leaving Pori

Hi all,
Tonight is my last night in Pori and the last night with Krista, Mikko and Petteri. They have been gracious hosts and I have felt so at home here. It is sad to say good-bye. They are expecting a baby soon, in less than one month. I don't know if I would have been so generous under the same circumstances. Mikko works at a combine and harvestor manufacturer and showed me the line of equipment they make. It looks just like John Deere, even green. Krista is a college professor. She teaches culture and marketing to business majors. She has over 100 students in four sections. Yesterday I commented on how beautiful the church is in town. She said "Mikka and I were married there. My parents also, and their parents and grandparents." Four generations, one church.
Today Julie and I were on the radio. We were interviewed along with Kari, our man in charge. it was fun to be a celebrity. Tomorrow we go to Ramula, which I think is another historic town. It says visit old Ramula as one of our activities, so I'm only guessing.
Have I told you how much and often we are being fed? It seems constant. We have breakfast, go to our first appointment where the company or host has coffee, sandwiches, pastry, juice for us, served in beautiful china and crystal. This happens three times a day. And of course, there is lunch and dinner. The bread is fabulous, as is the herring and cheese.
What we have seen of Finland is really beautiful. The sky seems big, the landscape is flat where we are, the sky bright blue, the towns clean and green. The buildings are not tall, 3 stories is high. It seems most houses are red or yellow, wooden, with siding running vertically. The trim is white.
That is about all to say tonight. It's time for my sauna and bed. Goodnight.
Love,
Mom

the first week

hello everyone-
it has been one week since we arrived here and it has been full. we have an official team blog at www.mntofinland.blogspot.com and I won't repeat everything here. I just wanted to say hi and tell you a few more personal thoughts.
our schedule has been non-stop because each rotary club that has us for one or two days, wants to show us everything about their town and share their lives.
For me the one of best days was the day before yesterday. We had a really interesting tour of a valve factory. It was spotless and beautiful. It is hard to imagine, i am sure, but really, everything from the valves to the furniture to the lighting was gorgeous. then, after lunch, we went for a long boat ride on a big river full of small islands. we were in the town of vammala. it rained at first, then the sun came out. the blue and white of the clouds, the wake and the water plus the finnish flag was beautiful. for the first time, i felt finland.
i am touched by the stories told to us by the 60 year old people whose fathers or uncles were in the winter wars against russia. my host kari stopped to show me the headstones of the "village's heros from that war". i think there were 50 or 60 in a row all with a date of some time in 1940. to have such things in this tiny village and many many others, must change the nature of life there. i have no idea how that feels. it is also interesting to hear the love/fear relationship with russia. the russians are buying everything in finland- houses, hotels, cabins, farms, businesses. they have more money than they know what to do with. on the other hand finland needs the commerce.
our friends did not want either sweden or russia to win the world cup. they were all cheering for canada.
the saunas have been great. we go with the women in the home and sit and tell stories, laugh, and then go into the freezing lake, one at a time. whoever is next to go in, holds the towel for the person in the water. when the women have finished the sauna, the men go in. all of the saunas have been wood fired. they prefer the soft heat, what ever that is. but i love the smell, so i agree, wood is best.
we are eating constantly. coffee and danish, coffee and sandwitches, lunch ( meat and potatoes) light dinner ( not that light). all of it is delicious.
people say finns are serious and shy. that is not our experience. they laugh, and hug and help each other. it feels like a close community. of course, we are in smaller towns, and everyone is in rotary and they probably went to school together. but life seems relaxed.
one of the difficult things is that the sun is up all the time! right now at nine, it looks like 5 pm. at midnight these days, the sky is pink with the setting sun. i woke at 3 yesterday morning and again the sky was pink with the sunrise. we are very short on sleep. we are almost one month from the longest day.
the three women i am traveling with are great. the rotarians like our presentation, we do it better each time. we have a short introduction in finnish which also softens up our audience.
i am staying with a family tonight with a small boy, like Oscar and a young couple like Erika and Benji. petteri is playing with trucks in the living room. he loves volvos too.
goodbye for now.
nonna/mom/mary
xoxoxox

hello from Finland!

hi everyone

here we go again-- a new keyboard and very little time. so far this has been wonderful. we stayed at the summer home of a rotarian. they had a beautiful, scandinavian style house, with sauna on a lake. our hostess , who is my age, jumped into the lake after the sauna and of course i decided - if not now, when- and followed her. it was shocking and fabulous. my team members had to follow us to save face. we laughed and warmed up and went into the lake again and again. saunas are great. it has been very dreary, rainy, and today bright and cold. everyone is so nice- really gracious to us. it has been fun. tomorrow we give our program for the first time- a little in finnish, many pictures of mpls and hopefully an entertaining program. we are picking up more finnish. the town we are in is tiny, but has many civic activites and parks for the citizens. this morning we visited the biggest recycling center in finland. ok. off to the next visit- an old cinema.
i love you.
mom-nonna-mary