Strollers everywhere

Much as I would like to, I have not found the courage to sit on a park bench and take pictures of all the people passing by pushing strollers There are strollers and carriages of so many types. I saw one on Saturday that looked a bit like hammocks on a ship. The second baby was on the bottom bunk with not much to see but the dark stroller seat above him.

There was a recession in the 1980s and Finland's population decreased as people left hoping to find work elsewhere in the EU. And those who stayed behind did not have children. We have been told that it has only been in the last decade that a lot of people have started having children again.

It is not unusual to see a mother with two youngsters or even three. It is also not unusual to see children of four or five in a special stroller. If you are on foot, it only makes sense to have some way to get your older child around. If I get really courageous before the cold sets in, I will try to get some pictures of my own.

Notes about Grenoble from the Professor

The Isère River running through the city of Grenoble.

Just a few comments about my trip to Grenoble.

It was fantastic weather and a great time to visit. Grenoble is surrounded by mountains and was the host city for the 1968 Winter Olympics. Part of the city dates from Roman times while my photos up on the mountain are at the Bastille which was built in 1592 to guard the city below.

Grenoble is special to Elaine and me because we lived there 40 years ago. I was a grad student at BYU and was asked to be a last-minute replacement for Hugh Nibley on the Study Abroad program. I was very pleased to do that and taught two courses while there. Unfortunately, we lived in the Olympic Village outside of town and rarely ventured into town because we had little money and worried about the costs of transportation. The downtown area is lovely and a very efficient tram now connects all parts of the city. I also enjoyed some very good French food and some great pastries. The University of Grenoble has the look of a U.S. campus and is surrounded by hiking trails and rugged mountains.

My itinerary took me from Helsinki to Brussels to Lyon and then by bus to Grenoble. On the way back, I took the bus to the Lyon airport and then planes to Zurich and Helsinki. From the air, Switzerland looked beautiful with so many small villages nestled in the foothills. For Americans, however, Switzerland has become very expensive. When Mom and I lived in Grenoble, I would take a train to Geneva from time to time to conduct reserach at the UN library. At the time, I think that one dollar would buy close to four Swiss francs. Today, the Swiss franc is worth more than the dollar.

Hanging out with the Expats

Wikipedia has this to say about expatriates:

An expatriate (in abbreviated form, expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing or legal residence. The word comes from the Latin term expatriātus from ex ("out of") and patriā the ablative case of patria ("country, fatherland"), from Greek Exo (outside) and Patrida (Fatherland, Country).
In its broadest sense, an expatriate is any person living in a different country from where he or she is a citizen. In common usage, the term is often used in the context of professionals sent abroad by their companies, as opposed to locally hired staff (who can also be foreigners). The differentiation found in common usage usually comes down to socio-economic factors, so skilled professionals working in another country are described as expatriates, whereas a manual labourer who has moved to another country to earn more money might be labelled an 'immigrant'. There is no set definition and usage does vary depending on context and individual preferences and prejudices.

I have come to the conclusion that I must be one of those people who is prejudiced. At least in my mind an expat has always been someone working for a large business is a country other than his own. On the other hand, the writers and artists who lived in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s seemed to be called expatriates too. So who knows.

Today I went with one of the women whom I met at Church to join a group of moms whose children are enrolled in the International School here. We went to some Asian food markets. Small stores around the square by Hameentie. It happens to be just across the river or lake from us. Really convenient for me.

I am glad that I went although I only hung out with the people for an hour. I splurged and bought a couple of packages of ramen noodles. It is nice to know that there is a place close by that I can get them if Earl gets a craving for soup. And there were "subtitles" in English everywhere, including on the packaging. Ooooh. So nice.

The people were very nice. One woman's husband is at the US embassy. They had recently been in Manila. Another's husband is here to run an airline that is a subsidiary of Finn Air. Don't think any of them are hard up. But they all seemed to be into cooking. However, all of them said that they did not have an oven big enough to cook a turkey in. Nor do we.

Earl was told by someone that we are expected to host the Fulbrights for Thanksgiving. Groan. So not my thing. Which is crazy because before we left the US other people told us that we do not need to do that just because other people have done it in the past. One alum told us he cut a frozen turkey in half to get it in the oven. One of the women today said that a friend just kept everything warm by putting all of the food in her sauna. That I did think was funny. Oh BTW, she had cooked it first. She also calls the oven in her apartment an Easy-bake oven. Ours is just a little larger than the microwave oven. And we do not have a sauna in our apartment.

Earl is off to Grenoble. I think I might stay in bed and read for 4 days. I am washing the sheets so it should be a comfortable clean bed! :)

Next week the group of women I went shopping with this morning are going to the Arabia china factory. It costs 4 Euros to go but I understand that they give you a 20% off coupon to use the same day. I simply cannot even imagine buying anything. How would I get it home?

However, much to my grief today, I discovered that I won't be taking home my pink raincoat. The lining is tearing. I guess it has lasted me for more than 4 years. What more can I ask of it? It doesn't free up a lot of space in my suitcase. My new rubber boots for the rain and slush will more than take up the room it leaves.

Now where am I going to get those cute boots? And am I going to stop reading for awhile and go buy them while Earl is in France? :) I wish someone could come shopping with me.

The problem with the boots is that once you have seen the ones that are lined, it is really hard to even consider the ones that are not. And most of them will end up being $70 to $90. Ugh. Will I wear them in Utah? Probably not. I will need to go do the Washington seminar again or visit Chasity during Hurricane season.


Here Leanna and I are in the fall of 2007. The same pink rain coat/jacket that I am still wearing. On this occasion we are visiting the chateau at Fontainebleau, just outside of Paris. It has really been a good coat. It had better make it until next spring.

The trick is to talk while you are inhaling

This summer my husband and I watched all three of the Swedish movie adaptations of Stieg Larsson's books. The first one was The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo. I had read the books but had mixed feelings about watching European adaptations of these books about mental, physical and sexual abuse. Much to my surprise I really liked them and the actors who portrayed the main characters. Of course, we had to read the subtitles, but it did not put me off at all. We discovered that there were quite a few similarities between English and Swedish. By the way, that is not the case with Finnish. Nothing about Finnish sounds even vaguely familiar.

One of the qualities I noticed was that Salander would almost whisper 'ya.' Mikael would ask her questions and she would repeatedly whisper yes.

Now that I am in Finland I have learned the secret to that simple word. The secret is to say the word while inhaling air. It seems to be a fairly common practice used mostly by women. Of course, in Finland, the word "yes" is pronounced YO as in yoyo. I have tried doing the inhale and speak thing but am hopeless at doing it. I am in awe of Noomi Rapace and her whispery ya.

Earl and I were in an orientation class about differences between American and Finnish ways to communicate. One of the women asked the instructor about the breathy yo. We all laughed as the teacher gave us a very good demonstration of exactly what was meant. She even tried to say a phrase while inhaling as well as saying yo.

So your challenge is to master the complex means of saying, "Yo yo yo." A frequently overheard sequence of yeses.

When Earl came home from his meetings, he mentioned that 'oui' was a perfect way to say yes while inhaling. Much easier to do than saying yo.

By the way, thank you is kiitos pronounced 'key - toes.'

Meanwhile in Southern California

We may be far away in Helsinki but our hearts are never far from San Diego and the Pacific Ocean. During the past week there have been several shark sights at the Children's Beach and La Jolla. This has been coupled with unusual surf heights resulting from a storm off New Zealand. Of course, surfers are not easily frightened away by shark sightings. However, the beaches were actually closed for 24 hours on two occasions.

Note from my sister-in-law who lives in Santa Cruz:

What we have here besides the high surf is a whale they have named Stinky. They feel that it is a female eating off the coast about two miles out. The whale is feasting on anchovies. There was a picture in the paper of the whale coming up high out of the water. I haven't seen it as I do not have any binoculars to get a good look of it. It is off of the Boardwalk and the wharf.

The surf has been very high off the California coast. So many surfers have been rescued off of our coast. The high surf has been too much. Thank you for the pictures. Bette


Ten foot surf is expected with a strong rip current; so, Labor Day beach-goers have been told to be cautious. Swim only where there is a life guard present.

Across the street and around the corner

Literally across the street from us is a chocolate bistro, Chjoko. I have not had the courage to go through the door yet, but after reading about it on the internet, I think I will have to venture past the door.

This picture is of a bistro that featured Karl Frazer chocolate:

At the reception at the US ambassador's home, we were served tiny macaroons. They are listed as one of the delicacies available at the chocolate bistro. I am sure it will not be a surprise to learn that I enjoyed the chocolate macaroons.

A Glimpse of Finland's Glee

This evening we went to a reception just across the street from where we live. The school is one of the leading high schools in Finland for the performing arts. It is called the Sibelius School for the Performing Arts.

We first hear a young woman play amazingly complicated but beautiful music. It reminded me of classical with a touch of jazz. Maybe some Gershwin. When she was finished another girl sang "Like a Bridge over Troubled Water." Both performances were memorable.

Then the accapella choir came to sing. As Earl said, I was reminded of Glee. They were amazing. They sang this song Butterfly which on Youtube is sung by a Finnish group called Rajaton. It was a large chorus. The girls looked pretty much like girls anywhere, but the guys were interesting. Dressed and with hair maybe just a little over the edge. When they were finished, they sang a second song in Finnish.

Of course, I did not take the camera. And I so wish that I had.

Butterfly

Sweet as the sound of my newformed wings
I stretch them open, I let them dry
I haven't seen this world before
But I'm excused, I'm a butterfly

Sweet as the touch of your newborn wings
We fly in circles, we play with the sun
We haven't seen this world before
So fair, so bright, so blue the sky

Love me, love me on the leaves
Before we say goodbye
Love me, kiss me with the breeze
You will be my lullaby
Tomorrow I'll die
Tomorrow I'll die
Tomorrow I'll die
Tomorrow I'll die
Be my lullaby

Love me, kiss me with your breeze

Love me, love me on the leaves

Love me, love me on the leaves
Before we say goodbye

Sweet as the wind as it gently blows
The day away. And the night time comes
Great are the wonders that silence shows
I fall asleep and I dream of the sun

And my butterfly