Greetings from Finland,

our visit is over now. Time passed really fast, we couldn´t easily remember all the visits and occasions happened somewhere during the stay. We noticed the fact when following the show of the pictures taken in Canada and in the USA during the stop in Frankfurt Airport.

We had a fairwell party in our last evening attending about 30 persons; organisators, host families and friends. Beautiful evening, Thank You!

There were several important occasions taking part in during the evening: we sold our garden game "Mölkky" in auction and Mari and Lynn Oglesby had their birthday party with cake cutting. PDG Dave Carpenter was the winner of the auction and the income will be donated for RI Polio+ -campaign.

Followed by some pictured from the last couple of days of the stay and the return back to Helsinki:

And finally, Helsinki, Finland 20 hours later.

Stop 14 hours later in Airport Frankfurt, Germany at 6 am local time. Teemu isn´t any more staying with us, he took a flight to New York to meet his family.

The last Team Picture taken in D6400 just seconds before leaving for home.

DG Jennifer Jones honoured the Farewell Party in her attendance.

Mari`s birthday, Team Present and Cake.

Several Team Members visiting Judge William C. Hultgren of the 19th District Court in the City of Dearborn.

Atrium financed by local rotarians in the District Court in the City of Dearborn, Mi.

Donald Atkinson from Livonia Rotary club offered me and Mari an opportunity to go fishing on the Lake Erie. We spent five hours on the lake and catched lots of sheepheads and two walleyes.Thank you Don for taking us to the lake, that was truly one of the highlights of this trip.

4 pound walleye

9 pound sheephead

Visiting William D. Ford Technical Center.

Cook out at Dave & Lynn Carpentier`s house.

Club meeting with RC Dearborn Heights!

Teemu after recreation in a huge rec-center.

Penny & Lynn Oglesby hosting Jorma and Teemu

Meeting with mayor in town of Livonia

Another Ford Mustang GT/CS

Another presentation at Rotary meeting

Greenfield village

Detroit Red Wings vs. Dallas Stars, round 3, game 5, result 1-2

Hei!

Today I had a change to see Cranbook inside or at least a little part of it. My guide was Mark Coir, director of Cranbook Archives and Cultural Properties. Cranbook is not very well know here. And those who knows, it's mainly because architect Eliel Saarinen. But Cranbook is lot's of more than that. It's one of the Michigan's most beautiful jewelleries. George Booth emploied artisans to create buildings, paintings, furnitures, textiles, sculptures and landscape. And a main idea was to create a perfect environment to learning. Maybe you know Albert Kahn, Eliel Saarinen, Eero Saarinen, Juhani Pallasmaa, Steven Holl, Carl Milles, Warhol, de Kooning... Just image a dining hall with original Saarinen's chairs and original paintings and hundreds of teenages. But those are still there, after 70 years. If you are surrounded by the best arts and craft, even teenages revere it.


Last Sunday we visited in Greenfield village. I loved the place. But I really loved Cranbook. I hope those people whose knows Henry Ford, will be known George Booth and Cranbook also. It would be pleasure to have a change study there. But you don't need to be a student for enjoy beautiness of Cranbook.

Tanaan minulla oli vihdoin mahdollisuus nahda Cranbookia tarkemmin, ensimmaisella viikolla pistaydyin vain paaportilla. Mutta minulla ei ollut mitaan aavistusta, millainen kasityon, arkkitehtuurin ja taiteen yhdistelma campus todellisuudessa on. George Booth kaytti koko omaisuutensa luodakseen taydellisen opiskeluympariston lapsille ja nuorille. Cranbook on seka yksityiskoulu, mutta myos mittaamattoman arvokas kokoelma arts and craft - kauden kasityotaidetta ja arkkitehtuuria. Cranbook on paikka, jonne haluan palata. Pieni pala sydantani jai sinne.

Katja

Hi again!

We have now changed the host families, the last time during our visit in here. Team seems to be a little tired for all the information flow and seems to wait for home, the first contact for the work has been taken. Anyway, we have an excellent team, who is doing together in amarvellous way. Our competence is receiving the goals of the GSE-programme; we are making our presentations in a rutinated way ;-)

Many thanks to the committed host families and the team!

Moro Again!

This is the end of the week before the last week over here. We are beginning to miss the other team members already! There`s only four days to go. I have stayed with this lovely family (Scott, Kari and Sam Hughes), so thank`s for them.Teemu`s hosts, Ted and June Van Os, also set us a great team evening for yesterday, so thanks guys.

I had the best vocational day ever on friday! The day began with an exitingevent: I got to be at the operating room with Scott Hughes observing his work. I hadn`t been at the operational work since graduating my nursing diploma, so it was fun. I just tried to stay out of their way, but I had some great lessons on anathomy also.

After that I had Bill LaVoy driving me for the rest of the day and I went to see the totally new (2 years in business) Brownstown Henry Ford out patient clinic. After that I went to Annapolis Hospital where I stayed with the socialworkers. First I met Diana Shirkey who works for the ER. I also got to see someof his actual work when she does the interviews and organizis things.

After that I went to the social department of the hospital and found a totally new profession for Finnish hospitals, case workers. We really need these people, who would be helping patients to get through the hospital system and organizing homecare and many other things. I`m going to start a movement for that as soon as I get home!

One of the weeks most exiting events was the incredible luck of having seats for NHL western conference finals on the second row (things like this would only happen if you are related to some of the players! Actually the lucksname is Bill LaVoy). Detroit Red Wings were playing against Dallas Dragons. Bill, you are in our evening prayers!

So, once again, we`ve had a busy and a wonderful week here. Thank`s for all thepeople who has made some much work for us. We love you all.

Mari the Nurse

Nyt alkaa sitten viimeisen viikon alku taalla. Alamme jo ikavoida ryhman jasenia, niisk. Taas kerran, takana on kiireinen ja mahtava viikko. Olen asustellut Scott ja Kari Hughesin (ja poikansa Samin) luona Monroessa. Teemun mahtava isantaperhe, June ja Ted VanOs jarjestivat meille eilen mahtavan tiimi-illan kotonaan. Kiitokset siita!

Perjantain ammatillinen paivani alkoi loistokkaasti: paasin seuraamaan Scottin suorittamaa leikkausta, ortopedisti kun on ammatiltaan. Olen ollut viimeksi leikkaussalissa sairaanhoitajakoulussa 1994, joten yritin oikeastaan vain pysya poissa jaloista, mutta mielenkiintoista oli ja sain uusia ulottuvuuksia jalan anatomiaan.

Leikkauksen jalkeen Bill LaVoy ajelutti minua Henry Fordin paivakirurgiseen sairaalaan (ollut kaksi vuotta toiminnassa), seka Annapoliksen sairaalaan, jossa olin sosiaalityontekija Diana Shirkeyn matkassa. Diana tyoskentelee ensiavun sosiaalityontekijana ja paasin seuraamaan hanen potilastyoskentelyaan. Kavimme myos sairaalan yhteydessa olevalla julkisella akuutin psykiatrian klinikalla.

Olin myos sairaalan sosiaalityontekijoiden mukana hallinnon osastolla, josta loysin suomalaisiin sairaaloihin kokonaan uuden ammattikunnan: hoitoketjuohjaajat. Ihmisia, jotka tuntevat jarjestelman ja pystyvat ohjaamaan potilaita hoitoketjun lapi. Suomalaisessa terveydenhuoltojarjestelmassa todella tarvittaisiin ja aionkin aloittaa kansanliikkeen taman asian tiimoilta heti kotiin paastyani!

Kuitenkin vaikuttavimpia kokemuksia talla matkalla on ollut eiliset toisenrivin paikata NHL matsiin Detroit Red Wings vs. Dallas Dragons. Voitteko kuvitella, etta nama liput, joita on lahes mahdoton saada, vaan tipahtivat meille taivaasta. Enkelit istuvat olallamme. Enkelin nimi on kyllakin BillLaVoy.

Joten, jalleen kerran, takana on kiireinen, mutta mahtava viikko. Olemme todella kiitollisia kaikille mahtaville ihmisille, jotka ovat nahneet hurjastivaivaa eteemme!

Mari-hoitsu

Hei taas,

We have now stayed with new host families for a couple of days, and again, we have been accepted with the greatest hospitality. The host families have done great job for the successfull programme. Thank You for Your commitment!

We have received several succes during this third week here, of which the most important might be the language, we have got the feeling to understand / speak English almost freely and our presentations are going to be close to routine. Besides, vocational visits have fullfilled our waitings perfectly.

We attended to a Rotary meeting, which was organised just for us and for the host families by Taylor Rotarians. The meeting was attended also DG Jennifer Jones.

We had an excellent dinner during which the meeting place was full of intensive discussion between our team members and the attending, about 50 rotarians. The main part of the programme was our team presentation receiving lots of positive comments. After the presentation there were a lively discussion about our country and we received more questions to be answered there was time to do. Interesting discussion which left positive memories.

Nice meeting!

Hi folks!

We are still enjoying our fulfilled days over here even we are starting to miss home already. Lucky that we are being so busy, that we don`t have too much time to think about things like that. Our days are full of exiting activities. Tomorrow we`ll be changing our host familiest once again, so it`s time to thank our wonderful hosts Mike and Nancy Herr who have made us really feel like home and we have had so much fun together! We miss you already.

Terveisia taalta rapakon takaa. Viela jaksamme nauttia taytelaisista paivistamme, vaikka koti-ikava hiipiikin jo uhkaavasti mieleen. Onneksi ohjelmamme on todella taysi ja mielenkiintoinen, joten turhan paljon aikaa ikavointiin ei todellakaan jaa. Huomenna vaihdamme isantaperheita jalleen kerran, joten on aika kiittaa jalleen yhta ihanaa isantaperhetta, Mike ja Nancy Herria. Olemme tunteneet itsemme taalla todella tervetulleiksi ja olemme jakaneet monia ilon hetkia (naurettu vedet silmissa).

We all are enjoying different things in here. Some of us got the `kicks` from driving in a Hummer. Gerry our great driver in the picture.

Jokainen nauttii taalla olostaan tavallaan. Osalle riittaa elamykseksi Hummeriajelu. Gerry mahtava kuljettajamme kuvassa.

Getting soked in Lady of the Mist. Valmiina kastumaan Niagaralla veneajelulla.

Visiting Tecumseh rotarians on 13th of May. We spent the afternoon hiking in the Hidden Lake gardens with Tony and Jocelyn Menyhart.

Tecumsehin rotareiden vieraana 13.5. Iltapaivan vietimme ulkoillen Piilotettujen jarvien puistossa.

Having dinner at DGN Bruce and Sarah Goldsens house and on a lake with his lovely `hotel` boat.

Bruce ja Sarah Goldsenin vieraana illallisella ja hotellijollalla, jossa nahkapenkit ja kokolattiamatot.

Jorma shows the children of the Blissfield elementary school where we came from.

Jorma nayttaa Blissfieldin ala-asteelaisille mista kaukaa vieraat ovat tulleet.

Pusuja lapsille ja puolisoille

Mari ja Virve

Hi folks!

We are staying at the Adrian area now in Michigan. We came on Sunday from the Niagara Falls (it was 7 hours drive). Adrian seems familiar, for there`s lots of fields and farms as on the area I live in.

We had our vocational days today and I got to see Bixley Medical Center, so thanks to Kathy Greenlee and Lisa for giving me a tour in there. These private hospitals are wonderful with all the equipment and really specialized health care. I want to have mys children in one of those delivery rooms! Big difference between Finnish health care system seems to be the group of really specialized staff on one sector or diagnosis areas. Ultrasouds are mostly done by techinicians for example. The other difference is the large numper of volunteer work they get for the hospitals. I wish we had those people who put their time and efford on helping the staff and the patients on the areas where no education on nursing is required.

At 1 PM we had lunch at the home of Mark and Mary Murray and the afternoon we spent practicing golf (my first time on that game). But the best part was the great Mexican food on El Chaps and the movie we went to see, What happens in Las Vegas. Thank you Nancy Herr for the wonderful evening!

Love you all at home!

Mari the Mom

Heips!

Olemme nyt laskeutuneet Adrianiin Michiganiin 7 tunnin ajon jalkeen Niagaralta. Asumme Mike ja Nancy Herrin luona. Maisemat nayttavat maalaistytosta tutuilta, peltoja ja tilaa. Vietimme tanaan ammatilliset aamut. Olin Bixbyn sairaalassa ja kiitos Kathy Greenleelle ja Lisalle kierroksesta. Pari silmiinpistavaa eroa on sairaaloissa Suomen ja Michiganin valilla: toinen on suuri diagnoosiammattilaisten joukko, joita kutsutaan teknikoiksi ja toinen on vapaaehtoisten joukko, jotka tekevat ison osan tyosta, johon ei tarvita hoitotyon koulutusta.

Yhdelta lounastimme Mike ja Mary Murrayn kotona ja sen jalkeen olin elamani ensimmaisissa golf-harjoituksissa. Joka tapauksessa paivan mahtava lopetus oli meksikolainen ruoka El Chaps-ravintolassa ja sen jalkeen Cameron Diazin elokuva: Mita tapahtui Las Vegasissa. Kiitos Nancylle ihanasta illasta!

Rakastan teita kotona!

Mari-aiti

Terveisia Adrianista!

I had a very good vocational day today. I visited in INAI studio, founded1973 and named after the Japanese word for within a moment of time. It is headed by Dominican sisters, Barbara Chenicek and Rita Schiltz. The name of the studio describes very well how they make interior design. I have never visited in such a calm and classy studio. (I hope I can get some pictures out of my camera and add to the this plog.) They design sacred places. Mostly renovation work but also some new ones. How they have used light and space takes after Finnish architect Juho Leiviskä. He has also renowned by churches. But the sisters use more natural colours and materials. As it was said in brochure of Dominican Chapel of the Plain: "All is natural here - clay floor, handblown glass, stoneware vessels, black iron, flickering wall candles, reminding the community of deep needs of the world". I spent two hours in their studio and I really want to remember what I have learned today. They have unspoken sureness what is important.


Taman paivan ammatillinen vierailukohde oli pieni, mutta sitakin vaikuttavampi. Kaksi nunnaa, toinen yliopistokoulutuksen saanut taidemaalari, toinen kultaseppa, ovat pitaneet katolilaisiin kirkkoihin erikoistunutta sisustussuunnittelutoimistoa ( INAI) yli kolmekymmenta vuotta. En ole viela missaan tavannut yhta kaunista ja vaikuttavaa suunnittelua. Ja mina tutustuin heidan kohteisiin vain pienoismallien ja valokuvien kautta. Myos heidan studionsa oli niin hillityn harras, kaunis ja samalla toimiva verstas, etta se oli kuin kirkas lahde amerikkalaisen proystailyn ja tekovanhan keskella. Heidan suunnittelunsa on ajatonta, vahaeleista ja luontoa kunnioittavaa. Ehka varsin skandinaavista tai japanilaista, joka tapauksessa todella kaunista.

GSE-matkan parhaita puolia on se, etta matkaamme niin ammatillisesti kuin luonteeltaan erilaisten ihmisten kanssa. Silloin oppii ymmartamaan, miten monella tapaa voi samoja asioita kokea ja tuntea. Valilla minulle nauretaan, kun jaan haltioituneena katsomaan yksityiskohtaa talossa, vaikka vieresta ajaa mielettoman hieno ja iso Ford tai Pontiac tai jokin muu muriseva nelipyorainen.

Katja

Farewell Canada!

Many many thaks for Your hospitality for our GSE Team. Your people are so frienly and kindly!

O Canada!

Our home and native land!

True patriot love

in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts

we see thee rise,

The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,

O Canada,

we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land

glorious and free!

O Canada,

we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada,

we stand on guard for thee.

Our Team and the Dinner on Saturday evening.

Niagara Falls, our dream during the District Conference!

Hi,

Time to me to write some lines on the blog, too. We have now stayed here almost two weeks and are soon going to leave for District Conference in Niagara. Every one of us have been hosted by two families and and we stayed in a cottage close to Point Pelee Natural Park since now. Everyone, host families and those who have taken care of us during the visits in attractions and vocational organisations, as well have been very very hospitable and nice. They have done everything needed or even more for our accommodation. Many Thanks to them!

Thanks to Team Members, as well. They have done well, no problems, no missings, nothing negative - great Team!

My personal vocational day in USA was usefull, I visited two consultancy companies dealing with satisfaction surveyes. Both visits gave me ideas to develope my own company. The day in Canada differed from that one in USA; I had a very interesting possibilty to follow with Teemu training in the police and military training center in Windsor. We made pistol and rifle shootings were in both Teemu as an professional did pretty well, neather bad me as an amateur.

The rest of the days have we visited tourist attractions here in South Ontario and received a general outview on Canada and people in there. Surprisingly Canada seems to be a pretty strong wine producer as well as there have been a real war about two hundred years ago, not a total one but several major battles any way.

Some words about Rotary: fund raising for donation making and voluntary work are in totally higher importance compared to ours in Finland. Several, even millions of dollar financing wide projects have been implemented or are under way. Our small domestic and/or local projects seems to be unremarkable compared to them. The purpose of Rotary to contribute humanity is realising in an understandable way through these immense projects.

The first weekly meetings we have attended, have been a new experience for me; not very formal, much noise, singing, positive mood raising. Attractive! Our presentations, four times since now have been a challenge for us: the material has been good but the presenting in foreign language - the purpose of the GSE-programme, to deepning the professional skills is fullfilling.

Good team, good programme, excellant host, beautifull country - what could we hope more!

Jorma

Virve, Gordon & Mary Lou Drake and the wonderful breakfast with pancakes and homemade maple syrup
Pointe Pelee
At the downtown Windsor is a Rotary peace memorial

Hello there,

Yesterday in vocational day my host Gordan Drake took me to his work, to the University of Windsor. We walked around the campus and visited physics labs. Then we went for coffee with a wonderful man from Hungary, professor Mordechay Schlesinger. We were compering our mother tongues and found out lots of similarities.

After that we met professor Angela Sodan from School of Computer Sciences. She told about her research, job scheduling for clusters and grids. She is doing amazing work there and I got some ideas for my master's theses.

Then we quickly met the head of Computer department Akshai Agarwal and had nice little chat with him.

After visiting the university Gordon drove me to St. Clair College. Jamie Wilson, chair in School of Business & Information Technology. He gave me a tour in College and we visited many different departments and met many wonderful people. We had a lunch with Ruth Susannah, Professor in School of Business. Ruth is doing same kind of work as I do back in Finland so we shared many ideas. Of their curriculums I got ideas how to improve ours.

At the dinner in our host family, we had a visiting professor from Cuba Victor Fajer. See, how international this programme is!

Virve

Me and Mike at the outdoor shooting range.

Police department's shooting qualification, my result 63\64.

Preparing a dinner

Me and my C7 with 203 in FATS.

Hi there,

I had my first vocational day today. Me and Jorma visited Major F.A. Tilston VC, Armour and Police Training center. It's a combined training center for Military and Windsor Police department with great facilities. It includes classrooms, equipment storages, drill hall, medical services, both indoor and outdoor shooting range and a large indoor shooting range for semi-munition shooting training with live targets. There's also a one acre space for outdoor training.

The morning was hosted by Mike Akpata, a 40 years old local policeman and a teacher of the training center. During the morning we got familiar with police department and police training system, we did some indoor shoooting with 4046 Smith and Wesson, patrolled Detroit river with police boat and followed the training of Police department's tactical squad.

The afternoon was hosted by Chief warrant officer Kirk Drew and liuetenent colonel Hardy Wheeler. We got aquainted to Canada Army's organization, training system and training center's equipments and vehicles. After that we did a shooting exercise with FATS (pneumatic system for indoor basic and advanced shooting training). For a dinner we had a Army's food ration. I cooked Chicken a' la King. Portion was prepared with 40 ml water, which was warmed up with chemical reaction in a special bag. Quite a quick way to make a dinner, took only under 10 minutes to get it done.

At the end of the day we followed Army Reserve's basic training. About 25 young men did drills concerning company hide, raid and obstacle crossing. The training itself was quite similar to the training we give to our conscripts.

I had a really interesting day. I can't wait to visit Us National Guard next week.

Teemu

Hello!

I had a great vocational day today, with all the lovely people showing the work they do. In the morning I went to Canadian Mental Care Assosiations one clinic whic belongs to City Centre Health Care of Windsor and had a tour in there. Shannon was very nice to give some of her time to show me around and tell about they do in there.

After that I got to enjoy the company of 4 to 5 year olds at the Summit Centre for Preschool Children with Autism. I was taken care of Laurie Leeming, the senior therapist in there, and rest of the wonderful staff and got to observe the work they do in there. You can see them in the picture above. We also had lunch with Mary Lou Drake, my host, at the the Queen Elisabeth Cafe (with her picture on the wall) and afterwards went on to the Building Blocks for Better Babies, (supervised by my host Mary Lou Drake) Canada Prenatal program for pregnant and just delivered mothers with low income. There I got to attend their nutrition and physical exercise classes, and ofcourse to hold all these lovely children under 6 months! They all are so lovely!

That was my this weeks vocational activity, now we have some Rotary meetings to attend and on thursday we head to Niagara.

Love you all at home. Lots of kisses.

Mari the Mom

Heips!

Olipas mielenkiintoinen ja antoisa ammatillinen paiva. Aamusta olin lyhyella kierroksella Kanadan mielenterveysjarjeston yhdessa toimipaikassa, jossa Shannon esitteli minulle organisaatiota ja ymparistoa. Sen jalkeen sain osallistua esikouluikaisten autististen lasten kontoutukseen organisaatiossa, josta kuva on. Siella seurasin opetusta ja leikin lasten kanssa, joiden ika on 4-6 vuotta. Ihania, kuten lapset aina. Useimmilla on ongelmia kouluunlahdon kanssa, monet eivat puhu tai ovat vasta alkaneet puhua joitakin sanoja.

Lounastimme kuningatar Elisabeth II:n cafessa, jossa seinalta katsoi itse kuningatar Mary Lou Draken, emantani kanssa. Paasin myos hanen mukaansa hanen omaan organisaatioonsa, jossa tarjotaan vahatuloisille raskaana oleville ja juuri synnyttaneille naisille ohjausta ja tukea terveelliseen ravintoon, liikuntaan ja lapsen hoitoon liittyviin asioihin liittyen. Parasta oli, etta nama upeat naiset antoivat minun hoitaa lapsiaan. Ne kun ovat joka maassa 6 kuukauden ikaisena syotavan ihania!

Taman viikon ammatillinen ohjelma oli siina. Huomenna osallistumme joihinkin rotarykokouksiin ja torstaina lahdemme kohti Niagaraa.

Rakastan omiani kotona. Suukot ja halit!

T: Mari-Aippa

Hei!

Perjantaina kiertelimme Windsoria ja kaupungin eri osia. Walkerville syntyi tislaamon ymparille, silla perinteiseen patruunatyyliin tyontekijoille rakennettiin asunnot, kunkin yhteiskunnallisen aseman mukaisesti. Ei liene vaikea arvata, mista Ford City sai nimensa. Henry Ford levitti autoteollisuuden myos Kanadan puolelle. Mutta autoteollisuuden alamaki nakyy myos taalla. Ford Cityssa on paljon tyhjia taloja ja vilkkaasta menneisyydesta muistuttavat vain suuret seinamaalaukset. Ensimmaiset eurooppalaiset tulivat Windsoriin 1700-luvun alussa ja asettuivat Sandwichiin. Eras mielenkiintoinen vierailukohde oli rotareiden aikaansaama Children Safety Village, jossa opetetaan lapsia valttamaan vaaratilanteita niin kotona kuin liikenteessa. Talon toiminta-ajatus oli mahtava ja sain monia ideoita, joita tuoda myos kotikaupunkiin. Perjantaina kiertelimme paljon autolla paikkoja, silla aina kun yritimme tehda pienen kavelyn, alkoi sataa
.

Friday was our city tour day. We visited in Albert Kahn's Willistead Manor (I am an architect, I remember designer, not a owner) and we saw Walkerville, Ford City and Sandwich. We also tried to see parks and sculptures on the riverside, but each time it started to rain. We all liked to see Children Safety Village. I got a lot of ideas to bring back to my home town. The Finland needs that kind of places too!

Lauantaina aloitimme kahvilla Tim Hortonin kahvipaikassa, niita loytyy vahan joka kulmalta. Kahvittelun jalkeen suuntasimme kuljetus- ja automuseoon. Museolla olisi ollut myos mielenkiintoinen ulkomuseoalue, mutta jalleen satoi. Loppuohjelma olikin sitten sisaohjelmaa. Vierailimme puutarhamyymalassa nimeltaan Colasanti's. Toiminta oli alkanut kurkkujen ja tomaattien viljelysta 1940-luvulla ja nyt se oli valtava viihdelaitos. Kasvihuoneiden keskella oli minigolfrata, elainpuisto (mm. kilpikonnia, alligaattori, minipossuja, papukaijoja...) huvipuisto, pelisali, juhlasaleja, kaikkea mahdollista puutarhaan ja sisustamiseen, ja kylla - myos kukkia. Alue, jossa liikuimme, muistutti Pohjanmaata, ja kaikkialla oli kasvihuoneita. Vierailimme yhdessa niista, pitkat tomaatti- ja paprikarivistot olivat uskomaton naky. Ja tuoreet kirsikkatomaatit uskomattoman hyvia. Melkein kuin oman aidin kasvattamat.... Vierailimme myos Pelee Island Wineryssa. Saimme pienen turistikierroksen, jonka jalkeen olikin kiva maistella erilaisia viinilaatuja. Ja poimia muutama pullo mukaan, silla illalla oli ohjelmassa kaivattu lepohetki nuoren rotarin mokilla lahella Point Peleen luonnonpuistoa. Istuimme iltaa, soimme hampurilaisia ja nautimme kuumasta kylvysta ulkona isossa poreammeessa.

Sunnuntaina retkeilimme koko paivan auringonpaistessa luonnonpuistossa katsellen lintuja, kevatkukkia ja luonnon monimuotoisuutta. Pienelle alueelle mahtui niin soita, kuin kuivia katajistoja. Point Pelee on Kanadan etelaisin karki, samalla leveysasteella Rooman kanssa. Kun karjen nokassa seisoo ja katselee aaltojen hakkaavan rantakiviin, ei voi uskoa, etta olemme jarven rannalla. Vesi on turkoosia ja horisontissa nakyy vain taivaanranta. Oli ihanaa kayda lapi kuluneen viikon kokemukset keskenamme ja rentoutua. Ja siina sivussa taisi kylla palaa naama ja niska itse kullakin. Joten kun blogiin ilmestyy uusia kuvia, niin tiedatte mista nama kaikki punanenat tulevat. Ja ai niin, kanadalaiset ihastuivat Molkkyyn, jonka toimme mukanamme. Sunnuntai-illan barbecuen jalkeen pelia ollaan tilaamassa useaan kotiin.

Saturday we visited in Canadian Transportation Museum. Sadly weather wasn't good so we couldn't see historical village at all. But the museum was very nice. Essex is green house area(Heinz!!!) and we saw two very different kind of places. One was Colasanti's and other was more traditional green house with tomatoes and peppers. Colasanti's is not a only green house, it is a wonderland with animals, plants, indoor playground and mini golf. We also visited in Pelee Island Winery. We didn't know there is wineries in the Kanada. We loved Ice Wine!

We took some wine bottles with us and we went to spend overnight in summer cottage with Ken near park Point Pelee. We had very unwind time there. Just sounds of lake, lots of laughing, card games and good food. Sunday was really SUNday. We spent almost 5 hours all around Point Pelee. All those birds, flowers, and different types of nature. We also saw cactus, which grows here. And we got a lots of sun too, I have very red neck and face now. But we have a very nice weekend and at the Sunday evening a excellent barbecue with Molkky!

Katja