Finns on Ice

It has been over a week since I last posted on my blog. I have to blame the weather! We have snow and some not too chilly days. I am trying to spend as much time outside as possible. When you move north of the grits line everyone advises you to get outside in the winter to stave off the inevitable depression. They tell you this while you are stocking up on polar fleece everything. I still haven't found a polar fleece bra, but I am fully outfitted in everything else. Not too shabby for a Georgia girl.

I am taking down hill lessons at Pat's Peak and Joe Ayotte is teaching me how to skate ski. As much as I am willing to play in the snow, I have no urge to play on the ice. Too hard. But where there is ice, there is hockey.

This weekend has been great for hockey here in the capitol city. Just around the corner from our house is the Black Ice Pond Hockey Championship. We have watched our friends, local firefighters, lawyers, you name it, playing hockey on the pond. But I have been in the mood to do something Finnish so we rounded out our day by driving to Henniker (the only Henniker on earth) to watch our favorite twin Finns play hockey for New England College.

I grabbed my large Finnish flag and some more polar fleece blankets so we could cheer Aki (44) and Niko (8) on in comfort. New England College (The Pilgrims) has 3 Finnish players, 3 Swedes and a Russian. There are many Swedes playing hockey in New Hampshire. If you want to see a Svea hat, just go in any local hockey rink. We saw one last night and knew we were in the right place. The large wooden pilgrim was also a clue.

Aki and Niko each scored, but Trinity won in the last second. It was a heartbreaker. While I didn't see NEC win, I did enjoy chatting with the local Finnish fan club.

Joanna Broom (with the Aki sign) and Dominique Grant (with the Niko sign) are both juniors at New England College. They are friends with Aki and Niko, but were asking me questions about Finland. It will come as no surprise to any Finnish readers to learn that Aki and Niko don't brag about Finland--so I did! I told Joanna and Dominique that Finland is Newsweek's highest rated country.

We had a great time rooting for the Finnish Pilgrims despite the last second loss. I hope we make it to another game so we can check in with Dominique and Joanna. It will be great if they read my blog--in true American fashion I can and do brag about Finland.

More Snow in Tiny Town!

I just received the robo-call from the Concord School District-another snow day for Sophie. I had planned to drive her to school today because the sidewalks have been so treacherous here. The streets are plowed and the driveways are plowed, but the sidewalks are an afterthought. Small children and poodles have a hard time struggling over the walls of ice and snow left by the slush and then they plummet to the street hoping the cars will stop.

I appreciate being able to drive my car in all weather, but sometimes I wish the streets weren't plowed. There would be less salt and less ice and we could ski and sled to our destinations.

Concord does have an ordinance about keeping your sidewalks clear, but it is not enforced. In Finland there are criminal penalties when a property owner fails to maintain safe conditions for pedestrians. At least one person has died in Helsinki this year and it is possible that the building owner could be charged with involuntary manslaughter as a result. You can read the story here on YLE.

I found the picture of the old timey snow roller here. It makes me want to move to the Northeast Kingdom.

FinnDisco Redux

Chris and I puzzled over today's Selkouutiset story about a Finnish dance instructor. As we parsed the vocabulary we had one question-what dance instructor has 2 million euros. According to the story on YLE, a Finnish dance instructor sued Nordea Bank because of poor returns on an investment. The dance instructor, Ake Blomqvist, was asking for 1 million euroa damages. There is an article, in English, on Hesari here.

I thought that Ake Blomqvist looked strangely familiar. Back in my pre-Finland days I posted a video of a Finnish dance instructor teaching disco. The hip thrust was memorable. With the magic of You Tube I found that I was right! Ake Blomqvist of the law suit and the Finnish disco sensation are one and the same.

Here is another Ake Blomqvist video for your viewing pleasure:

A bittersweet welcome to the sun

I read this article last night on Selkouutiset. The gist of the article is that the blue light is waning in northern Finland and the sun shone for the first time, if only for 10 minutes.

I remember when the days started to get longer when we were in Finland. I felt a little mournful because I knew I would miss the protective cover of the dark. My friend Mari expressed this same thought to me recently. You can feel very exposed in the bright light of day.

Winter and all its fun has finally arrived in New Hampshire just as the days are growing longer. We have been trying to cram our winter fun into this very short season.

And this season is growing shorter. 2010 was one of the warmest years on record. Snow and glaciers are melting at a rapid pace around the globe. You can read the New York Times here about the exposed mummies in the Andes. But the new Republican majority will do nothing to try and slow global warming. I guess the maple syrup lobby isn't sweet enough.

Kaamosaika on päättynyt Pohjois-Suomessa

Aurinko näkyy jo vähän kaamoksen jälkeen. Kuva: YLE

Kaamosaika on Utsjoella ohi. Kaamosaikana aurinko ei nouse Suomen pohjoisimmassa osassa. Kaamosaika alkoi marraskuussa. Sunnuntaina aurinko näkyi Utsjoen taivaalla jo 10 minuuttia.

Kaamosaikana ei ole täysin pimeää päivällä. Silloin valoa on sen verran, että maisema näyttää siniseltä.

Pohjois-Suomen kaamosaika johtuu siitä, että alue on maapallon pohjoisnavan lähellä.

More Fintango!

Here is Marko Maunuksela, the Tango King of 2010, with his entry for the ever popular Eurovision contest. Chris tells me the name of the song is "The Gloomy Country's Tango". And you can follow this link to read more about Finnish Tango. Marko Maunuksela was crowned the Tango King in Seinäjoki, the second city of Tango (after Buenos Aires).

I posted about Finnish tango at this earlier post.

Look what we missed--Loistava!

Some enterprising person has already posted this video on You Tube:

Tonight! in Turku

I wish I were in Turku today! This weekend marks the opening of the year where Turku reigns as the Capital of Culture.

Here is the description of what is happening tonight:

Thousands of Turku residents will be part of the opening spectacle The spectacular opening brings fire and love above River Aura Turku will open the Capital of Culture year 2011 with a three-day weekend full of events and activities on 14–16 January 2011. The opening performance “This Side, The Other Side” on the evening of Saturday 15 January is the single largest event of the year.

I don't know whether I will be able to see anything from a web cam which you can access here. I might be clinging to the side of Sunapee at the proper time.

I was reading about the Capital of Culture events on YLE and learned that Talinn is also a European Capital of Culture. Today is the first day that the Euro, rather than the Kroon, can be spent on culture in Estonia. There is a lovely story about the Kroon in Estonia on NPR. You can listen to it here.

Meanwhile, I think I will make plans to visit Turku in 2011. And I will visit both sides of the Aura: this side and the other side!