Dissertation Update...

My motto these days: Keep Calm! The past two weeks have been rather stressful, to say the least. I had originally planned for a November defense date and that date was changed to a January date, for reasons that were out of my control. Life is funny how you are so anxious to get a monkey off of your back, but that monkey just keeps hanging on for dear life. So, long story short I will defend January 7, 2013 (if nothing else tantalizes the monkey...). By the way, monkey and I are in therapy to begin dealing with the separation anxiety.

One Year Anniversary: Living in Finland

Sunset on the lake--a 10 minute walk from home.

One year ago we schlepped our seven bags across the big pond to Helsinki and headed North to our new home. We had no idea what to expect; we were going to live in a city with a name we could not even pronounce. A lot of amazing things happened this past year, both personally and professionally. Charlie and I lived together under one roof for the first time. We did not kill each other, so obviously cohabiting was a good next step in our relationship. In fact, it was so GOOD that we got engaged (in a Finnish sauna)--unforgettable. April 20 was the magical wedding day when my dude became "superhubby". Professionally, Charlie received two promotions (expert to special expert to senior expert). We decided to stay another year in Finland and take Charlie's extended contract that includes 36 vacation days. I finished up the data collection phase and moved into writing the mega PhD. We enjoyed many travel adventures: Brussels, Oslo, London-Riga-Tallin, Arctic Circle, and Greece.

Life is good in Finland and we love our simple life: riding bikes everywhere (despite a few accidents), cooking amazing vegan meals, hanging out with our international and Finnish friends, and experiencing the extremes of weather, seasons, and produce. Everyday we are blessed by the simplicity and the nature we are surrounded by...often times we reflect on the beauty of where life has taken us. 

An Island with a Sauna...

Since the city we call home sits next to Finland's second largest lake, the boating culture is alive and kicking. We know many people who own a boat, including the professor, Jussi, who has hosted us as his own from the day we arrived. He invited us on a boat trip to an island exclusively for boating members (about 2 hours away). Only boats with a special flag indicating club membership can access these networks of islands in Finland. It was actually a beautiful sunny day (we have not had many of those), hence we buttered ourselves in sunscreen and donned our sunglasses. When we arrived at the island we ate our way through bushes of wild blueberries and lingonberries as Jussi and his wife showed us around the sweet island.

Sauna!

Rustic wood cabins served as toilets, a kitchen area, a dining area, and a sauna. Yes, a sauna! So, the men chopped firewood, stoked the sauna, and filled the water heater for bathing while we continued to enjoy the wild berries and lakeside view. Before you knew it Charlie and I were taking sauna. After a few rounds of the sauna we ran down the wooden stairs (dodging and slapping the cheeky mosquitoes) and went for a refreshing swim in the lake. Then, Jussi and his wife took sauna and we all met back on the boat for a delicious dinner with green salad, salmon, veggie burgers, Finnish potatoes, and berries. What a great day!

Mo' Berry Pickin'!

The wild blueberries have arrived! Ilkka agreed to meet us (poor Charlie had to work instead) for some berry picking, which is always an amazing way to spend the day...out in the nature, scavenging for berries under the green leaves, coming away with a container full of blueberries and purple hands. The tricky thing about wild blueberries is that they grow under the leaves of a bush close to the ground. So, if you were really blueberry crazy you would lay on the earth and pick. I thought about it, but then I also thought about the snakes that Ilkka warned me about. I love our Finnish friends; they have educated us about so many things "Finnish". He also explained how only one blueberry grows...and once it is picked it will not grow again until next season. I came home with two plastic containers of blueberries; we ate about half of a container, I made a blueberry vegan coffee cake with the other half, and we froze the remaining berries for blueberry smoothies!

It's All Greek to Us!

After a gray and rainy summer in Finland we were in need of some sunshine. So, we boarded a BlueOne flight headed South to meet up with our friend. Here are a few highlights from our trip (and a video).

Top 10 Greek adventures:

1.) We landed in Athens (not Georgia, but Greece) and our Greek friend from Jyväskylä, Mary, greeted us as we walked out of the baggage claim area. Hey, superhubby, I don't think we are in Finland any longer!

The view from Mary's parents apartment in Athens.

2.) Experiencing life in the big city of Athens! Spending the night with Mary's parents who own an apartment building (with killer views of the city) by the Athens port, Piraeus. We ate the first of many traditional Greek dinners including sardines, octopus (to die for!), seafood salad, fried crab, and "real" Greek salad with a block of feta cheese. Oh, and I cannot forget to mention the 2 bottles of Ouzo we drank.

Mary's cooking...again! Delicious!

3.) A HOT day in Athens. The temperature was nearly 40C/104F, but Charlie managed to brave the heat and toured the Acropolis while Mary and I found a sweet little outdoor cafe (with fans blowing mist) and drank iced coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice. We met up with Charlie and ate lunch at Mary's favorite place for souvlaki - similar to a kebab sandwich. Dessert came when we met Mary's cousin Demetreious who owns an Italian Gelatiara and a Greek frozen yogurt shop. Her cousin suggested we taste the typical yogurt with traditional sour cherry topping (um, delicious!)

4.) Mary drove us up the coast (6 hour drive) to Thessaloniki, where she used to live and where her sister currently lives. On our way we stopped for an incredibly refreshing swim in the Aegean sea with Mount Olympus dancing in the background. I followed Mary's lead as she sat on the beach and exfoliated her skin with the sand and then washed it all off in the Aegean Sea (I totally recommend this spa treatment!)

5.) We arrived in Thessaloniki and her sister had a hot pasta dinner waiting for us, with mouth-watering and fresh watermelon and locally produced Greek frozen yogurt. We hung out on the deck talking with the family and enjoying the cool breeze (much cooler than Athens) until Mr. Sandman sang in our dreams. 

6.) Mary's sister has a summer beach house in Nea Plagia where we stayed for three nights. We spent our days at a local's beach where our pasty white skin made the local's put on their sunglasses.

7.) Mary is an amazing cook! She cooked us up a storm while at the beach house. We would play all day, pick up fruits and veggies at the local farmers market, and then at night sit down to a Greek meal that was, without fail, incredible tasting and satiating.

8.) We also went on a few day trips while at the beach house. Mary took us to a village named Athitos (Afitos) that is known for its  Greek folk architecture and stone-built overlook to the Aegean Sea. It was another hot day, but we toured the village, stopped for cold drinks under some trees, and then went to the local beach.

Mary (middle) with her daughter (left) & her mom (right).

9.) Another day trip took us to the Petralona's Cave which was accidentally found in 1959 by a local villager who was in search of water. The cave was a lot cooler than the hot temperatures outside and did not disappoint with impressive formations of stalagmites and stalactites. This cave is known for containing the oldest primitive man remains in Europe.

10.) Our last day in Greece was spent hanging out in the city of Thessaloniki.We toured the Modiano traditional market where big blocks of feta cheese, barrels of olives, fresh spices, and produce were sold. Fish mongers sold their catch of the day. We also toured the White Tower, the Eiffel tower of Thessaloniki. Built in the 15th century this tower was part of the city's defense walls, but now it houses an impressive museum of the city's history.

An incredible trip! Thank you Mary & family! Ευχαριστώ

A Blog Break...

The time has come to take a mini-break from my blog. I simply cannot keep up with it as I attempt to write this monster they call a dissertation. Sorry, but I will be back...sometime in the future.

Garden Carnage

Bean stock carnage.

During our afternoon walk we made a quick stop by the garden to find the bean plants completely destroyed. What and/or who could have done this? We did some investigative work and first noticed that the pea plants (next to the bean plants) were trampled on and then...ah-ha…little droppings from Bugs Bunny and his friends lay next to the sad looking pea plants. The rabbits ate our beautiful and lush bean plants for dinner (those pesky little varmints!) and then pooped on our garden. Apparently, our friendly fellow gardener from Bangladesh knew what he was talking about. And, so the garden adventure continues…

If you look very closely, those round pellets are rabbit droppings.

Floating Pub

Our previous landlord invited us to join her for Friday evening drinks aboard the Gaia boat. In the Jyväskylä harbor there are two boats that also serve as pubs on the lake. It turned out to be a beautiful evening (with sunshine--a rarity these days). She told us stories about living in Argentina for the past 9 months (she took a journey similar to that of the eat, pray, love book) and she was curious to hear stories about our Finnish experience. It's always nice to find others who have taken the risk of living in a different country, because it is a unique (and sometimes much more intense) experience than traveling to a country for a couple of weeks. 

Strawberries, Skype & Smoothies

We bought another 5kg box of sweet Finnish strawberries today (20€)--the polka variety (which are sweeter than the honey variety I bought last time). My mom was with us (via Skype) as we spent our evening slicing strawberries and sharing stories of our day/week in Finland. It was almost as if she was there with us. Skype rocks, it makes the world a smaller place.

You may be asking what will we do with 10kg (22lb) of frozen strawberries? It's smoothie time! My new breakfast and snack item: a delicious fruit and veggie smoothie. Now that we have a freezer full of strawberries and a new blender (the benefits of moving into a fully-furnished apartment with a fully-loaded kitchen with *bling, bling* appliances). My little kid bro is a smoothie fanatic, so he has taught me a lot about proper loading of the blender and this photo is the incorrect way to load (shame!) Here is his brotherly advice:

"Dude, you should put the spinach in before all the fruit.  Liquids, semi-solids/powders, light ingredients, heavy ingredients, ice.  The order in which you should load your blender.  I leads to less blending time necessary (and thus heat) to fully blend all your stuff."

Taking a Break from our Computers...

Tervetuloa=welcome!

We sit on our bum a lot! Not a day goes by that we do not spend at least a few hours sitting with a computer (the joys of writing a dissertation [me] and doing statistics [Charlie]). We are in a computer world and it is kind of ridiculous the amount of time we spend sitting with our computers.

Serenity now...cafe time by the lake.

I am especially sensitive to this because I thrive on being active and experiencing the world (not through a computer, although I know that I need to be glued to my computer in order to complete this PhD).

Delicious salmon roll at the cafe.

An agreement between a local farmer and the City has put the farmer's sheep to work, eating the fields by the lake in the summertime.

Superhusband chillin' on the bike path.

So, when the weekend comes it is time to put the computers down and jump on our bikes for a long ride. This Sunday we rode to the lovely Naissaaren Cafe that sits next to the Vaajakoski lock on the Keitele-Päijänne canal about 8km (5 miles) from our house. Luckily it did not rain on us, as it has been raining almost everyday for the past month. We ate a lovely lunch at the cafe, hung out, and then got back on our bikes and rode around the lake. After riding about 20 km (12 miles) both of us arrived home with a smile on our face, our bums no longer as mushy as a couch, and we were ready to get back to our computers.

Operation Dissertation Lock-down: Writing My Days Away

Monday, July 2, 2012 will go down in history; it is the day I began writing my PhD dissertation. Thirteen days later I turned in a first draft of chapter two to my PhD adviser. 22 pages in 13 days=not bad. I have come to realize that the dissertation writing phase is a solo time for just you, your brain, and your computer. There is no prescription for writing a dissertation, as everyone is different and we all come upon our own writing rhythm. Sure, books giving advice on dissertation writing are helpful (I have about five of them bedside), but not foolproof. Here is what I have come to know in my short writing period:
1.) I need a minimum of three hours to really get "into" writing and then go loopy after about five hours of writing. Time for a break.
2.) Breaks need to include some sort of total mind-numbing/physical activity (running, riding my bike, yoga, watching a romantic comedy, cooking dinner, etc.)
3.) Writing everyday is good and it keeps you moving forward, but for me I need at least one day/every week that takes me completely away from everything and anything related to my dissertation.
4.) Sometimes it takes 10 minutes to get into the writing groove, other days it can take many hours of poking around the internet (Facebook, Gmail, blogs, etc.) before I am ready to write. I have come to accept this and not resist it. For me, it is how my mind gears up for writing.
5.) Focusing in on one chapter at a time is the only way I can think right now. When I think about the totality of the project it is overwhelming and self-defeating.
6.) Setting deadlines is important! My adviser told me straight up that setting deadlines is not her job, so it falls on me. I have set a tentative schedule (let's see how it goes). The first target has been met, (yeah for me!)
7.) It is important to find the right space to write. There are three places where I feel most comfortable writing: my office, the library, and our home office. Anywhere else--forget about it.

8.) Oh yeah, you must save your work and back it up. Very important! Dropbox (an online share folder for documents, photos, etc.) is rocking my world right now. Every day I save the newest draft to dropbox which I can access from all three locations where I write. I back it up every so often on my laptop and my work computer.
9.) Tracking progress...for me every little word gives me steam to keep moving forward. So, I have found that tracking my word count every day gives me a sense of accomplishment. Yeah, excel spreadsheet and all--I am a nerd!
10.) Having a superhusband who went through the same process makes the experience so much easier. In his words, "Just keep the ball moving forward" (he is a football nut and it comes out when he offers words of wisdom.)

Gotta go! Time to get back on the saddle...

Marketplace Joy!

Kyssäkaali=Kohlrabi cabbage.

Our new apartment is about two blocks away from the summer farmer's market. Everyday I ride my bike to campus I pass by the market checking for new vendors and scanning the prices on strawberries. This morning before Charlie went to work we stopped by the market to grab a little breakfast: for me a crepe with fresh strawberries and tea and for Charlie a "pulla" (Finnish pastry with cardamon) and coffee for Charlie. Besides the lovely breakfast today we SCORED! A visiting German vendor (who now lives in Italy) was selling his Tuscan lemon olive oil  and the delectable Finnish strawberries (that are all the rage in the summer months) were on sale. Yes!

Our Finnish friends educated us to watch the prices on strawberries and when they dip under €20 then it is time to buy, slice, and freeze. I kissed Charlie goodbye and bought a 5kg (11lb) box of honey strawberries for an affordable €19.90 (and a 1/2 liter of blueberries, lemon olive oil, kohlrabi cabbage, and peppers).

Strawberries ready to freeze!

I asked the strawberry saleswoman if I needed to wash them before eating/freezing them and she said, "Oh no! Finnish strawberries are natural and you never need to wash them." Nice! On this Finnish summer evening, we ate and sliced strawberries until the box was empty.

Our New Home!

We LOVE our new apartment, the natural light, sauna and washing machine in the bathroom, and the office with a proper work space makes it feel like home. One week after moving in and we are finally unpacked and settling in. Here are some photos:

Front door and plenty of hanging space for our coats and a shoe rack. The hallway leads to an extra bathroom and the superawesomesauce office.

Our big kitchen with one freezer and one refrigerator, and a dishwasher (this is a luxury item for us), oh and I cannot forget to mention the Marimekko tablecloth. We love how it opens up to the living room--even though you cannot tell from this photo.

Spare bedroom for little kids (and our visiting friends). Wanna visit?

Living room and one superhusband chillin' on the couch.

The main bathroom with washing machine, shower, toilet, sink, and sauna (yeah!)

Sauna! Ah...

Shower and sauna. Do you think I took enough photos of the sauna?

The tranquil bedroom with a piano (chopsticks anyone?)

Office and yoga studio all in one. A great space for dissertation writing!

A Night Out on the Town...

Yep, this photo was taken at 12:56 a.m.

Last night we ate a super spicy dinner at a local Thai restaurant and then met up with Anne & Timo in the city center. The men drank like Finns (which means they drank A LOT). We were out until 1 a.m. and darkness never came. Here are a few photos that capture two happy men and the "white night".

A Small Island with a Sauna

A few of our friends told us about this special little island, Lehtisaari, in Jyväskylä that comes alive during the summertime. The island was bequeathed to a local church and now the parish runs and maintains the island, everything is FREE to visitors! We went to check it out with our adopted Finnish family and it was the epitome of a Finnish summer experience. Truly.

Come with us on the adventure:
Get on your bike. Ride about 10 minutes to the Viitaniemi beach. Queue up on the dock and wait for your transportation to the island: a row boat (they come every hour). Put on a life vest. Step carefully into the boat. Young Finns row the boat to the lush green island. Step out of the boat and onto the dock. Walk up onto the island, spot a sign that reads, "No smoking, alcohol, or drugs on the island."  Up ahead you see a red wooden house that proudly stands in the middle of the island, volleyball net to the right. To the right side of the house you come upon a fresh dirt pile labeled, "matopaikka " (worms for fishing). Walk under a handmade wooden arch and come upon a beautiful and peaceful walk to the end of the island with a hammock, wooden benches, and scriptures posted intermittently on both sides of the path. Turn around and spot the swimming beach located behind the big red house. Stroll towards to beach, pass by the red wooden outhouses, kids playing darts on the side of the outhouse, and see kids fishing with poles made from tree branches. To the right is the glistening lake and people happily grilling sausages and pancakes (griddle irons are located in the wood hut to the left). A little further to the right is the dock with smiling and happy Finns swimming in the cool lake water. After the wood hut, a small red hut on the left houses the 10-person sauna that is about 90C (194F). If you continue to walk straight ahead you run into another bbq area with wooden benches and then the shimmering lake. To the left there are four row boats and two kayaks for anyone to use.

And, did I tell you the best part? It is all FREE!!! There is no running water on the island and everyone is expected to pack in and pack out their food and trash. We went with Anne and Julia and had a lovely evening. It was the perfect warm and summery day to experience the island. We packed in a big picnic dinner, with the famous Finnish strawberries, and a birthday cake for Julia. The ambiance, the weather, the sauna and lake swimming allowed us to fully enjoy the visceral experience of summer in Finland.