It was the first training place where I had to engage in active conversations with many people at one time (usually around the coffee table) and I still remember how overwhelming it felt at that time because when they talked to one another, they talked REALLY fast, but if one of them tried talking to me in particular, she always tried to speak more slowly. THANK GOD for thoughtful people! :-D
I remember doing a presentation on blogging in front of them (of course R2 helped me prepare it at home and I had memorized what I was going to say anyway), but it wasn't that stressful because I had known the ladies for a while, but still I still remember the feeling of having achieved something different in my journey to learn Finnish. I wouldn't have been able to do it without them. It was actually the boss who had asked me to do the presentation because she was talking to me about blogging and she wanted to know more, so she challenged me to do the presentation. I'm REALLY thankful for her challenge! :-) Here's a post describing my last day at the library: A Sentimental Day.
OK, now let me just post the song and the lyrics in Finnish and English. If there are mistakes in the English version, pardon me or let me know what to fix. Here's "Salaisuuksia" by Johanna Kurkela.
The lyrics in English:
SALAISUUKSIA (SECRETS) - Johanna Kurkela
Do you remember our childhood summer
When the mornings smelled like honey?
When our feet got wet in the grass
When nothing else seemed to be more important?
I also remember the rainbow
Arching over the field
Near the standing stone
The rowboat embedded among the rushes
And the meadow covered with mist
Reff: You were the boy with sooty hands full of strawberries
I went with you to steal the apples
With a picnic basket full of kittens
I was the girl who had a flowery dress and a treasure map
With a hoody and a handful of seashells
Covered from head to toes with secrets
Reff 2: Those memories remain
When everything has gone away
Those memories remain
Do you ever miss going back in time?
To our hiding place in the granary?
At midnight under the starry sky
We lay down on the meadow
There I'll look for you again
While I roam the realm of memories
Where time is precious like gold
There will I build a fortress
Reff
Reff 2
Where do the secrets belong now?
What kind of treasure have you found since then?
Are you still the one who can ignite the sparks
And burns like fire?
Reff
Reff 2
In Finnish:
Muistatko sen lapsuuden kesän,
kun aamut tuoksuivat hunajalle.
Kun jalat kastuivat ruohikossa,
eikä mikään ollut hetkeä tärkeämpää.
Minä muistan myös sateenkaaren,
pellon yllä luona kivipaaden,
soutuveneen uponneena kaislikossa
ja niityn joka usvaan häviää
refrain:
Sinä olit se poika jolla oli nokiset kädet täynnä mansikoita
eväskorissa kissanpentuja, matkalla kanssasi omenavarkaisiin
Minä olin se tyttö jolla oli kukkaleninki ja aarrekartta
huppari ja kourallinen simpukoita ja salaisuuksia päästä varpaisiin
refrain2:
Ne jäljelle jää
kun kaikki häviää
ne jäljelle jää
Kaipaatko koskaan takaisin
piilopaikkaan sinne vilja-aittaan
Sydänyönä alle tähtitaivaan
niittyvillalla sijattuun vuoteeseen
Sieltä etsin sua uudestaan
Matkalla muistojen valtakuntaan
Missä maailma on ajankultaa
sinne merenrantaan mä rakennan linnakkeen
refrain
refrain2
Mihin salaisuudet kuuluvat nyt
minkä aarteen olet sittemmin löytänyt
Vieläkö oot se, jos kipinä saa
sijan syttyä ja tulena palaa
refrain (2x)
refrain2
