The first few days in Finland

So now I’m in Finland. And what can I say? It’s about 10 times as good as I had ever imagined. Not talking about the air, the green nature, the bird’s song, the extended hours of sunlight, the fact that you can drink the tap water, or the selection of non-sugar/low fat products in the grocery stores… Oh no, I’m talking about the fact that it’s summer over here. Real, warm, 28-30 degrees warm SUMMER!

You see, there’s this thing about summer in the nordic countries. This unwritten rule. This Scandinavian summer mantra, that goes something like: “hope for the best but expect the worse.” It’s a way for us to comfort ourselves, just in case the summer ‘rains away.’ Every single Scandinavian knows that even though we treasure summer, it’s kind of naïve to dream of sunshine and 30 degrees. Scandinavian summers aren’t really known for being ‘hot,’ and I can name numerous years when the summers have been cold and rainy (there was this one year when I still wore my winter jacket in June, and then that other year when there was still snow on the streets in May…), when umbrellas have sold gold and ice cream kiosks have hit bankruptcy. So, to step of the plane and be greeted by a clear blue sky, a bright shining sun at 28 degrees (and people in shorts?!) last Friday was kind of awesome. (A sort of summer novelty that I could totally get used to). Although just to remind you guys (and myself) of how rare this kind of weather is over here: this is the first time it has happened in the last 3 years…

I spent the weekend by a lake close to our flat (it’s like a 10 min bike ride… hah!), swimming, sun-bathing and catching up with friends from the past. On Saturday night we went out for some glasses of cider and I was sort of stoked by the fact that you can order yourself everything from dry, to normal, to low-sugar, non-fat cider from the bars?! Europe surely is a place of choices! Also, being able to sit outside in the sunlight until 11pm was kind of cool. My friend was laughing at my excitement, saying I reminded her of someone who’s never been to Scandinavia before. Funny how easily you forget.

On Sunday it was grocery-shopping time. I had been purposely avoiding it, knowing that I might not be able to handle it. And very well. As soon as I stepped into the store my heart started beating faster, and my mind felt kind of wild, almost as if I wanted to buy the whole shop and try to eat everything in there in one go… as a result of this, I came home with all kinds of strange things (5 different kind of cheese, salmiaki flavoured chocolate, gluten free biscuits and soy yoghurt?!) and none of the things that I really needed (potatoes, chicken, toothpaste and milk). “It’s the novelty of it all!” I comforted myself as I unpacked my bags. But seeing how much these ‘products of novelty’ in fact costs (yikes, it is expensive over here!) it better wear off sooner rather than later. Otherwise I’m going to end up spending every single euro of my hard earned salary on food. And that wasn’t really the plan…

Actually, speaking of food. I better go and get my lunch box ready now. When I spoke to my bf last night he reminded me to bring some lunch to work. First I just laughed at the idea, saying something like ‘come on, there’s a lot of Chinese people working there, of course we’ll go out for lunch!’ but then he reminded me of how expensive it is to go out for lunch over here, and I when he said it I did remember: you can’t really ‘go out for lunch’ over here like you do in China (well, at least now if you’re working with my salary). So, lunch box it is: salmon salad (!) with avocado (!!) and mozzarella cheese (!!!). (Actually, who needs to go out for lunch when you can eat food like that?!)

Today is my first day at work and I am feeling a little bit nervous but excited. Anyways, better get ready. Gosh, have to dress for the office now, rather than a lazy day at the lake/a day of Chinese classes at the university. This might take some time…