Molly invited me to her place for some Glögi on Sunday night so we could meet and chat about the presentations I’d be doing the next two days.
Her place was an easy walk from my hotel and I was entranced by her elevator. It reminded me of the one they used to have in downtown Brantford at the old Right House.
Glögi is hot spiced wine with dried fruit and nuts in it. Very tasty!
The next morning, Molly met me at my hotel and we walked to school together. A very pleasant walk — the school was just a kilometer away.
On the way up to Molly’s library, I admired the flags in the stairwell — one for each nationality of student at the school.
There were posters and displays about my visit in various places. Here’s one from the library.
And here’s a selfie with Molly and me.
Most of the presentations took place in the Big Room.
The classes were small and so we were able to have nearly all of them with the students sitting on chairs at tables that had been arranged in a U shape. This facilitated the format, which was a presentation about how I became an author, and a bit about my books, followed by a writing workshop. The only exception was the storytelling for kindergartens, which was held in the library. I used a swirling chair and sat in the middle of them, presenting When Mama Goes to Work.
Just like at AISB, I was impressed with the caring and devoted attitude of the teachers and staff. ISH felt like one big family. And I really like their stairs.
The two days sped by quickly. It was such an honour to meet the students and staff of ISH.
By Wednesday morning, I was all packed up and waiting for the taxi after a 5am breakfast at Glo Art Hotel.
Airport security and check-in complete, I grabbed myself a cup of coffee and amused myself with some people watching. Wouldn’t you love a scooter like this airport staffer has?
The flight from Helsinki to Heathrow was Finnair, and the beverage choice was coffee, tea or blueberry juice, so of course I took the blueberry juice. They also had this nifty webcam of the flight as a screen option.
A dozen hours later, I was home.
