Häät keväällä

Haven't posted in awhile, haven't taken many photos because I've been so busy since I...got married! That's right, Niko and I went to maistraatti Friday morning (8th), had a nice short and sweet ceremony and so now everything is official. We had a fantastic meal at Rosso's and had some profi photos taken at the lake where Niko proposed to me and relaxing sauna in the evening.

Since then, life has been a flurry of forms, deadlines, trying to figure out what needs to be done before form a can be filled out and whether form b needs copies at the same time as form a or if we should wait until form a gets approved, and then there's form c which needs to be filled out together, etc, etc, etc. There have been many walks to the library to make copies and print-outs.We also put in our bids for apartments in August-should be interesting!

The most interesting forms so far have been the residence permit ones. Finland requires that both Niko and I have separate forms to fill out and our answers should match (well, why wouldn't they). Even though he fills his out in Finnish and I am filling mine in English. It asks the basic information: name, address, background, how long have you been here, but then there are questions about how Niko and I met, when I have visited, in which languages we communicate in. And in the end I get to write my own essay to convince them I am a good candidate for resident permit. It's possible they just approve me based on the paperwork or there's a chance that we will be required to go in for an in person interview. If approved, I get a permit for one year and then can renew it every year thereafter. Wish us luck!

In weather news, it is much warmer here and the snow is melting! I actually went outdoors for the first time without my heavy woolen coat and the walking paths (well 85% of them) are free of snow so soon I can actually retire my snow boots and wear...sneakers!

For a bit of entertainment, enjoy this video of my cell phone service provider, Saunalahti.
It's astounding the number of Finns who think this is a real advertisement until the end...

Mistä minä saan oman laamaessun? ... Where can I get my own llama apron???

spring: kevät
wedding: häät
married: naimisissa
lake: järvi
where from: mistä
to get: saada
llama: laama

t. Kati