Kingfisher & Wombat: Eeee! Finncon has given me a Moomin collection of my very own!

Good morning, Finland! My last full day here, and we have gone to see the new church, which is a mere 200 years old.

This statue is carrying the jawbone of a pike, which is significant in Finnish mythology. A great sage made the zither from the jawbone of a pike that was hundreds of kilometers long and fed half the country.

It would help if I posted the photo!

This led to a discussion of singing. “In Finnish,” our guide says, “it does not matter if you sing badly so long as you sing loud.” I may have been separated from this country at birth.

Moved on to a discussion of reindeer. Reindeer is expensive, so usually eaten once or twice a year. There is apparently a saying among the Sami, reindeer are sold, the reindeer hybrids are eaten. (I’m not clear on what they hybridize with. Wild deer, which I think means what we call caribou?)

It’s raining heavily. I asked one of my guides what the equivalent of “raining cats and dogs.” She coughed, looked around for children, and said, “It’s raining like it’s coming from Esteri’s…behind.” Esteri, I am told, is just a name, possibly like Bob in “Bob’s your uncle.”

“I really like Jackalope Wives,” my guide says. “It was the best story I read that year. And I do not give compliments easily. I am a Finn.”

We have ordered traditional Finnish kebab.

I have been defeated after barely scarring the kebab’s surface. I may need a blanket and a nap.

Eeee! Finncon has given me a Moomin collection of my very own!

I watched a puppet theatre (?) show of the Moomins on TV when I was a little kid, and I was so scared of the Sad Platypus (forgot her actual name, she's on this cover in the background).

She's the Groke! "Mörkö" in Finnish.

Oh, yes! Apparently, her German name is "Morra."

The Groke? Who freezes everything she touches? She is suuuper scary (at least until the next-to-last book when she becomes a little bit sympathetic)

Scary? You want something actually scary? Here's Jäärouva (Madame Ice)!!! youtu.be/Ojp0RLVq0wI?...

Muumilaakson tarinoita jakso 22 - Muumipeikon ja Pikku Myyn talvinen seikkailuyoutu.be HD-version on tehnyt Suap!Jakso 22/104. Muumipeikko herää kesken talviunien ja lähtee kävelylle ulos. Hän törmää matkalla Pikku Myyhyn, joka on laskemassa mä...

My partner and I are reading the books together and we just finished that one! It was very sad when she encountered the squirrel. 🐿️ 🧊

I think she is really quite depressed and lonely, right? On the show she moved very strangely and slowly, and I was like four or so? It just scared me. I didn't understand that she might have issues herself.

Little Mae? Yeah I don't blame you LOL

Oh wait I missed "in the background" -- don't know that ones name. Silly joke wrong forever 😋

I only vaguely remember Little Mae - I think she is called "Kleine Müh" where I come from. But apparently the one I mean is called The Groke, at least in English.

OH YEAH, The Groke!!! Yeah god ok I don't blame little you for being terrified of the Groke lolol

That might be a filyjonk. If the Groke were on set, everyone else would be x-eyed frozen.

About the jacket: "If you haven't forgotten anything, you have probably forgotten something." 😀

Also: your hotel (GLO Hotel Airport) is indeed the one that is literally inside the airport premises.

Now called "Comfort Hotel Xpress Helsinki Airport Terminal".

Volume 1 of 10 or so, IIRC (I got volumes 1-2 last year). But it's strong right out of the gate.

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