The week in review

We bottled our beer after a week of letting it ferment (not quite as long as recommended but the additional time was only for developing the flavor, and we don't have patience for such things). It seems to be turning out reasonably well. It looks like beer, smells like beer, and although it doesn't yet taste like beer, we still have faith. Now to just wait two weeks.... or, more realistically, a few days.

















It's been snowing all week. The snowplows (which are actually front end loaders) only "clear" the streets after it stops snowing. So when it snows for a few days it results in a significant accumulation on the roads. I'm talking like a foot or more of sludgy slop. But people just keep driving around like it's no problem. And it doesn't seem to be. I still have yet to see a single fender-bender or a stuck car. Sometimes if the snow is particularly deep, they will have to back up to get some speed before plowing through it (I can think of a certain 18 year old boy who would quite enjoy this). And these are little compact cars! Not trucks or SUVs. I was on a bus the other day though that got stuck for about 20 minutes. We were making a tight turn at the top of a hill that, in the best of conditions, is usually a 2 point turn. Another bus happened to come from the other direction at the same time and in the process of trying to pass each other, we ended up getting wedged together. The driver was sweating so much that he kept removing layers of clothes until he was down to his t-shirt, and all the people on the bus would simultaneously gasp whenever the two buses would touch. When we finally got free, the bus driver turned around and said, and EVERYONE on the bus laughed (even the angsty teenage girl who had been completely unfazed by everything up until that point). I've never wanted so badly to know Finnish!

In the interest of efficiency (and to ensure I actually complete this post, and don't just go to bed and put it off for another day), here is a quick recap of some of the highlights of the week. Beginning with the main reason I've gotten behind in my blogging:

• Classes have suddenly gotten a lot harder and more intensive. Although it's still hard to tell exactly what's expected and what level everyone else is at, I'm beginning to think it's a little higher than I had originally though. Also, we just hit the three week point, which is halfway through these courses, so everything that was due "not until much later" is suddenly getting very close. 
• My suite is now full. I have 3 new suitemates (although I've only met one of them). One guy from Denmark and two women from Russia (and apparently one of their husbands, although no one has really been able to figure this out since they don't speak any English). Let the multi-cultural living commence!
• I bought a Kitchen Herb Garden to add a little life to my room. I've got the seeds, soil, and water. Now I just need the sunlight... 
• I finally got my Nordea bank account set up, and picked up my new Visa Electron card (the type of card used pretty much everywhere in the world except the United States. It has a electric chip in it which checks your balance every time you make a purchase, making it impossible to overdraw your account. Now why would American banks not want that....) The bank didn't have a copy of the Terms and Conditions in English, so either I spend hours translating it all, or I just trust that it's all good. The weird thing about the Finnish banking system (to me at least) is the way you pay all your bills and things like membership fees, things you order online, adding minutes to your "mobile" phone, etc, is all done at an ATM (an Otto). For every payment you need to make you get an account number and a reference number, find an Otto that belongs to your bank, make the transfer, and then usually bring the party that you're paying the receipt. I find this rather annoying.
• In order to complete the processing of my residence permit, I had to hand over my passport to immigration services for an unknown amount of time. I find this is rather worrying. 
• A Scottish forestry student who's been at UH for a year now and is quite the social networker, organized a Welcoming Party for us at one of the pubs (apparently Finland has pubs). Everyone there was either American or from the UK/Ireland area, with the exception of one girl who was actually Finnish but did her undergrad at Oxford and had a British accent. They were all really fun and seemed to have lots of upcoming events already planned.
• My condensed highlights aren't turning out so condensed. So really quick:
• I joined a gym and have started to work on redeveloping the muscles in my left leg after being off of it for 6 months.
• I went to a second hand shop bought seven different items made out of wool.
• I spent a good 5 hours dealing with the inefficiencies of the Finnish health care system (it may be free, but it sure wasn't easy or particularly competent).

Alright, time for bed. 

Moi moi!