Monday, January 05, 2004
Ah, country life, how I've missed you. After spending sixteen days away from Joensuu last night's return was very welcome. After sleeping on couches, the floor, on a bed that is way too small for two people and on the top bunk in a boat cabin, the sight of our bed upon our return almost made me cry. It is such a nice bed, that rests almost 4 feet off the ground. The bed was made before we left and had such an inviting and seductive look to it that simply screamed, "You are home!" Making up the bed before leaving on a "vacation" is one of the nicer treats upon returning home, as is a clean house, but the former is slightly easier to make sure of than is the latter.
Things I learned from this vacation:
1. I am going to start using the sauna more - our sauna is used primarily as a place to hang wet clothes and this is one thing that should change.
2. I am going to go to the gym a couple of times a week - I will be playing basketball twice a week, but I would also like to start some weight lifting and other exercises
3. Well, the first two were the ones I was really thinking about, but here goes on some other ones - I will devote a few hours a week to finalizing a synopsis of a story idea that I have been developing for over a year now. After several conversations with Jyrki on the boat to and from Stockholm we both decided to give our creative outlets more attention. It's a wonder I remember these conversations at all considering the environment and all - this is a subtle attempt to not mention that there were many beers involved in this conversation, but I suppose I should come clean about this.
I drank way too much on this trip and this is one of the reasons I am most thankful to be back, a slow down is much needed. Mom was worried that I would be drinking too much in Finland and I can see where her worries have merit, especially around the holidays. Day to day life in Joensuu is all about fresh air, the snow and cooking - it really lends itself to a healthier lifestyle. Whereas a whirlwind tour of friends and family is all about eating and drinking and sleeping in the afore mentioned places. This cannot therefore be declared a vacation, which is something I cannot wait to take. I don't think K and I have been on a vacation since we went to Cape Cod a few years back. For those of you who have never been to the area, I highly recommend it.
So to pick up from where the last entry left off we went to see the Return of the King and it was great, certainly not the best film of all time and not even my favorite of the trilogy, but highly entertaining. This marked the last night of calm before the storm. And speaking of storm, after the blizzard came warmer temperatures and rain which erased all that beautiful white snow and left dirty ice in its place.
This just in, this just in, tomorrow is a holiday and I will get that day to recover that I was so badly wanting. Apparently this holiday is to let people relax from all the relaxing that they have been doing for the past two weeks. Very intelligent idea.
Well the next night we went to Bjorn's and Lilleri's place where, for a change, it was the guys who went to bed early and the girls who stayed up way too late gabbing about those things girls gab about - sometimes the language barrier is a blessing in disguise. Bjorn and I went to the sauna, agreed that the next time we see each other we will exchange books that we think the other would like and we went to bed at a decent hour. The girls did not and K was not feeling too well the next day, when we were to leave for Helsinki.
The next morning - while in Helsinki - we went shopping for New Year's eve dinner, New Year's Day breakfast and New Year's Day dinner. We wanted be get out early because the main shopping centers in Helsinki can be a battlefield and if you do not have an exact list when entering the shop, you are screwed.
We woke early and went to the Halli - the farmer's market by the harbor that has the freshest food. The weather wasn't too bad and the lines weren't too long, which allowed us to take our cookbooks out and decide, based on the ingredients, what we would eat.
Dinner on New Year's - Roasted chili and buffalo mozzerella salad with purple basil and olive oil - Ginger chili prawns and Salmon wrapped in proscuito with lentils and mixed greens. The mozzerella was the best, followed by the salmon and then the shrimp - the sauce was really good but the shrimp were cooked too long.
Breakfast - we though we would make this bread salad with bacon and eggs, but reality sank in and we ate egg, bacon and toast - I could have eaten a lot more, but oh well.
Dinner the next night - Bolognese sauce made with meat, proscuito and bacon, with sundried tomotoes and this was fab.
On New Year's eve we had an urge to sing Karoke and the first bar we went to wasn't happening. On our way in a group of people on their way out told us not to bother. One of the guys bumped into me, said sorry and after I said, "It's all right, man," he asked where I was from and it turns out he was from Brooklyn - East New York - and we decided to hang with the group for the night. We ditched them after it became obvious that we really wanted to sing some karoke and so we went to this Finnish Pop bar, Suomipop, and put our names on the list. I was the only one who got to sing, and sang Hound Dog which got the people dancing and shaking. All our other requests never made it which led me and K to tell, yet again the story of Shiu.
For those of you who don't know the story of Shiu here's a short version. Jenn and Mark are in town (New York) we hang with the cousins in a great place, Tortilla Flats and begin to party. Many hours later we get the karoke bug. We sing a few songs and then our songs are not played. This perplexes Jenn, who voices her concern to the manager who tells her to bugger off. To which my sister replies with her two prettiest fingers and perhaps the greatest comeback line ever invented, "Well F--k You!" This, of course gets her kicked out of the bar, followed closely by her husband Mark and my wife K. When I realized what was happening I approached the bar and (here it comes Jenn) this little bastard jumped over the bar and pushed me out. We serenaded him on the street with songs and Mark spoke the truth when he declared that Shiu is a bad bad man. There was also an email involved which I will not go into at this time.
Well anyway, New Year's eve was over, and we saw two movies on the day. 13disturbingng and shocking, but very good and Underground, which was disturbing and shocking because it was so bad.
And now the trip to Stockholm which was a lot of fun and ended once again on the karoke floor - with an audience primarily made up of 10-15 year olds and their parents. But we were able to all get up that night - with K and I singing You Give Love a Bad Name - which rocked those kids' world and Virp and Jyrk singing You're Just too Good to be true, which was lovely.
Finally, as I can't type anymore we are here now and ready for a day off.
Happy and Healthy everyone and hopefully, by the time you finish reading this one, 2004 will not be over.
Things I learned from this vacation:
1. I am going to start using the sauna more - our sauna is used primarily as a place to hang wet clothes and this is one thing that should change.
2. I am going to go to the gym a couple of times a week - I will be playing basketball twice a week, but I would also like to start some weight lifting and other exercises
3. Well, the first two were the ones I was really thinking about, but here goes on some other ones - I will devote a few hours a week to finalizing a synopsis of a story idea that I have been developing for over a year now. After several conversations with Jyrki on the boat to and from Stockholm we both decided to give our creative outlets more attention. It's a wonder I remember these conversations at all considering the environment and all - this is a subtle attempt to not mention that there were many beers involved in this conversation, but I suppose I should come clean about this.
I drank way too much on this trip and this is one of the reasons I am most thankful to be back, a slow down is much needed. Mom was worried that I would be drinking too much in Finland and I can see where her worries have merit, especially around the holidays. Day to day life in Joensuu is all about fresh air, the snow and cooking - it really lends itself to a healthier lifestyle. Whereas a whirlwind tour of friends and family is all about eating and drinking and sleeping in the afore mentioned places. This cannot therefore be declared a vacation, which is something I cannot wait to take. I don't think K and I have been on a vacation since we went to Cape Cod a few years back. For those of you who have never been to the area, I highly recommend it.
So to pick up from where the last entry left off we went to see the Return of the King and it was great, certainly not the best film of all time and not even my favorite of the trilogy, but highly entertaining. This marked the last night of calm before the storm. And speaking of storm, after the blizzard came warmer temperatures and rain which erased all that beautiful white snow and left dirty ice in its place.
This just in, this just in, tomorrow is a holiday and I will get that day to recover that I was so badly wanting. Apparently this holiday is to let people relax from all the relaxing that they have been doing for the past two weeks. Very intelligent idea.
Well the next night we went to Bjorn's and Lilleri's place where, for a change, it was the guys who went to bed early and the girls who stayed up way too late gabbing about those things girls gab about - sometimes the language barrier is a blessing in disguise. Bjorn and I went to the sauna, agreed that the next time we see each other we will exchange books that we think the other would like and we went to bed at a decent hour. The girls did not and K was not feeling too well the next day, when we were to leave for Helsinki.
The next morning - while in Helsinki - we went shopping for New Year's eve dinner, New Year's Day breakfast and New Year's Day dinner. We wanted be get out early because the main shopping centers in Helsinki can be a battlefield and if you do not have an exact list when entering the shop, you are screwed.
We woke early and went to the Halli - the farmer's market by the harbor that has the freshest food. The weather wasn't too bad and the lines weren't too long, which allowed us to take our cookbooks out and decide, based on the ingredients, what we would eat.
Dinner on New Year's - Roasted chili and buffalo mozzerella salad with purple basil and olive oil - Ginger chili prawns and Salmon wrapped in proscuito with lentils and mixed greens. The mozzerella was the best, followed by the salmon and then the shrimp - the sauce was really good but the shrimp were cooked too long.
Breakfast - we though we would make this bread salad with bacon and eggs, but reality sank in and we ate egg, bacon and toast - I could have eaten a lot more, but oh well.
Dinner the next night - Bolognese sauce made with meat, proscuito and bacon, with sundried tomotoes and this was fab.
On New Year's eve we had an urge to sing Karoke and the first bar we went to wasn't happening. On our way in a group of people on their way out told us not to bother. One of the guys bumped into me, said sorry and after I said, "It's all right, man," he asked where I was from and it turns out he was from Brooklyn - East New York - and we decided to hang with the group for the night. We ditched them after it became obvious that we really wanted to sing some karoke and so we went to this Finnish Pop bar, Suomipop, and put our names on the list. I was the only one who got to sing, and sang Hound Dog which got the people dancing and shaking. All our other requests never made it which led me and K to tell, yet again the story of Shiu.
For those of you who don't know the story of Shiu here's a short version. Jenn and Mark are in town (New York) we hang with the cousins in a great place, Tortilla Flats and begin to party. Many hours later we get the karoke bug. We sing a few songs and then our songs are not played. This perplexes Jenn, who voices her concern to the manager who tells her to bugger off. To which my sister replies with her two prettiest fingers and perhaps the greatest comeback line ever invented, "Well F--k You!" This, of course gets her kicked out of the bar, followed closely by her husband Mark and my wife K. When I realized what was happening I approached the bar and (here it comes Jenn) this little bastard jumped over the bar and pushed me out. We serenaded him on the street with songs and Mark spoke the truth when he declared that Shiu is a bad bad man. There was also an email involved which I will not go into at this time.
Well anyway, New Year's eve was over, and we saw two movies on the day. 13disturbingng and shocking, but very good and Underground, which was disturbing and shocking because it was so bad.
And now the trip to Stockholm which was a lot of fun and ended once again on the karoke floor - with an audience primarily made up of 10-15 year olds and their parents. But we were able to all get up that night - with K and I singing You Give Love a Bad Name - which rocked those kids' world and Virp and Jyrk singing You're Just too Good to be true, which was lovely.
Finally, as I can't type anymore we are here now and ready for a day off.
Happy and Healthy everyone and hopefully, by the time you finish reading this one, 2004 will not be over.
// posted by Howard @ 2:51 PM 
