I have had many nicknames, some of them are a little too silly and embarrassing to write down at the moment. But this past week, I’ve been given a nickname that I have a love/hate relationship with. Snow White. I dislike it because of its negative connotation of my lack of tan from being in the winter for so long. However, I also love it because it also was used to describe the fact that wild animals seem to love coming up and saying hello to me. For example, there were three hares maybe a touch more than 4 meters from me while I was heading back home from a long walk. I stopped and looked at them without eye contact and they in unison decided to scamper in zigzags over to me, they sniffed at my feet, looked up at me, and then ran off together. These interactions with nature have encouraged me to take more photographs of what I see around me when I’m out and about.
One funny thing happened yesterday that I feel is a great representation of the Finnish character. I was given a lollipop and my brother some candy by a fundraiser I couldn’t catch the name of while my dad, brother, and I were walking through town. Of course, I happily accepted and popped it straight into my mouth. A few minutes later, I find this little girl in a stroller rolling by, she too had a lollipop. She so very nonchalantly raised her lollipop and her eyebrow with a little smile in a way of saying cheers. It’s hard to describe how comical this (probably) three year old’s expression was- but it did make my day; I am sure I will remember this every time I reflect back to my time in Finland.
