A tribute to MST

I just watched this amazing video and want to dedicate it to the people at MST who provided great education to our children during the past 3,5 years. A BIG THANK YOU to Pete & Mariko, Lynn, Jere & Lynn, James, Minako, Naoko & Nadine, Zach, Patrick, Laurie, Miho, Shukuko, Emi and others who supported them!



See also:
Square root of 646416 and counting 4132+4325 (in Finnish)
Birthday Story: Aura
Logic break
Aura concentrating (see May image)
Book review
Model of MST Upper EL 2006-2007 (special feature: the making of)
Finland class
Periodic table of Elements (by a fourth grader - third grader in Finnish system)

Hello Kitty morning

Mom bought me Hello Kitty cocoa and I was so excited to taste it I gathered some of my Hello Kitty stuff on the table. The Milkitty drink was not cocoa but milk tea which I did not like at all. Luckily we had normal cocoa to save the day.

Oranssit vyöt - Orange belts

See them in action earlier this spring.

Run and Walk around the Imperial Palace

We participated the 10th TELL Charity Walk and Runathon! Samuli ran two laps around the Imperial Palace (10 km), Riikka walked one lap with the kids. It was +24C and we really enjoyed it!!



Samuli going along his own path.



Downhill in the beginning.



Imperial palace gate.



"I am thirsty!"



"I am flying!"



Aura finishing the race (Oskari finished 15 minutes earlier).



We did it!



We all did it!

Palatsin ympäri

Kävimme Oskarin kanssa juoksemassa ja pyöräilemässä palatsin ympäri. Palatsille menimme molemmat fillareilla, minä juoksin sen ympäri ja Oskari pyöräili. Kävin testaamassa miltä lenkki tuntuu jos parin viikon päästä juoksen kaksi kierrosta hyväntekeväisyysjuoksussa. Yksi kierros meni tänään helposti, joten kaksikin pitäisi onnistua.

Hämmästyimme kun palatsin lähikatuja oli suljettu, ja innostuimme polkemaan leveillä kaduilla hetken aikaa "kilpaa".


Oskari piti helposti 25 km/h vauhtia ja otti huiput yli 30 km/h!


Lopuksi maistui maistiaiseksi jaettu juoma.

Auran kimonoprinsessa

Aura piirsi kimonoprinsessan, joka skannattiin, lähetettiin Satakunnan Kansaan ja julkaistiin heidän nettisivuillaan.

Aikido watching day

Yesterday parents and grandparents were invited to watch how Aura and Oskari perform in Aikido.

They have learned quite impressive moves!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Another year has passed.

In January and February we visited Finland Village to play in the snow and


to go skiing.


March brings spring light and occasinally the kids sit down and read in peace and quiet - honestly.


April is hanami season and the whole Tokyo blossoms in pink.


In May the school year is almost over.


Summer vacation starts in June and Linnamäki amusement park is a must!


In July we enjoyed sunny days in a rented apartment in Helsinki.


In August Samuli stays one or two weeks in Finland while working at the head office .


In September we are back in Tokyo - but Disneyland is not as much fun as Linnanmäki...


October ends with Halloween!


Eating outside is still possible in November.


December always goes by preparing for Christmas and New Year holidays.



Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our friends!

Happy Halloween!

We went trick-or-treating with friends,


everybody was all dressed up,


even the pizza delivery guy!

Crowds at Disneyland

Last Monday, October 27, we went to Disneyland - unfortunately we were not the only ones...


Our children had vacation from the school and we thought there would not be too many people on a normal weekday.


How wrong we were!


It was almost Halloween...


...and the line to haunted house was 2 hours 40 minutes!!!


For Winnie the Pooh's house 2 hours 30 minutes!!!


And for Buzz Lightyear 2 hours 10 minutes
(about 2 hours before the park closed...)


We did our best avoiding the crowds and it was an enjoyable day after all. The decorations and parades were wonderful!