Moving On in Finland

Photo: Pinja, Tia & Aapo

Well, I'm still recovering from this cold. I have a feeling it was Strep Throat. I used to get Strep as a child at the mere mention of it. The symptoms this time were consistent with Strep. My throat glands aren't swollen today for the first time since last Sunday. I'm also eating my first solid food since Wednesday and can finally swallow without much pain, but I'm pretty hesitant to scratch it, so soft foods for now, mushy bananas and smoothies. I've lost all the weight I gained on vacation which is the only good side effect!

While sick I also had a chance to finish reading a book. I had started Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons" while on vacation. (IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT YET, AND WANT TO READ IT - SKIP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH) It's the supposed prequel to "The da Vinci Code" which I've read already. I started off enjoying the fantasy adventure of it, but then, after the book's climax, felt totally sucker-punched by it. I had the same feeling in "The da Vinci Code." I agree 100% with Dan Brown's thoughts on science and religion and feel the book offers a wider perspective on religion and I think it is needed in this world today. However, I feel the carrier of the message is a bit trite. A cheesy adventure wrapped around a theme with a love story intertwined, same story as "The da Vinci Code." Perhaps I've outgrown that kind of storytelling, but I think perhaps from novel to novel, maybe the method might change a little. It was to me anyway, that A&D was an early manuscript for "The da Vinci Code." But that's just one man's opinion.

After we left Turku, we went back to Tia's home town of Forssa. From there we visited our Goddaughter and her family. Pinja is my favorite child on the entire planet. The best behaved, smartest little 2.5 year-old I have ever met. Perhaps also a main reason why I would not want to have children, she is the perfect child, why would there be a need for there to be any more? We had a nice midday brunch with my wife's cousin's family, Roope, Heidi, Aapo and Pinja. The time we spent with them was the highlight to my vacation without a doubt. Their house overlooks a lake and they have a small fishing boat that they took us out on. While we were on the boat, Pinja crawled up by me in the bow of the boat and we discussed trees, boats, caps and bridges. Of course, she speaks Finnish and I only speak English and she just couldn't understand why Godfather couldn't understand her, so, she decided to bite my nose! So amazing. I could go on I'm sure, but I also know that Tia will have quite a bit to say on the subject as well...


Pinja's smiling face.


We're going to eat the WHOLE thing!






Dad (Roope, Pinja and Tia)


Baby brother Aapo


Baby brother Aapo


My favorite photo, my two favorite women!

Your Sadistic Tour Guide

Photo: Tile on the side of a hotel in downtown Turku. I like the way the light hits the tile and the rhythmical pattern here, it's almost musical in quality. Structured, steady, paced, like a Philip Glass composition.

Hey there, your hapless tour guide again with more photos from Finland. You’ll see… I promised you so many pictures of Finland you’ll be begging me to stop, I have a flood of them. This is the “kind” replacement for the ritual of inviting your friends over and showing them a slide show or photo album, how many of you have sat through one of those?

Still sick today, I went to work anyway, better to be paid and I don’t think I’m contagious anymore. I just keep taking good drugs (OTC) and the day floats on by. Just wish I could swallow something and enjoy a good meal. Dinner tonight sucked, couldn’t taste anything and it was one of my favorite meals. Oh well…

Anyway, photos…


The cities are lined with musicians. They come in all shapes and sizes, kids, and old guys are more common. Some smell really bad, and I think many are destitute, and probably Russian in origin. This guy seemed different from the others. Seemed to be there enjoying himself almost just for pleasure. Played well too. Didn't notice the Michigan hat until I got home or I might have struck conversation. He had an earthy look to him, maybe not destitute, maybe blue collar, or maybe ultra famous, but traveling through Finland in-cognito as an accordion player knowing no one will give away his cover!




This shot just cracks me up everytime I see it.


I was experimenting with exposure, I wanted to capture a cool shot of the Finnish flag. This was a fluke I hate to admit. A happy accident nonetheless. There was another shot after it that had the correct exposure, but I really liked this one better.




I know it's just a do not enter sign, but I liked the graphic and the fence imposed over the people enjoying themselves behind it...


We've come to the catch of the trip. My ABSOLUTE favorite photo of the entire vacation. Go ahead, click on it and enlarge it for a better view, tell me, yes TELL ME I caught ONE good shot on this trip! Anyway, I'll get over myself, while walking through the city Tia spotted this rabbit, our only "captured" wild life of the vacation, a rabbit, in the city. Old "Itchy-trigger" (me), stalked out good cover (a wide open sidewalk) while "Bunny-chaser" (Tia) stalked the prey... Wun wabbit wun.

White Man Can't Dance...

Photo: Finding my way. What was that, walk into the light? OK, is that where the bathroom is?

I've been sick these past two days, well, three actually, I just didn't know the pain I was feeling on Sunday was attributed to this virus. I haven't gone to work Monday or today. Really bad sore throat, all kinds of aches, chills, sweats, you name it... yuk! It was all I could do to muster enough strength this morning to go to the drug store and get some Advil. The sleep has been nice though, sleep all night, 10 or 11 hours a night, then naps all day long. The medicine is working, I'm in that asleep/awake zone. I can't feel my nose. I'm also listening to a childhood favorite group, Ozric Tentacles. I know weird name, weird group too. Progressive Instrumental Rock. Bizarre rhythms, overlayed with oscillating synthesizers and electric guitars and all kinds of weird samples. Song and album names like “Inflatable Potato,” “Pyramidion,” “Sploosh.” “White Rhino Tea,” “Erpland” “Strangitude” and “Sliding Gliding Worlds.” Hey, I was a kid with a wildly overactive imagination and these song names appealed to me! Anyway, it's all pretty upbeat in tempo and helps me reach a higher level of mental awareness. I get the same sensation with good trance music.

I was on Vickie's site earlier and she took the club dancing quiz, here was what it said for me: "So maybe the club scene is not your thing. You prefer to slow dance (like you did in Jr. high). There is something very romantic about this and it is great as foreplay." Dancing to me should be more like the scene in Matrix Reloaded, just after Morpheus' speech, they shook the walls of Zion with their dance. It was a couple hundred of people, jumping, writhing, moving to one beat, one purpose, one whole. It was amazing - I would dance to THAT! White guys dancing, to the music played at the clubs around here, is just plain stupid, and I don't fit into that. Besides the fact that all the clubs around here are mostly for tourists or the single, plus 50's - still trying to hang on to 20 - crowd. It's pretty silly actually.

Tia and I did manage to get out while in Turku. Friday night the city seemed to come alive. We staked out a spot on the banks of the river and watched people go by. Armed with my camera and a six pack of beer, dusk lasted hours. I had an opportunity to be an observer, some people spotted me taking their picture, flirting eyes and a casual smile, others were oblivious and a small amount approached us asking to have their picture taken. Most Finns are really quiet and reserved, but give them some alcohol and look out! There was all kinds of craziness going on. This post, inspired by Vickie's clubbing post, is a dedication to all of the drunk Finns we partied with! Good times!

Was it just me, or did it seem like it took forever to load images on blogger today?


This guy approached Tia when he noticed the camera she was holding, can't remember where I was, probably trying to open a beer without an opener. He really wanted his picture taken. So, I shot him. I have his email address, I think I'll send this off to him, he won't have a clue when this was taken, he was blitzed!


Bikes were everywhere in Turku, many 2-up riders. I liked what I captured here, the driver smiling, confident, out to party, navigating the busy sidewalk, the backseat driver shouting directions, wary of a collision. Nice tension.


An elevator light.


One of the party boats along the banks of the river in the center of Turku. By day a nice place to eat, by night, a club.


Caught this Chevy as it pulled up. Played with length of exposure a couple of times, then noticed cars approaching behind it so I played with a timed exposure and a trick of the lens, kinda fun huh?


Amazing to find the only thing lit was this drink, this was not staged...





Hope you enjoyed! I'm going back to bed!

So I'm Back, Now what?

Photo: Boat tied in port, Turku, Finland. I liked the lines of this shot and the contrast of the white ropes with the color of the hull. The shadow on the hull with the white chain helps hold the composition.

OK, I'm home, been here for 6 days now, without Tia - who is still with her family in Finland. So, now what? I've been cleaning house, top to bottom today. Purging a month of dust, cat hair and dander. The patio was an accumulation of several months’ dirt. Yuk. Just can't seem to keep up. Well, when you’re an anal metro like me, I have to keep things clean, it's just what I do. I like a clean house, my friends back home used to tell me that I'd make a nice wife someday. I think I may have pissed off a few roommates along the way too! So, I'm back, and on a cleaning binge.

I'm also cleaning myself out a bit. I'm off alcohol for a while. Since returning to a 50-70 hour workweek a few months ago, my medication of choice has come in the form of beer, and lots of it. Then vacation and foreign beers, then home again to fall back into the same habit - BEER! So I saw myself in a few photos and today in the mirror, and I'm done with it, all of it, at least for a while. I think my liver is ready to pack up and go! No solution for being depressed anyway.

Yeah, honestly, I have to face it and admit I'm still down and I know I could let myself sink into a pit of self-loathing, but I won't. I think it's something I need to go through and push through to the end. Thank you for all the well wishes by the way. Suffering is just another human emotion, a necessary one, something to appreciate happiness. I can no longer deny the truth in my life. I don't know what is going to make me happy, but my way of life as of late has only been a mask, self-medicating with tons of work and alcohol. I wish I could be a bit more satisfied with living here, but it always seems to be just me adjusting to something less than ideal, making do with a situation. Not sure what I'm looking for actually. That's the root of the problem. Time to get back to meditation.

So my new self-medication is cleaning and exercise. I outlined a regimen for myself of daily meditation and martial arts exercise. My former sifu (teacher, master) used to tell me that I should become a monk (not literally of course, just in spirit). Do your daily chores, happiness the same as sorrow. Become a warrior; find your soul in the mundane tasks. Face the truth, whatever it may be.

I got up this morning and ran 3 miles on the beach, worked in the yard until it was too hot to breathe and now I'm scouring the house. It feels good. There was a time in my life, say 7 years ago, I used to take anger or sorrow and turn it into something good, since then, I haven't had to know sorrow or anger much. So, I had my tantrums over the years of being married (and she still loves me), and found that the river still flows deep, but mostly, I've been convinced that life has been good and happy. I'm a bit impatient with money issues, and REALLY impatient with living in Florida, but we do have a beautiful house (no matter how much work it takes to maintain) and a wonderful circle of friends. Yet, coming back here, to my home, was a bit depressing. Traveling alone. Coming home to an empty and silent house minus the occasional meow of one of the cats. This has to be one of the last times I come home to Sarasota. I can't keep coming back here, it seems to repulse me. I know being alone is a good thing, I spent an entire year alone with my thoughts when I first moved to Florida - and I recommend it to everyone once in your life. It's an amazing way to grow inward. Sit. Be alone, don't reach for something to use as a crutch, get to know your thoughts. That's what I am adjusting to once again, even if for only a little while. I may have to face it again though if we plan to send Tia off to New Zealand ahead of me, and for who knows how long. It will be a difficult time I think.

Back on a better note... I have always been so impressed with the Europeans way of living. Almost EVERYTHING gets recycled. I drank a beer with a date on the bottom of the bottle and my brother-in-law told me that it was the bottle's creation year, it was a vintage 1992 and still in use! They pay you to bring them in, they clean them, test them and put them back into service, it's astonishing all that they recycle actually. All kinds of things. It's common for a kitchen to have three garbage cans, one for recycling, one for organic waste - which gets composted, and one for real trash. The landscape is clean, people pick up waste in the streets, the local governments have workers who plant flowers and maintain flowers throughout the land, everywhere you go you see fresh flowers in bloom, it's amazing.

So, photos, the beginning anyway. I’m still sorting through them all and have edited it down quite a bit, but still, there are so many! So here is a smattering of some of my initial favorites from the trip.


Photo: Flowers. A large portion of my photos were of flowers. Everything was in full bloom in Finland while I was there. Can't have too many flowers I think.




Photo: Exterior of a Ship. Turku is a port city. Also a major manufacturer of cruise ships - this is not one of them... This is of a tugboat on the banks of a river that flows out to the Baltic. It was being renovated to be turned into a restaurant - obviously, they missed a spot! I like the color and textures present here.


Photo: Dappled shade in a window. Seems my photographic themes while I'm in Finland revolve around light, color and texture. The light there is different from other places I've been. I can't quite put my finger on why, but colors are crisper, the sky bluer and the way the light touches the landscape inspires unique observations.


Photo: Graffiti in a bicycle underpass. Guess who?





Photo: Spools. We visited an old part of Turku that was converted into a museum as the remaining part of the old city. It is known as the Luostarinmäki Handicrafts Museum. A fire in 1827 destroyed much of the city of Turku but this area was saved. This was the cord-maker's workshop.


Photo: Ambient and direct light. The angle of the composition and the angle of light entering the room allowed for the contrast of light, the coolness of the ambient light and the warmth of the direct light.


Photo: Blocks of type in the printing office. Moveable type has always fascinated me, I wished I had worked in my profession in a time when it was a tactile, physical profession. No computers, leading was actual lead. You have to be a designer to get that geek reference.

More later gang! Cheers!

Hey, I'm back!

OK! Hey there, I'm back. I've actually been back since last Monday evening. Sorry I didn't just jump into an update immediately but being back has not entirely been enjoyable. In fact it's quite depressing. But I won't dwell on it. Tia is still back in Finland dotting around the landscape and I'm here to deal with some rather stressed out cats, a house that has a number of needs to attend to - although I am almost caught up now, and 2.5 GIGABYTES of photography to go through. I also started work this week and after five days, I still feel like I'm jet-lagging.

Don't worry, photos are coming...

Yes I had a good time in Finland. The summer was absolutely beautiful, we enjoyed a long stay in Turku on the western coast. Participated in some summertime activities, walking the city, going to the market, eating ripe cherries and strawberries (smaller berries have more flavor, but don't tell the Americans, they like 'em big and bland). We also drank like fish, another Finnish summer pasttime and frankly I could use to clean out for a while! Well, maybe not THAT much, but I did get my fill of Finnish beer and Swedish Cider drinks. YUM! I also think I gained 20 pounds! I think we ate homecooked meals twice in 17 days! I feel like a stuffed sausage.

I did say that I have 2.5GB of photos, I've been avoiding going through all of them, just overwhelmed with the 600+ photos to sort through. The camera performed very well, changing my batteries only once while we were there - an amazing feat in and of itself! The camera performed amazingly well, but the photographer on the other hand, did not. A large amount of what I took didn't turn out unfortunately. User error, seems most of the mistakes were exposure issues, but I haven't gone through enough of them to know fully. Chalk it up to being out of practice with a professional camera and being unfamiliar with this one. Oh well, perhaps I'll have the system perfected by the time we move to New Zealand.

Well, after this trip, I can honestly say I am ready to move to New Zealand now. It was good to see everyone in Finland, great to spend time with our Goddaughter and Tia's cousins. I do adore Finland and think I may try to get my Finnish citizenship while we are in New Zealand. I think it would be good to have and I could still see us moving there at some point if the distance in New Zealand gets to us. Citizenship in Finland is possible because Finland recognizes dual citizenship and I wouldn't have to give up my US passport. I would just have to travel to the US on my US passport. We're getting our NZ residency permits so citizenship there isn't something we need entirely. We will have options then of where to go.

One thing I have gotten used to living in Florida is my space from our families. Distance does make the heart grow fonder. It's easy to overlook the annoying sides from thousands of miles away. I miss my family at times, might be nice to spend a tad more time with them, but one thing I learned while in Finland, is personal space from awkward family dynamics would be paramount to living a sane and happy life. I escaped my own bad family dynamics by moving to Florida to go to school and it's easy to pick up on them whenever I visit home, things I used to not ever see while I was there. Alot can be said for getting out and moving on, there's a step in personal growth when you're secluded and no longer within reach for the "usual" craziness. No family is perfect, and there is no such thing as normal, well there is I guess, normal for your family, normal for my family, but no two the same. We got caught up a number of times in family dynamics while we were in Finland, being not my blood family, it was easier to recognize and deal with, sometimes annoying, but I could see how my wife fits into her family and how much she has grown from them, but her walls are paper thin. Things she would NOT dare tolerate from me, she easily lets in with her blood relation. Gave me some insights in family perspectives that I think I can use for my own family I think. But then, I am so different from the rest of my family by now I'm not sure it matters... but still, I guess I'm still the same in many ways. Hard to really put to words. I just know that wherever we go, personal emotional and intellectual space is the rule. The line in the sand is clearer.

Quick Hello

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to drop you a quick update from the road. We're in Turku, Finland this week, spending our time going to the market downtown, enjoying eating on the boats along the river, and of course, spending time with my wonderful in-laws here. The food is fantastic, the coffee is perfect, the weather couldn't be better and I'm ready to stay here. This place is so beautiful. It's an interesting blend of old-world ways with modern times. I am always impressed that there are so many parks so close together, so that no matter where you are you can walk to a park within minutes. I greatly admire the ease of getting around, no car needed really. Travel between cities is relatively cost effective, travel in the cities is easy by foot, and everyone rides bicycles to get around. I have always admired the European way of life, minus the cost of goods and the high taxes - but the trade off of having healthcare is probably worth it.

IMMIGRATION UPDATE: One more hurdle has been crossed, our New Zealand immigration officer informed us that our visas are going to be approved! YEAH!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I hope you are all having a wonderful July!

I'll keep checking in from time to time. Sorry no pictures today, I'm on a foreign computer and don't know much about PCs to install the software needed to do the trick, you'll just have to see them all when we return.

CHEERS!

OK, Now we're REALLY gone!

It's about an hour from our departure Europe bound! Just thought I'd post one last time to leave on a good note, the last post was a bit too whinney.

I finally feel like I'm going somewhere. It's been a wicked six weeks of work and now it's time to do some heavy-duty playing - the European way! This is a pathetic photo of me, but if you understood the context of it. The place: Amsterdam Airport. The time - who knows, it was a LOOONG flight and I look like crap, but the good news was that was my first Eurpoean coffee of the trip. The Americans don't know coffee. European coffee IS FAR more superior than any American blend I've ever had! Debatable I'm sure by many bean sipping American coffee addicts! Anyway. the image is perfect, I'll be sipping one of these in Manchester airport within 24 hours!

Cheers! Maybe the next image will be us sipping some fine Eurpoean beers! WOOHOO!!!!!

See Ya!