A Town Called Somero - The Story So Far

 If this is the first time you have logged on to this site...welcome! I thought I should explain a little about how this blog came into being - so here is the story so far...

My family and I found Somero by accident. About two years ago we decided to rent a summer cottage for the weekend, and found one that was available in Somerniemi. We arrived at the cottage on friday evening, and over the weekend we drove into Somero to buy food for the family.  We were immediately struck by what a nice place it was. People stopped to talk in Somero!  They seemed to be in less of a rush than in Helsinki - everyone was friendly in the shops, there were plenty of cafés to choose from and we were able to find everything we needed in the town centre. We knew then that one day we would come back.

Two years later our family was growing. We already had five children still living at home - Saskia who is now 17, Lucie (15), Cameron (10), Luca (3) and Niko (2) and in addition I was pregnant with Minttu who was due in the summer of 2011. With our expanding family we had become too big for our house in Vihti, so we started looking round for somewhere bigger to live. We spent many weekends looking for houses in several different places, but somehow we never found exactly what we were looking for. It was at this point that we remembered how much we had liked Somero. Almost straightaway we were lucky enough to find a house that we loved and was big enough for all of us. Ten days after our offer was accepted, Minttu arrived into the world, and we signed the papers when she was just four days old! I have lived all over the place during my life, but somehow Somero was the first place that really felt like home - so it was with much optimism that we spent the summer gradually moving our lives from Vihti to Somero.

The idea of setting up an English conversation group came at the end of 2011. When I have taught English in the past, it was because I didn't have much choice. Native speakers of English often fall back on teaching when they live abroad and don't have any other work -this had been the case for me during some of the time we lived in France. (Surprisingly the French do not have a need for someone who has specialised in English divorce law!) This time though, my idea of starting an English group was nothing to do with necessity. I thought it would be an interesting way to meet people. An article was printed in the local paper about the classes and the same day I started receiving phone calls and emails from people who were interested. More than one mentioned that they were motivated to join the group by a desire to make new friends - and this fitted in perfectly with what I had imagined in the first place.

I invited everyone who had contacted me to a meeting in mid- January in order to see how many people were genuinely interested - and this blog was set up the day before so they would have something in English to read. In fact, the idea of a blog originally came from Sauli Kaipainen. I had asked Somero's local newspaper if I could write a regular column in English, and it was he, (a journalist at the paper), who first suggested that I wrote a blog instead. I combined the two ideas, and A Town Called Somero was born.  Eighteen people turned up to that first meeting. It was obvious that we would need to start with two groups, and I said I looked forward to seeing them at our first English class, to be held on 7th February at Kiiruun Tila. I gave out the address of this blog just before they left.  That evening, the site received 28 hits, but only 8 or 9 over the next couple of days- pretty much as I had expected. But then something strange happened. Less than a week later, on 24th January, the blog received 51 hits, and on 31st January the figure reached 92. On February 4th we broke the 100 barrier for the first time, with people logging on from all over the world, including America, India and Japan. Five days later, on February 7th, the site received over 200 hits in one day and as I write these words we are approaching the 2000 mark.

Today our local Somero newspaper ran a short article about the blog, which is why many of you might well have logged on this evening to see what it is all about. I hope now it's a little clearer! I have always loved writing - and also finding out about people - so keeping this blog over the last three weeks has been a lot of fun.  The fact that so many people have taken the time to have a look has made it even better.

I can't predict the future of this site, but whilst it exists, I hope to use it to bring you stories and pictures about life in Somero as well as the people who live here. I have the advantage of seeing the town with the eyes of a newcomer! At the same time I hope to portray a positive image of Finland to those reading from abroad, both to those who already know the country as well as those who have never been here. Like all writers, I can't resist the temptation to share some personal reflections and stories about life from time to time. I like writing about themes such as friendship and ambitions - and about how we can try to help each other through the obstacles of life.  It is fascinating to note that the most popular stories so far have been the profiles of people who live here, but the next most read post is the one entitled Feeling Down? Maybe that shows that we all need a little bit of sunshine from time to time.

So there it is! That, in a nutshell, is the story of this blog so far. Who knows how the story will continue, but thank you to everyone who has visited the site since its inception in January. I look forward to meeting more of you over the coming weeks and sharing more stories about this little Town Called Somero.

Have a happy weekend!