The Finnish Perspective

FP has cultivated much sarcasm and, apparently, fatalism in her blog so far. To celebrate the first anniversary of the blog, and living back in Finland (woohoo!), FP has decided to drop the attitude and list the 5 favourite things that have changed in her life this past year.

1. On first place, without a doubt: FP’s niece, aged 22 months, has a list of half a dozen people she likes to go through before going to bed, to be assured by her Mum that these people near and dear to her are all okay. If FP hadn’t made the list, this would be a very poor story.
2. FP LOVES the fact that she can watch a movie, have a leisurely coffee or go for a run* in the afternoon. FP has probably made it clear that being a teacher is Hard Work, but at least it is flexible in terms of when you correct the exams/essays/homework.
3. Environmentalists may want to skip this part, but FP is totally into owning a car. Having always been an avid user of public transport, FP has to say she loves the freedom a car gives you. Plus, hers is very pretty.
4. FP has regular access to other enthusiastic boardgame players. Having been on a roll for the past few weeks, FP no longer asks her sister or Mum whether they want to play; it’s more appropriate to ask whether they fancy being humiliated again.
5. You know the feeling when you first eat chocolate after a temporary insanity has enticed you to give it up for a while? That’s how FP feels now about the sun, the warmth, and the summer; like she’s really earned it. It’s going to be the best damn summer ever!

*Theoretically speaking, of course. FP avoids running like the plague.

FP is a big fan of the modern fairytale; you know, those stories where Diane Lane discovers eternal peace under the Tuscan sun and Peter Mayle eats his body weight in cheese in Provence. But it wasn’t until a friend pointed it out a few weeks ago that it hit FP: she, too, has found the simpler life. Why, then, did she miss the signs?

1. It seems to FP that whenever movie stars portray people who have downsized, it is in exquisite surroundings that, even on screen, radiate beauty and peace. FP’s more or less accidental surroundings are covered in snow and not so readily observed due to darkness.
2. Getting out of the rat race often means discovering your true passion through leisurely soul searching and perhaps some gentle renovating of an old but charming building. FP did enjoy 8 months of self-indulgence but that nasty friend, reality, has a habit of coming a-calling. FP’s response: become a teacher. And whoever (was it FP?) said that teaching is easy is a big fat liar.
3. Wherever our subject, the happy quitter of the rat race, lands, he or she seems to find a community ready to welcome them with open arms. In fact, they often experience a home-away-from-home feeling in their newly adopted town. FP has found that the school empties promptly at 3 pm with everyone commuting back to their homes, leaving FP with no one to hang out with. And where is there to hang? The gas station with its questionable clientele seems an unlikely place to make life-long friends.
4. Last but not least; FP did expect that when she finally found the simpler life it would come with better food. Even though school cafeterias have vastly improved from FP’s school years, she would still prefer to at least be able to identify what she’s eating.