Here They Are at Last

You already know who they would invite for dinner....and after a wait of several days here, at last, are the members of the Somero English Club group B. Forgive the fact that the photos are so "yellow," but that's just the ways the walls are in the room...sorry!

Vuokko, Kari, Antti, Kirsti and Anna-Liisa concentrating hard



Päivi, Kari, Soila, Heikki and Manu

They are a fascinating group of people, and every week I discover a little more about them. Between them they are well travelled, speak several lnaguages, play various instruments and participate in many sports - some to a high level - so there is never a lack of things to talk about.



Last week we discovered that a total of five of us (including me) had spent at least some of the week stuck in the snow with our cars...so in order to balance this out, I asked them to tell the class about the high point of their week. Their answers were very varied....

Soila has decided that she needs to get fit, and was proud of the fact that she has started going to the gym again.



Antti and Soila decide who to invite for dinner



 Kirsi told us about a dream she had had in which she was twenty years younger (always a good dream..) and working on an international camp in Slovakia. She said that even when she woke up she felt invigorated by having been younger for several hours during the night.  Now that is what I call positive thinking!



Kyösti and Vuokko contemplating life



Kari is a very good skiier and he felt enthusiastic about the fact that skiing conditions in Somero have been good lately. In just one week he had skied 40km... probably more than I will manage in ten years.  He said how he looked forward to a hot sauna at the end of the ski, and he must be doing something right because he looks more than ten years younger than his true age.

Kyösti told us about his holiday to Fuerteventura (you can see from the photo that he got plenty of sun).

Our second Kari told us that the highlight of his week had been attending a Bianca morales jazz concert as he is a big jazz fan. For some reason I seem not to have written down the highlight of Heikki's week. He is the star pupil for commenting on this blog...so Heikki perhaps when you read this you can tell us what your highlight was?

Päivi shared her good news about the birth of a new baby boy to her god daughter who lives in the UK. He has been named Otis Benjamin...so congratulations from Somero to the whole family!

Manu and Kari (the skiing one of the Karis)

Antti's son passed his driving test just over a year ago and this week the two of them went out to buy him his first ever car...so this was quite a milestone within their family. Manu described how he had visited his sister-in-law and enjoyed playing with their Collie dog who apparently has taken a strong liking to Manu and pounces on him every time he arrives at the house! 

Kirsi, Anna-Liisa, Päivi and Kari (jazz fan)

Vuokko had joined us for the first time and said how she had enjoyed sitting by the fire after doing the "snow work" outside, and other moments filling in the crossword with the cat purring on her lap.

Anna-Liisa said the highlight of her particular week was finally finding the courage to come to a language class...and we are also very glad she took the decision to come.

Heikki and Kirsti complete our guest list

By sharing the high points of our week, we not only practised English but all left the evening with a feel good factor. It is always good to know how to enjoy life through simple pleasures.

Tonight I have plenty of new questions for the group....and I have no doubt that will have plenty of interesting stories to share.