My first Easter in Finland

Greetings from the other side.

My first Easter on Finnish soil is coming to an end, and I have to say it's been a good experience.

But let's start from the beginning.

As I wrote in my previous post about how I worked on Maundy Thursday, I won't go into that anymore in this post.

The Friday was spent in a calm manner. We didn't really get up to much, although I did get a lot of writing done which felt good. I've been slacking off a bit on my writing lately, so it has felt good to get back to it and being creative again.

We also had my future in-laws over for some Easter 'fika'. Though, again, I wrote about that in my previous post, so if you want to read about it you can find it here.

In the evening, after we had had dinner, my fiancee introduced me to something called "pasha", which you can see in the image below:

Granted, as I understand it, this wasn't the normal kind of pasha that they normally make, and enjoy, as that one contains lemon, something which I can't have. Never the less it still tasted really good, I thought, so I hope she will make it again some time. As I understand it, the pasha originates from Russia.

Saturday didn't get off to a great start. Looking out the window at all the snow that had fallen during the night.

Not much to do about it though. In the afternoon, my fiancee and I went over to her parents place, where we met up with her siblings and their families as well for an Easter bonfire - where we grilled some sausages over the remains of the fire - and a good time. My fiancee's sister and her husband also brought along some friends, a young couple from Afghanistan and their little baby.

On Sunday we went to church. It was nice, as always, but sadly not very many people there.

After church my fiancee and I went to her parents for lunch, and this beautiful and very tasty creation that her father had made:

In the evening we all went to a christian concert in the city church, where my fiancee's brother and nephew were performing as well. It was a good way to end the day, I think.

Time for me to sign out for today. The sun is shining and it is my last day off before heading back to work. I think I might head out for a walk, or something.

See you all on the other side!

Easter time is here

Greetings from the other side.

Easter is here, and this will be my first ever Easter in Finland. I am looking forward to it. There will be an Easter fire lit outside, kind of like the ones we have on May 1st in Sweden, and as I understand it we will be grilling sausages etc over the fire. Sounds good to me! :) For the past couple of years, ever since my fiancee and I first met, we have celebrated Easter in Sweden. This year though, we are doing it here in Finland and, as I mentioned earlier in this post, I am really looking forward to it! My fiancee's siblings and their families are coming as well.

The picture above are of some chocolate balls that my fiancee made today. I can assure you they are very tasty, and healthy too! :) She's very into healthy eating and living.

Later today we are having my future in-laws over for some Easter "fika". If you don't know what "fika" is, then I guess the best explanation I can give is that it is a Swedish thing, and it basically means meeting up for coffee or tea and some kind of cookies or buns or similar thing. Essentially it is a social thing. Look it up on Google, or something similar, if you want to know more.

Yesterday I worked as a "kyrkvärd" (not sure what it is called in English, and honestly a bit too lazy to look it up at the moment), at church. First time doing it on Maundy Thursday (according to Google. Don't blame me if the translation is wrong.) or "Skärtorsdag" in Swedish. I've been to church on those days before, but it was my first time ever working  in church on that day. Nervous at first, but it went well. I had my future father-in-law there with me to help as well.

That's about it from me for this time. I hope you all will have a wonderful Easter and until we meet again.

See you all on the other side!

The ant war continues & Concert for a 90-year-old

Greetings from the other side.

A quick one today, as it is a very busy day.

Yesterday we had the same guy who had been here before regarding the ants, visit us again. We had removed the skirting boards ('golvlister' in Swedish. Blame Google if I got the translation into English wrong. ;) he he ) and he drilled holes into the walls behind them and pumped them full of ant-poison. Now, last time he was here we didn't have much luck getting to the ants. This time however, we had almost immediate success! 10 minutes after had had done that, we had about 10 dead ants on the floor. The following day we were up to about 30. We spent the night at my future in-laws place because my fiancee didn't quite feel like sleeping here with the poison in the walls and the ants crawling out of the walls. I can't say I blame her for that.

Hopefully we have been able to deal a decisive blow to the carpenter ants that had taken up residence in our home. Granted, there's no guarantee they won't come back later, but we are hoping they will at least be gone for now. We still have to wait and see how it goes though.

After some warmer days we now have somewhat cooler days again. Not 'cold' per se, but we do get temperatures that drop into the minuses at night.

As we are heading into the warmer periods of the year, Spring and Summer, I will start to see my work-load increase again. Both at work, and at home around the house. I have quite a few little projects I want to take care of this summer, so we will see how that goes. I'll probably write more about them in here as I get to them.

On the Sunday, last weekend, my fiancee and I, together with her parents, went to a concert at the city church which was held to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the school where my fiancee's brother works. He was there as well, playing the piano for several of the acts that were there, as well as performing a beautiful piano piece which he had composed himself. In all honesty he is probably one of the best pianists I have ever heard, and it was a pleasure hearing him play. All in all it was a good concert with a lot of good music.

That's about all for this time.

See you all on the other side!

Welcome to the new year!

Greetings from the other side.

And thus I return from the holiday season, bringing wishes of well-being and happiness for you all. I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years together with family, friends, loved ones, etc. I also hope that the new year will be a good one, for everyone on this blue marble in space that we live our lives upon. May this new year at least see the beginnings of an end to wars, abuse, poverty, loneliness, and all the other things that ails the world. At least that is what I hope for, and pray for.

The night before yesterday I sat up until 4 or 5 am playing a tabletop roleplaying game over the internet with my friends. It was so much fun, and I have missed it dearly. I don't get to do that too often these days. Then I ended up getting about 4 hours of sleep, before I got up because I had to be at work the next day. Granted, I didn't need to be there until 1 pm, but I had some other stuff to do before-hand as well. It is safe to say that I was pretty knackered by the end of the day. So early night for me last night and then I slept for about 10 hours. I guess my body needed it. It's good that the weekend is here now.

So, my last post was on December 20, which you can find here. Since then I have had my first Christmas here in Finland, and it was a fun and enjoyable time together with my fiancee and her family. Next year we will be celebrating Christmas with my family in Sweden, and then probably do an every-other-year kind of thing. Anyway, focus on this year, and this was the first time I had ever celebrated Christmas away from my family, so it was a bit of a strange feeling. In the end though, it was an enjoyable time surrounded by good people and a warm atmosphere. It is definitely something I am looking forward to do again another year! :)

Even the family dog, Bamse, got excited about Santa's visit and all the presents. Sadly I don't have a picture of him at that moment, but here's another picture of him taken on the same day at least:

He's a big Newfoundland boy, and at 10 years of age he is currently older than the average life-expectancy of dogs of his breed.

There were a few new food-items among the Christmas food that I hadn't tried before. I honestly don't know what to call most of them in English,so I won't attempt to. I will say however that I enjoyed everything that I tried.

Oh, and I also worked during Christmas service on Christmas Eve, as well as during mass on New Years Day.

Christmas Day was spent taking it easy and having lunch with my fiancee's parents. On Boxing Day (Annandag Jul in Swedish) we went to visit my fiancee's sister and her family.

In the days before New Years both my fiancee and her mother got ill. We had intended to celebrate New Years with my fiancee's parents, but in the end we went over for dinner and then went home again. My fiancee went to bed early and I stayed up chatting with friends online for a while. Luckily they are both feeling better now. Though her mother had to go to the hospital and was diagnosed with pneumonia, something which she has since then been going to the health clinic 3 times a day and gotten regular doses of antibiotics intravenously. My father-in-law and myself have luckily managed to stay healthy so far.

All in all it has been a good time, and I can look back to it with fond memories. Now we have a new year in front of us. Let's do the best we can out of it! :)

I wish you all a happy new year. May the new year bring happiness, peace and love to all.

Until next time.

See you all on the other side!

Christmas time update

Greetings from the other side.

It's been a while, hasn't it? Since my last blog entry, I mean. I have been meaning to write, but things have gotten in the way or the energy just hasn't been there at the time to write something. Then again, it is Christmas time. Hopefully I will get the writing back on track soon again! :)

So, what's been going on since last time? Well...

We went over to visit my parents in Sweden over the weekend a couple of weeks ago. It was good to be back in Sweden again. Strange feeling coming home again after 4 months living in Finland, and a strange feeling going back to Finland again. I've always felt at home here in Finland, so it was a bit like leaving home in order to go home. I can't really describe the feeling any other way, and it wasn't like any other feeling I have felt before.

My fiancee and I also got to visit a couple of friends while we were there. It was good seeing them again. They had recently moved to a new apartment, and it was nice seeing their new place for the first time as well. :) I wish I could have visited more friends while I was there, but sadly there wasn't enough time. I guess there is always next time though! :)

As of December 15th I am done with the 4-month trial-period for my job and I am now a regular employee! :) In practice this doesn't really change anything. The trial period is only there to give the employer and myself a period to try each other out. It feels good that it is over though, as I am quite enjoying my job here. :)

Speaking of my work and the people I work with, we went out for Christmas lunch together last week. We went to a place where my father-in-law used to work. He can even be found on a painting there, together with 3 other chefs who worked there at the time.

Last weekend my fiancee and I, together with her parents, went for an hour-long drive to listen to a Christmas concert with my fiancee's brother's youth choir, which he is heading. It was really nice, with a live band and some really good singers. It was a really beautiful church as well. :) Well worth the long drive to get there.

My knee is finally well enough again that I have been able to roleplay (tabletop roleplaying) with my friends again! :) See, in order for me to do that I need to go upstairs since we usually play late in the evenings and my fiancee needs her sleep. So I can't really sit downstairs and play. But now that my knee is better I have been able to go upstairs and play again. For those who don't know, we play over the internet, using Skype to talk and a program called MapTools for maps, tokens, dice-rolling, etc. Works a treat when we are all scattered across the globe. Anyway, it is really good to be back playing again. I've missed it.

Time for me to head outside now and help bring in the Christmas tree. I hope you all are having a wonderful Advent-time and if I don't write again before Christmas I want to wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS! :)

See you all on the other side!

Advent Sunday is a coming

Greetings from the other side.

As Advent Sunday approaches, the Christmas spirit is on the rise in this household. My fiancee has made gingerbread cookies, and Christmas music has slowly started to filter into the ambient atmosphere. Both of us are people who love this time of year. We have even got a bit of snow and frost outside today, which was a pleasant surprise to wake up to this morning. It isn't much, and you can still see blades of grass sticking out through the snow cover, but it is better than nothing. :)

I got calendar from Sweden in the mail today from EFS. For those who don't know, EFS is an independent organisation within the Church of Sweden, which focuses on missionary work, voluntary work, and every-day faith (according to the website. They can say it much better than I can. Though I had to translate it from Swedish, so hopefully my translation is acceptable). I spent two years at an EFS church in Umeå, Carlskyrkan, doing work-training, and even more time as a volunteer. It was a really good time in my life and I have a lot of fond memories. I met so many really good and wonderful people there, including the people I worked with. I am really thankful to all of them for giving me the opportunity to be there, and for receiving me with open arms! :)

I am happy that the calendar has arrived, because we were talking just the other day, my fiancee and I, how we needed one. :) It is now hanging on the wall above my desk at home.

On Sunday, which is Advent Sunday, I am scheduled to work at church at the service. I'm not sure what the job is called in English, but in Swedish we call it "Kyrkvärd". Basically, I make the preparations before the service, I make sure everything is where it needs to be, I handle the sound equipment, and just make sure everything is in order before, during and after. I've done it on a couple of occasions already, but I am still nervous because it is my first Advent Sunday and there is going to be a lot more people there. Wish me luck!

I've had to go back to my moving-boxes and rummage through them to find the Christmas CDs I brought with me from Sweden. I've only found two, but I am pretty sure there should be at least one more in there somewhere. Granted a couple of boxes at the back of everything could contain some CDs, but I didn't feel like bringing everything else out of storage just to get to them. Luckily my fiancee has quite a collection of Christmas music CDs that we can listen to as well.

See you all on the other side!

All Saint's Day

Greetings from the other side.

Happy All Saint's Day to those who celebrate it. Yesterday evening, my fiancee and I went to the local graveyard together with her parents to, like many others, light candles in remembrance of loved ones and relatives who have passed. It was dark outside, and the graveyard was lit up only by the candles that people had put on the graves. It was very beautiful, and gave a sort of serene feeling inside. Even though it was a bit chilly outside, the beauty of it sort of made you warm on the inside anyway.

I have always liked All Saint's Day. It, much more than Halloween, was a part of my life as I grew up. I guess that is why it, with its quite remembrance and honoring of those who have died, hold a much more special place in my heart than Halloween ever has or will. I respect other people enjoying it, and it does seem like fun, but I guess since I didn't grow up with it it doesn't mean as much to me.

Today my fiancee and I, together with her parents, have sung in the local church with a temporary choir that was put together for All Saint's Day specifically. It was a nice ceremony, with remembering all those in our parish who have passed away in the past year. A candle being lit for each one, while the pastor reads their names out loud. I am happy I was able to be part of that, and I hope that our songs will have given those there some comfort.

The weather is beautiful outside, though a bit chilly. Currently it is -3,3 degrees Celsius, so not that bad but still starting to get a bit chilly. I am thinking I might go for a walk later if my knee is ok with it. It feels good to be able to take walks again. I've missed it when my knee-issues have been getting in the way.

Work has been going well. I just need to remember to let my knee rest from time to time and to think about how I lift and carry things, etc. It is quite enjoyable working outside this time of year. It is one of the things that I like about my job, that I get to work outside and get fresh air. In the winter time, however, there will be less work for me to do outside, so most of my work will take place indoors instead. Which, depending on how cold it gets outside, might be a good thing.

Now I am going to rest for a bit.

See you all on the other side!

The last couple of days - An update

Greetings from the other side.

Yesterday was the final work-day for me this week. At least going on my regular 60% schedule. I also have some extra work on Saturday. Which is good, because every little bit helps, really. :) I have gotten a lot of work done this week however, so it should be ok even if I don't work today or tomorrow.

I visited a naprapath ('naprapat' in Swedish. I translated it via Google. Though it seems about the same as a chiropractor.) today about my knee. I figured that since I have already seen a doctor about it and it hasn't gotten well yet I might as well try other options as well. I really don't have anything to loose. Hopefully the treatment he gave me will help, though I have been ordered a few days rest for the knee to allow the swelling to go down so I won't really know until after a few days. He also gave me some light exercises to help strengthen the muscles around my knee. Wish me luck!

I was thinking of not working Saturday to allow my knee to heal up better, but my father-in-law has promised to help me out, and it isn't as physically demanding as my regular job can be, so I should be fine as long as I take it easy and remember to rest when I can. I am lucky, and thankful, that he is able to come help me out though.

This evening my girlfriend and I are going, together with her parents, to go practicing with a temporary choir, that has been put together for one performance in church on All Saint's Day (Alla helgons dag), also known as All Hallow's Day according to Wikipedia. Luckily for my knee we will be sitting down the entire time, or most of the time at least. :)

Yesterday I spent some time practicing my map-making again. I am quite enjoying it. :) I have not had the time to do so today yet, but I might do it again this evening. It feels good to be back working on it again, as I have been feeling it is something I need to do for my continued world-building exercises.

Time for me to go get ready for this evening's choir practice.

See you all on the other side!

A nice day & some thoughts

Greetings from the other side.

Today is the day my parents arrive for a visit from Sweden. Not sure what effect that will have on my blogging in the next few days, but if I have time I will try to post something at least.

It's been a busy but very good day so far. I had a really good day at work and got to spend the time there with some wonderful and kind people. :) After work we have been cleaning the house and getting everything ready for my parents arrival tonight. They will be bringing a few things over from Sweden for me. Things such as the winter tires for my car, a book case, and a few other pieces of furniture. Though I can honestly, at the time of writing this, not quite remember what it all was. Oh well, I will be reminded soon enough.

It has been a beautiful autumn day outside today. The sky is finally blue again after a few days of thick cloud cover, there's been very little wind and the outside air has felt crisp and cool. Today would have really been a perfect day for a long walk, if we had had the time to do so. Granted, I should probably rest my knee a bit when I am not working as well, to give it as much recovery as I can, so going for a walk might still have been out of question anyway.

Things have now calmed down in the house, and now we are just settling down to relax while we wait to go pick up my parents at the ferry terminal. 4½ hours worth of boat ride can be quite boring at times. Trust me, I know from experience. Though that can vary quite a lot. Some times it feels like the minutes are crawling by, and other times it actually goes by relatively quickly. I am fairly glad that my girlfriend and I don't have to make that journey every time we want to see each other anymore. It was well worth it at the time though, but it is nice to have reached another stage in our lives together, and not having to be apart like that anymore.

My old choir is performing in my old church this evening at a fair trade-themed music café that is being held there. I really wish I could go and listen to them, and meet my old friends. Unfortunately that is not possible, but I wish them all the best.

That's it for me for this time.

See you all on the other side!

An eventful weekend

Greetings from the other side.

This has been a fairly eventful weekend, but also a weekend filled with a lot of joy, music, good food and good people.

Yesterday my girlfriend and I went together with her parents to sing with a choir that they are in. It was my first time rehearsing with this choir, so I was a bit nervous. However I soon felt right at home. Everyone was incredibly nice and friendly, and there were a lot of familiar faces there as well, including some other members of my girlfriend's family, such as both her siblings and their spouses. It was a good feeling being back singing with a choir again. Though I admit it was a bit of a tough start. One afternoon to practice 8 new songs and then performing them in church after dinner. Luckily, being part of a choir you can hide a little bit, but I think I did alright anyway and didn't need to 'fake it' almost any. We also had a very energetic choir leader who was smiling the entire way through and did her best to spread positive energy to us all. Besides her, My girlfriend's brother was also playing the piano for us when we were singing in church. I have to say he is a really great pianist, and it was a joy hearing him play. We could probably not have sung a single song, and the church would still have been filled with wonderful music from his playing.

All in all it was a very positive experience and I am looking forward to next time we meet. :) Unfortunately it seems that this choir only meet up once a month, or every other month, or something like that. I am not entirely sure.

I have missed being in a choir and singing. I used to be part of a choir back home in Umeå called Cantare. I had roughly 3 years with them, and it was nothing but a joy. :) Though that choir met and practiced once a week, so with this new choir I am probably going to need to do more practicing at home instead.

Today we have just gotten back home from fist visiting church and then the church hall. There were a lot of people there today as they had some visitors from abroad. All in all it has been a nice day. I love meeting new people and so far everyone I have met here in Finland have been nice and friendly. My girlfriend was also scheduled to sing today, which she did really well. She had her brother playing the piano as she sang as well.

We are still getting people come up to us to congratulate us on our engagement, which is nice. People seem truly happy for us, and we are very happy for that.

Tomorrow is the beginning of a new week, and I return to work once again. I will probably take it easy in the beginning and see how my knee responds, but it should be alright. It feels good to be back to being able to do things again. Having an injured knee really hampers your ability to do things.

See you all on the other side!

A thought-full entry

Greetings from the other side.

A few days have gone by since my last update. During this time I have been busy with work, moving, every-day life things, and a tad of role-playing related stuff. In short: I have been busy. Yet for some reason, as I sit here to write about it, nothing in particular comes to mind. Strange that. I know I have been very busy, but at the moment I can't think of anything to write about. I guess it must be the tiredness, and I have plenty of that. Though that is partly my own fault as well. I did sit up later than usual last night playing a tabletop roleplaying game with my friends over the internet. It was fun, but it also resulted in me only getting about 6 hours of sleep last night. Luckily it only happens once or twice a week, so it won't effect me too much. You do feel some effect from it though, as working 8 or 9 hour days combined with not enough sleep does tend to leave a mark. But as I said, I only sit up like that once or twice a week, so I'll be fine.

Still haven't gotten any extra TV-channels installed, so I still can't watch the football (soccer for you North Americans out there). I do miss it, but due to a few different factors we have postponed getting them to a later date. It will happen eventually though, and I am quite looking forward to that day.

In my job there's a lot of work, but it also lends itself to a lot of time for reflection and thinking. I quite enjoy that about my job as well. It is an interesting mix of physical labour, and creative thinking. It lends itself well for my world-building, without taking anything away from performing my actual work. In that sense I guess I get the best of both worlds in this job. I think it is beneficial to both the mind, the spirit, and the body.

The physical nature of the job still leaves me tired in the evening, though I suppose that shows I am actually doing something during the day.

Another factor I love about my job is that I get to meet and talk to a lot of people. It gives a sense of connection, that I wouldn't get otherwise. I work in a church, and even though the church is my employer I serve the parrish. The contact with people, talking to and listening to them, is an important part of the whole. I believe in meeting everyone with kindness and an open mind, no matter who they are.

See you all on the other side!

A Sunday out of the ordinary

Greetings from the other side.

So far this has been a day of new meetings and experiences. I had the honor of being "kyrkvärd" today at the morning service at church. I have tried translating "kyrkvärd" into english, but found two different terms - "churchwarden" and "sidesman". I have not been able to ascertain which one would be the most appropriate term to use however, so I will leave it at that. Being my first time doing this, I was happy to have my girlfriend's dad with me who has a lot of experience with that kind of work.

After we were done at the church, we went off to buy some salmon and met a relative to my girlfriend's family there. He was probably one of the happiest, and most cheerful people I have ever met. It's the kind of happiness that just beams off of him, and infects everyone around him. It was also the first time I have ever walked into a store and gotten a hug from someone working there. :) lol I guess I am part of the family now.

Yesterday's fog has lifted from the land, but the cloud-cover still remains. From what I am told the sun will come back again tomorrow, which will be welcome.

I seem to have gotten my energy back now, which is welcome after a long week of feeling heavy in both body and mind. Not sure what was up with that. It was like I hadn't been sleeping even though I tried to sleep more than normally to counter it. Hopefully my new-found energy will stay with me going forward. :)

I was able to do a bit more world-building yesterday evening, which felt nice having not been able to do any work on it in the past week. :) I was unable to do any more work on maps however, but I am sure I will get to doing that soon as well.

See you all on the other side!

Un-well knee & a roadtrip

Greetings from the other side.

My right knee has been acting up in the last couple of days. Not sure what is wrong with it. It doesn't hurt but it feels swollen, without actually looking swollen. Hopefully it is something that will go away fairly quickly with a bit of rest. I just need to be careful not to put unnecessary strain on it. Walking is generally fine, most of the time at least. It's worse when I try to negotiate stairs or slopes.

Today I went with my "in-laws" and my gf to a missionary celebration that the church apparently has each year. I was told that this year it was special because the celebrations themselves were celebrating their 60th anniversary. It was about an hour's drive to get there from where we live. It was quite nice. A small church set in beautiful, lush surroundings. Unfortunatelly, the church was too small to accomodate everyone who was there, but they had put up speakers and benches outside the church for those that couldn't get in. There were choirs singing, food, and merriment all around.

My leg didn't help much, so rather than trying to get a place  inside the church my gf and I decided to sit outside so I would get a chance to stretch my leg from time to time. This quickly proved to be a good idea, and both my knee and I are very happy that we came to that particular conclusion.

It was a nice experience, and we also ran into an old friend of my gf's that she hadn't seen in a while, plus some other members of her family, which was really nice. :)

We got back home around 11:30pm. My gf has gone to bed as she was really tired, but I decided to stay up a while longer, as the nightowl that I am.

That's it for this blog post.

See you all on the other side!