MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope this holiday season finds you happy and healthy, and you get to spend time with your family.
We celebrated our Christmas one day early this year, so that we could have an entire day at the house with no packing or driving or moving. It was fabulous. Maddy is a wonderful age for Christmas and was such a delight. Spent the day unwrapping gifts and playing games with her and eating Christmas ham and goodies.
It's hard not to be in Canada for Christmas, but it helps when I have such wonderful little peeps here in Finland to spend my day.
xoxo
Kim
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Butter and Bread Crumbs
Yesterday I made my last trip to the mall for the rest of the year (knock on wood). The grocery store was a madhouse. But I'm happy to report that I have made all my purchases for our Christmas celebration at our house, at Jussi's house, and most of the preparations for when Grandma and Grandpa get here!
I plan on making cheesecake, a Myderwyk holiday tradition for dessert, and found it interesting to locate certain items at the grocery store. I was happy to locate icing sugar, which I'd never purchased here yet. The trickiest part was the graham crumbs, which they don't have here. When I spoke to one of the managers of the store (keeping in mind that we go to a mega-superstore-grocery store in Finland), she said they don't have any such thing but she was aware of what I was talking about. Pointed me to the cookie aisle and said I need to buy digestive cookies and crumble them all up myself. I really hope this works out, I'll keep you posted.
Finland (as well as many other European countries) are experiencing a shortage of butter. I spent several trips to the grocery store frustrated for the lack of butter before I read in the newspaper that it's a growing epidemic. There is more demand and they can't keep up. Now the main problem is that people are starting to hoard butter - of which I am guilty, since I bought four sticks one day when I found some on the shelf. Yesterday I noticed a huge sign saying that there is now a limit of 2 per person, so perhaps next year will be better.
So with my digestive cookies and my butter in hand, I'm hoping my Finnish version of the Myderwyk cheesecake is successful. And that the four of us have a wonderful weekend.
I plan on making cheesecake, a Myderwyk holiday tradition for dessert, and found it interesting to locate certain items at the grocery store. I was happy to locate icing sugar, which I'd never purchased here yet. The trickiest part was the graham crumbs, which they don't have here. When I spoke to one of the managers of the store (keeping in mind that we go to a mega-superstore-grocery store in Finland), she said they don't have any such thing but she was aware of what I was talking about. Pointed me to the cookie aisle and said I need to buy digestive cookies and crumble them all up myself. I really hope this works out, I'll keep you posted.
Finland (as well as many other European countries) are experiencing a shortage of butter. I spent several trips to the grocery store frustrated for the lack of butter before I read in the newspaper that it's a growing epidemic. There is more demand and they can't keep up. Now the main problem is that people are starting to hoard butter - of which I am guilty, since I bought four sticks one day when I found some on the shelf. Yesterday I noticed a huge sign saying that there is now a limit of 2 per person, so perhaps next year will be better.
So with my digestive cookies and my butter in hand, I'm hoping my Finnish version of the Myderwyk cheesecake is successful. And that the four of us have a wonderful weekend.
Finnish Christmas
This is the first year in my 30 years of life that I missed Christmas this year at home. All of my siblings have always been there, so I started a bad thing. Hopefully we don't make this a habit. It was nice that I could Skype with everybody, so it felt like I was there a little bit. Plus I saw a ton of pictures (thank you Adam!) and got a play-by-play from my sister Rose so I have a good idea of what everybody got for Christmas and the cute things all the kids were saying.
I'm excited to experience a Finnish Christmas! Last year we left on December 11 and didn't come back until January 2, so we pretty much missed everything.
Last weekend we strolled through Helsinki, enjoying the Old Student House Christmas Market, the St Thomas Christmas Market, Aleksanderinkatu Street Christmas lights, and the esplanade. Would have been nicer if there was snow instead of rain, but we'll take what we can get.
Maddy is off school now for the next two weeks and is anxiously counting down the days until Santa comes, and also when Grandma and Grandpa come.
As sad as it is to be away from home, I've enjoyed my observations about how the Finns celebrate Christmas so far. It's not as commercialized as it is in North America, so children don't get a zillion gifts. Also, Santa comes on Christmas Eve during the evening, and hand-delivers the gifts to all the children. Trees are purchased and decorated on Christmas Eve morning and the big meal is also on the 24th. So actually Christmas Day is not the main event.
In the grocery store, shelves are stocked with glogi, a Finnish traditional holiday drink, which is served either with or without alcohol. Add raisins and almonds for extra flavouring. There are also a million types of Joulu bread, certain type of rye bread that is served for the holidays.
And as my Finnish language skills begin to improve, I'm recognizing more words and piecing together things. Like the Finnish word Joulukuu, which means December. It literally translates to "Christmas month". Practical.
We are also going to Jussi and Anita's house, our Finnish friends whom we met in London (Canada), to learn more about Finnish holiday traditions.
From my house to yours, I wish you a fabulous holiday with your friends and family, and a peaceful and prosperous 2012.
Hyvaa Joulua. (Merry Christmas)
xoxo
Kim
I'm excited to experience a Finnish Christmas! Last year we left on December 11 and didn't come back until January 2, so we pretty much missed everything.
Last weekend we strolled through Helsinki, enjoying the Old Student House Christmas Market, the St Thomas Christmas Market, Aleksanderinkatu Street Christmas lights, and the esplanade. Would have been nicer if there was snow instead of rain, but we'll take what we can get.
Maddy is off school now for the next two weeks and is anxiously counting down the days until Santa comes, and also when Grandma and Grandpa come.
As sad as it is to be away from home, I've enjoyed my observations about how the Finns celebrate Christmas so far. It's not as commercialized as it is in North America, so children don't get a zillion gifts. Also, Santa comes on Christmas Eve during the evening, and hand-delivers the gifts to all the children. Trees are purchased and decorated on Christmas Eve morning and the big meal is also on the 24th. So actually Christmas Day is not the main event.
In the grocery store, shelves are stocked with glogi, a Finnish traditional holiday drink, which is served either with or without alcohol. Add raisins and almonds for extra flavouring. There are also a million types of Joulu bread, certain type of rye bread that is served for the holidays.
And as my Finnish language skills begin to improve, I'm recognizing more words and piecing together things. Like the Finnish word Joulukuu, which means December. It literally translates to "Christmas month". Practical.
We are also going to Jussi and Anita's house, our Finnish friends whom we met in London (Canada), to learn more about Finnish holiday traditions.
From my house to yours, I wish you a fabulous holiday with your friends and family, and a peaceful and prosperous 2012.
Hyvaa Joulua. (Merry Christmas)
xoxo
Kim
Friday, December 16, 2011
Jungfraujoch - Top of Europe (Interlaken, Switzerland)
What an experience!! While we were staying in Lucerne, we planned an amazing day to go to Jungfraujoch, which is the top of Europe. 12000 feet in altitude!!! We had to get up at 4:30am to drive to Interlaken, which is surrounded by three mountains Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau. We took three trains to get up, including the last cogwheel train that actually went through the mountain. It took 2.5 hours each way, but wow, what an experience.
On our descent, we took an alternate route, which let us visit the adorable town of Grindelwald. I love Austria and Switzerland, with the flower pots hanging on every windowsill. Super adorable. It was also neat to hear the cowbells ringing in the mountainside.
It was hard to pack for this day, since I had to have hats and mitts and a snowsuit for Maddy for the top of the mountain, but then shirts and shorts at the bottom where it was a very warm day!
A once in a lifetime opportunity to visit the Top of Europe!
On our descent, we took an alternate route, which let us visit the adorable town of Grindelwald. I love Austria and Switzerland, with the flower pots hanging on every windowsill. Super adorable. It was also neat to hear the cowbells ringing in the mountainside.
It was hard to pack for this day, since I had to have hats and mitts and a snowsuit for Maddy for the top of the mountain, but then shirts and shorts at the bottom where it was a very warm day!
A once in a lifetime opportunity to visit the Top of Europe!
Lucerne, Switzerland
Lucerne was a beautiful stop along our trip!!! We stayed at the Swiss Chalet and ended up getting a double upgrade to a beautiful huge room overlooking Lake Lucerne. It was gorgeous! We spent a day walking around the Old Town, admiring the Lucerne Lion, the Chapel Bridge and the adorable town squares. Lucerne is a very expensive city but it has a fabulous location on the lake, with the Alps in the background. Stunning!!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Vaduz, Liechtenstein
We left Innsbruck and drove towards Switzerland. We actually drove through the tiny country of Liechtenstein, which is only 160 square kilometers with a population of 35,000. It uses the Swiss franc currency and the Swiss police.
Since we only had one afternoon here, we took a small tourist train to drive us around the "hot spots" of the capital of Liechtenstein, Vaduz. There is Vaduz Castle, which houses the prince of Liechtenstein and his family. And a few other important monuments such as the Postage Stamp Museum :)
It was a very hot day, and there were sprinklers and water fountain displays through the pedestrian streets which Maddy (and I) enjoyed immensely. Liechtenstein is a tiny little country but it's neat to say that we were there.
Then we continued on our journey with a beautiful drive to Lucerne, Switzerland.
Since we only had one afternoon here, we took a small tourist train to drive us around the "hot spots" of the capital of Liechtenstein, Vaduz. There is Vaduz Castle, which houses the prince of Liechtenstein and his family. And a few other important monuments such as the Postage Stamp Museum :)
It was a very hot day, and there were sprinklers and water fountain displays through the pedestrian streets which Maddy (and I) enjoyed immensely. Liechtenstein is a tiny little country but it's neat to say that we were there.
Then we continued on our journey with a beautiful drive to Lucerne, Switzerland.
Innsbruck, Austria
After our crazy schedule in Salzburg, we drove to Innsbruck. We had an amazing hotel location right in the Old Town, overlooking the town tower and the Golden Roof. We enjoyed walking
through the Old Town and seeing all of the architecture and really nice shops. The streets were lined with wrought iron signs that added a neat touch.
In the afternoon we went up the Hafeleker mountain, where we had gorgeous views of the city and the Alps. We also had a wonderful lunch of schnitzel and beer.
I love the picture of Maddy and Andrew overlooking the mountains. My peeps are pretty darn cute.
through the Old Town and seeing all of the architecture and really nice shops. The streets were lined with wrought iron signs that added a neat touch.
In the afternoon we went up the Hafeleker mountain, where we had gorgeous views of the city and the Alps. We also had a wonderful lunch of schnitzel and beer.
I love the picture of Maddy and Andrew overlooking the mountains. My peeps are pretty darn cute.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
The Sauna Experience - retold by Andrew Conley
Well, it was the end of a long week and all I wanted to do when I arrived home from work was to relax my aching muscles (after a 12 km run) in the sauna and drink a cold beer. In hindsight, maybe drinking beer in a hot sauna is not the best way to rehydrate yourself after a run. Well,
whatever. So, after saying hello to my beautiful family, which could have been the last time I saw them alive given the evening's later events, I proceeded to go into the sauna and get set up (i.e. getting my steam water, pillow and foot rest ready).
The current temperature in the sauna was a modest-to-warm 68 degrees celcius with a relative humidity of 23%. After only laying down for a few minutes, I wanted to know what we were having for supper as I was hungry and thinking about bread, pasta, milk and sausage. But, to my surprise and astonishment, the sauna door ceased to open under the strength of one of my world-renowned solid door pushes. Bewildered, I wondered who would have designd a sauna with a door that had the ability to randomly lock itself with people on the inside. For such a
progressive society, the Finns really dropped the ball on this one. Initially, I was level "2" scared (i.e. mostly embarrassed). After trying to turn the handle unsuccessfully for a couple of minutes and realizing it was no hope, I started to scream for Kim who was in the other section of the house. After a few minutes of no response, I approached level "4" scared as the sauna temperature was now approaching 80 degrees (i.e. fairly concerned about my well-being). Then
I began to scream even louder and didn't worry about the possibility of the neighbours hearing me, hence enhancing my embarrassment.
Then, Kim came into the sauna area and after I explained the situation, she turned off the
sauna so I wouldn't roast to a crisp; albeit a well-flavoured and tasty snack. However, if Kim were not home and I was in the sauna alone (i.e. my mistress was also away for the weekend), I would have approached level "7.45" scared (i.e. starting to defecate myself, but hoping I wouldn't since I was stuck in an enclosed and very hot space). But, I was just thinking as I wrote this that there is a thermostat inside the sauna so I suppose if I was stuck alone and I wasn't completely panicked from fear, I could have reduced the thermostat to a lower survivable temperature of 30 - 40 degrees. Actually, I don't know how low the thermostat goes in a suana as no one would go in a suana at less than about 55 degrees celcius, so this may be the low end, but still very dangerous temperature if stuck for a long period of time. I had a bucket full of steam water that I could have survived on for a while for hydration, but I was hungry and thinking about fresh bread.
By the way, I resent my wife's comment referring to me as a dumbass. The outcome of this
incident (i.e. door lock breaking down into the locked position) was a completely unrelated and random consequence of my own actions (i.e. closing the door to the sauna, which is a daily endeavour for most Finns). But, we can discuss this more thoroughly later Kim (maybe during next week's dialogue night). I routinely do dumbass things, but I don't classify this as one of
them.
Regarding our feeble escape attempts. I tried pushing the door with 100% of my strength with
absolutely no success. But, it was hard to get any leverage because the sauna oven was located directly across from the door so I couldn't post my feet against the wall without frying my skin to a crisp. This particular sauna door in very thick and solid wood, and it is framed very tightly into a very thick and solid wood frame. It was good craftmenship to allow very little heat from
escaping the sauna. It is as solid (if not more) as any external door of any house in Canada. And, it is not like the movies, where one solid kick is able to break down a door with ease. We had no key for the door, and the actual key-hole was empty anyways so it wouldn't have helped anyways. I tried body-checking the door with 67% of my strength but the door was not budging. Again, my momentum was limited in the tight space of the sauna, so I couldn't get a decent run at it. I seem to be making a lot of excuses, but these are simply the facts and nothing but the facts, so help me God.
Kim took pictures of the door frame from the outside of the sauna and placed the camera
under the small space at the base of the door to let me see, but the hinges were receded back into the interior of the solid door frame, so we could not access them. I thought about trying to remove the actual frame from the interior of the sauna but I didn't have a screwdriver big enough (or enough torque) to unscrew the giant bolts holding the interior frame into place. After a few other fruitless efforts, we decided after an hour of my naked ass being stuck in the sauna to phone the locksmith. The first locksmith said it would be a 2-4 hour wait (not acceptable). The next locksmith was able to come after another 90 minutes. So, Kim passed me my iPOD and I listened to documentaries on CBC radio podcasts as I ran on the spot, did some push-ups, sit-ups, dynamic squats, calf raises and lunges and planned my next running race, since I never let an opportunity for hot sauna, confined-space, high-humidity training pass me by. Or, maybe I just had a nap in the sauna as I waited for my saviour. I can't exactly remember.
If I had been left alone in the sauna and it remained on and I had to escape or meet certain
death overnight, I do believe that I would have been able to break down the door. Although, I'm sure that I would have been very banged up as a result and probably scalded, but at least I would be alive. I think repetitive full-burst body slams would have eventually broke the frame and brought down the door, but I didn't have to resort to this option unless absolutely necessary.
The locksmith came and actually struggled with the door handle locking mechanism for quite a while, they can usually get into any door in only a couple minutes. But, it took him about 10 minutes. Fortunately for that dude, Kim had already gave me some shorts under the door so
he didn't have to see my jiggly bits. Although the door did not have an actual lock, the inside of the door closing mechanism actual broke apart inside the door in the closed position, so the handle was no longer actually attached to anything so it could not function to unlock the pin of the door anymore.
So, I was finally released in time to eat some very cold dinner, which didn't quite taste
as good as the meal I was picturing in my head when laying in the sauna
death-trap.
We paid the locksmith ~400 dollars for his 15 minutes of work and we moved on with our
lives.
The End
whatever. So, after saying hello to my beautiful family, which could have been the last time I saw them alive given the evening's later events, I proceeded to go into the sauna and get set up (i.e. getting my steam water, pillow and foot rest ready).
The current temperature in the sauna was a modest-to-warm 68 degrees celcius with a relative humidity of 23%. After only laying down for a few minutes, I wanted to know what we were having for supper as I was hungry and thinking about bread, pasta, milk and sausage. But, to my surprise and astonishment, the sauna door ceased to open under the strength of one of my world-renowned solid door pushes. Bewildered, I wondered who would have designd a sauna with a door that had the ability to randomly lock itself with people on the inside. For such a
progressive society, the Finns really dropped the ball on this one. Initially, I was level "2" scared (i.e. mostly embarrassed). After trying to turn the handle unsuccessfully for a couple of minutes and realizing it was no hope, I started to scream for Kim who was in the other section of the house. After a few minutes of no response, I approached level "4" scared as the sauna temperature was now approaching 80 degrees (i.e. fairly concerned about my well-being). Then
I began to scream even louder and didn't worry about the possibility of the neighbours hearing me, hence enhancing my embarrassment.
Then, Kim came into the sauna area and after I explained the situation, she turned off the
sauna so I wouldn't roast to a crisp; albeit a well-flavoured and tasty snack. However, if Kim were not home and I was in the sauna alone (i.e. my mistress was also away for the weekend), I would have approached level "7.45" scared (i.e. starting to defecate myself, but hoping I wouldn't since I was stuck in an enclosed and very hot space). But, I was just thinking as I wrote this that there is a thermostat inside the sauna so I suppose if I was stuck alone and I wasn't completely panicked from fear, I could have reduced the thermostat to a lower survivable temperature of 30 - 40 degrees. Actually, I don't know how low the thermostat goes in a suana as no one would go in a suana at less than about 55 degrees celcius, so this may be the low end, but still very dangerous temperature if stuck for a long period of time. I had a bucket full of steam water that I could have survived on for a while for hydration, but I was hungry and thinking about fresh bread.
By the way, I resent my wife's comment referring to me as a dumbass. The outcome of this
incident (i.e. door lock breaking down into the locked position) was a completely unrelated and random consequence of my own actions (i.e. closing the door to the sauna, which is a daily endeavour for most Finns). But, we can discuss this more thoroughly later Kim (maybe during next week's dialogue night). I routinely do dumbass things, but I don't classify this as one of
them.
Regarding our feeble escape attempts. I tried pushing the door with 100% of my strength with
absolutely no success. But, it was hard to get any leverage because the sauna oven was located directly across from the door so I couldn't post my feet against the wall without frying my skin to a crisp. This particular sauna door in very thick and solid wood, and it is framed very tightly into a very thick and solid wood frame. It was good craftmenship to allow very little heat from
escaping the sauna. It is as solid (if not more) as any external door of any house in Canada. And, it is not like the movies, where one solid kick is able to break down a door with ease. We had no key for the door, and the actual key-hole was empty anyways so it wouldn't have helped anyways. I tried body-checking the door with 67% of my strength but the door was not budging. Again, my momentum was limited in the tight space of the sauna, so I couldn't get a decent run at it. I seem to be making a lot of excuses, but these are simply the facts and nothing but the facts, so help me God.
Kim took pictures of the door frame from the outside of the sauna and placed the camera
under the small space at the base of the door to let me see, but the hinges were receded back into the interior of the solid door frame, so we could not access them. I thought about trying to remove the actual frame from the interior of the sauna but I didn't have a screwdriver big enough (or enough torque) to unscrew the giant bolts holding the interior frame into place. After a few other fruitless efforts, we decided after an hour of my naked ass being stuck in the sauna to phone the locksmith. The first locksmith said it would be a 2-4 hour wait (not acceptable). The next locksmith was able to come after another 90 minutes. So, Kim passed me my iPOD and I listened to documentaries on CBC radio podcasts as I ran on the spot, did some push-ups, sit-ups, dynamic squats, calf raises and lunges and planned my next running race, since I never let an opportunity for hot sauna, confined-space, high-humidity training pass me by. Or, maybe I just had a nap in the sauna as I waited for my saviour. I can't exactly remember.
If I had been left alone in the sauna and it remained on and I had to escape or meet certain
death overnight, I do believe that I would have been able to break down the door. Although, I'm sure that I would have been very banged up as a result and probably scalded, but at least I would be alive. I think repetitive full-burst body slams would have eventually broke the frame and brought down the door, but I didn't have to resort to this option unless absolutely necessary.
The locksmith came and actually struggled with the door handle locking mechanism for quite a while, they can usually get into any door in only a couple minutes. But, it took him about 10 minutes. Fortunately for that dude, Kim had already gave me some shorts under the door so
he didn't have to see my jiggly bits. Although the door did not have an actual lock, the inside of the door closing mechanism actual broke apart inside the door in the closed position, so the handle was no longer actually attached to anything so it could not function to unlock the pin of the door anymore.
So, I was finally released in time to eat some very cold dinner, which didn't quite taste
as good as the meal I was picturing in my head when laying in the sauna
death-trap.
We paid the locksmith ~400 dollars for his 15 minutes of work and we moved on with our
lives.
The End
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