Here we are in Finland with a bit more drama in the last couple of days than I anticipated.

Our first flight to Amsterdam (10 hours) went quite uneventfully. The kids didn't sleep on the plane until the very last 30 minutes and they were absolutely impossile to wake up after landing. In the hussle and bustle we picked up our bags and headed out to the next gate as we only had an hour plus to get from the other end of the airport to the "domestic EU flights" via passport control and security. Once we made it to the right wing of the airport for our flight to Helsinki, we decided to stop by at the KLM Lounge. Except that the same rules that apply to Platinum members in the U.S. and Asia do not apply in the Netherlands. No kids are allowed in the lounge with the lounge member. So either we could leave the kids waiting outside (did they actually suggest that - I was getting way too worked up about it to remember correctly) or we had no access. Ok, fine. And thanks KLM for your flexibility. We won't be bringing our business to you next time.

Next, we discovered that Kai's beloved blankie (peitto) was missing. Did we have it on the plane? Yes. How about the passport control? Don't know. Security? No. To say that I was freaking out would be an understatement. I asked the KLM transfer lounge if they could call the gate to see if someone could check our row as the plane was still being cleaned up. "No, we don't do that. But you can walk out to the Lost and Found office on the opposite side of the airport to report it missing and we'll contact you in a couple of weeks if we find it". Now it may just be me and having gotten used to a bit more U.S. type of customer service but there was no single KLM rep who was willing to go out of their way to help us. Strike two, KLM.

When we finally landed in Helsinki at midnight we were feeling pretty worn out. Pekka came to pick us up and we made it to Mummu and Pappas just fine. We all slept well and woke up to a crispy 16C the next morning (didn't I ask for crisp?).  Had Karelia pies for breakfast, smoked salmon for lunch, a bag or two of salmiakki for a snack, blueberry pies for snack #2, a doubble nougat for snack #3, juusonaksut for snack #4, etc. By ten o clock at night I was feeling pretty lousy. My stomach decided it had had enough and I proceeded to throw up all night (I remember 12 times and then stopped counting). When I woke up in the morning I felt like someone had punched me all over my stomach - the muscles around my stomach were so sore I couldn't even stand straight. David figured I was not used to the food out here anymore and declared we will spend the rest of our lives in Shanghai where rice is plenty (and sick stomachs can be more easily blamed on a number of available parasites instead of admitting to over-indulgence in chocolate.)

Today I've taken it a bit easier. Kai and Raili are also getting used to the food too but seem to have no reaction to pulla. :) David is smitten by all the good fish he can eat and says he can live on pickles and smoked salmon alone (...yeah...so much for Shanghai rice.)