Q&A: The Giveaway

Thank you again everyone who participated in the giveaway! And thank you for the interesting questions as well! Some of you asked your questions in English and some asked them in Finnish, so I'll be replying in the same language :) Please excuse me for the lack of Scandinavian letters (are they called that?), I can't find my Finnish keyboard again. 

Here are my answers:

Ooh! Pakko osallistua vielä kun kerran ihan ajoissa ehdin tämän huomata! :D Minkälaisia lehtiä luet? Siis jos vaikka hammaslääkärissä odotat vuoroasi, minkälaisen lehden etsisit luettavaksi? (Oletetaan, että jostain syystä Kindle ja puhelin sun muut gadgetit on jäänyt kotiin!) - Essi

Tykkaan edelleen lukea paperilehtia ja minulle tulee kotiin vanhempien kustantamana MeNaiset heh. Aitini tilasi sen minulle, kun muutin takaisin Suomeen, jotta paasisin takaisin mukaan "Suomen kuvioihin". Rapakon takana yksi salaisista paheistani on nimittain People magazine :D Laakarin vastaanotolla yritan olla koskematta lehtiin, call me crazy, mutta jotenkin tuntuu, etta ne ovat popoja taynna.

Millaista on ollut kasvattaa kaksikielistä lasta? Vaikuttaako poikanne ymmärtävän helposti eron kahden kielen välillä? -Jenni

Yllattavan helppoa ja varmasti juuri sen takia, etta asumme Suomessa. Amerikassa asuessani puhuin koko ajan vahingossa englantia pikkumiehelle, koska en ollut vuosiin ajatellut suomeksi. Nyt osaan jo ajatella suomeksi ja siksi suomen kielen puhuminen on taas luontevaa. Pikkumies vaihtaa oma-alotteisesti kielta puhuessaan miehelleni, mika on minusta todella hienoa. Suomen kielen sanavarasto on pikkumiehella kylla talla hetkella englantia laajempi, koska suomea puhutaan kaikkien muiden paitsi Daddyn kanssa.

Missa maassa haluaisit asua jos suomea ja yhdysvaltoja ei voisi valita? -ice princess

Heitanpa tahan sellaisen maan, jossa en ole edes ikina kaynyt, kuin Australia. Syy loytyy yhdesta rakkaimmista ystavistani, joka on harkitsemassa muuttoa sinne amerikkalaisen poikaystavansa luokse.

Mitä kaipaat Amerikasta eniten asuessasi Suomessa - jos ei lasketa perheenjäseniä ? -Leena

Ystavien lisaksi kaipaan autoa ja edullisia hintoja, erityisesti edullisia ravintoloita. Kavimme miehen ja ystavieni kanssa jatkuvasti ulkona syomassa, kaipaan sellaista sosiaalista aspektia elamastani siella.

Puhuuko miehesi suomea lainkaan? Onko hän töissä Suomessa? -M-K

Mies osaa vain muutaman sanan suomea ja han on oppinut ne samaan aikaan lapsemme kanssa :) Aluksi he oppivat samaan tahtiin, mutta nyt pikkumies on mennyt reippaasti miehen ohi sanavaraston laajuudessa! Olen kylla huomannut, etta mies ymmartaa suomen kielta enemman kuin antaa ymmartaa, ehka siksi, etta ei joutuisi  kayttamaan suomea heh. Mieheni on siina mielessa onnekas, etta hanella on vakituinen tyopaikka omalta alaltaan ja heidan toimistonsa tyokieli on englanti.

Asteikolla 1-10, kuinka vahvasti olet(te) juurtuneet "loppuelämäksi" Suomeen? Vai kutkuttaako paluu Atlantin toiselle puolelle paljonkin? -Jenni

Pelkistetysti: mina haluan jaada Suomeen ja mies haluaa palata Yhdysvaltoihin :) Mies on kuitenkin luvannut minulle, etta tana vuonna emme muuta mihinkaan. Ensi vuodesta ei sitten taas ole tietoa, mies on tainnut jo vahan katsella tyopaikkoja rapakon takaa... Olisikohan 5 siis hyva kompromissi tuolla asteikolla?

Mikä on neiti Sokerin lempiruoka ja juoma? Terveisin, Sofia

Tykkaan erilaisista salaateista, erityisesti pidan avocadosta ja kurpitsasta. Olen harmittavan ruokavalio-rajoitteinen, mutta erilaiset veggie-burgerit maistuvat myos. Juomista parhain on raikas vesi :)

Yay, great idea! :) I would like to ask you to name a misconception or prejudice you had about America or Americans before you first lived here. Or has it been too long to remember? :) I'm curious to know not least because you strike me as a very non-prejudiced person. -Pilvi

That is an interesting question! Had to think about it for a while :) I suppose I thought Americans would be somehow more different from us Finns than they were. I was really surprised how similar life was. I really don't know what I was expecting, perhaps something more "dashing" :D I didn't think I'd fit in as well as I did and I certainly never planned to stay more than 4 months. Little did I know :D 

Birthday boy!

Oh wow! What a cool idea! I have a question for you, what inspired you to start writing this blog? Also, is there any special meaning behind the Sugar Antelope name? -Finnbug 

I started writing this blog in 2007 out of boredom. I went home to Finland to work for the summer and didn't have a whole lot else to do there, so I started blogging. I really wish I'd remember why I picked the Sugar Antelope, but I don't. I was and still kinda am really into cute things, so perhaps I just thought (and still do) that the name was cute :)

Thank you again everyone for your interesting questions! If there's anything else you'd like to ask, I'd be happy to try and answer them :) 

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!

Random Tuesdays 01/29/2013

A not so random fact on Random Tuesdays: our wonderful lil man turns 3 this week! Husband and I both feel ever so lucky to be the parents of such a fine young man, we are so proud of him! He was 3 days old when this photo was taken :)

The Giveaway Winner!

The winner of the first ever The Sugar Antelope Giveaway in cooperation with Golla has ended and we have a winner!

In order to select the winner by a drawing, I first wrote down the names of all the participants

Then I did some scissoring and  put the names in a Shaun the Sheep bag

Then lil man randomly selected a winner by grabbing one of the names. He was selected to do this important job as he is the most impartial person in our household when it comes to this; he can't read. He was so fast in selecting the winning name, that this photo was in fact staged afterwards

And the winner is...

... Leena! 

Congratulations! 

Would you be able to email me (sugarantelope @ gmail.com) your address, so that I can send you the Golla Smart Bag? :)

Thank you to everyone who participated, I'll be answering your interesting questions next week.

Wishing everyone a wonderful Sunday!

Random Tuesdays 01/22/2013

"Inches away from death" at the Cold Hollow Cider Mill in Waterbury, Vermont in 2008.

p.s There's still time to take part in the Giveaway! :)

Reminder: take part in the Giveaway!

Just as a reminder:

The first ever The Sugar Antelope Giveaway is underway! 

Excellent chances of winning ;)

Source: weheartit.com

The Giveaway ends in one week on Thursday, January 24th at 11 pm CET, so there's still a few days left!

Giveaway, yay!

It's time for the first ever The Sugar Antelope Giveaway! I just love giveaways and raffles and am so happy to be able to do one for this blog as well.

This Giveaway is being done in cooperation with the Finnish design company Golla. And here's what we are giving away:

Golla Smart Bag

BURMA / G1243

You can find more information about the bag here, but it's a real handy smart phone bag and it comes with a belt loop and a neck strap. There's also a small zipper pocket in the back. 

Rules

* In order to join the Giveaway, please leave a question (something I am able to answer ;) in the comment box of this entry. Each comment equals one entry, you may comment up to three times (per person).

* If you are commenting as "anonymous", please leave a nickname and preferable an email address, so I can contact you, if you win.  

*The Giveaway ends in one week on Thursday, January 24th at 11 pm CET. The winner is selected by a drawing, unless there's a ton of entries, in which case I will use the random number generator :)

Good luck everyone!

Random Tuesdays 01/15/2013

Broomballin' at the University of Vermont in 2006. 

Playing broomball is one of the things I miss about college life in the U.S.

Kindle lovin'

I had only one (material) wish for Christmas and it was the Amazon Kindle e-reader. 

Amazing husband made my wishes come true and when I opened my package there it was; Kindle Paperwhite 3 G!

So excited to open this!

Here's the catalog photo courtesy of Amazon.com:

I've never had a Kindle before, but I assume they're all pretty much the same size. It's pretty lightweight and really flat. I checked the measurements from Amazon and it's 6.7" x 4.6" x 0.36" (16.9cm x 11.7 cm x 9.1 cm) and it weighs 7.8 oz (222g). It holds about 1100 books, which is plenty. The battery lasts for about 28 hours of reading (with the light and the wireless on). I read a lot, so I've had to charge it like every 5 days.

I also purchased a case for it, so I can easily take it with me to the university and not worry about scratching it. This case is from Amazon.co.uk and it's a purple ForeFront case. I actually just bought the cheapest one (with good reviews) I could find, since I figured I'd get bored with the color at some point anyways. So far it's been a pleasant surprise.

The Kindle is pretty handy sized even with the case, here's a scale comparison to my Blackberry phone.

Kindle in sleep mode. When I'm not using it, it shows some advertisements for books and tv shows. You can get rid of the advertisements, if you pay more, but I figured the ads wouldn't bother me that much, and they haven't. It's got a touch screen, which is really handy as well. Just tap it and it'll switch pages. If you tap on the left side, it'll go back a page and if you tap on the top of the page, you get the menu. It comes with an experimental browser, so you can check your emails, Facebook/Twitter, news etc. whatever you want with it as well. You can also easily go to Kindle store on Amazon.com and purchase a  new book. Paperwhite 3G has free global 3G so it should work wherever there's a 3G connection available. You can also download some games to it,  but I haven't yet felt the need for them.

Here's Kindle Paperwhite with full lights on. I told husband I didn't need the Paperwhite version, since I didn't think I'd need the background light and I was worried I'd get a migraine from any sorts of light. I'm happy to say I was wrong, the light is extremely handy, since I read mostly in bed. Now I don't need a reading light and the build-in light does not bother me at all. No migraines or even the feeling of getting one :)

Here's how I usually read, with minimal light. 

I have about 300 books downloaded it already, so I have plenty of reading to be done :) Besides the books available for purchase, Amazon.com Kindle store has a ton of free books available and I've also downloaded free books from the Project Gutenberg site, which has a ton more.

In a nutshell, I really really love my new Kindle :) If you read a lot and want to downsize your library, I would recommend Kindle Paperwhite wholeheartedly. I'll still probably purchase some of the books, the ones I know I'll read and read again, as paper-versions, but the books that I probably won't read more than one (as in a bunch of fiction) I'll only get as e-books.

Hope everyone's been having a wonderful weekend!

p.s Stay tuned for next week, since I'm having the first ever The Sugar Antelope Giveaway! 

I absolutely love giveaways and raffles and I'm so excited to have one in this blog too!

On being Finnish, American and Finnish-American

We are a family of three. There is a Finn (me), an American (husband) and Finnish-American (lil man). I have some Swedish heritage and some of my ancestors were born in the U.S (although they were still all Finns). My husband has German and English heritage, some of his relatives came with the Mayflower. Our son is of course a mix of all of this. 

I've often wondered if our son will consider himself Finnish, American or Finnish-American. He was born in the U.S, so he was born American. But as soon as I could get his birth certificate from the Vital Records, I made him a Finnish citizen as well. He is bilingual, I speak Finnish to him and husband speaks English to him. We hope that we will be able to bring him up so that he'll value both cultures and nations. I'm sure there will be times when he wants to be considered just Finnish or just American, depending on where we will live, but hopefully eventually he'll be a proud Finnish-American. 

Flags in Stockholm

I'm proud to be Finnish. Although I'm sometimes quite embarrassed by some of my fellow citizens, mostly due to their alcohol use and ignorance, I still love my country. I wouldn't want to be anything but Finnish. In the U.S I often get mistaken for a U.S citizen, but I always correct that I'm Finnish. I'm always happy to tell everyone about my wonderful country and I don't mind answering their sometimes quite ignorant questions about my Nordic nation. I have never felt prouder to be Finnish than when living abroad. I have grown to respect my home country much more after facing life outside Finland.

I'm proud that my husband is a proud American. I sometimes call him my souvenir from Nebraska :), but I mean it in with all my love. I'm happy to celebrate the holidays of his beloved home country eventhough we (from his perspective) live abroad. I don't always agree with what's going on in his country of birth, in fact I often don't agree with politics that go on in his home state. But I admire that he loves his country, with all it's flaws, since that is how I feel about Finland as well.

I'm proud that our wonderful son is Finnish-American. I'm happy that he will have opportunities that neither my husband or I have ever had, because we are not dual-citizens. He'll have plenty of open doors to choose from. I'm happy that our son will have the freedom to choose which nation he wants to live in, he can even be the president of United States or Finland someday, if he chooses to (no pressure of course ;)). I'm proud of our son on so many levels, but then again I'm his Mom and to me he is perfect.

Celebrating 4 of July

(Please excuse the unprofessional blur)

I feel blessed to have been able to live in three countries and to have gained experiences that I hope will be of assistance when raising our Finnish-American lil man. I'm happy to have lived in the United States, and perhaps someday I might live there again, but I'm also so grateful to be able to live in Finland. I'm so delighted that my husband is happy living here too, Finland is after all my home country. I know he misses his home (I know I missed mine when I wasn't here), and I'm so proud of him that he was brave enough to leave his comfort zone and move to a foreign country, after living his whole life in Nebraska and never having been abroad before.

I plan on exploring what being Finnish means to me later in this blog, but for now I'm just going to say that while I may not always appreciate the cold, the darkness and the negative approach to life some Finnish people have, I do appreciate the honesty, the security and the wonderful nature of my amazing home country and  I'm so very proud to be from Finland.

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!

Random Tuesdays 01/08/2013

Lake Champlain, Vermont in 2006. The ice reminded me of Pamukkale, Turkey :)

Little toy dolls that cuddle and coo, elephants, boats and kiddie cars too...

... Santa Claus came to town!

We had a wonderful Christmas with my family (parents, brother, sister-in-law, grandpa, uncle, aunt, cousins and their families) and here are some pictures to prove it :)

Yes, Santa really did visit us!

And he had a couple of lil helpers

This lil helper didn't want to wear his hat tho :)

Santa brought all sorts of cool presents! Lil man was incredibly lucky this year, he got to open presents at grandma's and home on the 24th and then more presents in the morning of the 25th! It seems Santa is still sending him presents, since we have a couple of notices from the post office waiting to pick up packages :)

Sometimes Santa seemed a bit scary, but no worries, Mommy was there to rescue lil man :)

After Santa left, it was time open more presents!

And some more presents!

And finally eat some gingerbread cookies Daddy had made :) I'm not much of a cook, so my mom and aunt took care of most of the main dishes. Husband made these cookies and I made a traditional Finnish date cake.

Little man got a ton of presents (too much, if you ask me, but he's the only grandchild, so what can you do:)), but husband and I had also been good it seems. I had only one Christmas wish and husband made it come true. A brand new Kindle Paperwhite 3G was in one of my packages! I'll post more about the Kindle later, but here's a Christmas present I bought for myself:

I've never been a big fan of Lancôme scents, but this one I actually liked. 

I rather randomly tried it during our cruise to Stockholm to camouflage the puke smell on my pants after lil man got sick during breakfast... Gross story, but the scent worked magic and I ended up purchasing it.   

On that note, hope everyone is feeling well and your 2013 is off to a great start! :-)

Random Tuesdays 01/01/2013

Happy New Year 2013 from Random Tuesdays! 

Here's a collage of 2012 to celebrate a great year, let's hope the new year will be even better!