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Entry of 24/2/2009 is available in Finnish.
Entry of 14/2/2009 is available in Latin or in Finnish.
London Monday 2nd February 2009
This day would have been a very normal day for a Finn, unless he happened to be living in London, like me. Namely, in this city snow is such a rare sight that it immediately confuses all and everything, and today's snowfall wasn't one of the least kind.
In the morning, while I was slowly waking up, I heard my flatmates discussing about what they should do with the snow problem, but I minded my own thoughts: such a fuss over nothing! Yes, last night I too had seen the falling snow slowly cover from sight the tended lawns in the gardens and the roofs of the brick houses opposite ours, but for me, that's small potatoes. Just take out your woolly shirts and get going. Rest of the London, however, didn't agree with me.
Yielding to my flatmates' urging, I checked the Transport for London's current reports from the Internet. All the buses are cancelled and some of the tube lines suspended, overground stations are closed, and severe delays happening on every line. The university station is at South Kensington, which would also be closed. That means that I would have to take the Central line and walk through Hyde Park. I hurried along to make it in time to help the other tutors in the exercise classes. Only when I reached the station, I realised that I would definitely be late. The delays were severe indeed, and every train was so fully packed that it was a miracle that one could even breath inside them.
About the town and in the parks everywhere people were building snowmen and throwing snowballs, looking just like they had never seen snow before. The real surprise was, however, waiting for me at the College. All the classes cancelled, the Department's library closed, Senior Common Room closed, shops closed (only my supervisor alone seemed to be sitting in his room). I had received a notification of the situation in my e-mail just a few minutes after I had left the house. Well, what could you do about it? I bought a flapjack and tried to work for a while in my office before deciding to travel back home.
At home I heard what strange things my mates had seen and heard during the day. Some lady had been cleaning his car with a wooden kitchen turner, a guy had cleared ice from the street with a chef knife. There had been a general rush to the nearby store as the food deliveries had been cancelled and people were afraid to be left out of food.
The city was exceptionally quiet tonight: instead of cars coming and going, one would hear the joyous cries of both children and adults. The squirrels in the backyard were desperately trying the comprehend the situation.