Yesterday, I baked a real nice carrot cake to celebrate in advance, my FIFTH year in Finland. One asked me what were the highlights during my stay here, so this inspired me to share them. Enjoy!
- year one -
January 2007, it was -27 degrees celcius past midnight when I first arrived in Finland. I remember how I've put a smile on people's faces as I walked on fresh snow and hear the "crush-crush" sound, and I'd do it again and again. I guess I was just fascinated by it and found out later how much I love winter.
my first sauna experience was an epic...
My Finnish roommate, who later on became my first Finnish bestfriend, asked me to go to the sauna with her. I was too shy to go naked but I wanted to respect the culure so I did. Anyhow, my friend asked if it's ok to pour water on the hot stones, and I was thinking maybe the temperature will soon go down a bit when she does, so I said yeah go ahead and pour some. I thought I was going to be steamed alive so I screamed and the rest of the girls who were on their way out came back in to check out what happened. After that, it became the inside joke of the team. Despite this experience, I have come to love sauna to the extent of rolling in the fresh, powder snow; or going on a tobogan at the ski ramp near the sauna; or even better to the lake. One thing I still haven't done, which I often miss when there was one, was going into the icy water then run back to the sauna. They have a thing called "avantu" where they dig a hole in the frozen lake, and you go in it for a few seconds, some people do it longer, then run back to the sauna.
from a city-slicker to a forest-dweller...
I worked in China before coming to (a small village in a small town) Finland. I remember how I nearly cried when I asked if I could walk or take the bus to town just to find out that we were about 18 kms away from the center. "God, are you turning me into a hermit?" I cried to God. I've learned to appreciate the value of solitude after being here for five years, although, I'm grateful for the trips I've had in and out of Finland.
coming out of my "shell"...
Getting to know the Finns helped me get out of my own protective shell. It took a lot of my energy to socialise let alone being transparent to people. If there was one BIG thing God worked on my life was to trust Him even when painful issues of life surfaced. I could not run away from them and did not want to deal with them ever again so I succumb to the loving hand of the "Gardener" - to prune that which have been hindering me from becoming the person God made me to be.
climbing my first mountain...
I have to say I miss the mountains but an 800-meter mountain in Lapland would suffice. the cool thing about this was, we started really early in the morning and head on to Pallas tunturi, carried our snowboards, and got on the top just when the sun rose. It was glorious! Although it was my fourth time to snowboard, I managed to come backcountry snowboard down the mountain, and even if I fell a few times, I must say I was proud of myself.
first Finnish and white Christmas...
My Finnish bestfriend invited me to spend Christmas with her family. It was such an experience. I felt so loved. It was in 2003 when I last celebrated Chrsitmas with my family so this was really special to me.
These are just a few of the many good things God did in my life here in Finland. There will be more stories I'd like to share. Until then! :)
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