Top Three

Nice things about being in Finland:

1. Friends.
2. Food - plenty of it at my parents' place. Actually too much of it. I wonder if I will fit into my jeans when I am back to Tokyo.
3. Finnish language - I can use sloppy language and it's still perfect and I understand what people say to me. I think I do. At least most of it.

Not so nice things about being in Finland:

1. Weather.
2. Skin gets really really dry - who wants that?
3. Time goes too fast. Next week we'll fly back to Tokyo.

Gray Days

Helsinki looks very gray this time of the year. Weather isn't good at all. I pity people who visit Helsinki for the first time in November. I am sure they'll never come back.


The merry-go-round is at a square that didn't exist when I was here last time. Helsinki has changed a lot since I lived here.


This picture is taken at my favourite book shop in Helsinki. It's a place to be when days are dark and wet snow is falling on depressed people. Another wonderful place for such days is Yrjönkatu's swmming hall: they have a fantastic sauna. I haven't been there yet on this visit, but I will before my return to Tokyo.

Cough, Cough, Cough...

It is really frustrating to have a flu while you are travelling. I have to say, this is a very good place to be ill: my parents have a huge storage of medicine to everything, so I have made my being less uncomfortable with painkillers and such.

My friends from Gothenburg came to see us this weekend. It was so nice to see them!!!

Back in Helsinki

Ok. Now I am done with my 'tour de Finlande' and I will stay in Helsinki for the rest of my visit. Jetlag is gone. Yay. Though, there is another pain keeping me awake more than I would choose to stay awake: Vimme has a cold and so do I. I do hope I will have some conscious days here in Helsinki before we'll fly back to Tokyo.

I Want to Sleep

Jetlag and company of a 2,5 years old is a match made in heaven... if you are trying to loose your mind.

This and That with the Kid

We had a fun day yesterday: first we went to Ghibli Museum with another family and in the evening was M's lab's 10 year anniversary party in a restaurant in Shibuya. The museum was a fun place though it isn't really a museum in the same meaning like British Museum is a museum. The restaurant was a restaurant like any other restaurant. Vimme behaved himself relatively well.

Now I am starting to get ready for packing and doing the mental preparations before wednesday's 10 hours flight to Helsinki - alone with a 2,5 years old.

Ants

Nothing to do on your long dark autumn evenings? You can have hours and hours of fun by browsing through the Japanese Ant Image Database's pictures.

And - yes, I found the link on Geisha Asobi's ever so fascinating site.

Cleaning

My alterego, cleaner lady, payed a visit to our house hold today. I have to say, she doesn't appear that often. The move and the trip to Finland is getting closer, so cleaner lady's sense of resposibility is waking up from its' usual deep sleep. I wonder how well one has to clean the place before moving here in Japan. Is clean enough or does it have to look like no one ever lived here?

Tea Time

I was at a tea ceremony on sunday. I have to say it was a fantastic experience, if you don't count the fact that I had to eat three small japanese cakes that day. I don't like cakes that much, not even western cakes.

I got invited to join the ceremony when I was at the shodo lesson. The ceremony was held in a tea house near Kichijoji. Though the whole happening was quite formal, the atmosphere was more relaxed during the ceremonies than what I expected. And everyone seemed to be happy that an alien wanted to learn this way about Japanese culture.

Every detail in the ceremony was well planned and had a story in it: cakes, dishes, flowers, calligraphies - all. Here's a picture of the first cake, which was reasonably easy to swallow, two that followed this one in other ceremonies were tough ones. The obento box they served for lunch was excellent. Hah hah, this sounds like went there to eat. I might go to another tea ceremony, if I have a chance - I just have to come up with a trick to make the cakes dissapear with out me eating them.