Random thoughts

So I've been somewhat distracted by life lately, and have been remiss with my postings.  My apologies to all.  Brian and I spent the weekend walking up and down the streets of Helsinki's shopping areas in order to get a feel for what's out there.  What's out there are many, many clothing and jewelry shops, about what you'd expect for a big city. 

We needed to find printer paper and finally asked a clerk where he buys his, as we were having no luck.  He suggested book stores.  Really? OK, so we tried a bookstore and sure enough, that is where one gets office supplies. This is a bit unusual to me, but it sort of makes sense.

The thing I am noticing a lot is the manner of dress here in Finland.  As a woman, you would expect this.  Anyway, people in Helsinki tend to dress up whenever they go out.  Even casual dress looks put together.  Never really having lived in a cosmopolitan city before, I don't know if this is a city thing or a Finnish thing.

By the way, I am told that the use of the word "Finn" is perfectly acceptable when referring to a Finnish person.

Now let's talk elevators and escalators.  Escalator are really cool here.  They are the same as in the USA, but they are set to slow down and then stop when not in use.  I am still fooled by this when coming to a stopped escalator;  the first thing I think is "just my luck, I'll have to climb it", but when I go to step onto it, it starts up!  Really cool. 

The elevators are another matter.  In bigger, newer buildings like department stores the elevators are pretty standard, but in older buildings they are small, like two people, if you like the other person small.  I exaggerate, you can usually cram a third person in, but it is cramped.  Still, personal space here is a lot different than I'm used to.  Which is to say that I'm not sure that it exists at all, it surely is not respected as far as I can tell. I experience this mostly in public transportation and elevators.

So that's it for now, just a few random thoughts.  I have to get ready for dinner tonight, as we are going out with one of Brian's co-workers.  I don't know where we will take him, but it should give me more to talk about in my next posting.  Until later.