Finns and the weather

Snowstorm, pounding rain, sleet, frigid cold temperatures... There is really no such thing as weather that would prevent the Finns from doing what they want to do.  I am not saying that they enjoy the freezing cold days, but that they will always continue on with their outdoor activities no matter what the barometer might read.  There is a definite distinction as to how the weather affects outdoor activities in Finland versus where I came from in the USA.

For example, if one of my children is playing soccer and the games are scheduled to be played, they will never be cancelled based on weather conditions.  The games will go on no matter how cold or rainy the field of play might be (yes, I have been at the side of a soccer field in rain and in 37 F temps as well).  The spectators and players will dress appropriately and just go do it.  In the US there is the fear that a wet and muddy field might lead to someone tripping and getting hurt and perhaps some parent suing the city where the game was played.  In Finland there is no such fear of lawsuit (because the Finnish legal system does not allow punitive damages like US allows) and there is not the same worry about the children falling and getting hurt.  The other difference is that kids are taught to tough it out at earlier ages and living in a harsher climate leaves no other options.  Where we lived e.g with the soccer league there was a "weather hot-line" that we could call several hours before games to confirm if they were cancelled or not. Here, my daughter has played numerous day-long soccer tournaments with continuous rain all day long.  We would sit with our raincoats on and the kids would continue to play unfazed throughout the day.  Since the weather is quite moody and unpredictable in Finland there is no real way to plan around it, one just needs to deal with it.

The other night my son had his school's 100 day celebration scheduled for outside.  The teachers were planning on grilling sausages, drinking warm drinks and doing a scavenger hunts.  Well, it was quite chilly that evening (-15C, +5 F), but the show must go on.  The celebration proceeded as planned and lasted 1.5 hours.  I wore 3 layers under my coat and a hat, but little did I know that it really doesn't matter how one dresses, if you are just standing around in -15, it is still quite difficult to keep warm.  I noticed the other parents, but no one seemed to be as cold as me or being Finns they just keep their pride and didn't show it.

The funny thing about the weather is that while Finns go on in any weather and do not seem to let it interfere with their activities, this does not mean that they would not constantly talk about it. The weather, it seems, is a constant topic throughout the year in Finland.  Seems that not one day goes by when I don't end up chatting with one co-worker or another in regards to the current weather.  Too cold in the summer, too hot in the summer, too rainy, too humid, too icy, too freezing, too dark, too light.  Regardless of the weather, the Finns will talk and most likely complain about it.  There honestly never seems to be a perfect weather scenario for the Finns - but they will go on in any weather regardless.  Since Finland is such a high Northern country, the weather is ever so changing and hard to forecast, so one must deal with the card they were given and stop trying worry about it.  In the past 2 years that I have lived here I guess I have stopped trying to worry about the day to day weather and just accept it for what it is.

Photo credit: Getty images.

March snow storm in Southern Finland

After several weeks of unseasonably warm temperatures and only light snow in February, March came in a flurry....a flurry of snow that is.  A snow storm of blizzard like conditions hit overnight and left an estimated 6-8 inches (15-20 centimeters) of snow on the ground in the morning all over South and Southwest Finland.  Mid to late February had been a bit warmer than average (for Finland) and when March rolled in many people thought that maybe Spring had sprung.  Little did they know that old man winter in Finland has a few tricks left up his sleeves.  My wife and I spent about 2-3 hours clearing our driveway and cars this morning.  Mother nature always provides the best workout.  :)

A few shots to near our neighborhood:

Winter break week has arrived in Finland

Where has all the time gone?  It seems like it was just Christmas and now suddenly the ski week also known as the "winter break" has arrived.  Every school in Finland has one week off in February and that week changes depending on what part of the country you live in.  The goal is that that everyone doesn't take the week off at the same time.  Seems like a reasonable plan and then one would expect that every ski resort or vacation spot is not surrounded with millions of screaming children.  :)

What does the typical Finnish family do for a winter break?  That really depends on the family's budget and its interests.  It seems that there are two distinct types of vacations that people take during the Finnish winter holiday.  There are the sun seekers who just need a break from the long Finnish winter and there are the snow lovers, who enjoy skiing, sledding, ice skating and other outdoor winter sports.  There might even be a lucky few families who manage to do a little of both during the week long break.  The sun seekers from Finland have a few favorite destination spots.  The most popular by far seems to be the Canary Islands.  The folks from the United States might have no clue about this small cluster of Islands off the coast of Northern Africa owned by Spain.  I haven't been there myself, but it seems the Canary Islands have taken over as the Hawaiian Islands alternative for Europeans.  There are a few other sunny options in February, but none quite as popular as the Canary Islands.  Other prominent destinations for sun seeking Finns include Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Egypt in Northern Africa.  For those more adventurous with additional time on their hands, some might even venture all the way to Thailand.   There are direct flights from Helsinki to Thailand and those are growing more popular with Finns. The southern European countries of Spain, Greece and Italy are beautiful and pleasant in the winter, but also might be a bit cool this time a year so they are not as popular.

Then there is the snow sports seeking crowd. There are a multitude of options for these folks.  Many loyal to their country decide to fly or drive up to Lapland for a pseudo downhill ski vacation.  I say pseudo because if you aren't really that familiar with Finland, it is a very flat country.  The northern part of the country (Lapland, etc.) gets a bit steeper, but I think the largest mountain is Halti at only 1,324 meters.  I am from the San Francisco Bay Area and we have a 1,024 meter mountain alongside my little home town.  Suffice to say there are many 1 kilometer mountains in California and we even see mountains in the 2 and 3+ kilometer range.  Others may choose to go exploring the Alps and other wonderful ski places throughout Europe.   There are many choices scattered throughout Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria and other countries.   The budget minded stay home and hit the local cross country trails, sledding hills and some small downhill resorts.  For example, within 5 to 10 minutes from my home there are hundreds of kilometers of cross country ski trails, sledding hills and natural ice rinks.  Our kids should have plenty of activities to choose from if we stay local.  I prefer to cross country ski when I have the time because it is such a great overall exercise and it is a great way to get out to the nature at the same time.  My kids enjoy skating, sledding and building snowmen.

Winter is cold, winter is long, winter is horrible.... Yea, you have already heard it all from many Finnish blogs, and I have been guilty myself of repeating similar thoughts.  In spite of everything, winter is also a joyous time of the year and the snow scenery can be captivating and magical.  Make the most of it and then take the pleasure to know that once old man winter decides to crawl back into his cave there will be bright days ahead for many months.

Engulfed in darkness at -26 Celsius (-15F)

I told myself I wouldn't complain about this winter season in Finland.  However, the winter which commenced in late November with a blizzard, isn't even half over and I am already counting the days till Spring.  We just experienced the two coolest days of the season and the coldest single day since I moved to Finland.  Last Saturday morning it reached -26 Celsius (-15 Fahrenheit).  That was officially the coolest day I have ever experienced anywhere.  As much as I love outdoor activities, I wasn't able to go for a walk or ski.  Some days are just meant to be indoors.  I think 15 degrees below zero Fahrenheit qualifies as a day you just stay inside and keep warm.  :)

A rare glimpse of  the sun

I won't lie to you, Finnish winters are definitely challenging.  Many might think that the cold, freezing weather conditions are the worst part of the winter.  While the cold is not always comfortable, in my opinion the most difficult aspect is the darkness.  This time of year in Southern Finland it gets light around 9:30 in the morning and gets dark again starting around 4:00pm. That doesn't sound all that bad, and trust me it is much worse in Northern Finland.  However, what people who don't live here don't know is that most of those days, the sun almost never appears.  It slowly creeps up the horizon each morning and sets each evening, but it is normally obscured by clouds.  This time of year, it seems the cloud cover goes on for weeks and magically all of a sudden the clouds depart leaving blue skies that I once thought had disappeared forever.  And trust me, I celebrate those days when the sky reappears to cast its bright blue spell.

Secondly, my next biggest complaint about the winter is the slippery, icy sidewalks and streets.  It makes no difference, what type of shoes you wear, you will slip if you do not walk carefully.  You must slowly trudge along, kind of like a penguin.  It sometimes feels as you are walking on glass or an ice rink. Then, sometimes a small powdery snowfall will dump a light cover on top of the ice, making it even slicker than you thought was possible.

Lastly, I must complain about the whole driving experience.  First, you must always plan on starting your car 5-10 minutes before your leave.  While the engine is warming, you can scrape off the ice layer on your windshield and windows, and if necessary dig the snow out of the driveway.  There is nothing worse than pulling out of the driveway and spinning your tires in the deep snow cover and going no where.  Then you must try to drive safely to avoid sliding all over the road, even though you are armed with the latest high tech snow tires.  Knock on wood, I haven't actually had any accidents, but several times my car slid as I tried to stop at various stop lights, nearly avoiding hitting the car in front of me.  Sometimes there is just no control and not much the driver can do.

The challenging winters are an inevitable part of living in Finland.  But, as I blogged last winter, with a positive attitude and by using some of the techniques I posted, you can overcome the winter and go on with life.  Maybe I will re-read this section myself again for tips.  :)

http://scandinavianinterlude.blogspot.fi/2012/01/tips-on-surviving-finnish-winter.html

A winter's smiles among the darkness.

My first white Christmas

The main road just outside our driveway 

Officially winter began a few days ago, but if you live in Finland the darkness, snow and cool frigid air have been hanging around for several weeks already.  They say that February is the coolest month in Finland, but since late November the temps have already dipped down in the single digits Fahrenheit (minus 10 or more Celsius). Mother nature ushered in a blizzard in late November to remind me once again that I no longer live in California where people are complaining about a little "cold", rain and frost in the mornings.  The snow fall has been quite steady on and off for several weeks now and I am learning what it means to do "snow work" in my new home.  Our current home has a long driveway and the snow must be shoveled at least once or twice per day after a hard snowfall.  I think I am getting used to it, at least it is good exercise.  We have received approximately 27+ inches of snow (70 centimeters) this December.  This is a great amount even by Finnish standards this early in the season.

The benefits of the snowfall is that it helps to combat the darkness by brightening things up a bit and it gives the kids many creative things to do outside after school.  It is also fun to get out and go cross country skiing or walking in the winter wonderland.  I am actually very happy to be able to celebrate a White Christmas this year which will be a first for me.  In California where I grew up it would be virtually impossible to get snow on Christmas and there was always this romanticism tied to the notion of a "White Christmas".  Therefore this year is really a special and unique Christmas for me and my family.  I wanted to wish all my family, friends and other blog readers a safe and happy holiday season.  I started my expat blog one year ago and have really appreciated the support and comments.  Cheers and Happy New Years!

The slow thaw

It is starting to actually thaw out a bit in Finland.  However, when it gets a bit warmer and the snow starts to melt, overnight chilling creates major ice and heavy packed snow.  The ground is definitely a bit slippery now and one must look out for falling ice/snow chunks in downtown Helsinki.  That might sound a bit strange to someone from sunny California as myself, but you must literally take caution this time of year when walking downtown.  Just last week a lady was killed in Helsinki when a falling ice piece fell from the roof on her head, so this is definitely a serious matter.  They do have people assigned to remove heavy packed snow and ice from the buildings, but accidents do occasionally occur.  Also, precautions should definitely be taken when walking around the iced over sidewalks this time of year.  It feels to me sometimes like I am walking on an ice skating rink when just passing over the sidewalks.

This was the 3rd winter in a row that they received major snow in the Helsinki/Espoo metropolitan area.  It makes for an awesome winter wonderland and the kids love it, but it also creates much snow removal work.  We are currently renting a house that contains a flat roof and snow must be removed in order to keep the roof, chimney and gutters in decent condition.  I spent roughly 2-3 hours clearing most of the snow from the roof.  Not exactly fun work, but great exercise!

March is just around the corner, meaning that Spring is almost here.  We could potentially have two more months of snow, but it really just depends on the weather patterns for this year.  When it gets even a bit warmer the grounds are just going to be covered in slushy snow, water and ice.  I guess I can say that almost survived my first winter in Finland.  :)

A blast of cold Arctic air

A cold air system flowing in from Siberia recently hit Scandinavia and Europe.  Until last week the coldest temps I had experienced living in Finland (or anywhere for that matter) were about 7 F (-14C).  However, last week low temps reached a bone-chilling -13F (-25C) in Espoo and much cooler in other parts of Finland.  Kuusamo, in the North East side of the country got down to a frigid -40F (-40C).  Brr.  You know it is cold when it gets to -40, which happens to be the point where Celsius and Fahrenheit meet.  I cannot even imagine what that kind of cold feels like.  Where I come from in California, people complain when it gets below 35 F, so quite a contrast in temps.

I did venture out of the house yesterday with my daughter in -4 F (-20C) weather for a quick cross-country ski.  I had enough layers on my body, but even with gloves on my hands, my fingers started to freeze.  The trick is multiple layers, cover your head and neck well and keep moving, never stop moving.  We did manage about 30 minutes outside before finally giving in to nature's chill.  Once the barometer drops below about 5 F (-15C), it feels downright balmy when it gets back to 23 F(-5C).  I guess it is all about what you are used to.  However, nothing is a better magnet than the snow to keep the kids occupied with many fun winter activities.  The other day they were frolicking around in the snow and building snow caves.  We have that much snow on the ground now where they can literally build caves.  Winter came late this year, but when it arrived, it made its appearance known and appears to be sticking around for a while.  The Groundhog definitely saw his shadow in Finland and it appears that at least 6 more weeks of winter is in store for us. (Groundhog's Day- An American folklore celebration on Feb. 2)

Espoo

Making a snow
cave in Espoo

Winter has finally arrived!

I will keep this post short and sweet.  After several weeks of being teased with small flakes of snow and lots of rain, we finally received a decent amount of fresh, fluffy, white powder in Espoo, Finland.  It seems in the dark depths of Winter, nothing is better for a Finn's psyche than a beautiful covering of fresh snow to invigorate the soul and lighten up the day.  This past weekend we received about 2 to 3 inches of snow and it is continuing to fall to the ground.  The kids are very excited and have grabbed their sleds and headed to the hills, cross country skiers are out and about and the snowmen are being built.

Espoo, Finland

The tendinous part of the mind, so to speak, is more developed in winter; the fleshy, in summer.  I should say winter had given the bone and sinew to literature, summer the tissues and the blood.  ~John Burroughs


Winter came down to our home one night
Quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers of snow,
And we, we were children once again.
~Bill Morgan, Jr.

Espoo, Finland

The Finnish Christmas experience

I spent my first Christmas ever away from my family and friends in the Bay Area.  While this was bittersweet, I welcomed the Finnish Christmas experience.  The Finns do celebrate Christmas a little differently from what we are used to in the States, but overall they practice many of the same traditions.  One almost "sure thing" that normally occurs in Finland is a "White Christmas".  However, they must have known I was coming from California, because it has been nothing short of near record warmth.  There was no snow in sight for Christmas in the Southern Finland area, in fact the 2 days after Christmas have been 46-49 degrees Fahrenheit.  That might not seem exactly balmy, but in Finland which is about the same latitude as Alaska it is downright hot for this time of year.  

Most Finns get their tree on the day before Christmas and many of them just cut a tree down in a local forest.  In Finland there is a law that all forests are public, even if someone own the land, others may roam freely across, picking berries or even cutting trees down.  Of course this is different from owning a house  with yard.   Also in Finland, I have not noticed the overblown ostentatious lighting systems in people's yards that you see all over the Bay Area.  People seem to keep their lighting down a minimum, that gets back to the fact that people in Finland are never trying to stand out above the rest.  Showing off is a language that they don't seem to speak.  

The Finnish traditional Christmas meal consisted of a salt-cured ham, potato, carrot, liver and rutabaga casseroles.  Also, carrot, beet and pickle salad (yum!), smoked salmon, Karelian pies and rye bread.  For me,  Finnish food has been an acquired taste, but I think I am slowly getting used to it. They have two spices in their vocabulary, that is salt and pepper.  The main day of Christmas in Finland is Dec. 24th, this is the day that most families open their gifts.  Also many families either rent a Santa or their dads dress up in Santa suits and deliver the gifts early evening on the 24th.  December 25th, traditionally known as Christmas day in the States, is merely a day of rest in Finland, as is the 26th another Holiday in Finland.  Stores are essentially closed on both the 24th and 25th and open for limited hours on the 26th.    People are not known to have those lavish American style huge Christmas dinners in Finland.  They normally prefer a small celebration with immediate family and they do take their relaxing seriously.  Christmas to the Finns should not be a place to get stressed out about going to 3 parties and preparing loads of food for everyone.  Overall, though I missed my large family celebration in the Bay Area, I actually liked the mellow Christmas experience just being around immediate family and taking the time to really relax.