This week marks nearly a month since I returned to Finland. Last fall I asked my friends here when the lakes melt and the water is warm enough to go swimming. I thought maybe mid-May. "Well, the lakes are still thawing out then." Brrr. Well, this week it was finally warm enough to throw off my winter furs as they say here in Finland. Read on...!
Maria, my new flatmate, suggested we start a tradition of eating ice cream every Sunday evening. Apparently she's been doing this for quite some time and thought we could start a flatmate tradition of eating ice cream together. Sign me up! Here she is about to dust some vanilla ice cream with ground up turkinpippuri (Turkish pepper...which is a famous type of candy here). It's, well, interesting... :) Next up on our list...tar ice cream. Yeah. Like the tar they use to pave the roads. I think Maria is pulling my leg on this one. We shall see... :)
I'm delighted to re-join the Ladies Literary Guild. It was founded by Wendie (seated at the head of the table) 15 years ago this year. Last fall when I was invited my Maisa (seated on the far right) to join the group, I was asked to recommend a few books we could read. The group was curious to learn more about San Antonio so I suggested The House on Mango Street as Sandra Cisneros lives in San Anton. Wendie:"That's the first book we read when we founded the Ladies Literary Guild." No way! So, since it was my turn to host the book club at my flat when I returned in the spring, and in honor of the 15 year anniversary, we decided to revisit her book. Before I left San Antonio, my dad was helping me pack and I was talking through various menu options I could make for our group (the person who hosts also prepares a meal for us to share together). I explained that we were reading The House on Mango Street. Dad: "You know Sandra Cisneros lives here in San Antonio." Me: "Yes." Dad: "I've met her a few times. She would come by the shop when it was still on McCullough." Me: "WHAT?! Are you kidding?!" Dad: "No." Me: "NO WAY! The ladies are going to be over the moon excited that you've actually met her!" When I shared with them that my dad had met her, they were super excited!! Love how small this world really is. :)
The best part of the meal, I think, was the flan. I hadn't made it before. I brought two packets with me so I could practice making it once. But, one of the packets didn't survive the transatlantic trip. But, the flan turned out a w e s o m e! The best part? I let the ladies flip their own flan. I left the flan in the bowls and then gave them each a plate so they could each experience the excitement of flipping flan!! :) I'm all about pushing the boundaries of social norms. Flan flipping and standing on chairs to take pics. Can I just say that I LOVE being a part of this book club?!?!
Our research team at JYU wrapped up this academic year with a meeting outside of JYV (Juurikkasaari). We also said goodbye to Katja (pictured to my right at twelve o'clock) who has been our research assistant for the last two + years. She's been my officemate since I arrived here and has been a joy to work with!! I will miss her terribly!! But I'm excited that she's now pursuing her dream of working in Russia. We also were celebrating Niina's (directly across from Katja) sabbatical for the next year. She's expecting a little one and will be away on maternity leave. And, we welcomed Sini (directly across from Sari) to our team. She'll be stepping into Katja's role.
After lunch, we headed outside to enjoy the beautiful weather! We also took time to throw darts (I didn't get a picture of that activity, unfortunately). Who won? The Texan. I did not mention that I've spent a fair amount of time at shooting ranges. I'm not sure how that would go over here...
We then took time to reflect on where we were a year ago, and where we see ourselves at this time next year. There's something to be said for pausing to reflect on where we've been, why we're here, and where we're going.
Another moment to reflect on where I'm headed came while I attended Alicia's PhD defense. Here in Finland, PhD candidates must publicly defend their dissertations. The university invites an opponent to come and debate the PhD candidate. The opponents are usually the leading scholars in their fields. So, no pressure. :) Patricia Duff was her opponent. She is brilliant! Alicia did an excellent job!! She set the bar high for the rest of us. Congratulations Dr. Jinkerson!!
(It was a year ago that Alicia wrote to me and gave me a comprehensive overview of life in Finland and as a graduate student at JYU. She's from Canada so her insights were really helpful. For that reason, it made the defense even more meaningful for me.)
This weekend I headed to Eija Kinunen's summer cottage with the Young Women I work with at church. Eija took us to an ancient burial site on an island close to where her summer cottage sits on the largest lake in Finland. The lake is 10km wide and 100km long. Eija's uncle used to own this island where the burial site is located. There used to be a plaque posted giving a bit of info about who they think was buried here. We were bummed to find that it has since been removed. Eija said, if she remembers correctly, that the person was buried 500 years after Christ. So, it's really old. She said it was common practice back in those days to designate islands as burial places in order to let the deceased rest in peace. Pretty cool. You can see a red building in the backgroudn. That's a small church that is owned and maintained by the Lutheran Church. Eija's uncle sold the island to the church several decades ago for 20,000 Finnish marks. Eija shared many really interesting stories about her grandmother who fled Russia during WWII.
This is Eija's summer cottage.
And this is what you see looking out from sauna. Tt's about 75 feet away from the main cottage. You run from the sauna, down the path, to...
the lake! Here we are. Five amazing young women and me. We threw off our winter furs...meaning, it was our first time to take a dip in the lake this year. The weather was perfect!! It was 22 or 23 degrees celsius. The sun had been shining all day so the water had warmed to 22 degrees as well. The lake is pretty shallow. Here, it's about 4 1/2 feet. We got in a water war but here we are pictured flicking the water. So much fun!! We'd swim in the lake, head back to sauna, run back and jump in the lake...repeat. So relaxing!!
The girls took out one of the boats on Saturday morning. The picture says it all. I can't get over the reflection of the clouds in the water.
I've heard stories about the mosquitoes that come out to play during the summer. Before we headed out on our walk to the burial site, Eija handed me a hoodie. "You'll need it." Boy was she right. We came across an ant hill on our walk back. It's, well, big. I'm about to poke it and see what happens. :) I didn't really poke it. Those ants are HUGE! You can see a hole in the top of the ant hill (there seems to be a stick that's in the middle of the hole). Eija said that woodpeckers had been there. They eat ant larvae. Yum! I think I'll pass...because we had this waiting for us...
Lehttu (crepes). The best part of being at a summer cottage. Oh. my. good. ness.
As we were driving to Eija's cottage (it's 45km south of JYV and about 7km outside of Jämsä), Eija said, "I forgot to mention that summer cottages are pretty primitive. There is no running water. And there is no plumbing." "Yes. It was quite an experience last fall when I went to a friend's summer cottage but had no idea what to expect. This time, I came prepared." :) What cracked me up, though, was when Eija said to me (while I was in the kitchen), "I'll go check the temperature in sauna." About 3 or 4 second later I hear, "It's 63 degrees." "How do you know?!?!" "It tells me it right here." I walk out to the living room and just laughed. Eija and her husband are both engineers. Her husband had installed this temperature reader. Brilliant. But I thought that the cottage was primitive? So crazy. No running water. But a temp reader that reads how hot a room is that's in another building across the lawn. :)
I'm grateful to be living in a place where people (greatly!) value time outdoors.
Beautiful lake and cottage!
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