A VERY SATISFYING COUPLE OF DAYS

We have had some very successful days – if challenging as well.

We started out with the task of doing laundry, which isn’t as simple as it seems, as there is a sign up system and incomprehensible directions.

We lucked out – no one was signed up for the Friday morning slot – the only opening it turns out for two weeks (It’s a big apartment building and only a single washer in the basement).  There are several other doors in the small dark basement besides the laundry (pesula) -– a sauna (only for permanent residents of the building and available only by appointment on certain days of the week) and others that remain a mystery as their translations aren’t in our dictionary.

Of course we are spoiled by having a washer and dryer in the house, but we have done our share of using laundromats so it shouldn’t have been that complicated.  Still there were aspects of the adventure we weren’t quite prepared for. With dictionary in hand we figured out the settings, put the clothes and soap in the washer and pushed start – nothing happened.  And nothing happened and nothing happened.  Finally Ken realized we had to flip the breaker. Then it was 5 minutes into the cycle that we realized the clothes were rolling around in the washer, but there was no water going in.   Ahhh.  you have to turn on the faucets, as well. Turns out, the sign on the wall tells you specifically to turn the faucets off after your turn is done, which might have given us a clue, if we could have read it. : )

Then there is the fact that there is not a dryer – just a spinner to get the excess water out.  There are lots of lines in the back yard – but we don't yet have clothespins.  And it’s 5 flights up to put the small stuff on the rack on the balcony.  It will be more of a challenge in the winter – but for now we are enjoying clean, sun dried clothes.

Our next stop was to yet another bicycle store – the closest one to our house actually, but we just found out about it.  We were in luck.  We each got a decent bike for a reasonable price complete with brake locks and racks from a very nice family owned shop.  One big difference about bikes here is that almost everyone’s has fenders to keep the water/dirt off your clothes as you splash through puddles and ride through the rain.  What a difference it makes to be able to ride instead of walk on hard pavement everywhere. I insisted on having hand brakes for both front and back wheels as I was afraid that with coaster brakes I would send myself head over handlebars if I had to stop suddenly.   I am getting used to the gear system, different from the one I have back home - it's not yet intuitive causing some difficulty on the first few hills - but I am getting the hang of it.

On Saturday we rode out to the part of town where the discount stores are – including the indoor flea market.  The bike path system is amazing – you really can go anywhere, but if helps if you know where you are going and what streets you are crossing.  (Read between the lines – we got just a little turned around).  We never got to where we were originally headed, but we did recognize where we were as we had been there on the bus. We toured City Market – a combination supermarket, K-Mart and acquired a rice cooker, some stuff for the kitchen and other miscellaneous items including a really cool basket for the back of my bike which is far preferable to carrying a bag slung over my shoulder or having to pay for a new backpack.

Which reminds of another one of the subtle adjustments I am having to make.  Any one who knows me well knows I hate carrying a purse, or a bag or just about anything.  Just give me clothes with pockets for my phone and mini wallet and I am set.  (this could go back to high school when I avoided at all costs carrying books home, or when I was going to a lot of demonstrations and just kept an ID handy, so I could run fast if needed without encumbrances – at any rate I haven’t changed)  But alas that is not possible here.  Even the smallest dictionary is too big to comfortably fit in my pocket and it’s probably more important to carry than money.  Then there are the maps, and the umbrella and the keys.  You get the picture.  Hence my love for my new bike basket!

Yesterday we also got together with our tutor/guide who gave us a detailed tour of the grocery store, pointing out subtle differences and culturally relevant information.  For example, did you know there are 5 different kinds of cream depending on what kind of eating, drinking or baking you are doing? Or did you know that there are different sour cremes (all unflavored) that are supposed go with sweet or savory foods? (and further strawberries are distinct from mango in terms of sweet? Me neither.  We also figured out that the yummy ‘yogurt’ we got on the first trip to the market was, indeed, sour crème – the kind that goes with fruit.  Other pieces of information - Luomo means organic and the LV brand is specifically for sensitive skin (soaps of all varieties).  There are berry juices, berry juice concentrates and berry soups – all in similar but unique containers, each with unique purposes

We got signed up for the frequent shopper card. And we went to the Organic / Eco store that was a cross between Ellie’s and Alfalfas, much smaller but just as overpriced. I did splurge on Ecover detergent because the laundry detergent in our apartment made our clothes smell so sweet and chemically it was very uncomfortable to wear.  They also had the same “Bio Bags” that we use for compost and garbage at home.  Really there is nothing you can’t get here and often the quality is better for the same price. 

More on today later - even though it is still light enough out to read on the balcony, it is past 10:30 and soon time for bed as tomorrow is a big day - We start school!

A WEEK HAS PASSED

A week already – it doesn’t seem possible that we have been here for more than a week.  Some of the streets are becoming familiar, we have acquired a bus system map, plus a book of schedules and have begun to venture out of city center using our bus passes. All the best shopping centers are too far to walk, though we have been doing plenty of that, too. And then there are so many beautiful nature spots not far away.

We went out to the island of Ruissalo one day – a beautiful place just a twenty minutes from the city – we took the ferry there – a slow ride down the river and the bus back.  We walked and walked in search of the botanical gardens – which we eventually found.  Really interesting to note that many of the same plants grow here as in Colorado – even though we are at sea level we are so much farther North.  There were even columbines!  Our guide/tutor Henna works at the Spa hotel on the island and has let us know she can let us in. – that would be fun.  It would be a wonderful place to bike to – maybe an hour’s ride away from our house and it looks like the perfect place for cross country skiing in the winter.  We went to the end of the island and found the “beach.”  Pretty rock, warm water, lots of litter, unfortunately mostly cigarette butts.  We watched a guy windsurfing for a while – it looks like so much fun.

We have been checking out shopping centers, malls and other various stores and shops in search of an affordable bike. The idea that we could acquire inexpensive used ones has evaporated after miles and miles of walking from one shop to another.  Out of solidarity with commerce in Colorado, yesterday we went to the IKEA store in the suburb of Raisio – quite the experience (one of which was finding out our bus passes only worked outbound).  And then we explored all the other big box stores nearby – at one of which we may have found reasonably priced new bikes.  (But we spent much of today continuing to look for a used one.)

In nearly every store we have found people to be helpful with usually more than passable English.  It is still almost impossible to make sense of anything that people say or anything in writing in Finnish.  I am constantly thumbing through my dictionary and then promptly forgetting what I just looked up.   By the end of each day we are both mentally and physically exhausted – which helps with falling asleep when it is still light out – although we can already perceive that the days are getting shorter. 

The only people who have been gruff with us are bus drivers – we make a lot of mistakes not knowing proper bus etiquette yet.  For example – you have to wave down the bus to stop – it won’t do so just because you are standing there, as there are multiple routes that use the same stop.  And you have to press the button for a stop. Not surprising.  What we didn’t realize  (which caused the wrath of one driver) is that even if they are stopping to let someone on – they will only open the back doors if you push the stop button.  A little thing but it sure seemed to piss him off when we stood by the door waiting to be let off.

What is the style of Turku? Glad you asked.  Eclectic, unselfconscious, unpretentious.  It seems that just about anything goes – clothes serve to cover your body – sometimes provocatively, not often matching in either color, pattern or texture for young and old. Skirt length goes from touching the ground to not covering up much.  Men wear capris. And black seems to be the favorite color of both genders.  Tattoos abound – on women they are mostly on shoulders and upper arms, men are mostly sporting skulls embedded within larger designs. The full cuff, and calf style doesn’t seem to be as popular here as at home.

Today we also walked around the university neighborhood where we will move in October.  Close by are many yummy looking restaurants (Indian, Italian, Chinese, Thai) coffee shops, a great knitting store, etc.  It’s a fairly steep hill to our apartment – which looks potentially treacherous when the ice comes.  It will be much quieter than where we are now – we are thinking there may be a hospital nearby here, since there are sirens often and then there are the 2 stroke motorcycles at all hours of the day and night. 

Every day, there are more people around and more stores open in the center – people obviously returning from holiday and soon college students will begin arriving for summer school which begins next week – one of the reasons that used bikes are so hard to find.

The sky says it is still day time, but the clock (and my body) say it’s time for bed.   More soon Hyvaa yota.

VIEW FROM OUR BALCONY

ANOTHER DAY, MORE TO LEARN

The differences are subtle, like the walk lights are 10 feet in from the curb (as are the sidewalks) and not at the edge of the intersection. It actually takes an effort to turn your head in the right direction to see if you can cross.  And people really do wait – even when there are no cars for blocks – they don’t even turn their heads to look and see if something is coming – because what’s the point? The light is red

At first glance it appeared that eggs only come in 10s (not dozens) wrong measurement system, but then it turns out eggs come in 4s, 6s, 10s. 12s and 20s – an interesting hybrid of counting systems (or convenience)

Yesterday we walked to the harbor and spent a long time waiting out a tremendous downpour and series of thunderstorms.  We waited for most of it at an outdoor table under a large shade enjoying a delicious pastry, but eventually the umbrella was insufficient to protect us from the deluge.  While we were inside (still getting dripped on by water leaking through the old bricks) we had a very pleasant conversation with a Finn – at his instigation contrary to the stereotype (myth).   As the rainwater filled the beer glasses on the cart that was being moved around by the wind outside - he commented dryly that it must be beer from heaven, very refreshing.   Our next stop was to buy umbrellas, which came in handy as it rained again as we walked home.

I have gotten very good at saying “En puhu suomea”  I don’t speak Finnish.  This is variously effective. In the market – some people switched to English others just kept talking and pointing.

Today we went to see Harry Potter – in 3D in a very comfortable theatre.  When you buy your tickets the available seats appear on a screen on the counter and you choose and then sit in your assigned seats.   We got there a few minutes late, but all we saw were trailers and not any commercials – a welcome change. 

The whole grocery, corner store, super market, kiosk system is becoming clearer.  More selection as they get bigger, but pricing about equal.  There is a little store in the corner of our apartment building – open til midnight every day (opens later on Saturday and Sunday)  It has a little of everything you might need, including fresh food (fish, chicken, red meat) basic vegetables and fruit –there is small grocery store a few blocks away and a supermarket – a few blocks further but still very walkable.  I am thinking that the corner store will be very welcome when the weather turns cold.

The other night we walked down to the river to join hundreds of people who lined the river on both sides and patiently waited (is there any other way to wait in Finland?) for a long time for the much touted “Colored Sphere on the Water” as part of the events for Turku being a cultural capital.  It turned out to be a guy suspended inside a giant beach ball playing the flute while ropes held him tethered in the middle of the river.  It was pretty bizarre but so much fun just to be there among the crowd that seemed just as puzzled as we were.  

Today we are making plans for how to spend our free week ahead – so many possibilities, ferries here, trains there, buses everywhere!

Moi Moi for now.

Settling In

July 22, 2011
We have been here only two days, but it seems like a week - there is so much information to process - we aren't used to having to pay attention to every word, nuance and gesture. 

Our current apartment is on a busy city street in a 7 story building.  It is hot and humid but luckily there are windows on both sides of the apartment so a nice breeze blows through.

We are finally learning when to turn right and left to get to the place we want to be - kitchen, living room etc - everything is different from home.  Everyone is on vacation right now, so it will be a couple weeks before we can get hooked into wireless, but we have DSL so one computer at a time can be connected to the internet.

We have a TV - hooked to cable, but as far as we can tell there are a lot of bad programs - well maybe better if understood anything - I can understand the Spanish telenovelas but who wants to?  There is news in various languages and the best news comes from Al Jazeerah English

Yesterday we walked downtown about a mile away to start to get oriented and try to take care of some details. There were thunderstorms in the morning, but it cleared up by 10:30 and no return of rain except for about a half hour in the afternoon when we were in the library reading newspapers.  We also walked along river and across to a different part of town where we will move in October - quieter streets called 'University Hill"  : )  Tonight there will be some kind of special event along the water using colored spheres which will then be in an installation in a park for about a month.

The market square, as it is called, truly lives up to its name, there are vendors of all types, food, clothes, household goods for most of the day.   What's in season you ask?  Right now everyone has peas, peas, peas.  Gigantic pods, delicious even raw.  And there are raspberries and strawberries and all kinds of mushrooms.  There are also the regular things - tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage all looking local and fresh, there are also bananas, pineapples, melons and more that are obviously imported - People are careful to note what is locally grown (suomalainen - Finnish).   There are cafes (little outposts really) around the square - but it seems too hot to us to sit and drink in the sun. 

In the afternoon yesterday we were met by Henna Jesaksen - our "tutor" - guide really - assigned to us by the summer school.  It is her job to help orient us to the town.  She is wonderful - a 23 year old geography student - who has a terrible time with maps.   She pointed out a lot of places around the center of town and then helped us get monthly bus passes (one of the few official things you can get without a Registration Number) and then we took a bus out to a shopping mall of sorts.  The first stop was an indoor flea market where we picked up a couple of things for the kitchen, and then a Target like store for a couple of other things we needed.   She also pointed out in the bus schedule book how to get to some other "malls" including where IKEA is - though I can't imagine they have anything we need or could use right now.  The busses go everywhere, but it is going to take some work to figure out which buses go to where we need to get to.

She will also help us find the right place to buy a used bike and where I can find some needlepoint patterns.

Lunch is the big meal of the day - the first day we made a bad choice - thought we were getting felafel, but it was iffy schwarma in a red sauce with blue cheese coated potatoes - yesterday we had beautiful salads at a place called GreenZ and today a buffet at Cafe RIco  I had reindeer today though the waitress said it was moose - I don't think so and Ken, salmon (I promised this won't be a daily food journal - only the interesting parts) 

We then shopped at the open market and a local store for provisions for the house and lugged it all home (including paper for the printer, and a couple plastic cups etc.  Amazing what you take for granted is around the house.

I need to have a FInnish I.D. number which required an appointment with the magistrate and all my paperwork from the Fulbright which I hadn't thought of carrying around with me, so we went again today.  Then I opened a bank account so that my scholarship can be deposited automatically.  There was so much paperwork - all beginning with the registration number and ending with about a dozen sheets of documents to verify all the steps and obligations and regulations. But I am set - we are getting used to converting to Euros - things are about the same prices at home - a little more expensive for some things, less for others - we definitely have to stop eating out so often - but we are on vacation for the next week or so.

I left my camera in the states and Ken keeps forgetting to bring his Ipod but one of these days soon we will get it together to take and upload a few pictures.

ARRIVAL IN TURKU

We made it.   We are in our much bigger than expected apartment in Turku - A real living room, bedroom and separate kitchen fully equipped (including miscellaneous food from previous tenants - now all in the garbage except for the coffee salt and sugar - and lots of storage (the empty suitcases are in the cupboard underneath the refrigerator.  There is a trundle bed in the living room so at least til the end of September we can accommodate guests!   We shall see what the other place will be like when we move.

The trip went fairly smoothly - had to run a long way through JFK because of a weather delay from DC but we got to the gate with 10 minutes to spare.  No baggage charges whatsoever - we lucked out somehow and everything arrived in tact/
Weather is beautiful - high 70s, a breeze blowing through the apartment - obviously we have internet.

It is a much more urban environment than we are used to - traffic going by, busses, ambulances etc.  We are going to spend much of tomorrow exploring our surroundings, getting phones working and meeting Henna - our assigned tour guided and personal assistant - at least for a few days! 

Forgot again how to access the blog  so not sure that this will post
Our skype contact name is NancyCKenW

Our phone number  is 303 800 5802   local number for you all to call if you want.  If we are on the computer we will answer, if not you can leave a voice mail.  Right now we are 9 hours ahead of Colorado and 7 for D.C.

Love to everyone
Nancy & Ken