Counting Down

I've written a million blog posts in my head over the last year plus, but none of them have made it out of my head.  This one is finally going to make it to print though!  I've been writing over several weeks, adding to it when I think of something. Hopefully down the road it will help me look back on my time here with fondness, and also to remember to appreciate the conveniences and comfort of  home.


Things I'll miss about Finland:

• Instant hot water from the faucet, and reasonably cold (tasty and refreshing) water after a short wait
• The sauna in my apartment
• Riding my pink piece of shit Jopo bicycle around town.  I realized approximately 2 seconds after handing a guy way too much cash that the bike was mostly likely stolen and in way worse shape than advertised.  I wrote it off as an insurance policy - as in if it looks like a POS, hopefully no one will steal it.  So far, so good.  It also still works just fine after being outside all winter - covered in snow and all.

• Being able to walk to the grocery store in about 5 minutes.
• Public transportation...not that there are too many places to go, but I haven't really missed a car here.
• The white walls and parquet wood floors in my 1912 apartment.  Oh, and my pink couch.

• Sleeping with my bedroom window open about half the year (except when someone smokes on the balcony next to my window...luckily that seemed to stop after a few months).
• Being "close" to my friend Caitlin and her husband Peter in Amsterdam.  They had baby Theo in June and getting to spend time with him has been great.  He will become my Godson in December. 
• Korvapuusti - a Finnish cinnamon roll of sorts.  It is more bread than sweet and doesn't have icing on it, but is topped sugar that looks like the salt on soft pretzels.

• The two weeks of awesome winter we had.  Real snow and a few blue sunshiny days.  I loved running in the snow, especially in the woods.

 

• Travel, especially with good friends and family that came to Europe to travel with me.
• Flying to Singapore (12 hours overnight) from Finland seems downright easy compared to flying there from Austin.
• My cute bathtub.  I spent more time there than I did in the sauna.
• The dish draining racks most places have hidden in a kitchen cabinet above the sink - very smart!
  

• My desk/work area.  I called it "The Austin Late Night Call Center."  It is in a bay window that hangs out over the sidewalk.  I did a lot of people watching from that perch.  Kelly spent hours perched there in my desk chair reading during her visit.

Things I have missed about home:

• FAMILY
• FRIENDS
• CHURCH
• Garbage disposals
• Target
• Ice cubes
• Smiles
• Friendly people
• Sunshine - the kind you can feel on your skin, that warms you to the core.
• Being able to open a door with one or possibly even no hands.  The door to my apartment building (and many other doors around here) requires two hands and a good deal of body weight to open.  It is beyond frustrating - I spilled a cup of tea all over me one day trying to get out; getting my bike out is a workout in itself; if I want to carry anything out, I have to set it on the ground on the nearest stair, use both hands to open the super heavy door, stick my foot out and hope it stays open, reach around and pick up whatever I had, and scooch out as fast as I can. 
• Being able to read signs, directions, instructions, food labels, etc.  The grocery store in Finland is still a rough experience 18 months later.
• Kind strangers, or the "permission" to be kind to strangers.
• Being able to go to the grocery store once a week, or even less if I want.  Driving my car there and filling the whole back with groceries.
• Being about to go about my day without inhaling stupid amounts of second hand smoke and seeing cigarette butts littering the ground everywhere.  Seriously...Finns are notorious rule followers and will stare disapprovingly if you dare cross a street without a green light (even if there isn't a car in sight), but then will throw their cigarette butt anywhere they choose.  The smell lingers everywhere - elevators, offices, the train, etc.
• Water fountains.  They just aren't really a thing here...anywhere...same with free, easily-found restrooms.
• Being able to say "the weather is terrible" from the comfort of my car and not actually being out in it.  I walk ~15 minutes outside each way to/from work no matter what the weather is.
• Having a house/apartment door that doesn't automatically lock behind you.  I only made the mistake of leaving my keys inside once, but it was on a Sunday so the fee was extra high for "after hours" and I had to wait outside in the cold for 45 minutes for someone to come unlock it.

Things that fall in the "noteworthy" column - but not necessarily to be missed about here or there:

• My huge down parka.  When I die, I may consider coming back as a Finnish baby in the winter.  They sleep outside all bundled up in their down sleeping bags in their prams.  They look so cozy.  When I sit down on the train in my huge coat, it feels a bit like a sleeping bag and I just want to fall asleep.  This is good for a few minutes, but not great for overall productivity as riding on the train or on a bus makes me sleepy as it is, and when it is so dark here it makes me really just want to crawl in bed more than anything else.
• Overall, I think Helsinki is much safer than Austin.  There are things I've done here that I wouldn't be as quick to do in Austin.  Yet at the same time, there is still enough unfamiliarity with Helsinki and the Finnish language that I don't feel entirely comfortable in all situations - in other words I'm probably on higher alert than I need to be, but I just don't fully understand what is going on around me.