Happy May!

This past weekend, all of Finland dropped what they were doing to celebrate the coming of Spring. Along with Summer, Spring is a time that is universally revered in Finland. I think it has something to do with all those long winters;) Anyways, from what I understand from my friends here, it is usually really crappy out for Vappu (Finnish word for May 1st). This year was definitely an exception. I can still say that I have not seen rain (or snow!) while I have been in Finland. On Friday, the skies were blue and the temp. rose to about 15 degrees Celsius (that about 60 degrees for you anti metric system folks). As the weekend went on, the weather got better and better.

On Saturday, I spent most of the day trying to figure out how to use the washing machine in my apartment. As you can imagine, all of the directions were in Finnish. Aside from the directions, I didn't think there was any difference in how this machine ran and how American models run. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't figure out why there was no water going into the machine, which made the machine keep switching into different cycles. I kept hoping that water would eventually come from the pump that was connected to the machine. I really did not want to call anyone from work to come and help me. Call it foolishness, I call it pride. I wanted to be able to do this on my own. Finally I gave up thinking that water was ever going to come, and thinking that this part of the machine was broken, I used water from the shower (which is right next to the washing machine), I started a load. Miraculously, it worked!! I was so proud of myself. I didn't need anyone's help to figure out how to work this machine! This should be the end of the story...alas, I decided to share my triumph with people at work. When they found out what I had done, they almost fell down laughing. There was (and I suppose is) a switch on the water pump that you have to turn in order to get water to come out and into the machine. *sigh* Well whatever.... :)

MOVING ON...I was invited by my friend Ritva to go with her family to a Vappu celebration on Sunday at her friend's house. I was a little nervous about socializing with people I did not know, but the promise of good conversation did not allow me to hesitate. And afterall, it was a great time. Ritva's little girls are really cute, and while they didn't know any English, we managed to get along just fine. Most of the people at the party knew English so conversation was not that difficult. We talked mostly about Vappu traditions and how I was going to spend my time here in Finland. There were tons of other families at the party and much eating and there might have been some drinking as well;) The Finnish have a special drink that they only make on Vappu. Essentially, its brandy or cognac with two kinds of sugar, water, yeast, and lemon. The non-alcoholic version is pretty tasty. That being said, I have to say that Sima (the name of the drink) in its purest form (ie. with alcohol) is pretty nasty stuff. Or at least the stuff I was given was...that's probably a clue right? Lol....

Did I mention that Vappu is a national holiday? Because it is, everyone has the day off...except folks who work in restaurants and bars that is. I spent most of Monday riding around the two lakes surrounding Jyväskylä and than walking around the town center-where many Vappu revellers were hanging out. The center was really crowded, like Little Italy during a St. Ginero (I know I am spelling that wrong...anyone want to bet how many emails I get about this one?) festival. In fact, pedestrianrian street looked a lot like a street fair in New York. Anyone want to buy some socks? Possibly some incense sticks??