Two weeks ago I went on my first girls weekend to Copenhagen with a few of my girlfriends from here in Helsinki.  We rode bicycles around the city, ate, drank, shopped, ate some more and laughed until we cried.  I have to admit at least a couple of times some of those tears of happiness were mixed with a few sad tears.  In just over two weeks my family and I are flying out of here to make our home in Virginia.  I'm going to miss these friends!

p.s.  a couple of friends have posted this on Facebook, and I think it describes the expat life and friendship perfectly.

Spotted this morning in our front flower bed: Crocuses!  Yesterday we were sad to see Henry's snow fort finally collapse, but I think this makes up for it at least a little.

Suddenly it feels like Spring!  The snow is s-l-o-w-l-y melting, but the sun is shining everyday.  It's amazing how warm 40 degrees (fahrenheit) can feel with the sun shining brightly.  It's the perfect weather to sit with my friend Helen and enjoy a beautiful sea view.

Here's my view of the day:

This morning while I was doing my most favorite thing, playing soccer, I tripped over the ball and sprained my ankle.  After looking over my x-rays the doctor insisted (more than a couple of times) that I was lucky.  Huh.  Doesn't feel that lucky.  On the plus side I am on the couch watching TV, with freshly painted toenails and I don't have to make dinner. 

Will all this snow ever melt?

It's official:  I'm finished with winter.  The sighs of happiness while watching the snow fall all winter have finally turned into sighs of disappointment.  It's already March 25th, so I think I did pretty well waiting until now to dream of a beach vacation.

Everyday I'm shoveling*

One thing that becomes obvious when you live abroad is that you really become your nationality in a way that you never would have living in your home country.  If you are American, for example, you are constantly reminded of, and even forced to analyze what it is that makes you American.  From your child’s teacher requesting you bring a classroom treat from your home country to an acquaintance’s offhand remark about something you’ve done as being “so American!” leaving you scratching your head and wondering, "Really?  Asking people where they're from is an American thing?"

I guess I expected to be analyzing the personalities of people who are native to the country in which I was a foreigner.  And while it’s true that I find myself constantly trying to figure out the local protocol (failing more often than not), it should have been obvious that everything has to filter through my innately American perception first. Whether it’s lining up to pay for my coffee or shoveling snow from our shared driveway.  

FYI, don’t bother shoveling your neighbor’s half of the driveway in Finland, it will just weird him out and he won’t be returning the favor which your American self may perceive as rude.

*Truman said no one will get that this is a reference to Party Rock Anthem, but I know you do.  And obviously I'm not shoveling, Steve is.  So really it would be "Everyday He's Shoveling," but that's just not funny.

Last night we finally made it to our first hockey game!  A parent at the boys' school was able to organize a special night for all the families from ISH to attend.  It was a fun way to spend a Monday night and I'm happy we finally made it out to witness a major Finnish past time.  This photo shows a fight that almost happened.  Apparently, there's not a lot of fighting in Finnish hockey.  What? I thought that was sort of the point of hockey.  Fighting or not, the beer and popcorn were great and I can honestly say a good time was had by all.  Go Blues!