Finland Finland Finland...(know the Monty Python song?)

Berlin-Mitte (where we live) is a magnet for foreigners. The current trend is French hip tourists. I bump into Finns, most recent arrivals staying for a few months or a year, pretty much on a daily basis. Today on a 9am playground outing (my kids still have vacation and we were up since 6...) I met a mom of three whom I had met in the same park a year ago. Her husband is a Finnish professor and on exchange for two years. She is a teacher and on leave from her job in Finland for three years, as her youngest kids are 2.5 years (twins). We had a nice chat, catching up on the last year. The main changes: I no longer work, and am struggling to find a new job that would be family compatible. On her side: she is getting ready to return to Finland and her job, and her husband will go on a sabbatical year to ease the transition of the move. As after my summer trip to Finland and discussions with friends and family, I realized how "easy" maternity is in Scandinavia. And again, how interchangeable the roles of the sexes are, at least compared to continental Europe. We have never considered moving to Finland, but this aspect saddens me about my life here. Then again, there are so many benedfits to being where we are. And after more photos from our friends in Switzerland, the pull is more to the South than to the North at the moment!