Bye-bye Nakkila!

Dear Mom,

So, it’s been over 20 years since you sent me away to live in Sibe… sorry, I mean Finland. And while I still love living here, I’m thinking about making a change. And no, I’m not moving back into my old bedroom, so you don’t have to change the locks.

As much as I hate to admit it, I think you may have been right back in 1990 when you told me that I might come to regret getting a tattoo of the first place I ever lived here: Nakkila. It was funny then, but not so much now that I’m 40.

I’m a little worried that having it removed might hurt, but probably not as much people constantly asking me why I have a tattoo of a used condom on my arm. Usually I just say it’s a weird birthmark or that I got it in jail. Both are true, in a way.

Anyway, even though the tattoo is going, all the good memories will stay with me forever. Remember how freaked out I was by that first meal I had in Nakkila? I said ”Ooh, those pancakes look yummy, what flavor are they?” And my host sister said: ”Blood.” Good times.

So how are things in New York?

Love,

Lissu

P.S. Here it is one more time. Enjoy it now before it’s just a scar in the shape of a used condom.