When some of my favorite authors started to put out books that were only available as an e-book, I got really annoyed. No one was going to force me to read a book that way!! I felt excluded, behind the times and I don't like that. Despite the fact that many friends urged me to, "get a Kindle" or other e-reader, I refused. Didn't want to spend the money and didn't want to have one more thing to carry around. Besides, I would rather have something that would multitask.
Since books are so heavy I didn't bring any.
Reading is very important to me, so this was a difficult thing to do. On the other hand, it has forced me to figure out how to read e-books. I tried for a few weeks before we left to download the software to my computer so I could then download books from our local library. No go. Tried again, more concertedly when we got here as I had absolutely nothing to read (will have to check out the local library at some point) and was going into withdrawal. So after some trials and tribulations (Firefox makes it hard to update some things!) I can now read Adobe Epub books, and Overdrive books. Found a new author that I really like, Linda Howard and will re-read some old favorites. Still have to wait for the book to be "returned" to the library so I can check it out, but it is all good. I can even return the books early, if I am done with them rather than letting them expire. Audio books are the exception to that, I downloaded a couple of them by accident and will have to wait for them to go on their own.
So I am still "getting" books from my local library. It doesn't cost anything, is very quick and I am a convert.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Repair or replace?
Despite my careful packing, planning and shopping, we managed to have a couple of wardrobe malfunctions as soon as we arrived. Our daughter's brand new jacket, only worn for a few weeks, wouldn't zip. My husband took one of the zipper pulls off and we used the other (it zipped up from the bottom and down from the top) and that seemed to work. Then it didn't. The zipper was stuck in the middle, and only worked when it wanted to. So today we were in a shop in The Market Place (indoor market with spices, fruits and veggies, clothing stores and a few bakeries) and we asked a lady in a clothing shop. She had a sewing machine there, so we were hopeful. Despite the fact that she didn't speak English and we don't speak Finnish, we mimed what we needed and she tried to help us. Finally she wrote an address and the name of a shop, showing us on a map where to go. Since it was only a few blocks away we went.
When there a lovely young lady looked at the zipper and told us it would take a few minutes and 5 Euros (~$7) to replace the zipper pull, and she did. We were thrilled. I do not know of a store back home that would be able to do that. Replace the zipper yes, at a cost that would not be worth doing. Finding a used jacket at a thrift store, sure.
Our other malfunction was a boot, the top was coming apart from the sole, so we took it to the little kiosk in the super market and for 10 euros and half an hour (done while you shop basically) it was done. Very cool.
When there a lovely young lady looked at the zipper and told us it would take a few minutes and 5 Euros (~$7) to replace the zipper pull, and she did. We were thrilled. I do not know of a store back home that would be able to do that. Replace the zipper yes, at a cost that would not be worth doing. Finding a used jacket at a thrift store, sure.
Our other malfunction was a boot, the top was coming apart from the sole, so we took it to the little kiosk in the super market and for 10 euros and half an hour (done while you shop basically) it was done. Very cool.
Sunshine!
The Sun is really important here, as is anything that is scarce. When I see the sun coming up I position myself to catch rays. We had the same thing in Seattle but I didn't heed it. The "drop everything and get outside the sun is showing itself" rule. Wisconsin isn't as bad because when there is snow it reflects a lot of light (even inside) and that satisfies.
So despite the fact that I am having a hard time seeing the screen, I have positioned myself so the sun if full in my face through the window. Soon I will get out and walk around, as I can't stand the thought of "wasting" the light!
We went to the store yesterday to check out full spectrum lights, thankfully we found a salesperson who understood what we wanted, a full spectrum light bulb. They only have the lamps, that you set up and look at or have in your workspace, not just a bulb as we do in the states. Now I will try to find a bulb with 6800K (Kelvin) light. Will have to talk to my supplier back home, this could be a niche to fill.
Louise asked about the food here. So far everything tastes very, very good. The apples and pears have flavor, so too the bananas which are usually fair trade. On the few occasions that we ate out the Italian food was superb, the sauces for the pasta soft and light, not bitter the way tomatoes can be. We had Chinese food once, in the mall in Helsinki and that was fresh and tasty too. To save money we are eating at home, I will need to learn new recipes! Hope to bring back some new ways to cook things.
One of the things that are different for us here is the fact that Europe bans the use of antibiotics and hormones when raising animals. So we can eat them here without having to go to a specialty store (love you Just Local!) as we do at home.
Thankfully there is a small grocery store across the street, they were even open on Christmas day so we could replenish supplies, we were worried about not having access to a store for Christmas and Boxing Day.
The city was very quiet for those two days, no buses almost no cars. Just people walking their dogs! Lot's of dogs here!! We are missing ours and have now been put in touch with a lady who has Husky and would enjoy sharing her dog with us. Looking forward to that!!
So despite the fact that I am having a hard time seeing the screen, I have positioned myself so the sun if full in my face through the window. Soon I will get out and walk around, as I can't stand the thought of "wasting" the light!
We went to the store yesterday to check out full spectrum lights, thankfully we found a salesperson who understood what we wanted, a full spectrum light bulb. They only have the lamps, that you set up and look at or have in your workspace, not just a bulb as we do in the states. Now I will try to find a bulb with 6800K (Kelvin) light. Will have to talk to my supplier back home, this could be a niche to fill.
Louise asked about the food here. So far everything tastes very, very good. The apples and pears have flavor, so too the bananas which are usually fair trade. On the few occasions that we ate out the Italian food was superb, the sauces for the pasta soft and light, not bitter the way tomatoes can be. We had Chinese food once, in the mall in Helsinki and that was fresh and tasty too. To save money we are eating at home, I will need to learn new recipes! Hope to bring back some new ways to cook things.
One of the things that are different for us here is the fact that Europe bans the use of antibiotics and hormones when raising animals. So we can eat them here without having to go to a specialty store (love you Just Local!) as we do at home.
Thankfully there is a small grocery store across the street, they were even open on Christmas day so we could replenish supplies, we were worried about not having access to a store for Christmas and Boxing Day.
The city was very quiet for those two days, no buses almost no cars. Just people walking their dogs! Lot's of dogs here!! We are missing ours and have now been put in touch with a lady who has Husky and would enjoy sharing her dog with us. Looking forward to that!!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
First Finnish Blog
We have been in Finland for over a week now. The weather is much like Wisconsin, except for the darkness. It was getting to me yesterday. We are in our place and made the trek to the University to meet with our contact. Everyone, except bus drivers it seems, speaks English and speaks it well. It is a great place to be a tourist because you can get by without learning the language. It means that we will need to work hard to actually learn it ourselves! Apparently there are classes at the University that we can take.
On Christmas Eve we went to the Cemetery and watched as the soldiers took their turn standing by a large monument. Many people go to the cemetery and leave a lit candle by the grave of a loved one. There were many there when we went. Helps to dispel the darkness.
We lit Channuka candles in our homemade Channukia Menorah. We carve out a new hole each night and add one more candle--in a potato (thanks Lali!) I am looking for candlesticks to use for Shabbat, didn't want to bring any.
Our sleeping and eating schedules are normalizing. For the fist week, I would wake up in the middle of the night and, being wide awake, would get a ton of things done! Now we are closer to a Finnish schedule. It is still odd to wake up before the sun, hours before the sun actually. Sunrise is around 9:45 a.m. and sunset around 2:30. We arrived before the shortest day, now we are on our way to the longest day!
The food is very tasty and the veggies are all marked as to country of origin. Stuff from Israel, Africa, Finland, Spain and South America. Oddly nothing from California! The apples actually have flavor and we usually get bananas that are marked fair trade, they are tasty as well (at home I eat organic bananas as they actually have flavor and color.) Meat is not as expensive as I feared, but soap is very expensive. Would you believe that they have Best Foods (aka Hellman's) Mayonnaise?! I am planning to make my own here, since I understand that the eggs do not contain salmonella, nice.
Saw the sun today, it is a big deal and we got ready and went out. The sun moves across the sky very low to the horizon. Was snowing this morning when I got up, then it cleared. They don't salt here, but use a lot of gravel. So the sidewalks can be a river of ice. I walk very carefully. Walking on ice, with a tremendous gust of wind pushing you, and then throwing sand in your face can be challenging. Thankfully I brought my "crampons" for walking in the winter!
On Christmas Eve we went to the Cemetery and watched as the soldiers took their turn standing by a large monument. Many people go to the cemetery and leave a lit candle by the grave of a loved one. There were many there when we went. Helps to dispel the darkness.
We lit Channuka candles in our homemade Channukia Menorah. We carve out a new hole each night and add one more candle--in a potato (thanks Lali!) I am looking for candlesticks to use for Shabbat, didn't want to bring any.
Our sleeping and eating schedules are normalizing. For the fist week, I would wake up in the middle of the night and, being wide awake, would get a ton of things done! Now we are closer to a Finnish schedule. It is still odd to wake up before the sun, hours before the sun actually. Sunrise is around 9:45 a.m. and sunset around 2:30. We arrived before the shortest day, now we are on our way to the longest day!
The food is very tasty and the veggies are all marked as to country of origin. Stuff from Israel, Africa, Finland, Spain and South America. Oddly nothing from California! The apples actually have flavor and we usually get bananas that are marked fair trade, they are tasty as well (at home I eat organic bananas as they actually have flavor and color.) Meat is not as expensive as I feared, but soap is very expensive. Would you believe that they have Best Foods (aka Hellman's) Mayonnaise?! I am planning to make my own here, since I understand that the eggs do not contain salmonella, nice.
Saw the sun today, it is a big deal and we got ready and went out. The sun moves across the sky very low to the horizon. Was snowing this morning when I got up, then it cleared. They don't salt here, but use a lot of gravel. So the sidewalks can be a river of ice. I walk very carefully. Walking on ice, with a tremendous gust of wind pushing you, and then throwing sand in your face can be challenging. Thankfully I brought my "crampons" for walking in the winter!
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