* Mexican restaurants: the first time my big sister took me to dinner in one (Finnish, fake-Mexican, probably terribly unauthentic and cheesy). I love the poorly lit booths, narrow passageways, cheerily colourful decor, the sangria and fried icecream. (I may be in for a horrible surprise if I ever make it to Mexico.)
* Irish pubs: my first, dizzying evening in Ireland. Dark nooks, rough wooden tables with spilled beer, smell of tobacco, red-faced men saying incomprehensible things, raucous laughter, Guinness ads claiming it is good for you, pipe music (and U2 music), radiators on full blast to ward off the chilly dampness outside, and a feeling that all is well with the world.
* second-hand shops: in a treasure chamber in a basement, where I got accidentally locked in.
* laptops: some cold evening in a wintry Finland when I first lost myself in the world out there, available on my own lap. (Tablet computers are too clumsy to type on. Smartphones annoy me.)
* peppermint tea: on holiday, tiny cabin at boring camp site,
parents and sister. I was about 16. The weather was chilly, I can't
remember doing much fun and the only tea we had in the cabin was
peppermint. But the atmosphere: family, cozy evenings, peppermint. So,
peppermint = coziness, comfort. Reinforced during that summer in France
when I spent the evenings watching TV in the attic with two wonderful
boys who always brought me peppermint tea because I had once mentioned
that I liked it.
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