Hyvaa Ystavan Paiva

It's not Valentine's Day in Finland, it's Friend's Day. I've always hated Valentine's Day (even more so when it was my ex-husband's birthday) so I am more than pleased with the Finnish alternative.

Here's a few reasons why I love my friends:

• They help me find my way round foreign supermarkets to find toilet roll (and I in turn help others find condensed milk)
• They send me links to language schools at midnight so I have somewhere to send my CV and not go back to London and can stop panicking in the middle of the night
  
• They forgive me for not writing all the time
• They read my blog to compensate for me not writing all the time
• We tell each other we are beautiful, and we mean it
  
• They tell me I am a bitch like they mean it
• They meet me for coffee on top of classy hotels and bad doughnut joints when I am sad
  
• They cook for me, I cook for them, we all get fat
• They let me visit them in exotic locations and sometimes visit me in my less than exotic location, Maunula included
  
• We look at each other's photos of people we don't know, and places we will never be, with real interest
  
• We laugh at the same jokes, and each other
• They tell me to calm down, we all tell each other to get perspective
• They let me see their laundry, hold their pets, cuddle their toys
• They stock the fridge and pantry with my favourites when I come home or come for a visit
  
• We take phone calls and text messages from each other at odd times, odd places, odd situations
• They put up with me, make life more interesting and make me feel normal... !

I hope everyone has a tosi hyvaa day.