New Info!

On Friday night after dinner, everyone came back to our flat until we had to take Charlotte to the bus station. We called the taxi just before 1:00am and her bus was at 1:45am. The taxis are unpredictable and can show up within 3 mins after calling or you can wait for 45 mins, since it was a Friday night, we thought it might take a while. It ended up coming right away which ment we were at the bus station at 1:00 and had to wait outside in just above freezing weather for 45 minutes. We got back to our flat at 2:30 but didn't fall asleep for a while cause we were too cold!
On Saturday Jackie and I walked into the city for lunch and coffee. That night we went out to Kharma night club with Deirdre, Anastasia, Zdenek, Jonas, Nickos, Daniel, Shane and Lisa(Deirdre's friend from Ireland). Although, the music wasn't too great and everyone was really rude. Sunday was a lazy day, we watched Ice Age.
Today, I went into school for lunch and a meeting to plan the Stammtisch for English speaking countries, which is on Thursday! Somehow we ended up with the theme, Wild Wild West, which was decided a while ago. No one is too happy about it because it doesn't have too much to do with the English countries (US, Canada, England, Wales and Ireland), except a few states in the US. We tried for a graffitti party where everyone wears white shirts and brings a marker and you can draw or write on everyone elses shirt but the bar our party is at was worried people would graffitti the walls, too. We also tried to change it to Reality TV. But they made us stick with Wild West. So, we decided to have a piñata (which Jackie, Kyle and I have to make), pin the tail on the donkey and potato sack races. Our "special drink" for the night will be whiskey.
Last night I tried to locate some family that may be in Finland, I didn't have any luck but I did find:
Keranen= Finnish (Keränen): possibly from Keräpää, a nickname for a bald person or someone with a round head and/or with closely cropped hair, + the common surname suffix -nen. In eastern Finland the name dates back to the 16th century.
Neimi= Finnish: from niemi ‘peninsula’, ‘headland’, originally a habitational name from a farm so named for its situation. In the late 19th century it was a popular ornamental adoption, so much so that people then began to change it for a less common name. It occurs chiefly in western Finland. In America, it is also found as an abbreviation of other surnames containing this element, such as Rajaniemi, Sotaniemi, and Syrj(a:)niemi.
- From the information I have it looks like Neimi was Great Grandpa's father's birth father's (Charles Niemi) last name and his father' step father's (Herman Keranen) last name was Keranen. It is a little confusing, and I'm not sure if that is accurate.
Pekkala= no records, Great Grandpa's mother's maiden name
Saarinen= Finnish: variant of Saari + the common surname suffix -nen. Found chiefly in western Finland. Mostly, this is an ornamental name adopted during the name conversion movement at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries.
- Great Grandma's father's last name was Saarinen; he was born in Rauma in Western Finland.
Hopponen= no records, Great Grandma's mother's maiden name
I also located a family tree that would appear to have Great Grandpa Keranen, his father and Great Grandma's father all on it. Although, I am not 100% sure. When I get more information, I'll let everyone know.