Family planning - Finnish "nature child" style meets American $ analysis

When one forms a family with different cultural backgrounds, there are lot of peculiar things...which for couples / families of same cultural heritage, would not even come to discussion. All cases result to laughter, sooner or later :)

During my journey in settling to US it has been really interesting to learn how family planning differs in US versus to what I have learned previously from my close friends and family in Finland.
It may be that my perception from how things work in Finland may not be completely accurate, since I have actually not been doing any family planning while I was living in Finland. It was a dream...but for me it meant first things first, to find a partner for life :)
While waiting for my partner for life to "show up", I was focusing on my career, being a great aunt to my nephews and appreciating the time with my friends. As well as being active in sports.

Yet I do trust that having lived the pregnancies of my close friends and my sister-in-law and daily life of my god-daughters and nephews...my perception and opinion formed based on those experience is not completely "bumping into the pine tree" (Finnish saying when something goes wrong, "mennä päin mäntyä").

Family planning, as I see it from my perspective, in the very simple Finnish style is:
Do we want to have kids?
Yes...okay, then we shall have kids.
- End of planning-

See the visualization to the right - example of key things in a Finnish adult's perspective, e.g. myself. Key area, which need to be checked and balanced throughout the journey of adulthood.

Sometimes kids also just happen, despite one trying to delay the timing...which makes the previous planning part part non-existent. Sometimes they may make the parents wait for a while till the child shows up. That is the magical world of mother nature.

Statistically in Finland this means two kids in average per household. There are of course exceptions, families with 1 child or families with 3 children. In most cases, 3 children family is considered "big".

I have never heard, nor thought myself, that money would relate to the decision of whether or not to have a family in any possible way.
Generally the thinking among my friends and family have been that if one wants to have kids, one will have kids. What comes to money, one will always manage. One way or the other. But money has never been the influence factor for the decision making.

It is more about whether both parties are ready to tie themselves to the kid(s) and adjust their whole life. Also one tends to be thinking more how to balance work and family, especially if support network is not existing close by. This depends case by case, if both parents have a job where they need to travel or do shift work, one starts planning how to organize that after maternity leave / parenting / care taking leave.

Yes, we actually have maternity leave in Finland...and it is not called disability leave, like in US. It is really pure maternity leave. It lasts 105 work days, after which one can take parenting leave, after which you can take care taking leave...pretty much up till the point, when the child is 3 years old.

So, summarizing my view: there are bunch of things one may think through but money is not on the list as decision making factor, nor when one wants to retire.

So, how did the family planning go here in US.....
Luckily my husband is the finance minister of the family. He just loves doing the financial planning, which I am very happy about. Based on my observation so far, in most US families and during one's education, microeconomics seems to be common subject to select and practice.

I had my financial excel sheet too but it was nothing compared to the tools and reports my husband prepares on regular basis. I gladly took the role of Secretary of State of our family, and gave the Finance minister role to my more mathematical half.

So, one weekend (of torture) all the finances were pulled together. As-is situation was prepared by my husband and then he made an estimate, what it would mean if we have kids. Bottom line us living on one salary for a while.
That was a tough weekend for me....my brain could not bend to understand why are even considering the finances as the baseline for any decision when it has to do with whether or not we want to start trying to have kids.

It was really valuable cultural experience though. I learned to understand how many people view the decision of having kids. Through the process and number twisting I got educated that for some people retiring early weighs more on the scale when one gets to the point in relationship, when discussing whether or not to have children.

In Finland the factors, which influence decision making are everything else but that, based on the knowledge I have from the circle of my friends (see the first picture). So, during that weekend it was great experience for both of us. My husband learned about my (very Finnish) approach and I learned how some people may approach the planning in US.

After recovering from the shock, the result of the estimation: we will be "poor" when we have kids. I started to understand the benefits of such exercise. We know exactly what will be the monthly budget and what kind of changes it means compared to the situation we have today. We identified also the concrete areas, which are the ones, where the changes should occur. Which helped us already to start getting to the right mindset.

Luckily, my husband being with his behavior and thinking very much like a Finn....to conclusion of the exercise was: agree to live with the knowledge that we will be "poor" from financial perspective for some years but emotionally rich, when having a family. Pheeewwwww......... :)

The little Finnish things in Houston

I have noticed since moving to Houston a funny behavior in myself. It seems that when ever I live outside Finland the Finn in me raises its head more than during the years when I have lived in Finland. I lived, before moving here, 7 years in Finland and prior to that 12 years abroad (Germany, Singapore and Belgium). 

I guess in Finland all that "Finnishness" is part of daily life and getting the typical Finnish products e.g. rye bread, nobody thinks twice about those, as you can get those anywhere. Even the smallest village shop is well stocked with dozen different fresh rye bread brands. Same goes for sauna, everyone has sauna and it is part of the daily life (I will blog more about that separately). 

When you move abroad, suddenly the whole daily life gets extreme make over. One needs to rethink what one can find and where. Weeks were spent, this time around with the help of my American family and husband, to find what my husband calls my "comfort foods". In my case it helped that my husband lived in Finland for a while and a year with me. He knows exactly what Finnish daily life looks like.

It has been a positive experience though. In my opinion everyone should move abroad at least once in their life. For me it has been each time rewarding experience, even though the beginning is always tough to find ones way around in the new place.

What it has done to me though;

I have stopped taking things or people for granted and learned to appreciate things in Finland, which I did not even pay attention before. On the other hand from each country I have lived, I have taken new ideas and habits with me, able to recognize that there are some things which we are way behind in Finland or able to see things here in US, which would be in need of checking how other countries are doing it. I consider it a richness to be able to get deep into foreign countries' culture and melt as part of the local culture with my Finnish & international quirks :)

There are certain things though, which I try to keep with me, no matter where I live. Wanted to list some of them below and also tips or places in Houston / Internet, which help to keep the Finn in me content :) Maybe other Finns around Houston find these useful too.

Finnish Hairdresser / http://www.mikkosalons.com/

Might sound silly but most Finns (and Swedes too) have very different hair type than e.g. Germans, Belgians, Asians or Americans. It is thin but there is plenty of it and it bends / curls all directions.

When I moved here I was lucky enough to hear through a friend that there is a Finnish hairdresser in Springs, Mikko. Here some people might wonder, why on earth would I drive all the way to Springs for hair cut (it means about 45 - 60 min drive one way). I do it gladly when I know that my hair is cut by someone who know exactly how to cut it. My mother was hard core professional hair dresser and taught me to be picky about my hair. Plus now the hair cut is not just a hair cut, it gives a chance to speak Finnish and compare experiences in US. Mikko has lived here 12 years and has given me lot of good tips along the way.

Xylitol Chewing Gum

Having grown up in environment, where xylitol is part of daily life since child and importance of dental care starts from early years.

It was a relief to notice that Americans have actually gotten away from the sugar chewing gums and more sugar free chewing gum exists, which have xylitol. One can find main brands in any grocery store. My issue with some of main stream brands was though that I got some kind of allergic reaction.

After searching for a while I noticed that health food stores sell xylitol products, which do not cause any reactions. One good one is Spry, several flavors and available in most health food stores, as well as online.

I still remember when living in Singapore, where chewing gum in general is banned from being sold commercially. I had to "smuggle"boxes of chewing gum from each trip to Finland. That lead often to interesting discussions with customs. "Mam, you are certain that these 10 boxes of chewing gum are for your personal use only?" Luckily each time I was able to convince them that I really am "addicted to xylitol chewing gum".

Rye Bread

I have not found anything even close to my favorite rye bread, Reissumies. Yet there are luckily good selection of German rye breads (Thanks to all the German communities in town...Danke!!!).

Best places to find rye bread, which actually is rye bread (several US produces claim something to be rye bread, yet rye is the last ingredient on the list):

- Fun fact for those who did not know it from before, the ingredients are listed in the descending order of how much of that ingredient is in the product -

Phoenicia has good selection of German rye bread and dried rye bread (näkkileipä in Finnish).

Following chains have generally good selections:

Trader Joe's

Specs

Whole Foods

Ikea

But like said, one cannot get the Finnish rye bread like bread. Thus I decided to bake Finnish Archipelago bread. In Finland this would be nothing no big news. Here getting all the ingredients together was the most exhausting part. Kroger, Whole Foods and Central Market have good quality rye flour. The trickies one was finding malted rye and it took us few weeks to find a place....as we had to go to a hobby beer brewing shop to get it :)
Defalgo's has German malted rye, which is very close to Finnish malted rye.

I found this recipe, which helped me to find local equivalent to the ingredients, which one would use in Finland: Finnish Archipelago Bread

Those living Houston, happy to make some extra ones in my lil' home bakery when ever I bake, if I know that there would be demand for some.

Cheese

Finnish Edam cheese is not yet available here but Valio does have a daughter company in US, Finlandia Cheese.

One can find Finlandia's cheese in most of the chains listed above. Houston being international hub, decent cheese selections are available in most stores (also at HEB, Fiesta and Walmart). In most places cheese costs as much as it does in Finland...unfortunately.

Maybe Finlandia would start producing Edam if they get enough requests.

For many foreigners Finnish Edam may, with its taste, reflect the nature of most Finns, silent and does not say much. But that cheese goes with anything :)

So far the only way to get Edam cheese is to fill the suitcase with Valio Edam and stock them in the freezer. If I only would not forget the cheese pile to my brother's fridge....which happened during last trip. FOUR kilos of Edam cheese, which I forgot to pack when heading to airport in the crack of dawn.

Finnish Goodies

I have found Panda liquorice in Fiesta.

World Market has Haribo selections and other salmiak (salty liquorice) similar products. My advice is though to stay away though from the Dutch Salty Liquorice products....they are nothing but salt.

Fazer chocolate.... there would be huge market for it here. Fazer chocolate is refreshingly different compared to any US, Belgian, German or Swiss chocolate. It is not as thick and the different flavors are yammi. Right now only places one can get them here are internet stores:

Willy's Products

Suomikauppa

FinnStyle

Some of those stores run out the best products fast and prices reflect that you are buying luxury import goods. But definitely worth buying!!! It takes your tongue with it (Finnish saying), so smooth and yammi.

We were lucky to get from ex-project colleagues at Fazer 16 kilos of chocolate for our wedding, as their wedding present to us. The whole 16 kilos was eaten too! What stayed over from wedding disappeared during mid-summer with the core family. The whole American side of the family fell in love with Fazer chocolates :)

Vihi vihi vihi and greetings to family and friends back in Finland or who have access to Reissumies rye bread and Fazer Chocolate...do not hesitate if you ever want to surprise me with a survival package ;))))

Happy to hear from the other Finns in Houston if there are some other good places to get our comfort foods.

Funniest person in The world....is a Finn!!!!

This week I came across with a funny news indeed....world's funniest person is a Finn!
Ismo Leikola, who is a Finnish comedian and been working hard to get his jokes to reach audience outside the Finnish borders as well. He won the Funniest person of the world-competition, which was organized in US by Laugh Factory (http://www.laughfactory.com/).

Nice that Finns make this break through on US ground, as otherwise one tends to refer to us as more serious and silent folk, mainly referring to the Finnish male representatives. My beloved big brother, who means the world to me and has always been in many ways my idol. He fits often many of those categories. I used to joke that for his 50th birthday I can take his mobile phone off, cause he would not have any use for it. That statement I have had to take back though....as the result of our American side of the family  (all being in Facebook). He finally got into Facebook and has surprised all by being very active.
Also for our wedding he really broke all the rules of Finnish male....he laughed, cried and not silent at all. I enjoyed seeing him so happy at my wedding. One of the many memories, which I hold dear from that day.

My brother breaking the ice and Ismo winning the competition does not change the whole nation to being funny people over night but it reminds that Finnish humor can succeed e.g. in US and when done well, it translates well also to English.

Also I think Ismo's humour is funny just because he allows the Finnish style to come through. Talking in the normal style (intonations are tough to recognized), rather as-matter-of-a-fact style to express things and very minimum body language. Yet he is making some of the best jokes I have heard for a long time. I admit having checked the same video several times, cause it makes me laugh with tears in my eyes. It just simply hits the laugh nerves without giving any heads up, mostly so that one does not even notice it until afterwards. You become aware few seconds in delay that you have been laughing about his joke. It kind of sneaks up on you.

Here is the link to Helsingin Sanomat (Finnish national newspaper), which shows Ismo's performance in English at the Laugh Factory finals. Take time to watch it....you will find youself laughing :)

http://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/a1414385339674
The videos shows only Ismo's performance at the finals.

All finalist videos: http://www.laughfactory.com/IsmoLeikola
(Ismo's performance starts around 17 minutes into the clip)

10+1 Things from which You know you are having a Nordic party in US

1. Everyone shows up in time....on the minute or max 15 minutes late.

If they show up late, they have sent text message before and they apologize profusely for arriving late.

2. Everyone takes their shoes off when entering the house
In Finland and Sweden shoes are NOT worn inside the house.

3. Some or maybe even all guests bring something to the hosts (wine or some Nordic goodies)
This is very typical habit to honor the hosts putting the efforts in place to organize the event and get everyone together. At least in Finland the social life kind of dies a little during the long and dark winter (especially if the winter is packed with snow storms) and it is wonderful when someone invites others over and puts the efforts in to clean the house and cook even :) So, it is definitely something one wants to show appreciation for.

4. The highlight of the snack table is rye bread, cheese, caviar and Finnish chocolate ;)
When living outside Finland, and Sweden....those are the things one misses collectively. When someone has gotten their hands to the luxury goodies and then wants to share them with the rest of the group....oh joy, oh joy! It is nearly like Christmas! 😊

5. Border between Finland and Sweden vanishes
Well, except maybe during ice-hockey games :)
But otherwise I would say...who cares? I will still have my funny jokes about Finns, Swedes and Danes but I am sooo happy to have delightful Swedish girl, Ika as my friend.
I know it is in general tough for Americans to understand the relationship Finns and Swedes have with each other. But just to put it right from my view...we do not hate each other. We are more like an old married couple, but we stick together. Sweden is often times better than Finland in all statistics and that is why all the Finns like to joke about them....just like a wife would comment her husband's most recent achievement in bingo (when she had to walk out without any hits) or something similar.

6. English is spoken when one does not have a common language to make sure everyone feels involved (including the American spouses and boyfriends).
But one does steel moments for one-on-one discussions in Finnish or Swedish.

7. The positive energy in the room could heal pretty much anything
No, it is not the loud music that makes it. As the music most often either is non-existent or tuned down on the background. It is the energy coming from the group, who is simply happy!

8. Even though one has not known each others for years...one talks pretty straight and open about things
That is so deliberating. When someone asks "how are you?" or "what happened then?" the answers will not be just "oh, I am great!" or "well, it is a long story". The questions will get an honest answer, whether or not the one who asked was ready to take it. Generally among the Finnish folk saying "hello" is like the US way asking how are you, that is when you want to keep things short.
Bypassing a colleague in the office whom one knows but does not want to engage into deep discussions, one simply says "moi". From my time spent in Sweden while working, it is the same thing. One says just "hej" and moves on.
If you stop and ask the question "how are you?" be ready to take the answer, as that will not be just "I am great!"

9. Use of superlatives goes to minimum
Finns do not use superlatives often. Of course the US tv shows and pop culture has spread to Finland too. One can hear kids and teenagers use them...but I guess one uses them out at that age, so later in life one simply does not. When working here and expressing how happy one is about something, it often feels funny...as to me saying "that was really good!" is one heck of a compliment. In return I get facial expression the person expecting to get something more.
In Finland the saying is, if you get no feedback....it is positive :) Swedes are better about that but they do neither bathe in superlatives while expressing themselves.
So, when group of Finns and Swedes get together and get to speak in their native language....the word GOOD is pretty much the biggest "superlative" you will hear (I know good is not officially a superlative...but it is in Finland).

10. What one says, one means
One thing is nice about us Northeners....we say what we think but we also say only what we mean. So, when people thank one for something, they really mean it. Or stating that they "really enjoyed the party and slept in late the next morning". Those are compliments, which make my heart fly like a butterfly. Cause I know that those comments are truly meant with every word and are big compliments. One does not say "it was great seeing you, hope to see you soon again" unless one really means it. If one does not really feel those things, then we rather say in such situation... just "bye" :)

Also the expression of true appreciation is awesome, when done by Finns or Swedes. Also for the reason....it comes from the heart. Again, it may be short and sharp, but means even more.
During our September Nordic-American get together I gave a tube of Kalle's (fish caviar aka fish liver paste as my husband jokes) to a friend, who is 1/2 Finnish. He started driving back to New York the next day. He sent me a photo of the caviar tube...he had kept in cooler with bunch of ice, like it was a transplant. Just few days ago, some weeks after the party, I got the photo of nearly empty tube with the comment "We need IKEA in here ". 

The tube as such is not more than few dollars but one cannot get it where he lives now. It warmed my heart that while I am so keen to share what I have with those, who I consider as my friends, that they also know to appreciate that and show it back.

11. The bond is strong
The Nordic group, which I now happily belong to...is Awesome! We are mixed bunch with different backgrounds, different ages and phase in life. But you know what....nobody cares or pays attention to that. Cause we are a team, we were a team the moment we met each other. Just because we are sharing the connection to Finland and Sweden, and our boyfriends & spouses do too.
Within this group it will never matter what age one is, what one does for work...in this group somehow the automatic gear kicks in - come as you are and you will fit right in!
And this on top of the friends and family one has back in Finland and Sweden, and our dear friends and family here in US, in my New home ;)

My American Idols

For several years I have followed few female roles models, who happen to be all American.

I remember when I moved back to Finland in 2007, after living 12 years abroad, Ellen DeGeneres shows started airing on channel, which was called that time Liv (Swedish for life and living)
After weekend morning runs I did my recharging while watching several episodes of Ellen. Obviously there was some serious catching up to do :) thus they showed 3-4 episodes non-stop.

Ellen has this positive view on things, which I find familiar. I would like to think positive energy being one of my strengths. She has pushed her way through in life and keeps amazing people and sharing the joy.
I love the fact that she dances in each of her show ;)

She has been also amazingly open about her personal life and she picks the most interesting people to her shows. Not to mention the self irony or cunning sense of humor.
I wish when I am 56 I am equipped with the same level of energy and sense of humor as Ellen is.

...and I also like her short hair cuts. My mother was hair dresser and very artistic one. She always said that cutting people's hair is like making a sculpture. She had the eye to envision the person with the cut. She also took time before the clients appointment was at the door to plan. She was in it with her whole heart.
From her I learned the habit to browse in internet always before going to a hair dresser. I often ended up suggesting a cut, which Ellen had or alternatively Pink.

Which brings me to my next American idol....Pink.
She has balls and she is kind of a boy-girl, which is what I am. I am more into exercise than fashion. I rather spend money on super food than make up. Her music speaks to one and is not just some purkkapoppia / "chewing gum pop" , as one would say in Finnish.
Pink dares to raise her sincere thoughts through her songs. I like when woman has balls enough to step up and challenge. I did not give myself the credit of doing so....until after my Kenyan assignment and nearly 2 years project in Russia. Latest there and then I had to give myself the credit of standing up and defending my team, when needed but also challenging the team, peers and management. But not challenging in the sense of bullying or rebelling, but finding the suitable way using the diplomatic skills combined with the Finnish SISU
(I will write separately about that in near future).
Pink has stylish boldness in her ways to express her strong views. She is also top fit, which has been the motivator on some days when going to the gym did not feel like it was really what I wanted to do :)






The biggest butt kicker of them all, to me personally, has been Jillian Michaels. Oh those dark and cold winter mornings in the midst of Finnish winter.... 6 am Jillian was on the screen making me to do squats, push ups and all possible moves, which made my muscles scream.
She continues being the person with whom I spent during weekdays my morning moment and she tortures every last bit out of me.....and (wo)man, that feels great!

Years ago I thought...wow, these women do not just have character but they get to live in US (fluffy clouds wooshing by as the sentence hovered in my mind). I never dared to dream even to live in US, as I thought somehow that life in US and me....we are sooooooo out of each other's leagues.
Little did I know that I end up moving to US because of my wonderful husband....also had anyone told me that I get to see Jillian Michaels live and even chat with her, hug her. I would have laughed and thought...yeah, right. Not gonna happen in this life, I already won the lottery when meeting my husband!

Yet that became real. Something again, I had not dared to even think it could be possible one day. I got to meet the woman, who has been my motivator to make me push myself beyond limits. Jillian had tour about nutrition and healthy life style, which are my hobby passions since teenager years. If I could choose my profession again I would become personal coach or nutritional engineer (if such exists). But since I am "just" a project manager I do all that for fun...and driving my husband sometimes crazy with it ;))))))

Anyway, back to the topic....Jillian....me....chatting...awesome and here is the proof and my reminder not to let work rule too much but take the time to exercise and stay fit :)
The best was to notice that she is very much a human, an awesome one but a human....and even my height :)

Tomorrow morning, when rest of our household is sleeping, I have my morning "date" with Jillian and maybe some running afterwards :)


And while exercising dreaming of the magical one day, when I might get to meet Pink and Ellen DeGeneres.

Hello Jet Lag!

....Finally managed to take again time to write my thoughts & experiences, which I have been listing the past months. Happily married now and with some of the free time will try to make sure to empty my thinking tank to my blog :)

Sharing some of the my most vital lessons learned for the flights between continents. If you have additional tips and tricks, please feel to share them. Would be fun to hear what other aids have been figured out.

Moving outside your birth-country is exciting but the name of the game is of course to try to keep all the relationship up and alive also back home. In best case one has also some work commitments there. Which means that there are times that Jet lag is all you know for a while, everything else is covered in a fairy tale like fog :) 

I remember when living in Singapore, I was on a local salary and flying home for Christmas was something I did not dare even dream about. Now I know how good I had it. One year I flew only once to Finland. Well....moving preparations to US brought the cross continent flying to a whole new level:
Before moving to US I had 1 week visit to the client site in Alabama. As I was lucky enough to be able to transfer within the company ....and on top of that take my projects with me.

After that trip I had 2 weeks time to pack the house in Finland and take care of the remaining most crucial wedding preparation tasks, which needed on-site presence.

Then 2 weeks in Texas for Christmas....and after New Year back to Finland for a week to hand over my manager responsibilities and then chirpy-chirp directly to Washington to get the 4 day on-boarding to the US workplace.

Flying across the Atlantic weekly or every 2nd week for 6 weeks in a row meant
"Hello jet lag!".
It gets easier though each time as one learns the tricks which fit the flight duration and circumstances.

I learned that if flying to US with a flight, which leaves Finland in the morning and arrives in US during day time ....stay awake as much as you can. Make sure to have all the magazines and books you wanted to read for months...but never had time. Stay away from heavy food and red wine, as it will make you sleepy.

When flying to Finland with over night flight my tricks are following: I wake up extra early on the day of the flight. This to be extra tired for the flight.

Turku Airport with Moomins to greet you

I stay away from pasta or beef meals, prefer chicken or vegetarian to get something to eat but not eat too heavy. I drink whole lot of water but I also allow myself glass of red wine, when it is time to dose off. Luckily the melatonin tablets have become now easy to get in any store. I have those with me or allergy medication.
My husband, being the chemical engineer of the family, educated me that several allergy medication has ingredients, which make one sleepy . But they do not leave you as badly drowsy as sleeping tablets do.

Thus our favorite has become Benadryl, take two of those and you will be nicely asleep most of the flight (http://www.benadryl.com).
At both ends for the first nights we keep taking melatonin or Benadryl to speed up adjusting to the local time zone. So far it has worked rather well.
Waiting for the time when one can just push a button on the wrist watch and say "Beam me up Scotty!" :)

Funnies in traffic part II

I am in the process of reading the drivers manual to finally get the written and driving test done soonish...

In the meanwhile I keep getting amused about traffic signs in Texas.

This adds up to the post about Funnies in traffic

If it rains, am I supposed to stop the car for the next xx amount of miles and watch for the water to sit on the road? :o) :o)

I did not get the photo fast enough but in Houston China Town there was a sign stating:
"Posting of signs is prohibited by city ordinance"

Everything in this country needs to be announced by signs:

I know the meaning of it is to make sure that car drives give way for people coming and going to the church or warn about possible cars slowing down to turn to the church road. Just wondering with a laughter if that sign truly adds so much value.
Those who think that " well we got signs which direct you to the direction of the church", yes agree that makes sense. This sign was on the church grounds by the road, which leads to noticing the church before you notice the sign. Which got me to laugh..."Church!" ..."No kidding! Saw it already!" :o)

Not sure if I ever get the drivers license, as I might not be able to pass the driving test with a straight face.

Numbers and alphabets in American style

Though I am not native speaker, one thing that Finnish school system is great about is grammar and spelling in foreign languages. Which is good cause in average in US one gets to spell things lot more than what I was used to in Finland and e.g. in Germany.

Finnish tends to be more phonetic with the logic "what you see is what you get". So, for names and addresses one does not come across the need to spell them out loud unless they are of foreign origin.
US being the mecca of everything-being-originally-more-or less-of-foreign-origin and with some localization attempts in between something that sounds the same can be written in dozens of different ways.

It seems that here I tend to get myself in trouble, has happened more than once. No matter how carefully I try to spell.

When spelling my current last name it tends to always get still wrong.
In the beginning I spelled it on the phone the way I had gotten used to doing it e.g. while living in Singapore: R-double O-S.
I stopped saying the "double O", cause nearly 90% of the time that resulted to ROSS or RWS :o)

After the wedding in June I will have really easy name from local perspective...so I trust that will decrease the need of spelling my last name :o)

When it comes to giving the address or talking about numbers, getting married won't solve that one...
Again, I have started giving the address the way I learned to do it in Singapore (and honestly it worked there!!). But here for some reason when I say " seven-hundred and five" or "seven-hundred-five" it results to 7005. Thanks to that I have been waiting for my laptop now for 2 weeks back from the repair. The poor UPS courier must be so fed up by now..... Running around and trying to find a building that does not exist. Every time UPS called I confirmed the address to be " seven-hundred and five". Which basically continued the poor UPS guy to get totally confused and the computer was sent back few times to shipper.

As I was guided by my fiancé I should give the numbers as: seven-[oh]-five. Though he confirmed technically I was saying correctly as " seven-hundred and five".

After 4 calls and changing the way to seven-[oh]-five I have been successful and get my laptop back tomorrow :o) :o)

When I am at the store, if the amount to pay would be, let's say the same 705 dollars. Then the right way is " seven-hundred and five". Though, there it seems to have variations....depending on where one is :o)

I learned a lot again.....knowing how to spell perfectly or how to technically do it right, does not guarantee the right results :o)

Winter....

I tend to say that where ever I go I take the best things from each country (where I've lived) with me. But it might have been taken bit too literally this time :o)

Whilst in Finland the winter has been super mild and short, compared to the 3 previous winters. In Houston it has been "record cold" winter. Alabama, where I am regularly for work, I got to witness what one calls the winter storm (read: winter chaos) for 3 days.

On Monday everyone was stating that following day one should stay in the home office mode. I was too stubborn to take that. I drove early in the morning to the office, roads were dry. Funny enough at the office there was pretty much only me, a Swede, a German and another Finn.

In the afternoon it was not raining just slush or snowing, it was raining ice. I made my way back to hotel timely and drove like I have been taught to drive in the Finnish driving school.

On that 1 hour drive back to the hotel I realized why the locals were so anxious to stay home to start with. The roads where straight from formula 1 nightmare. Cars were all over banged against poles, in the ditch. As one could say, I know to trust my own driving in winter conditions....but I cannot trust anyone else around here.

Grown up in the wintery conditions as I have and having the understanding what icy road means to moving vehicle and how to control it....it was an eye opening experience and made me realize that there is big part of the nation, who do not understand the simple laws of physics. From that perspective I understand the urge to keep everyone home and make the snow storm sound as terrifying as possible.
As the more of those maniacs are on the road, who drive carelessly, the more hopeless and dangerous the situation gets for everyone, incl. the police forces.

At the end this chaos lasted 3 days. I was stuck at the hotel for 2 days and there was absolutely nothing open. Not even restaurants (other than the one at hotel). It was reliving feeling to get back to office after those days and see people, be on the move.

Views from the road

 Does not seem like a lot of snow....

 Hotel's pool was empty for some reason :o) (surrounded by snow on the ground)

Some links to local news about the snow storm "Leon"
http://www.weather.com/news/commuter-conditions/mobile-alabama-travel-forecast-winter-storm-leon-20140129

http://blog.al.com/live/2014/01/southwest_alabama_gears_up_for.html

As fun fact comparison view of my car during winter 2013 in Finland (snow which arrived over night):

...and the story goes that a certain Finnish lady brushed the snow off from her car and drove to work with it.....just like everyone else in the whole country :o)

...and here comes the container!

Have you ever had the situation, where you forgot about something (e.g. the full packed storage vanished from memory over the winter period) and suddenly you are reminded with it...in all its mighty....

In those situations the emotions jump through the roof. Not just because of all the work involved to unpack everything but unpacking boxes brings up emotions of home left behind. Momentarily there is a tear inside that screams.

I went through that this week as my container arrived....yep, all the 108 boxes were still there. Momentarily I wished that this container would have fallen off from the ship in the winter storm (in which it has been sailing over the Atlantic).

But no....it made it through, all intact. It took a whole army to pack everything in Finland and at this end there were 2 movers to bring the boxes. Mainly because I had indicated that I do not want them to unpack anything else except furniture.
Which means that all the spare time is this week known to be spent by unpacking the boxes.

On the positive note, it seems that there is a cure for the emotional overwhelm it seems. My fiance found it! It is called the Irish pub & talks :o) After the drained day of mentally fighting against the mountain of boxes my fiance persuaded me to go with him to Irish pub. What wonders 2 ciders, Pretzel and conversations with my fiance did!

Mental note for myself - next time one should clear off 4 rounds instead of two. I donated half of the house to friends, family and to charity. But while unpacking the boxes I think I could have done even better. Will need to remember that in few years time when possible next move comes along :o)

In the meanwhile I will try to study the warehouse picking and packing strategies in own action. Maybe that will be of use at work someday, when needing to find a solution to a client logistics problem.

As in Houston; I will now just say 108 times "Touch Down!" :o)