Do You Hear What I Hear?

October 16, 2009

It’s snowing again today. And sticking quite well, I might add. I’ve got a Christmas-scented candle lit and also a Gingerbread-scented candle lit. It makes my room feel cozy and makes me feel like Christmas (though we never have white Christmas’s) is just around the corner. It’s funny to me how weather.com says that we are getting “light snow” and I look out my window and think that it’s nothing short of a blizzard… minus the wind. I sort of wanted to go shopping just so that I would have an excuse to go ride my bike to town, but I know I will get sopping wet since I don’t have the right gear for riding in the snow yet.

I am becoming a bit anxious about my Design Competition project. The competition I chose has to be submitted by October 31^st and I feel that I still have many things to accomplish by then. I think today, instead of shopping, I will work very hard to finalize my design so I can then get help with the printing and the paperwork and get it ready to send off to Sweden within the next week and a half. Boy wouldn’t it be nice if I won 5000 Euros. I am not so confident in my design yet though… but who knows!

Yesterday was quite an eventful day for me. Starting out, I was actually on time leaving my room to go to class. As I stepped outside, I realized it was warmer than the day before and I probably wouldn’t even need my beanie on this bike ride (it got up to a whopping 41 degrees). The sun was shining and I approached my bike with a smile. The smile quickly faded though. My bike lock has been giving me trouble for a little while now and though I have thought about replacing it, I hadn’t acted on it yet. I worked on the lock with my two different puny keys until I about broke my keys and my hands in the process. I went from sitting on the rack to the ground to trying to force it open by pedaling. Nothing was working and I was very late for class. An hour passes and I realize that I need to figure something out because this lock is not coming off in a traditional manner. I, of course, turn to Google. I read all these German articles about breaking off your lock and I head to Tokmanni where I bought some wire clippers and a small hacksaw. I probably looked half insane. Since my day had started out so badly, I bought a bike light and some paint and little white candles while I was there. Those things may seem random, but they lift my spirits. I then went back outside and clipped and hacksawed for about half an hour before the lock was finally broken free. I’m pretty sure everybody who passed me thought I was a crazy lady stealing a bike, but I didn’t much care at this point. I got on my bike and rode down to Alppis secondhand store to see if they had bike locks or any neat things or winter gear. I found a little spiral bike lock with more puny keys sort of like the last lock I had. I decided it was better than nothing since I was panicking about having not locked my bike while I was in the store. I ran into Carmen in the shop and she was telling me about her new warm, waterproof boots she got from Prisma. I thought she said they were 15 Euros. Apparently she really said 60 Euros. Spanish accents kill me. But since I didn’t know this, I headed over to Prisma. Seeing that the boots weren’t 15 Euros, I decided to meditate on that decision a bit longer. They were very cute and looked very warm and comfortable. Anyways, I went around the store and found my Christmas and Gingerbread candles as well as a really tough bike lock with big strong keys. I decided I could just put the lock I got from Alppis in my closet until a rainy day when I or somebody else needed a new lock. On my way back to Linnanmaa, I stopped into Sale and got a few groceries. I felt very happy as I parked my bike and attached my brand new lock with my big sturdy key that has a laser on it. I went inside and put away my groceries and set up my candles to burn.

Now my room smells like my house did when we used to decorate the Christmas tree and listen to Manheim Steamroller while we drank hot chocolate. I really miss that. The sad thing is that Halloween hasn’t even passed yet… much less Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is Brittany’s favorite Holiday and I think we are going to have a little feast of our own since nobody else here celebrates it. She said that her grandmother gave her a Thanksgiving before she left America. How funny! All this talking about food and Christmas is making me hungry, though so I think I am going to go cook and watch the snow fall. I am excited about bigger snows and I even saw a “snow racer” in Prisma yesterday. It was like the ultimate sled. All the Finns say it is a lot more fun around here when there’s snow. There is a lot more to do. I can only hope.