Spring in Helsinki ...

This has been my first weekend in the apartment for a while and there has been so much to do. My first unscheduled task was repairing the window blind, the cord of which snapped when I was letting the sunshine in on Saturday morning. I was very pleased to work out how to fix it and where to get the replacement cord and got a feeling of satisfaction when the job was done.

After that, I visited Maailma kylässä, the World Village Festival, in Kaisaniemi park. The festival has over 300 partners, including 200 NGOs as well as educational institutions, museums, public authorities and businesses. The aim, according to the organisers, is to provide "a meeting point open to all presenting cultural treats and surprises from all over the world: music, dance, organisations and food, as well as a place to encounter new viewpoints on tolerant multiculturalism, development work and globalisation, as well as finding ways to influence things in daily life." It was interesting, I listened to a couple of bands, tried some Himalayan food and wandered around the stalls. After a while, though, the call of my own culture prevailed and I headed to Molly Malone's for a pint (well, a half litre) of London Pride.

Today I got on my bike for a ride around the city. I stopped at Carusel for an iced Latte and possibly the world's best chocolate brownie. This now brings the number of restaurants I have reviewed at eat.fi to 30.

After that, I cycled to the flea market at Hietalahti, which was open for the second time this year. I managed to visit it on the last Sunday of the 2007 season in September, so it was good to see it bustling today. The panoramic view is another one taken on my Nokia N95 with Panoman software, it's worth clicking to see it full size. It's made from 3 shots, see if you can spot the join!

Then, back home and time to wash the car and change its floor mats from the winter rubber ones to summer carpet, another ritual I have to get used to. Now, only the ironing awaits ... which is why I am writing the blog!

A feeling of resignation ...

It is twelve months to the day that I resigned from Motorola and started the current chapter of my working life. I was 46 then, quite a respectable age and one at which many people might already consider that the big changes in life are all behind them.

Not so for me. I have probably experienced more change in the last 12 months than the previous 12 years put together. I have moved company, moved home and certainly moved on.

My new life has meant making a new home away from home, new colleagues and new friends and new challenges. Working in a different, European company culture has been interesting and I am still learning about the differences.

Through all of this, one thing has remained constant, the love and support of my family. Though we may be spending more time apart than we are used to, the days we spend together are more precious for that. I'm looking forward to our summer holidays soon and the chance to spend a little longer than a weekend together.

To my friends and colleagues old and new, who have been reading this blog and encouraging me to write, my thanks too. It is easy to wonder whether the effort is worthwhile; then a note from one of you reassures me that it is indeed. Please do keep the comments and emails coming, I appreciate them all.

My girl works down the chip shop ... and I met Elvis ...

For those familiar with the songs of Kirsty MacColl, a couple of this weekend's events together put me in mind of her 1981 single, "There's a guy works down the chip shop swears he's Elvis".

We've been in the East Riding of Yorkhire for a wedding and, on the evening we arrived, the hotel was in the middle of an Elvis night. Parked outside was this rather amazing vehicle, the ride of Steve Caprice, the evening's entertainer. It was rather a surreal experience to be sitting next morning at breakfast and to see Elvis arrive for his full English dressed dressed in skin tight jeans and a very, very frilly satin shirt. Even more suprising was, when the waitress spilt some tea, to hear Elvis exclaim "oopsy daisy" in a broad Yorkshire accent.

The other item in the title refers to my youngest daughter's news. She has just got her first job, as a customer service operative in a traditional English fast food outlet. I am proud of her, she has been determined to find a part time job and have some independent income rather than rely on her parents for everything. At her age, I was selling ice creams from a kiosk outside Butlins holiday camp on the seafront in Bognor Regis. I am glad to see her following in the family tradition of food retailing, which dates back to my Nan. She had a sweetshop in Brighton's Preston Park district for many years which I remember visiting as a child. It seems from the web that a few other people do too, this one remembers my cousin Anne.

Under the influence ...

May 1 is a public holiday in Finland, known locally as vappu. According to the Helsinki Times article, "These days the vappu celebrations already start on the last day of April when the Finns let their hair down and celebrate the coming of springtime with large quantities of alcoholic beverages."

I decided this year that I would spend the May Day holiday at home in the UK, after all, I don't need to be in Finland. After all, as I come from a country which could probably get Binge Drinking recognised as an official sport for the London Olympics in 2012, I figured I wouldn't learn much staying in Helsinki. So, instead, I visited my parents and had dinner with my Ex-Round Tablers' Club - it was good to catch up with all of them.

After a pleasant weekend helping my amateur dramatic group set their stage for this week's performance, I flew back to Helsinki on Sunday. Driving out of the airport there were Police officers standing in the road, stopping every car. For the first time in my life, I had to take a breathalyser test. As I had not drunk on the plane, I had no problems. But as I drove away afterwards, I did wonder whether they might actually have been checking that I had enough alcohol in my bloodstream to be allowed back in to the country!

Drip drip drop little April showers ...

I've been enjoying a week living back with the family in the UK.  When my time comes to return permanently from Finland, I think we will need a programme similar to those devised for returning captive bred animals to the wild, otherwise those I love may never recover from the shock!

The first thing I have noticed (well, actually, it has been pointed out to me) is that I am rather loud, especially in the mornings.  Whether this is male pattern deafness setting in, I am not sure, but there was a lot of shh-ing going on this morning from my wife and younger daughter, lest I wake the sleeping beast that is our eldest.  Since she has been known to create holes in doors simply by throwing a hairbrush, I suppose it was wise counsel.

Secondly, I am remiss in completing my "honey-do" list, a concept introduced to me by a former colleague with an American husband, for whom such things are apparently part of the marriage contract.  Normally, my visits to the UK involve a lot of changing of light bulbs.  This time, I have at least managed to drain, clean and refill the hot tub.  Since it is raining at the moment, I am not sure whether I shall get to enjoy the benefits before I return to Helsinki at the weekend.

Tomorrow is Vappu in Finland, the Labour day holiday.  As I speak, I suspect many of my Finnish friends and colleagues may already be in a state of total lubrication, ready to spend their day off recovering from a hangover.  I wish them all a happy holiday.  I will be visiting my parents on the South coast of England.  I am hoping that today's relentless drizzle will abate and I might actually get to see the sea.

The weather does remind me of the Channel Islands weather forecast which Stephanie and I were given when we visited Jersey a couple of years ago (that's the original Jersey, for my trans-Atlantic readers, rather than the New one).  It was very simple.  "If you can see France, it's about to rain.  If you can't see France, it's raining". 

Blazing Saddles...

I am feeling rather smug. I have just returned from my first bike ride in nearly five years and managed to cycle the route I would take from home to the office.

A friend once remarked that middle age is when a broad mind and a narrow waist change places. I hope that the mind is not narrowing, though if it is, I shall simply say I am becoming more focused. However, the challenge of keeping one's weight in check does seem to become more difficult as one gets older. At least, it does for this one! So, I resolved to purchase a bike and, after a visit to the K-Citymarket in Ruoholahti, this blue Maxim 26" hybrid bike found its way back to my apartment block. I really liked the 28" bike which had even more whizzy features, but I couldn't sit on it without falling over, as my legs didn't quite reach the floor.

We have a locked bike storage room on the ground floor, so I don't have to drag it upstairs. Tonight, after checking the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council (YTV) website, which has a cycling route planner showing all the bike paths, I set off. An hour and a half later, I returned, tired but happy.

Now, gentle reader, you may ask, why did it take so long? After all, plotting Snellmaninkatu to Keilalahti on the website suggests that the 8.5 kilometre journey should take 30 minutes at their default speed of 17 km/hour. So, the round trip should only have taken an hour.

Ah, well. Three reasons. First, even with 21 gears on the bike and a noticeable lack of mountains, I don't think I am averaging that speed yet. Second, I had a little navigation incident caused by forgetting my reading glasses even though I had the map (I must ask the Nokia Maps team when they will add a cycling mode!). It was only a short detour; eagle eyed locals will notice that where I took the photo from is not actually on the direct route!

And the third? I had to stop half way to buy a spanner (a wrench, for my American readers). Before setting off, I hadn't checked that the the nut underneath the saddle was properly tightened, which meant that the saddle kept slipping and pointing upwards. At the risk of offending those of a delicate disposition, this does have rather profound effects on the nuts above the saddle. So if you see me walking like John Wayne in the next few days, you won't have to ask why!

To the manor borne ...

Over the last couple of weeks, I have had the chance to stay in two Finnish manor houses, now converted to training centres and hotels.

The first was Sannäs Manor, about 10km east of Porvoo, a town I had already visited with the family when they were over. Sannäs dates back to the 15th century and became a manor in the 16th century. The present main building (where we had my team building days) was built in 1836-1837. It was designed by Carl Engel in the Empire style. The appearance has been changed in the 1880s and 1890s. Some of outbuildings including the gate and the granary were also designed by Engel.

The second was Hirvihaara. The history of Hirvihaara Manor dates back to the 16th century, though the present main building was built in 1918. It served as a war hospital during the Second World War, and the tower was used for air surveillance. The manor house is used as a hotel and restaurant at present. This one had the added benefit of a traditional smoke sauna, which was a great way to chill out after playing my worst ever game of pool. We were playing on a quarter size snooker table, with rather narrow pockets. At least, that is my excuse for a game of doubles that lasted nearly an hour and a half.

Finland has a number of these manor houses and I hope to explore more during my time here. This useful web site will be a handy reference and also has a number of other buildings of note.