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I flew back to Finland on 30 November. It had been a bleak fall over there but right before I left, a big snow storm hit the southern parts of the country and it was very winter-like when I arrived. The next few weeks were also very nice as the temperature stayed below freezing and the snow kept coming and coming. On Christmas there was roughly 70cm (28in) of snow in the Helsinki airport which is a lot more than usual this time of the year.

Before New Year's that all changed though as it got warmer and rained for quite a few days melting much of the snow into a slush which then froze during the night. That's one thing I don't like about the winter in the Helsinki region. Some years we get almost no snow at all and the ground stays bare without the need to add some gravel to provide grip. You can ride your bike through the whole winter and whine about the depressing darkness with your colleagues at the water cooler. Other years we get the proper winter with lots of snow and the temperature constantly stays below freezing making it a very beautiful place. Most years, however, it's a mix of these two and it's either trying to wade through the slushy streets dodging the splashes thrown up into the air by the passing cars or then just trying to stay on your feet on streets that would require skates rather than shoes.