Somewhere Else

Chapter 24: A Side of Me

"You've come so far!" I exclaim, feeling a genuine smile of pleasure spreading across my face.

"I know," Juhani laughs. "I'm so proud of myself."

"I'm so proud of you," I agree.

"I couldn't have done it without your help," he says. "You're a lifesaver. Really."

If I put my hand to my cheek right now, I'm certain it would come away hot.

"I've been talking to a few classmates," Juhani continues. His fingers are tapping out a tattoo of nervousness onto the tabletop. "Some of them might be interested in lessons, too, so I gave them your contact details. That's okay, right?"

"Definitely," I say, even as I tamper down a wave of panic that instinctively rises up at the thought of having to pick up calls from numbers I don't recognise. "How many are there?"

He shrugs, "Two or three. I don't know if they will all contact you, but I thought you should know."

"Thanks for giving me a heads up," I say, then give an awkward giggle. "I usually don't pick up calls from unknown numbers, so I might've missed them if you hadn't told me."

"Call?" Juhani looks startled. "Oh, no. They'll probably text first."

"Oh!" It's my turn to be surprised. "That's good, then. I think I'd prefer texting to speaking on the phone when it's with people I don't know."

"Yes, so do we," Juhani grins. "You know us Finns."

I laugh at his quip. "I'm disappointed," I say, struggling to keep my face straight as I see Juhani's eyebrows shoot up. "There are all these jokes about how shy and introverted the Finns are, but I've been here for months and I haven't met anyone half as bad as me."

Juhani snorts and bursts out laughing. I watch him, feeling relatively proud of myself.

"Oh, come on," he says, when his laugh has subsided into a chuckle. "You're a little quiet, yeah, but you're quite sociable. It's fun talking to you."

I shrug, even as I preen at his praise. "I'm just saying," I say, tongue-in-cheek, "that with all the stereotypes floating around, I would've thought there would be way more introverted people around."

"Maybe you haven't met the really introverted ones," Juhani suggests. "I mean, if they were really introverted, you might not have had the chance to get to know them in the first place."

I consider this. "Makes sense." Then I let my mouth curve upwards.

Juhani grins back. And for a moment, we stare at each other, blanketed by a wave of camaraderie that paints over my cheeks with a layer of warmth.

He is my first success story—my first foray into teaching as a profession. It is also the first thing I've accomplished on my own since landing in Helsinki.

And, suddenly, I feel the prickle of tears against my eyelids.

I blink a few times, hoping that Juhani doesn't notice. With my luck, my nose has probably gone red at the tip. To disguise the lump in my throat, I cough and fix him with a stern look.

"This doesn't mean you'll stop studying for German, does it?"

He shoots me a startled look. "Are you serious? If I stop now, I'll end up failing again." Now a worried look has crossed his face. "Wait – you don't think I'm stopping our sessions, are you?"

I had thought that, but I cock my head as if the idea hasn't occurred to me. "Of course I hope you'll continue," I say. "We could focus more on conversational skills now that your foundation is more solid."