Anne, Berkeley CA,USA
Who can stretch Christmas to last for two months? Anne, from Alavus, Finland to Berkeley California, USA! A true multi-talent: one of those people that you would easily envy, but in this case, it’s a pure admiration: mother, partner, sister, daughter, friend, singer, actor, dancer, yoga teacher. Did I mention that she also plays violin? Kind, friendly, warm, genuine. And oh my, when she starts to laugh – it is contagious!
Those who have heard Anne singing the theme of the Snowman certainly send a special thought for her every 24th of December at 11.00 Finnish time when the movie, and the song, is traditionally presented in Finnish television. So Anne, when you feel the sudden warmth, it’s coming all the way from Finland.
Meet Anne, 41, originally from Alavus, Finland, living today In Berkeley CA, USA.
Anne has been together with her partner Ben for 11 years and they have a 4 years old son, Cole Juhani. Anne’s parents live in Lehtimäki, Finland and her sister’s family lives in Copenhagen, Denmark. Even if they live in different corners of the world, they try to see each other once per year.
Anne is a Yoga Teacher and her heart’s works is with pregnant and postpartum women. She also freelances as a Theatre Artist (acting, singing, dancing) on a project to project basis.
“Many many moons ago we danced out way through our teenage years in Kuopio!”. Anne and Tiina went to high school together. It was a school specializing in music and dance. A bit like Fame of Kuopio! Girls met for the first time in the audition and next time when the school started in August 1996. Those were very special years full of training and studying and as most of the students came from the different parts of Finland and lived alone for the very first time, as did Anne, it was also favorable situation to party quite a lot 😊
EVERYDAY LIFE
In the midst of the pandemic, it is hard to remember what a totally normal Tuesday actually looked like! Right now, Anne’s normal Tuesday is to hang out with little guy and his best friend with whom they do some child-care exchanging. Today Tuesdays are with building forts, train tracks, Lego houses and as Anne summarizes, they basically destroy their apartment in every possible way!
The worst in everyday life, at this very moment, is to stay home and have absolutely non-existent alone time. But in the other hand, the very best in everyday life is definitely her family!
And generally, what she finds stressful, is technology. She is trying to reinvent part of her business and move it online, learning to use new equipment and running into roadblocks left and right. All this new technology-stuff makes her feel old!
Over the years she has become a lot better at prioritizing self-care and recognizing when she needs to make time for it. She treats herself gently. Nights alone watching a movie, spending time with girlfriends, going out dancing, sitting in a hot tub, taking a good yoga class, sauna – these are her energy booster!
And as she says, in her case professions grew from the hobbies so as much as possible: going to theater, singing and dancing, yoga!
DREAMS & FEARS, PAST & FUTURE
What are your dreams?
“Having enough financial security to travel more. I’d love to show my little boy the world.”
What is your worst fear?
“Something happening to Cole.”
What is the most important advice you have received?
“When I moved away from Finland, my mother told me “know that you can always come back home”. I think with that knowledge at the back of my mind, I felt really free to adventure on. I felt free to try and fail, reinvent and try again.”
What has been the greatest global invention of your time?
“Oh, my goodness. It’s got to be email! I remember the days of scribbling letters to friends. Wow, saying that makes me feel old.” (Edit: at the second year of the school, in 1997, we had to attend computer-lessons. Maybe Anne remembers how we spent those hours? We were sure that computers would not have any significant role in our future, so we spent the lessons mostly surfing in FBI’s most wanted- site…)
Where would you donate your time/money to?
“I already make a monthly donation to Moms for Gun Control and to Black Lives Matter. Mass shootings and racism are huge issues in the US. And of course, climate change is a terrifying issue facing all of us. Outside of small daily choices I can make, I’d like to do more on that front for sure.”
Has the position of girls/women changed during your lifetime?
“This is a tough one to answer. If I think of the US, we are miles behind Scandinavia, the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) is still not passed, the abortion laws are slipping backwards, women are still fighting for equal pay, and as a white woman my choices and opportunities are a lot better than if I was a woman of color…. I might have a lot more to say on this subject, but I might leave it at this for now, so I don’t get too angry.”
If you could, what advice would you give to your 20-year-old self?
“Practice being a little easier on yourself, please. You have many years ahead; it doesn’t all have to happen right this moment. Also making mistakes is all part of life! (Like that relationship you are about to embark upon…).”
Where will you be in 10 years?
“I’ll have a teenager!! So probably in therapy.”
What would you say to a woman of your age who lives across the world?
“Wait. Same age? Want to swap apartments for a month?”
What about Christmas traditions? Christmas time is Anne’s favorite thing on the whole planet, so she has a multitude of traditions! The Christmas playlists start playing 1st of November. She has broken playlists into categories: “just follow me on Spotify, ha!”. Tree comes in right after Thanksgiving. Christmas movie watching starts 1st of December. Even though there is a few that qualify for Thanksgiving. And of course, advent calendars. Anne and Cole have an ornament making party sometimes early December followed by a gingerbread house making party. They go to see the best lit houses and she also sings with a caroling group. They will go see a few Christmas plays. She orders glögi (Finnish mulled wine) from the Scandinavian store. For Christmas she prepares traditional Finnish casseroles and on Christmas Eve they watch the Snowman. Time for presents on Christmas morning since Cole was born. So basically, she manages to stretch Christmas to last for two months out of the year!
STORY
“There are some people you meet, and even while you live worlds apart, you somehow stay in touch. Also, fate has to play a role. My friend Chad is such a person and we met while I was in high school, now more than 20 years ago. Before email was invented.
Chad came to town on tour with a group called Up With People. Me and my sister volunteered as a host family to provide housing for the young artists, and Chad and another boy, Dan, got placed with us for the days the show was in town.
We became fast friends and probably fell a little in love (remember how fast that happens when you are 17!?). We only spent a few days together before Chad was back on tour and leaving. We began exchanging letters (you remember those, the ones you actually write by hand?) and did so on regular intervals. Chad would tell me about his travels and seeing the world, I would fill him in on the goings on of my exciting senior year in high school, ha. Then email got invented, and he was the first person I ever sent an email to, from a computer at our school. I still remember that. It felt momentous! I couldn’t believe that in the second I pressed send, he’d receive the letter in his corner of the world.
Chad was originally from Canada, but he fell in love with a girl in Denmark and moved to Copenhagen after his tours. I, on the other hand, left Finland and headed to Miami to begin my college years. We switched sides of the world. There were sometimes longer stretches between our letters, but the absolute certain time we would always manage to check in, was our birthdays. Those special days we either wrote letters, Skyped, got on the phone even, now it’s usually Facebook messages... And we recounted stories from the year past, hashed out wishes for the year to come.
Then my sister moved to Copenhagen with her family and just 5 years back, Ben (my partner in life) and I took a trip there to visit, I was pregnant with Cole at the time. Chad and I had a reunion in Copenhagen after 17 years of exchanging letters, phone calls, emails and staying in touch. It felt like we hadn’t missed a beat!
Now we’ve managed to see each other in Copenhagen 3 times over the past years. Every time we book a trip, I check in with Chad and we make sure to see each other. Chad has a special little corner of my heart and over the years we’ve shared so many stories of our lives with each other. Chad, I hope your ears are burning over there in your corner of Copenhagen! Sending you the biggest virtual hugs to celebrate our friendship.”
QUICK ONES
Drink: coffee
Favorite Food: sushi
Delicacy: dark chocolate
Restaurant/café: Woodtavern https://www.woodtavern.net
Spice: cinnamon
Feeling: cozy
Music: indie folk
Scent: geranium
Travel destination: by water, lake, river or ocean
Book: crime novels
Movie: romantic comedies
Favorite public holiday: Christmas
Artist/band: Glen Hansard
Plant: succulants
Evening routine: brush teeth, read book, put on eye covers
Favorite piece of clothing: pajamas
Animal: puppies
Scenery: lakes
Sport: basketball
Motto: “self-care is not a luxury, it’s a necessity”