Thanks!

After years of abuse on 9, The West Wing will now get treated well on ABC, but somehow I doubt that they'll pick up Survivor! Still, we can hope....

Channel 9 seems to be going down the tubes in a big way. Someone I know got a letter back from them, in response to his questioning when they will be showing Survivor, and it basically said it will be "some months". Screw them. No wonder they have so many people switching to other channels.

Libellule, Survivor Exile Island will screen here starting Tuesday, 28 March. That will mean Australia is about 7 eps behind the US, so I'm just going to keep downloading it.

Hey yall!

But Australia will catch up due to our weeks off for NCAA coverage, so you'll probably see the finale only a month after we do in the states.

Hi Woodlock! Got any Elfin' Magic going on? :) How's everything your way?

I'm having surgery next Wednesday to remove my ovary. I had a hysterectomy several years ago and they left one of my ovaries so I wouldn't go into menopause too soon. Now the dang thing has attached itself to my pelvic wall. I actually can't wait to have it done and have this horrible, horrible pain gone. When I had the hysterectomy done, I felt better the minute I woke up, so I'm looking forward to the same thing this time. :) Prayers would be greatly appreciated.

This place has been awfully quiet for awhile. I promise that I got rid of all the rats and cockroaches!!

netful, you poor thing! You're in my prayers, for sure. Hope the surgery makes you feel better.

An announcement from the Bee household - we have a new kitty! We adopted a lovely young lady cat (~2 years old) from the Humane Society a week ago. She was identified as a "blue cream" color, but I think it's more accurate to call her a "dilute calico" - anyway, she's gray and pale orange, with some white. She's beautiful and sweet and playful and we already love her lots. We've named her Elizabeth Bennet and call her Lizzie.

We still miss Sierra, we'll always miss her and love her, but it's such a joy to have a feline presence in our lives again.

I've been alright Mama, just workin' and playin' :) I'm gonna try and find this salon where a former co-worker is now employed so I can get a hair cut and dye job, I'm going short and spikey with chestnut brown hair.

I hope it's not considered double posting when it's almost been a month :).
So yeah I'm going to NYC in July yay, I met a boy!!!!!!!

Aw hey guys... I know it's been forever and then some, but I'm back. I've caught up on all your bad things and good things, and my, it is quiet around these parts.

Special hello to Aussie and Woodlock

Hiya Mikka! Hows it going?
Yall guess what? I got my eyebrow peirced lol its so much fun! lol I'm so durnk right now haha.

Hey Mikka! Whatcha been doing, mate? It's been a very long time since you posted here. You're right, it is very quiet around here now.

Woody, we want pics!

Hey all! It's been one of those years...you know... radical shifts in life, new job, new town, new friends,,, and basically now, 5 months into it, wondering if any of this has been the right decision. Oh, and the personal life (not that I've ever let you in on much of it) still sucks. Not that I mean to get all cryptic, or anything.

So I missed lots of television, or just wasn't up to commenting about it as I was too busy wallowing in my own self-pity. It's much better to snark about tv lives than it is to feel sorry about my own, I'm starting to realize...

First of all, Happy Belated Birthday to Woodlock! I'm so sorry I missed it, Sweetie. Sometimes life just gets too much in the way. A new boy and NYC?! Terrific.

Yay for new kitties! I'm sure that Lizzie will be loads of fun, and I know she'll get more love than she can stand. You know how I love kitties, Tracy, so I'm thrilled for you. Of course Boodle and K.C. send their love your way.

Sorry I didn't get back here sooner about my surgery. I went in on Wednesday planning for laparoscopic surgery to remove my ovary, and came out on Saturday with a huge incision in my abdomen. Turns out that my ovary had attached to my bowel (explains all the pain) and they had to call another surgeon in to help out. Things went pretty well though. I had some minor complications and am still not allowed to really do anything. Normally, I wouldn't care about that, but I had plans to double my garden size this year. My dad came over and added about three feet to one end for me, but the rest will have to wait for next year. I'm planting tomatoes later this week.

Hi, mikkamtl. I used to post here constantly a long time ago, along with Woody and Tracy. I totally understand wallowing in self pity. I hope things get better for you. Making all those big life changes all at once had to be a shock to your emotional system. Let's hope that it turns out to be the right decision and the beginning of a happy, new life for you.

Oooh netful best wishes in your recovery, just remember to go at your own pace. Last summer I ruptured a disc and had to have surgery for that. Painful, painful times.

Woodlock I guess a belated happy birthday is in order. NYC sounds infinitely more exciting than my little hick town.

Awww...kittens. Mine isn't a kitten by any stretch of the imagination anymore, at least, not age wise, but she sure has her adorable baby moments.

Thanks MamaNet, and Mikka! and Mikka, you should try to live in a hick town in Texas lol.
K well for those of you with the myspace, its horribly addicting but you dont have it you need to get it and add me lol, and whogo here for pics of the elf! So yay lol I dunno, um later :)

Thanks for the good wishes about Lizzie, netful! She's such a joy. I realized this morning that we've had her less than two months, but MrBee and I already love her so much. She's exactly the cat we wanted, sweet and loving. mikka, she's not really a kitten, she's about two years old, but she's still a very much younger cat than our beloved Sierra was, and she's very active and playful. We give her a fuzzy mousie and she somersaults herself all over the living room playing with it.

And netful, thanks for checking in about your surgery, I was thinking about you recently and wondering how you were.

Hope your life turns around soon, mikka. *hugs*

Well, another one's done, folks. Personally, happy for the break, but hopping that CI will have better people on.

Thanks for the wishes, guys. The more I think about it, 10 months in hicktown is enough for me. I think I need to get back to the city. I mean, who the hell wants to live ina town where stores close at 6pm Monday through Wednesday?

How's the cat, Tracey?

Great pics, Woodlock!

Hick towns are never good Mikka, lol and yet I think I might be a little scared of cities because of growing up in hick town, :( it's no good at all. heh oh well I'll get by I think and out of the craphole one day.

So where is the new season going to be, please tell me we are done with the Pearl Islands for good, cause you know damn.

Very much agreed on that. I grew up in a smaller town myself--ok, in Finland, so actually the whole country's kind of small in terms of population-- and then ended up in a city way bigger than anything I'd ever lived in before. That was a little unnerving. Maybe my problem isn't with hick towns in general; maybe it's this jick town in particular.

The next one is Survivor: Cook Islands.

Finland? That's awesome! Mostly cause I have this love for Europe as a whole and nothing will take that away from me lol. All a guy really needs to do to sweep me off my feet is have even just a hint of an accent and I melt.

Zow, nette, that's almost exactly like what happened to me last summer, except for the attachment part. I didn't have a huge incision, but I was so wiped that I didn't get around to putting in plants until July. I'm so glad you feel better. But you might want to put the tomatoes in pots or up high - it took me forever to feel comfortable bending.

Anyhoo, stuff is up, but I'm just not chatty. Pooh.

Happy b-lated b-day, woody!

And cheers to everyone!

Is it true that in Finland kids don't go to school until they're 7 years old?

iMissEthan, we do start school at seven years of age. However, in the past 5-10 years, a program gaining in popularity has 6 year olds in what would be considered to be kindergarten in North America to prepare them for the shock of starting school so late.

Most people would be shocked by how a Finnish classroom works, to be honest. Children learn through student-led workshops, supervised, obviously by the teacher. The classes are also very active. There's not so much sitting down for hours on end listening to repetitive lectures. And we call our teacher's by their first names, primarily becase the Finnish language has no equivalent for Mr., Mrs. and Miss, other than a form which has gone unused for about 200 years.

Now, if I tell you that there is no grading, you'll be shocked. Either you get what is being taught, or you don't, at which point there is always extra help available. The failure rate is quite low, as is the drop-out rate, since it's compulsory to go all the way through to matriculation.

Hmm...I've rambled probably a little more than what you asked for, so I apologize. But I'll be happy to answer more questions if I've piqued anyone's curiosity.

And, Woodlock, I DO have an accent. ;-)

Thanks Miss Suction!

Mikka, is it getting hot in here or is it just me? lol

Y'all I got drunk last night, I know shocking on a friday night an all, but apparently at one point I passed out for a bit and my friends drew a mustash on me with a freaking sharpie, heh my friends are jerks, nah I shouldn't bad mouth too bad, I threw up last night cause I had tequila, and I don't even know why I do that cause I hate tequila, but yeah and so I didn't quite get all of it in the toilet so my friend's husband cleaned it up for me which is very nice. And I think I broke so many TMI rules in this paragraph lol.
Oh and putting on my shoes was like a 20 minute ordeal cause I wore like 3 inch platform boots, Suction knows of what I speak cause I was with her when I bought them lol.

Hey everyone - I've been MIA for awhile, just doing my own thing. Like Suction, I just haven't felt too chatty.

Mikka, I really like the Finish method of schooling! I think it's great that kids don't start school till they're 7 (here they usually start at 5, my youngest will start when he's 6). And I love that they call the teachers by their first names! Here, even in kindergartens, it's Miss So and So, and it all sounds way too formal for kids. As for living in a small town, I kind of miss that - we now live in a big city and it's just not the same.

Woody, what are we gonna do with you, mate? Have you sobered up yet or what?

Anyway, gotta run! Hope everyone is doing okay!

Mikka, don't apologize for rambling. I love hearing about other countries, and new people as well. :)

Woody, my son, you never fail to make me laugh. Any chance of a layover in Ohio when you go to New York? hee. I just want to give you a big old Mama hug. :)

Some friends came and moved my TV and some other stuff to the basement for me so I can summer there. It's so much cooler and I won't have to run the AC so much. Now I gotta go put everything in it's place. Y'all stop over for a cool drink or a cup of coffee!!

Bending over doesn't really bother me, Suction. I have a very high pain threshold. I guess that's what a chronic disease does for ya. hee I'm still getting completely wiped out whenever I try to do much. Good thing I don't have to really do anything but look after my kitties. I have the tomatoes planted and started with the Miracle Gro. My neighbor's grandson is here from Florida and I'm going to give him a few bucks to get the rest of the garden ready to plant. I've got Bush beans, peppers, cukes and lettuce. If I have room I'm also doing snap peas. I wanted to double my garden size this year, but the surgery took care of that. I'm just grateful not to have that awful ovary pain anymore.

It's a beautiful day here. I'm going to open all my windows and get busy on the basement.

We've had 10 straight days of rain up here, Netful. And it's cold. I didn't think that Southern Canada could have less interesting weather than Finland, but there you go. Winters are excrutiatingly cold here, and spring always takes forever to get going.

I'm experimenting with some container gardening this year, moreso than previously, since I have a bigger space. I'd actually love to get a real, in the ground garden going, but something tells me you need to own your own lawn for that ;-).

Aussie there must be some good to our schooling, because strange as it seems, we routinely end up at the top of various education system lists. I've been doing some ESL tutoring here with some kids, and I can safely say that I much prefer the way I learnt than the way things are taught here.

Wood, save a drink for me. I'm just about recovered from my birthday that I could handle something with a little kick to it. I guess when you make it over 30, it take a little more than a week to recover from a hangover.

Aussie, what's this sober you speak of lol. nah actually I only get drunk like once a week, so see I don't have a problem hee. It's just I have no car on Saturday mornings because it's located at friends houses cause you know, drunk.

Mama, you are just the sweetest thing ever!

Mikka, I don't think you need you're own lawn just you know make one around your work or at a local park or something, you can call it x-treme gardening, I dunno whats so extreme about it but it sounds good, also I got plenty so you are welcome to any drink you want, actually the bottles at home kinda stay full cause I don't drink at home lol.

What I heard is that school doesn't begin until 7 in Finland because it is more important for the child to bond to his/her family during these years, and all the school learning stuff can easily be picked up starting at 7.

I think this is a great idea in theory, but have a few questions about the practice. Is it common for there to be one parent who doesn't work who stays home for those 7 years? What about reading? Do children often enter school already knowing how to read due to being read to and picking it up on their own?

Single income families tend to be the exception and not the norm in Finland, primarily because of a very high cost of living. However, Finnish society has long held the view that women have the right to work outside the home (I hope that doesn't sound patronizing, I'm not sure how else to phrase it), and so the workforce is pretty equally split between men and women.

The government has made it much easier for two-income families as well. There is legislation inplace guaranteeing paid maternal and paternal leave after the birth of a child, non-discrimination clauses that forbid terminating employment because a mother is pregnant, or on maternal leave. There is also the possibility of child-care leave where either mom or dad can stay home with the child. All of these are funded by the high rate of taxation that's levied on us by the government, but most don't complain too much, because it really is a system that cares for you from the cradle to the grave.

Sorry for the long preface; that's to say that it's highly unusual to see one parent stay home full-time until the child starts going to school. There are numerous compromises that have been made between governments and trade unions and other employers so that a parent can work part time and spend some time with the child, but, failing that, day-care is also quite affordable and eligible to every family.

As far as reading before school, that's another one that vaires greatly on a case per case basis. . Parents read a lot to their children-- Finnish kidlit is quite wonderful and imaginative--and that is usually the starting point from which a child will want to learn. Many parents will teach their kids the basics of the language; thankfully, the language itself is phonetic, and it can be fairly easy to learn the sounds of each letter and put that together to form a word. So while it's not uncommon to see 6 year old children being able to read short sentences slowly, you have a much greater chance of finding a child who can count to one hundred without ever having been to school.

The idea behind starting school at seven may be based on allowing more quality time for children to enjoy being children, than it is to encourage bonding. The mentality is that as adults we have to spend so much time on the workforce, balancing home and careers, that the young ones should be able to enjoy that time for as long as possible. Compulsory education starts and 7, and lasts for 9 years only, yet in that time most Finnish kids manage to learn everything that kids in North America do in 12 years. Languages come to mind at this point: it's a bilingual country, so both Finnish and Swedish are taught from the first form. In 3rd form (it was in 5th form in my day, and only 1 extra language) they can choose to learn up to 3 more, and follow with those until graduation.

This is so neat! I love to hear how other countries and cultures do things, how I learned anything in Texas public schools is beyond me lol, but I used to be a huge book nerd and taught myself how to read when I was 2, but I've never really learned a second language, in college I thought I was enrolled in a French class and I went for two weeks and loved it but it turns out they don't like you going to school if you don't pay for it for some reason.

Whoops double posted sorry!

Fascinating mikkamtl. Besides Finnish, Swedish and English, do you speak any other languages? I hope this doesn't come off as patronizing, but your written English is perfect.

Did you watch Conan O'Brien when he was in Finland? They reran that episode the other day and I watched it again. It was some of his funniest work ever.

Mikka, please don't feel like you're talking too much, I love reading everything you've told us about your home country! I know shockingly little about Finland, except that the Finnish men's curling team kicked all kinds of butt (they won silver) at the Torino Olympics. I had a serious crush on the team's skip, Markku Uusipaavalniemi.

How do you like those names, Tracey? Translated, the family name means "newly formed cape". Many Finnish family names are dervied from land/water/nature origins-- mine, for instance, means moonlit.

My Olympic crush was Hockey team captain Saku Koivu-- birch. He's from my hometown of Turku.

I also speak French, iMissEthan, but most of that I learned out of school. When I was in (high) school, we were still limited to one foreign language, until my last year. I studied French in university as well, but I learned a lot more coming to Canada, since I live in Quebec. But thank you for the compliment. I feel that there are so many wonderful writers who post on these forums; I always feel a little plain in comparison, but I think that posting here has helped my written English quite a bit.

The Conan O'Brian visit was a highlight of the winter in Finland. I know I found it to be some of his best work as well. The whole circumstance is quite funny when you consider that Finns have the (totally unmerited) reputation of being grim and stodgy. We're just a little shy.
Here's an English article from a Finnish newspaper about the visit.

So what is Moomim? Cause anyting with a Snork Maiden has to be good right?
Oh and my last name means a type of grain I'm assuming cause that what it is lol.

Well, whether it is based on letting kids be kids, or allowing the kids to bond with their families, I like it! I think we tend to place too much emphasis on early schooling, and some kids are just not ready for that. It's funny - my older child just loved learning everything he could (and is now widely considered to be a genius), and my younger child couldn't care less! Heh. Both of them are really happy, well balanced kids. I just think that every child is different, and precious, and has individual needs.

And let me add also that I am finding all your descriptions of Finland fascinating, Mikka. It is a country and culture that I know so very little about, even though I have travelled just about all over the world. So tell us more!

It's just so different from what we hear in the US about early education. There is a proposal on the ballot in California coming up to make pre-school available to every 4 year old whose parent wants them to be there. I heard all kinds of stats about how much better children who start schooling at 4 do later on, not only in school, but in life - type of job, lack of criminal behavior, physically fitter, etc. It's just an entirely different way of thinking in Finland and that really interests me.

I think what's truly important is having some form of structure available for children in their early years, be it simple day-care, or some sort of pre-schooling program. I've seen some of those studies myself, iMissEthan, and the distinction that occurs to me comes from the fact that as a society, Finns place a great deal of importance on physical fitness. We aren't all in top shape, obviously, but people prefer to particiapte in sports than just sit around watching them. There's a great attachment between Finns and their environment; even in the dead of winter, people enjoy being outside doing activities either together or alone. Most of these things are culturally significant to us, much like a sense of orderliness and law-abiding is of second nature- we have a very low crime rate, and violent acts like rape and murder are very rare.

I also wonder if it's not the culture that influences the behavior, or if the behhavior needs to be shaped by legislation such as the one you speak of for California. I wonder, is the need to legislate preschool education there to help give the kids an academic advantage, or is it a plan to provide for the fact that more and more families require two incomes to survive, and that there isn't enough day-care positions that are available, and that people are becomingmore and more reluctant to hire nannies due to some of the cases of abuse and neglect about which we are beginning to hear more and more.

Thanks for the translation of Markku's family name, mikka! Usually, I just call him U15. (I had to cut and paste from another Web site in my post, no way could I have remembered how to spell that!)


Wow, that's beautiful.

I was sucked back into browsing the forums these past weeks around the Finale and peeked in here today to say hello, for old times sake. I didn't read back much but I am happy to see several familiar faces (Tracey Bee, nette, Da Elf, suction, Aussie... maybe others hidden in past pages).

So hello to you and of course to those I've never met.
mikkamtl, your nick caught my eye with those 3 last letters and I checked your profile... I am in Montréal too! Glad to see another Survivor fan in town. Oh, and also, we have the same birthday. Not same birth year though. Not saying whose is first, heheh.

Speaking of this ole town, suction, still planning on coming up? Do let me know.

Keeping this brief as this is just a hit and run post from the office. Later!

Thanks curlycue, I should have changed that.. I'm about 2 hours away from Montreal now in the Eastern Townships. This will sound stupid, but I have never met another person with the same birth date as mine.

I'm dying my hair as we speak! It's auburn, I'll put up pics when it finisishes, is that spelled right? lol I suck at the spelling.

(singsong voice) Woo Hoo! Curly Cue! (/ssv) I've missed you girl.

Yay for dyed hair, Woody. I wish I had the guts to do it. I just turned 46 last week and a tiny bit of gray is starting to show. It really doesn't bother me though. I'd just like to try a different color. But, alas, I am wimpy when it comes to stuff like that.

I went to Columbus yesterday and had a good visit with the neurologist. Then we ate and went SHOPPING. I haven'd done that in a long time. And who knew that Pier One had an outlet store. OMG, it was heaven.

Gotta run. My wonderful family is coming to help me with my garden and landscaping. I can't wait for it to be all done. Maybe I'll take some pics.

netful, do what I do, get the hair color that washes out in a month or two. You don't get roots, and if you hate it, you won't be stuck with it long. Also, you can choose a shade to get a very subtle change. I use Clairol's Natural Instincts. I use Desert Sunrise (a light golden red shade).

And happy belated birthday from a fellow 46-year-old!

I don't think it's reluctance so much as the inability to afford them. Given the choice, I think most Americans would choose to have their child cared for in their home by someone competent while they worked, with occasional group activities with friends or in playgroups to encourage socialization. However, the vast majority can't afford that and use pre-school or daycare instead. But many of those choices are also expensive. I'm assuming daycare in Finland is funded by your taxes so it is 'free' - am I right? I believe this California initiative is also for free schooling at age 4.

Hey Ms Curly! Welcome back! How was Sweden? Still waiting to see some pics...

And btw, both you and Mikka have the same birthday as my brother. And also, I believe, Her Majesty the Queen, lol. I reckon her birth year was before either of you!

Not doing much this weekend, Mr Aussie/Montana is at a conference on the Sunshine Coast, I tried to get him to agree to us accompanying him, but no go. Next weekend however, we are having a weekend up there in a resort on the beach, which will be good. The weather here has turned quite cool, in fact we had the coldest May day on record a couple of days ago (6C). And that's after having the hottest summer on record. Hopefully we'll get back to our normal winter wear of shorts and t-shirt by next weekend!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Kind of :) As with many of the social programs offered in Finland, there's a complex payment formula that dictates exactly how this is funded, but a certain percentage of the cost comes straight from parent's pockets. I do understand what you are saying about the California situation, though. I feel that whatever the measure, what's most important in these situations is that the children can have a safe and stimulating environment in which to be while Mom and Dad have to be at work.

I did know about the Queen's Birthday, having been in London a few years back on that very day. IT's quite something, the whole specatacle. One can't help enjoying the fact that parades occur on their own birthday, even if they are in no way meant for you. Aussie, it's been a wet time here, but they call for a very hot, dry summer here, so I don't know what to expect.

A great weekend to everyone. Now that Finale season is done, I feel like I should be getting some parts of my life back.

Yes, I remember a birthday I had in the US - wow! Fireworks, parties, the lot. I was thinking how cool it was that everyone was celebrating my birthday. And then I realised they did that every 4th July! Heh.