Elixia - Our New Gym

Mike and I have joined the gym.  For the last 3 years or so, we have been very good about going to the gym and working out with our personal trainers, Ray and George at The Training Floor (hi, guys!).  We both think we are in the best shape of our lives, or for Mike, at least on par when he was playing football in high school and college. 

We have really missed being in the habit for the last few months and decided to get back at it.  We got a few referrals from other folk we have met here and I went out and did some recon.  Gyms here are pretty similar to home, but usually a lot smaller.  There are a couple of chains and a lot more smaller, independent gyms.

A new gym opened by our apartment in April, and we had both heard about it independently, so we decided to check it out.  It is called Elixia and it is the closest thing we found to our big gym in Stamford.  It has two levels of space, a variety of classes, and lots of cardio machines.  The best thing is, it’s practically empty.  How I looooove having my own gym!  We went on both Saturday and Sunday and at what we thought were pretty peak times and there were maybe 2 or 3 other people using the cardio equipment at the same time as us. 

There are five TVs that you can watch while you work out.  One of the best things in Finland is the amount of American TV we get.  I was able to watch 3 episodes of “Friends” back-to-back on Sunday while I worked out.  I am sure I saw these episodes back in the ‘90s when they aired at home, but it has been so long they were practically new to me!  Mike got a kick out of how much I was laughing out loud watching them.

We have our first personal training sessions this Thursday.  They train only during the week, so we do miss being able to do that on Saturday mornings.  I think it will make it difficult to get two sessions in a week by just doing it in the evening.  We’ll see how that goes.  There are also a lot of different classes you can take, everything from spinning to Zumba.  And the Finns looooove their Zumba!

We’re glad to have found Elixia and hope we can make it as much part of our routine as Planet Fitness and The Training Floor were in Stamford.

A Big Day at IBM Finland

As some of you may have noticed, I have not mentioned much about working at IBM Finland.  Though I do mention in my sidebar that I will share my experiences working in Finland, I want to be careful about talking too much about my employer.  IBM does encourages social networking and lots of colleagues have blogs, Facebook pages, and Twitter accounts, but working in HR, I think it is better if I only share general, topical thoughts.  And of course, none of those general thoughts necessarily reflect those of my employer!

Monday was a big day at IBM Finland, though, so I have to share!  At least it was for me.  As I went to the cafeteria for lunch with a few of my colleagues (that’s what all people in Finland who work together call each other – they are “colleagues”, not “co-workers”, not “associates”, nothing else – they all refer to each other as “colleagues.”  From Nokia, to IBM, to the grocery store, to the restaurants.  They are all “colleagues,” but I digress . . .)

As we were walking to the cafeteria, one colleague asked me if I had noticed the American flag outside.  Granted, I walked right by it in the morning and didn’t notice, but sure enough, on the four flag poles where there are usually four Finnish flags, there were three Finnish flags and one American flag.  What a sight for sore eyes!   

Outside the IBM Finland office

 

The American Ambassador to Finland was visiting IBM and in his honor, they were flying the flag.  Our Ambassador here is a bit of a local celebrity.  His name is Bruce Oreck, and he is of the Oreck Vacuum family.  He has been here since August of last year and has made quite the name for himself.  The Finns really seem to enjoy him.  I think part of it is he doesn’t seem to come across as a typical ambassador.  At least, when I picture an Ambassador, I don’t picture someone who looks like this:

The Ambassador is the one holding the bees (with the gold hoop earring)

Photo courtesy of the US State Department

 

I think he looks like Mr. Clean, so quite appropriate that he is from a vacuum business family!  He apparently has varied interests including a vast knowledge of minerals, he’s a body builder, and he’s into beekeeping.  Apparently, he has one of the largest private mineral collections in the U.S.  He has also introduced beekeeping to the Embassy here and they make honey and candles.  I am lucky enough to be going to an event at the Embassy in a few weeks, so I will report back if I see any evidence of the minerals, or the bees!

As I am known to do if there is a potential celebrity sighting on the horizon, I will loiter.  So, loiter in the IBM lobby I did.  I didn’t have to wait long before I saw Ambassador Oreck.  He was with IBM Finland’s head executive, so not really appropriate for me to go and introduce myself, but I did follow them for a short walk to the auditorium ;-)  Not sure when my next celebrity sighting will be, so I had to take advantage.

In looking for a photo of the Ambassador, I came across his blog.  If you are interested in reading about what he does while in Finland, you can read more about it here.  I found it to be quite interesting and informative.  He’s definitely leading a more exciting life in Finland than we are, but I did find some Finland travel destination ideas!

More to come about the Ambassador and the Embassy in a few weeks . . .

Trip to Paris

One of the best things about living in Europe is the ability to travel and see Europe!  (funny how things work that way).  Mike had a business meeting two Fridays ago in Paris, and since it was my last week of “leisure” before retuning to work, we decided to make a weekend of it.  I am lucky enough to have been to Paris several times before and it is absolutely my favorite city in the world. 

After getting news that 50% of the flights to Paris were being canceled because of striking air traffic controllers, we made it on Thursday evening as planned.  Mike had a business dinner, so I was on my own.  We were staying at a hotel pretty far out, and as the taxi drivers were also striking, I ended up eating in an Italian restaurant very near the hotel.  It was about the worst Italian food I have had.  Oh well.

Our hotel that night was called the Evergreen Laurel.  The reviews on Trip Advisor were pretty dismal and I wasn’t impressed.  Interesting enough though, it reminded me of home.  And when I say “home”, I mean Casa Grande, Arizona.  The hotel is owned by the Evergreen Group in Taiwan.  Apparently, they are quite the conglomerate and have a number of varied businesses, including hotels, airlines (EVA Air, as well as a cargo line), shipping, etc.  They also have an airfield in Marana, AZ between Casa Grande and Tucson.  I have been to that airfield a couple of times and I had no idea the company did so many other things.  The hotel catered to Asian clients and I think the funniest thing was the guy at the front desk was named Brian and he was from Boston.  He told me he was hired because his English was so good and it was easier for him to communicate with the Asian clients than the Parisians who spoke English.  Either way, I was glad he was there because it was easier for me to communicate with him, too!

On Friday, while Mike was in meetings, I had a day on my own in Paris.  I spent some time in both the morning and the afternoon sitting in the Jardin des Tuileries.  The sun repeatedly stuck its head out and it was so nice to see.  For the majority of my time in Helsinki, it has been pretty cloudy, rainy and dreary.  I had lunch at one of my favorite places that are actually in the US, too, Le Pain Quotidien.  There is something to be said for going into a restaurant and knowing the menu and getting what you want/expect.  I do miss that.  I then went to the Musee de l’orangerie.  This museum has a number of Claude Monet Water Lily paintings.  A few things I learned about the Water Lilies – it’s a series of more than 250 paintings and many of them are quite large.  I saw four that were 36 feet in length.  I guess when I have seen them before, they were either the smaller versions, or I just do not have a good memory of what I have seen in the past.  Either way, I was very struck by the size and don’t think I’ll forget now!    

   

 Claude Monet - Water Lily (Sunset)

  

After my day on my own, I met Mike at our new hotel.  Side note – we booked a hotel for the first time through Hotwire.  Hotwire is one of those sites where you pay for the hotel room before you know the name of the hotel.  I was a bit leery, as I am pretty particular about hotels, but went for it anyway because everything I was looking at was so expensive.  We got a smoking deal for the Westin Vendome right by the Louvre.  I will definitely use Hotwire again!   

We rode the Bateaux Mouches up and down the Seine at sunset and then walked to one of my favorite restaurants, Relais l’Entrecote, for dinner.  There is no menu at l’ Entrecote.  Everyone has a salad with a mustard vinaigrette, steak and French fries.  You can pick your dessert.  It is sooooo good.  And for those of you in the tri-state area, one opened in NYC last year and I highly suggest you try it!

View from the Bateaux Mouches (with slight technical difficulties!)

On Saturday, we had Starbucks for breakfast.  Though Finns drink more coffee per capita than anyone in the world, they don’t have Starbucks.  And for that matter, it’s very hard to even find decaffeinated coffee.  Kinda makes it difficult for a pregnant girl to get a cup of joe.  When I was in Paris in the summer of 2004, there were four Starbucks in the entire city.  Today there are 46!  I think the Parisians could do with 45 and the Helsinkians could have one!  After breakfast, we went to the Musee d’ Orsay.  This museum is known for its collection of Impressionist paintings and is in an old restored train station.  The building is absolutely gorgeous, just incredible.  Unfortunately, it is currently being renovated and many of the works of art are in make shift locations.  Additionally, 54 Monet works are at a special exhibit at the Palais Royal, so we did not get to see them.  We took an English language tour of the museum and had a wonderfully knowledgeable guide from the museum whom we quite enjoyed.  We had a nice lunch at the museum and added it to our list of museum restaurants where we have had a good meal.

Mike had planned our Saturday evening well in advance and as surprise for me.  We had tickets to the Moulin Rouge!  A car picked us up at the hotel and took us to the theater.  We had dinner before the show and sat at a table with several other couples.  We enjoyed talking to an older couple from New Zealand and a young couple from Leeds, UK.  The show was so much fun to watch.  Moulin Rouge is home of the cabaret and it was so neat to see it where it originated.  The dancers were fabulous and the acts in between the show numbers were also quite good.  We really enjoyed a ventriloquist who did some audience participation and a girl who swam in a pool with snakes, big snakes!  It was quite an evening and we had so much fun!

 The Moulin Rouge (with more technical difficulties!)

 

On Sunday, we had breakfast at a little café near the hotel before heading out to an art fair.  It wasn’t quite what I expected based on what I had read in the guide book, but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.  As we were walking back to the hotel, we decided we would have lunch at l’ Entrecote.  We knew it was a bit silly to go to the same place twice in one weekend, but we decided it was worth it.  We haven’t found restaurants in Helsinki yet that we love, so we decided we should take advantage of being in a place with one that we do.  Lunch was as good as dinner two days before.  As we left the restaurant, it started to sprinkle, then rain, and we walked quickly back to the hotel.  We were lucky to be able to walk through parts of the grounds of the Louvre that are covered, and then get on streets that under colonnades and we stayed pretty dry.  We collected our bags and hopped in a taxi to the airport.  What a wonderful weekend!

First Doctor's Appointment

Today was my first pre-natal doctor appointment in Helsinki. I think the best way to sum it up is "it will be different, but it will be OK."  We are lucky enough to be able to use a private medical system while we are here.  The public system is very good, but with the private option, you get the choice of scheduling with a doctor instead of a nurse or midwife, more doctor choices (you don't just go to the assigned clinic in your neighborhood), and shorter wait times for appointments.  There will be aspects of my care that are through the public system, including some of my pre-natal care, all of my labor and delivery, and some post-natal care.

The doctor was referred to me by an American friend who has seen her once.  That was good enough for me.  I know lots of us have picked a doctor out of a book from our insurance company or from a website, so it is always nice when you can get some type of referral.  The doctor thought it was very kind that my friend had made the referral.  Mike and I met with the doctor for 40 minutes for our 20 minute appointment (I never said that the private option meant longer appointment times!).  I was very thankful she took the extra time with us.  It really helped allay some of my fears and concerns. 

Almost the entire appointment was spent as a discussion.  She reviewed my records, told us about what care we can expect from her and from Mehilainen, the health care group she belongs to, and what our expectations should be regarding the care we will receive from the public system.  She also checked my vital signs and did some blood work.  All standard things and so far, so good.

We will see her throughout my pregnancy, but she also encouraged me to go to my local maternity clinic in my neighborhood.  At those clinics, nurse midwives handle most of the routine pre-natal care.  This person is called a neuvola.  If there are any issues or concerns, there is always a doctor on staff that will be brought in to consult/treat.  Nurse midwives here are required to be educated and trained as RNs (or the Finnish equivalent), and then take additional schooling to become a neuvola.  The clinics also offer education to the soon-to-be parents about pregnancy and birth and then after the baby is born, they will also come to your home and do checks on the mom and the baby.  When was the last time you heard of a doctor in the US coming to your house?!

When we go to the hospital to deliver the baby, we will be assigned a neuvola when we check in.  This will be someone we have never met before.  That is the part I find the most disconcerting.  Another American friend I have made here had a baby on Saturday.  This is her second child, so she was able to compare this experience to giving birth in the US.  For the most part, she thought her experience in Finland exceeded her US experience.  The thing I find most interesting is your neuvola stays with you throughout almost the entire time you are in delivery.  At the beginning when you aren't in active labor, she will come and go a bit, but as soon as things start to intensify, she stays in the room the entire time.  She actually has a desk set up in there where she also does her office/paperwork.  Once you start to deliver the baby, she is the one who does the delivery. She does have an assistant come in for that portion, and an anethesiologist comes in if you have an epidural, but no one else if you are having a complication-free birth.  Of course, if there are complications, there are two or three doctors there that will become active with the delivery.

That brings me back to my overall assessment.  "It will be different, but it will be OK."  We're not doing this in a field in some third world country.  We're doing it in the number one country in the world (according to Newsweek), the country with one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world (and well ahead of the US), and one of the lowest maternal mortality rates in the world (again, well ahead of the US).  It will be different, but it will be OK . . . 

   

Last night's journey

Mike and I took a walk last night to an area of town called Ruoholahti.  It's a new area that has a lot of big corporate offices, new apartment buildings, and a few shops and restaurants.  Mike said parts of it remind him of Bethleham, Pennsylvania, because they have taken old factories and redeveloped them into a new, hip, current area.  It's about 2 kilometers from our an apartment, so easily walkable.

You may recall a few posts back that I said the Finns love all things American.  Within two minutes of stepping outside our front door, we saw both of these cars.  The first is a Chevy Impala, and it needs a bit of work, but overall, it's in pretty good shape.

 The second is a mid-60s Volkswagen Bug.  Now, I know that's a German car, but think of how often you see Bugs of that vintage in the US.  I suspect this one actually came from the US and not Germany.  The reason I have surmised that is because when we picked up our car a week and a half ago, the shipper told me that they actually import more old cars from America than current ones (there were a bunch of old cars waiting in the parking lot to be picked up).  Finns love to get cars from the US and restore them.  The most popular?  1967 Ford Mustang.  I haven't seen one, yet, but I am keeping my eyes open.  Maybe you see more of them in the summer when the weather is better.

Our first stop on our walk was at an electronics store called Verkkokauppa.  I HATE this store.  The store is set up unlike any store I've ever seen.  Almost the entire store is set up by brand, instead of by product.  So, you want to buy a washing machine?  You have to go to the Samsung area and look at their washing machines, then you have to go to the LG area and look at their washing machines, etc.  Coffee pots?  They were in about six different places.  The Finns have a reputation for being horrible at customer service, which has not been our experience, at all.  Except this store.  It is not designed for the customer, yet there were lots of people shopping.  Mike suspects that each of the product manufacturers actually lease space from the store and that is why it is designed this way.  Of course, Nokia has a large section, so I told Mike he needs to find the person at Nokia who manages the relationship to find out WHY!  I also said we will not buy anything there unless the product is not available anywhere else in the country in an effort to not encourage the business model!!  My first Finland boycott, joining the list of In 'n Out, Wal-Mart, etc.  I guess I feel like I am at home :)

 Avoid this store!

We also visited the hardware store in the same mall.  Smaller than a Home Depot, but bigger than an Ace.  We found a store very similar to Home Depot in Espoo, so we're in good shape if we need to build anything!  Our final stop was at a gym called Elixia.  We signed up and bought some personal training sessions.  We're really looking forward to getting back into the routine of going to a gym and training.  The gym is brand new and much nicer than the Planet Fitness gym we belonged to at home (and the price tag shows it).  I am sure the personal training won't be as fun as with Ray and George at the The Training Floor, but we'll have a go at it.  Time to pump some iron!  
 

A Tour of Helsinki

When Mike and I were here 3 years ago, we took a bus tour of the city.  Yesterday, I was able to join some parents and friends of the International School of Helsinki (ISH) and do the same tour again.  It was a good refresher.  Though a European capital with close to a million people in the metropolitan area, Helsinki is one of those cities that you can feel like you can see in just a few days. 

The highlights of the tour are the Rock Church (Temppeliaukion Kirkko) and the monument to the composer Jean Sibelius.  The Rock Church is amazing.  The site for the church was selected many years ago and instead of quarrying the rock out of the hill and then building the church, the church was built into the rock.  Many of the inside walls are the actual rock and the roof is made of copper.  The acoustics are supposed to be excellent and there are often concerts performed there.  I picked up the schedule and hope we'll be able to go to a performance this fall.  Read more here about the Rock Church.

Outside the Rock Church on a very dreary day

Inside the Rock Church

The other stop on the tour is a monument to composer Jean Sibelius (read more about Sibelius).  He is Finland's most famous composer and his most famous composition is called Finlandia.  He is definitely one of Finland's favored sons.  The monument consists of hundreds of steel pipes welded together.  According to the info on the tour, the monument is designed to recall the trees in the forest.  According to Wikipedia, the monument's design is to capture the essence of Sibelius' music.  Also, an interesting fact from Wikipedia is that a very similar work by the same artist is at the UN headquarters in NYC.  One of my tri-state area readers will need to go and check it out!

Monument to Jean Sibelius

After the tour, my new friend Jaime and her son Brayden and I had lunch at Cafe Strindberg on the Esplanadi.  Cafe Strindberg is another Helsinki institution, but unfortunately, they are in a building attached to a mall and with the mall's renovations that start in a few weeks, the Cafe will close.  Apparently, this summer, there were many protests and even several country politicans got involved to save the Cafe.  Time marches on though, and the Cafe is due to close at the beginning of October.  I am glad I have had a few opportunities to enjoy it.

Some things are the same, some are not

This weekend was all about driving, shopping (see previous post, we "Said Yes to Boston!"), and unpacking.  Yesterday was my first turn at the wheel since we got the Murano just over a week ago.  Mike has been driving to work each day, but I hadn't yet ventured out.  Yesterday was the day.  We had to start with getting a fill up of gas.  Luckily, we live across the street from a gas station.  We rolled in and filled it up (the gas light was on, so we knew we'd need a FULL tank).  To fill up the Murano (about 18 gallons) we spent 97.49 Euros, which is $123.58 cents.  Are you kidding me???  I could fill up almost 3 times in Stamford for that amount of money!  Mike suggested today that maybe we go for a drive next weekend.  No way, we can't afford it!

Our outing took us to Espoo, a Helsinki suburb and Ikea.  Ikea is pronounced differently than in the US.  The Finns say it like this:  Ick-yuh.  Other than that, exactly the same as home.  Forced path through the store, almost the same food in the cafeteria, and you still can't pronounce the product names!  It's comforting going somewhere that is just the same.  Sticking to that theme, because the line was so long in the cafeteria, we decided to have lunch at the McDonald's across the street.  Mike likes to try McDonald's in different countries just to see how much the same/different they are.  The menu here was pretty much the same, but the number of flies was far greater.  This was not the cleanest McDonald's I have ever been to, to say the least, and I won't be returning.  Ronald would not have been proud.  We then went to the local electronics store called Giganti.  It's like a Best Buy on a much smaller scale.  This was our second trip in a week and we picked up a few necessities.  Like when we are at home, we can always find something to buy in an electronics store.

 Ikea in Espoo, Finland.  It was a very rainy day.

We finished up Saturday evening watching the History channel and some of the documentaries about 9/11.  I bet this is similar to the way some of you also spent time on Saturday.  Hard to believe it has been 9 years.

Today, we got most of our unpacking complete.  Our living room and dining room look very similar to how they did in Stamford.  We have our many of our favorite things and it really feels like home in those rooms.  In addition, we have 3 very small bedrooms with very small closets and they aren't completely unpacked, yet. 

A little info about our apartment set-up (pictures to come soon).  One bedroom will be used as a sitting room and Mike will have full use of that closet.  We have an American TV and DVD player in there (more about that in a future post) and the couch folds out into a bed (visitors welcome!).  The second bedroom, though the smallest, is our master bedroom.  We have a queen size bed with two nightstands.  I purchased this bed set for my Stamford condo and we used it in our guest room at home.  The room is so small, the matching dresser does not fit and is being used as a TV stand in the sitting room.  We are not talking large furniture here, people.  I have full use of this closet (please note, it is smaller than Mike's!).  The third bedroom is going to be an office/baby room.  Right now, we have a desk, chair, and cabinet.  We're going to need to add the baby gear and not sure how we're going to do it.  We have some time to figure it out . . .  I see some Marimekko fabric in here and am really looking forward to decorating it! 

Unpacking the office and all of our clothes is an overwhelming task, at this point.  We both brought too many clothes.  We even donated lots to Goodwill before leaving, but we still have too much stuff.  Luckily, we have a storage area in the basement of the building and can put lots of things in there.  In a bit of irony, we don't have anywhere near the closet space we need for clothes, but I have empty kitchen cabinets with everything in there already unpacked.  Don't be surprised if you come for a visit, go looking for a plate or glass, and find a sweater!

We finished the day with our shopping trip at Stockmann taking advantage of all the "Say Yes to Boston" goodies.  It was fun to stock up, and I know we'll definitely be glad to have some of those treats during winter.  We'll have to work on a ration plan!