Rockin' Oulu Halloween

Got my first gig today. Two shows: Live at the Oulu English-Speaking Playschool.
Halloween isn't really celebrated in Finland, except at the international schools so all the kids got dressed up and had some party time together. It was also American international day at the playschool so I got invited to play a few songs with the kids. I played some Johnny Cash, Flaming Lips, Laurie Berkner, Nat King Cole and Van Halen - a pretty good assortment of Americana I think.



So not surprisingly we didn't get any trick-or-treaters tonight. Not that the 5 inches of fresh snow kept them away. Kids in Finland actually do go door-to-door, but on easter (Palm Sunday) and dressed as colorful Easter "witches".

Dyn-o-mite!

Isabelle got her picture and little quote in the OIS Dynamite. I haven't seen the cafeteria during lunch but Isabelle raves about it and the menu sounds like a chic 5 star restaurant. With items like:

- Reindeer Lasagna
- Porridge with Lingonberry Sauce
- Salmon Soup with Creamed Mushrooms
- Macaroni and Cheese with Minced Reindeer
- Peppered Bear Testicles with Holinday Sauce



OK, I made the last one up, but they do eat some pretty tasting sounding stuff.

And for some reason Isabelle's teaches keeps thinking she is from Dallas. Why is Dallas the only thing any body knows about Texas (yes, I know, who shot JR?). Being called a Dallas-ite is like being called a Blood when you are a Crip, or even worse, suggesting you are from Tampere instead of Oulu!

The Daily Oulu Rush Hour (with some spilt blood and a lost tooth)

I got some pics today of the daily commute. When the weather is nice we can all ride our bikes to school and work together. It's 4 miles to the schools, which are right on the edge of downtown and is quite a nice pedal - but really pedaling anywhere in Oulu is a joy. Riding a bike never gets old and there's some sense of accomplishment felt just arriving somewhere you don't get being in a car. So Isabelle has been riding her new bike to school quite a bit, much to our amazement. She had never ridden more than a mile or two at one time and is now riding 8 miles a day.

She has been getting much more confident in her bike handling and is learning to keep the bike straight and not to stop in the middle of the bike lane - it's easy to forget the bike way is a highway (albeit a slower moving one) and there's usually someone passing you in both directions. But most important to remember is that the bike lanes allow mopeds and small motorcycles as well and some can zip by quite fast (usually those Finnish high school hoodlums listening to their death metal).

So any ways I've been playing around with sports tracker on my N78 and it has the nifty little feature that it can upload your pictures tagged with your GPS location to show where you took the pic. So there's no need to let the gov't monitor you, as you can do it yourself now. The full pics are here.

Oh, and the blood and tooth. Isabelle ran off the road on the way home from school and crashed in an attempt to get herself out of the gravel and back on the road. Amidst here attempt she hit a hole and flew over the handlebars and fell on her face. I wasn't there, but the story goes that the street was covered in blood but when she noticed her tooth was missing she got a little excited. Luckily the tooth was recovered and is waiting to be exchanged for euros. So despite the trauma and bruises and some new loose teeth, there was some small reward in dusting herself off, riding home, and putter her tooth below her pillow for the nigh. Now I have to come up with 5 euros to pay off the T-Fairy - that exchange rate is killing me.

Ahhhhh...Back to School

Isabelle started school Monday the 11th and Fiona's first day at the English Speaking Playschool was yesterday. I have to say that we were all ready for them to get started. The girls were long past due for some playtime with new friends and it gave me a chance to go for a swim and sauna in peace.

All Finnish schools provide free lunches for the students. Fiona came home raving about her "fish soup and sandwiches with cucumbers". "Mom, you can buy the fish soup at the store", she exclaimed! Ummm...yum? Actually, it is so great that they are trying and enjoying all of these new foods and I found out today that the "fish soup" is actually salmon soup and is supposed to be quite good. Fiona's school is located in an old army barrack that is a historical building, so it can't be renovated. It is very quaint.

Oulu International School

We had our meeting with the principal of the Oulu International School to turn in our results for Isabelle's "koulukypsyystesti" - roughly translated as a school maturity test.

In Finland public school starts the year you turn 7 and you can enter first grade. Isabelle doesn't turn 7 until next March so we had to have a "koulukypsyystesti" done before she could be administered. According to Finnish law you need to have this testing done to enter school early and the test includes the WISC-III. So we really didn't know if she would be accepted, but to our good fortune we found out today she'll be able to start the 1st grade next Monday!

We'll also have to choose between Evangelical Lutheran classes and Ethics classes for Isabelle, which I think is the normal selection in the Finnish school system. Both are equivalent to making good moral citizens with one having more historical significance on Christianity (not necessarily religious dogma).

There are also school nurses and a school doctor (MD) for the (universal) childrens' health care. Plus all kids get a free lunch. It's going to be interesting seeing why so many say Finland has the best school system in the world.