Hello! And now for something completely different...

So, having read all about my weekend adventures, I thought it high time for me to tell youall about my weekday life. Essentially, it centers around the workday at Suvimaki (8.30am to 16.00, or 4pm for those non-military folks out there). Until last week I was working mainly in the Employment and Education office. I helped to gather information about member work placements and to coordinate weekly trainings on various employment and education topics. Twice I presented to the group how each of these programs (transitional employment and supportive education) worked at Fountain House. People were very interested at how much we can do at FH and are hoping to expand their programs so that more members have the opportunity to achieve their goals in these areas. Occassionally, as I might have already mentioned, I help members and staff translate important Clubhouse documents from Finnish to English and from English to Finnish. Because of this translation work and the language barrier (which is actually more like white picket fence than a barrier), I have had to become more precise in my word choice and expression. I can think of at least two people (maybe more if former English teachers are also reading this) who are excited about this development. Aside from this, I have really enjoyed talking with people about how best to capture the true meanings of the words they are translating. I have stressed a need to be careful about how something is translated. If not careful, meaning could be changed or even lost.

Since last week, I have been working in the Kitchen unit. I am loving it!I love cutting things (imagine that! Folks who knew me when I was four years old know from experience the importance of me loving to cut things...ha!) and helping to create the daily lunch. Today we are making spaghetti and meat sauce. Yum! In the kitchen, there is a work deadline every afternoon at 12pm. We get a lot of help from the members and time just flies! Meghan (hi!): you would be interested to know that the first thing I do every morning is to make the salad (haha). Anyways, cutting things is a nice change of pace. I will work in the kitchen till the end of this week and then I will spend my last two weeks at Suvimaki (yikes!) working in the Reception unit. I am not sure what I will be doing there but I have been told that its very similar to my unit (Research!) back at home. I really like being able to work in different units. It allows me the opportunity to get to know more people. There is no such thing as boredom in Clubhouse.

Last Thursday was a day off for everyone in Finland (Holy Thursday) and so I spent the day with a friend from work. She just moved with her husband and two girls to a new house and it is really nice. Most of the day was spent driving to pick up some furniture from a friend. I was happy to tag along especially because it gave me an opportunity to see more of what lies outside of Jyväskylä. It was a cold clear day...perfect for taking a drive. The Finnish countryside reminds me a lot of Washington State (without Mt. Reiner sadly). When we got back to the house, we had dinner and watched some TV. My friend's youngest daughter and I have become great friends. She is really adorable!

This weekend was very relaxing. I spent a lot of time reading and listening to music. On Saturday, it was nice enough to read outside. In the evening, I went to see The DaVinci Code. I haven't read the book so I don't know if I should feel disappointed. I liked it well enough and thought it presented some very interesting ideas (if only they weren't fiction!). On Sunday, I went to have dinner with the director of Suvimaki and her family. It was really great to sit back and relax and to talk to these friendly folks. After dinner, we went for a walk to the big lake nearby and then "got lost" walking in the woods on the way back to the house. I cannot tell you all enough, it is really lovely here, everything is so green and fresh looking. I have been relishing the cool spring here, knowing that pretty soon I will be going home to sit in a boiling pot of water until September (and thats if I am lucky). Boooo! for NYC summers.

It is hard to believe that I only have three weeks left in Findland. This experience is almost over and I am at once happy to be góing home and sad to be leaving these wonderful people. The one thing I am certain of however, if I had to do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat. Until next time...

I love you and miss you all!