Q and A and some extra stuff. Part 1.

Q&A main page

 Who doesn't love a little random 

Q and A!

Is the drinking water safe?

(yes and it's delightful)

 Do I have to eat pickled fish and moose meat now?

 (I'm a vegetarian so, NO!)

Do I live on potatoes and beets?

(like both, but no, not living on them)

Is there lettuce there?

(yes, lots of fresh lovely produce, some grown here a lot from Spain)

Does everyone have a sauna and is everyone really naked in there?

(seems almost everyone has access to one and... yes, yes they are)

Do I like salmiakki?

(only in vodka! not in candy. not in icecream)

Do they really serve beer and wine in the Ikea there?

(yes, they really do!)

Are you still an American?

(ALWAYS!)

How long is the flight?

(from Detroit, 13 hours on a good flight, 22+ hours on a bad one)

Do I speak Finnish?

(not if I don't have to! I cannot roll my R's. my vocabulary gets bigger and better everyday.

my goal is to learn 3 new words everyday.

(I understand more than I let on. wink wink)

Do I drive and on what side of the road?

 (yes I do and it's the same as home)

Do I like it here?

(yes. mostly)

Do we celebrate Thanksgiving still?

(in our house we celebrate all American holidays)

What is the time difference?

(7 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time)

Are you homesick?

(some days are better than others)

I thought I'd do a little series on some of the everyday

(hopefully not too boring)

things and see where it takes us.

Where we live.

Wikipedia tells me...

there is approx 5 million people living in Finland

the majority of the country's population lives in the Helsinki city region

(that's where we live)

1.3 million city dwellers

source photo

people do live in single dwelling homes but

  Helsinki living is pretty much done in multi level apartment buildings

the choices of apartment building styles really vary

Historic to Ultra Modern to Green Living.

the real estate market is pricey expensive here

there is really not a lot that comes up for sale

a lot of people rent

after a lot of talk we decided on buying a house (apartment) in Helsinki...

 I was in Michigan. Mr. C was in Helsinki during the process

scary buying a home I only could see from the internet

two big factors to be agreed upon:

 where to live and budget

 we talked every single night over the phone for hours about houses

source photo

the process took about 4 months

close to the train

close to his office

close to the river that leads to the sea

a beautiful view of a huge city park

first floor balcony with the flowers is home.

home.sweet.home.

or

koti.ihana.koti.