The winter blues

/ michelepelkonen

Bleh. I am so done with winter.

I have a cold.

I am losing my voice.

I feel bleh.

However, I am coming off of a trip to Turkey that was more amazing than I thought it would be, so there is that. But I had to leave sunshine (although not much warmth) and come back to grey skies and slush.

Budapest, Greece, Italy, and France are in my immediate travel plans. Looking forward to those!

Helsinki in February is mostly about slush. The black and grey ice and snow starting to melt away, leaving behind the several layers of grit and pebbles in its wake. Also, the melting ice reveals all the dog poop from earlier, trash, and other detritus that is pretty gross to look at each morning on my walks. Why can’t folks just lose money in the snow for me to find?

Life has settled into a routine now. I’m on to around 5 months now here in Finland, and (other than this lengthy winter!), I find something to love about it almost every day.

I have become a sauna convert.

I take my shoes off when I go in to someone’s house, and it feels natural now.

I got my first Kela check. Score one for socialism. Gotta love a country that pays me to go to school.

Even though I figure I can count the number of Finnish words I know now on my fingers. Damn, this is a hard language!

That’s about all for now. Things are slow, since it’s the end of winter. When I see spring…things should pick up. 🙂

9 thoughts on “The winter blues”

    • I’ll remind you. 🙂 You get used to it quickly. Even going back at Thanksgiving after a month here, it felt weird walking through the house with shoes on. Bring a pair of slipper socks or something to wear. I do have some if you forget. ❤

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  2. “But I had to leave sunshine (although not much warmth) and come back to grey skies and slush.”

    And there I was just thinking how amazing it is that the sky is still bright at 17:30.
    The spring is coming, it’s just around the corner!

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  3. Well, this has been pretty dull winter with the grey skies and all…

    But, like Kalle, pretty much everyone around me has perked up, because the winters back has been broken and spring is arriving! We get 6-7 minutes of more daylight every day.

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  4. I think, for me, this is one of the first LONG, unbroken winters I have had to endure. Where I am from, we might have a day or two in the 30’s (F), and then a week in the 70’s, even day or two in the 80’s. Just yesterday my daughter was complaining about the weather–she was sick and said it was because it had been 84 the day before, and now was in the 40’s the very next day. Plus, my own being sick, and missing my girls, etc., just contributes to the whole “I’m done with this!” sentiment. But, that being said, I hear that spring/summer here is amazing (short as it is), and so the wait is worth it! (?) 🙂

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  5. Personally I find the colder winters easier to endure. Cold usually means clear skies and it is easier to put on extra clothes than to remove clouds from the sky. Snow is also much nicer than rain… Staying physically and socially active helps when dealing with the darker half of the year. Being sick and away from your relatives makes those harder to do.

    I think part of the charm of Finnish spring and summer is the contrast between seasons. The rapid change of light and eventually warmth feels so much nicer when you haven’t felt them for some time. When the first “warm” (14C/57F) and sunny day arrives, you’ll witness everybody go bananas. Of course if that doesn’t come soon enough, we’ll go crazy when it’s vappu (if the weather doesn’t change, we have to change our perception of it 🙂 ).

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  6. i’m glad you got a mild winter under your belt ever though it seems rough.
    this one was the easiest for me and so far the easiest and earliest springs in my 5 yrs.
    soooo happy to have at least some brightness now and then. the endless grey sky makes me stabby.

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  7. Yeah, those end of February and March. Really like an extra time on “hey, you want more depression! We got some! 10 mins extra ice time! Referee just did not like you! You got bloody nose, what are you, a pussy. Get on ice and defend! We are only losing 1-5!”

    But that is the way of Finland. And those early summer temptations…

    Four seasons, four different ways of living. But cuts out the bullshit pretty much, didn’t it? So you Lousiana girl, that is your challenge. Eskimo culture! 🙂

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