It's all good

What do you think about the phrase, “it’s all good”? I kind of like it. I like it a lot more than, for example, “no problem”, or “for reals”. I like the idea that even when life isn’t quite going your way, you can handle it, or find the silver lining, or put up with what’s going on temporarily.

I feel that way about this year, literally: it’s all been good. This year? Yes – it’s been a year already. (OK, cheating a little: it’s been an academic year, 10 months.) In less than 24 hours, I’ll lock up my apartment for the summer and head for the US. It’s unreal (for reals) that the year is over, and I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t turned in grades today and had end-of-year coffee with three of my colleagues yesterday. One Swede (who, unlike me, did not feel this year was “all good”, and so she’s going back to her homeland), one Finn, one Canadian and I had a relaxing couple of hours in the “Taitokortteli”, the charming wooden house full of shops where local craftspersons sell their creations and where anyone can learn to weave. I had a very Finnish-looking piece of cake to celebrate this year: mostly crust and cream with red currants, strawberries and cherries on top.

This year has been something like that cake: it was all good. Even the month of February (probably the red currants) had its positive aspects (like the fact that it was a short month). But with the constant sunlight (even between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. it never quite gets dark) and the warm temperatures, it’s hard to remember what February felt like. I got all my classes taught and received positive evaluations (even some enthusiastic ones!); I spent two weeks teaching in other countries; I gave two conference papers. So I survived the year and did not make my boss regret hiring me. A victory!

 I suppose it’s traditional to do a retrospective of a year like this by talking about what you’ve learned. So here are my top ten, in no particular order.

1. Home really is where the heart is. So trite, so true. My little apartment here has all of a sudden started feeling like home. I’m looking forward to coming back here. I’m not sure when this transformation took place. Perhaps when I started booking my tickets to go back to the US?

2. The US is not the center of the world. I have intentionally not read US newspapers while I’ve been here. (OK, I cheat once in a while.) And although the US is a huge and powerful country, not everyone pays attention to everything happening there. 

3. “Ever after” may be one of the most harmful phrases ever created. I think I’ve been at my most anxious when I’ve been wondering if I’ll stay here “ever after” when I might actually not have been anxious at all if I had stayed in the moment and noticed how high the quality of life is here. The air is pristine. (Well, not today – a building went up in flames north of town and it smelled like burning tires for a while.) The water is delicious. I can walk through the woods anytime I like. My stress level is low. I don’t own a car. I could go on and on.

4. National stereotypes must be taken with a grain of salt. I’ve known this for a long time, but this year has really brought it home. Finns come in all flavors. I know very reserved ones, very boisterous and loud ones, kind ones, ones who love the US, ones who never want to set foot there, conservatives and liberals and the apolitical. There are cultural norms but these aren’t related to personality. If I weren’t so tired, I’d embroider on this subject for a while. A later blog post, surely.

5. I’m too darned hard on myself. Make me come back and read this later on, please? I feel like the laziest person in the world when I am relaxing on my red velvet couch unless I'm working on at least two projects at the same time. I need to schedule down time more than anyone I know. Next year I must make sure this happens. Please remind me.

6. I need contact with nature to thrive. I never noticed it as clearly as this year while living in a second-floor apartment with no balcony.

7. Connections with other people are the most precious thing we have, and the Internet can keep those connections going in very nurturing ways. What would I have done this year without Skype, Facebook, e-mail and blogging? The recent revelations about the NSA’s surveillance activities cast a pall on this, of course…

8. I can do this. And, in fact, I did it.

9.  Finnish is still the most difficult language I’ve ever tried to learn. But I don’t have to chalk it off as a lost cause. It’s getting better, slowly.

10. It’s not hopeless till you’ve lost your sense of humor, and I don’t think I’ve lost mine yet.

I may continue this blog over the summer or return in the fall. In any case, thank you for joining me on this strange journey. I think I’ll go have a Karjalan piirakka now, since it may be a while till my next one.