Finnish Relatives

I saw quite a few of my relatives while in Finland.

My grandmother had 16 children. Two of them died as infants, and three have passed away in the past few years. Of the other eleven, two (including my father) live in North America, and the other nine live in Finland. Of the nine who live in Finland, eight of them (one aunt couldn't make it because her husband was in the hospital) made it to a family get-together we had at my one aunt's house.

I tower over almost all of my relatives. I say "almost" because my dad has one brother who got most of the "big" genes in his family - my Uncle Laijo. Just look at his forearms! They're like logs!!! They make mine look like toothpicks. I wish I'd had a tape measure because I'm betting that his forearms are bigger than my thighs! Incidentally, when I was in Finland in 1966 as I was approaching four years old, I used to hang from his index finger!

After our little reunion, we stopped at the house where my dad was born. I told him I wanted to physically touch it (which I did) - something I hadn't done since 1966! As we walked back to the car, my dad pointed to the corner of the house where he was born.

I thought that was pretty cool.

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?

Finnish R-r-r-r-relatives...

...visit Switzer-r-r-r-land!

My relatives from Finland were here last weekend for a three-night stay. It was a short (but activity-packed) visit, and a great opportunity for me to practice my Finnish which gets a little rusty when unused for long periods of time. I'm happy to report that my "lazy" tongue is once again in prime, Finnish "r" rolling form.

We spent the afternoon of their (my Aunt Liisa, my cousin Jaana and her son Pyry, and Jaana's husband Juha) arrival touring Basel. On Friday morning, after a good-sized breakfast, the five of us (Mrs. TBF had to work) drove up to one of my favorite towns in the Alsace - Riquewihr. Of course, we weren't really super hungry since we had finished eating breakfast only a couple of hours earlier, but that didn't stop us from wolfing down a mammoth lunch. Oh...and not too many hours after lunch, we managed to wolf down a barbecued turkey and some duck breasts.

Ahhhhh...behold the power of the Finnish appetite!!!

On Saturday, we five Finns drove down to Luzern (after another filling breakfast) and took the lifts up to the top of Pilatus. Mrs. TBF would have come along, but she...um...felt it was necessary to stay behind and do some grocery shopping.

Pilatus is always a nice day-trip. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day everywhere...except for at the very peak of Pilatus - which was chilly and shrouded in clouds. However, the fun was in the journey...as "they" say. We did manage a couple of good pictures at the summit during momentary breaks in the clouds, and then it was time to head back down and...back to Basel where Mrs. TBF had prepared yet another gut-buster of a meal.

Yes, the rolling-Rs are back, and Mrs. TBF actually mastered pronouncing Pyry's name by Sunday afternoon.

All in all, it was a r-r-r-really g-r-r-r-reat weekend!

Hmmm...

Now that I look at the pictures:

Why is it that Juha (the only non-blood-relative of the group) is the one who most resembles me?