A conversation (true story unfortunately) I had in Finland with a drunk....

I was waiting for my burger at Hesburger - while V was asleep...and some guy in the line up decided to have an intense conversation with me.  He asked where I was from and then asked if I was living or studying here.....and I kept my answers short - because let's face it - I'm here because I'm hungry and have a child who's asleep...so of course I'm going to take advantage of eating a small meal "by myself in peace and quiet".

He was smelly like alcohol and needed a shave but was relatively young (30 years max).  Anyway - he then complimented V�in� and told me he had a boy who is in 1st grade, who he gets to see once a month or so....and he's "the top of his class" and the ex-wife had smoked a lot of pot during the pregnancy and the kid is the smartest...so really - smoking weed can't be 'that bad'"....

I just smiled and nodded and used the puppy-eyes to get help from the staff as they were delivering burgers to other customers.  Unfortunately - they didn't get my hint.

Then he told me that he didn't know what to order because "talking to you is as satisfying as eating a bull by the horns"... Jeeze - I'm flattered now.

I get my burger and REALLY want to eat it - but he keeps talking to me!

Then he asked if he could touch V�in� (who was passed out) - and I said politely and firmly, "No, please don't touch him because I don't want you to wake him up."

WHAT DOES HE DO?!  HE TOUCHES V�IN� ON THE HEAD!!!  Thankfully - V�in� had a hat and hood on...his hands were filthy - I nearly barfed.  He then smiles and says, "See - he didn't even feel it."

I gave him a dirty look and said that he shouldn't have done that...and the guy thinks we're best buds and KEEPS TALKING.  He wanted to know what the English word was for a soul patch (small patch of hair under the bottom lip) and for a stay-at-home-mother.  I played dumb and said "Oh English isn't that great..." but apparently Russians have words for everything!!  JEEZE.

Something about going to Turkey to swim in the coral reefs....and that I should enjoy my beautiful baby.  Then he left - didn't buy anything...just left.

Restaurant/Cafe Review: Arnold's

I was told by a friend that Arnold's is THE place for donuts.  There's no better donut in Finland than from Arnold's, which is a little cafe located in the Jyv�skyl� mall with H&M in it.
Well, I've only had a fruit smoothie there before and during our tour of Turku and Sweden - we stopped at an Arnold's in Turku and each of us got a bagel sandwich with a donut and a drink for lunch.  The total for two was a little over 15� (which is very reasonable!) and the meal was filling.
My husband had the Chicken & Bacon, while I opted for BBQ Chicken.  Surprisingly the BBQ Chicken came with jalape�os (not too spicy) - and it was a DELIGHTFUL combination with the BBQ sauce! 

You have a choice of bagel (about 5-6 varieties) and the type of sandwich you get is already pre-loaded with ingredients on the list.  It was toasted and both came with a nice thin (but not wimpy-thin) layer of cream cheese and the ingredients accordingly.  My husband detests cream cheese but he seemed to enjoy his sandwich.
The donuts (or muffin if you pick that) are like a taste of Heaven.  They're incredibly light, barely greasy and so much cheaper if you order it with your sandwich (bage-wich?)...1�/drink and 1�/donut or muffin...as opposed to 2,80� for a single donut and a bit more for a muffin!  So - it was a great deal.

When we got home to Jyv�skyl�, my husband really wanted another Arnold's donut.  He went to the one in JKL to get another meal and being the brave man that he is - he ordered the exact same combo.  I asked if it was as good as the one in Turku - and he said, "The one in Turku was better.  But the donuts taste the same - which is good."
I was flabbergasted.  Well of course, the donuts would be the same...they're probably (but not confirmed) frozen then baked on the spot....the sandwiches...well why wouldn't they be the same?!
I had to investigate this myself.

This past Tuesday I had a knitting group night - and I usually try and eat beforehand...so I popped into Arnold's and ordered (being the braver person out of my husband and I) a Chicken & Bacon bagel sandwich with a MUFFIN and a pop (tea or coffee I think is another option for the same price).  I asked for pickles on my sandwich instead of tomatoes and that was easily done! :)
Here are your faults JKL Arnold's:

• Very thin (wimpy-thin) cream cheese layer on ONLY ONE � OF THE BAGEL!!!!!!!!!!
• Not toasted...this is a serious disappointment.

I love a toasted sandwich (I enjoy regular soft ones too)...but a toasted bagel sandwich is a bit of a must for me...and after experiencing Turku's sandwich and now JKL's....I wonder if it would be rude of me to ask for a toasted sandwich.

Oh and the muffin...that came in a box (yay no more squished muffins!), and while I didn't have time to eat it Tuesday night - it made a hearty and tasty breakfast the next morning.  I had a banana one with caramel drizzle on top.  It was delicious.

Sweden Part 1!

This is about my trip to Sweden via Turku from March 13-19th, 2011.


To get to Turku from Jyv�skyl� - we took a train that was an old one.  Unfortunately the one we had didn't have a family compartment (like a small room on the train with a door) like we did on the newer trains to Helsinki.  So! Of course the train is a very boring place to be for a 16-month old little boy...and with 5 teeth coming in at once - it was hard to contain the screams.
It takes about 3.5 hours to get there but with the various stops and people boarding and leaving - it took about 4.  Well shoot me now - is what I was thinking by the time 20 minutes passed.

FINALLY! We get to Turku and it's a bustling city.  It originally is the capital of Finland - then Helsinki took over in 1812 (Thank goodness for Wikipedia).
The population is approximately 175,000 (JKL only has about 80,000-100,000).
However, we didn't get off the train in the city center...nope.  We got off at the very end of the line....at the harbour!  Our hotel was a 5 minute walk (Seaport affiliated with the Best Western) and that hotel was in front of Viking Lines.  Where we would be taking our ferry boat to Sweden the next night.
NIGHT?  Why of course.  The ferry is 10 hours long thanks to all these little islands off the coast of Sweden that are in the way of a more direct route.  There's one that leaves early in the morning or one that goes over night.  We opted for over night as it guaranteed us some sleep prior to hiking around Stockholm.

Now before I go on about the awesomeness of the Viking Lines (hello buffet!)- let's get back to Turku.
Turku reminded us very much of Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Why? Because it had a huge harbour, lots of boats and the cold to the bone weather associated with living near a harbour.
Bonus of living in Turku?  Well if you are Swedish - all the street signs are labelled in Finnish on top and Swedish beneath.
The buses are a heck of a lot cheaper as well!  It's only 2,50� per person and if you have a child in a stroller....IT'S FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  In JKL - we pay 3� a pop, the ticket received is good for 1 hour and you still pay if you have a stroller.  Oh and the ticket on Turku buses are good for up to 2 hours!  BONUS!
As well, there's a bus on the outside near the rear entrance that you press and it opens the door for you.  So if there's a huge line up in the front - slip in through the back with your pram.
The #1 bus is the way to go as it takes you to downtown within 5-8 minutes (I haven't actually timed it but we tried to walk and it was quite far) or directly to the airport if you need to fly.

Now...the hotel.  The Seaport was a very spacious and nice place.  We got there pretty late in the evening, around 8:30pm and had had nothing to eat and didn't think of asking when their restaurant closed.  We were given a room very close to the reception desk (bonus as we had a sleeping child in a stroller and quite a bit of luggage).  We tried to walk downtown and didn't make it - so we walked back and the bar was still open around 10pm.  The kitchen - was not.  So we were stuck with starving or eating some chilled sandwiches and bottles of pop that came to over 15�.  We opted for the latter.
The breakfast buffet on the other hand was PHENOMENAL!
Here's what was included (if memory serves me correctly):

• Eggs (packaged stuff but not as bad as cadet camp stuff)
• toast and all the meats/cheese/veggies for a sandwich
• yoghurt and cereals and fruits for toppings
• porridge/oatmeal
• meat balls and mini sausages (like mini hot dogs)
• juice, coffee, tea, milk

Not too bad of a spread!!  V�in� himself ate about 3-4 hefty sized portions of eggs and a few meat balls and bread himself!

We did a lot of walking around Turku that day and found a nice market that sold wonderful kinds of things!  Like bear meat!  (Unfortunately on our way back we didn't have enough time to pop in and try and get any for our trip home)...
We didn't get to go into Turku's Castle as it was closed that day (of course).  And no Finns do not have a monarch.

**Please note because Turku is a city by the harbour - the sidewalks were quite icy (for mid-March remember) and bumpy...and parts were very thick with slush - so if you have a stroller with smaller plastic wheels and not the air-pumped ones...it can be difficult maneuvering around.**

Part 2 to come !! (Sorry this took so bloody long to get online).

Sweden Bound!

Hi Folks:

I won't be online for a week! Wahoo! Shrek-free, Farmville-free, Twitter and FB free....ah - it's like a real vacation.

I'll still have access to my emails for the occasional (and hopefully none) emergency.

We're travelling to Turku by train and then spending the night and next day there...then taking an overnight boat to Sweden (IT'S A 10-HOUR RIDE)....please send all your prayers that V�in� doesn't continue to teeth.  I haven't swam in a long time and don't want to (due to various angry other passengers going deaf with V�in�'s angry screams). :P

Cheers for now!

A Warm Kind of Rejection

Last night at my knitting group I was making pot holders.  I know! It was so exciting being able to work a pattern easily - that the day before - I could not do at all.
But that's not the point.  The pot holders didn't reject me.

One of the ladies was knitting beautiful white and light blue mittens.  Then we got talking about engagements as her daughter was recently proposed to and another lady's son proposed as well.
Well, this is the fun part.
The one knitting mittens explained that if a man proposes to a girl and she says "YES" - fine they're engaged and get married.

(Cue "creepy-what-happens-if-she-says-no??" music)...

But if the girl should say "No"....she'll gift the poor lad with a pair of mittens.

The running joke here?  Well, she was knitting mittens for her future son-in-law (and yes the daughter did say yes!) somewhat of a joke because he did not ask the mother of the bride  for her daughter's hand in marriage! (She's doing it as a joke and using a pattern traditional to where he is from in Finland).
Although, I did confirm that many young men no longer ask the father (or mother in this case) of the bride for their daughter's hand in marriage.  The die-hard traditional romantic ones still do.

Anyways - the point of this story is...be prepared for a warm kind of rejection if you pop the question to a Finnish girl.

First Signs of Spring

Some of the first signs of spring in Finland is the increase in temperature...the sun is higher and warmer...there is more day light throughout the day (yay for not being pitch-black by 3pm!) and the ice cream truck cruises around.

Another sign is the 1st of March!  According to the Finns I was knitting with on Tuesday, the 1st of March is considered the first day of Spring.  Regardless of the fact that there may be still frozen lakes, piles of snow and trucks still shipping out snow to somewhere...
Because their spring and summer is quite short - Finns embrace the on-coming of spring full on.

Oh and something I never noticed on the 1st of March was the sweet sound of birds chirping!  That's a "sure sign" of Spring arriving.

The 1st of March & Sports related things...

The 1st of March was yesterday and I had the lovely oppourtunity to hang out with some friends (meet new people) and knit.

First of all, I asked if Finns have a term similar to "In like a lion, out like a lamb" (or vice verca) and they do not. The similar one for them (although nobody could confirm the actual timing) was something about snow on the roof by spring time meant a cold summer by June...or no snow on the roof by spring meant a hot summer by June.  Something like that.

For those of you that never heard of this....we have a saying "In like a lion (on the 1st of March if the weather is bad), then it'll be out out like a lamb (by the end of the month the weather will be great)".  Or vice verca.
I always tried as a child to remember whether it was actually "correct" in a sense but always ended up forgetting.


Now in sports! I rarely discuss sports as I am not an avid sports fan, however, last night was a big night for Finns because they are BACK on the map! (Not that they ever left the map...thanks to this blog, many others and Conan O'Brien.)
Finland is very proud (in a modest way) of Matti Heikkinen as he won the World Championship for men's cross country skiing.
I had a difficult time finding this bit of information on CBC's new site and actually had to do a few searches because it wasn't a "big deal".  Perhaps if an American or Canadian won....then there'd be a different tune?
As well, cross country skiing isn't as big of a deal in Canada (they do ski) compared to hockey.
I was lucky enough to be with my knitting group last night and see this Matti fellow do some interviews and for someone that JUST WON THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - he was a very traditional Finnish man.
How so?  He was very serious looking at some parts, not jumping around and having a super huge 5-miles-wide smile like the 2 Norweigans that landed 2nd and 3rd....just very calm.  Like it was a training session, except you know, it's the WORLD Championships and his first win in this category.


Well, I am very proud to live in Finland and witness a wonderful moment in history, especially since (if you've read the article), Finland's been sort of on the back burner for cross-country skiing due to 6 team members testing positive for drugs/ "banned substances" back in 2001.  So 10 years of drama and suspicion is finally put to rest now that a Finn won fairly.

And maybe if I pay attention, I'll be able to meet him in person (as oppose to walking past him - which I'm sure everybody has done as he's so quiet) and possibly get an autograph!