Well it had to happen sooner or later. Friday was the first day I unexpectedly heard someone speaking Finnish. The feeling is really weird, a bit like being suddenly woken up in the middle of a dream. And it’s not that I wouldn’t hear Finnish spoken daily, cos I do (Sonja’s here as well, remember). It takes a minute to recognize the language but you can’t help noticing. I guess it’s caused by the same part of the brain that’s responsible for the cocktail party phenomenon, cos it only works with my native language. Not once have I felt surprised hearing someone speak English or whatever in Finland but this way round it’s a real shock.