30 January 2002: International babies in Leppävaara

Elke: Today Elina and I went to the church in Leppävaara because they run a mothers club for international people like us. It was really cool. You don't even have to be religio to go and they don't push it either. Anyway, Elina and the other kids get looked after by 2 ladies while the mums enjoy coffee, cake and sandwiches. Its free which is really nice of them :)

27 January 2002: Australia Day, Episode IV - Geez it's bright

Elke: We stopped celebrating Australia day at 4am (Helsinki time) when we got home and crashed in bed. A few hours later it was time to go and get the little tacker from her first sleep over at a Emilia's house. Stepping out the door was a bit of a shock. Not only was it -12 C, but the snow was a lot brighter than normal for some reason ;-) We were going to catch a bus to Piia's but we just missed it so we decided to walk. After a while we got used to the brightness and somehow the "fresh" air did us good.

Michael: Michael, Piia and Emilia have a snow racer which they ride down their driveway. I've always wanted one so when Michael asked if I would like to take Elina down the hill for a ride, I said "Well, ok for Elina ;-)". Unfortunately Elina didn't really like it, so I only went once. I think we better get one ourselves so I, um, I mean Elina, can try again later.

26 January 2002: Australia Day, Episode III - They're everywhere!

Elina: Emilia invited me around for a slumber party tonight. I can't wait :-) Emilia is my friend. She can walk and stuff, but I can whack her in the face so we are more or less equal...

We arrived a Emilia's around 4:30. Emilia's däddä is called Michael too. I played with Emilia, Piia and Michael for ages. Emilia kept running away so I chased her as fast as I could. It was fun just like usual. I was playing with a toy and Emilia was playing with a better toy so, I took it off her, and then she took it off me and I took it off her... It's funny that Emilia is always playing with the toys I want and I'm always playing with the toys she wants. But no matter how many times we swap it never changes. It must just be the way it is...

Michael: Ok, normally we don't celebrate Australia Day at all. It's really just an excuse for a public holiday. But since we have been living away from Australia for about 6 months, anything Australian seems to have more significance for us. Thanks to Piia for inviting Elina over for the night. We met up with some Aussies in the city and had a good time. Everywhere we turned there were Aussies. They're everywhere!

25 January 2002: Australia Day, Episode II - A taste of things to come

Michael: We started celebrating Australia day at 5am (Melbourne time) when Pasi came around to our place with a few VBs. He just got got back from Australia on Tuesday. We listened to some Aussie music and reminisced.

24 January 2002: Australia Day, Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Elke: "Why don't we make an Aussie flag and hang it up on our window for Australia Day?"

Michael: "Cool... I'll draw it if you paint it." I looked up the dimensions on the internet and started drawing it. A few hours later I was wondering why the Aussie flag is so deceptively complex. When we eventually get a new flag, I hope it is a bit simpler...

Elke: While Mikie was scratching his head over how to draw the flag, Piia and I were shaking our stuff again. The woman in front of me had a clicky hip and every time she swung her hips forwards there was a big crack. I pissed myself. It was a bit embarassing but luckily Piia had a spare set of tracksuit pants in the car so after getting changed I continued.

17 January 2002: Hip swinging fun

Elke: Today Piia and I went to our first Salsa lesson. It was heaps of fun but I'm pretty sore now. There were like 50 women and no guys at all.

4 January 2002: Farfar and uncle Nick left

Elina: This morning it was time to say goodbye to Farfar and uncle Nick. They packed all their stuff in the car headed off to Pori to visit Volodya and his family. Volodya is my great grandfather's cousin. He lived in Russia for most of his life and recently moved to Finland. We hope to visit them in summer.

1 January 2002: New Year's Day - Time for the Euro

Michael: Today we went to Lahti which is about 100 km north of Helsinki. We went to the ski jumps and saw a crazy guy jump (actually they're all crazy aren't they?). I went to the ATM to get some money out. Since it is the first day of public circulation of the Euro, I returned to the car with a huge grin on my face. The excitement of the others eagerly waiting in the car was dashed when I pulled out a wad of old Finnish Marks instead of shiny new Euros.

For the first time, since we got to Finland we went to McDonalds for lunch. They had a steady supply of Euros, so we got our hands on some as change. To our suprise the notes are paper based not plastic and somehow they don't look that impressive. I'm glad I didn't join the queues of people standing out in the cold (-20) waiting for the for the banks to open at midnight.

When we got back to Helsinki we went and visited my dad's aunt Meeri.