My husband's parents came last Friday late in the evening to stay for a week. Their flight was four hours late and they were exhausted after travelling the whole day. I'm so glad to have them here. Everyone of us have heard these scary stories about family relationships but I have to say that I'm a lucky one to have such a great mother and father -in-laws. My son of course is more than happy to have his grandparents around. Now when living so far away from the relatives and friends one start to value more and more grandparents' helping hand, as well as those friends that keep on sending emails, calling, or sending something nice every now and then.
Last Friday, I also started to work towards my Instrument rating. My instructor and I started with a few hours of ground work and after that a lesson with the flight simulator. For those who don't know much about aviation, flying by reference only to the flight instruments means that you can't necessarily see ground or horizon from the plane at all. Thus the instrument rated pilot is able to fly e.g. on bad visibility or during night. My course holds three parts, the ground school, simulator lessons, and flight instruction with a Cessna 172. In addition there is a whole bunch of material that needs to be read. In the end, there will be a written test, oral and flight exams. This course will be much work but seems also very interesting.
I've got my Private Pilot Certificate in Finland almost year and a half ago. Right now, I have slightly more than 100 flight hours altogether. My current licence is American PPL based on the Finnish licence. To be able to fly in US I needed to convert my Finnish licence first. It meant some paper work, and after moving here, a visit to a local FSDO (Flight standard district office) in Greensboro. There I received a temporary licence. The permanent nice looking plastic card came later to my post box. With that licence, I was allowed to fly as private pilot but not to receive any flight training here. To be allowed to do that, one needs to go through a TSA check. Before eligible to be checked, I needed to have a flight traning provider and an instructor. As you can see, it was a little bit complicated process. But as written earlier, with help of nice people from my husband's workplace, I finally found a well qualified instructor who introduced me to a flight club in Sanford where I can rent planes quite easy and with a nice price. www.wingsofcarolina.org
maanantaina 22. lokakuuta 2007
keskiviikkona 17. lokakuuta 2007
New car
We got our New Beetle today and guess what, it is a modern version from Herbie (do you remember that movie?)! White, stripes and number 53 etc. It is cute! But there was so much paperwork at the dealer's office that it took almost 6 hours to get out, and you can just imagine what it was like with a two-year-old... We all are exhausted now - but happy :)
We have been looking for a nice car since we moved here. My husband is interested in cars in general, and has been comparing different models and prices etc. for months now. We ended up with New Beetle since it has nice and unique looks and affordable price, and we most probably can get a good retail price also back in Finland if needed.
Last week, we made a visit to one of the many used cars dealers in the area. Usually, my husband takes care of negotiating with the salesmen and I stay at home because I hate to be 'eaten alive'. Additionally, I'm not a good negotiator since I am too nice and it's hard for me to say no. That is my problem! For some reason, I joined my husband at that time. The car was ok but the salesman was not. He was extremely sleek right from the beginning. He underestimated my driving skills and didn't know anything about the car he was trying to sell. It was frustrating. But during the test drive something so strange happended that I will remember for the rest of my life. The dealer guy appeared to be an Elvis impersonator, and guess who wanted to entertain instead of telling us details about the car... yes, from the back seat of that New Beetle we heard 'Crying in the chapel' and 'Surrender'! Couldn't have been worse! Eventually we turned that deal down.
We have been looking for a nice car since we moved here. My husband is interested in cars in general, and has been comparing different models and prices etc. for months now. We ended up with New Beetle since it has nice and unique looks and affordable price, and we most probably can get a good retail price also back in Finland if needed.
Last week, we made a visit to one of the many used cars dealers in the area. Usually, my husband takes care of negotiating with the salesmen and I stay at home because I hate to be 'eaten alive'. Additionally, I'm not a good negotiator since I am too nice and it's hard for me to say no. That is my problem! For some reason, I joined my husband at that time. The car was ok but the salesman was not. He was extremely sleek right from the beginning. He underestimated my driving skills and didn't know anything about the car he was trying to sell. It was frustrating. But during the test drive something so strange happended that I will remember for the rest of my life. The dealer guy appeared to be an Elvis impersonator, and guess who wanted to entertain instead of telling us details about the car... yes, from the back seat of that New Beetle we heard 'Crying in the chapel' and 'Surrender'! Couldn't have been worse! Eventually we turned that deal down.
sunnuntaina 14. lokakuuta 2007
We moved to the US half a year ago to the nice state of North Carolina. I didn't know anything about the state beforehand so it was a surprise how green and beautiful it appeared. The landscape around Raleigh towards the coast is rather flat just as southern Finland. Lots of woods and little lakes here and there. Overall it resembles southern Scandinavia a lot, of course the weather conditions are much warmer especially during summer.
Our first apartment was ok, not very cozy but we aren't too demanding. At least it had new carpets and painted walls in both bedrooms and in the livingroom. It had a huge balcony but it had kind of darkening effect to the apartment. The swimming pool was nice too, very crowded though. We lived in that apartment first three months and in the middle of July we finally got a chance to move. We found a rather new apartment complex few miles north and surprisingly they offered the same services and even more with the same price as the previous one. We were lucky and got such a nice apartment at the top floor with such a beautiful view over a lake nearby.
I feel blessed that I've got a chance to get to know really nice people right from the very beginning. It wouldn't have been that easy without a little kid, I think. Especially Cary is known about its great variety of nice playgrounds all around the area. After settling in we found the nearest one called Bond Park that appeared to be a good place to meet people. Within the first three weeks I met ladies with their kids that soon became my close friends. There are a lot of high-tech companies around the area and because of that lots of foreigners and inhabitants from other parts of the US - a good starting point for conversations. It is my pleasure to say that people I've met are open and easy to get along, especially those that are foreigners themselves or have foreigners as friends.
During our seven years of marriage, we have travelled abroad some, also US before but this is my first time to really live in some other country than my homeland. In Finland we have a lot of refugees from all over the world, especially from the former Yugoslavia and the Middle and Far East. We used to live surrounded by different cultures in our home town and were used to hear other languages and see people that looked different. Now as a foreigner myself I can get a taste of how they might feel. Of course there is a great differency between refugees and us who have moved voluntarily and are able to work and live here quite the same way as in Finland. Still we can share e.g. the language problems, many kinds of cultural differences, and the feeling of stranger in an unfamiliar environment. You really are grateful of everybody who is willing to give a hand or offer a friendly advice. For example, without helpful people from my husband's workplace I would have had hard time to find a flying club and instructor to be able to resume my flying here. Someone knew somebody who knew somebody who was a pilot and could give a further advice.
Our first apartment was ok, not very cozy but we aren't too demanding. At least it had new carpets and painted walls in both bedrooms and in the livingroom. It had a huge balcony but it had kind of darkening effect to the apartment. The swimming pool was nice too, very crowded though. We lived in that apartment first three months and in the middle of July we finally got a chance to move. We found a rather new apartment complex few miles north and surprisingly they offered the same services and even more with the same price as the previous one. We were lucky and got such a nice apartment at the top floor with such a beautiful view over a lake nearby.
I feel blessed that I've got a chance to get to know really nice people right from the very beginning. It wouldn't have been that easy without a little kid, I think. Especially Cary is known about its great variety of nice playgrounds all around the area. After settling in we found the nearest one called Bond Park that appeared to be a good place to meet people. Within the first three weeks I met ladies with their kids that soon became my close friends. There are a lot of high-tech companies around the area and because of that lots of foreigners and inhabitants from other parts of the US - a good starting point for conversations. It is my pleasure to say that people I've met are open and easy to get along, especially those that are foreigners themselves or have foreigners as friends.
During our seven years of marriage, we have travelled abroad some, also US before but this is my first time to really live in some other country than my homeland. In Finland we have a lot of refugees from all over the world, especially from the former Yugoslavia and the Middle and Far East. We used to live surrounded by different cultures in our home town and were used to hear other languages and see people that looked different. Now as a foreigner myself I can get a taste of how they might feel. Of course there is a great differency between refugees and us who have moved voluntarily and are able to work and live here quite the same way as in Finland. Still we can share e.g. the language problems, many kinds of cultural differences, and the feeling of stranger in an unfamiliar environment. You really are grateful of everybody who is willing to give a hand or offer a friendly advice. For example, without helpful people from my husband's workplace I would have had hard time to find a flying club and instructor to be able to resume my flying here. Someone knew somebody who knew somebody who was a pilot and could give a further advice.
lauantaina 13. lokakuuta 2007
En route....
Introducing my new blog! You are warmly welcome to join me en route the fascinating journey of everyday life. In this blog, I try to describe how is it like to move to another country with a little kid, leave everything that is dear and familiar behind, and face new and exiting challenges that are ahead. Additionally, you are invited to glance into the world of aviation along the way.
Like navigating an airplane en route, life can be enjoyable with days full of sunshine, smooth weather and great visibility. It can also be dark clouds though, windy conditions and even thunderstorms. The journey still has a purpose and heading. Welcome on board!
Like navigating an airplane en route, life can be enjoyable with days full of sunshine, smooth weather and great visibility. It can also be dark clouds though, windy conditions and even thunderstorms. The journey still has a purpose and heading. Welcome on board!
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