penguinsfan said:
Shafty, I thought Finland was cold as hell from what I heard and you're already wearing shots and t-shirts? I can't do that here.
So, what brought you to live in southern California in the past and Finland these days?
Well, the common misconception seems to be that Finland, situated where it is, is subject to extremely cold weather. This would be correct if it weren't for this warm sea current (named the golf current) that heats up our climate considerably. It really isn't much different here in central and southern Finland than it is anywhere in central Europe- the winters are just a bit longer and colder. We do have 4 seasons, though, and it seems that spring comes earlier and earlier every year.
As a matter of fact, it has been very warm here for the past week or so, and sunny every day. Just today I got myself soaking wet with sweat when I went out to shoot some hoops with my buddies. I couldn't picture myself wearing pants or long sleeved shirts anymore!
I have lived in the Bay Area, actually, for a couple of years- two years back when I was aged 8-9, and over half a year just recently (came back to Finland around midsummer last year), with several extended vacations there in between. That is also where I picked up my talent with the language: I can speak perfect American English, and write rather fluently, too, as you may have noticed.

Anyhow, both times that I've lived there I was there with my family. My dad got invited to work as a visiting professor at U.C berkeley, so that's how the window of opportunity opened up to us. We lived in Berkeley, Walnut Creek, and finally in Orinda, during our latest excursion.
Needless to say, the first time around we all fell in love with the sunshine state, and had to come back for a second dose.
During my stay there, I also got the chance to take a road trip from Cali to Michigan (my dad was there as an exchange student back in the day, and we still keep in touch with his host family), zig zagging up and down the continent and trying to visit as many places and states as we possibly could. I think we managed to get around 15 states or so, and Canada & Mexico on top of that, too.
So, I guess you could say that I've had my fair share of the Apple Pie, but goddamnit, there's a saying that goes: ''you may leave California, but California will never leave you'', and that's speaking in volumes!

I'm going back there some day, perhaps for good this time around.