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...And that day is here! There is so much to report since I arrived at my first host family's farm, called Pikkunuppu, or little flower bud, exactly one week ago. The TL;DR version is that I feel like I am living in a fairy tale, having been humbled by the picturesque land, fields and idyllic Finnish style structures scattered on the property (particularly the sauna).
When I arrived, Pjotr, who has ran the farm since the 1980's, and Niina, jumping in to help run the operation in 2010, gave me a tour of the grounds. They live very simply and in tandem with the gifts from the land (this was all a bit worrisome to me when they showed the cellar and I only remembered seeing were root vegetables--potatoes, beets, parsnip, carrots--and wondering what I was going to eat!). My quarters are in a shed, dormitory room style, a short walk from the main house where Pjotr and Niina live, and where I spend a lot of time sharing meals at a table filled with multi-cultural people, and two small Finns aged 3 and under, belonging to Pjotr's daughter and her husband. We live very communally, eating lunch and dinner
together and rotate cooking days (don't worry, I've figured out quite nicely how to use the root veggies, making an Indian inspired root veggie curry last night!) For my first week, I shared the WWOOFer quarters with a lovely and spirited Welsh woman, named Hana and now living in Glasgow, Scotland. We built a quick and quite special connection and, as she just caught the train to continue her travels this morning, I know I will miss her presence at the farm!
I had read much about the practice of going to the sauna before I arrived and had been mentally preparing myself for being in a small room whose temperatures are akin to those of hell and, most of the time, people go in totally nude. I thought maybe I had a day or two to make the plunge, but Niina informed me on the drive back from the train station that they were "having sauna" that night. I hope I did an okay job of keeping my eyes in their sockets when she spoke those words. For the next few hours as I was exploring my new surroundings, I'm fairly sure I employed every technique I've ever
learned to keep calm in an uncomfortable situation: self-talk--it will be fiiiiine, coping ahead--what will I do when I see people I just met nude?, looking for the silver lining--you'll be experiencing Finnish tradition, steeped in culture! Turns out I didn't need to do any of that as the radiating heat from the Kuuma (wood burning) stove was more shocking than the nudity! I had initially planned to wear a bathing suit, but decided against it, following Hana's lead. It turns out it's for the best that I didn't, as I would have immediately shed it to cope with the extreme temperature. Now that I've adjusted, I'm in love with the sauna. I could write an entire blog post on sauna. If everyone went to sauna, I'm convinced there really could be world peace. Galaxy peace even.
From this peacefulness, it's very easy to feel content and relaxed no matter what you're doing, a sample of which so far includes separating and planting 17,000 garlic seeds, slinging shit into grooves in the field, making dinner (while trying to learn the kitchen layout), sharing stories around the kitchen table and inside the sauna, or riding to Joensuu in their large
red Volkswagon transport van. My only trivial complaint is that the long daylight hours make it difficult to sleep; the sun doesn't set until 22:00 (10p) and rises at 4:00 (4a), making for only 5 hours of dark each night, so now I just close the curtain and use a handkerchief as a sleep mask. Through the rest of the summer, the days will only get longer.
FYI: https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/finland/helsinki
I work 30 hours at the farm each week and have the option of choosing my days off or splitting them up, but this is the week of Pride in Finland (as I write this in the "cultural cafe" at the train station, a young boy is waving one of those thin, delicate twirly flags in rainbow pattern) so I'm feeling so lucky to have happened to be here for this, so have taken the entire weekend. I'm about to sign off so to jump back into the festivities and find a place to savor a proper Finnish beer!
Oh, and you may have been wondering about the title. Well, last summer my dad and I were planting my first garden, tearing up the grass parts to get
to the soil parts, plotting out the growing pattern, and putting the seedlings into the ground. (Current sitch: I'm feeling extra grateful for my urban yard space as in Scotland if you live in the city and would prefer an outdoor space, you must apply for an allotment, which can take forever). My dad came to give me a hand and transfer to me some seeds (ha!) of his growing expertise he gained over the years of working on farms and nurseries. He began humming a song, as he usually jams out when he is working with his hands, and I asked what it was so he sang a sample of Melanie's (1970's folk singer) "Someday I'll Be A Farmer." I've been obsessed with the song since (link below). I've been thinking a lot about music and what role it plays in my life and the example that I'm describing feels heavier to me in some ways. For now, I'll end with a Bob Dylan quote as it encompasses many of my thoughts over the past week: "Inspiration is hard to come by. You have to take it where you can find it."
Photos are included this week--yassss!
Next blog post to come midweek!
Moi, moi!
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iamstenwoman
Stenwoman
Photos are clearly included. The interface of this blog server is NOT user friendly!