Birthday Stars

Happy birthday Nooa, 4 years today!
Happy birthday Kati, 42 years tomorrow!

10 year anniversary

Today it is 10 years since we got married in Helsinge kyrka in Helsinki. I love you Hanna!

//Benke

Monkey Business in the Gorilla World

Life is not only everyday tasks and a lot of home work. We've done some fun things while Benke's been gone:












Jonte joined the Boys Scouts (Cub Scouts are the youngest ones who always attend the meetings with a parent). They've just learned the Cub Scout salute and their motto, "Do Your Best". The kids play a lot, so Jonte is like a fish in the water!





Johanna's soccer team is doing the best season ever, and they're leading their series. Coach Sippola is, by the way, the only Finn I've met here so far. Not a word of Finnish, though.






We've been to the Discovery Garden to see what an Ohioan vegetable and flower garden looks like in the fall. The pumpkin season is here, this is what they sell outside of our gorcery store. Well, not him.





There are fund raising happenings through schools all the time, somewhat desperate kids trying to sell magazines, cookies, candy, coupon books, walking door to door. The Fall Festival was held in Johanna's school, a great fun for both kids and adults - we rode the school bus to the festival (first time ever for me too!).








Florian, Diana and Elisa of Bajer Munchen! Our one and only Fabulous Foreignors Club of Huntington Circle (read: we and our neighbors from Germany and Brazil) went to the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens. We've also enjoyed some of the famous German liquid food as there is an Oktober Fest in almost every village in this very German area.

Still 25-35 Celsius here. Have a great fall, everyone!

//Hanna

Greetings from Sweden

Being back in Sweden for the weekend I had the possibility to visit our beautiful surroundings. Together with my parents Laila and Holger we visited the archipelago that is located 20 minutes from our home. It's approx 60 fahrenheit and the fall is here. The air is "high" and it´s really fresh. This is my favorite time of the year in Sweden.

Finally the European tour is coming to an end and after a trip to England next week it´s time to head back to US. I miss my wife and kids.

//Benke

Bringing in money to the household!

15 degrees C today and The Old Mama rocks! Finished overall 2nd this morning, the annual Deerfield Honors Veterans 5K race. Bringing in $75 as reward - well, hey, it's a pretty good pay for little more than 20 minutes of work!

//Hanna

Missing Vierumäki

Can't believe I'm missing the annual Ladies' Weekend in Vierumäki with Suski and the other girls. This is not easy... I still hope you guys have a great time over there!

Benke is back in Sweden now, and we do think Fredagsmys is just not the same without him. We had some potato chips, Orios and soda, and watched a quality movie called Cinderella III. Oh,whatever - even Maja enjoyed it, I think.

We also want to congratulate Sirpa on her birthday, Sep. 13!

//Hanna

Congratulations to Tuomas, my nephew and our godchild, on his 15th birthday Sept. 9, and confirmation this summer!

//Hanna

Maja sanoo "äiti"

Maja sanoo ihan selvästi "äiti". Eikös ole ihmeellistä??

//Onnellinen äiti

Interesting Observations

Two months have passed - it seems both short and long. Short in a sense of still being a 100% foreigner around here. Like having officially non-English speaking children attending the local school, not having more than one work permit in this family, just having bought a second car last weekend, just to mention some things. And long in a sense of all the new things we - especially the kids - have aldready experienced. We've done not only some great vacation trips like the one to Chicago, but also shorter outings, visited Kings Island, The Beach Water Park, The Riverboats on Ohio River, The Aquarium with the Shark Show, seen the world famous fire works in Cincinnati on Labor Day, The Cincinnati Reds baseball game, done some serious running (!), gone to some huge flea markets and tons of old car shows (I wonder why), driving around the Hillybilly land that's surrounding us in all directions.

Now the kids have started the school, which gives all of us a whole new dimension to our stay here. The school district (Lakota) is rated one of Ohio's best - and we can definitely feel it in everything: there's a special pride and spirit in these schools. They know they're good, and they expect the kids and their families to continue that tradition. They are tough, demanding, ambitious - but in some strange way they manage to do it with a lot of joy and enthusiasm which actually is pretty contagious. The key words seem to be "Always try your hardest", and the whole school staff is very professional and supporting. But it requires a great deal of support from home, too. Especially if your kids can't do all the homework by themselves, because they can't write in English. So it's a full time job for me, right now. But I've known it all along - this, besides helping Maja to grow older, is my most important job while we're here. I really want the kids to get the most of it! And we, too, get to learn a lot about the American way of living and thinking.

Speaking about it, I wonder what you guys back at home think about this: Johanna's school bus driver, who once saw Johanna walking alone the 150 meters from our door to the bus stop, wanted to see me the day after. I had a bad feeling, was this going to be another case of Child Neglecting? Well, she suggested that I'd contact the Transportation Office to get a closer bus line for Johanna. "And don't take a no for an answer!" she said, "Call the School Board if you need to!" When I asked what the problem was, she explained that Johanna could be kidnapped as I cannot see her from home. Okay... I was thinking, we're talking about 150 m from home, in a very quiet and safe neighborhood without public streets, just crossing a parking lot AND about a dozen other kids waiting for their buses at that time. I didn't say to her I thought it all was ridiculous, I just concentrated on her thoughtfulness and thanked her for her concern. And Johanna keeps on walking on her own as she desires. This morning she even fed the ducks by the pond on her way. Sometimes I just don't understand the American way of over-protecting their kids - how can one live like that, with a constant fear of practically non-excisting things? I know bad things can happen anywhere, but I'm just trying to make sense out of the reality we live in right in this neighborhood. It's a crazy world, I know, but I'm not crazy.

Some other rather peculiar observations so far: Why do the pathways end blind in the middle of a lawn? Aren't they supposed to take a person from point A to point B? And don't you just love the intersections here? I mean, you can always find SOME way to go, right?

The American prudity is another interesting thing: babies are expected to wear not only diapers but also swimsuits by the pool, school children don't change or take showers after P.E., people get all confused if you nurse in public.

And how about wearing the professional uniforms on your way to and from work: you can see THIS happen all over the places, not only in the cars, but in grocery stores, amusement parks or like here, in a Old Cars Show. I wonder what the "Hygiensjuksköterska" at SLL whould say about that... Or what I'd think if a nurse who just finished her hours went through the vegetables at Kroger's with me. Hmm... strange.



Hanging in there,

//Hanna