Five Years

At the entrance there's a shiny turnstile that opens when I bring my smart card close to it. The tiled walls glisten as people, young and old, slowly walk around the dressing room. Everyone seems chatty and in a happy mood, and the men's room is full of young fathers with their kids. It's spring break and that means almost everyone has some time off.

The blizzard outside looks like nothing but a beautiful postcard when seen through the window in the big sauna. My father breaks up a conversation with a jolly looking older guy across the hot, steamy room. It's 11am on a Tuesday yet no one seems to be in a hurry to be anywhere else.

The pool area is filled with light from large floor-to-ceiling windows. Signs on the walls remind people to disinfect their feet, to save one end of the pool for fast swimmers and the other for those like me. "Water jogging" with a brightly colored float fastened to one's back seems to be all the craze here. I give it a try and after a little while it doesn't seem nearly as silly as I had thought. It's a way to work a sweat as much as regular running is.

At Stockmann in Tampere a day later, the tables in the cafeteria remind me of Danish design furniture and as the smell of schnitzel fills my nose, memories of coming shopping in the city with my mom when I was a kid fill my head (and my heart). The Iittala section in the glassware department seems bigger than the entire glassware department at Sears. Again, no one seems to be in a hurry and the friendly lady at the register spends a good while chatting about New York with me when I go pay for the pile of Iittala goodies I pick up.

In Helsinki, a lot looks familiar yet plenty has changed. There are streetcar lines I don't recognize, no cars on streets that used to be covered with gridlock, and of course new stores and restaurants. Lots of them. The use of high technology, the cleanliness and the quality of design here reminds me of Japan.

This summer it's been five years since I moved away from Finland. Last time we visited here a bit over a year ago I felt a little alienated and strange for the first time. This time the feeling of home is much stronger. Much stronger.