Fig-a-no.

Recently I went on a date with my husband, which was fantastic as we haven't had a date in ages.  By ages, I mean at least 6 months.
It's not easy finding someone that is able to care for our children but we lucked out with a couple of friends and happily rushed to downtown to eat somewhere.
In previous years, we've gone to Harald - the Viking-style restaurant.  But since Tim has been to a few other restaurants with work-related meetings, he thought we could try something new.
We had looked online at some different places and opted to go to Figaro.

Figaro is fancy and fairly high in price but we figured an anniversary date/valentine's date/my birthday dinner all in one - justified a fancy place...that and a date for the first time in over 6 months - yep let's go!

We were greeted by servers dressed in black and advised them that we do not have a reservation.  They quickly found us a table, we were handed large black (single-sided) menus, served water and after a few short minutes took our order.
We started with the "Overcooked Lamb Shank with Allspice Ice Cream".  I advised the waitress that we could share this and she nodded and left with our order of Grilled Wild Boar and Beef � La Figaro.  We also ordered two glasses of wine and decided we would have our wine with our meal.
The waitress must have misunderstood because she showed up with two identical appetizers.  Of course the food could fit into my hand, the portion was so petite and the plate was rectangular and large.  Go figure - fancy food.
We didn't say anything about the mistake in ordering once we realized how small the portion was.  There was a TINY piece of lamb, a small brick the size of my pinky finger, a tiny blob of mustard, a bit of greens, a slice of a tortilla and a small scoop of this Allspice Ice Cream.  I honestly had no idea what to expect with this ice-cream and when you hear the word "ice-cream" you usually think of something sweet.  It looked like chocolate..with black specks...that's right - pepper.  And it tasted different - like spicy and soya sauce or Worcestershire sauce mixed in there...you really couldn't taste anything "dairy".  A very odd combination and not something I would eat again - and I'm pretty open to trying new things!

After we were served our meals, I decided to wait a couple minutes to see if our wine would arrive.  Tim began eating his meal right away and suggested I do the same before it got cold.  We ate our delicious food and I noticed that the wine probably won't be arriving any time soon, despite the fact that our waitress was still working and our table was beside the bar.
When we were more than half-finished with our meals, we managed to get a different server's attention and asked if we could have our wine that we had ordered.  He was surprised that we had ordered wine and immediately got us our glasses.
The server never asked us how our food was during our meal - which I figured would have been a good idea and a good oppourtunity to see if we needed anything - like our wine...
And the female waitress that we had at the beginning no longer served us after we got our main course - I'm not quite sure why because our table location never changed and she was still working the other tables - so who knows.  Perhaps she was a hostess but she didn't wear anything that distinguished her as different than a waiter(ess).

Oh right, the food - so Tim said the wild boar platter was really tasty and he seemed very happy with it all.  I thought it looked kind of plain sitting on a top of a puddle of sauce but he was super happy about it so I'm glad!
My steak was cooked perfectly medium, the bacon was nice and smokey and the jalapenos really complimented the steak, bacon and aioli.  The potatoes were fantastic and had a strong garlic flavour - so if you order this dish, make sure you have some gum or a mint afterwards!
And the Italian wine that went with the meal was fantastic and much easier to drink with the food!! (I'm not a huge wine drinker and can't have wine without food...)

So in short?  Figaro's food is impressive but the service is lacking.  I'm not sure if it was because we didn't dress to the nine's for our date or because we weren't much older than our first server that she decided to ignore us (not looking in our direction either)...but take it for what it's worth.  And yes, there were people dressed more casually than us - more suitable for a house party or club...but anyways!
If you don't care about excellent customer service during your meal but you care about fancy, expensive food of (slightly) odd combinations - definitely try Figaro.

Oh and another example of Figaro's poor service (based on a friend's experience) - my friend went there for a Christmas work party one year and they had pre-ordered their food, had a reservation and so on -  and when they arrived, nothing was available except water for at least an hour.  Then they were asked what they would like to drink, alcohol-wise, and then the food arrived almost 2 hours after they arrived.  My friend was quite disappointed by the whole experience and I can't blame her!

Next date night will be held elsewhere...same with next anniversary date night too.
Sorry Figaro - but it was more of a Fig-a-no.

Yet Another Restaurant Day!

Yesterday was Restaurant Day (Feb.17th) or in Finnish - 'Ravintola P�iv��.'
The point of Restaurant Day is to sell food of your making or to experience little pop-up caf�s/restaurants for 1 day.  Restaurant Day occurs four times a year and I think it's a great way for people to share food from their culture - especially if they are foreigners!  In a small city like Jyv�skyl� (compared to Helsinki or Tampere), the amount of foreign food is very limited at restaurants and we do not have a North American-style bakery!  

Yesterday was my "one-year anniversary" of selling for Restaurant Day as "Hooked On Sweets" and I hosted it outside for the first time.  Normally I set up my shop in a yarn store (permission required) called Poppeli.  

But recently Restaurant Day has been alternating between Saturdays and Sundays and because yesterday was a Sunday - Poppeli was closed!

What was I going to do?!

Well, I decided to set up on a long red bench located in downtown Jyv�skyl�!  There was no permission required and the police didn't swing by until the last 10 minutes of my selling!   They sat a few meters away facing me in their super-obvious-it's-a-ghost-vehicle (aka solid grey and same shape as their vans) and didn't leave until I did!

I drew a sign clearly stating that it was Restaurant Day and people have been very welcoming of me selling at a downtown location.

I offered take-away only - although the bench was so long, anyone could have sat there to enjoy their goodies!  However, sitting on a metal bench during a windy February day might not be ideal!

I get asked a lot of questions during my times of selling and they're all pretty good questions, that you as a foreigner probably experience all the time!

1. How long have you lived in Finland for?
2. Why do you live in Finland?
3. What part of Canada are you from?
4. Did you bake this all yourself?
5. Do you make any profit off of this?
6. How do I set up a caf� myself?
7. I bought ___ pieces - can I have some thing for free?

1-3.  I've lived in Finland for 4 years and moved here because my husband is studying to do his phD here (also a Canadian).  We're from Nova Scotia - home of Ellen Page (actress - Juno and Inception) and Sidney Crosby (a hockey player that no Finn seems to know of but is supposed to be the next Gretzky), the blueberry capital of Canada, home of Jost Winery and we have a lot of humidity too.

4.  Yes I baked everything myself - I take about 2 days to bake everything and try to make it as fresh as possible for Restaurant Day.

5.  It is possible to make profit depending on what your prices are like.  As a stay-at-home mother currently, waiting to study Finnish intensively, this is my only source of income that I can make independently.  I also think that asking if profit and how much of it is being made is quite intrusive because it's really no different than asking, "How much do you make?"  It's not something I would ask another person - let alone a pop-up-caf� owner.  Then again, curiosity killed the cat...

6.  You can set up a caf� yourself once every 3 months and you must register on the Restaurant Day site (listed below) in advance.  I strongly encourage it because it's a great way to educate others about food from your country and if there aren't any regular businesses that sell food from your country - it's a great way to see if there is potential to open a business some day!!

7.  I don't know why this is becoming a common trend and the people asking me this have been Finns.  I don't think it's fair to ask for free food because this certainly would not work at a restaurant or any shop..."Can I have a free pair of sneakers since I bought a pair and some socks for my kids?"  Yep, sounds ridiculous as you asking me (or any other Restauranteur) for free food because you chose to buy X-amount of food.  Not that I do not appreciate your business - but I certainly don't enjoy being asked for my hard work to be given away.

One thing that was pointed out to me several times by customers - both new and regular visitors to Hooked On Sweets - was that there were not many restaurants set up yesterday in Jyv�skyl�.  And there wasn't - perhaps because of the colder weather or because it was on a Sunday - I'm not sure why.  In fact, there were two places that were registered that were already restaurants/caf�s prior to Restaurant Day.

Yes, they were promoting new foods or discounts for the special day but a lot of comments received from my customers were that it was not fair to the one-day restaurants that were open because they are open everyday of the week (minimum five days) and Restaurant Day is not like that at all.

Looking at the Restaurant Day map now, the day after, those two registered businesses are no longer listed on the map even though the other pop-up caf�s are.

As long as you respect the property you're selling from and clean up after yourself - it's pretty much a green light to sell anywhere.

For more information and rules - check out Restaurant Day's site.  They are also listed on Facebook but you register yourself via the website.

So take advantage of this oppourtunity, have fun and share your culture and love of food!!

Restaurant Day! :)

Tomorrow is Restaurant Day and I will be set up in downtown Jyv�skyl� between Sokos and Forum.  There is a long red bench if you start walking down the hill towards the bus stops and I'll be there from 12 pm-4 pm.

Here's my menu and prices.

How To Pick-Up Your Child From Day-Care...(Version 2.0)

Do you remember when your parents picked you up from day-care (or the sitter's) and all they had to do was sign a chart with their name and time they took you out for the day?  (By take you out - I mean you went home, ate supper, played a bit then went to bed).
Or perhaps they just went up to the teacher and said, "Hi Mrs. George - how are things?  Oh that's wonderful that Alice used the potty today and didn't have any accidents.  Of course we'll see you tomorrow (or Monday) - you take care now!"  Or something like that...
Maybe you have children and you use one of the above methods to take them home from day care.

Well, guess what?  That is SO old school and now known as "Version 1.0 - How to Pick-Up Your Child From Day-Care".

Finland is moving on and up to Version 2.0.
I recently went to day-care to pick up my oldest and they asked me if I had a "takki" (sounded like).
I quickly ran through my Finnish in my head and pointed to my coat and said, "Yes - I have my coat.  Why?"
The teacher shook her head and one of the parents passing by pulled out his keys and there hanging off of them was a dark blue key fob ("electronic key").
I was so confused.

Apparently the Finnish day-care systems are putting this NFC ("Near Field Communication" ?) system on trial and testing things out.
It will become permanent effective April 1st, 2013.

You have to find your child's teacher that's carrying the smart phone with the tag's sensor and press your tag twice onto the phone.  Then your child is removed from the group's attendance for the day.

WHY?

There are multiple reasons and they were confirmed by the teacher I spoke with yesterday:

1. It's not easy to keep track of multiple children leaving at the same time (assuming the parents are on time picking them up).
2. The day-care wants to bill you exact hours for services used so you don't pay too much or too little based on when your child leaves.
3. The day-care can then get more children in each groups and accommodate them with the appropriate amount of staff if they have a record-keeper of how many kids were at day care and when they left.

You only need to check your child OUT with your fob device.

Which hardly seems like the best way to keep track of exact hours used or how many staff members are required for certain times of the day if children arrive late (like mine will today) or show up early.

More than one child in the same day care group?  They'll just add them to the same electronic key!  I'm not sure if there is a limit with how many children you can put onto the same key...but ask your children's teacher if you have any questions about this new system.

Day-cares in Jyv�skyl� and Oulu have this system in place so far and it will possibly spread throughout all of Finland before April 1st.
Currently it's on a trial run so they can get any kinks and problems out before it's a permanent way to pick your child up from day-care.

Don't forget - press it twice.

Hyv�� yst�v�np�iv��! (Happy Friendship Day!)

As you probably know by now, Finns do not celebrate Valentine's Day the way many other cultures do like North America for example - roses, romantic dinners, perhaps a proposal, special treatment and CHOCOLATES....
No they don't. It's all about the friends and perhaps sending them a little post card or candy. :)

For more history on the big ol' V-Day, check out this site.

Do you celebrate Valentine's Day?  Or do you celebrate it everyday by showing the people you love and care for them regardless of the "holiday"?
Or do you hate it altogether and cannot wait for tomorrow - the day that all the candies, chocolates and flowers go on sale?

Ch-Finn-glish.

Yesterday had to be one of the most weirdest days since living here.
How weird?

I was in a grocery store dining area, located on the bottom floor of Sokos - having some sushi (don't waste your money - it's not all that great...and yes, I was desperate) and my youngest guy was happily snacking on some Karelian pies and bananas.
An older lady with her bags and walking sticks stopped by and I thought she wanted to coo at the little man - which happens a lot - and instead she asked me if I understood: "___insert some Mandarin in here while gesturing at your food___".
I had no idea what she was talking about and told her so.
"I'm sorry -  I don't understand," I said politely.
Well, I apparently committed a hate-crime against myself and all Asians around the world because I did not understand her very nicely spoken and accented Chinese speech.
"You don't speak Chinese?!" - lady is slightly upset...
"No, I'm sorry I don't." -me
"You're from China aren't you?" - her
"No, actually I'm not.  I'm from Canada." - me
"WHAT?!"
"Canada..." me - with a mouthful of sushi then repeating myself after I managed to choke that piece down.
"So... not China?" - her
"Nope.  I'm Canadian." -me
"Ohhh" - and she hobbles away quickly.

I think she was embarrassed because she spoke Chinese to someone who LOOKS like they should understand her and then maybe slightly confused by how Canadians can look Asian.
Who knows.  But I felt like I was being interrogated and accused of lying about being Canadian...
Oh and she was Finnish.

Then to add to this already strange day - a few minutes later while waiting for the bus - an Asian lady sat beside me...and kept looking at me while I was looking across the road, or at my son, or anywhere but in her direction.
I tend to have bad luck when Asians stare at me and I actually start a conversation with them here in Jyv�skyl�...
So she finally got the guts and asked me about the baby in Finnish.  I did some quick thinking and counting and managed to give his age in Finn-glish and explained that I have a double stroller because my oldest is in day-care (also in Finn-glish)....
She must not have picked up on the English part of the "Finn-glish" because she continued to chit chat to me and I am super happy to say that I UNDERSTOOD her!
She then asked where I lived but I didn't know the word "asun".  So I pulled out my Finnish/English dictionary from my back pack and she saw the cover and said, "OHH puhun englantia?"
"Joo.  Puhun englantia ja v�h�n suomea!" I said proudly!  (Yes, I speak English and a little Finnish).
Then she just ranted like wild about the Finnish learning program and I just smirked at appropriate places, smiled at semi-appropriate places and nodded my head a lot and said "Joo...niin." (Yes...indeed.)
Thankfully my bus came by 2 minutes after all this because the Finns standing around us were starting to get a little offended by her loud whisper-bashing of the Finnish language/culture.

And finally...I had to change my dentist appointment since hubby had a Finnish lesson himself during that time and when I spoke with the receptionist after greeting her, I asked if she spoke English (in English).
"No." - clear and for sure...
"Oh well, I can't come to my appointment today - can I change it to next week?" - me.  Yes it seems silly but I didn't know how to say any of that in Finnish...or in Finn-glish.
"Yes, what's your name?"
So after a couple minutes - my appointment has now been bumped to next week some time.
But she didn't speak English...

That Red Head...

For as long as I've been living in Jyv�skyl�, anytime I told a woman that I am from Canada, their first question was:  "Did you live near Anne of Green Gables?"

For those of that you that are un-familiar, Anne of Green Gables is a fictional character written in a series of books by Lucy Maud Montgomery.
Anne is an orphan from Nova Scotia, Canada and is adopted by a sibling couple who were expecting a boy - to help them with the farm work and so on.  They eventually grow to love her and she grows up making some trouble, trying her hardest to please everyone and telling her interesting stories about when she was watching various children with a variety of diseases/illnesses.
The biggest thing about Anne?  She has red hair in 2 braids, freckles, wears dresses (women didn't wear pants back then or flannel shirts like a man), was stubborn and had a big sweet tooth.
The story takes place on Prince Edward Island - quite near Nova Scotia but they are not connected by land directly...at least not back then.  Now there is the Confederation Bridge or you can still take a ferry boat over to the Island.
In fact, PEI has an explosion of tourism in the summer because there are many acts and plays about Anne and people travel from ALL over the world to see the tiny little house they built in honour of this classic story.
Most recently, Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton have even met Anne (actress Tess Benger) during their visit to the Island in 2011.

Anyways, recently there was an article floating around on Facebook, that mentioned Anne of Green Gables. Well, I had to check it out!
What's wrong with the cover?  Anne wasn't ridiculously pretty (she got prettier when she got older - at least that's how I envisioned it...she's just an average-looking child when she's adopted), wasn't rocking a C-cup sized push-up bra (estimate-I actually have no idea)...she was an innocent child that just wanted to be loved.  Not posed by a bale of hay waiting to get tackled by the farmhand's son...and I'm not talking about playing football either.
Oh and she was NOT a blonde.

This has raised quite a stir in the online/book community and it's interesting how many Finns were disappointed (yes, all of them female - at least on my Facebook) with Anne's "new make over".
One friend said she looked more like "Josie Pye"...another advised me that she was "going to throw up"...

How do YOU feel about Anne of Green Gables being pictured now as a blondie?

I say, BRING THE GINGER BACK!
(Thankfully my copy of Anne of Green Gables & Anne of the Avonlea have photos painted inside and on the cover of a wonderful little red-head.)

Night Fisher!

A few nights ago, my friend and I were walking on the nearby frozen lake and our dogs were running freely and having a good time.
I noticed in the distance that there was a dark blob in the snow and that it was not moving.  We tried to guess if it was another dog or perhaps it was a rabbit...
Our dogs became very curious and dog #3 (mine are 1 and 2) began to run towards the non-moving dark blob and bark at it.  Nothing happened.
We walked a bit closer (but still quite a distance away) and I suddenly got worried.  I have pretty good hearing (the husband fails to believe me) and couldn't hear any cries of help and wondered if it WAS a person - perhaps they were stuck and couldn't get out.
The lake isn't thawing yet - no where close!  But if the person was ice-fishing, alone and in the dark...and super late at night (10:30 pm-ish) - then we should clip our dogs on their leash and go over to help him if he or she needed it!
By the time we reached the dark blob - we could confirm that yes, he was a human and alive and moving.  He had been fishing.  The hole wasn't very large and I'm not sure if he caught anything because my friend was too shy to ask.

The following night, I met a nearby neighbour walking his little dog and we chatted for awhile.  When I told him about this gentleman who was ice-fishing so late at night, the neighbour laughed and said, "It is said that fish do not swim once the sun goes down."
I guess he meant that you're not likely to catch any fish if you try fishing so late at night...because they're busy - sleeping...or floating about without swimming...

Now I REALLY want to know if that fellow was able to catch any fish so late at night!!

10 Years Or More!

If you have Finnish friends and they're on Facebook, you probably have noticed that many of them have changed their profile photo to a childhood shot...or even better - a shot taken from when they were babies!
Why?

It was "Old Photos Week" or "Wayback Week"...many have continued to keep their photo of their youthful selves.
This must be a new thing because I do not recall this many profile photo changes specifically from Finns in the last (almost) 4 years that I've lived here.  The photos also had to be a minimum of 10 years old - so I heard.

You can find a very short article here.

There's no real explanation as to why Finns are embracing the idea of posting photos of themselves in diapers, with missing teeth, balding or completely naked (hey - babies get away with EVERYTHING! :) )- only a suggestion from a Helsinki University lecturer as to why...

Here's why (I think) - because whatever Facebook says - aka someone types up a status, shares it and badgers their friends to share it and it suddenly becomes trendy (complete with # hash tags) and if enough people do it - it makes the news.

Some other trends I have seen in the past (and some quite recently) include women (and only women) updating their status with the colour of their bra and pattern (if applicable) printed on it and nothing else.
This made news because it was to raise awareness for breast cancer.  Fair enough - a great cause and it worked.  There was also something about describing your purse's location and if you have a dirty-mind - well, then you have no idea what the woman is talking about.  (I.e.: "on the floor, in the closet, on the counter" etc.)
More recently (aside from these old photos via Finnish people on Facebook) the newest trend is to post a photo of yourself or your children holding a piece of paper or Bristol board with a request to like the photo.
If they got so many "likes" they were able to get:

• A puppy
• A kitten
• A sibling (probably sold in a different aisle than the puppies and kittens)
• Their home cleaned top to bottom by their 3 daughters who offered to do it with tooth brushes...
• _fill in the blank_

I can understand the curiosity in wanting to see how far in the world will a photo asking for "likes" will go and how long it takes to reach that goal of 1 million "likes", but very quickly they were piling up and mimicking the others.

Then I finally found the perfect article explaining it all.  Thank you to the parents who raised the kids and wrote up a sign (last photo) to share with Facebook.

Thank you even MORE Finns for not falling into a "#silly_trend" like that.  

I totally dig the old photos that don't require anything more than a smile...and I probably have "coo'd" or "Aww"'d over a great many of them too.

(And yes, I changed my photo as well - I usually have it as an old photo about 3-5x a year but decided to put it back up and be that much closer to being an honorary Finn.)