a Finnish twist

Hei Everyone!!

So, it has basically been a year since anything happened on this blog, but I just wanted to update in case you were worried that I had disappeared into the wilds of Finland...or Alberta. Here's a quick overview (but it's still really long):

1. Got married.

Yay for fall weddings!

This involved successfully navigating the Finnish civil registry system, Finnish embassy, BC provincial records, Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Finnish immigration system. After weeks of paperwork and more than a dollar or two in postage we were good to go...I didn't even have to sign anything at the wedding...(maybe it's not valid)? Moral of the story...maintaining an international long-distance relationship may be easier than marriage. At least in terms of paperwork.

But seriously, the wedding was almost exactly a year ago and I have lived just over a year in Finland now. Getting married was probably the best decision we ever made and Aku has been endlessly supportive through all of my trials and tribulations this year...there have been a *few* of those!

2. Finished University. Again. Sort of.

So, as you probably know I was/am in a dual masters degree program. In theory: 2 universities, 2 years, 2 degrees. HA! I started 3 years ago and am only just seeing the end of things. barely. But then again, I didn't exactly choose the most logical order of events to get things done.
- Summer 2012: Field work in Finland
- Move to Alberta
- Winter 2012/2013: write thesis for Finnish university while living in Alberta. So...that means no supervisor around, no fellow students working through similar issues and a 9-hour time difference to contend with if anything became "urgent"
- Move back to Finland
- Winter 2013/summer 2014: write thesis for Alberta university while living in Finland. All of the same previous issues once again encountered. Great.

Anyways, now I have completed both theses. While the submission of the Finnish one was pretty simple (email pdf. done.), U of A was significantly more complicated (seminars, defenses, copyright forms, waivers, special software...ugh). but it is all DONE!!!! done done done done done :-) well...I have one exam left, but it should be simple in comparison the this whole thesis thing.

3. Travelled
- Canary Islands Dec. 2013: Honeymoon.

one of the nicer evenings in Tenerife

Wow, talk about touristy. Sometimes when you go to beachside tourist resorts, you can always escape to the small town nearby where actual locals live. Trinkets are not sold, people stare at you for being a tourist and you can buy food at decent prices. Not in the Canary islands. There was not a single location that was not infested by Northerners...Finns, Swedes, Russians, Italians, Germans....it's like all of Europe on a tiny island. They/we all come for the sun. But was there any?? Well, it was limited. We did however, get to experience the biggest rain storm in 100 yrs with thunder and lightning to top it off. And there was fresh snow on the volcano. What a tropical paradise (read: sarcasm). Perhaps a honeymoon skiing in the Alps would have been better.

a cozy Swedish New Year

- Sweden Jan 2014: Happy New Year! with friends from all over!

Norwegian Powder

- Norway Feb 2014: Visit Emily and Andreas
Some quality time with my long-list sister (or perhaps I am the one who is long-lost) and her man. Learned to ski norwegian ice as it was one of the worst snow years on record.

Family from all over at "home" in Langley. not the reception.

- Canada April/May 2014: Wedding Reception (Again!)
I got to visit with lots of friends and family who I haven't seen in AGES! It was really really really great to have everyone come together in a relaxed atmosphere with good food. My only regrets are not having a playlist prepared ahead of time (computer crash) and not having enough time to spend with everyone! Another bonus of this trip is I got to hang out with my other long-lost sister in Calgary (once again I may be the long-lost sister). And it was spring in the Gary Oak meadows, which we were lucky enough to visit!

Finns in Canada

Me and Mom ready to party

- BC June 2014: More weddings!
A quick (and crazy) trip across the world to watch some good friends tie the knot (literally)! They were Hindu weddings and the bride and the groom actually get tied together!

- Norway July 2014: Rafting

refreshing rivers

Aku had 1 week of holidays this summer so we drove to Norway to visit Emily and Andreas. I think we covered over 3000kms that week (our butts were sore!) but the car survived and so did we! I'm sure that there were more than a few moments when Aku was sure he was going to die as he floated down class 3+ whitewater with nothing more than a lifejacket and a little kick board.

Norwegian countryside

- Turkey September 2014: Sunshine!

Turkish traffic. The most systemless system I have ever encountered.

1 week with my sister-in-law in Alanya. Nothing more than sunshine, spas and bazaars. Oh yea, and an intensive week of finnish language for me. At least I can honestly say I am at a conversational level now.

- next stop: Mexico! (via Vancouver)

we spent a few afternoons just like this!

4. Became an Immigrant.

This has definitely been the most difficult thing to come to terms with. I don't think I quite have yet. I miss BC, I miss Canada, I miss my family. This was all just fine when I lived in Finland a year as a student because I knew that there was a set date at the end of it when everything would "go back to normal" (like that would ever be true). But now I don't have a return date. I feel like I have lost a home, but more importantly I feel like I have lost a lot of friends in this move. I am notoriously bad at keeping in touch, but that doesn't mean I have forgotten you! As I begin to learn the language, I feel less out of place in everyday life. But when I look around, I still see Finland, not home. BC is just one of those places that sticks with you; there really is no place like it. I see photos on facebook of people working in the woods in BC and I miss it. I know that could have been me. But it isn't now and I am coming to terms with it. I certainly didn't choose the easy route, but I know that I have lots of different opportunities here too...I just need to get out and find them!

Well, that just about sums it up. I will attempt to blog more regularly again. Just so people don't think that the wilds of Finland have swallowed me up. Or Russia for that matter...

Here are a few photos of "everyday life" and what I have gotten up to randomly over the past year or so:

Checking fishing nets under the ice. don't fall in the hole!!

driving across the ice. There are soo many lakes here that winter driving distances can be easily half of summer distances because they make roads across the ice.

Spring at the cottage (hunting cottage)

Spring snowstorm at the same cottage

Early summer at Olavi Linna near in Savonlinna. One of the few castles/fortresses in Finland

Eating delicious delicious sushi at my favorite restaurant on Davie Street (Kadoya, right beside Love's Touch Erotica)

I caught my sister's dog in my bed. Can't do dog shaming becuase he seems to have no shame in this regard.

We had a great summer in Finland! It was almost 30 for about a month.

Aku's homeplace is just across the lake from the airport, so it is faster to go by boat than by car. but colder.

For some reason they decided to make a "beach" in the centre square in Umeå, Sweden.

I picked mushrooms this year. lots and lots and lots of mushrooms. Chantrelles, Boletes, gypsy mushrooms, milk caps, hedgehog mushrooms. Soo good.

Last weekend I found the last chantrelles of the season.

The sweetest hat ever. found in Alanya, Turkey

Valley of the 7 peaks....? (behind Moraine Lake)

Well, to say that this post has been a long time coming would be an understatement....I have been "planning" to post something since, well, the last time I have posted! Anyways...a lot to say, so I think I will break things down a bit - first a bit about my summer.

Hwy 2 and summer storms (most exciting drive ever!!)

Sunset, city and refineries...the Edmonton skyline

I spent most of this summer sitting in front of a computer feeling guilty about not working on my thesis with actual time working on my thesis falling second behind this. Also, planning a (my) wedding and trying to figure out a life plan (no plan so far) But, I also got out to do one or two adventures with friends and family in the Rockies, but it seems like I can hardly remember what happened now... it all seems like a blur of hot days, thunderstorms, quiet offices, and eating waaay too many fudgesicles!

Nope...not in the office anymore! Up Cirque Peak

Nukka - Our faithful companion (Karina's crazy creature)

Nukka's friends. He was very disappointed that we didn't let him
get any closer to get to know his friends a little better...

Headed toward cirque peak. The classic alpine "hippies on a stick" (Anemone occidentalis seed heads)

At some point in the summer (July??) I took my first adventure down to the Southern Rockies. I met Karina in Calgary and from there we drove to Field, BC where Mom, Dad and Stine were staying. We did a hike just down the Icefields Parkway (Cirque Peak). The morning was cool and there was clearly ice on some of the small lakes and streams, but the alpine meadows were still fantastic, despite some frost damage. It was a good summit on a clear day and we all made it back to the parking lot (the true destination of any adventure). The second day we did a hike behind Moraine Lake up to the BC-Alberta border along a valley. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch in the alpine valley while watching the long train of hikers in the pass above us get chased down a snow patch by a grizzly bear - seriously. They were not impressed, but it was really entertaining for us because we had never seen such a large group of people descend a mountain that quickly!

My family at their best!

...and now it's time for the next important
activity: eating

smallflowered anemone (Anemone parviflora)

single-flowered delight (Moneses uniflora)

Mountain campion (Silene uralensis). The last of the dwarf
herbs trying to survive in the mountain-top scree (loose rock)

Our next adventure didn't take place until early September...or was it August? Mom and Dad drove through Edmonton and down to Calgary. From Calgary, we did a quick trip down to Kanaskis and did a beautiful ridgewalk above Spray Lakes, right beside a peak named "The Fist." It does look sort of like a clenched hand from some angles, but I think it was just a group of climbers that wanted to come up with a comedic name and it stuck!

Spray lakes

Looking out towards "The Fist"

My final trip to the Rockies before leaving Canada was my mid-September bachelorette party! A group of friends and I got together and rented a cabin in Jasper for a weekend of drinking and debauchery!! ....actually, we just went hiking and relaxed...and almost burned our cabin down (campstove fail on my behalf - I turned the gas on more, instead of turing it off...fuel went everywhere and ignited...but we were outside on a cement surface so it was just embarrassing!!) Karina, Marley and I went for a little hike behind Miette Hotsprings, followed by a soak in the thermal pools - nice! The next day we wandered around Maligne Canyon (very epic and highly recommended), went swimming, had a picnic lunch and enjoyed a fantastic rooftop pizza dinner at sunset! We took the long way home down to Saskatchewan crossing and had some small off-roading adventures along the way. It was a really great weekend with friends - I am SO glad that so many people could make it out!

Bachelorette debauchery (das ist verboten!)

Maligne Canyon :)

Other than those 3 adventures, I did a little summer biathlon training - I learned a lot and shot a few things along the way! I really did try to finish writing my thesis. Some things are really close...other things are just confusing and messy! Butbut...I am really hoping that the next few weeks will see some major progress on that now that I have some other major things out of the way...such as a wedding...and moving to a new continent; which brings me to my next blog post...the wedding and my return to the North (no...Edmonton really isn't that far north)