Another Bus Trip - Another Embarrassing Story.

Today I had a knitting meet-up with the ladies from the university.  We try and meet about once a month and usually at someone's home - we bring snacks and have tea or coffee and it's great.
We kind of didn't really have anything planned for December - so a day or two ago - someone suggested a caf� and some of us were able to make it.
While waiting for my bus, as I missed the first one - and this one was late of course, I helped an elderly lady hop out of a tow truck that pulled over to drop her off.
She couldn't reach the 2nd step from the bottom - they're really narrow and more ladder-style than protruding outwards like stairs - so I reached out to hold her arm and she gave me her purse and shopping bag to hold on to.
Thankfully the ice has melted over the last few days and she was grateful for the hand.
There was another person at the bus stop and he must not have noticed the lady was having difficulty jumping out of the cabin of the tow truck.

Anyways, the bus finally arrives, the little old lady is gone and me and this guy get on the bus.
I sit near the middle - as the bus is almost empty - with the exception of a couple sitting near the back and am excited to go knitting (Old Lady points are tallying up!).
Suddenly, I notice that the other guy is faced towards me and smiles at me and begins to sign something to me.
I looked at him a bit funny and he did it again.
So I started signing back.
"My name's Dominique."
He signs something else and I'm thinking, "CRAP! Finnish sign language might be different than English!"
So I start to sign, "Sorry", and decided I'd go sit closer to try and practice my signing skills (which I haven't used in YEARS) and perhaps make a new friend...and find out how different Finnish and English sign language signals are!
I sat across from him but on the opposite side of the bus and notice that he hasn't looked at me but he's still signing.

DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

Yep.  He was signing to the couple in the back.  

Then he got up and went to go sit with them...thankfully, some people were getting on at the next stop and I just looked like someone who wanted to sit closer to the front door.

At least I still know how to say, "My name is D-O-M-I-N-I-Q-U-E."

How To Help And Offend...AT THE SAME TIME!

A couple weeks ago (I know - total slacker with my blogging...), Jyv�skyl� was a sheet of ice.  I'm not just referring to the lakes either!
The sidewalks were horrendous to walk on but as the sun peeked out more and more  - most of the side walk ice began to melt - yay!
But there were still a lot of rough and icy patches I assure you!  I have the busted up bruised knees to prove it.

Anyways, I decided to get my hair cut after my Finnish lessons one day and then grab the bus to head to a knitting group.
While waiting for the bus, I dug out the latest Sookie Stackhouse ("True Blood") novel and was enjoying trying to figure out who killed so and so...and what will happen with Eric and Sookie...or Bill..or Tara's pregnancy!
Sorry, did I get side-tracked?
This little old lady came walking over and there was a huge patch of ice in front of the bus stop and I noticed she had a cane with a rubber bottom - she didn't use the metal pick attachment.  Brave lady.
I kept an eye on her to make sure she got to the bench safely and she did.
After a couple minutes she asked me a series of questions in Finnish - I don't dare to try to write them down IN Finnish but my guesses in English instead, along with my responses in Finnglish.
*Please note:  When I hear Finnish now, I pick out the words I DO know and try to string them into a sentence to figure out what is being said/asked!  Also, please excuse any poor spelling in Finnish or Finnglish.*

• What book are you reading?
  "Englangtia!" - me so proud of myself...
• Oh English.  I have 2 boys and one lives in America and married an American (amerikkalainen) and they have children.
  "Joo.  (Me being super brave and thinking "maybe I'll use some of the Finnish I learned today!")
  M� olen kanadalainen."  (My inner Finnish-learning goddess does a happy dance since I repeatedly said this at least 20 times that day in class).
• "MIN�!" she screeches at me.
  *BANG*  There goes all my confidence...a quickly deflated balloon floating to the patch of ice on the ground...
  "Oh.  Min� olen..." I whisper meekly...but I double checked with other Finns later and they think it depends where she's from and perhaps "Min� olen" is the old-fashioned way...and my schoolwork still says "M� OLEN"...so there.  (Perhaps it's an issue of written versus spoken..anyway - clearly I'm still learning!)
• "Is your husband Finnish?"
  "Ei, kanadalainen." (Confidence slowly building...)
• "Does he live in Finland?"
  "Joo, asun Laajuavuoressa!" ("Yes, I live in Laajuavuori!" WAHOO - I'm getting there!)

Insert some quiet Finnish silence...then I dip my toes in the water again...
"Mulla on kaksi lastaa." (I have two children.)
She then continued to converse with me and all was fine in the world.

THEN the bus came.  

I flagged down the bus and she dug out her bus pass in her right hand and held onto her cane with her left.  I shuffled on the ice then turned back to help grab her RIGHT elbow to help her across the ice.

Well, she clearly thought I was going to rob her of her bus pass...because she had a look of fear on her face.

SERIOUSLY.

So I pointed to the ice and the bus and showed that I was trying to help her - not steal her freaking bus pass.
She then snootily told me that she did not need my help.

Fine - I got on the bus and that was it.

After sharing this experience on Facebook, some Finnish friends advised me to not take it too seriously or to heart that I was rejected to help her NOT break her bones because older Finns tend to be pretty darn un-grateful at times of need.
One friend mentioned that she helped this elderly lady carry her groceries X flights of stairs and made sure she got into her apartment safely and the lady didn't even thank her.  Just slammed the door in her face and that was it.
Not that my friend expected anything more than a "Kiitos!" (Thanks!) which takes all of 2 seconds to muster the courage and say it...and is free.

Thankfully, I do not use that bus stop very often - if at all.

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...

Got Kala?

A couple nights ago, I had to do a MASSIVE grocery shopping trip in preparation for Restaurant Day.
I ended up missing my bus back home and opted to eat my sandwich and smoothie at the little dining area of Sokos (bottom floor).
Munch, munch, munch was me and happily enjoying my sandwich and my new knitting projects I started.
I noticed someone else was enjoying his meal but I could feel him staring at me from a couple tables away.  I looked up at him to see if I recognized him - nope.
So I took my phone out and checked my email and Facebook and continued to enjoy my late night supper.
When I was finished, I still had some time to kill so I just sat there and returned some emails and this man (older fellow) who had been eating and staring at me decided to pay me a visit.
I instantly wondered what I could have done wrong and if there were any signs of my supper in my teeth...
He decided to say hello and tell me that his piece of fish was fantastic.  It was so good that he decided to try and get me to go and buy some (despite my 3 massive and fully packed grocery bags - the re-usable kinds not the smaller plastic ones).
He even gave me his price tag sticker so I would know exactly what to ask for and he was just so excited about his fish (kala in Finnish) being tasty that he knows I would love it too.
How did I respond?

I nodded, grunted a bit (I did have some food still in my mouth when he first popped over to see me) and nodded some more.
I then smiled and said, "Hyv��!  Kiitos - ja heippa!"  (Good/great!  Thanks and bye!)
This was deemed a very respectable response and he merrily went on his way.
I don't think he was drunk at all - just wanted to get courage to perhaps talk to someone - maybe he felt lonely or maybe that fish was to die for.