We never thought we'd say this, but

we miss the cold.

Since we got here, we've grown used to the crisp, cold air, and stomping through the snow, which is quite enjoyable because it goes *crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch*.

However, recently it's been unseasonably warm (meaning a degree or two above freezing), and unfortunately, when things get above freezing, things melt. This means huge puddles of water everywhere. Yet when things don't quite always get above freezing, when they hover right around freezing and sometimes dip below, things turn into a giant deceivingly wet-looking sheet of ice. Especially when it's gray and sleeting outside, like this afternoon.

To counteract this, the city of Jyväskylä plows, and deposits a thin, sparse layer of small rocks on the streets and bike paths. And thank God for those rocks, because we would have been down and out otherwise. As it was, we spent the majority of the day slipping, sliding, and clutching onto each other for dear life in an attempt not to fall into the icy mush below us.

The worst part, of course, was that we seemed to be the only ones having so much trouble with this, as first became clear when a little old lady sped past Jaime as she was slowly picking her way up a particularly icy hill (that same windy, steep hill on the way back from the grocery store...)

We wonder if the Finns have secretly conspired against us and all put tacks in their shoes and kept us unaware for their amusement, though our tutor-goddess assures us that there is no conspiracy. On the bright side, by the end of the evening, we had figured out some basic tactics for confronting ice, including lift, don't push, and placing one's whole foot down as opposed to rolling from heel to toe. We are now sore in muscles we forgot we had, and are celebrating not falling the entire day with going to sleep early - especially because we have our first Survival Finnish class tomorrow (one of two classes this week.) Yay!