Potpourri from Helsinki

I can’t tell you how many times over the last few weeks I’ve thought: I want to blog about this random thing… and then didn’t have access to my laptop.

I’m taking that as a sign to throw all the random thoughts currently swirling around my head into another catch-all post. (Here’s the first and second potpourri-style posts I’ve written while in Europe).

In no particular order.

I GOT MY HAIR CUT (LIKE AN HOUR AGO)

This was overdue.

I generally only get my hair cut once a year, but I had a keratin treatment back in October which did NOT turn out the way I had hoped (that’s 0 for 2 with keratin, if anyone’s keeping score). At the time of the treatment, I only got a trim because for the most part I’ve found longer lengths easier to deal with than short hair.

Well, I have been completely and utterly fed up with my hair on this trip. Yesterday, I Googled hair salons, found one with only 5-star reviews, which happened to be an 80 m walk from our apartment, and booked an appointment for this evening.

Sadly, it will never look like this again until the next time I get my hair cut. But it’s so light and fluffy and smooth. And I can still pull it back into a ponytail.

If I was fabulously wealthy and was being forced to spend money on frivolous things, I’d have a personal hair stylist. (And a massage therapist. And a chef.) That’s all. I don’t need someone to do my laundry, though that would be nice. Dealing with hair (and sore shoulders and making sure there’s food available for hungry bellies in my household) is the bane of my existence.

TRANSITIONS

The transition to Helsinki has been a bit harder than I expected. We’re settling in now, but the first few days I felt very scattered.

It’s… a lot to have to learn everything from scratch in each new place. The kids and I went to a new grocery store to stock the kitchen—I bought a few things only to discover said items were already in the cupboards. It also takes a few days to find things in the kitchen and there is always something missing (a whisk! any storage containers for leftovers!). Of course we also have to learn how to use the washing machine (you have to turn on a weird valve and the machine has a completely different interface from what we have at home) and dishwasher (you have to push a button on the side of the sink faucet to get the dishwasher to work).

Helsinki has an elaborate garbage system, so I’ve been watching videos to figure that out.

Everything is labelled in a different language and Finnish is much less intuitive than German when comparing it to English.

Our internet didn’t work properly for two days and we use the internet a lot. (It’s fixed now.)

Getting public transit passes for the month was a bit of a nightmare. We managed to sort it out today, but it consumed hours of time and, shockingly, hundreds of dollars. Transit passes are a lot more expensive in Helsinki than Vienna.

None of this is a complaint, per se, I’m just acknowledging that sometimes an adventure like this feels overwhelming.

Tomorrow is a new day and I have a plan. That feels so good. I was craving a plan and routine and now we can settle in.

The apartment is great. It’s quiet, close to John’s office, and there are two bedrooms. There’s an AMAZING enclosed sunporch which seems like it’s pretty standard here in Helsinki? Though it’s not heated and we’re supposed to get snow this weekend.

A VISIT A LONG TIME COMING

John has been consulting for a Finnish company for several years and for that entire time the kids have been desperate to go to his office.

Today was the day and they were so excited. It’s a lovely office space and it was fun to meet a few of his colleagues. He also has incredible views from the top floor. His current commute is about 20 minutes, which sure beats 18 hours and a handful of flights.

SCHOOL (OR LACK THEREOF)

Ugh.

Fail alert.

Remember how I talked about all my plans for homeschooling the kids. To be fair, I’ve tackled most of the things I mentioned with one glaring exception. Math.

I just… don’t want to do it. I don’t really understand how they teach math concepts these days (differently than when I was in school) and the effort it would take to communicate with the teachers is just more than I have in me.

Plus, I don’t LIKE math.

I feel like I’m barely keeping my head above water with day-to-day things (getting groceries, feeding the kids, keeping them occupied and engaged, doing my work). I could put more effort into school stuff BUT I DON’T WANT TO.

I’m feeling some pangs of guilt but I’m a bit paralyzed. Does it matter? Will they be behind when we get back to Canada? I don’t think so, but I’ve just been feeling a bit more conflicted about it lately. But also have zero desire to do anything more than I’m currently doing.

My kids know the location of the tallest freestanding chocolate fountain in the world, have seen the Alps with their own two eyes, and have toured a nuclear bunker… but they might need math tutors next school year.

We shall see.

In terms of reading, Belle has been reading out loud to Indy (he loves it, she tolerates it on a good day). They’ve both been doing quite a bit of writing: in their travel journals, and they’re both making slideshows about what we’ve been doing. Belle has gone the extra mile and has done slideshows about each country we’ve visited (though the road trip has left her a bit behind). They’ve both sent e-mails to grandparents, which is sweet.

We’ve stalled with geography. We have the countries and capitals of Europe down pat, and I wanted to tackle Africa next, but goodness the capitals are confusing! I’m thinking… maybe we’ll do the Middle East since that would be especially relevant in light of current events.

OTHER RANDOM THINGS

• I forgot Helsinki was an hour ahead of most of the rest of Europe. So we “lost” an hour and it really threw me off for a few days!

• The kids cannot stop talking about Venice. I haven’t gotten around to writing up the recap for that stop on our road trip, but it was such a hit. I’m so, so, so glad we pivoted from Milan to Venice (thanks again to everyone who weighed in on that decision). One of the things they loved was the lack of cars. It really was fascinating how much it impacts navigating a city. We never once had to stop at a crosslight or look over our shoulders to make sure there was no bike barreling down toward us (scooters and bikes are banned on the island as well). And the gondola ride far exceeded my expectations. It really was magical and I think I’d like to go back to Venice again some day for a slightly longer stay (the islands surrounding Venice look amazing)!

• Somehow I managed to disable comments on this post, and Belle has asked me to repost the picture to see if anyone can identify why this moth piqued our interest at the Natural History Museum in Vienna…
• Michelle had a dollhouse party and her post is just the sweetest thing!
• I also loved Suzanne’s post about cake; I want her to pop over to Nova Scotia for my birthday and make me something delicious <3
• The kids got word that friends that had moved away from our area are coming back. Indy, in particular, is beside himself with excitement.

Okay. I need to wind things down for the night (it’s 9:30 pm local time). I’ll be back tomorrow with all the details of our day in Switzerland with Catrina!

Your turn.

• Belle will be reading the comments on this post to see who gets brownie points for identifying the significance of the moth!
• Tell me some “potpourri” from your life.