Very Finnish Solutions

The story about Mr A's glasses reminded us of our ambition to complement the book and Facebook page on Very Finnish Problems - an affectionate and ironic look at the country we've come to like so much. So we've postulated "Very Finnish Solutions", which are simple pragmatic ways of dealing with something you could make a big song and dance about (like tying up a broken queue divider, or using your bank codes to prove your identity for the purposes of activating your account at a new University or accessing your personal tax record). There are also "Very Finnish Norms", like self-clearing your tray, finding somewhere to hang your coat wherever you go, or taking off your shoes so you don't tread snow and grit into the house. All things Finns wouldn't be without. RB, who likes the country as much as we do, thinks these might all be the same sort of thing. Whatever: problems, solutions, norms: all a pæen to orderly Nordic life.

It was an easy trip back to the UK, but I felt very tired even though staying in the airport hotel meant that we didn't have to get up ridiculously early and we just had a short walk to the terminal. No queue at security, and two KLM flights on time. So much for worrying about travelling in winter. The only time we had to queue was at Schipol in order to go through the Schengen border, where the Dutch had omitted to open enough automatic passport gates to deal with a flood of flights sending people through to the D, E and F gates for onward connections.

Back here, we went straight out again to the supermarket, but after that I felt just wiped out. No energy even to do my blips. Just before we went to bed (early!), Mr A managed to handpress some oranges for our breakfast juice. I don't know where he found the energy. I spent the afternoon reading.