Be Prepared to Slip and Fall in Finnish Winter

I'm sitting in the sun.

Today and yesterday are rare sunny days in Finnish November. To my surprise, first snow fell on such sunny days.

Yes, it snowed last night!

It's the first time I've seen snow. It was so much like rain. Snowflakes felt like rain drops when they touched my hands. Well, they're both water.

A thin layer of snow has covered the ground when I got up. The sun shines bright. What a beautiful day.

First layer of snow in Lahti 2025. From our backyard.

14.11.25

But to be honest, I'm afraid of winter. Of the slippery icy ground. In fact, I just fell off the bike the other night. It rained, I was riding on a slope and made a swift turn. Onneksi, I was wearing 3 pants and thick gloves so my knee wasn't scratched much and my palm was just bruised. Thanks pants and gloves.

I took amazingly good care of my wound and bruises, following proper first-aid instructions for the first time in my life. I realized that I have been doing it wrong and no adult around me in Vietnam ever showed me the right way. They always said, "Ignore it and it'll heal itself."

They apply the idea to any kind of pain. They ignore any problem and hope it goes away.

So, I grew up like them and I have many ugly scars that took so long to heal.

Longest Finnish Word I've Remembered: maahanmuuttajille

Maahanmuuttajille.

So proud 👏 I couldn't stop repeating it the whole day.

It's technically a word in Finnish but translates to a phrase in English, "for immigrants".

Today witnessed the first time I could recall and write it down correctly. It was a "wow" moment. I was surprised by myself - my brain. It worked up some magic and finally memorized this long jumble of letters.

I first saw this word on the cover of a dictionary I liked so much and already blogged about. I didn't remember exactly how long ago so I looked up the post and I was surprised again that I saw it only around June. 

So, it took my brain 5 months, not to only remember the letters but also to understand why they're that way. Not bad. Ei ole pahaa.

Another cool thing I discovered from the post was that I wrote the word wrong. haha. Of course.

On Lahti's 120th Birthday

I never knew Finns throw birthday parties for their cities.

They even make birthday cake.

My city has strawberry cake this year.

I love its vibrant color.

I love its sourness that balanced out sweetness.

Lahti's 120th Birthday Cake. Photo: Linh Vu.

They also play live music every night on the birthday week.

Hubby Pig and I will go watch a water organ show tonight.

City Hall and all city museums were open for free yesterday.

We visited history and art museums.

I thought I would have enjoyed art more than history but it was the opposite.

I learned some interesting things at Lahden Historiallinen Museo.