What I've Learned: A List

This list is, of course, incomplete.

1) Prolonged exposure to a language will, accompanied by a minimal amount of effort, result in progress. If you don't allow plateaus to discourage you, you'll burst through them when you least expect it.
2) People here regard Americans as, above all else, "friendly" and prone to "small talk" (i.e. loud and vacuous). Thanks, Hollywood.
3) I've never met a Hungarian I didn't instantly like.
4) Making friends is hard, and I'm horrible at it.
5) I'm outgrowing video games, but I still long for when I used to play tabletop RPGs with my friends on hot summer days. Sometimes, we'd even pack a picnic and set up shop in a public park, like a roving band of nerd-hippies. Video games do not require friends, though (see no. 4).
6) It's not hard to take decent photographs if you have a decent camera. I always feel a little weird when people compliment my pictures, as I have very little skill in any of the areas that separate the photographers from the wannabes. I take pictures because it passes the time, and gets me out and about.
7) Despite loving Finland for a whole host of reasons, I don't really feel at home here. Not yet, at least.
8) I love winter, so long as the temperature stays below freezing.
9) Since getting rid of my car before moving to Lappeenranta, I have not missed driving even slightly. I actually consider it a luxury to be able to walk and ride public transit anywhere I need to go.
10) I haven't seen nearly enough of Finland. I'm thinking of traveling somewhere over hiihtoloma, perhaps to Turku.
11) I really, desperately miss working with "at-risk teens". Should I become a social worker?
12) I'm thinking of learning to program so that I can study at LUT.
13) While I decided what the hell I want to do with my life here, I'm going to try and teach English as much and as often as possible. I'd actually like the chance to teach a beginners' course because, well, I'm a freak with a passion for grammar.
14) This describes my current state far better than it should. Not quite sure what to do about it, though.
15) I need to become braver and more adventurous so that I can write interesting things as opposed to self-indulgent things. 

Pliis!

Winter is beautiful when it's cold. 

I noticed this article while browsing Yle recently. It discusses the word "pliis", a recent loanword derived from the English "please". After reading it, I decided to address the subject of English's ever-increasing presence in the Finnish language with my class last Tuesday. It was pretty fascinating, though perhaps more so for me than for my students.

First, their impression of the word "pliis" itself seemed less than favorable. The article mentions "pissikset", or vapid teen girls, a group with which the members of my class seemed to immediately associate the word's usage. A few people also mentioned the pleading tone these pissikset deploy.

"Pliis" assimilated only one of the many meanings belonging to its English counterpart because, I think, that's all it's needed for. Finnish conditional verb forms allow for polite requests and the like, and "ole hyvä" can be used as an interjection in polite commands. (For instance: istu, ole hyvä/sit, please.) All that's left is the entreating, solicitous "please!" used when one is in a desperate state.

I then asked them to think of a few other English loanwords. My favorite was "hipsteri", which I'd never heard before, yet is so very obvious. The word "delata" (slang: to die) was also mentioned, but I'm not certain of its etymology. Anyone care to weigh in?

[Lastly, a friend sent me this deliciously sacrilegious video, and I laughed. [It contains the word "delata".]] 

Pictures suit me better than words at the moment.

I arrived back in Finland just in time to see the year change. I had wanted to see the fireworks down by the harbor, but I was far too tired after a long day of travel and gallivanting around Helsinki.

All this travel, however, is way too expensive and too bittersweet. I won't be returning to Connecticut for a while, since I need to plant my feet firmly in the Finnish soil.

Anyway, here are some more pictures from my lovely trip.

An old dirt road near my house that leads to the former site of a congregational church. 

Winter actually happened this year. 

My farewell dinner, courtesy of my dad. If you must know, I housed the lobster and left the steak. Dad'll have steak sandwiches. 

I became an aunt while home, and had a chance to meet my nephew. Photo taken by the new mother herself. 

Sushi in CT. 

Sushi in Helsinki. 

Cafe in Helsinki. Trying not to fall asleep whilst musing about moving to a bigger city. 

I'm hungry and jet lagged, which might be obvious from my choice of photos. Still, I'm here, and I'm here to stay. It's time to begin making the most of my life in Finland.