Friday, August 03, 2007

Friday Flashback: Monimutkainen (complicated) Edition...

It's yet another "lazy" Friday Flashback. This week, I'm going back to...

...last Friday!

OK...I know...pretty lame! However, I have a good excuse for not blogging over the past week or so because I've been recuperating from minor, elective, "man" surgery. I won't get into the graphic details, but let's just say that a bag of frozen peas and some baggy swimming trunks came in handy last Friday. OK?

...'nuff said!

And what does one do on a Friday evening after having surgery on a Friday morning? Well...have some Finnish relatives (Jorma, Leena, and Otto) you haven't seen in five years over for a BBQ, of course!

Here's the monimutkainen (I'm trying to use that word a lot because I just learned it last weekend and I don't want to forget it!) part:

Jorma and my mom are first cousins which makes him a blood-relative of mine.

Leena is married to Jorma; not a blood relative of mine.

Otto is Jorma and Leena's son (...and my godson) which makes him my second cousin (pikkuserkku, in Finnish) according to this chart I found on the internet.

My question is: What does one call how I'm related to Jorma? First-and-a half cousin?

Regardless...I guess the four of us are truly related by the fact that we all have 100% Finnish blood! Sorry, Mrs. TBF...

We had a really nice get-together. The last time we saw each other was in Finland five years ago, and it was great having them all on our "turf". Who would have thought five years ago that Mrs. TBF and I would still be living in Switzerland? Not us, that's for sure!

The five of us sat up on the rooftop and enjoyed a beautiful evening; clear, warm, and breezy. Fortunately, for Mrs. TBF, Jorma and Leena speak English very well, so I didn't have to act as interpreter the entire evening. As a matter of fact, I had to make an effort to speak in Finnish with Jorma and Leena because I noticed at times that they would speak to me in English even when Mrs. TBF wasn't around, and I need to practice my Finnish every chance I get!

So...two sets of Finnish relatives in one month.

Who's next?

2 comments:

Michael Lehet said...

I keep forgetting how TALL you are!

Sorry to hear about the surgery, at least you knew it was coming : -)

Sirmelja said...

I'm pretty sure you and Jorma are 1st cousins once removed. Glad to hear about the international family fun.