I got a new book, JK Rowling wrote it, it is called the “The Casual Vacancy.” Grandmother, Sari’s mother, came to take care of the kids, who all stayed home sick today. She speaks no English, but she seems nice. She said hello to me when I first met her and tonight she revealed that she knows the word “socks.” She made Lättu for lunch. It is a traditional Finnish meal that is sort of like a pancake mixed with a crepe. You eat them with jelly, cream, or really whatever you want. They were delicious. School was good. My “music” teacher, and I use quotations because it is unlike any music class I have known and I’m not sure it should be called that, is hilarious. Today he joked about Donald Trump and his beautiful plastic surgery. He jokes by making completely absurd statements with a completely serious face. He never breaks character, and the majority of things he says in English are just to amuse me (usually by making fun of the rest of the class, which is all boys.) Aatu is very hard to communicate with because he speaks no english, but today we had several amusing moments of understanding. Once when he was mocking Venla and I started mocking him and fake tattling on him in Finnish. “Aïtï, Aatu matkii!” Which means, “Mom, Aatu is mocking me!!” This went on for several minutes. Then a little later he had on Aviators and was running around the house like a spy (clearly not sick anymore) and we had a moment of movie-style-fighting-action. Then before dinner he asked me to play a game of his own invention with a balloon. Like I said, communicating with Aatu is hard because we have no way to talk, so the little things with him are what matter. Sari and I went on a long walk on a trail behind the house through the fields and the woods. The weather here is turning cold very quickly. Already, especially in the mornings and evenings I can feel the familiar autumn bite in the air, and it is not even September. Today was a perfect summer day, though, the sun shining.