The Finnish Line: spring

Showing posts with label spring. Show all posts

Monday, 2 May 2011

Spring Break (ish)

No, I haven't decided to don a bikini and party with the youngsters (you'll be relieved to hear). This is about the abundance of holidays just about now! Easter was late this year, so on consecutive weekends, we've had Palm Sunday, Easter, Royal Wedding & May Day and next weekend is Mothers' Day!

Palm Sunday
The tradition in Finland is for children to dress up as witches (or to be fair more like wise old women) and go from door to door in the neighbourhood offering decorated branches & blessings for the next year in return for sweeties! (and apparently cash on occasion, too!). Sounds a bit too much like trick or treat to me, so I politely declined but Monkey went along with her friends (dressed as a bunny rather than a witch) and had a good time.

These are the decorated branches, collected round the neighbourhood and decorated with crepe paper and coloured feathers - only a few branches had catkins but that didn't stop the decor!

The Palm Service, led by the Anglican Minister from Helsinki, started with a procession around the outside of the Cathedral, singing and waving our palm crosses. The children (normally at Junior Church from before the service starts) joined us on our procession, making it all the more joyful!

Easter Weekend
A visit to Mummi, lots of chocolate & good food! Then on Easter Sunday itself, an unusual family service; the Junior Church is based on a Montessori method called Godly Play and for the family service, the whole congregation were treated to Godly Play. For a family service it was quite long and for an Easter Sunday service, it was subdued but it was an interesting insight into what Monkey gets up to normally when I am in church.

You can find out more about Godly Play and about our Junior Church at this blog.

The Royal Wedding
Of course, Friday 29th April was NOT a holiday in Finland but it was in UK. I am a member of a group of English speaking ladies - The Ladybirds - who meet regularly for fun, friendship & fellowship. This month we decided to have a tea party to celebrate the Wedding of Prince William & Catherine Middleton.

Oh, what fun we had! We each contributed to a very English tea - cucumber sandwiches, cream teas (with fresh baked scones & Mrs Bridges strawberry preserve), egg mayonnaise, union flag cupcakes, shortbread, real tea in a real teapot drunk from proper English bone china, strawberries & cream and pink champagne!

We all gathered at one house in our posh hats and watched the whole thing from start to finish on BBC World - with English commentary. We commented on the hats, we sang the hymns, we admired THAT dress and we stood for the National Anthem - all terribly patriotic and British. It felt good to share it with other "ex-pats", although they are my friends and I see them regularly, this was something special.

Monkey's Playschool held a Royal Wedding of their own and were featured on TV and in the the local paper. Monkey was staying with Mummi so wasn't there herself, but so many of her friends, and of course her teachers, were featured.

Vappu/May Day
I must admit that we had a very quiet Vappu. Normally it begins on the night before - this year, Saturday night - with BBQ, drinks and friends and continues into May Day itself with a National Holiday and plenty of time to recover from the night before! We were due to spend Saturday evening with friends but didn't (long story - not here) and then as today, May Day, is Sunday anyway, we had a pretty normal very quiet day.

I did take time out to watch my friend's 3 year old daughter on Swedish Language TV - she was serenaded as part of the Abo Akademi celebrations in the park near the Observatory - the sun shone and everyone had fun!

Mothers' Day
So, next Sunday is Mothers' day here in Finland and I am hoping for a trip to the Garden Centre. The weather has been improving and despite a hail storm today and snow predicted for later this week, it's time to get planting!

Saturday, 19 March 2011

how many words for SNOW?

In "Mother Tongue" Bill Bryson wrote

"The Eskimos, as it is well known, have fifty words for types of snow - though curiously no word for just plain snow"

Today I was thinking about this as I was walking from the bus stop...

The snow that falls can be big & fluffy or so fine that it simply glitters in the subshine, it can be wet & sloppy or dry & sharp (especially in the cold wind), and once it's on the ground it changes over time - fluffy, settled, compressed, ice, melted, ice crystals as it refreezes, crunchy as it breaks up again, slushy as it melts, just plain wet snow.... and the colours.... white (of course), yellow (avoid that one), brown (avoid that, too!), various shades of grey through to black. I think someone has been dropping red napkins near the school as there are red patches of ice along the pavement...

Of course at this time of year, it is also full of grit. As I walked across the Market Square yesterday it was impossible to tell that it is cobbled. The months of grit left behind as the snow & ice are melting is so deep you cannot tell what the surface beneath might be. The same is true on all the other surfaces, too. It feels odd to walk on solid ground - you can miss the crunch beneath your feet.