the Zinfandel days by a river

Perhaps not my first choice of European city for a mini-break. But you go where the cheap tickets take you.

The only thing I really knew about  Frankfurt am Main  was that it has a huge airport. Now I also know that it is the home of the euro, has a lot of skyscrapers for a European city and used to host the crowning ceremony of German emperors - including Charlemagne.

Now the city hosts some huge trade fairs but between the fairs, it seems rather surprised when confronted with non-Germans. Firmly rejecting foreign credit cards in many places, for example.

It was a coincidence that I ended up there for my tiny holiday, but it turned out to be the ideal city if you - like me - love both history and skyscrapers.

In Frankfurt you sit on the river bank among flocks of geese and people smoking the hookah. Every time you look up to the sky, there's an aircraft there. In Frankfurt, they have placed all the hotels so that the tourists have to go through the Red Light District - even if the sex clubs don't bother you, the drug addicts are a bit scary. The restaurant and bar staff speak English when they take your order but switch to German when they serve the food and bring the bill. There are a lot of handsome men.

The architecture is mixed. Looking at this picture I took, it actually looks Photoshopped. But it isn't. 15th century, meet the 20th century!

Other wonders of Frankfurt am Main:
* cheap wine
* subway trains that suddenly go above ground and magically turn into regular trams
* headstones in graveyards, often inscribed with a very childish sans-serif font and looking rather cheerful
* river barges, transporting not only cargo but also the captain's Mercedes and speedboat

How you should spend three days in Frankfurt:
* Buy bottles of wine in the supermarket.
* Wander around the city at random.
* When you get tired, sit on the river bank or in a park. Drink wine.
* When you've emptied a bottle of Zinfandel, write a note and include a German poem, put it in the bottle and throw it into the river Main. Watch it sail out towards the Rhine and beyond.
* Repeat.

how beauteous mankind is

Getting a job is easier these days. Or harder.

When I was younger, I looked for job ads and applied, then sent copies of university diplomas and written references from previous employers.

Nowadays you just get together for a little chat with a prospective employer, sometimes over the phone - they ask, "What's your background?" and I tell them I am a professional translator and mention vaguely the sort of jobs I have done in the past. They probably Google me, but there's not much to find there.

And then they give me the job.

The tricky part is that in order to get to this point, you usually have had to be recommended to them by someone you and they know. 

But - what? I say the words "professional translator" and they just believe me? I think I like this world.

in the hall of the troll king

Roman Payne said it well - and oh, he knew how I feel about hotel rooms ( they're magic ) and subway trains!

Spent a few days in a big city recently, in a neighbourhood where I felt faintly nervous about going out after dark - the number of drug addicts and suspicious characters gathering in gangs in dark alleys might have had something to do with it.

Yet, I pulled my friend with me down to the subway station ( not the safest of places ) as we were walking back to our hotel. I wanted to smell the burned metal of the train tracks and hear the rumble of approaching underground trains vibrate in the walls. I wanted to watch men in dreadlocks and giggling women in high heels hurry to their train. I wanted the possibility of glimpsing a huge rat in the tunnels. I wanted dark looks from under homeless hoods and the spark of danger in the air. I wanted an urban night where anything can happen. I wanted the Big City, hundreds of subway stations and millions of stories meeting under strip lights.

"I would like to bottle this smell," I sang, delirious. "The one of steel and old urine. I would like to record this sound of a faraway train deep underground. I would listen to it when I can't sleep."

My friend thought I was mad, and rightly so.

international love

"Close your eyes and form your lips like this! Well, do you remember now? Were your lips on the same level as his?"

I'm trying to help my sister recall a German summer fling from her teenage years. We're having lunch in a gem of a vegetarian restaurant, and the only thing not to our liking is the coffee made from grain, which tastes like grain. The rest of the food is good enough to make us wonder why we would ever want meat again.

When we've sorted out the summer fling guy, we discuss the guy from Kansas who I used to call So Close And Yet So Far Away, and the guy from Burkina Faso who disappeared so mysteriously. 

The guy at the next table is reading a book called The Art of Mind-Reading.

didn't hear this

My friend A has a way of prefacing a particularly juicy bit of gossip with the warning "you didn't hear this". Which means I'm not allowed to tell anyone.

"I can't remember if I told you this story before, but if I didn't, you didn't hear this," she said today.
"But if you did tell me before?"
"Then you did hear this. Obviously."

And we were falling over with laughter. The world would be a bleak place without her.

freelancer style

An unusually productive workday. A great cup of coffee. A tentative feeling of optimism. A glorious view through my workplace window. A run and a long shower. A movie night with my best friend, garlic rye chips and Coke.

Nothing more is needed today.

on the wrong side of the police tape

Came rushing through a large airport with a friend. Suddenly found ourself surrounded by stressed-looking police who were putting up police tape in a hurry and commanding people to get out of the area immediately.

My first thought was, "Shit. There's a bomb here and I'm probably standing right next to it."

Was quickly shooed out to the other side of the tape. When the area was cleared, the police left it too. One lonely policeman, with no protective equipment, pulled on latex gloves and walked back in, right to a small bag that had been left unattended next to a bench. He opened it carefully and started to go through it.

And there we stood, not more than 20 metres away, staring in morbid fascination. Also felt that we really, really would like to put a bit more distance between us and a bomb, preferrably something like ten miles. But we were at the check-in desks and really needed to check in so as not to miss our flight - and then the way to our gate was of course on the other side, so we had to circle the entire perimeter of the police tape to find it.

It took forever and ever,  walking next to a bomb.

( In the end, there was no bomb. But that feeling. )

everybody walk the dinosaur

Time for a confession - my most shameful habit:

When they play the Macarena in the club, I teach the youngsters the moves.

I'm always surprised that they actually let me back in there the next time I come.

( I'm also surprised that a club still plays the Macarena. Not that I'm complaining. )

today's guest of honour

S, the fair of face.

the H word

Sometimes happiness is just to take a break from work and go for a run ( even though you are not really in shape and don't really enjoy the running much ).
And stop on the way home to go into a shop, rosy-cheeked and with no make-up, to buy cream for your coffee.
When the air is cold and the sun is bright.

agenda for success

* make a plan for my day
* book a hotel in Frankfurt, Germany
* find a way to get along with my mother
* find more interpreters for my church
* drink less coffee
* get out my running shoes
* read the book of Psalms
* go to bed earlier
* live dramatically and beautifully and IN THE PRESENT
* buy a pair of summer shoes
* change the tires on my car 

essence d'Avril

Spring at 63 degrees north, at the sea's edge:

Blinding sun, cold winds, whirling dust, seagulls, joy.

alien and irresistible

Feeling:

Alien, like Peter Pan ( "He had ecstasies innumerable that other children can never know; but he was looking through the window at the one joy from which he must be for ever barred” ), my own worst enemy and desperately in need of grace, old, damaged, meaningless, LOST, like certain passions of the past mean absolutely nothing anymore.

But also:

Stronger, sometimes beautiful, wise, a better person than I would be otherwise, a drifter, a free spirit ( sometimes ), independent and spontaneous, here and now, in rare moments irresistibly lovable.

going underground in Jyväskylä

Reading a Finnish novel. That doesn't happen very often, I tend to gravitate towards British, Irish and American literature.

Shame-facedly I have to admit that I only discovered this Finnish author - Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen - because one of his novels ( The Rabbit Back Literature Society, not a bad one ) had been translated and found its way to the English Books section in my local library. I read that one and then moved on to the one called Harjukaupungin salakäytävät.

The story is set in Jyväskylä, in my opinion a very boring and non-descript Finnish town where I've only passed through once. In this book, I discover that Jyväskylä has not only magical qualities but a network of secret, underground passages.

Makes me want to hop on the next train there and go exploring.

The intriguing theme is cinematic places and cinematic living. One of the principles of this is that if you open your mind to the cinematic, dramatic and beautiful things around you in the very ordinary, everyday world and live accordingly, you will also have a cinematic, dramatic and beautiful existence. My thoughts exactly!

So I will go and do that. But first I have to finish the novel. Apparently it's been printed in two versions with different endings, and you can't know which version you have happened to get.

( Picture from adlibris.com )

a professional x five

Worked from home. What I actually did was to download two kinds of software and then watch instructional videos on YouTube on how to use them.

It took ALL DAY.

I'm getting motion sickness from yet another career change. Within less than ten years, I have gone from the hotel business to the translation business to the book business to the garment production business to the TV subtitling business. My CV looks like the Yellow Pages.

It's mostly not even my fault. The changes have been done out of necessity. But something inside me is a little bit  thrilled  about this.

ordinary, vanilla day

Savouring my first cup of vanilla coffee from my new coffeemaker while seagulls are announcing the spring outside my windows.

I would say I'm having a late start to my working day but it's actually my default setting when I work from home. I pretend it's necessary for the creative process. But now I'm finally settling down to read instructions and download software and learn a new job.

I will work, I will get a little bored, I will get a little excited, and at some point I will have another mug of coffee outside in the sunshine.

apricot cider evening

Still chilly, but the April sun was blasting my windows with a million watts and degrees.

I winced and wanted to draw the curtains. But a friend said, "let's sit on the balcony. I'll bring cider!" So we watched the world and got tipsy on apricot cider and hours passed and the world was wonderful.

the assignments

Today I have ordered a coffeemaker online.

I have also convinced a new employer that I am indeed a very professional and experienced translator while balancing precariously on a plank over a swamp.

report from the vast forests of the North

Walking in a grey forest. Couldn't get anyone to join me ( people actually work on Tuesday afternoons? ) so it was a solitary experience.

It wasn't the prettiest of forests. But it was quiet, not a soul within many miles. I was entertaining myself by trying to figure out how the rescue services would get to me if I fell and broke my neck ( my plan involved helicopters and huskies ). The trail was supposedly four kilometres but it took me 2.5 hours so I suspect foul play was involved in the signposting.

I saw no animals except a few birds. ( One signpost said encouragingly that seeing a bear around here wasn't unheard of. See above under "Foul Play". ) The ants were still hibernating inside giant anthills. I expected an adder or two but it must have been still too cold for them.

There were information boards placed at intervals along the trail, describing plants, wildlife and the odd creatures you might see if you were of the old religion - fairies, water spirits and such. In reality, the spirits were as absent as the bears.

For the most part, my forest experience consisted of pines, spruces, swamps and rocks. There was, however, a tiny cave where I crawled in ( trusting the huskies to find me if I got stuck ) and an open place where rocks had been laid out to form a primitive compass rose - supposedly to ward off bad luck and originating from the 8th century. There were spruces that were said to have lived through the bad years of the late 19th century, as evidenced by weirdly tangled branches. And there was a picnic spot, complete with fireplace, an axe and a saucepan ( a real Finn needs nothing else, right? ).

 

Chocolate was necessary to raise the morale of the troops.

hens on heels

For a successful hen night, take:

* an assortment of girls from Kenya to Kazakhstan and a few countries in between
* a giggly workout session in a sunny dance studio
* Thai take-out
* inexplicably exploding balloons
* chatter in Russian, Swedish and English
* a hard-core cynic
* a wedding dress improvised out of bin liners
* a  crowded dancefloor at midnight

Mix with high heels and a few rolls of toilet paper, and all is well with the world.

better to curse the darkness than to light a candle

A crescent moon.
Was Not Was: "Walk The Dinosaur" 
Dancing on the volleyball court and grinning at all the men.

Avocado and mushroom omelet.
A silver laptop.
A job I feared, which turned into a job I loved.
My favourite bookshop and lists to go through.
Speaking a foreign language fluently.

= things that made me happy today.

-----------------------------------------------
Bonus feature:

My incredulity at looking at a candle in a shop and discovering that it cost 50 euro. FIFTY. EURO. In what world would you pay that for a candle?

It actually made me angry. Not because I couldn't live without the candle. But to think that there may be people who would actually buy it, when approximately 20 000 people around the world died from hunger only today, that kind of scared me. What is wrong with us?

happy in HEL

More marvels found in Helsinki, the capital of Finland:

* a proper mixture of things

* streets paved with real stones, for that authentic European feeling

* trams ( lovely trams! ), and tram tracks to stumble over in high heels

* a Burger King that looks like a church

* the gigantic, enormous, ginormous book store Akateeminen, of which Michael Cunningham ( author of The Hours ) reportedly said it was the best book store he'd seen

* icebreakers looking very pretty in the evening sun

* an interesting fake fauna - the elk is somewhat understandable, this being Finland, but the giraffes on the balcony were entirely unexpected

* the ugliest presidential palace in the world ( OK, only temporarily... undergoing renovation )

* and another tourist, happily singing as she wanders the streets for hours ( that would be me )

there's heaven, and there's Helsinki

Wow, Helsinki! What else can I say?

I must have turned into a proper hillbilly. I tend to turn into a gawking, gasping, awe-struck TOURIST every time I arrive in a big city ( not necessarily even properly big like New York, but biggish like Dublin or Helsinki ).

Helsinki has everything. For example:

* Starbucks
* tourists ( not just me, a whole lot of English and Russian is heard in the streets )
* pretty houses ( all the below are residential / business buildings, no actual castles )

* ugly houses

* snowfalls from sunny skies
* people wearing colourful clothes
* a prison turned into a trendy hotel
* thousands of GORGEOUS little wine bars, pubs and bistros where you could just settle down at one of the rustic, candle-lit, wooden tables and drink beer and feast on delicacies and laugh with friends for the rest of your life
* a smell of roasting coffee beans
* pretty doors

* pretty cathedrals

* golden domes

* and some beautiful views

        *** to be continued ***

cities filled with the foolish

I love weird traditions that make entire continents laugh, or groan, or both. Like the Eurovision Song Contest, or April Fools' Day.

Or ones that don't raise an eyebrow almost anywhere in the world but are in fact utterly ridiculous when you think about it, like Santa Claus.

I mean, April Fools' Day, how bizarre is that? I'm sitting in a hostel in Helsinki with my laptop, chewing on a cereal bar and laughing at a round-up of today's newspaper jokes. The world is making fun of itself, for once. And when I'm done, it seems to me that the world is a better place on the first of April.

no time, no plan

An email invited me to travel to Helsinki, to learn a computer program I need for my part-time job.

I should leave tomorrow. Not much time to plan the trip and it needs planning because hello, I haven't been to the nation's capital for 8 years and probably won't be able to afford another trip for the next 8 years ( train ticket 130 euro return ) so I need to make the most of it.

This coincides with debilitating stomach pain, plus a burning desire to write fiction. So I'll probably be up all night.

one of Paulo's best

Veronika Decides to Die. A great title for a remarkable book, and I was pleased to find that it is not bad as a film, either.

I rarely watch films these days, for some reason. I blame our information-overload society, which has made me as scatter-brained as everyone else. Films seem just... too long.

But I sat through this one when it was on television the other day. Spellbound.

And for some other strange reason, I always read Coelho's books with some reluctance. Usually as a result of some friend pushing one at me. I wouldn't pick them out of the library shelf for myself.

But I have never read a bad or uninteresting novel by Paulo Coelho. The one about Veronika is probably my favourite.

The day after watching the film, I didn't turn my computer on for most of the day. Instead, I went out, had a great lunch, felt the sun on my face, read a book. Enjoyed life.

(Picture from Wikipedia)

mirrors, zombies and Elvis

I never really fit in at fitness clubs.

Three months ago, I bought a temporary, discounted membership to one. I threw myself into their zumba classes but it took me a month to actually try out any of the scary exercise equipment.

I don't seem to know anyone at the club, which is a feat in itself in this tiny city. People don't make eye contact. They come in, plug in their headphones and do their training without interacting with anyone.

I'm an introvert myself and not much for making sparkling conversation when I fall into an exhausted puddle after the abs machine. But this atmosphere of muscle-obsessed zombies staring at the wall seems slightly creepy. Then I can better understand the joggers out on the beach walk.  As soon as the worst of the winter cold and ice are gone, I'm heading out there myself.

The zumba classes are better - at least you get a smiling instructor shouting cheerful encouragement at you. Our main zumba instructor starts out with the latin music but then throws in a lot of hiphop and reggaeton, even classic rock. She has lavender-coloured hair and sometimes forgets that not all of us are professional dancers like herself, but I dig her music. Yesterday we had a substitute who obviously liked the more danceable side of country & western. She was also heavily pregnant. I'm surprised to report that I had fun.

The best part of this fitness club is in fact the dance room. Floor-to-ceiling mirrors on two walls ( I avoid looking in that direction, there are always some wildly swinging limbs and uncoordinated movements that seem to be mine ) and large windows overlooking a busy city street.

I can pretend I'm in a  professional dance studio in Brooklyn, N.Y.  Gives me a much-needed boost of motivation when I'm wheezing after those crazy jumps to Elvis's "Hound Dog".

lost

Gathered some nachos, chocolate and wine to me and settled down for a much-needed home-alone evening.

One should be careful about doing such a thing. Because when the wine is taking effect and one tires of aimless FaceBook / Pinterest surfing, thoughts that only exist in solitude may come for a visit.

So when darkness finally falls over the bay after a glorious spring sunset, I light a candle and worry about being lost and not good enough.


Stand at the crossroads and look;
    ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
    and you will find rest for your souls.
( The Bible: Jeremiah 6:16 )

is it right to call them players?

The male version of the  volleyball tournament  was indeed a more genial affair than its female counterpart.

Much less shrieking and shouting, at least. Perhaps less emotion. Or the emotion might have been of a purer sort of joy or frustration, which is vented in one single burst and then forgotten. There was plenty of joking both within and between teams.

When the women were playing, yesterday, there were sour comments whispered about that team nobody liked. There were a few arguments with the referee, some vicious glaring and a number of arrogant attitudes being thrown around.

Or maybe that was all in my imagination. Perhaps I saw arrogance where there were only strong wills and a healthy fighting spirit. My own bad attitude ( hopefully well hidden ) might have influenced my perception of things.

All I know is that I was in a great mood when I arrived at the ladies' volleyball tournament to play with my team. Within two minutes of arriving, somebody looked at me the wrong way and I suddenly hated everything. Our team finished second, after the team I hated most of all, and I went home and cried.

In the men's tournament today I was helping my friends in the men's team that never has quite enough men. A great day, lots of laughter. Winning seemed only natural. And it was.

a spike of emotion

Second day of volleyball tournament. This time for the men, yesterday was for the ladies.

Sure hope the atmosphere yours truly will be less bitchy today.

career decision

I would like to sit by a fire right now, earning money as a Collector of Odd Statements.

return of the confused bookseller

A twist in my fate.

Today I was selling angels, wrapping presents and answering questions about books I don't know. In short, I was back in the Little Shop of Harmony, the little book/ gift shop I left exactly a year ago.

Most of the customers were familiar. A few asked me if I was back for good, others just looked slightly bemused to see me. The cashier system was the new, complicated one that was installed shortly before I left. I couldn't remember a thing about it and had to start by reading the manual I had written for my coworkers before I took off for greener pastures.

The only real change was that the charity shop in the basement was gone. The Aladdin's Cave filled to bursting with second-hand treasures of every kind, the meeting place of humanity, from women in hijabs to goth teenagers. All gone. It feels like the soul of the place is missing.

I'm not back for good, just helping out every now and then. That is fine with me. Going back to something I left behind me once feels wrong. I'm like a shark - I have to keep moving to stay alive.

But I still like the people here. I sold some books and some angels, wrestled them through the cashier system and was comforted by the fact that the coffee in this workplace is MUCH better than in my previous one.

the universe is random so I can be too

Things I have said or written at some point - posted here because I can:

"A bath tub, a dog, a booked trip and more money - that's all I ask."
"The worst things in life: stomach bugs, blind dates, job interviews."
"God didn't sacrifice Gabriel."
"My car is like a cancer patient."
"I just drew a skull and crossbones on my cough medicine bottle."

a kick-ass lesson

The evening class at the community college was called Self-Defence for Women.

The teacher was a female expert on martial arts, a tough chick with a lovely manner. We were a group of regular women gathering in a run-down school gym once a week. She taught us practical techniques for getting out of almost every kind of violent or threatening situation but also often gathered us around her for discussions on how to avoid these situations in the first place.

We had a lot of laughs - it happens when you try to strangle each other, break kneecaps, crush windpipes and find painful pressure points. It turns out trying to kick a potential rapist's groin is not always the most effective defence.

These were dark winter evenings in Cambridge, England. I had to cycle home along the rather dangerous streets of the poorer neighbourhoods and the deserted fields of Coldham's Common. Before, like many women and for good reason, I was scared of the dark and felt weak and useless. After, I was confident. I knew that I still wasn't a martial arts expert who could tear the innards out of a potential aggressor, but I knew I was able to spot dangerous situations, avoid them and if necessary fight enough to escape them. Strong, no longer useless in a crisis.

And it's strange, the way that confidence from a few simple practical classes in that dark gym has followed me since - no longer scared of the dark, but also stronger in mind and spirit.

where do the Irish go in the winter?

Ireland, a while ago:

"Use your backhand!" Finian admonishes me kindly. He lets me play double with him in badminton and he is so good at it that he makes me feel good too. Kit shows me how to hold the racket more efficiently. Noel teases me for my killer attitude in the game and Philip makes me laugh.

The community centre in a remote Irish village has started up  badminton evenings  twice a week - early hours for children, later for the adults. Considering that the only other sports alternative around here is football, it's not surprising that so many show up. The gym hall has squeezed in four courts where doubles are being played simultaneously, and people are queueing in an orderly manner for their turn. You get paired up with whoever is behind you in the queue. Elderly men and teenage girls and everyone in between is there. Sometimes the wait is long but you can always pass the time getting updated on the village gossip.

I haven't played badminton since I was a child and secretly wish we could do volleyball instead. But before long, I love the game.

The hotel down the road where I, the foreigner, work and live has mostly foreign staff. Since I spend so much time around them, it's not easy getting to know the locals. During the busy tourist season there is no time for that anyway, and the villagers tend to avoid the hotel. Sometimes I wonder if they don't really like foreigners at all.

But now it's October, turning into November. Tourists are scarce and most of the foreign hotel staff have returned to sunny Spain or rainy Romania. When the hotel is getting quiet, all of a sudden the locals bring their kids and aunties and wet dogs and pour into the hotel bar. They come for Sunday lunch or a quiet weekday evening pint, to watch a rugby game or horse races on the TV screen, to play a game of darts near the roaring fire or enter in the annual pool competition (first prize: a turkey). They rent a meeting room in the hotel for their gun club or deer society (which I suspect is the same thing, a gang of hunters) or the district development association. They throw enormous, boisterous 21st birthday parties.

And I, one of the few foreigners left, slowly get to know them. I thought the Irish always kept a wary distance underneath their easy chatter. Now I realise they are fun. And I go to the badminton evenings and find out they are warm-hearted and caring, once you get past that first superficial banter.

To get to the community centre, I have to cycle the two miles to the village. I have no light and the road is pitch dark. I meander along the middle of the road, where I can vaguely see the painted middle line, to avoid crashing into any trees. If I hear a car coming, I get off the bike and press myself into the foliage at the side of the road (Ireland doesn't have ditches) because people drive like there is no tomorrow. Sometimes, there are really weird noises in the darkness around me. And I have to pass the place where they used to hang people a long time ago. A great deal of courage is required to get to this badminton game.

But I go, time and again. I feel as if I'm finally part of Ireland.

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Shona duit go léir, taitneamh a bhaint as an seisiún!

objections and orange coconut

I was very, very fortunate to be offered some work only days after losing my job, I know.

I still whine, of course. The boredom of it. The impossibility for a woman of poor self-discipline to work from home, resulting in constant mental pressure. And the personal objections I harbour towards the texts I'm translating.

I comfort myself with the thought that I can decide freely when I want to take a day off. Or why not a week off.

Working at my kitchen table doesn't seem so bad when there is a sunset to look at and a mug of steaming orange coconut tea nearby.

my life doesn't quite translate

This job is so 2006. If I remember correctly, that was the year I spent at my kitchen table, restless and bored, translating Finnish texts. And now I'm back, much against my will.

Amazing, how quickly and almost completely life changes with a job. I'm not the kind of person whose existence revolves around her job. And yet, I feel like a completely different person today than I was just a week ago. Just because I don't go to the office to gently argue with Chinese suppliers by email anymore.

With a new job, so much is suddenly different. Not just the tasks. A part of your identity, and the way you feel when you tell people where you work. The people you spend 8 hours a day with. Your spending habits. Other habits that change just because you take a different way to work, at a different hour.

My working life has been volatile, and I'm baffled by people who spend decades at the same workplace. I see the allure in it. I also see the horror in it.

ice art

The magical spring light, the beauty of melting ice ... This is from my favourite corner of the Baltic Sea.

Ice sculpture au naturel:

Some filigree work:

There are hundreds of newly returned seagulls wheeling around in the sky, singing their eternal seagull song. But we are far from the city and it is still quiet enough that you can hear that particular, eerie sound of melting ice - a quiet murmur, an occasional little crack, a stifled groan.

Whispered promises of a wonderful summer ahead.

it's a class thing

I like  evening classes,  the kind you take at adult education centres or community colleges.

Every now and then I join one. I'm doing one right now. I gravitate towards computer classes since they are so useful and so quickly forgotten. ( I have taken a beginner's course in Microsoft Excel about three times. I still don't know how to use it. )

 

The teacher is invariably some middle-aged or elderly man who is used to teaching computer skills to middle-aged and elderly women. He takes us through things slowly, carefully answers also rather irrelevant questions by the more talkative students, while I drum my fingers against the keyboard impatiently. Usually the course content is spread out over maybe five lessons when it could be easily condensed into two.

But the atmosphere is always so gentle and warm. There is no pressure to actually learn anything unless you want to, since there is never an exam. The students are mature, uncompetitive and friendly - attending out of a genuine interest towards the subject.

And the best part, there is usually a coffee break. Even an introvert like myself finds it strangely enjoyable to sip bad coffee ( when you know you shouldn't, because it's evening ) and chat with complete strangers. Because the evening class type of stranger is always so nice.

I also do language courses sometimes, French or Finnish ( my mother tongue is Swedish ). Although this kind of course requires you to actually study between lessons. They are also more unpleasant since you are often asked to make conversation in the foreign language. I employ my usual tactics for these situations, attack is the best form of defence, and take the lead so I can monopolise the easiest phrases.

Then there are sports classes of course. I took one in zumba because I had no idea what it was and was scared to try it at a regular fitness club - it was less frightening to try it out in the company of grannies. A badminton class became my salvation one winter in a very remote village when I suffered from cabin fever - it would never have occurred to me to take up that particular sport, but the only alternative was soccer so it was a question of the lesser of two evils. Turned out badminton is a lot of fun.

Once I also tried wirework, where my proudest achievement was a rather horrible basket that I lugged unfinished through city streets one late night after the last class. ( Too embarrassed to take it on the bus so had to call my dad to come and pick me up. )

My most memorable evening class was in self-defence, taught by a female expert on martial arts. It was awesome. We got to sit on each other and try to gouge each other's eyes out.

Mostly I like my evening classes because of the feeling I get on dark winter evenings when I make my way through cold streets to get there and spread out my notebooks on the desk. It's a very rare feeling of community. Of belonging.


( If you are still not convinced to try this feeling of community, read Maeve Binchy's Evening Class. )

the anti-depressant was shining today

One day you walk through a pretty forest and feel depressed because there has been  no sun for a month.  It's like living underneath a wet grey wool blanket.

A few days later, you trudge down a dusty city street. Joyfully, because the sun is shining again.

time to turn at Beauty's glance

Monday morning and I try to work out what to do with my day now that there's no job to go to.

The plan for today includes picking up a parcel containing my new boots, eagerly anticipated. Have coffee with my mother and sister. Stop by the unemployment office to get some more forms to fill out ( necessary evil ). Maybe indulge my guilty pleasure and do another round hunting for treasures at the flea market. Be out on the town and do some people-watching. All these things I never seemed to have energy for when working full-time.

Before that, I will stay on my sofa for a few minutes more, finishing my mug of coffee and watching the first migrating birds returning to the bay.

One part of me, usually cowering behind the anxiety, is happy to finally have time to watch the birds and the bay.


( Title from W.H.Davies' poem "Leisure" )

pop some tags

When you are down on your luck, you should get yourself a faux shearling coat from that thrift shop down the road. Only got twenty euro in my pocket but it was enough.

first day on the dole

The worst happened ( employment-wise ) and I was told yesterday that it was my last day at work. And I had just begun to feel fairly confident that my job was safe after all.

My plans for  dealing with a crisis  like this usually involves getting ( moderately ) drunk the first evening. Instead, I went to a computer course I had signed up for earlier and sat there trying to concentrate on rectangle frame tools and on being sociable with my coursemates during the coffee break. Coming home, I was too exhausted to even contemplate alcohol.

My plans for the following days looked like this: get up early, get showered and dressed and breakfasted, make sure the house is tidy - in short, make sure all circumstances are optimal when I then sit down at the computer to start the whole business of job searching, CV writing and unemployment benefit application.

I should know by now that I never do that. I got up this morning and despair drove me straight to the computer. By noon I was still in my PJs, hair looking like a rain forest, stomach growling for breakfast. But most of the bureaucracy was done and despair had settled into something almost resembling optimism.

Or at least I was chasing the dog around the house, singing "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman". That must be the same thing.

ponies and Proust

* Reading Donald Duck comics or pony stories at my parents' kitchen table as a child - forgetting to eat and making my meal last for hours, until my mother had to outlaw reading at mealtimes.
* During university days, sneaking away from studies and lectures in order to escape reality in a café with a magazine or a cheap thriller.
* As an overworked receptionist, hunching over a Proust or Rushdie novel during short lunch breaks in the hotel kitchen ( attracting ridicule from coworkers ).
* Browsing fanfiction on the internet while enjoying a drawn-out weekend brunch at home.

My history of combining food with literature is long and pleasant. They say it's not good for your food experience. But it sure is good for my literature experience.

the java is lava

Scientific observation of the day:

If you forget to turn off the coffee-maker overnight and there is coffee left in the pot, in the morning it will look like solidified bubbly lava and make an impressive hissing sound when you try to rinse the pot out with water.

when in doubt, don't ask a poodle

The good thing with Finland is that the wilderness is never far away.

Two minutes walk from my suburban residence, you will find yourself seeing nothing but wide, flat fields and the occasional old farmhouse. And the ancient barns for storing hay, so typical for this region and so beautiful.

Leave the fields and go into the forest and you can really get lost. I used to wander here as a teenager, for miles and hours. Even with my good sense of direction, I often found myself not sure of the way back. But my faithful companion, a Labrador, only needed to hear the command "go home!" and in the middle of whatever unknown part of this vast forest, he would unerringly set a straight course and lead me home.

My present companion, the poodle, just gives me a confused look in the same situation, and brings me a stick to throw instead.

the accidental resident

"Thank God this is not my real life" is a thought that goes through my head often as I, the temporary resident, walk through suburbia. The pastel-coloured houses all have a matching pastel-coloured garage and a pastel-coloured little shed to hide the garbage bins.

I seem much better suited to take up  temporary residence  in other people's houses, preferably small flats with views over rooftops or other beautiful landscapes. A house with many rooms seems too vast. I shiver with cold and vulnerability when I have to walk through the kitchen to get from the guest room to the bathroom in the morning. I retreat to that particular corner of the sofa, that particular chair at the large kitchen table, and the rest is part of the outside world to me. I make my home in these tiny spots, venture out to explore the world around and then come back to read and write. Alone. With few possessions - the fewer the better - and  plenty of freedom.  A good life, in its unique way, but how did it become mine?

Trying out the little luxuries that are not part of my usual life feels oddly risky and I have to tackle them one at a time. Today I made espresso for the first time in my life. Yesterday I lit a fire in the fireplace. There is joy in each new exploit.

Even in clearing snow off the driveway this morning. The poodle was barking at me, my mittens got wet, I was a little out of breath. And I was happy.

dictionary of aniseed, odour and zagreb

The owners of the house and the poodle that I'm babysitting for the next couple of weeks wrote me a  manual  from A to Z to cover any information I might require to operate the boiler, flatscreen, poodle etc. A lot of useful information, certainly. But apparently there wasn't enough information for every letter of the alphabet, so they added some.

A is for Aniseed ( where to find ), a spice I have never had any need for in my entire life ( a fact they know very well ).

A is also for Axe: "Wait a second now! Ask yourself first, why do I need an axe? A can opener is found in the top drawer. An axe is found in the garage but we're not telling you where...."

C is for Candy: "See 'Craving'."

C is also for Craving: "See 'Candy'."

I is for Irresponsible: "If you suddenly start feeling irresponsible and wild, no cause for panic! It's the wilderness of the 'burbs getting to you. Put the TV and Facebook on, and you should feel an immediate relief."

O is for Odour: "The shower is for your use. Please wipe the floor afterwards ( we said afterwards! )"

S is for Stubbornness: "A frequent occurrence in the poodle. Can be cured by cuddling, and additional cuddling."

W is for Water: "If water is coming out of places it's not supposed to, don't act out 'Singing In The Rain' but TURN OFF THE MAIN VALVE."

X is for Xantippa ( followed by facts about Socrates' wife ). Cross-referenced with the name of a mutual acquaintance.

Z is for Zagreb, Archdiocese of ( followed by an excerpt from Wikipedia ). Apparently in case I have a sudden urge to go to Croatia and find religion.

mud and espresso in the 'burbs

Curled up in a red sofa. I'm in an empty, rather chilly house on a dark winter evening so I chose the room that has the sofa and a flatscreen and gathered around me my laptop, a novel, my diary, my phone, a glass of wine, a dog, and the remote to the flatscreen.

I seem to have acquired a reputation as the go-to woman for people who need someone to babysit their pets and house when they go on holiday. Last time it was the quaint cottage and the sheepdog in a summer village, before that a messy house with two indifferent cats. This time it's midwinter and I'm stationed in a suburb of pastel-coloured houses, in a house that feels much too large for me and shows the wear and tear and clutter of a family with several children. My companion is a high-strung but ultra-cute poodle.

I claim a couple of spots in the house for myself - the kitchen table, the guest bedroom, a shelf in the bathroom for my stuff, and this red sofa. It's a bit like camping ( including a rather uncomfortable bed ) but there are things to enjoy here. Like the espresso maker, a real fireplace, the sauna, and a garage door that can be remotely opened as you pull up in the driveway. ( This last detail I enjoy with childish pleasure. My car, which has always had to endure winter storms and summer heat parked out in the street, probably thinks it has died and gone to Citroën heaven ).

And someone else's extensive CD collection, an unexplored bookshelf and even a miniature pool table.

I love having a daily life that is all new to me. Even the most boring morning routine seems like an opportunity to reinvent yourself into the person you always wanted to be. And there is a new neighbourhood to explore.

So today's tasks included negotiating a pot-holed road to work, wiping mud off poodle paws and listening to Sigur Rós.

change and dog bite

The end has not yet arrived. I still go to the office every day to watch the boss try to save the company.

I pretend to be like everyone else, silently chewing nails, trying to not go into hysterics about unemployment and money problems. But inside, I secretly cherish the thought of change in almost any form. Am I odd? Just a symptom of a boring life?

In the meantime, this February is a diluted version of winter. No bright sunshine on white snow, so cold it burns your skin. Instead, the occasional wet blanket of slush that quickly melts into a thick grey soup of mud and water.

Yesterday I moved furniture around my tiny flat and was bitten by the dog that I hug so often. Talked to a friend who probably thought I was distracted and incoherent. Today I will dye my hair brighter, make oven sandwiches, play volleyball and prepare myself for a week of temporary and maybe permanent change.

( Photo by Linda Strömberg-Yucak for Vasabladet )

the hostile time of day

I wish I liked mornings. Mornings are beautiful, fresh, the promise of new possibilities.

But I'm always so tired - or, even when I'm not tired, during that time of the day I'm weak and vulnerable. And mornings are also hostile, always out to get me.

Today, the morning was giving me a break. Out earlier than I usually would be on a Saturday, walking a borrowed poodle, there was  a cessation of hostilities.  The morning, the poodle and I walked in peaceful silence. 

tea, then the end

Statistics and tea of fragrant spices.
The murmur of the radio in the other room.
The peace of an almost empty office and snow falling outside.

The strange harmony in not knowing whether all this is coming to an end on Friday. On Monday, I might be collecting unemployment. Until then, I create pie charts and drink more tea.

let's cancel Sundays

I'm sick of Sundays.

They are supposed to be so good. You know, sleep in, lazy brunch, big mugs of good coffee. So far, usually so good. But then comes the afternoon and I'm browsing my favourite websites, reading a novel, looking out over the sea, enjoying my solitude. And I want to write something. And I can't.

And I'm painfully aware of the fact that in a few hours, my precious weekend is over and it's back to work. I sit here, wanting to be creative and not capable of it. Going for a walk puts me in a worse mood, at least when the weather is bad ( as it always is in February ). Meeting a friend ruins the rare me-time that I so desperately need. Nothing entertains me, I just want to MAKE SOMETHING.

Suddenly, the wonderful Sunday is just an empty, dull stretch of time. The clock ticking down towards Monday morning.

olympics and reeks

Watching the Olympic opening ceremony and wondering, once again, how anyone can accept that their country goes by the name of Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

It sounds very pretty in French, though.

Someone reminded me today that there is a mountain range in Ireland named Macgillycuddy's Reeks. Now that's a name I can fully stand behind. Put me in a good mood instantly.

you shall love your crooked neighbour with your crooked heart

In deep midwinter, the little old lady next door to me died.

I suspected it had happened but couldn't find anyone who could confirm it or tell me how it happened. At last, there was a death notice in the paper. The funeral was already done.

Now I can spend summer evenings on the balcony without anyone peeking in from the next balcony to coax me into a chat I don't feel like having. Now I won't be late for appointments because I was held up by the elevator by a lonely little lady talking about her aches and pains.

I feel a little colder, a little more lonely, a bit like bursting into tears.

glitter zipper comfort

When you are losing your job and are really scared, you should go and buy yourself a glitter skirt with a golden zipper. On your lunch break. So I did.

( But only if you need it. And it's on massive sale. I'm an anti-consumerist. )

( And I'm a woman. In need of comfort. )

only lasting thing

“The unreal is more powerful than the real. Because nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it. Because it’s only intangible ideas, concepts, beliefs, fantasies that last. Stone crumbles. Wood rots. People, well, they die. But things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on. If you can change the way people think, the way they see themselves, the way they see the world — you can change the way people live their lives. That’s the only lasting thing you can create.”

( Chuck Palahniuk: Choke )

the lazy, lovely weekend of doom

After a year of long working weeks and of weekends that always ended too soon, this weekend is endless.

I slouch on the sofa, eat pizza slices and read fanfic. Dragged myself out of the house twice, for zumba and volleyball, then went back to the sofa and the pizza. I have slept in, pondered the meaning of life and made some progress reading a difficult novel. And somewhere among all this even found the time to hoover the flat and do laundry. This is more than I usually accomplish in an entire week. And the weekend is not even over yet.

Fascinating, the new perspective you get on weekends, on everything, when you know that on Monday morning, your safe and slightly boring job may no longer exist.

waiting for Godot was much more fun

In the office. I'm celebrating - with berry tea - the one-year anniversary of the day I was told I had got this job. A big day for me.

My coworker Butterfly is worried over the fact that business is slow. She saunters over to the boss for a little chat. He confirms what we have been silently dreading but too afraid to ask about: layoffs ( temporary or not, he doesn't say ) may be on the horizon. As soon as the other boss comes in to the office, we will all sit down for a meeting to discuss it.

Butterfly and I spend the day whispering about it. She finds it difficult to concentrate on her task of clearing out old files and I stare distractedly at the business quality plan I'm incompetently trying to put together. At last, the other boss arrives, but there is no sign of that meeting about to take place. We wait, biting our nails. "They probably want to have it at the end of the work day," Butterfly whispers. "In case we run home crying," I agree, grinning.

The boss walks past a few times, getting his coffee refill. The other boss comes over to discuss the quality plan. And then, it's 4 pm. Butterfly and I put our coats on, shout "see you tomorrow" towards the boss' room and go home.

None the wiser. What a day.

my liege

I am being controlled by one person. If not for that person I would feel less guilty, take more road trips, go live in another country, be true to myself, not worry, love freely.

But how do I break free? When that person has given me everything and keeps giving? When I owe my loyalty, my love, my whole life to someone who would not survive without it?

2013: the year of crooked seams, introverted dates and a cucumber candy cactus

"I'm a hopeless wanderer and I will learn, 
I will learn to love the skies I'm under"
(Mumford & Sons)

The year 2013:

* The New Year: eating Sacher Torte in front of a roaring fire after an eleven-course Chinese dinner, saying "I have no illusions that my life will change at all this year".
* Not three days later, a big change in the form of zumba.
* Not four weeks later, a massive change in the form of a new job. Now emailing China about high-visibility fabric and heat transfer prints, sorting out button holes for prison guards and sleeve badges for firemen.
* Other changes included: not feeling like a nerd anymore, spending 40 hours a week with complete strangers, spending too much time at work, having too little to do, studying languages out of sheer boredom, witnessing one disastrous crisis after the other.
* Not being dirt poor anymore: the happiness of buying a bottle of raspberry sparkling water and having delicious lunches all over town.
* Claiming my own ground: now I know how to register new land risen from the sea.

* The feeling of pulling open a heavy door and enter a deathly silent church: the funeral of my very first and very special childhood friend.
* Smashing a computer to very pretty pieces.
* Pinterest: source of overwhelming inspiration and beauty.
* Slipping even further into  minimalism and the American dream.
* Another Irish adventure: a cold and glorious spring, chasing cats, driving criminally, feeling loved, dancing with a Spaniard,  walking into a glitzy Citibank building in dirty denim, going through every second-hand book shop... and enjoying haunted houses, an indie film premiere in a dark basement, tall stories from Polynesia, bubble tea, heart-breaking people and places.
* Death of my first night-club friend, with whom I once got life-threateningly lost in a Russian slum.
* Accused of being an anti-fur activist, by 82-year-old lady who threw her fur coat at me.
* Life crisis: haven't accomplished a family or anything memorable, think happiness isn't for me - but that isn't going to stop me from sucking out all the marrow of life.
* Celebrating on a pink moon day, deciding what music is to be played on the radio in the future, and going on a date that included red roses.
* Throwing a party, with more than a little help from my friends. Presents included hot stone massage and a cucumber candy cactus.
* Traditional May Day hike on the Island to look for perch and have a picnic with sun and the fragrance of ice.

* Best friend's wedding, proudly seated at the weird table, co-presenting the most entertaining entertainment.
* Hysterical photo shoot with best friends, with instructions from long-suffering photographer: "Kiss her on the cheek! Give us some girl power! Boy power, then? Was that it, was that your moment?!"
* A summer night's dream, barefoot in a red dress and wild hair at midnight, smiled at by strangers.
* Planting potatoes (10 pcs).
* Midsummer weekend with family and some very loud volleyball.
* One measly week of summer vacation - managed to squeeze in as many diseases and thunderstorms as possible but also some peace of mind.
* The usual, lovely city summer life with beachvolley, lattes in the sun and cannelloni bought with "grazie mille" from a real Italian.
* The usual, lovely country summer life with beachvolley, instant coffee in the sun and glow-worm hunting at midnight.
* Watching a vintage boat race and having waffles with a pathologist and a politician.
* A night in the emergency room with an ailing mother, The Shadow of the Wind and rather fascinating patients.
* A blissful evening by the sea, for once alone in paradise and feeling at home.
* Hot stone massage, luxury lunch in the sun and wine evening with the giggle girls.
* Date on a deserted island with an introvert.  With the same man on other occasions: cider at seafront cafés, take-out pizza in the park, burger meals, a delicious Mexican dinner to celebrate an excavator.

* Nostalgia, chocolate cake and some really incomprehensible academic terminology.
* A hot autumn day in the great forests of the east where my father was born - a funeral and a family feeling.
* IT consulting and various other consulting for my old job, realised my old job was much more demanding than my new one.
* Lessons on how to treat a fur coat.
* All Saints' Day multi-religious cemetery tour with friends, including a bit of geo-caching and cheesecake.
* Under-stimulated at work, over-stimulated at home.
* Winning in volleyball with the town's biggest, baddest and biceps'est men.
* Making a film documentary about a Shell jacket, in Chinese.
* Making an ex-boyfriend jealous for no reason ( and feeling rather good about it ).
* Sick leave: Three days with a fever on the sofa and howling with laughter while watching old episodes of QI.
* Christmas with bucketloads of mulled wine, rain, The Elegance of the Hedgehog and being put in a headlock by my brother.
* New Year's Eve with the Spinster Club, Hopeless Cases Division. Included a long drive in my White Witch coat, a new constellation of friends, fireworks and green tea.

Marvels I have beheld this year:
* A genuine London cab in a small Finnish town.
* A dog in a bag on a picnic table. Not for eating and very much alive.
* My new life: zumba, salad and statistics
* A supernova reflected in a quiet sea
* Moon cakes straight from Shanghai
* Exhaustion, over-interpretation and a break from church
* Random fact learned: An IRA terrorist wanted in connection with a bombing is now teaching religion in a Catholic school in Gambia

Parties:
* A hen party in a charming cottage next to an airport runway.
* Midnight trampoline bouncing with maniacal laughter.
* A night of Mexican food, airhockey, jiving with a Romanian among pub tables, dancing all night.
* Sangria and Glee with a pathologist who doesn't want to watch CSI because "cutting up people myself is more fun than watching others do it".
* Dinner, a rom com and chocolate-dipped popcorn with family.
* Pub evening with my weirdest Cockney friend and tales of stabbings, prison and heartbreak.
* Pie with volleyball friends and talk about starting a cocoa farm.
* Discussions of dreams and Downton Abbey in a blizzard on the Island.

Mutant from the Garment District

Phenomena in the Garment District (a.k.a. my workplace):
* Learning the Chinese sign for "wool".
* Pondering the fact that the Finnish Army might have to wear asymmetrical shirts with crooked seams.
* Coworker taking foot soaks in the sink.
* Quoting Shakespeare to win an argument with a supplier.
* Screaming in rage down the phone to China.
* Eating moon cakes with ice sand egg yolk filling - can my Chinese friend really not find a better translation for the ingredients or is she having me on?
* Not receiving the promised garment samples because someone has constipation.
* Rating couriers according to their social skills, ability to lift heavy parcels and choice of the music that is blaring from their van.
* Studying the teachings of Nietsche and playing a Dr. Who game.
* Chasing a bird through the office.

just another day at the office

I have a coworker who enjoys  footbaths  in the sink at the office, takes notes when I quote Shakespeare, and reads aloud to me about the tragic life of the fig wasp.

the nights of Psalm 91

If on an evening, just before the turn of the year, you feel anxious about the future, even terrified of going to bed in an hour because of the mind monsters that whisper horrible truths out of the darkness...

Just let it be. Accept that these are the evenings that must happen to you, as they happen to everybody else. Let the whispers slide past you and away into the walls. Their truth is not the whole truth because you are not alone and someone is fighting for you. If it becomes too much to bear, get up and make yourself some hot chocolate and read a book that makes you smile in the middle of the night. It's OK. You will lose some sleep, but there will be other, better nights.

You don't always have to be the hero who slays the monsters. It's OK to be weak tonight. Just trust, and rest, and know that you are loved and that morning is on its way.

covered

Waking up, well rested. Knowing it's late in the morning by the muted grey light. There won't be any real daylight today - the ever-present blanket of clouds is thicker and darker than usual.

Forcing myself out on a run, the first in a long time. The rain starts falling - it's unusually warm for December - but as soon as I come home, exhausted, wet and with freezing toes, the rain is turning into snow.

I had been planning to go into town. But it's becoming clear to me that I don't want to go shopping, don't even want to see friends. I want to stay in my warm flat, light the candles, make some vanilla coffee, watch the snow fall over the bay as the darkness grows thicker.

I want woollen socks and dreams of the future.

christmas in the rain

It's that time of the year, according to Facebook:

Pictures of babies in Santa hats. "Standing in the queue at the fish seller's for some X-mas delicacies." Blurry, proud snapshots of Christmas trees or homemade chocolates. "Traditional pies now in the oven, holidays can start!"

My friends and peers are all busy cooking for in-laws, wrapping presents and decking the halls. I cleaned my flat, put up one string of fairy lights and brought out more candles. Tried some Christmas music but couldn't stand it and went back to One Republic. Maybe I'll take a stroll around town, avoid all queues and instead sit in the coffee shop and watch the seasonal stress around me. And alone at home, sipping mulled wine and reading a novel, I wouldn't wish for anything else.

Except you to share it with me, and a puppy playing at our feet.

coffee and zoology

Bookshop staff are interesting people. Where else do seemingly normal, non-academic people have conversations like this around the coffee table:

Staff member #1: "The Latin name of the lynx is Lynx Lynx."
Staff member #2: "And the common crane is Grus Grus."
Staff member #3: "And magpie is Pica Pica."

the restaurant at the trend of the universe

My workmate Butterfly and I have found a new favourite place for lunch.

The kind that does a nice salad ( chèvre with pomegranate, anyone? ), tasty soups with lots of black bread, and a complimentary homemade cookie with the coffee. The kind that is slightly overpriced for slightly too small servings. The kind whose clientele are the successful, the trendy and the ones who like to hang around the successful and trendy (I and Butterfly fall into the third category ). The kind with beautiful décor and original art by a local artist on the walls. The kind where you have to squeeze yourself in at a far too small table and sit in your neighbour's personal space. And, fascinatingly, the kind where the staff seems to consist entirely of male models.

It is also the kind of place where a gang of musicians can be overheard discussing their next tour, a student is talking to a friend on Skype, office workers are divulging details about their businesses and a man in a Gant sweater is asking his adult daughter whether she needs money ( she doesn't ). It IS difficult not to eavesdrop when you're sipping your soup in their personal space, after all.

Butterfly and I usually eat without talking to each other much. There are far more interesting discussions going on around us. People say things like "That's a Burberry over there" and "She thought I was crazy when I suggested a trip to Baku, Azerbaijan". And then there are other distractions - did I mention the staff?

open your mouth and change a country

"It's not fair, how is anyone supposed to resist chocolate?"

Three strangers, all women, bond over the chocolate bars on sale at the grocery store check-out - in two different languages. I feel strangely elated when I walk out of there ( yes, with chocolate ). I like laughing with strangers.

I'm going to talk to people more. Strangers in the grocery store, the people at the next table in the café, my neighbours. It is not often done in this silent country of reserved Finns, but I'll do what I can to change that. And become more like my father in the process. He was a shy Finn who dared to overcome his nature and bond with strangers. Over chocolate, if nothing else was available.

days of malady and menace

Sore throat, headache and a stubborn fever. A small price to pay when I get to stay home for days and do the following:

* Eat tons of Dennis the Menace icecream ( good for the throat )
* Watch everything good, and not so good, that's been made for television ... White Collar, House, Arrow, Hotel Hell, The Nobel Prize Banquet, Solsidan ... and some daytime Finnish television I could have done without
* Overdose on tea with honey
* Grow pleasantly forgetful
* Instead of staring at a computer screen, study the brief December daylight play across the ice on the bay
* Stare at a computer screen anyway but for good reasons, like Pinterest
* Make myself a finger food plate of avocado, cucumber and cheese - options are limited when the shop is an exhausting 300 meters walk away
* Text with friends and bask in their sympathy for my condition
* Cry with laughter while watching old episodes of QI. ( Not sure how beneficial such laughter is to my recovery. )
* Have a man bring me pizza
* Follow, at a safe distance, various workplace crises by occasionally checking email - and not worry about them
* Snooze under a blanket while a winter storm is howling outside
* Feel sorry for myself
* Feel extremely privileged

pieces

I see so many lost souls when I look around. Wounded people desperate for a father or a mother, or both. Where did all the fathers and mothers go? Or was it the children who ran away and now bitterly regret it?

My heart aches for them. All these strong and capable souls, the crying and pitiful ones, and the hard-hearted and ruined ones. All broken-hearted.

And I'm helpless to help them. I, the strongest, most pitiful and ruined one, the soul of a thousand broken shards.

feeling more blue than white

Day of Independence, and Finns bravely try to celebrate.

Try to have solemn parades, try to honour war veterans, try to light the blue-white candles in their windows, try to throw parties. The tradition that actually seems best suited to the season is snuggling up on the sofa and watching TV - the endlessly long, black-and-white film classic The Unknown Soldier and the annual President's Ball ( for celebrity spotting and outfit mocking ).

Because snow is falling and the cold and darkness press heavily on everybody today. The 6th of December is exactly at the junction between autumn storms and the first winter freeze.

I firmly believe that the somber Finns, well-known for secretly being proud of our country but always bad-mouthing it in public, would be a happier people if we could celebrate our country on a sunny summer's day. Having picnics, boat trips, outdoor concerts and barbecues with cold beer, instead of trying to survive its birthday at a time when sunshine is banished and said country seems determined to kill us.

I'm on my way out - to a warm house to bake gingerbread cookies and sip mulled wine. Maybe I will survive after all.

life lessons in black fur

I had a  poodle,  once.

We were babies together, clumsily toddling around a little garden, me squealing joyfully as I grabbed his curly puppy fur. We grew up together and I took him for many a walk, annoyed with his constant tugging on the leash. He also took many unauthorised walks on his own around the neighbourhood whenever he managed to find a way out of the house - this poodle loved his freedom.

Then I had a Labrador.  I was thirteen, a lonely, skinny teenage girl, and he was a stout puppy who grew at an alarming rate and turned into a bulky, headstrong dog. Before long, he almost weighed more than I did. This proved to be a challenge when we were out and he frequently decided to take off - at a run - in a different direction than the one I wanted. I developed some amazing muscles for a teenage girl, along with a strong determination that has taken me far later in life. I trained him myself. We had quite a few battle of wills but in the end, he turned out a very good dog, loyal and loving. And I, the lonely teenager, discovered that I was neither alone nor weak and useless.

And then, I had a  collie.  Technically, she was not mine. I lived in staff accommodation at a hotel where I worked and she turned up out of the blue, a runaway sheepdog. She loved everyone, and everyone in the staff house loved her back, so she moved in. Attempts to find her owner, or a new owner to give her a real home, all failed. She was a great companion on long walks in the wilderness around the hotel, except for the time we were caught in a thunderstorm and she was so scared she tried to walk between my legs all the way home. She was also the centre of conflict, great drama and a few conspiracy theories, as she had to be hidden away from the hotel boss who hated her and more than once tried to get rid of her. He finally succeeded and we never saw her again.

I think it's safe to say I would not be who I am without these dogs. Three great loves, three heartbreaks when I lost them.

hibernation contemplation

Back to my winter existence of huddling under a blanket, hugging my laptop, burning candles, sipping something, watching storms go by, wondering why I'm so tired.