1. Wear mittens over your gloves. This is the best idea ever, I swear. According to our history teacher it's 10 degrees lower than it "should be" here so in my super wonderful gloves the tips of my fingers would start to go numb after about four minutes. This is the solution.
2. Do neck exercises. I have never looked at my feet this much in my life and think it might contribute to a culture that merits this joke: "How can you tell a Finnish extrovert from an introvert? The extrovert will look at your feet. The introvert only stares at his own." I have to stare at my feet constantly to keep from falling (it's a miracle I haven't crashed yet in the last three weeks.
3. Wear shoes with softer soles. I cannot tell you how much safer I am on the ice in my tennis shoe type shoes than my boots. When I do slip I can recover without feeling the need to squeal.
4. Buy some salt. Americans eat too much. Finns eat too little. I'm telling you, flavor is not their forte. However, what they lack in flavor they make up for in the candies. Yummy yummy chocolates and cookies.
5. Buy blankets. You will want them at all times around the house. Scarves, like in the midwest, are far far more than a fashion accessory. Oh, and hand lotion is necessary. Normal daily activities will result in cracked hands and/or rubbing skin raw due to the dry, bitter cold.
Thanks to these things I've learned, I'm still happy in Helsinki :)
Now....time to draw a section of a pavilion for tomorrow.
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