - so keep an eye out!  Perhaps every Sunday I'll do this!

A Finnish birthday party

I've been to a couple Finnish kid's birthday parties since living here and since having our own for our 1 year-old - I think we've inspired people to have them too!
Some of our friends only had parties for just family (aunts, uncles, grandparents etc) and then had a separate one for the friends to go to.
Well, as mentioned before - we don't have family here.  So every one of our friends here - are like an adopted family in Finland for us.
Then there's some of our friends (and same in Canada as with any other part of the world) - who do not have parties at all or do not have a party for the first birthday because the child is so young they wouldn't appreciate or remember it.
Fair enough! We did it to celebrate with friends since the family part were living in Canada, to have a massive play date with friends we haven't seen in awhile and to have a good time.

Today's birthday party was held in a day care center near the downtown area which was super convenient.  It was spacious (we brought our stroller inside!), full kitchen, large playing rooms, chairs, tables (for both little ones and grown ups) and lots of toys.  So really there was nothing to worry about when it came to concern about potentially breaking anything (like a vase at home!).

We had cake, lots of snacking foods, coffee, tea and juice! It was great and the kids just ran around a lot and enjoyed themselves!
There doesn't seem to be a "designated open your gifts" time.  As soon as you walk in and hand the gift over to the kids - they rip it open ASAP.  Something that was new to me!
In Canada, we usually meet and greet, play some games, eat and blow candles out, eat cake then open gifts, maybe play another game - then grab your treat bag and head out the door ...all tired and high on sugar at the same time.  A parent's worst nightmare - ha!
Well, we didn't play games  - which is considered normal in Finland....and we did get a treat bag!  We did play a small game.  There was a curtain hung up and someone handed out treat bags from behind the curtain.  But it's more than that - you had a fishing pole and had to "fish" for your treat bag  - it was super cute and enjoyed by all!
And treat bags are not common in Finland - they're new....slowly becoming popular.

Other than that - still snowy here and thankfully not too slippery!