For Expats in Turku-Wrap Up

Here are all my handy hints for living in Turku in one post. We will miss Turku. It is a wonderful place to live.

1. Get to know the library.
2. Do your laundry at Kerttu.
3. Meet the International Congregation.
4. Join the gym, Motivus.
5. Drink a lot of coffee.
6. You don't need a car.
7. Get a hair cut.
8. Study Finnish.
9. Send your children to school.
10. Go for a pub crawl.

Please let me know if you find this advice useful during your stay in Turku.

This blog will continue to focus on all things Finnish with a dash of New Hampshire thrown in for good measure.

The Moon was Shining Sulkily...

The sun was shining on the sea,
  Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
  The billows smooth and bright --
And this was odd, because it was
  The middle of the night.

from The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll

Hands down my silliest purchase in Turku was a candle for the porch. I thought that the days were growing warmer and it would be nice to sit on the porch in the evening by candle light. Well...more fool me...when it is warm enough to sit on the porch it is light enough to forget about candles.

Instead of sitting on the porch we have gotten in the habit of strolling along the river in the evening. These pictures were taken at 10 pm tonight. The Russian ship Shtandart is in town. It is a replica of a ship designed by Tsar Peter in 1703.

Above is a sculler out for a fearless row in the busy river! That will be me on the Merrimack soon. And at the top is yet another picture with the cathedral in the distance.

We will miss living in a town that embraces the river so wholeheartedly. Concord is separated from the Merrimack by the interstate and also by an industrial history that included tanneries. I hope that the future of Concord will include a more prominent role for the Merrimack in the life of the town. A river is a wonderful place to stroll.

For Expats in Turku part 10-Where to go for a night on the town

There are plenty of wonderful bars in Turku including the festive boats up and down both sides of the Aurajoki. Some students forgo the bars and just sit on the river bank with a daschund of beer-a long narrow cardboard case of their favorite Finnish brew.

I enjoyed the bars that take their name from a building's past use.

First up is the Apteeki , a former pharmacy. I have posted about Apteeki before and it is a must see.

I also like Koulu, a beautiful old school that now houses a brewery and a restaurant. The outside courtyard is charming and I sampled Mannerheim's favorite food, vorschmack, while I was there. Koulu also serves berry ciders brewed on the premises. I tried both lingonberry and blackcurrant cider at Koulu.

Next is the Old Bank complete with the safe in the basement. I will not forget the tar schnapps I had with my friends in the Old Bank. And the guidebooks highlight the Puutorin Vessa or bathroom bar.

Any serious pub crawl will surely end with a Hesburger in the kauppatori. Hesburger is Finland's artery hardening answer to McDonalds and the original Hesburger location is the one nearest to the Puutorin Vessa.

Kippis!

For Expats in Turku part 9-schools

I don't know much about the other schools in Turku, but we feel very fortunate that our 9 year old daughter attended Turku International School for our semester in Finland. The instruction was in English and she had a wonderful semester. The course work was challenging and her experience at TIS has been enriching. She has gained new confidence and is much more independent.

I have friends with children at the Finnish-American school and at the Wendy House. Both of these options are recommended for children younger than 7.

Our time in Finland has been rewarding for all of us, but especially for our daughter and our gratitude goes out to TIS.

Extreme Finnish Food--Delectable yet Deadly Mushrooms

Retiring to the woods is an important Finnish pastime. Even in Turku the woods are all around and you can hop on a bus to a hiking trail to reestablish contact with trees. ( I hope to post more about the importance of trees in Finnish culture, but you get a taste of it when you pop a tar pastille in your mouth.)

Part of the lure of the forests is the joy of finding food hiding in plain sight. There is an "Easter egg hunt" thrill to heading out with your basket for mushrooms or berries. The This is Finland web site gives these statistics:

Approximately 500 million kg of berries and a staggering two billion kilograms of mushrooms grow in Finland's forests every year and the tradition of picking wild berries and mushrooms is as popular as ever, despite urbanization. One study shows that 56 percent of Finns, irrespective of their socioeconomic status, go to pick forest berries at least seven times each summer. The most enthusiastic berry pickers are elderly women: 87 percent of them in the age group 60-74 pick wild berries.

The concept of Everyman's right means that there are no property boundaries as far as berries and mushrooms are concerned. The forest is your fridge!

Of course you have to know what you are doing when harvesting mushrooms. Children are taught to identify mushrooms in school and mushroom lore is handed down in families as part of the ritual of going to the woods together. There is even a mushroom hunting competition near Joensuu drawing contestants from Russia, Hungary and Italy.

Mari told me that it is now false morel season (Gyromitra esculenta). While the false morel is toxic and the sale of the false morel is prohibited in some countries, you can buy it in Finland. The Finnish Food Safety Authority, Evira, recommends that it only be sold by sales clerks, but I found it on my own in Stockmans. Check out the warning above.

So, who would be crazy enough to eat the toxic mushrooms 5 days before leaving Finland? Me! How could I pass up the opportunity to partake of another Finnish delicacy. Mari and I went to Smör for lunch where we had the false morels in a sauce over new potatoes and asparagus. The food was wonderful and I lived to blog about it.

For Expats in Turku part 8-where to study Finnish

I was fortunate to find a wonderful Finnish class at the Työväenopisto. The University of Turku does not allow non university people to take language courses unlike the university in Helsinki.
Since I was only in Turku for five months, this class was perfect. You can read more about my class in this blog post. Follow the link to my article about Finnish in the Concord Monitor.

The Kauppatori!

Anyone paying attention to this blog knows that we pass through the kauppatori several times a day. I have loved watching the seasons change in the kauppatori. The hardy potato sellers and fish sellers are still here, but the fruit and vegetable sellers are no longer huddled together for warmth. Now you can buy more than food in the kauppatori: old books and china, shoes, hats. I knew that spring was coming when 5 (yes 5) ice cream stands appeared in the kauppatori. I have 5 more days to observe the kauppatori. Who knows what will appear next!