Until this morning I never noticed that falling snowflakes throw shadows on the ground. On the morning walk then I was wondering, what Seita was chasing all the time, but never catching...

This morning I woke up wondering, why it wasn't dark outside. Then I checked the clock and couldn't believe it- it said 11:51! I seriously thought the clock didn't work, but my cellphone said the same. I don't remember the last time I slept that long, but more interesting- even Seita was still sleeping. And she usually kicks me out of bed at 8:00 at the latest, because she has to go out. Well, then we actually were in a bit of a hurry.
in my first language course was a woman from Kosovo. We couldn't talk much then- she doesn't speak English and neither one of us spoke much Finnish, but we got along quite well. Now we're in different courses but usually talk for a while when we meet. And since I moved I always pass her at her busstop on my way to town. On Friday she stopped me there and gave me her phonenumber, inviting me to come visit on the weekend. So we agreed to meet today near her place and go for a walk with Seita together- weekend is Seita's time ;p.
The way there was quite nice already, since there's foot- and bicyclepaths away from the streets the whole way. Then we went for a longer walk there; to the river, of course.





Plenty of chances for Seita to run free- so much more relaxing for me. ;-) Seita was quite tired afterwards. Good that I was still invited for coffee. At their place I met my coursemates husband, who's also from Kosovo. It's nice to be able to talk to them, even though all of us are quite far from speaking Finnish perfectly. But it's so much easier speaking to people who are also still learning the language- we're not so afraid of making mistakes then. And sometimes I think that no matter what country we're from, we've developed a better sense of understanding each other- maybe because we watch the body language more carefully or because we've been having to interpret so much while understanding so little,...
Talking about understanding... After listening to our Russians for 2 1/2 courses, all the sudden words start coming back to me. Quite interesting. Not much, but bit by bit. I hope I'll remember to bring my Russian schoolbooks from Germany.

It's been snowing nicely in the last week. We don't have THAT much snow yet, but more than I usually saw in Germany. I'm loving it!!! So does Seita...





It's quite hilarious when she's playing in the snow.
Today was a beautiful day- (mostly) clear sky and sunny. That much about all those Fins complaining that there's no sun anymore!!! (Like our teacher did just yesterday... There you go! ;p)





It's getting more chilli now; -11°C on my thermometer at the moment. The river is starting to freeze over.



My personal highlight of the day, though, is that I got curtains and carpets- thanks to Tapsa. Does make a bit of a difference!! And- window boards for the flowers. That's definitly one strange thing here. In Germany every apartment and house has them. I would never have got the idea that they would be something special. But in Finland... Rarely! Now finally my plants got out of the dark corner. Am just not sure how Seita likes it to have them block her view out of the window.

Yesterday I invited some friends for a nice and quiet Raclette-evening. Schneemaennchen came with her Fin. She also brought along our Swedish friend and, luckily, 2 chairs. ;-) Keijo and Virve came without Niila, but brought a dutch and an australian guy instead. Those two are in a bycicle tour and stayed at Keijo and Virve's for a couple of days. Quite international, I enjoyed it very much.







Today my neighbours, mother and daughter, came for coffee. We talked for quite a while (in finnish!!! ;p) and even went for a long walk with the dog together. It was very nice. The girl was playing with Seita a lot, they get along very well.



Seita has conquered the sofa. She sits there for hours looking out of the window (judging by the noseprints on the windows, also when I'm gone) or just relaxing. The first day I told her to get lost, but then started thinking, why not? Since then she's allowed there- and doesn't jump on the bed any longer. Interesting- I suppose that's what they call compromise. ;-)





We spent most of the last week discovering the new surrounding, so now I know the places where Seita can run free without trouble. We also have some new dog friends for her to play with already. It's quite hilarious to watch, especially now that it's slippery outside. ;-) And snowing again... Seita always has the nose right in the snow.

It's been snowing some in the beginning of the week, and I very much enjoyed riding the bike to school and back. No big problem with my winter tire... ;-) Until it started to sort of melt a bit on Thursday and there was plenty of snow slush everywhere. Of course I had chosen that day to go shopping to LIDL. They had some very good offers there, so I ended up with 2 very full bicycle bags and a full packsack- at least 30kg, I suppose (including my schoolbooks- heavy knowledge ;p). Well, the trip home, about 6km, took me close to an hour and I was starting to be seasick. But I was on the bike the whole time and didn't fall! ;-)
Can't say I'm sorry that it's getting colder again.

Since I got the apartment keys already last monday, I spent the week taking smaller things here and cleaning. Seita always came along, so she could get used to the place already. So on Tuesday we went for our first walk in the neighbourhood. As we walked by the school, out comes a little girl with an umbrella. Seita freaked slightly (I don't use umbrellas...) and the girl asked what Seita was doing. Eventually we managed to walk on, but Seita was still quite excited. So I walked faster and took a turn as soon as possible, trying to get away. Yeah right. At the next "sniffing-stop" the girl caught up with us and stood there grinning. So we ended up walking together. At some point I asked her name and got a bit suspicious when it was the same as the one on my direct neighbours door. And really, we live next door to each other! Half an hour later she came to my door and brought me a welcome card:



I think we found us a friend already! Feels good.

I'm finally all moved in, even managed to unpack most boxes. YEAH! Only bad part: I don't have internet yet... Unbelievable how used one gets to that. ;-)
Besides unpacking, I used the weekends for long walks with the dog. The area is great; river basically across the street and plenty of forest around. Seita is already way more relaxed and even remembered again, that she is housetrained. ;-)
Now I gotta start concentrating on job-related things again.

... is just great. After signing the contract on Monday, I finally also went to see it. Now I have my own balcony (always wanted one, but never got lucky so far) and even my own sauna.



The space in the kitchen cupboards should be enough even for my collection of things. AND there's 5 huge built-in cupbords in the other rooms.





Busstop is right around the corner, supermarket next door. The house was built in 2000 and even looks nice from outside. Some say it's too far from the city, but for me and Seita it's just great!
Now I just have to do the packing... How I love that part! ;/