Speaking Finnish

My Finnish is not very good - rudimentary at best. But after spending four days with Inari's grandparents, who don't know a word of English, I feel a renewed desired to learn more. I spent more than one morning in the kitchen with them (while Inari was sleeping) trying to explain very simple ideas. I think they occasionally understand me (no, I don't drink coffee; yes, I'd like some cheese), but more often than not we just looked at each other in complete confusion and threw our arms up in the air. "Oh, it's not important. It's ok."

And, though Finns generally speak English quite well, they are obviously more comfortable speaking Finnish, which means that I'm often left out of discussions. Sometimes I can pick out a few words to understand the general context, and if I'm lucky somebody will summarize the conversation in English. But most of the time I just pretend to be a stereotypical Finnish male: quiet. Not that I expect them to speak English, I'm just happy that they can speak English.