Na na na na, na na na na, hei hei hei...

 Na na na na, na na na na, hei hei hei….

I often get asked “how was Finland?” by excited friends and family.  I feel like my response is probably pretty disappointing.  I paw at the ground and say something like “it was magical.”  It often surprises people.  I think they expect that I’ll say more. 

So this blog is it.  This is how Finland was.  This is what we did, what we thought, how we compared it to the United States.  These were the happy moments.  These were the trials.  This is what we did in Finland.  It’s thirty six thousand words across sixty seven single spaced pages, with hundreds of pictures in between.  That is how much those two months meant to us.  This is the distillation of our trip.

You know the crazy part?  There’s so much we haven’t told you.  We haven’t told you about Hervanta and the police museum.  Haven’t really talked about the rain storm.  Or the time our apartment shook with explosions.  Or the worst little kid you’ve ever seen on the train.  Or an even worse kid that got yelled at by Swedish customs.  Or all of our new very best friends:  Mia, Laura and Erik; Marjaana and Steven, Amanda, Edwin, Oscar, Aneta, Andrzej, Jagoda.  We haven’t told you about the secret underground hockey training facility or free breakfast day at Ikea.  Or the rickety stairs.  Or the river challenge that got me voted out of a leadership position in our family.  Or Lielahti.  Or Nekala.  Or the weirdest little tex mex place.  Believe it or not this really only captures the highlights.  Our trip was full and exhausting and exhilarating and beautiful.  There’s nothing we would have done differently.  Everything felt perfect.

Will we be back?  I don’t know.  Honestly I think probably not.  Which is a weird feeling.  When we went last year it was with the certain knowledge that we were returning.  This time everything we did felt like it was probably the last chance we had to do that thing.  Life is short, and the world is big.  If we have another opportunity for a trip like this it seems crazy not to go somewhere new – to fall as in love with that new place, and learn new things from it the same way we did with Finland.  In some ways I am grateful that we approached each moment in Finland with the full realization that it might be our last chance to do it.  It helped us really live those two months, instead of fretting about what would be coming afterwards.  What I’ve learned about Finnish rauha is that it is mostly about fully enjoying the moment and the place you are in.  It is about the where and the when of the now.

But at the same time it is overwhelming to imagine never going back.  To the forests and the lakes.  To the cities.  To the sea.  To a place that proved such a warm and welcome host for two months of our lives.  To a place where we saw our kids get older and wiser.  To a place that gave us space as a family to breathe and enjoy each other.  To a place with the best goddamned doughnuts on the face of the earth.  To a place that reconnected us with our planet and with each other.  To a place that was our home, if only for a brief time.

Whether we return or not is a question for the future.  For now we delight in our past and present.  What I tell people when they ask – while wholly insufficient – is still true.  Finland is a magical place.  I’m eternally grateful that some part of it will always belong to us; and us to it.

Hei hei ja kiitos Suomi.  Me rakastamme sinua.  Todella.  Aina.

Goodbye.