#he's on a week long checkup at the regional hospital and my mother said at least his one person room and food are nice

[miagkoi]

my father has had up to 15 pills to consume every day for around 8 months now but they still don't actually know how to treat him 😐

[suomeen]

Chapter 4: Hyvää Joulua

We arrived on December 21, which was just a day before the Winter Solstice, the year’s longest night. And winter nights are even longer in Finland. The sun only rose up around 9 and by 15 it got dark. It’s interesting how it moves in the sky too. It rises about 30% above the horizon, goes “nope!” and goes down again.

We stayed at the house of my mother’s Ukrainian friend, or rather, her Finn husband, Markku. He lives far from civilization, out on a hill among fields. There’s a rather notable village that’s just 5 minutes’ drive from there, [more on that later], but the house feels very secluded in winter.

Our friend is named Oksana, but in Finland everyone calls her Oona, which is supposedly a local equivalent. Oksana lived in Bucha but thankfully left the country just as the war started. She worked in Finland and met this nice local man. He’s 55, a mechanic who works at a sawmill. He used to live near Helsinki but he hated the city so he moved out into the wild. He’s tall but has a heart of a child. She’s small, 53 but looks 40 at most, a single mother who lost her parents early and had a very tough life. She looks like a kid next to him. They got married within a few months. They take good care of each other.

The next day, we drove to the city. Oksana had a doctor’s appointment and we had to go officiate our visit. Markku dropped her off at the hospital first and took us to the police department. It was a bit nerve-wrecking as we weren’t sure what to expect. I was preparing myself for some degree of humiliation, ready to tell my story to justify them welcoming us and giving us home. There was no humiliation and no hard questions asked. The staff were calm and friendly. When we were done, the young handsome officer said “Dyakuyu!” It felt very misdirected.

We then had to go to the reception centre to fill out all the forms and applications regarding our stay. We knew there shouldn’t be any issues but it was still stressful and confusing. The staff were friendly and almost seemed sorry they couldn’t do more for us. Well, the Finnish staff at least. The few Ukrainians working there always look mildly annoyed. And frankly, I can now understand why.

We took care of all our stuff and were immediately given the keys to our apartment. We went there, dropped off the bags and then left again. We were supposed to pick up Oksana afterwards but things didn’t go as planned. It was supposed to be a checkup, because her blood pressure was getting too high. Turned out 3 of her heart arteries were partly blocked and needed to be fixed. What’s more, they were ready to operate her immediately.

The hospital itself is a large regional medical complex, very spacious and modern. Cozy even, for a hospital. There are pictures on the walls that make it look like a museum. There is also a nice little cafeteria for staff and visitors where we dined. Not to mention the kind of technologies they use. They basically cleared and repaired the arteries without cutting up the chest while watching the process through some kind of 3D imaging.

The surgery went fine but they only cleared one artery, so two more surgeries were needed. But that day, she was home by evening. The bill came in later. She owed them a hefty sum of 42e.

Oksana wasn’t feeling great in the following days and we didn’t either. The stress of the trip was heavy and for days I had a vertigo and a headache. We weren’t going to stay at Markku’s place for a whole week but they insisted we stayed for Christmas and it was an hour-long ride to the city, which was hard on them, so we relented.

I am very unreligious but Christmas is all about traditions so I was curious so see how it was celebrated here. I have to say if there’s one place that’s perfect to spend Christmas in, it’s Finland. Finland on Christmas looks like a place from a Coca-Cola commercial. It’s like they made a set to film it and then forgotten all about it. Small quaint houses covered in snow, perfect pine trees and illumination, it all makes one’s heart warm.

There wasn’t a big celebration, however. Markku brought in a tree and we decorated it. We ate some of the traditional foods, including a number of gooey purees, made from sweet potatoes, beetroots, and carrot. Not a fan. On Christmas eve, we went to a cemetery to put candles. It was already dark and a very solemn sight.

Markku shares the house with his mother who is the head of the family. Around Christmas, many members of the family came to their house to have a nice little gathering. It was a good chance to observe Finns in their natural habitat.

About 15 people came, mostly women. There was no alcohol and no feast, as one would expect, just a few tables set up with tea, coffee and snacks everyone brought in. People just grabbed drinks and snacks and went to hang out wherever they wanted with whoever they wanted. Nobody was dressed up. Literally just regular comfy clothes and no make-up. The only festive elements were a few cutesy headbands with reindeer antlers. Worm by older women. It was a very quiet evening with a family catching up, exchanging sentimental gifts and singing a beautiful song at the end.

A few members tried to talk to me and some expressed their sadness at the things going on in my homeland. But most politely ignored us. Which was fine, I suppose. It was their day and we were just spectators. It didn’t feel right to ruin the innocence of this day. Who know how long they can stay in it?