last week

last week was pretty uneventful, but still pretty full.

it was bright & sunny all week (although it snowed mon. night) & i even got out my sunglasses. it's kinda weird, it went from getting dark around 5pm, to getting dark around 7pm; there was no subtle transition. change may not happen all that much here, but when it does, it happens fast. check out pictures i will post as soon as i can of hesperian park & töölön bay. i posted pictures of the same place just a month & a half ago & there's a huge difference!

tues., i went to my first kantele class & wed., i went to my second (& probably last) singing class. both were quite fun, but also a little frustrating. getting my fingers to work properly playing the kantele was problematic, but maija let me borrow one of the school's kantele so i could practice. in the singing class, they went over songs they might perform in the spring concert (in may), so most of them i didn't know at all & they weren't the easiest to follow along w/ (pronunciation-wise). i wasn't able to record any of it either. :{

tues. night, i went out to bar idän tähti to see some live folk music. because the kantele class got out @ the same time the "show" started & since it was in a completely new location for me, i missed most of it. but i still got some pictures & video, which are posted below, & recordings.

wed., i walked out on töölön bay! i never had the guts to walk out on the frozen bodies of water before, but i saw people doing it on my way to finnish music class. so, i ventured out after class. i didn't have my camera w/ me, so i couldn't take any pictures of my tiny adventure...oh well, maybe later (or a lake somewhere else).

thur., maija gave me a private lesson on the jouhikko. it's another uniquely finnish traditional instrument; it's a stringed instrument w/ three strings that you bow. both the strings & the bow hair are made from horse hair, which is what "jouhikko" means. the bow hair is loose & you use your fingers to alter the tension of the hair as you're bowing. the first little melody maija taught me was "mary had a little lamb", then she taught me another melody of finn origin. she then obliged me & played a couple of tunes that i recorded & i got a couple of pictures & a video, which are also below.

i only went to the gym on mon.; i intended on going thur. & fri. as well. however, i kinda screwed up on scheduling my lesson w/ maija & made it a little too late & it went a little long as well (not complaining). she is very passionate about what she does & more than willing to share & that has been a huge blessing for me....plus, i had a lot on my mind regarding my upcoming trips. i still didn't know where i would be staying for most of it & i had quite a few other loose ends to tie up. so, i didn't really feel like going all the way out to espoo, which is the only reason i didn't train on fri....

however, fri. night i went out w/ heydi & her roommate duke. we went to an irish themed bar & listened to live, cover music & danced (well, they danced, i just kinda stood there). i stayed at their place that night & ended up talking to duke until 5:30am about creationism/evolutionism & Christianity/atheism (he's an atheistic evolutionist & i'm a creationist Christian). apparently, it was an unusual experience to him because most of the Christians he knows aren't willing (or able) to talk about & explain why they believe what they believe. he had never heard of sda's before either (he "likes" our version of hell - basically that there isn't one).

it snowed again sat. morning (it started sometime after 5:30) & it snowed a lot. i don't think it stopped until around 2 or 3. so, church got started a little late (& there were many late comers on top of that). which was good 'cause i was running late (heydi made a wonderful breakfast - she's a vegetarian, too). i was hoping that we would have communion since it was the 13th Sabbath, but since every service has to use the same equipment, there are usually scheduling conflicts. plus, john wanted to wait until mariel comes back (the official pastor), which i believe will be next week. i'll be gone, so i'll miss it. :( we had potluck & then i hung out w/ saija for a while until it was time for her to meet up w/ a friend...she's from tampere & owns an occupational therapy practice, but is taking a class in helsinki every other sat. a couple weeks ago, she parked outside the church, noticed it was a church & decided to come in. after she met up w/ her friend, i headed home....it was kind of strange, seeing all the snow was rather calming. i have been rather scatter-brained trying to plan my trips & figure out what all i was going to do & seeing the snow piled up again relieved the "anxiety".