tasapaino

that means balance.

In the last few weeks, I have:

--gained a working knowledge of underwater rugby. in short summary, it's basketball on the bottom of a 4-metre diving pool, augmented with bruises and incredibly dorky helmets. the team is fourteen mismatched boys and girls, ranging from age ten to age twenty. i don't understand a word of the coaches' instructions, so i thrash about and adjust my snorkel a lot.

--lost my breath. just thinking about slipping into that pool makes my lungs contract a bit, but you bet i'm going back next week.

This is the gist of it. Most players don't stare so lovingly into each others' eyes though.

--obtained a black leather jacket, so i am three and a half steps closer to being a european teenager.

--misplaced my only hoodie, which means i am rained on at least twice a day. on the rare afternoon that I come out of class and it isn't drizzling, i swing my legs over my bike to go home and suddenly the clouds condense. finnish autumn is lovely.

--found a dance partner for the vanhojen tanssit, or old dance. in February, the 2nd year students kick the third years off school grounds after their matriculation exams, and celebrate their ascension to senior royalty by holding a traditional waltz-and-tux ball... with the entire town watching on bleachers around the dance floor. traditionally the girls ask the boys, so i walked up to him by the paper cutter in our art class. he accepted, didn't even cut my finger off.  

--parted with far too many euros for a dress for said dance. if you were wondering, it's blue.

--gained an appreciation for reindeer meat. it's excellent with black-currant jam.

--lost all respect for Finnish candy manufacturers. anything remotely spherical is labelled "balls". these aren't innocent cinnamon fireballs or jawbreakers. We're talking "Donkey Balls -- super sweet, double trouble!" or, for a touch of the exotic, Camel Balls. 

"Extra Sour and Liquid Filled". Appetizing.

--broadened my Finnish repertoire of greetings and swear words to include grammar points. did you know the verb "to have" doesn't exist in their language: you simply modify "to be"? No, really though, my Finnish is getting better every day. 

--wasted three hours every week in Finnish for Foreigners lessons. at the speed of two pages per 1.5 hour session, we have just made it through the letters and numbers. Once we get past words I learned in March the class will be fascinating...but until then, I read the posters of Justin Bieber facts on our classroom walls (Finnish for Foreigners is held in a middle-school English room) and try to make my Canadian friend giggle disruptively.

She holds it in, mostly.

I really think my gains outweigh my losses.