I am getting some requests what to write about, like for example I should write about food, which I will do when I have more material. Keep sending such topic requests, they help me, they inspire me, and it's nice to feel like 'serving' my audience a bit and you can find out what you want.
The family
Now I am going to write a bit about the family I live with and absolutely love. The parents are both in their forties, and before somebody thinks that farmers aren't part of the intelligentsia I can tell you these guys are. The same intelligence can be seen on the kids, even tho they are kids, but you can still tell. The parents are extremely hard working, they work around 15 hours a day, it is insane. There is a lot to do at the huge dairy farm and with all the fields. I also really love their sense of humour, I find funny especially the father - as he doesn't really talk much, usually when he opens his mouth it's something funny, so the ratio is pretty good. The mother is very nice, and kind to me, very respectful and tries to keep me not too busy, giving me enough free time also during the day, and I haven't heard a bad word from her to me. So it is not like 'hey we give you money so do your job 100000% perfectly'. But of course I am trying to do my job very well. She also made some great jokes which usually crack me up.
Juhannus
One thing that made me laugh happened at the family Juhannus. Juhannus is the Finnish version of the Midsummer night, when the longest day of the day and the summer is being celebrated with huge bonfires, staying up late, and well, drinking. Some pictures are following. We missed the beginning of the bonfire so when we arrived it was only a smaller version left, then the kids had ice cream (who the fuck cares it was around 10*C rainy-windy, lol), and the father and I a beer, let's have some alcohol at Juhannus, dammit, haha. Then as we were walking around the territory, the harbour of Päijänne, and the parking lot, one of the kids fell down while walking and the mother commented: Yes, it is rather usual that Finnish men end up fallen on the ground at the time of Juhannus. :D:D And well, it is usually true. The biggest celebration happens on Juhannusaatto, juhannus-eve, so the 20th of June. That means that one is supposed to be drunk already on the 19th until the night as well. And that everybody, just evvvverbody is leaving the cities to their summer cottage, mökki, to the nature and enjoying peace and booze there.
On this one you can see my host mother, the smaller and the bigger child, from right to left :D
I myself made a slavic-style Kupala wreath, as girls do on midsummer eve and had a walk in the nature. Didn't stay up late, it was very cloudy so the Sun couldn't be followed anyway. So I just went to bed with flowers put under my pillow. :)
The exterior of the house also looked rather Juhannus-like. There were juhannuskoivut in front of the house, which means some rather big branches of birch tree, and the flag was raised to the pole and stayed there. I already talked about the liputuspäivät, the flag raising days, when you usually have to take it down at sunset, but as at Juhannus the sun is not really supposed to set, it can stay there waving all 'night'.
I feel a bit sorry that the weather was bad and I couldn't stay up out in the nature and just watch the almost-everlasting-daylight and also a bit sorry that I couldn't spend it at a mökki far from everything and everybody. Even tho this place is not so different from that.
Geography
Now, that I myself am a bit more familiar with where I am, I can also tell it to you guys a bit better.
Since 1997, there is a new distribution of counties in Finland, courtesy of Wikipedia:
 1 Etelä-Suomen lääni (Södra Finlands län) 1997-2009 |
 2 Länsi-Suomen lääni (Västra Finlands län) 1997-2009 |
 3 Itä-Suomen lääni (Östra Finlands län) 1997-2009 |
 |
 4 Oulun lääni (Uleåborgs län) 1775-2009 |
 5 Lapin lääni (Lapplands län) 1938-2009 |
 6 Ahvenanmaan lääni (Ålands län) 1918-2009 |
From this, I am Etelä-Suomen lääni, which is further divided to smaller regions.
Do click the gallery.
