6 Fingers & 2 Thumbs

Today is the 27th of December and for many that means waiting in massive line ups for all the wonderful Boxing Day sales (Boxing Day is the 26th of December and way-back-when rich people would box up their gifts they did not like and give them to their servants/hired help) and returning the gifts they didn't like or had duplicates of already.
Today my family got to hang out for a few hours at the police station so we could renew our residence permits (3/4 of us) and apply for a Finnish ID card for the husband so he can get a loan here.
After a lengthy wait and once my husband was finished his share of the process - it was just me and the officer in a cozy office getting my share of the paper work completed.

What's new this year is that the Finnish Residence Permits are no longer pieces of paper with your photo and  some info on it glued into your passport.
This time the Finns are going all high-tech!
The Finnish R.P. look like an ID card of sorts (we won't get ours for awhile so I'm sorry I can't describe it properly) but is not an official piece of identification.  It's merely a permit saying yep we live in Finland.
In this RP there is a microchip and that contains a copy of our finger prints and our signature along with other stuff I'm sure.

A child under the age of 6 does not have to have their finger prints taken.  (Thank goodness!)

And it's all digital....there's no more ink and paper and rolling your fingers this way and that on the ink pad.
Your prints will be taken from both hands - right hand first and beginning with the thumb and each finger is printed twice (you lift your finger between prints) to "ensure quality prints" for their records.
Now because it is winter time and I am TERRIBLE at moisturizing my hands - the scanner was not able to pick up some of my prints.  So I had to rub my fingers onto my skin to get some oil to help make the print clearer.
Good thing I had an apple and lots of peanut butter for breakfast at least 5 hours prior (and nothing else since)...my face was a little oily...not that you care or needed to know that!

Oh!  You're wondering why my title is "6 Fingers & 2 Thumbs"?
My pinky fingers couldn't leave a print because they were "too small".  Alright - not sure if he'll put on my file "She has small baby fingers - no prints available...but she DOES have all 10 digits!" or not - but I found it amusing but didn't ask if he felt the same.

Oh and some friends of ours had to fly to Ottawa to access this machine to get their RPs before moving here - because Ottawa had the only Finnish Embassy that contained a digital finger print scanner...GO CANADA!

Then came the interesting part.

It turns out that my oldest son's RP had expired back in September.  Why it was a different date than ours - I don't know.  Ours typically expired in August but because of this new system - we were advised they would extend the date on our RPs and we had to renew it before 2013 and that we could renew the child's at the same time.  So maybe they didn't extend his??
I apologized profusely and said that I thought we could renew the 3 RPs at the same time and that our expiry dates were all the same - oops - seriously.  That and the lady that we normally dealt with was in the next room - I didn't want to point fingers and play the blame-game...anyways...
He informed me that this was illegal but because he is an under-aged child (he's 3-years old) there won't be any fines.
I advised him that if it was such an issue to be a little late on a RP renewal - why weren't we contacted??
"Well, we don't send notices like that."
"Obviously a 3-year old is not a major threat if his residence permit application wasn't submitted on time and nobody contacted us about it..." - was my grouchy thought...
BUT!  I have received notices - FROM THE POLICE/IMMIGRATION SERVICES in the past - when a residence permit was due for renewal or past due because we were waiting on a proof of contract renewal etc.
Interesting!

THEN!  I realized that the youngest one doesn't have a RP in his passport because we only applied for it in October and it was the first one for him - so it's still being processed in Helsinki at the Immigration's office there.  I informed Mr. Officer this and he asked if we had been in contact with the Immigration's Office - I advised him no, they're probably waiting to see proof of us getting our RPs renewed before they send it back to us or finish the process.
NOW I'm looking like a sneaky suspect because it sounds JUST like something that would happen in Finland and because I sound calm yet like I have experience.  I mentioned that it had happened in the past with our first son - so that is probably what's happening.
And why would the Immigration's Office contact us about submitting OUR RP applications when they/the Police cannot contact us inquiring about an expired "under-aged child's" residence permit??? HMMMMMMMMM!

After showing his paper work to a colleague and coming back to see if I still had that "WTF" look on my face - he then decided to play good cop and ask me why I gave my boys Finnish names...and if my Canadian friends/family can pronounce them....

And there you have it.  My first taste of illegal activity in Finland.

MANTELE!

"Oooh a new post - and it's technically Christmas DAY in Finland...I wonder what is going on..."

Why thanks for your worries!  I assure you all is well - some gifts are wrapped, stockings are stuffed and hung on the book shelves with care, the dogs are sleeping and the kids are dreaming about sugar plum fairies (HIGHLY doubt it - but you know...).

I've mentioned before several times (it IS my 4th Christmas here now - WOW!) that Santa comes from Lapland, Finland (according to the Finns)...he sings and gives gifts to the kids when they're awake on Christmas Eve...the big dinner is usually on the 24th...and you relax and enjoy a bowl of hot rice porridge on Christmas Day morning.
What goes in the rice porridge?  Kaneli usually - ah ha!  I DO know some Finnish (if I could double/triple underline I would)!! Kaneli = cinnamon by the way.  Of course rice porridge smarty pants!
And a single mantele.

At first glance - it probably means nothing to you if you don't know Finnish.
At second glance - you might have thought I was swearing - given the capitalized title...
By third glance - you don't care and know I will tell you what it means in a moment....

Anyways a mantele - is an almond.  (Some Finns know it as manteli...but Google Translate say both spellings are acceptable...and the dictionary says it should be manteli...GOOGLE TRANSLATE - get your act together!)

As per Finnish tradition - a single almond is placed in a pot of rice porridge and whoever scoops that up and gets it in their bowl will be VERY lucky and have good fortune in the new year!
I only learned about this tidbit recently as I had my first bowl of Christmas rice porridge at a pikkujoulu ("[Little]Christmas Party") I attended.

I have never personally cooked it before as it can be quite time consuming and burns easily if not attended to - and with two mobile children and a husband that probably won't eat it either - it'd be a waste of time and ingredients.
Maybe next year...

Anyways, Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas/Hyv�� joulua to all!

Bullying.

All around the world people are being bullied.
It's not nice and it's usually over petty things like:

• Weight and size
• Accents and pronunciations of difficult words in another language
• Fashion sense or clothing worn
• Sexual preferences
• Being smart or deemed not being smart at all
• Financial status
• Race

The list goes on as you know, but one new "trend" going on here in Finland is making fun of children for wearing REFLECTORS to school.

Finland gets really dark in the winter time - to the point that the sun doesn't come out until about 9-10 am (depends where you are located) and is gone between 2 and 4 pm. 

It is SUPER important to wear a reflector when outside because it's very hard for drivers to see you - let alone anyone else - bikers etc.

Perhaps it's because of the shape of them can be deemed "baby-ish" like shapes of rubber ducks or hearts or ghosts...but the point of them is to be seen so you don't get hit by a car, bus or anything else that can hurt you.

The police of Finland are noticing a growing trend with bullying about wearing reflectors in school and children are starting to not wear them and becoming higher risk of getting hit by cars.

Here's the article in Finnish.

Of ALL things to be made fun of...

A Great Act of Kindness

Someone had commented recently that I haven't been posting a lot of happy things on my blog lately.
I thought that me writing about every time someone held the door open for me while I pushed a double stroller would get old - so I haven't written about much lately.  You're right.

But today, I experienced a wonderful act of kindness and thought I would share.

After the whole husband travelling to Helsinki (en route to Istanbul) to find out that he was lacking his passport - he finally got a new ticket last night and left before midnight to take the late night bus to Helsinki.  YES he has his Passport - I acted like an officer from a border crossing point and refused to let him out of the flat until he showed me he had it and that it was his - and not mine or the kids' in error...

One child kept me up from 1:30 am-4 am...he confirmed that I was not Daddy and neither was his baby brother.
Baby brother is teething like mad and decided waking up every 20-30 minutes all night was totally acceptable (I know he can't help it and he had a flu shot too!) and a very cool thing to do..despite pain relievers given!
So I barely slept...at this point of the day - my husband should be extremely grateful that he's in another country.
I rushed my kids out the door in an attempt to be at day care for 9am.  We got there about 9:15 - which is a record...really.
The speech therapist was there and I didn't know if she was coming or not - so my lip started to tremble because I HATE being late for appointments.
*Insert awkward break down in front of the therapist and assistant involving coughing, a leaky nose and too many tears and puffy eyes...May I also note that I was wearing 2 totally different socks and looked like a slob because I thought I was JUST dropping him off...*
I toughed it out and stayed for the therapy appointment and my youngest got to sit in his stroller and watch the other kids play outside - wow thanks so much teachers!!
After some errands, the little guy finally napped so I was able to pop some laundry in the wash (3 loads!!) and do a load of dishes too (3 of those too!).

I made it my ULTIMATE goal today to be there for 3 pm to pick up the older one and I did it.
I was there by 2:57 pm - WAHOO!  (Another record since we've moved and since the snow has stayed on the ground...)
And guess what?  They were dressing him for me so that way it saved me 15 minutes...I was in awe and thanked them a lot and they said they can do this for us while hubby is gone if it helps.
IT SURE DOES!
Then they suggested keeping him from 9 am - 4 pm so I don't have to rush around to be there on time and I could maybe have a nap myself they suggested...wow.
I was stunned...this was fantastic news.
Why?

The kids go out again to play after 3 pm and stay out until 4 (if it's not too cold out)...so over the next couple of days I will be able to save more time and just leave with him already dressed and ready to leave day care.

Words cannot express how much this means to me and I cannot recommend Kortesuo P�iv�koti enough!!
They knew I was in a tricky position having two children (one Autistic and one that can walk - but not in his snow suit and boots) - neither of which can dress themselves or do a lot for themselves...and a dog that needed his share of attention and exercise.
I'm deeply touched by their massive act of kindness and I know it's not easy to re-arrange everyone's schedule so there are enough teachers to dress the 10-13 little kids in a group and make sure they're layered enough and pottied before they get dressed - just so one parent out of at least 25 doesn't go insane.

Paljon kiitos.  Paljon kiitoksia (MANY thanks!)
*Correction made over a year later thanks to a comment below.  Still learning Finnish...please don't shoot me! :)

Angry Birds Are From Finland - Drunk Birds Too...

Today was an eventful day - one I will never forget.
I swear I am not pregnant, didn't secretly deliver a baby whale, didn't surprise anyone in Canada with a "I'm here on your door step ringing your bell while calling you from my Finnish phone" and I did not attend a Finnish wedding or a funeral.

Why was it eventful?
Today is the 11th of December and my husband was going to Helsinki then to Istanbul (Turkey) to attend a conference in which he will be presenting a paper that he slaved over for the better part of a week.
It's a 5-day trip due to the once-a-day flights out of Helsinki (direct) to Istanbul.

I was prepared.
I had a back-up plan for the dogs in case one friend couldn't take both - one other friend could take a pooch.
I had bought enough food for the week for my friends who were helping me out with the kids at night so I could cook supper and actually eat 1 decent meal a day...and take the other dog out.
I even had "Don't lose your sh*t/Cheaper than a therapist food" - which helps to keep me calm when hubby is away...you know what I mean.  When you count to 10 because your kids are driving you insane and you sneak off and take a sip of your flask or in my case - a trip to the pantry to nibble on chocolate or a scoop of ice-cream...or chug a glass of Pepsi for that extra kick to keep going.
My oldest would be in day care in the day time so it was just a matter of getting the dog out for a long walk while the little one napped in his stroller...
I was SO prepared.

What I was not prepared for was my husband advising me that his passport was missing and if I could check all his usual spots for putting important documents...and then go into storage and look into the coats and blazers stored away...and then go back and check this spot and that.
I was fuming because our everyday record of being late dropping our son off at day-care was about to be broken by ME!...ah well - tomorrow I'll try and surprise the pants off of them by showing up by 9...

So, I ended up doing my errands (one kid at day care, the other gets their flu vaccine) and asked where Tim was on his return trip...he advised me he'd be back soon.
We ended up all going home together and on our walk back home I noticed a ball of grey on the side of the path - which is all downhill by the way.  PERFECT for sledding, slipping, biking, falling on my butt - you know - perfect for fast transportation.
I walked over to this ball of grey and discovered it was a bird who didn't flinch at all when I went up close to it.
After dropping off the little guy and the husband, I rushed out with a piece of bread and my camera.
(Still have to upgrade my photo storage then I can post photos I took of the little bird.)
I decided to pick up the bird and try to get it to eat food from our yard...no luck.

So I didn't want the poor thing to freeze to death - so I got a shoe box, lined it with an old receiving blanket, plopped the bird in with some bread and a small lid of water...and left it on my balcony.  It wasn't showing any signs of flying or even chirping...so I felt confident I could pick it up without losing an eye.
I posted the photos on my Facebook and discovered from a friend that it was a "Bohemian Waxwing" - related to the Cedar Waxwing but anyway.

After chatting with a friend - he advised me that these birds eat a lot of red berries hanging off of trees.
Okay - well, they have to eat something because they eat insects in the summer...so that Wikipedia link tells me.
And apparently those red berries act as an alcohol when too many are eaten...or they are turned into alcohol somehow in their system.  (I'm not a scientist - just a blogger...)

You getting what I'm trying to say?
I "saved" a drunk bird and let him get over his hang-over on my balcony in a nice little shoe box with bread and water and a towel to block the wind...
He left me a message in the snow too - some foot prints that were definitely NOT in a straight line.
And no bird poop!  I call that success!

(In Finnish they're known as Tilhi - which means "Waxwing").

How To Survive Winter and Things To Do!

I try and blog about this every year for those that are new to my blog and I hope this provides some useful information!
If you've never seen snow before - well, people in Helsinki are (supposedly) expecting 50 centimeters of the white stuff relatively soon...
This year (similar to last year too) the snow has been slow getting here and staying on the ground.
So I am enjoying it as much as possible - although snow helps to brighten up the darkness and it's fun!
(Also it makes it a lot easier to spot and avoid dog mess when playing in the snow...)

SO!

How to survive winter and the darkness of Finland...

• Wear safety reflective vests, reflective bands, clothing and dangling reflectors ALL over!  Well, you don't have to blind anyone but definitely at least 1 on each side of your body!  Especially if you are walking a lot and crossing the road - it's not easy to see the other side of you from a driver's point of view!!  Many roads are poorly lit and many pedestrians like wearing black for some reason here (yes it goes with everything and blends into the darkness and is a slimming "colour" or shade...but you won't be thinking that if you end up in the hospital!).   And it's not just cars you have to worry about but cyclists as well that ride on designated bike paths or on the side walk.
• If you have a vehicle - it would be smart to pack a couple safety reflective vests in the trunk - should you need to pull over and check something under the hood.
• And you should probably pack a shovel in the trunk too - in case your car gets plowed in with snow!
• If you're walking a dog - please put some sort of light on them or reflective coat too...
• Wear a head lamp or have a good lamp on your bike! It's hard for YOU as a cyclist to see where you are going on a dark road - let alone for pedestrians and other cyclists to see you too.  A non-blinking lamp is probably best so you don't give someone a migraine or a seizure...
• Wear LAYERS!!!  Layers are necessary once the temperature begins to drop and depending where in Finland you live - the more Northern you live - or near the coasts - the more necessary layers become!  Aim for relatively light-weight layers so you are not instantly sweating by the time you are tying your boots!  This also helps you to move comfortably too.
• Here's some information about frost bites and hypothermia!
• Take your VITAMIN D!  Without a lot of sunlight - you'll be feeling extra sleepy and this can help perk you up a bit!  Or you can get one of those special lamps that radiate vitamin D and fake sunshine to get you going in the morning.
• Get MOVING! No, don't pack up your belongings...but just get outside and enjoy the weather as much as possible and the fresh air too!  It can be sad and lonely indoors - so definitely invite your friends over or meet up for coffee somewhere - just for the sake of having a social life outside of the internet or cell phone world.  
• Sign up for some courses like Zumba, yoga or Tai-chi!  Or perhaps go rock-climbing (indoors), play sports or join a craft group or reading circle!
• Pick up a new hobby or new project involving a hobby you're already familiar and interested in!  (I.e. Ravelry is fantastic for knitting and crocheting patterns...)
• Volunteer!
• Keep warm!  Yes that was hinted with the "Wear LAYERS!!!" above - but even indoors - keep warm.  Some flats and old homes can be quite drafty so definitely wear some layers at home if necessary, drink lots of hot beverages (i.e. coffee, tea, hot chocolate - or do you call it cocoa?) and become BFs with your sauna.  
• Remember, some Finns are hardcore sauna fans and they'll not only roll in the snow once they're hot enough but they might even take a dip in the freezing nearby lake.
• "BF" means best friend not 'boy friend' in this case.
• Wear sunscreen on sunny days! Many people have been fooled by the idea that they cannot get a sun burn on any exposed skin during a cloudy day but that is not true.  If you plan on going out for a long period of time - you may want to dig in your summer bag for a blob of sunscreen just to be safe.  The sun does peek out a bit in the winter and it is possible to get a burn...combined with dry air (if you live in a dry area of Finland) - the results are not pretty!
• MOISTURIZE!!  I live in Central Finland which is nice and dry - if you do too - you'll definitely want to moisturize your skin - body lotions, lip balm and so on - so your skin doesn't crack.  Trust me - it hurts like a you know what!

Things to do during a Finnish Winter...

• Ski - down hills or cross-country!
• Skate - or play ice-hockey!
• Craft - knit, sew, crochet, make cards, scrapbook, pottery, carpentry, weave...
• Travel - you'd probably want to go somewhere warmer for a bit - or travel to Lapland for the Northern Lights...or perhaps to Santa's Village?
• Study!  Sorry I reminded you...
• Work...sorry I reminded you about that too.
• Do a polar dip after sauna (then run like crazy back into the sauna!)...
• Bake and cook popular holiday goodies!
• Read or write....
• Take photos or write a blog about your life in Finland!
• Join Postcrossing!  (I am not an employee or volunteer - just a member and love it thoroughly).
• Have movie marathons with friends...
• Learn Finnish!
• Thaw out and clean your freezer and fridge!  Your food can go on the balcony which should be cold enough!!
• Stock up on ice-cream - this is a prime time if you don't have a car and have to walk quite a bit to get home!
• Drink gl�gi...sorry egg nog is not sold here.
• Make snow angels, build snow people, have a snow ball fight...
• Shovel snow or pump up the snow blower!
• Sleep?

PostCrossing Meet Ups!

I am super new to Postcrossing but am becoming quite addicted to hunting around for post cards these days!
Especially this past weekend, there was a vendor at Paviljonki Christmas Exhibition selling them for 30 cents a piece!! Which is way cheaper than 1� each at the book shop downtown...although none of them were of Jyv�skyl� specifically - anyways!

So I've also recently discovered that there are gatherings of people involved with PC in various countries...so I dug around and perhaps you are interested in when your city PC members are meeting up!
You can find a list of countries here then once you click on the country you live in - then you can find your city and find out when the next meeting is!
The next Jyv�skyl� meeting is listed here.  It'll be held at the post card/stationary shop Harjun Paperilla on December 15th at 4:30pm.
I wish I could go but unfortunately I'm booked that week with the kids!
I'm definitely looking forward to going in the future!!!