What the hell?

Food
Today we ate.

What did I eat that was decidedly of the non-Finnish culinary history?

Burgers.
With all the trimmings.

Not quite a trip to Hesburger
They put mayo on everything.
(even the fries. the biggest seller is the red-mayo burger with extra pickels. joy.)

Pekka gussied up the homestead with red viini, sun-dried tomatoe 'ketchup', and a set of toasters in the dining area for our convenience. (Heaven forbid any of us have to walk the fifteen feet to the kitchen for warm bread.)

For dessert Tarja whipped up brownies. The kind that come out of the box.
(that I mailed to her a month ago. what comes around goes around;)

Guess this balances out the traditional Finnish lunch I had today:

... salad (of course - what meal isn't complete sans lettuce and tomato? Finns eat salad with absolutely everything.)
... Boro (reindeer)
... Salmon
... Kinkkukiusasus (Potato with ham casserole)

and kahvi.

Two things to note:
1) eating fast is more than common. My dad would commiserate. It's as though they're afraid someone is going to come along and take it away from them.
2) coffee is drunk more per capita than anywhere else in the world. In 1946, when a ship arrived from Brazil with the first consignment of 35 tons of coffee (since the commencement of WWII), they almost made the day a national flag day.

Education of the Masses
In case you haven't realized this by now, people here are seriously proud of their country and its past. History lessons abound. No matter what you're doing, someone can conjour up a snippet from the past. It's usually funny, and yet educational.

Assorted facts I acquired tonight:
... Kim Catrell (from Sex in the City) was the sultry brunnette in Police Academy I.
... That 70's show is extremely popular.

Charming, Mass Suicide is based on a famous book. (Hurmaava Joukkoitsemurha)
THink: Depressed folk who post an ad in the Helsinki Sanomat (newspaper) seeking equally depressed patriots. People actually respond, and then proceed to drive around the country for one last hurrah before they 'go'. Seriously. This is Finnish TV. The show is ridiculously popular, as the viewing population hang on every word as the show's casts seeks a final resting place.

Orderliness
One of the first things I remembered about FIN was rediscovered in the Newark airport.
The minute (and I'm not kdding) they announced general boarding everyone proceeded to stand in line to to get on the plane. THE ENTIRE PLANE (besides families with infants and first class that is). It's not like their seats were going anywhere. I timed the line. People stood on average 30 minutes. What the hell for? Overhead storage? Why?

These are also the same people who patiently wait for the traffic light to turn green so they can cross the street. Even when there are NO cars on the road.

While on the matter of order, the only time I've seena cop is in a traffic car issuing parking tickets. NOT in public. Certainly not walking about patrolling the streets. There are the occasional random DWI checkpoints. (The legal imit is 0.5 just incaseyouneedtoknow.)

A product from Garnier for the Finnish:

Pschitt Gel
Y O U try pronouncing that one. It sounds like 'shit'.

Yid Yap
Wanna know what makes wine kosher?
1) it has to be touched only by a Jew from start to finnish

Wine needs to be kosher so that the pagans don't get their hands on it.

The things you can find on the internet. We almost purchased a piano book (The Ultimate Yiddish Practice Guide)... which features the popular, Wicked Wicked Man top seller.
Ever get so incredibly bored with something that you become silly goofy?
That was Tarja and I today at work.
Needless to say, we've cemented our place in hell for the immediate future.
(No waiting in line for us;)

Oh, all right enough ridicule with the immediate environment.

On to the *** 'students'.
Two of my top-of-the-line classmates apparently enaged in a verbal scuffle over the weekend. one of which told the other to," stop disrespecting her, or there'd be butt to kick."

On that note, night night!

posted by irene @ 6/18/2002 02:22:00 AM