Christmas Tea Party

Many years ago, we started having a "tea party" at Christmas time. We had so many girls in the family that it seemed like a very appropriate annual celebration. I don't remember now when the last time was that all of the girls got together to have a party of our own. Last time we all wore crazy sweaters. I bought one at Deseret Industries that my daughters said looked far too nice.


This year, Lisa invited everyone to a party and suggested that we all wear scarves and boots. Even tiny Gemma who is not quite ten months old had a scarf as did Turk who is one year old.

It was a great year to celebrate being "Fry" girls because we were together except for two of us. Chasity and Kyla Fry were in North Carolina . We had lots of goodies to eat and soda pop and carbonated juice instead of tea.

Monday, December 26 at 3020 Cherokee Lane.

Christmas 2011

Gemma Isabel Furner with Santa.
Gemma Furner and Turk Murat Balci

Bridger Alonzo and Noah Christopher Fry

Sydney, Noah, Santa, Bridger, Celeste

Best Christmas News Ever

We are not sure when our son in the Marine Corps will be home but we know for sure it will be before Christmas. We are so excited. It will be great to be able to take the blue star out of our window. He has been in Afghanistan for a very long time. At least that is how it feels to me. We will all be so glad to have him on this side of the Atlantic Ocean again.

Christmas Village

I took these pictures this morning at Senate Square where there is currently a large Christmas village. Lots of hats and gloves. Long socks to wear under your boots. However those were 25 Euros so they stayed at the village.

The cobblestones were very icy so everyone was walking cautiously. Earl, it won't surprise you to know that I saw Pirkko looking for a food booth and wished her a happy holiday.

The Finnish believe that if you light candles in your home, it will prevent you from having depression from the long dark days. Otherwise, they seem like intelligent people. You will notice that two businesses that I passed have candles burning by their front doors. The Christmas village had lots of candles for sale.

The village will be here by us for only a few days and then it will move on to another location. And like all things here in Finland, everything was very expensive. I also did not buy a hat for 40 Euros either.

Ps. I think that 1 E is about $1.42.

Helsinki, December 2011

As quoted by Professor Fry: “No problem is so big that you can’t try to run away from it!”
Peanuts
Linus Van Pelt
Charles Schulz

Helsinki December 2011

In August Earl and Elaine ran away from all of the complications and problems in their lives and took up residence in Helsinki, Finland. Finland is the European country that is really far north. It shares a border with Russia. You are probably familiar with Lapland, Northern Lights and the home of Santa Claus and real reindeer. That is Finland. However, we live in the big city at the southern end of country, so we have not had a chance to experience any of those unique qualities.
We found out late last winter that Earl had been granted a Fulbright to teach at the University of Helsinki. We decided this was a once in a life time opportunity to which we could not say no. Last year the first snow fell on November 1st and did not vanish until spring time. Today we had our first dusting of snow. However, the shrinking daylight hours are working right on schedule. At seven o’clock in the evening when it has been dark for three hours, I start thinking it must be time for bed.

We have had several people ask if we have had a difficult time adjusting to living here or if we have undergone “culture shock.” Quite honestly this has been an easy transition for both of us. We live in an old building in a spacious and very comfortable apartment. The people with whom Earl works have been kind and helpful. I am not totally adjusted to listening to talks at church with earphones and a translator, but I am extremely grateful that someone is willing to translate the speeches into English for the benefit of those of us who do not speak Finnish. So far my vocabulary consists of only three words. I can say hello – hei (pronounced hey). Kiitos is thank you and yes is simply jo – pronounced YO. Or Kylla. I like that one especially since we have a granddaughter named Kyla.
Both of us have tried to do some traveling since we arrived here. Earl has had a few meetings, conferences and speaking engagements that he has gone to on his own. For example, he made his first trip to Warsaw last week. Together we have explored Ephesus, Athens, Rome, and Vilnius.
We are returning to Provo for Christmas but will be back before the new semester begins in January. Earl had one seminar this semester with only a few people in it but a large class on US foreign policy with about 70 in it. Of course, he teaches in English and his students write their exams in English. Most of those with English as a second or third language write as well as those of us who speak it as a first and perhaps only language.

I could go on forever telling you about living in this unique corner of the world, but I am sure you are ready to check for the other letters in your IN box. We both want to wish you a very happy holiday season and joy in 2012.

Elaine and Earl Fry

Today is Finland's Independence Day

The Finnish are extraordinary people. A recent survey found that Finnish people would never call in saying they were sick when they were really taking the day off to do something else. Nor would they take public transportation without paying for it.

When you go to the grocery store, you weigh your own produce and the machine prints out a price tag to put on the plastic bag. We have decided that this honor system might not work in other countries such as the United States.

Everywhere we go now we see hats and usually one glove placed on a window ledge or some place conspicuous so that the owner can find it when he/she comes looking for it. When the professor lost a glove about 10 days ago, I was confident that we would find it. He took it off to punch in the code to get into our building. For two days we looked for his glove. No luck. Today when we left the building, I looked at the bulletin board in the entrance way and there was his glove. It had probably been there since he lost it and I just had never noticed it hanging on the board. Needless to say neither did my husband.

We have fallen in love with Finland and Helsinki. As you can tell, it is alot because of the people.

Today is Independence Day. Literally all of the shops are closed. Only a few restaurants are open. We saw people ice skating and children looking at the magical display in the big department store's window, but the store was not open. Can you imagine this happening in the US? Our American friend here, Ruth, leads the congregation in song at Church. She said because of that she could see tears in the eyes of many of the people when they sang the national anthem on Sunday. On December 6, 1917 with the fall of the tsar, Finland declared its independence. However following WW II Russia claimed that it could form Finland's foreign policy. Only when the Berlin wall was torn down, was Finland free of the iron hand to the east.

About 1899 to 1900 Jean Sibelius wrote Finlandia. Part of the work became a hymn with inflamatory words. Despite fear of the tsar, it was sung in Finland. The full-length symphonic poem (most of which consists of rousing and turbulent passages, evokes the national struggle of the Finnish people). The version usually heard today has lyrics written by Veikko Antero Koskenniemi and was first performed in 1941. Sibelius himself arranged the hymn for choral performances. (Wikipedia) Needless to say, Sibelius is a national hero today.

The Professor Visited Warsaw

I spent this past weekend in Warsaw and gave a lecture as part of the Fulbright program. I was hosted by Marek Paryz who is a Professor of American Literature at the University of Warsaw.

I enjoyed my visit. You will notice statues or references to Charles de Gaulle, Herbert Hoover, and Ronald Reagan. De Gaulle was a young French military officer who helped the Poles withstand the onslaught of the Bolsheviks after WWI. Please remember that Poland was mostly dominated by neighboring countries before achieving independence as a result of WWI, but still had to battle the Bolsheviks who took power in Russia near the end of the war. Hoover, well before becoming president, helped arrange food and clothing shipments to Poland following WWI. He once visited Warsaw and 25,000 shoeless children came to greet him and give their thanks. He soon arranged relief shipments to bring more shoes into the country. Reagan helped bring about the end of the Cold War which would free Poland from the control of the Soviet Union.

Today, Poland is a member of the European Union and NATO and very much a "Western" country. It will be co-hosting with Ukraine the 2012 European football championships and in the distance in some photos you can see the new football (soccer) stadium which will host the very first game played in the 2012 tournament.

Leanna will be pleased to learn that Marek took me to a "Polish" restaurant for lunch and we enjoyed big bowls of chicken noodle soup and two varieties of pierogies, a type of dumpling. He said that I should really eat the beet soup if I wanted to feel Polish, but in the end we both opted for the chicken soup.

The city is very vibrant and has some nice sites. Of course, much of what you see today is from the post-WWII period. About 85% of Warsaw was destroyed by the Germans during WWII. Poland lost 6 milion people during the war, half of whom were Jews. This represented about 23% of the nation's pre-WWII population. The Soviets also did their share of mass murdering after gaining control of parts of Poland during WWII.

It is sad to contemplate all the wanton destruction ordered by Hitler and Stalin.

Notice also the tributes to Cardinal Wyszynski and Pope John Paul II. The Cardinal, at his own personal peril, stood up to the communists after WWII. The Pope was also a native son of Poland. The vast majority of Poles are Catholics and the church was a bulwark of resistance to the communist leadership up until the demise of the Soviet bloc in 1989.

Several other statues celebrate poets, writers, musicians such as Chopin, and scientists such as Copernicus. The mermaid with the sword has been the symbol of Warsaw since the mid-14th century.





Today the Poles are optimistic about the future. They are finally independent and have a robust economy. They can exist in relative peace. There are all sorts of difficulties within the European Union, but nothing of the magnitude of problems experienced by the Poles just a few decades ago.

It was an enjoyable and thought-provoking trip.

What If

The professor is out town so, of course, I woke in the night feeling as sick as can be. I have slept off and on all day long.

I had all of these ideas that I was going to have everything spic and span before he got home from Warsaw tonight. I dragged myself out of bed to drain the water collected in the dryer.* I had washed sheets. Of all the strange things, when I returned the container to the dryer, I went to pull my hand away and discovered that the pinky on my right hand was trapped in a hole under the handle.

I pulled the pan out again, turned it upside down as if to drain it. Moved the pan every which way and I could not get my finger out. I did not even feel it go into the hole in which it was trapped. Finally I decided that there was nothing else to do but pull my finger out no matter how much it hurt. I am a total wimp. Just want you to know. It took several tries before I actually used the bruit force it took to pull my finger out.

And now I expect all of you to be sympathetic. Actually I just needed someone to talk to.

Part of the nail is torn off and it bled quite a bit but it is down to manageable discomfort at this point. But so weird. Of course, now I am going to be phobic about dumping the water. It has been a reminder to me that if I had a serious accident, I have not got a clue what I would do. I wonder if Earl does.

At least I am awake now. :)

*For those of you who have never had the opportunity to use a dryer in Europe this is a sample of what a dryer looks like. Notice the drawer at the top left of the machine. In the US we vent the dryer to the outdoors. All of the air and moisture is expelled outside of the house. In Europe the moisture extracted from the clothes is collected in a pan. Pull out the drawer and there is an enclosed pan with warm water to empty. When the pan becomes full of water again, it is emptied again.

Bicentennial Chair Lecture

Daily Telegraph highlights Finland

Today's Daily Telegraph has a travel section about Finland. I think I may have to spend an hour reading articles about the sauna etc.

I really didn't recognize the Helsinki that Norma Miller visited. Mostly because I have not explored the museums and I definitely have not bought the up and coming ceramics or fabrics. We did enjoy one of his comments about Helsinki.

What to Avoid

1. Don’t expect British shopping times. 11am opening is standard, while Saturday closing is 3pm. Only a few big stores, such as the giant Stockmann, open Sundays.
2. Stockmann – unless you like huge expensive mainstream department stores.
3. Don’t leave museums to Monday – they’re shut.
4. Steer clear of Kallio late at night, especially the “red light” stretches of Vaasankatu and Aleksiskivenkatu.
5. Salmiakki – unless you like salty liquorice vodka.

I am not experienced in many of these areas, but the late openings and early closings fit very well in our neighborhood. It is not unusual for the small shops to open about 11 and close by 3. There is a lovely little store that sells jewelry made with precious stones. I have come to the conclusion that the owner must be independently weathy and this is her hobby.

In a tough in cheek article about Nokia, Matthew Norman points out that Finland is a country populated by five million humans and two million saunas. Since everyone I talk to has a sauna in their building or apartment or work place, I can easily imagine that this one might be true. However, after hearing about bathing naked and going to the sauna in your all together, I am afraid there are just some things in Finland that I will not be experiencing.

Off to St Petersburg, Russia

I secretly suspect that the reason Leanna came to visit the Professor and me in Helsinki is because we are so close to Russia. Leanna served on a mission in L'viv, Ukraine for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She speaks Ukrainian and therefore understands and speaks a little Russian. I think since serving in Ukraine, she has longed for an opportunity to visit Russia. And here we are living in Helsinki just across the Gulf of Finland from St Petersburg.

Her visit here gave both of us a great chance to take the ferry to St. Petersburg while the Professor flew to Zurich for some meetings. The cost of getting a visa to visit Russia for even a day or two is around $120. Since Earl was attending a conference for several days in St Petersburg, he applied for a visa and got one. However, at that time we thought it was just too expensive for me to get a visa and travel with him by train. Leanna's visit gave me the perfect opportunity to go by ferry and visit St Petersburg for part of a day. If you take the ferry and spend less than 24 hours in St Petersburg, you are not required to have a visa.

On Saturday night the three of us boarded the Princess Maria of the St Peterline. We brought our own picnic dinner and Leanna and I spent the evening trying to keep Turk safe from all of the heights he tried to scale. Sunday morning we took a bus to the Cathedral of St. Isaac. We knew that it was going to be somewhat chilly, but we were totally unprepared for the wind that hit us as soon as we walked down the steps from the ship. It was the first time this fall that I regreted not wearing "long johns." We spent a lot of our time outdoors tucking the blanket around Turk and pulling his scarf up so that it would cover his nose and his ears. His hat kept slipping up leaving the tips of his ears bare. And so did mine.






We were in the city so early on Sunday that there were still no lights on at the cathedral. As we struggled against the wind, we decided that the best way to spend the day was inside the Hermitage.

We did take a few minutes to explore and find the Church on Spilled Blood despite the freezing wind. Even though this building is a church, it is the stuff upon which dreams and fantasy can be founded. The colors are vibrant. The shapes feel as if they are straight out of 1001 Nights. Although the church is sometimes referred to as "Saviour on Blood," it was constructed as a memorial to Alexander II on the site of his assassination. The name of the church refers to Alexander's shed blood. This is the same tsar that Helsinki revered and erected a statue to in Senate Square.

There is no doubt that much of the pleasure that we derived from our time in the Hermitage came from all of the older Russian women who were in charge of each of the rooms full of art. Every one of them came to talk to Turk and Leanna. They wanted to know how old he was. One wanted to know where his shoes were because she was sure that his feet must be cold with only soaks on. One showed us an elevator to use that was behind some closed doors. All of them were kind and so pleased with our charming little companion.

When we finally left the museum and went in search of lunch, Turk was so pleased to get out of his stroller and have a little freedom. Leanna said that there were a few dishes that she wanted to eat. Naturally we started with Borsch. Then we ordered Varenyky filled with mashed potatoes and onion and blini. I tried some stroganoff. In other words, none of us came away hungry.

There is one thing for certain. Without Leanna and Turk, I would never have made it to St Petersburg. Left to my own resources, I would have lived in Helsinki for almost a year and never had the opportunity to visit this corner of Russia. Thank you, Leanna, for coming to visit and bringing a tiny ray of sunshine named Turk with you. And for taking me to St Petersburg.

Please also see blog titled Notes from the Professor about his trip to St. Petersburg.

Turk's Brings his Mom to Visit