Juhannus and another happy thing

First off...I have a new job! Finally! As an au pair for a family who live in Kaarina. I met them yesterday and started working today. Obviously I'm very pleased, and I also think it's very nice to have the opportunity to be outside of the city. They live in a quite rural area, and although I absolutely love Turku and where I live, it's nice to have a bit of variety. In terms of wages and other benefits I'm also very satisfied, and the family seem very nice, including the children. There was a lot to do but it wasn't so bad. So let's hope I've now turned a corner regarding money and work.

Now, onto Juhannus (midsummer). As I said, that's not a thing in my country, but Finland makes a massive deal out of it. And it was a pretty epic weekend. It started on Thursday, when we took a trip to Pori to rescue a friend escaping from the army for the night because he wanted to see Petri Nygård. That was a successful mission, but obviously I cannot name names with this.

Friday involved drinking throughout the day, which I wouldn't normally do but it seemed acceptable. Nothing very significant happened, apart from noticing how many shops and bars were shut for the holiday, which felt very odd. I'd been warned that the city would be quite deserted, and that proved to be true. I will say that I disagree with what I was told about midsummer drinking being a generally happier occasion - at least amongst my friends there seemed to be constant fights. Which was unfortunate, but they usually got sorted out.

Saturday involved more drinking, and me taking a surprise dip into the river, which was extremely unhygienic. I also managed to break my finger in the process of getting out again. Oh dear.

But now things should be back to normal, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow and the rest of the week. Here are a few pictures from my weekend.

More thoughts on Finnish people

This weekend I've noticed how much my Finnish friends love alcohol. I know not every Finnish person is like this, but a lot of them are, and I'm wondering how to keep up. This weekend it's midsummer, and from what I know that involves copious amounts of drinking. Just like every other weekend. I'm quite intrigued, as midsummer isn't a big deal at all in my country, but here it's a big party and tradition. Or just an excuse for a big party. Maybe it's a manifestation of how happy the Finnish people are to get a bit of daylight and sunshine. I'm sure it'll be an interesting few days at least.
Another thing I've noticed recently is that Finnish people, if they consider you as a friend, are extremely loyal, and will do absolutely anything necessary to help you. All along I've had a lot of help from my friends here, but it just suddenly occurred to me. If you need something, a Finnish person will do whatever they can to sort you out, whatever kind of help you may need. I have to say that sometimes English people, myself included, can't really be bothered to go out of their way. Only on a couple of occasions since being here have I thought this of a Finnish person. So we all need some Finnish friends, because they won't leave you hanging, and they will go far out of their way to make sure you're ok. Maybe I've just been extremely lucky with the people I've met. I think that although Finnish people may seem cold or reserved at first, once you are close to them they are the opposite of that.
Plus, a potential childcare job has come up, which I'm fairly hopeful about. We'll see how it goes, but at the moment I'm staying optimistic. Finding a new job would make me so happy. So everything here is going well enough - now I just need to deal with the student loan company in England, who, as usual, have made a mess of things. Ideal.

The mämmi experience

I tried it. I hated it. Heli and Minttu really couldn't understand why. Minttu had been eating several bowls of it, and Heli commented that she couldn't imagine anyone not loving it. I tried the tiniest amount, and frankly it didn't taste any better than it looks. This is a Finnish thing I just don't get. It's a traditional, widely loved food, but I thought it was terrible.
Somehow it tasted very faintly of Christmas pudding, maybe because of orange peel. The texture was gelatinous and reminded me of rice pudding. It's not something I plan to eat again.

Shopping

Now that the weather is warmer and it's lighter for longer I've noticed how late the shops stay open in Finland. Today Emmi and I were buying shoes for her wedding outfit, and I noticed it was 7.15pm! It's rare for shops in England to be open at that time, but very normal here. Gives you extra shopping time so it must be a good thing. It also gave me more time to lust over shoes, and create a mental wishlist for when I have a job, and that's probably not such a good thing.
It did make me wonder why Finland doesn't have 24 hour supermarkets or corner shops though. It's definitely something I've taken for granted in England, and here I realise how useful such places are. The K-Extra opposite my house is open until 11pm but I believe that's the latest in the center of Turku.
I also heard today about a Finnish Easter tradition of growing a little patch of grass. Emmi didn't explain it too much but she insisted I take the free packet of seeds offered in the coffee shop. She said it's mainly a thing for children. English children normally just eat their chocolate egg and are satisfied with that. Maybe I should grow my Easter grass. I'm not entirely sure what the point of it would be but Emmi was very keen that I should try.

Parade of teenagers

Today there was a parade of teenagers on trucks celebrating going on study leave for exams. There seemed to be a truck for every school and they drove around the center of Turku making noise and throwing sweets to everyone. It was so cute watching younger children running up the street after them because they wanted the sweets. Seeing a cheeky policeman, who was probably supposed to be keeping order, picking up all the sweets and eating them was also a highlight.
I think it's a very nice tradition because they all seemed so happy, and all the pedestrians were happy to watch them pass. They held up all the buses, were very noisy, and it was a very cheerful morning. Nice one teenagers.
When I was their age my school had a tradition of allowing the ones about to go on study leave to pull pranks, dress up, and generally be a bit cheeky. I think that officially the practice was banned the year it was our turn, because previous years had got a bit out of hand, although I remember there were still a few stink bombs and some interesting interpretations of the school uniform. It's a shame because when I was about 13 I'd already planned that when it was my turn I was going to put condoms over the exhaust pipes on the teacher's cars...never got the chance, unfortunately.
I thought this was a nice one though because lots of schools were involved, they all had colourful banners (including one with Gollum on it...), and it was all good-natured and fun. They were all waving and singing songs, and people in the street seemed to enjoy seeing them. Walking to the supermarket was a bit difficult because the kids had attracted a pretty big crowd. Good for them. I don't think this kind of thing really goes on in England but it was a nice thing to watch.

Finnish New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve was fun. First there was a strange tradition of melting small horsehoes and putting the liquid into cold water to set, then looking at the shadows of the shapes to work out what will happen in the coming year. They all looked like dinosaurs...
After that we set off fireworks by the church, and lots of people were doing the same thing. That shit really wouldn't fly in England. It was nice though. At midnight there was a really huge public display, and lots of people were watching by the river. At one point I rolled down the snow piles on the bank, mainly because Tommi did it first. It was fine until I realised my arse was completely frozen.
Today I've been extremely hungover, just as I am most years on the 1st of January. I feel horrible. When will I learn not to mix my drinks? I really hope I'll feel better tomorrow because I'm flying to England to visit my parents and friends. Things have been really hard here lately and I need a break for a week.