Getting to Finland

We left for Finland on Friday, July 31, 2010 at around 7pm and arrived in Helsinki on the morning of August 1, 2010.

Juan Ramirez, a co-worker of Kate's at River Heights Elementary, had recently bought our Toyota Sienna. We were sad to see it go but happy that Juan and his wife Alisha and their son Mason would be enjoying the "Swagger Wagon." If you don't know what I mean by that, check out this video. I don't mean to put a Toyota commercial in here, but the video is pretty funny!

Our friend and housemate Aliz helped us pack the van, we hugged the dogs. We were sad to say goodbye, but it was time, and off we went!













Of course, most overseas travel is a combination of working to get somewhere on time and then doing a lot of waiting. Then, you get onto some form of transport, in this case a plane, and sit for a long time. How is it that this is a tiring process? The girls were happy, at the Minneapolis airport, to open a going away present from our friends, the Jerries. We read, watched shows, slept (very little), talked to strangers (Kate) and listened to stories (the girls) our way across the Atlantic and had a brief layover in Iceland before making our way to Helsinki. This image shoes the plane's wing over the westernmost Finnish mainland soil:

Something to know: if airport security opens your stuffed duffel bag, they will not put it back together as well as you packed it. For us, this resulted in some of the contents of one of our bags rolling around on the luggage ramp and getting to us before our bags. We don't think we lost anything except a few minutes of concern. (Revision: we DID lose one thing: Analeise's favorite robe from Aunt Roberta!)
Our cousin Valto picked us up and was ready for four Americans loaded down with 10 months worth of clothing, school books, etc. He came with a mini-van and a trailer, which was great. After getting all our stuff to the car, off we were on a two-hour drive to Tampere (basically pronounced Tamp-air-eh. Try to roll the "r" just a tiny bit.) Valto came prepared with a snack of sausages, beer for the grown ups, and orange soda for the girls. After 13 hours of traveling, he was our hero.
We arrived at the apartment to meet the owners Matti and Anna-Liisa and also Johanna (pronounced Yo-anna), a liaison from the university TAMK, where Bryan will teach. They had a gift of groceries for a few days for us and many instructions about the swank apartment, which recently underwent a complete remodeling. The view from our place is of the Tammerkoski (Tampere Rapids), a waterway that is part of a rapids system that is dammed. It looks like a river at this point because of dams that were put in place in the 1900's. Looking east, from our kitchen and dining room, you see a pretty new bridge that leads to the Ratina stadium. Looking south, you see many trees and the river open up to Lake Pyhäjärvi under a curved highway bridge. We really got lucky with the apartment, both because it's nice and has a pretty view and also because it's located so centrally in the city. The girls and Bryan will be able to walk to school/work.

End of Week Number Two

Again, we are very lucky. We live:

• within a 5 minute walk to the city center
  
• across the street from a bike/jogging trail that skirts the lake and leads to a park
  
• in a place that was recently remodeled to include a sauna (there's a separate one on the top floor we could rent, but this one is great)
  

The city of Tampere is fun and very livable. I am not used to a city of this size having such good practical options for people living downtown. We can easily and quickly walk to three places to buy groceries (a cheap grocery store, a larger mainstream grocery store and a 100-year old indoor market with more expensive but wonderful food stalls). There is also a hardware store, a shoe repair store, two bakeries, a small post office and several other service-related stores within walking distance. Besides that, there are of course many restaurants, bars, coffee shops and a huge variety of clothing and gift stores. If we lived in downtown Madison, Wisconsin, which is about the same size of a city, would we have such practical options (not just the great coffee shops, gift stores and bars)?


One of my favorite places is the Tampere Cathedral.


Built in 1907, it has stunningly colorful stain glass windows and a variety of less colorful but equally stunning frescoes painted in the early 1900's by Hugo Simberg. One of the frescoes circles the congregation and features twelve young boys (the twelve apostles) carrying a thick garland of roses, which symbolizes how we carry the burden of our lives.



There's a fresco called "the Garden of Death" which features "friendly" skeletons tending potted plants. That one reminds me of Mexican art I've seen, with Katrina skeletons riding bikes or dancing, etc. Here's a couple of photos of it:


The most famous fresco at the Tampere Cathedral was not available for me to see up close on the day I visited, but it's called "The Wounded Angel" and shows two boys carrying an angel on a stretcher. There's a wicked looking snake with an apple in its mouth painted on the central and upper-most point of the ceiling. He is evil! Surrounding him are frescoes of giant wings, which are a common theme in the decoration of the inside of the cathedral, and they represent protection from evil.
If you are in Tampere, I'd recommend a stop at the Cathedral. If you'd like to see images from the Tampere Cathedral and the city itself (the girls like the amusement park, and watch for the outdoor market - it's right around a corner from our apartment!), check out this video made by the local Lutheran Churches. The video's about 5 minutes long - if you only want to see images of the Tampere Cathedral, it's the first church shown.

We are enjoying living here so far. In our first two weeks:

• We got over jet lag just in time to visit Old Town in Tallinn, Estonia with our cousins Valto, Seija and Hanni (I'll write a separate post about that trip)
  
• Another cousin, Pasi and his wife, Rikka, hosted a get-together for us and two other fun sets of cousins (8 adults, 10 kids and one lively puppy made for a fun evening)
• We learned that Denny and Becky, Kate's parents, will visit in September (hooray!)
• We got library cards so we could use the Metso library, which is the main city library with a nice selection of books in English and a large music room with sheet music, CD's, videos of concerts and sound proof practice rooms you can reserve for free to practice the pianos on site or an instrument you bring yourself.
  
• Bryan started work and likes it there.
  
• The girls started school (a separate post soon)
• I've started walking around as much as possible to get to know the city.
• We tried the wonderfully chewy, sugary donuts flavored with cardamom at the Pyynikki Näkötorni (literal translation: Pyynikki view tower). Pyynikki is a neighborhood an easy walk from our apartment the highest gravel ridge in the world. It separates Tampere's two largest lakes and has a park in it that has this wonderful tower. Come visit us and try the donuts!
  

Above is a photo of the tower and below are photos of the donuts!

Delicious!

California Dreaming

Eleven women, two convertibles (and a small SUV), a mansion in the hills near the Mayacama mountains, a pool that made me feel like we were movie stars, yoga lessons in the morning, wine tastings, mud baths and massages... This was the most I've laughed and relaxed in a while. We were all there to surprise Trina for her 40th birthday, a year-long plan by her husband, Chris.

Who knew that I'd love driving a convertible red Mustang?

The air where Chris and Trina live in Oakland and where we stayed in Sonoma smelled so good because of the copious amounts of roses, honey suckle and other flowers in bloom. The weather was idyllic. There was great food, easy conversations and to lighten the mood even more, fru fru dogs wearing clown collars at the stores where we shopped.

Annie Ramirez, Trina Burns Scoggins and Liz Christiansen -
the Burns sisters.

Kate's favorite automobile... the red enamel horses wanted to run faster than I would let them.

The movie star pool, at our rented place in Sonoma.

Liz Christiansen in the Sonoma town square near the rose garden.

Tammie Willis at the Blackstone Winery in Sonoma.

Dustan and Kate in Piedmont, CA.

Kate with Mason, Chris and Hannah Scoggins.

I got to visit the Sonoma, CA ashram. Our yoga instructor lives there, and she gave me a tour. Above is a photo of their clothes drying rack, situated next to what she calls their grocery store, the large garden, pictured below. With the garden and a few goats (milk), the ashram is almost self-sufficient, food-wise in the summer, except for grains. Their website can be accessed here.

Here's one last photo of us together. We're at the Blackstone Winery (website here). This visit to California was a memorably good time, and I came home just in time for the final push to get ready to move to Finalnd for a little over ten months. Tampere, here we come!

Summer is not overrated.

Grandma Aune's 93rd birthday celebration went well. She told me that she never used to think about her age or about how she was getting older until her 90th birthday. Then, when she read the many cards she received, all congratulating her on turning 90, she started to feel old. I turn 40 this month and don't feel old but am seeing and feeling time's effects. That's okay. Grandma and I are not alone with July birthdays in our family - my cousin Ben and his wife, Marissa's daughter, Saela, turns 1 this month.

At Grandma's party, we celebrated all three birthdays with two amazing cakes (banana/vanilla buttercream/chocolate ganache and yellow chiffon with raspberry buttercream icing) from Negaunee, Michigan's Midtown Bakery. If you're ever in Marquette, Michigan or that area and are in the mood for dessert, visit that bakery! Click here to read a write-up in "Hunts' Guide to Michigan's Upper Peninsula" about the Midtown Bakery and other sites in Negaunee.
If you've never been to the Upper Peninsula (Michiganders call it the "U.P."), make sure to eat a pasty while you're there. Pasties are of Welsh origin but were adopted by Finnish and other miners, as they were easy to eat for lunch during the mining hay days of the early to mid-1900's. U.P. pasties are half-moon shaped pie crusts filled with ground beef, potato, rutabaga, onion, carrot, salt and pepper. When I make them at home, I usually omit the ground beef or replace it with ground turkey or a vegetarian substitute and add parsnip as well. Delicious!

Another thing not to miss if you're in the Marquette, Michigan area during summer, is taking a brisk swim in Lake Superior. There's a nice beach area at the end of the road on Marquette's Presque Isle, or you could go to Presque Isle's Black Cove, where the brave jump from a cliff into the cold, cold water. I have never jumped there and would not recommend it unless you're with an informed local, as there are areas along the cliff where the rocks are close to the surface. That said, for those who are willing, it looks like a lot of fun.

Here's a photo of my nephew Patrick taking the plunge. Bring water shoes or sandals to Presque Isle, as pebbles and rocks make walking in the water painful if you're barefoot.

The below photo was taken on July 3, 2010 at Sunset Point on Marquette's Presque Isle. It shows Grandma Aune, her children, grandchildren and their spouses and children (except for Joe, Erin and Kevin) and three friends (Paul and Pat Makela and Patrick's friend, Collin).

Summer swings forward and birthdays continue. We were lucky on July 4. After we got home from Grandma Aune's, Julie and Isaac drove to see us. Isaac turned five that day. They had been at a family reunion near our home, and Mr. I seemed tired at first. Once Bryan showed him how to use the balloon inflator, he brightened and put it to good use on his candles!

Here's to a great next year for all of our family and friends who celebrate their birthdays in July (Aune, Kate, Isaac, Hannah, Saela, Keyton, Trina...). With our upcoming travels to Finland in mind, here's how to say "happy birthday" in Finnish: Hyvaa syntymapaivaa! Pronounce it sort of like this: hu-vaa soon-tu-ma-pie-vaa.

Late Spring and Summer!

School ended. Vacation began. While Bryan stayed home to work on a summer class he's teaching, a wedding party in Howell, Michigan was the kick off to the girls' and my summer break. Our cousin Emily Jarvi and her husband John Risk had a party celebrating their wedding, which took place in the Bahamas in early spring. The party had an elegant atmosphere, photo booth fun, and a good dance space: Kate's dad danced with all four of his granddaughters, and we got to take a Jarvi/Beamer/Menchaca photo, alas without Bryan.
After time to see a lot of family at Emily and John's party, it was off to Kalamazoo, Michigan, famous home of Bells Beer, the Waterstreet Coffee houses and the marvelous mayhem that is the MacInnis family. Luckily, close friends Julie, Joey and the I guy (Issac) live nearby in St. Joseph, so they came for swimming with our clothes on in the MacInnis' well maintained pool, Mindy's curry, Avatar and talk-talking. Next time, hopefully Bryan and Shawn can both be there.
Pilgrim Center, a camp in Green Lake, Wisconsin is a part of our summers. Bryan was a counselor there in the early 90's, and we spent part of our honeymoon there. Analeise and Brooke have gone there most of their lives, either for family camp or for kids' camp. This year, Analeise attended Junior High adventure camp, which meant she got to sail, go horseback riding and complete a challenge course. Both girls got to make candles, swim, canoe and experience life without computers, video games, telephones or TV's. Loads of mosquitos, laughing and fun!
While the girls were at camp, Bryan and I packed things in the house, took long walks, and on their last day, we headed to Sheboygan, Wisconsin. We had brat sandwiches and delicious but too-big malts (are you asking, "what's too big for a malt?"), at the Charcoal Inn North and then headed to Kohler-Andrae State Park. The park is full of tall, soft sand dunes left by the same glaciers that carved out the lake bed and then melted to create Lake Michigan. There's a great sandy beach, and if you're so inclined, places to camp. Restful. Windy. Beautiful. A great place to nap and play in the waves.
Now it's time to dig in and get ready for Finland. Our long to-do list will have to be all done before the end of July, as that's when we leave for Tampere.

Brooke's 11th birthday

Brooke's eleventh birthday celebration started early with a new-used bike and the arrival of my mom and dad, Becky and Denny. Their visit included:

• Analeise showing Mom how to collect wild ramps, which Mom turned into frozen, dried and soup form before a few hours were over;
  
• taking in our housemate Alizabeth's art at a show in a new downtown gallery;
  
• a visit to the National Eagle Center, along the Mississipi River, in Wabasha, MN;
  
• sandwiches followed by homemade, yummy and yet inexpensive ice cream at the Nelson Creamery;
  
• an early birthday celebration at Aunt Donna's with cake brought by Mike, Gus and Rudy and a blue-sky, spring day walk to a park adjacent to White Bear Lake; and
  
• time off from school for Analeise and Brooke so they could spend time with their grandparents.

While the girls were in school, I went to the cities with my mom and Dad, who took in the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Minnesota Science Museum. After the museum, a delicious lunch at St. Paul's Ruam Mit Thai on Saint Peter Street was followed by a stop at Borealis Yarns, a shop mentioned in the book, Knitting the Threads of Time by Nora Murphy, which Becky and then Kate recently read and would recommend to anyone who likes to knit.

Brooke's actual birthday started with a game of hide-and-seek for her gifts. After Bryan left for work, she wanted a relaxed morning, which closed with her and our housemate Alizabeth biking to the Acoustic Cafe and meeting me and my dad there, where she could have a sandwich for free. This left Analeise and my mom to have lunch at home by themselves. After that, we met Bryan in Eau Claire, where Brooke wanted to go to Target and a Chinese restaurant. The day finished with us watching the movie of her choice, Fantasic Mister Fox, fun - fun.

The next day, Grandma Becky and Grandpa Denny left for home, and Brooke brought brownies and cake to share at school.

It took more than another week, but finally, Brooke got to have her friends over for a sleepover. Seven giggly, friendly gals were here for a night of:

• nachos for dinner
• a Mentos/Coke explosion
• smores by the fire pit and Kate Hearley's delicious cookies
  
• talking, drawing and a pillow fight
  
• movies (Princess Bride, Bedtime Stories at night and Spy Kids 2 in the morning) and not too much sleep
  

The final stretch of lucky Brooke's drawn-out birthday will include a visit from Bryan's mom and Dad, Susan and Grant. We're looking forward to their stay here. They'll get to see Analeise in the play, Once Upon a Mattress and Brooke in the 3rd-5th grade music program.