It's been awhile

Sorry for the delay.

Still not married in Finland.  We have to send our document to the Finnish Embassy in Ottawa for them to certify the stamp made by the Ministry of F.A. is legitimate and "not made by someone at the super market."

The Rally is coming soon to Jyv�skyl�....and it's held near Kortepohja - should be fun.  I don't really watch sports or cars - so I'll be staying close to home.

While having guests over for supper tonight - I made a beef stir-fry...with lots of vegetables and a fruit cobbler.  I was worried the meat would be dry or the rice would be dry...or I over baked the fruit cobbler but everything turned out just fine.  I had wanted to make a roast chicken dinner - but often have difficulties finding a raw, whole chicken.  They're not in the shops every day...and I never make note of when they are in.
Next time - I will get one and freeze it.  According to one of my guests he said that they're very uncommon in Finland and that the chicken fillet and marinated meats are what usually sell first.

It's coming close to my Finniversary..........definitely going to have to have a party of sorts.

Tomorrow's THE day

Tomorrow is THE day in which we'll be going to the Mastraati (I apologize for my horrible Finnish spelling) and telling them that yes, we are married...and have been married since February 2007.
For those that are new to my blog - welcome and here's the quickest version of why we need to prove our marriage.

My husband and I are both Canadian and came here in August of 2009 for him to do his doctoral program (research etc.).  I was pregnant and was advised by the Mastraati that we must prove our marriage because we were married outside of Finland.  I thought our passports were good enough as they are a Canadian Government issued document (also "issued" by the Queen if we want to be specific) - however it doesn't bear my maiden name on it.  Ugh.
So that was back in October and we had our marriage documents in storage in Nova Scotia.  Thankfully my parents don't live far from the storage location so they dug around and found our things and mailed it to us.  It wasn't good enough for the Mastraati because it had to be signed and stamped by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  We sent it there and they sent it back because "it was the wrong form".
Fast forward to about April - we got everything sorted and re-sent to Ministry of Foreign Affairs to have it sent back stating that our Passport copies were to be officiated not by the Mastraati but by a Canadian Official.  Fast forward to May 9 - we sent everything and waited.
So after weeks of waiting (they finally got around to processing it around June 28th) we finally received our documents last week.
The problem is that my husband forgot to put my birth certificate in there.  However the "proper" form does state my name at birth - so hopefully that will be sufficient for them.
The actual reason for needing us to be "married" in Finland?  We gave birth to a son early November and there isn't a father listed.  We could apply for his Canadian Citizenship papers and Canadian Passport with me as sole guardian and parent - however, if anything happened to me - well that would be difficult for Tim to claim guardianship.  And it makes it harder (and more costly I believe) to have to add my husband's name later on.

For those that have never dealt with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Canada - they are a pain in the neck (very incredibly politely speaking).  Their site states to contact "the Embassy prior to contacting us".  Well - since it doesn't clearly state which Embassy to contact - we tried to contact them directly first by leaving a voice mail (2 business days they'll return your call is the message - this is not true - they don't return calls) and by sending a professional email (up to 7 business days to expect a response - also not true - they do not write back).
We gave up on their lack of response and guessed to contact the Canadian Embassy in Helsinki.  The person there, who knows us on first names basis (we've contacted them a lot about our problem), got a response in less than 12 hours.  HOW?
So if you ever have to deal with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - good luck.

My son, V�in� and I, have missed out on a trip back to Canada in May and a trip to Greece coming up at the end of this month, while my husband attends and presents in some conferences.
It's quite frustrating as you can imagine because he is the first born grandchild on both sides of the family and I do miss home quite a bit.  I do call Finland home now - as we've been here for 11 months - but I still do not speak the language and we just moved to a new area (Kortepohja) so I'm still trying to learn my way around.
I can't even pronounce my street name.  Jeeze.

Oh and for those that are wondering - yes we probably could've went to Helsinki and dealt with their Mastraati there - however it may have been a waste of time as V�in� is born in Jyv�skyl� - they may have rejected our application to get things sorted out.

Here's hoping all goes well tomorrow

Moomins

http://imaginatorium.org/shop/pics/ra10173.jpg

These are "Moomins" - they are not hippos.  They are Mommin Trolls...and they live a simple and happy life.

Moomins were created in Finland and are very popular in Japan.  Japanese tourists here LOVE Moomins.  Anyway - I was watching a Moomin DVD earlier (in Finnish) and noticed (out loud) that Moomin Papa does NOT sleep in the same bed as Moomin Mama.
HOWEVER!  Snork Maiden (she's a Moomin too with a gold anklet and a tuft of hair) shares a bed with Moomin.
When I asked my husband why (he's not Finnish - I just asked out loud I guess) - he suggests "Different generation."

Any Finn reading this - can you explain why two married Moomins are not sharing a bed but the son and his girl friend can?

Slightly confused.

Our experience at the Vet's (part 1 &2)

This was over a week ago but I just noticed that Facebook has been updating my Learning about Finland blog recently. It's been a couple months and I was starting to slack off on this blog because of the lack of auto-updates.

Anyhow. As my FB friends are aware, my 2 1/2 year old Loki (husky/lab/mutt) mix had 2 ticks. One in the front of his leg and one on the hind leg, inner thigh.
We thought - no problem - we'll haul them out with tweezers and the "tick bar". Loki is a genius dog and sometimes a little dumb. He tried pulling them out himself and ended up killing them. So because they were dead and not feeding off him (aka getting bigger) we were stuck with two dead ticks in his skin that could not be pulled out.
We referred to a friend or two and they suggested letting it sit out for a bit and the skin will naturally push out the ticks. This happened to our other dog, Blue (7 y/o border collie/lab) near his eye and we thought - fabulous!
Loki - here's the dumb part - continued to try and pry out the ticks that he killed and created an abscess in both spots. Then one of them popped and he continued to pick and created a wound so deep we could see deep into the flesh.

So off to the vet we go. First I called to book an appointment and for some reason - my phone keeps hanging up on people. Finally I book an appointment and we get there and wait in the room and it's a lovely little vet office not far from our place. About 10 minutes walk.
The vet does speak English and she ASKED if she could touch Loki to see the cuts. I was impressed. Most vets just snap on the gloves and get to it. Loki's a friendly dog - just so you know....but it's kind that the vet asked anyway.
After assessing him quickly (no thermometer required!) she provided some cleaning products, a cone and some antibiotics. She stated the ointment was honey-based and that he would not eat it. Loki proved her wrong. He LOVED it.
She then said the pills were tasty and that we wouldn't need food to cover them up....she was wrong. Loki hates medicine and Tim has to drop it down his throat (also pry open his mouth and teeth).....

So all in all - a great experience.

Then we had to go back. He's not fully healed and will still pick at it - given the chance (we don't use the cone while walking him - he refuses to pee or poo)....and had finished his medication.
I tried to call but the lady couldn't hear me and clearly did not understand English.

So I just popped in and the vet was great and remembered Loki's name and we paid for our medicine and left. I offered him a cookie (marrow treat) and he gulped that down and the vet said "Oh Lokiiiiiiiiiiii - I have a cookie for you"....well wasn't he excited.
She reached into a tin and pulled out a handful of dog food and put it down on the floor. One sniff and he was dragging me out the door.
The vet said, "Oh - I guess you knew I was tricking you into eating dog food."

(Yeah - no kidding. Don't lie to my dog - ha.) - were my thoughts I silently thought.

2nd Hand Shop!

So the "flea market" as I have been calling it....near our flat is actually a Second Hand Shop.

So I took my hubby and baby to the Second Hand Shop that's open 6 days a week down the road from our flat and this time I made sure to bring a re-usable grocery bag!
We lucked out and found my little guy 3 wooden pegged puzzles....you know the really old ones from when you were a kid and your parents too probably. They were under 5 Euros each - so I was thrilled at such a great find...considering one I purchased for a gift (a more updated version) was over 11 Euros!

I also found a book that was about being Cheap. Well it's a fun book - things you can do to save money and whatnot. I finished reading it and think it's awesome.

While looking around I noticed one major thing. There's tonnes of used stuff and a little stand with "new packaged stuff" like things for your nails...but there was nothing truly handmade. There was the odd piece of baby clothing but it was used and fuzzy and just not "mine". Yes it makes sense as it's a 2nd hand shop - however...it'd be nice to have something crafty eh?

I went to pay for our lovely wooden puzzles and book and the cashier chatted me up asking where I was from. I told him a bit about myself and asked him how I go about selling things there.
It's so easy! It's 22 Euros a week (they're open 6 days a week) for a table or 28 Euros for a table and a rack if you have clothing to hang....and they give the price tags with the number of your table. You pay the fee and put the stuff out and they give you the money. There is 0 commission.
So I'm going to try and make as much as I can and try it out.

Here's their website (in English) and if you click on the Finnish flag - you can see a portion of what it looks like inside.

Crafty

I apologize I don't write in this blog often enough.

Here's why: www.whatsyourcraft.blogspot.com
My Youtube account is: www.youtube.com/user/TheArtsyfartsy123

Flea market!

I decided to go check out the local flea market near where we live and I'm so glad I did.
I had brought V�in� with me and as he was wrapped to me - I'm glad it's not far!

When I walked in - I didn't know what to expect. The one thing I did know is that there are no entrance fees like in NS. When I asked our friends about it - they thought I was quite odd in asking how much the door-fee was. They couldn't figure out why one would pay to look at things that you may or may not buy! Such lovely common sense!

Moving on...when you go inside there's tables and racks arranged in aisles and that's great. Each item is tagged with a price, size (if applicable) and a code number. That code number is assigned to the table or rack it's from and determine who is the person selling the item.
They even have baskets and shopping carts! The larger items like furniture and washing machines were in the very back of the warehouse and everything else was in the center.

When you pay - here's my favourite part - you can pay with debit! WAHOO! Or credit cards! YAY!

There weren't any food vendors - which is kind of nice because I end up porking out even more...

So here's what I scored for a total of 34E:
-4 pull up cloth diapers (look super clean and brand new!)
-1 board book for V�in� about a dog named Tim (purely coincidence!) who teaches you basic words in Finnish
-1 Thai cook book in English
-a seat for a regular toilet for V�in� (so he doesn't fall in) - it's blue and sturdy looking, unlike some of the things I've seen downtown
- 2 H&M sweaters for me that also look very new (one was 1/2 price down to 1 Euro!!!)
- 2 t-shirts (my summer clothing is kind of low....as I was always working indoors during the summer - so now I can finally expand cheaply!)

There's loads there and I'm sure they re-stock often...I'm surprised I didn't see a sewing machine. I've decided that I would like one for when the landlords take their furnishings back to their future home (after our contract is up) yet I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for it either.

I'll definitely be visiting again. It's open 6 days a week and all year long...yup - I've fallen in love.

Mid-Summer, Compost & Light Bulbs

Today is Midsummer - well I guess that's a bit of a lie as it's past midnight and now officially Sunday.

On Friday all the shops closed early (around 12-1pm) and they were closed all day on Saturday as well. Why? Because it's Mid-Summer...Finns typically start their vacation right after this and do a lot of travelling to visit their families on Mid-summer.
And no you're not dumb if you're thinking, "Is it mid-summer already?" The answer would be "Yes - in Finland it is."
The mosquitoes are out and nipping as soon as it's finished raining (where they hide out during the rain blows my mind)....so after-bite is coming pretty handy lately with these short spurts of rain!
What's a person to do during Mid-Summer? Eat, spend time with friends and family and of course, drink.
The problem with the "drinking" part is there are many alcohol-related deaths around Mid-Summer. Lots of people are quite drunk and end up in car accidents (we heard of 2 people dead in Finland so far around 10pm this evening) and 7 drownings.
You're thinking - drowning?! Who would swim? Clearly, it's not by choice.
Typically one gets a boat and rows out and drinks with or without colleagues and then when he or she drinks too much - they have to pee. You don't pee IN the boat - that would be gross.
So you stand up and pee over the edge of the boat....ah how clever. Except you would then fall out of the boat and be too drunk to swim and then drown. Your colleagues with you are probably quite drunk too and might be able to call for help if you're lucky and they're not asleep.

By all means, I am not making light of this - I read it in the paper and was told by several people: "Do not pee over the side of the boat on the water during Mid-Summer if you're drunk".

If you're curious, we celebrated with Taneli and his family and had a lovely chicken dinner with rice, salad & vegetables. Topped off the night with a bit of a sauna...and since V�in� was quite perky and happy - Tim and I went in first and talked about various things and planning our moving....Here's some of our conversation:

"Oh gosh - it's so freaking hot in here!"- me
"We're in a sauna"- Tim
"Why are you adding so much water?! Isn't it hot enough in here?" - me
"We're in a sauna...and I never get to splash the water - usually the pros do it."- Tim
"My face is melting and my lips and eyes are hot...."- me
"Well duh - we're in a sauna"- Tim

I haven't been in one in awhile and it's about 80*C inside and it was cranked up quite high...then adding the water (Tim did 4 scoops in the very beginning!) steams up the place and increases the temperature.

Now onto compost!
In Canada (at least NS I believe - I could be wrong) - I believe it is perfectly acceptable to put meat, bones, paper towel etc. in the compost/green bin. Today I learned in Finland - it is not.
At least no bones because the birds feasting on compost could choke and paper towel takes longer than tissues to break down and decompose.

You know when you rent a flat (or apartment) and when you leave, you're expected to replace the light bulbs? That is not the case in Finland it seems.
I've been worrying because the light bulbs need to be replaced (some have burnt out) and we are too short (even on a table or chair) to replace them. So I decided to pick up a couple cheap ones as required and to leave them behind with a note explaining that we aren't able to change them.
My friend Kikka mentioned that she rented a flat and the family before her - took their light bulbs with them. Needless to say - even if we were tall enough - I don't think it would come down to that for us. Maybe if we paid for all new ones and they were the swirly energy-saving ones - maybe.....

I was going to write something else but cannot remember....until next time!
Moikka (bye)

13km walk - no sweat?

Today I went to our future home with Loki and V�in� and we went for a hike with Johanna and her daughters. (Johanna is our future landlord's wife and friend)
I wrapped V�in� to me and off we went. Loki was still tired from yesterday but with the girls' energy nearby - he quickly got pumped.

We explored some woods and found a lake for Loki to swim in. Then 3 whippets came into the picture and wow can they run! AND! Loki kept up with all 3!!! It was beautiful to watch them whip around in large circles....wow....unfortunately I didn't have my camera handy...and V�in� was screaming to go home.
There was also a guy with a little dog who was 5 years old and she loved her frisby to the point that she was crying/yelping whenever her owner tried to take it from her. If the owner tossed it too far - she'd go for it and Loki would wait until she was close enough then join her on the swim back to shore. Then finally he got the idea to go out and get it...but he wouldn't do it if it was too far...silly dog.

There was a sauna by the lake (perfect for winter time...remember the crazy Finns who like to go in the sauna then jump in the icy water, roll in the snow and then go back in the sauna??) - however it's available to rent for 200 Euros per night....I'll stick with our Friday 7 Euros per month in our apartment building - thanks.

Our First Finnish baseball game!

We got back a couple hours ago from our first Finnish baseball game. Apparently the women play better than the men (although men's games are generally faster) and it was very different than North American baseball. (not that we know a lot about that game either ) As well we saw the Jyv�skyl�n women's team win against the West coast team...

So here are some huge differences:

1. The bases are not in a diamond shape. It zig-zags from left to right to left then there is a long stretch from 3rd base to "home base".
2. The pitcher does not throw across towards the batter but stands beside them to toss the ball straight up in the air. No they do not get hit by the batter - they back away (I thought the same thing).
3. The ball is not white. It's the color of a tennis ball - bright yellow-green so the players can see it.
4. When the field team is trying to tag someone "out" by tossing the ball to the base the player is trying to run towards...they can continuously toss the ball between their team mates in hopes to trap the runner. This happened several times at many points in the game. It's completely random and isn't a 1 or 2 try thing...they can toss it (more like whip the ball) around a few times in hopes to get a player "out".
5. The coaches have some sort of long multi-colored fan...not sure if I got a photo of it. But the point of this long fan (like paint color test strips) depending on the position of it and the color order it's in (looks like a rainbow) - determines their tactics to their other players who are farther away. (And yelling would be a give-away)...
6. Whoever wins the most games per baseball season - has to go and jump into the duck pond down the road. As in they have to DIVE IN...nasty. No wonder our girls team has won so many times - nobody else wants to dive into a pond full of duck poo. That and they play really well!

V�in� had a great time and bounced A LOT whenever there was clapping or music. He also hit on our friend Heli while we watched the game, by rubbing her shoulder and staring at her open-mouthed in hopes for a kiss (smart boy eh?)!!! She was terrified I think...and probably will never have kids of her own.

During the break (1/2 way point of the game) the sponsors (some golf academy or course) - played a game on the baseball field. There were some numbers on the field and they had to mini-putt a ball to see who could get it out the farthest and into the "0"...

Another Easter tidbit AND all about our future home!

I didn't know about this...or maybe I knew something small about Easter...like the mammi dessert - however while visiting our future home and hanging out with Johanna and her girls for a bit - she was telling me some things about Finland.

Johanna was showing me what they wanted to leave behind or pack with them which was nice as I got to see the flat more thoroughly and all the space we had! I was so excited!
One thing she's leaving behind is a cardboard hollow/decorated egg. In Finland there isn't an Easter Bunny but an Easter Cock or Rooster. When the child is asleep at night - the EC leaves a hollowed egg filled with candies underneath their pillow.

Now onto the new home!
I've mentioned before the big things - like a front loading (aka quiet/won't fall off a ledge) washing machine....dish washer etc.
Now onto the wonderful little things! Like loads of various decorations for Easter and Christmas :)....

LOTS of storage space - wow! When you first walk into the flat (yes I'll do a video and photos later) on your left is the 2nd bedroom. We're going to use this as an office/V�in�'s bedroom. There's a closet with plenty of shelf space for all of his clothing and extra bed sheets etc. As well there's a beautiful, dark book shelf with drawers on the bottom....and a wardrobe with shelves and cupboard space.
Johanna is kindly leaving her sewing machine and seaming machine behind....so I may have to learn how to sew and make V�in� some cute clothes! It'd be loads cheaper....especially cloth diapers as he grows!
I have already claimed this wardrobe as my arts and crafts center!! There's lots of shelves and drawers for me to put my knitting needles, yarn, pens and papers etc.

Then the kitchen (next left) is monsterously huge and holds the 6 chairs dining table set as well. The view is great and lots of counter space.
The bathroom is straight ahead from the entrance way and to the right leads into the big living room. It's much bigger than ours (ours looks so cramped with the furniture and laundry racks)...and I'm thinking we may move the computer desk into the "office"....as we are bringing with us a small red couch (yay dumpster diving?). There's a tall book shelf, tv and stand, and a sofa couch in the living room. Lots of various paintings hung on the walls - which works for us as we don't really have anything to hang on the wall. Besides a calendar, a painting I made Tim and V�in�'s 4 month foot/hand prints.

Ahead of the living room is the balcony with sliding glass windows so we can open them or close them, an electric grill, a table and 2 chairs and some flowers here and there :).

To the right of the living room is the master bedroom with another book shelf (more like 3 huge cubby holes on top of each other), cupboards and closet space up to the ceiling! WAHOO!
And a dresser....oh I missed having a dresser. I don't care that the drawers stick a bit or whatever...I'm so excited to have a dresser again! I hate putting my clothes on shelves like at camp (lockers)...I end up throwing so much in there - I never find anything!

Tim's favourite part is probably the vacuum. :P.

Cell Phone Plans versus Canadian Cell Phone plans

This is more of a rant and should really belong to my other blog .

Rogers requires that I pay my bill every month approximately 80$. That 80$ is taxes, a 911 fee, a $35/month family plan, a $6.95 monthly fee...etc...and somehow - this adds up to $80.
According to one rep - I was able to suspend my account until further notice...according to 3 others - that is not possible.
According to a friend with a Bell account - she was able to suspend it while living outside of Canada. According to another - his friends moved outside of Bell's coverage and there was no cancellation fee.
Stupid me for closing my Bell account (awful service and no chance to upgrade because the charge was broken and no replacement to be found in the HRM).

Let me break down my phone bill.
6,9 Euro Cents/month = monthly fee
6 Euro Cents/text or /minute

If the bill doesn't hit 20 Euros in the first month....then you don't get one. Once it hits 20 Euros or after 2-3 consecutive months of it being below 20E...THEN you get one...and you're NOT charged interest unless you don't pay the bill received on time.
Oh and to call Canada? 4 Cents/minute.

Look at your bill...what do you see? Just saying - you're getting ripped off pretty badly (unless you have pay as you go - not sure how that works entirely).

Popcorn in a box - a Finnish going-to-the-movies experience.

Today was a day I've been waiting for - for awhile.
I made plans with my neighbour Kikka, to see Sex and the City 2. WITHOUT the baby.
What a long movie! Plus we had dinner prior to - with Tim and V�in� so I could nurse him before walking into the theater (not literally - but pretty darn close).
Wow I forgot what it was like to have a real girls night out. Not the whole slutty-tops and drinks at a bar....but going out to see a cheesy/romantic/comedy chick flick and then gossiping about it on the way home.
Don't get me wrong - I don't regret being a Mom and all the joys/pains that come with it - but it was just nice to have a break.

Now onto the important part you're all wondering. "What's it like to see a movie in theater, in Finland?"
When you order tickets online or in person for a fairly new film - you order by row and seat. In Jyv�skyl� there are about 6 theaters in one ("rooms"), so movies don't stay in theater for very long. When you print your e-ticket online, there's a bar code and instead of ripping your ticket stub like in Canada....they have a bar code scanner at the entrance before you go in!
The large popcorn and pop I got was under 6 Euros! Typical price in Canada for the same size, about 9-12 Canadian dollars...depending.
The seats don't go all the way to the screen like they do in NS. There's carpeted space near the front - so if you were to sit in the "front row", your neck would still be straight forward than in Halifax's front row...where your neck would be craned and almost broken by the time the previews were complete.
Now - language. Ah yes. The movies are all in English (Unless it's a Finnish film) with both Swedish and Finnish subtitles. No dubbing. It's cheaper to do the subtitles.
My only downfall with the theater itself was that there aren't any cup holders in the arm rests.

I took plenty of photos of my freshly popped popcorn in a box too. In NS, they're sold in bags.

Another festival of sorts!

So today was a packed day for us. I met up with a friend at the huge playground where there were tonnes of other parents and loads of children. There was a cotton candy maker, waffles being sold, vegetable soup with bread/crackers for 1 Euro....and a man selling foil/helium-filled balloons for 10 Euros (supposedly half price).

The theme for this year's "Spring festival" (I don't know the proper term) - was FOOD. YES! My kind of party!
When we made it downtown there were various exhibitions and many of the museums were free today - so we cruised around and saw the "Is�"(Father) displays of photographs...portraying the life style of the past and present Father figure.
The most interesting part of the exhibition I noted was "The Good Father". There were photos of a father and his son - smoking in various photos while having in-depth conversations or fishing together. I thought "Why would he let his teenage son smoke?" But I guess one couldn't call the kettle black eh?
There was an exhibition where you had to pay 2 Euros and you got 20 pieces of candy and a rice cake and some sort of "edible glue" (I'm sure it was just vanilla sauce or something) - and tooth picks and you could build a construction of sorts. But you couldn't eat it in the room where you built your bridge/shape/house. You had to show it to the people supervising then leave to eat it. My friend's husband referred to the room as a torture chamber - I agree.
Near the university some of the kiosks that were at the playground (from 10am-3pm) had moved to the university parking lot near Tim's office, along with some tasty other bits! Like a candy kiosk...some local restaurants cooking in ginormous woks....unfortunately we ate at a Kebab house downtown. The couple we were with each got a pizza - which was ridiculously huge and such a great price....and Tim and I opted for kebab plates (like donair meat) with a small side salad. Both very tasty!

Tonight a different friend is dancing, however I don't think I will be able to make it as the real estate lady is doing a viewing tomorrow afternoon - and after 10 hours of walking and all this cleaning I have to do - I don't think I have the energy.

Maybe next year. Oh and everything is closed tomorrow...