It is said that the Finnish and Russian language are among the hardest to learn. From what I have seen, I agree. We are picking up a few words here and there, but we find that we can usually just say "English" and they are able to speak English pretty well with us. However, we still find ourselves in situations where we look for contextual cues to survive.
There are lots of activities listed in the newspaper, the problem is, it is in Finnish. We have been trying to immerse ourselves in the community here and I have made a few Finnish friends who have recommended activities for us. Today, I took Alayna to a gymnastic class. We showed up not knowing anyone. The teacher gave all commands in Finnish and Alayna did her best to just follow what the others were doing. I too have devised a strategy. I find a mom who looks the nicest and then make my move. I introduce myself and explain how I just moved here from America. I then ask her to translate for me. I find that strategy to work most of the time and they seem to enjoy the interaction as well.
Tonight, the kids and I met a group of my husband's co-workers at the restaurant where we have already become regulars. It was nice to be among Americans, some we knew, others we just met. For a moment, I almost forgot we were in Finland.
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