This morning we awoke to a rising sun creating the most beautiful bluish orange sky - not one cloud today. The sun illuminated every room in our flat. Lily and I sat outside on the back deck and bathed in the rays. Albeit cold, we soaked it up.
We have been in our new place (Kortepohja) for two weeks now and we feel at home here. This space is much different than our last and it fits us perfectly! 3 rooms, 2 bathrooms, breakfast area, kitchen, back porch, large picture windows, and laundry lines - we have ample space with great energy flow.
We arrived last Tuesday thinking we were going to open the door to a furnished flat but it was quite the contrary. We entered a completely vacant space - no beds, no dishes, no towels, no shower curtain... At this point nothing is too shocking anymore, so we rolled with our new findings pretty smoothly. We slept the first night on our thermarests and in sleeping bags (thanks to Jackson for packing those) and woke up the next morning ready to go to work.
We found beds, 3 tables, and some chairs in a storage room in one of the neighboring buildings. The room was packed full of basically free furniture for tenants. The beds are very comfortable, the chairs not at all, and the tables serve their purpose. They are definitely suiting our needs as we get settled.
We have found a handful of great flea markets (kirrputori's) in town. All the thrift shops here are called flea markets and function just as the flea markets do in the states - people buy booths and sell their things. Even the Salvation Army here is a flea market! We have bought many items from the kirrputorri's - dishes, silverware, pots and pans, cooking utensils, sheets, and curtains and we've bought some new things as well - a few rugs, some bath towels, and the best damn coffee maker I have ever owned.
We were gifted a beautiful kitchen table and chairs from our friends Milla and Nathan who live two floors down and we bought a cozy brown leather couch from a woman who not only delivered it to our building, but brought along another stud who helped Jackson lift it up four flights of stairs! This couch fits perfectly in our living area and we are so very thankful to finally have a comfortable place to sit our bum. It also has a hideaway bed for those of you who will be visiting us in the future!
Piece by piece we are turning this house into our home and I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of our nesting.
Yesterday we suited up and headed for the ski slopes. We had a morning of fun sledding on a kid-packed hill beside the downhill ski slope. Edith is really taking to the snow - sledding with smiles, climbing the slick inclines with ease and then sliding down on her bottom, back and belly. We managed to go almost the entire time without any injuries although there were a lot of close calls - kids were coming in from every direction. At the very end, Lily was catapulted off of her sled and took a good nose dive in the snow. She cried but shook it off very well. With this, we decided to call it a day. We walked to the restaurant at the base of the slopes and ate grilled hamburgers, two big baskets of fries, and coke - my first in months. Coke is so expensive in the grocery store that I have yet to justify buying it. A one liter is close to $4! While we enjoyed our meal, a band played some music. I felt like we were on vacation, surely not living in this town... ski slopes?! It was great fun and on our walk back home, huge perfect snowflakes fell from the sky.
On Sunday, Milla and I took a trip to the local "K Supermarket" at the corner of our neighborhood. We went up and down every isle and she explained all the items that I had questions about. She is Finnish, born and raised in northern Finland, and has already taught me about many traditions of Finnish cooking and eating. I bought a few new items that I am excited to report: Koskenlaskija Kylmasavuporo is a cream cheese spread made of smoked reindeer and we eat it on thin rectangular rye crackers called Hapankorppuja Surskorpor. Pinaatti-Ohukaiset Spenatplatter is a small, rather thin, finnish pancake made with spinach. We have been enjoying these in the morning with a slice of cheese on top. Traditionally, the Finns eat these with berries on top of the cheese. It is not the season for berries but when they are ready to pick, I will certainly have a freezer full. Lihapiirakka Kottpirog, which we ate tonight, is something similar to a "slider" (for all you northerners). It looks like a dinner roll, with a bready outside but meat and rice on the inside. The smell of these things warming in the oven is so sweet. The bread is fried and smells of a doughnut - certainly not healthy but very, very tasty. Tonight, Jackson and I stuffed these with avocado and stark mustard. Mmm.
I have posted pictures of all these treats so you can enjoy a visual. Based on the words, you can see why I have had a difficult time understanding this language. I have also posted a picture of organic rye bread - Palokan Perinneleipurit. Notice the two labels on either side of the name. On the right is the word Luomu, which means "organic" in Finnish. On the left is the word Hyvaa Suonesta which means "grown in Finland". I am finding a decent selection of organic food here although there is not a significant taste difference between organic and non-organic like there is in the states. As most of you know, the farming standards are more restrictive here in Europe under the EU than in the US. The local produce is obviously scarce right now because of the season but I am finding a lot of grains that are local. I hear that in summer, the selection of local produce at the town square market is abundant.
Milla and Nathan have two daughters, Sofia, 6, and Helena, 3. Lillian and Sofia play together everyday and I am elated that she finally has found a good friend! Lillian keeps saying, "Sofia, you are my best friend in Finland." It is one of the cutest things I have ever heard. Milla has helped me learn of so much in this town from schools for Lillian to flea markets to local activities for stay at home moms. Her help has been invaluable to me. Although this town is English speaking friendly, it does help to have good working knowledge of Finnish. I am slowly learning my way around and picking up words here and there. Little Edith already says, "hei hei," which is "bye" in Finnish. Lillian knows a handful of words and picks up more daily with the help of little bilingual Sofia. It's wonderful to watch Lillian pick up on the subtle things of this new language like the different tones and pitches.
Signing off for now.
I hope all of you are well.
Sending love,
Janee
