Still No Rain

Oh it's been a gorgeous summer but the rain is badly needed. Something like 8mm all summer. Lake water level's down, trees already turning brown, nevermind lawns and the rest. No mushrooms this summer and the berry crop is way down, much to the chagrin of all the migrant workers who came to Finland to support their families back in the Ukraine and Thailand. It feels weird to love this weather so while hearing that people are having to watch the water levels in their wells. The impact on farmers is, as it so often is, the worst of all. One of the driest summer ever, it seems, and yet so very lovely for the rest of us vacationers spending some time at the cottage.

It's been just three or so delicious days that Chris and I have got to be at the cottage solo. With Reijo and Liisa we got to pretend we were working on a rice patty or thrown back into time, Reijo using the scythe to cut the long reeds in the lake and the three of us doing our best to rake the reeds to shore where they'll dry and be burned in the fall. No burning allowed now, see above re dry season.

It was good doing that work and my mind got to wander to all places near and far. I thought about my family, about school and what I learned, about travels, about my hopes for the future. Chris and I talked much afterward and would often debrief, although we were working side by side for much of the day. I composed many a blog entry without ever actually writing anything down.

Now just us we've cooked plenty, saunaed plenty, and the last two days we've rowed out to a cliff about 200 metres from our cottage where we sit, read, take in the afternoon sun, and dip in the water. It's pure magic and I love it. I'm hoping to coax Chris out again tonight.

My English class is about over. With just three students, I feel like we've been able to get to know each other nicely and I've been able to respond to their different English levels. Tomorrow is our last class and I think I'll even miss it. I set out to make friends and learn more about Finland from non-family members and I think I've learned a lot, though not what I had expected. I think there is a world of difference not just between Canada and Finland but I keep forgetting the difference between urban and rural too. This is small town Finland and I've spent more or less the last 18 years in Canada's largest city. Monoculture is the word that one might feel comfortable using in these parts. I don't mean this disparagingly or to be ungenerous, but I've realized that in many very good ways, it still feels a bit more old fashioned here. All of my students have spent their summer hand washing rugs by the lake shore, picking wild berries and currants, baking, and just generally being around these parts. I admire the stability and the security of small town life, how everyone seems to know each other, and how family is still at the centre. Things too seem more about personal relations - you can't burn bridges when you need to bein contact with people for much longer - and less about the individual, about personal rights, and about materialism. I think much of what I suspected when we first got here has kinda come true in my interactions with my students. As I am reading a book on Comparative Politics in Africa, I am often also reflecting on Finnish society and how it contrasts to the discussion of Africa and African history. I am learning much, I think, about who we are, how we differ, and how culture is made manifest. It will be interesting to travel some and see how these things play themselves out later as well.

So, I'm off to another boat trip I think and an evening of reading and hand washing our laundry on the rocks at the shore.

Much love to everyone!
Miia