Boxing day

Jet-lag effects come and go. Yesterday I woke up again at 2am, last night I slept until six (which is pretty normal time for me to wake up)... whatever time I wake up, I try to stay awake the whole day.

The other day my mom walked in when we were watching Cromartie and tried to understand it... to be honest it's probably the worst possible series to see as your first anime - it's surrealistic, lighting fast, rude and almost impenetrable to a newbie. We prescribed Spirited Away, which was luckily shown on TV yesterday - my mom liked it quite a lot more.

Yesterday we saw some relatives from my dad's side, too, which was great. We have this annual get-together every Boxing day which I look forward to, to see my cousins and uncles and aunts. We had some great conversations in the kitchen (best party is always in the kitchen, even with your relatives) before continuing on to spend a lovely evening with friends.

All in all a really nice day. It's not that I'm against meeting relatives - all events in themselves are all good and jolly and reasonable, it's just that at Christmas time there are so many of them and there is hardly any "me time"... That's why I have this love/hate attitude towards Christmas in Finland.

Ding Dong Merrily on High

Christmas has been really really nice. Very peaceful, and despite all the traffic - somehow unhurried. Great gifts were received and given, and too much food eaten. Merry Christmas to everyone.

Toivo

Jee, on rankkaa olla tonttumies
I said yeah, it's hard to be a tonttu

I've been listening to Toivo FM while driving around Helsinki, a radio station that only plays Christmas music. While this might be a nightmare to other people, I think it's just fantastic.

And I've been driving around quite a lot - presents to deliver, places to be... I've also been a maid of honor to the maid of honor for a wedding that was held yesterday. I think this is definitely a concept that should be more widely adopted - maid of honor has enough work as it is to take care of the bride, and really needs another person they can delegate lot of practical work to.

Getting over it (I think)

I honestly feel like my jet-lag is over, but I still refuse to believe it... no, something must wrong and I'll slide back into the zombie mode anytime now. Truth is, for two days now I've woken up at a normal time and stayed awake the whole day. My mom tries to keep me busy by taking me for walks and shopping.

Cold is kinda there - I wake up with a killing sore throat but it goes away during the day (didn't I just go through this already?). Otherwise it's all good, I'm relaxing and spending time with friends, talking about trivial things and sometimes more important ones, too.

One of the best things so far has been seeing my best friend's smile when she opened her Christmas presents.

Awake... for now

I'm slowly coming back to the land of the living. Today I managed to sleep until 6 am which is a fairly normal time for me to wake up - this is partly due to the fact that I have a slight cold, I'm sure, so it probably won't last. Still, I think that if the cold doesn't get any worse, I'll try to stay awake the whole day today.

The vacation has started low key which is nice. I've met friends and spent time socializing, been to sauna and movies. We saw the new Bond movie Casino Royale last night which was overly long, and for such a high action movie I though it was pretty boring. New Bond man Daniel Craig though was mighty fine - different, darker portrayal of James Bond which I liked... not that I'm a huge Bond fan or anything.

...and after writing these two paragraphs I'm starting to feel like I really need a nap. A hot mug of mulled wine, and a nap. Oh jet-lag, how I hate thee.

And this is why I hate traveling

...and we're back. After a very long and uncomfortable journey, we arrived in Finland last night just before ten. Considering that we and our luggage made it here, and pretty much on time, we otherwise had all the bad luck.

In Vancouver we at least got our power back, but had to wait for a taxi for 45 minutes which made me very nervous... On the way to the airport we got stuck in traffic and almost had an accident when a granny with a deathwish suddenly turned right in front of us, and we were saved only by the fast reflexes of our driver. At the airport almost all the shops were closed so we were unable to buy flight socks (for deep vein thrombosis, and comfort) or insurance, and we went to the wrong gate. In the plane, which was one of those two floor jumbo jets, we got middle seats, so there was someone on either side of us which is got to be one of the more uncomfortable ways of traveling - it sure does minimize the time you can go for walks. It also made me anxious enough so I wasn't really able to eat anything, but on the good side I slept most of the way to London.

Ah, London. You see, I had of course read what BA was saying about restriction on hand luggage, so we were prepared to have our liquids separate and all that - but then the restrictions changed midway the trip. What we were allowed to take to the plane in Vancouver was not the same than what we were allowed to take to the plane in London, and of course the changes went the bad way and we were stuck with extra piece of luggage we had to check in to the hold. After our plane was late about an hour, at this point we had about 40 minutes before our flight was leaving - and we had to go out, clear customs and check back in with all the other folks in Heathrow... and half way running through the baggage handling I noticed that I had lost my boarding pass. So we split up and Dragon run out to check the baggage in and I ran back through customs to look for my boarding pass.

Ah, you got to love the Brits (well I do anyway, Dragon has other ideas). As a frantic and scared looking lone woman I got lots of help and empathy, even from security guards (we had to x-ray everything, even shoes) who are normally never ever sympathetic and I after running around from one desk to another I managed to find someone that would replace my boarding pass without having to queue for half an hour (which was less than what I had until the plane was leaving). Then I ran to the gate hoping Dragon would make it in time. And waited, and boarding started, and he still wasn't there. Then I had to start stalling for time, and once again my distressed state got some empathy but my husband was still missing. Finally everyone else was on board, and they started to check for our bags, and I had to make the decision if I would leave with the plane and our luggage, or stay behind to wait for Dragon. The logistics guy in the yellow vest came in saying that "we had to leave NOW" and I was just about to say that I would take the plane when Dragon ran in after being stuck in two security checks and numerous queues along the way.

Phew. We ran into the plane and strapped in... and then waited for almost another hour with some technical difficulties that prevented the plane from leaving on time. Which was probably good as the final piece of hand luggage we had checked in made it to the plane too which probably wouldn't have happened otherwise. Last leg of the journey went ok, and again I got some sleep.

...which was probably bad, as by the time we got home (to my parents') it was after ten in the evening which meant that the day had just started back in Vancouver - and now I was wide awake. My parents fell asleep around midnight and I forced myself to bed, only to wake up two and a half hours later - which is about the length of a nap for me. And then I was wide awake until Dragon woke up around six (which is a decent nights' sleep). Around eight we got up and had breakfast and by now it was starting be the evening back in Vancouver so now I was getting tired.

Oh, let me count the ways how I hate traveling.

Leaving the darkeness

Well, after the winds reached near-hurricane levels last night, we were one of the 230,000 homes in lower mainland to lose power. We woke up sometime during the night with the incredible loud sounds of wind banging... the windows, I guess, the railings in the balcony... it sounded like a window broke downstairs.

In the morning after the alarm went off I got up from bed, wondered why it was so cold, and looked outside - most of West End was black. Our living room, black. So no power, no heating... so I went back to bed which was the only warm place left and sent a text message to work that I would be late. After an hour it was light enough and I was bored enough to get up and light some candles, find clothes in the dark and leave for work. No, I couldn't take a shower nor look at myself in the mirror. Luckily we had some (spare) power in the building that lights in the corridors and in the staircase were on - so I didn't have to climb down from 23rd floor in the dark, that would have been unpleasant. I just truly hope the power will be back by the time get home, or at the latest when we have to get to the airport as I don't look forward dragging the suitcases down those stairs.

With these thoughts from windy Vancouver, kolibri signing off. I'll move D/k to Eastern European Time and next time I'll be blogging from Finland... if you're there, see you soon-ish.

Last night

When you don't think about it, it sneaks up on you without noticing... suddenly there's one night left in my own bed before the trip. So starts frantic packing, looking for passports, checking airline regulations... and I think everything will be ok. I'm bound to forget something, but oh well, such is life.

Hello and thank you

Today was my last office yoga class I was teaching before my holidays. Last week was cancelled because "important meeting" had overridden our booking for the room, and week before that I'd only had five people in the class, so I was pleasantly surprised to see a full twelve people in the class today. I was even remarking to Galina who hadn't come in ages how nice it was to see her, and even Gino and Don came who almost never come.

I was happily chattering away in amazement of the large crowd, when Al interrupted me and handed me an envelope - a gift from my students as an appreciation of what I've been doing. I have to say it really took me by surprise - Al had hinted a little bit on few occasions that he'd like to show their gratitude but I thought nothing of it... in my experience, when at work it comes to outside work issues - if me or Michelle are not doing it, it's not getting done. So I was totally impressed that Al had gone through the trouble of getting a card, and getting my yoga crew to sign it - and there was even a gift card for $125 for J76 (who sell yoga clothes). Very touched, and totally unexpected.

It's been a great opportunity to be able to do this small weekly class. It has given me so much more confidence in teaching, and it's a weekly challenge to come up with new and refreshing ideas - on the other hand, the rewards are there too... It's one of the more satisfying things in life to see people opening their eyes after the meditation and see how happy and relaxed they are, and know that you helped to get them there.

Hello Murphy

This is one of those Murphy's Law things - I've been bored to tears at work for weeks and now that I've got only few days left before my holiday, several things that only know how to do come up at once, and of course they all need to get done before I go. I won't get bored, that's for sure - and it's all very interesting stuff... but still, some moderation would be nice.

I managed to get yoga tonight, although I had to stay late and miss it yesterday. Not the best practice ever, but I was there and got to see my friends and wish them happy holidays.

Once more, old friend

Earlier this year, I blogged about the death of my favorite fantasy author, David Gemmell, and how his final trilogy of books on Troy would never be finished. I finally gathered enough strength after this death to read some articles on him on the internet and to find out when the sequel to the Lord of the Silver Bow, his final book would be published, and I found that once more David Gemmell had surpassed my expectations.

Though the fact that he series would never be finished was of course insignificant next to the the loss of his life, I have not been able to read the Lord of the Silver Bow, the first part of the Troy trilogy since his death. It seemed as it was too much of a reminder of his loss, which I like most of his dedicated fans felt very personally.

So it was with bittersweet emotions that I learned that not only had Gemmell finished the second part of the trilogy completely before his demise, buat that the third book was also finished save for the final chapter. In addition, Gemmell left exhaustive notes on how the story ends. His wife, Stella, who worked as a researcher for the Troy trilogy is going to write the final chapter, allowing the whole series to be finished by the end of year 2007.

I know it is selfish, and I would have much rather had David to retire from writing with the trilogy incomplete and live many long years with his family, but still I am glad for his dedication to his craft, and I'd like to think he would be happy to know that the series would now be completed. David Gemmell was know for his dedication for his readers, and will consider this his final gift to us all.

My thanks go to Stella Gemmell.

Busy, busy, busy

Felt exactly the same this morning than yesterday, and day after, but couldn't really justify staying home. Which seemed to have been the right choice and I'm actually feeling pretty good right now. This is great, because this last weekend before the holidays is going to be a busy one... tomorrow I have to get rest of the Christmas shopping done, on Sunday we have friends coming over for my "Christmas at home" get-together... so I need to get mulled wine ready, and the cake, and we need to get the Christmas tree up, and clean the apartment. And there's the company Christmas party tomorrow night as well which I need to buy some accessories for... If I'll make it alive I'll be happy to get back to work to rest on Monday.

But in exactly in a week's time, I'll be flying high somewhere above Canada on my way to Europe. Yay for holidays.

Blargh

Argh, I'm a little bit sick. It really sucks being just a little bit sick, not quite knowing what to do with it - if you were properly sick there wouldn't be no question, you'd just stay home and cancel all plans. But as it was, I woke up for the second morning in row with a terrible pain in my throat but otherwise fine. After a hot shower and a cup of tea I felt good enough to go to work... But then we had a staff meeting down in Granville Island, and after few hours in a very well air conditioned office, a brisk walk to the venue and sitting in an uncomfortable chair for two hours without break I decided to call it a day. Sucky thing was that I was also supposed to teach a class tonight at Sue's and I hemmed and hawed about the whole thing for the whole morning - if I go to work can I cancel the class, if I stay at work will I have enough energy to do the class, and so on. In the end I was home after noon, and called Sue to explain the situation - she was more than understanding so I went to bed with a clean conscience.

Otherwise it was a "good news" day - in the staff meeting we got to know about our bonuses and raises which are coming, and I got good news from Sue about my yin classes next year - I get a real yin slot for every other Thursday, I'll be sharing it with another yin teacher which is just perfect.

Tomorrow, please, I want to be properly well or properly sick.

Independent

I came to work this morning and put on the Independence Day Ball happening back in Helsinki. It was nice to see some old familiar faces - I used to go to school with the guy who was interviewing the president... Otherwise I notice that after almost ten years living abroad, the only politicians I notice are the old ones. I follow so little of Finnish politics nowadays, the only news I really get are the ones where my colleagues come and tell me smirking that our president looks like Conan O'Brien or that our prime minister apparently is the sexiest man in Finland and dumped his girlfriend by text message (so the announcers made a point of saying several times that he was at the Ball by himself). Yeah, that's it, those are the things Finland is really known for...

It's true I feel more like a Finn away from Finland. I don't do it that much anymore, but for years I think I started a sentence with "In Finland we..." probably pretty much daily, it's really that deep in you. Happy independence day, fatherland.

With child

Not mine, of course. I was babysitting Ella again tonight, giving the poor parents one final night of freedom before I'm off to Finland. Sirpa said afterwards that they felt completely liberated being without Ella for two hours, "like I was drunk", which made me giggle. I also promised that as long as the number two is in schedule - which means I should be back in Vancouver - I can help them with Ella when they have to go to the hospital. But it's cutting it pretty fine, I think the calculated time is about a week after we come back, so we'll see if they get to cash in on my promise.

In any case, I enjoyed spending some time with Ella. She's almost two now and it's interesting how rapidly she develops, not only her skills but imagination and awareness of the rest of the world.

When people ask...

When people ask, I suddenly notice I can say that I'm going on holiday next week. Almost two weeks, in practice, but saying "next week" makes it sound so much better.

Problem "solved"

So I figured out where all the homeless people are when it's this cold (yeah, there's still little snow). They are riding in the busses... What you often see happening here is that a homeless bum just asks for a lift from a bus driver, or provides a few coins (not enough for the fare) and gets in. It doesn't normally bother me... but now that the busses are so crowded, a smelly bum taking a seat... well, pisses me off. Maybe that's very unkind of me, and I do pity them and wish there was elsewhere they could go. But having to breath into my glove for 15 minutes trying very hard not to gag ain't fun either.