Since I left E-town to my latest bungling in Lappeenranta, Finland
Friday, July 25, 2003
Forest Bike
Hey everybody,
I found a bike in the forest. It is now called the forest bike, of course. If I pedal too hard the back wheel binds and catches on the frame so it's a great bike. Yeah, and it's pink.
It's better than walking,
Cole
P.S. I miss my old, blue bike, that didn't squeak. It even had the Finnish Heraldic Lion on the front of the frame.
Hey everybody,
I found a bike in the forest. It is now called the forest bike, of course. If I pedal too hard the back wheel binds and catches on the frame so it's a great bike. Yeah, and it's pink.
It's better than walking,
Cole
P.S. I miss my old, blue bike, that didn't squeak. It even had the Finnish Heraldic Lion on the front of the frame.
Wednesday, July 23, 2003
Bikes, Bikes, No More Bikes
Terve,
I've had another adventure regarding how I break everything bicycle orientated around here. Let's detail all previous bike mishaps so we all know what I'm talking about. First of all, there are the three flat tire tubes that my bike has suffered; one slow leak, one 70 liter backpack full of stuff jumping a curb incident; and one my tire came off the bike and the tube was punctured when I put it back on. My tire was so bad I had also bought a new one. Well yesterday I was crossing the street behind Tamas, the Hungarian, and I thought, "I can make it before that car." I would of if Tamas would have kept going but he, being very cautious, stopped immediately and I bent the fender of the bike I was riding by slamming into him. Neither of us fell over but his leg did receive a small bruise. Also, I say 'the bike I was riding' because my bike was stolen last Friday. I guess, even in Finland, no unlocked bike is safe forever. My bike is actually the fourth one among the students that has been stolen. Anyway, 'the bike I was riding' belongs to Gedrius, the Lithuanian, and is also a write-off because, later, I broke the pedal completely. I'm not talking about the part you put your foot on, though. I'm talking about the L-shaped metal piece that connects the pedal to the gear (I broke through a half inch of steel... obviously very poor steel). I pushed a big push up a hill in the highest gear and my foot almost hit the ground. I say almost because my butt, etc. slammed into the seat quite fiercely. Jose, thought that was hilarious and he hit the ditch laughing. He was okay but the Spanish community that has developed here thought it was much more amusing watching me pedal home with one pedal. Later I showed Gedrius the pedal through his kitchen window. He immediately started laughing at the chunk of broken metal I was wielding until I said, "Don't laugh, this is your pedal." We walked to work together today. We were going to weld the piece back together but we don't have access to the school's welding shop since everyone is on vacation. Regardless of whether we can fix Gedrius' bike or not, no one will lend me their bike anymore.
The frame to my kitchen window also broke last night,
Cole
Terve,
I've had another adventure regarding how I break everything bicycle orientated around here. Let's detail all previous bike mishaps so we all know what I'm talking about. First of all, there are the three flat tire tubes that my bike has suffered; one slow leak, one 70 liter backpack full of stuff jumping a curb incident; and one my tire came off the bike and the tube was punctured when I put it back on. My tire was so bad I had also bought a new one. Well yesterday I was crossing the street behind Tamas, the Hungarian, and I thought, "I can make it before that car." I would of if Tamas would have kept going but he, being very cautious, stopped immediately and I bent the fender of the bike I was riding by slamming into him. Neither of us fell over but his leg did receive a small bruise. Also, I say 'the bike I was riding' because my bike was stolen last Friday. I guess, even in Finland, no unlocked bike is safe forever. My bike is actually the fourth one among the students that has been stolen. Anyway, 'the bike I was riding' belongs to Gedrius, the Lithuanian, and is also a write-off because, later, I broke the pedal completely. I'm not talking about the part you put your foot on, though. I'm talking about the L-shaped metal piece that connects the pedal to the gear (I broke through a half inch of steel... obviously very poor steel). I pushed a big push up a hill in the highest gear and my foot almost hit the ground. I say almost because my butt, etc. slammed into the seat quite fiercely. Jose, thought that was hilarious and he hit the ditch laughing. He was okay but the Spanish community that has developed here thought it was much more amusing watching me pedal home with one pedal. Later I showed Gedrius the pedal through his kitchen window. He immediately started laughing at the chunk of broken metal I was wielding until I said, "Don't laugh, this is your pedal." We walked to work together today. We were going to weld the piece back together but we don't have access to the school's welding shop since everyone is on vacation. Regardless of whether we can fix Gedrius' bike or not, no one will lend me their bike anymore.
The frame to my kitchen window also broke last night,
Cole
North to Rovaniemi and the Arctic Circle
Hello,
What a weekend. Tamas and I went north, way north to Rovaniemi. We went to the Arctic Circle because I missed out on my family going that far north (almost) and Tamas came because he had nothing else to do. He now refers to me as the man with the program. Either way, the Finnish Arctic Circle has farms and trees and is nothing like ours. You have to get a car or spend more than a weekend there to see anything like the treeless Arctic that I loved in the Yukon.
Instead we went to Santa's Village which is hilarious to talk about but not that great. It is hilarious to talk about, though. We bought some beer and went for a walk through a swamp because there were cloudberries there. There were about eight berries and they should be ripe in a couple of weeks. Well, except we ate them. We were pretty tired from the night train so berries and beer almost put us asleep in front of Santa. A picture with Santa cost €17 so we thought we would save our money for beer. I did send my niece a card with a Santa stamp on it (in July!?!). The question I forgot to ask Santa is, "What happens when a child comes here and you don't speak her language." Yes, I wanted to put Santa in a tough spot. Then we went out on the town and found that the kiosks stop selling beer at 9:00. Luckily we had already had a six pack and found that we had taken the bums usual sitting spot. They were quite upset and wanted money for beer (how else could they drink with us?). As always the bums spoke pretty good English. I will never understand how that works. Either way, we walked around the beach on the Kemi River and then went to a disco. That was great. Finnish guys can't dance and that made dancing with only Tamas, the Hungarian guy, quite avoidable. Hey Jason, by way of tequila, we discovered another person in this world that is allergic to citrus fruits.
When we left the disco at four in the morning it was like midday. The sun never goes down (unless your in the bar) and we were nearly blinded. We wanted to go hiking to a treeless fell (kind of like Ayer's rock but in Finland) but there was only one bus with that destination. It took two hours each way and stayed for two hours, so we went to the Arktikum Museum about worldwide Arctic cultures. It was great. Then we went to the beach and saw somebody's car roll into the river. A couple firetrucks and an ambulance with a boat came and, in front of 160 people, pulled out the car, which miraculously drove away. That was great to watch.
Monday found us in Helsinki making full use of us paying per day for train tickets. We went to Suomenlinna, the marine fortress I already visited, for a picnic. We then went to the biggest amusement park in Finland (I am guessing) and the rides were generally okay. I was soaked front and back on a log ride and the highlights were a ride like the octopus but with more g's and the Space Shot, which lifts you 30m in about 2 seconds (I'm estimating but your hair gets pushed down against your head pretty easily). The Space Shot was really exhilarating and afforded a great view of Helsinkil. Then we went home and we slept slept slept.
Other mentionables were meeting Hannu Kampurri, a short-lived goaltender for the Oilers in the 79-80 season. He was at the train station and if you want to check his stats go to http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=6308 Of course clicking on that didn't work when I tried it but if you go to the main page of the website and run a search on his name he'll be there. He has a Hungarian wife so he had a lot to say of interest to both Tamas and I. Now he is in the insurance business and has a two year old child. He also talks more and faster than me. The other blow me back thing was a motorcycle accident on Monday in Helsinki. It happened at about the same time we were on a tram, which I mention because it resulted in a tram skipping its tracks and slamming into the best known department store in Finland, the Stockman Center. We didn't see it because we are oblivious to news sources, but everyone keeps asking me if I saw it because we should have being we were two blocks from it.
And that's another weekend in the life of Brian,
Cole
Hello,
What a weekend. Tamas and I went north, way north to Rovaniemi. We went to the Arctic Circle because I missed out on my family going that far north (almost) and Tamas came because he had nothing else to do. He now refers to me as the man with the program. Either way, the Finnish Arctic Circle has farms and trees and is nothing like ours. You have to get a car or spend more than a weekend there to see anything like the treeless Arctic that I loved in the Yukon.
Instead we went to Santa's Village which is hilarious to talk about but not that great. It is hilarious to talk about, though. We bought some beer and went for a walk through a swamp because there were cloudberries there. There were about eight berries and they should be ripe in a couple of weeks. Well, except we ate them. We were pretty tired from the night train so berries and beer almost put us asleep in front of Santa. A picture with Santa cost €17 so we thought we would save our money for beer. I did send my niece a card with a Santa stamp on it (in July!?!). The question I forgot to ask Santa is, "What happens when a child comes here and you don't speak her language." Yes, I wanted to put Santa in a tough spot. Then we went out on the town and found that the kiosks stop selling beer at 9:00. Luckily we had already had a six pack and found that we had taken the bums usual sitting spot. They were quite upset and wanted money for beer (how else could they drink with us?). As always the bums spoke pretty good English. I will never understand how that works. Either way, we walked around the beach on the Kemi River and then went to a disco. That was great. Finnish guys can't dance and that made dancing with only Tamas, the Hungarian guy, quite avoidable. Hey Jason, by way of tequila, we discovered another person in this world that is allergic to citrus fruits.
When we left the disco at four in the morning it was like midday. The sun never goes down (unless your in the bar) and we were nearly blinded. We wanted to go hiking to a treeless fell (kind of like Ayer's rock but in Finland) but there was only one bus with that destination. It took two hours each way and stayed for two hours, so we went to the Arktikum Museum about worldwide Arctic cultures. It was great. Then we went to the beach and saw somebody's car roll into the river. A couple firetrucks and an ambulance with a boat came and, in front of 160 people, pulled out the car, which miraculously drove away. That was great to watch.
Monday found us in Helsinki making full use of us paying per day for train tickets. We went to Suomenlinna, the marine fortress I already visited, for a picnic. We then went to the biggest amusement park in Finland (I am guessing) and the rides were generally okay. I was soaked front and back on a log ride and the highlights were a ride like the octopus but with more g's and the Space Shot, which lifts you 30m in about 2 seconds (I'm estimating but your hair gets pushed down against your head pretty easily). The Space Shot was really exhilarating and afforded a great view of Helsinkil. Then we went home and we slept slept slept.
Other mentionables were meeting Hannu Kampurri, a short-lived goaltender for the Oilers in the 79-80 season. He was at the train station and if you want to check his stats go to http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=6308 Of course clicking on that didn't work when I tried it but if you go to the main page of the website and run a search on his name he'll be there. He has a Hungarian wife so he had a lot to say of interest to both Tamas and I. Now he is in the insurance business and has a two year old child. He also talks more and faster than me. The other blow me back thing was a motorcycle accident on Monday in Helsinki. It happened at about the same time we were on a tram, which I mention because it resulted in a tram skipping its tracks and slamming into the best known department store in Finland, the Stockman Center. We didn't see it because we are oblivious to news sources, but everyone keeps asking me if I saw it because we should have being we were two blocks from it.
And that's another weekend in the life of Brian,
Cole
My Email Doesn't Support Cyrillic
Hey all,
Check this out. Koyë Hè÷ka That's what is says my name is on my Russian visa. I'm wondering if that fourth letter is pi maybe? Who knows but I am guessing my capacity to pronounce streetnames will be completely eliminated. The only other letters I know are C and P, which respectively mean S and R. How do I know that? Hockey of course; CCCP stands for Soviet State's Socialist Republic or at least that's the closest direct translation. So yes, the '72 Summit Series and Paul Henderson have taught me all the Russian I know. Why Paul Henderson you ask, because if he didn't score the winning goal I doubt I'd want to remember ever playing hockey against the Russians. Oh wait, Nina the Lithuanian babushka solidified my usage of thank you and goodbye (spasiba and dasvidanya).
Giving credit were credit is due,
Cole
P.S. Turns out my email doesn't support cyrillic script and that's not my name in cyrillic.
Hey all,
Check this out. Koyë Hè÷ka That's what is says my name is on my Russian visa. I'm wondering if that fourth letter is pi maybe? Who knows but I am guessing my capacity to pronounce streetnames will be completely eliminated. The only other letters I know are C and P, which respectively mean S and R. How do I know that? Hockey of course; CCCP stands for Soviet State's Socialist Republic or at least that's the closest direct translation. So yes, the '72 Summit Series and Paul Henderson have taught me all the Russian I know. Why Paul Henderson you ask, because if he didn't score the winning goal I doubt I'd want to remember ever playing hockey against the Russians. Oh wait, Nina the Lithuanian babushka solidified my usage of thank you and goodbye (spasiba and dasvidanya).
Giving credit were credit is due,
Cole
P.S. Turns out my email doesn't support cyrillic script and that's not my name in cyrillic.
Wednesday, July 16, 2003
Just in case all of you have forgotten how much of a goof I am, I will tell you about yesterday's huge blunders.
1. Almost was hit by a car driving out of a narrow alley
2. Almost burnt my hand on a pot
3. Locked myself out of my apartment
Here's the saving graces.
1. The car pulled out slowly and I was able to swerve on the narrow sidewalk just enough. Aural, the new Swiss student, was aghast at how close it was.
2. The pot had been sitting on the burner, which I had turned off, for about fifteen minutes and wasn't terribly hot. Well, it was, it's just that I had done some dishes so when I almost dropped the pot and caught it by it's bottom my hands were wet enough to save me. The ssssss sound of boiling water on my fingers was a little freaky, though.
3. I left the window open. It's two meters off the ground and the opening is forty-five centimeters in height, but I was able to ease my way through without scratching myself up too badly or breaking anything, as the window is hinged on its bottom side so it opens inward about where you would like to step. Everyone was quite amazed that I could sneak through the window without losing my life or, more importantly, my deposit on the apartment.
But I'm okay folks,
Cole
1. Almost was hit by a car driving out of a narrow alley
2. Almost burnt my hand on a pot
3. Locked myself out of my apartment
Here's the saving graces.
1. The car pulled out slowly and I was able to swerve on the narrow sidewalk just enough. Aural, the new Swiss student, was aghast at how close it was.
2. The pot had been sitting on the burner, which I had turned off, for about fifteen minutes and wasn't terribly hot. Well, it was, it's just that I had done some dishes so when I almost dropped the pot and caught it by it's bottom my hands were wet enough to save me. The ssssss sound of boiling water on my fingers was a little freaky, though.
3. I left the window open. It's two meters off the ground and the opening is forty-five centimeters in height, but I was able to ease my way through without scratching myself up too badly or breaking anything, as the window is hinged on its bottom side so it opens inward about where you would like to step. Everyone was quite amazed that I could sneak through the window without losing my life or, more importantly, my deposit on the apartment.
But I'm okay folks,
Cole
Tuesday, July 15, 2003
Being a Finnish Tourist and, Therefore, Enjoying Inexpensive Estonia
Howdy,
Well, things are going well here. I hope your enjoying the same kind of weather because were having our first sunny days. My weekend in Tallinn was supposed to cloudy and rainy but I was lucky.
Thursday night was spent in Helsinki visiting a bunch of the people from the international exchange student weekend. We stayed with the Australian girl who said we made it the best pub night ever. We being Tamas the Hungarian and I, but it probably won't happen again because drinks weren't cheap.
Friday began slowly with a view of Helsinki and a hydrofoil trip to Tallinn. The two capitals of Estonia and Finland are 71 km apart and the trip takes 1 hour and 25 minutes in good weather. In bad weather these things are infamous for making everybody throw up and ice in the Gulf of Finland can flip the boat. Arrival in Estonia was equally as dangerous. They didn't want to let me into the country because my visa was used when I went to Lithuania. The old visa rule is one visa from a Baltic country is good for all three Baltic countries. The new rule is only Estonia needs a visa and I was okay. They didn't believe me, but being the are trying to join the EU they eventually relented because I was only staying two nights.
Tallinn is a beautiful old city. I loved it. Tamas loved it. There was a medieval market with all the market people dressed historically and a pig roasting on a spit (they eat a lot of pork in Estonia). They also had the tallest building in the world until the Eiffel Tower and the last gothic town hall left in Northern Europe. So nice.
Tamas also loved the night life. I liked the night life too, but Tamas loved the night life. Tallinn has became the place where Finnish people go to gamble and drink because of the favorable exchange rate (15:1 though they inflate the prices to make it more like 7:1). Basically, if you walk around at night people hand you flyers for topless clubs like they did in Prague. The weekend accumulated when Tamas and I went to the Sundance Music Festival (a big DJ and techno jam). I left early at about one and Tamas went home at four when the show ended. He beat me to the hostel and we still don't know how or what happened, although I suddenly was walking home at five in the morning, realised I had been walking for a while, and felt more rested than before when I just couldn't stay awake any longer. I still had all my possessions and parts, so all was well.
We were quite sad to go home but it was time when it came to resting up. Another tradional Finnish thing to do is to take advantage of duty free liquor while crossing the Gulf. Being that we acted like Finnish tourists I spent the rest of the trip carrying 24 beer under my arm because "it was a good deal". Some Finns bring carts all the way to Estonia and back just so it's easier to carry their beer when they get back. I guess it makes sense when the law says you can buy 30 liters per person. But can you carry 30 liters is my question, as I was maxed out at 8.
Ever since Estonia the weather has been gorgeous (Monday) and we spent the evening at the beach playing beach volleyball for a couple hours and going down a water slide. It's crazy because, at the beach, the people I'm with all speak Spanish. Such is the life of an international exchangee.
All the best,
Cole
P.S. I received my credit card bill and yowsa. I have devised three ways to double my salary in Finland as that is now required. Well, it would be nice.
1. Get a second job
2. Something illegal (higher profit margin I'm sure)
3. Write off my entire trip as a business expense. The business - OGEC (Organization of Grain Exporting Nations), as I have spent a month travelling through the agricultural nations of the Baltics and Poland "making contacts". Of course, I will soon continue my journey through Russia and Ukraine to consolidate my power. Being in Finland has just been to throw the suspicious. I even have a company slogan... OGEC - because not starving is important.
Howdy,
Well, things are going well here. I hope your enjoying the same kind of weather because were having our first sunny days. My weekend in Tallinn was supposed to cloudy and rainy but I was lucky.
Thursday night was spent in Helsinki visiting a bunch of the people from the international exchange student weekend. We stayed with the Australian girl who said we made it the best pub night ever. We being Tamas the Hungarian and I, but it probably won't happen again because drinks weren't cheap.
Friday began slowly with a view of Helsinki and a hydrofoil trip to Tallinn. The two capitals of Estonia and Finland are 71 km apart and the trip takes 1 hour and 25 minutes in good weather. In bad weather these things are infamous for making everybody throw up and ice in the Gulf of Finland can flip the boat. Arrival in Estonia was equally as dangerous. They didn't want to let me into the country because my visa was used when I went to Lithuania. The old visa rule is one visa from a Baltic country is good for all three Baltic countries. The new rule is only Estonia needs a visa and I was okay. They didn't believe me, but being the are trying to join the EU they eventually relented because I was only staying two nights.
Tallinn is a beautiful old city. I loved it. Tamas loved it. There was a medieval market with all the market people dressed historically and a pig roasting on a spit (they eat a lot of pork in Estonia). They also had the tallest building in the world until the Eiffel Tower and the last gothic town hall left in Northern Europe. So nice.
Tamas also loved the night life. I liked the night life too, but Tamas loved the night life. Tallinn has became the place where Finnish people go to gamble and drink because of the favorable exchange rate (15:1 though they inflate the prices to make it more like 7:1). Basically, if you walk around at night people hand you flyers for topless clubs like they did in Prague. The weekend accumulated when Tamas and I went to the Sundance Music Festival (a big DJ and techno jam). I left early at about one and Tamas went home at four when the show ended. He beat me to the hostel and we still don't know how or what happened, although I suddenly was walking home at five in the morning, realised I had been walking for a while, and felt more rested than before when I just couldn't stay awake any longer. I still had all my possessions and parts, so all was well.
We were quite sad to go home but it was time when it came to resting up. Another tradional Finnish thing to do is to take advantage of duty free liquor while crossing the Gulf. Being that we acted like Finnish tourists I spent the rest of the trip carrying 24 beer under my arm because "it was a good deal". Some Finns bring carts all the way to Estonia and back just so it's easier to carry their beer when they get back. I guess it makes sense when the law says you can buy 30 liters per person. But can you carry 30 liters is my question, as I was maxed out at 8.
Ever since Estonia the weather has been gorgeous (Monday) and we spent the evening at the beach playing beach volleyball for a couple hours and going down a water slide. It's crazy because, at the beach, the people I'm with all speak Spanish. Such is the life of an international exchangee.
All the best,
Cole
P.S. I received my credit card bill and yowsa. I have devised three ways to double my salary in Finland as that is now required. Well, it would be nice.
1. Get a second job
2. Something illegal (higher profit margin I'm sure)
3. Write off my entire trip as a business expense. The business - OGEC (Organization of Grain Exporting Nations), as I have spent a month travelling through the agricultural nations of the Baltics and Poland "making contacts". Of course, I will soon continue my journey through Russia and Ukraine to consolidate my power. Being in Finland has just been to throw the suspicious. I even have a company slogan... OGEC - because not starving is important.
Wednesday, July 09, 2003
Finnish Baseball and the Never Ending Sauna Saga
Terve,
My weekend was good. I went to Päivio Island in Lake Saimaa (yes, another island in Lake Saimaa), but this time with a bunch of exchange students who are in various parts of Finland at the present time. A good time was had by all and the event was precariously cheap. In fact, I almost starved on the food that was provided but they made up for it with free beer. Anyway, the first (read: only) sunny weekend of the year was spent playing beach volleyball, swimming, suntanning, talking, rowing a boat, fishing, running, playing European football (they hate it when I call it that), we played a little outdoor table tennis, some pesäpallo (Finnish baseball), and then there was the sauna.
Finnish baseball was interesting because you get three swings and foul balls can be your third strike. That fact, coupled with my inability to keep the ball in bounds, meant I was 'burned' twice. Yes, 'burned', not out. It turns out that hitting the ball so it bounces before travelling one meter and hitting it past the boundary (aka crushing it into the bush and yelling, "Homerun baby, yeah") are both strikes. It was a steep learning curve. You can also choose not to run if you hit a ball poorly granted you have a strike left. At least I proved I can throw. I hit two people in not just the head, but more specifically, in the ear. Once I threw the ball to first, which is three-quarters up our third base line, and Jose from Ecuador didn't catch the ball. The girl running from third, which is 5-quarters up the third base line, to home took the ball in the side of the head while running and soon hit the ground. After a cigarette and a beer she recovered so that I could pick off person number two. This time I was in the outfield and I threw the ball as hard as I could to Giedrius, the Lithuanian, at home plate to cut off a runner. The ball was a little high and Giedrius couldn't flag it down and I hit the on-deck batter who thought being hit in the head was hilarious. At least I will always be remembered. In short, I think pesäpallo would be a really interesting game to play because, without homeruns and pitching, one big hitter or awesome pitcher can't dominate a game. You need smart people who can place the ball consistently and throw accurately. In addition, it's funny to think pesäpallo was started by a Finn who came back from the United States in the 1800s and started a simplified version based on what he had seen of baseball. The game ended up halfway to softball and, without pitching, anybody can play it and wreck havoc like I did.
The second memorable event was the sauna. Not so much the sauna itself but the fact that the other students hadn't been in a co-ed, nude sauna before. When the announcement of let's go to the sauna was made everyone grabbed a couple drinks for the road and off we went. Jose and I were the first ones there and we pondered whether this would, in fact, be a nude sauna because no one here was really used to not having a swimsuit. I said, "What the hell", and whipped my shorts off. Then I turned around and asked Birgitte, a Danish girl, if she would pass me my beer. She didn't hear me that well; she was a little distracted looking around at all the people she was about to get naked with and my sudden removal of all things clothing, so she said, "Yeah, thanks. I could really use a beer." Like everyone else, she enjoyed her sauna but experienced a slight case of culture shock before she found out how normal it seems here. Me and Jose were actually in the sauna for quite a while laughing as people would open the door, peek there head in, and then scurry to a bench in a dark corner. By the end people were packed together and teaching each other drinking songs. In conclusion, saunas are great; I think I might use the one in my building a lot more often from now on.
Now that I have returned home (to Lappeenranta) and eaten I can easily say that it was the best weekend I've had in Finland. It was so good to participate in some sports and the weather was gorgeous.
Ole Hyva,
Cole
P.S. On Thursday my co-worker, Kimmo, took me fishing and I caught 3 säyna. I was going to eat them but they smelled like the bottom of the lake once I cleaned them. Then I asked Kimmo how people usually prepare them because he said some people really enjoy eating them. He said people usually smoke them, which means it's probably not that great. They ended up smelling in the dumpster because I had to eat them that night or bring them to Lappeenranta from Mikkeli and, suddenly, I wasn't that hungry.
Terve,
My weekend was good. I went to Päivio Island in Lake Saimaa (yes, another island in Lake Saimaa), but this time with a bunch of exchange students who are in various parts of Finland at the present time. A good time was had by all and the event was precariously cheap. In fact, I almost starved on the food that was provided but they made up for it with free beer. Anyway, the first (read: only) sunny weekend of the year was spent playing beach volleyball, swimming, suntanning, talking, rowing a boat, fishing, running, playing European football (they hate it when I call it that), we played a little outdoor table tennis, some pesäpallo (Finnish baseball), and then there was the sauna.
Finnish baseball was interesting because you get three swings and foul balls can be your third strike. That fact, coupled with my inability to keep the ball in bounds, meant I was 'burned' twice. Yes, 'burned', not out. It turns out that hitting the ball so it bounces before travelling one meter and hitting it past the boundary (aka crushing it into the bush and yelling, "Homerun baby, yeah") are both strikes. It was a steep learning curve. You can also choose not to run if you hit a ball poorly granted you have a strike left. At least I proved I can throw. I hit two people in not just the head, but more specifically, in the ear. Once I threw the ball to first, which is three-quarters up our third base line, and Jose from Ecuador didn't catch the ball. The girl running from third, which is 5-quarters up the third base line, to home took the ball in the side of the head while running and soon hit the ground. After a cigarette and a beer she recovered so that I could pick off person number two. This time I was in the outfield and I threw the ball as hard as I could to Giedrius, the Lithuanian, at home plate to cut off a runner. The ball was a little high and Giedrius couldn't flag it down and I hit the on-deck batter who thought being hit in the head was hilarious. At least I will always be remembered. In short, I think pesäpallo would be a really interesting game to play because, without homeruns and pitching, one big hitter or awesome pitcher can't dominate a game. You need smart people who can place the ball consistently and throw accurately. In addition, it's funny to think pesäpallo was started by a Finn who came back from the United States in the 1800s and started a simplified version based on what he had seen of baseball. The game ended up halfway to softball and, without pitching, anybody can play it and wreck havoc like I did.
The second memorable event was the sauna. Not so much the sauna itself but the fact that the other students hadn't been in a co-ed, nude sauna before. When the announcement of let's go to the sauna was made everyone grabbed a couple drinks for the road and off we went. Jose and I were the first ones there and we pondered whether this would, in fact, be a nude sauna because no one here was really used to not having a swimsuit. I said, "What the hell", and whipped my shorts off. Then I turned around and asked Birgitte, a Danish girl, if she would pass me my beer. She didn't hear me that well; she was a little distracted looking around at all the people she was about to get naked with and my sudden removal of all things clothing, so she said, "Yeah, thanks. I could really use a beer." Like everyone else, she enjoyed her sauna but experienced a slight case of culture shock before she found out how normal it seems here. Me and Jose were actually in the sauna for quite a while laughing as people would open the door, peek there head in, and then scurry to a bench in a dark corner. By the end people were packed together and teaching each other drinking songs. In conclusion, saunas are great; I think I might use the one in my building a lot more often from now on.
Now that I have returned home (to Lappeenranta) and eaten I can easily say that it was the best weekend I've had in Finland. It was so good to participate in some sports and the weather was gorgeous.
Ole Hyva,
Cole
P.S. On Thursday my co-worker, Kimmo, took me fishing and I caught 3 säyna. I was going to eat them but they smelled like the bottom of the lake once I cleaned them. Then I asked Kimmo how people usually prepare them because he said some people really enjoy eating them. He said people usually smoke them, which means it's probably not that great. They ended up smelling in the dumpster because I had to eat them that night or bring them to Lappeenranta from Mikkeli and, suddenly, I wasn't that hungry.
Thursday, July 03, 2003
Lycra vs. Culture (Never a Fair Fight)
Well it's Thursday,
High time I told you what I was up to last weekend. Well I went to Turku in Southwestern Finland. It used to be the capital of Finland when Sweden was in power but Russia soon changed that because the place is too accessible to Sweden. Swedish is even commonly spoken there. Turku has a beautiful riverside section where I sat for about a third of my time there watching people and enjoying the sunshine. For actual events, Saturday was spent going to three museums one of which I remember. Yes, the castle was okay but with the advent of cannons and other firearms the high cliffs across the river became a problem. Suddenly it was the perfect target for bombardment and, coupled with the fact that western Finland has risen out of the ocean half a meter in 500 years meaning the castle was no longer on a small, very protected island, the castle was quite possibly in the worst spot for a castle... ever. The Swedish even caught on to that but they didn't have the money to move the capital or build a new castle. That meant it was up to the Russians to abandon the place until Tourists took interest late in the 20th century. Ah, the rise of the Tourists. I also went to a handicrafts museum but it was kind of like Beaverlodge's Pioneer Museum so I taught my Italian guide about rope making, spinning wool, and basic farm implements inexchange for glass blowing, cord making, and something else. It was quite funny because they had all of these trades listed on a map and one house was the widower's house. Being my tourguide was walking around aimlessly for the hour before the tour started I asked her if she was the widower. I was the only person she gave a tour to all day so we talked for quite some time after that provocation.
It's funny because when you meet someone from another country the first thing you ask them is, "Why did you come to Finland?" The best part is no one ever has an answer so they just stare. I always say that the Finnish forest industry is foremost in the world but really it's because my alternative was a power plant in Switzerland and I've worked in a powerplant. If I actually say that, though, I usually get a remark about Switzerland versus Finland. I've also read a book where there is a mentioning of being "Finlandized". I probably shouldn't go into depth but I'll be the devil's advocate anyway; the remark is in regard to how dealing with a woman is like dealing with Russia. If you do what they say you are being cooperative and if you don't you are "meddling in their internal affairs" and "resorting to cold war tactics". The problem with the easy route of doing what women say is that eventually you end up "Finalndized" and only in control of half of your life. The book was entitled "Stanley and the Women" so maybe I should have seen that coming.
Right, Turku. On Sunday I went to a nearby town of Naantali where they have a massive Moomin theme park. This is like their Disney. The tourist stats for people visiting the town are 200 000 year per year and for the theme park 220 000 people per year so basically more people visit the theme park than the community. I, however, went for a bikeride on the Archipalego. I couldn't find a name for which archipalego it was but they nevertheless capitalise it out of shear respect. It was pretty cool out in the country side but I only made it fifteen kilometers before the one land gravel road I had chose completely ended and my butt was killing me. With no where to have my lunch I resorted to asking about nearby public places at a farmhouse. Of course it was fine if I sat on their lawn because the man and his wife didn't mind. The catch, they were going for a sauna and that means I had about twenty minutes before there were naked people running to the Bay of Bothnia. I ate quickly, anxious for my first substantial hemorrhoids, and then went to my bike to get my camera. You see, their house was the most typical Finnish house I had even seen and I needed a picture. It had the tradional red color with white trim, the 2 meter by 20 centimeter flag that resembles a windsock (I must buy one) flying proudly, and all set on a rocky outcrop near water. When I returned to capture this moment for posterity I saw a naked bigfoot figure very startled to see I had not left but instead had opted for a fake so I could draw him out in the open. I acted like I saw nothing, faked a picture of the Bay, turned the direction to show this beast my back instead of my front, then pedalled. You will never see a typical Finnish cottage as a result but I think what I did was polite and good for all tourists that find themselves at this man's cottage in the future.
The rest of the day was spent playing pool in the local bar against a local boy and reading Finnish captions on the TV to see if I could understand the Audrey Hepburn special when it was muted. Cable Guy was too much of a challenge so I just plain watched that one.
Monday I spent shopping back in Turku. I could have gone to the UNESCO world heritage site of the Rauma old town or have visited Åland (12 hours on a boat round trip though) where Swedish speaking people have a high level of autonomy after trying to separate or even join Sweden (they couldn't decide). Both would have been interesting but I was kind of pooped when it came to cultural experiences for the weekend and it rained so "vegging out" was in order. It turned out to be the experience of a life time anyway. I saw some "European" swim trunks and thought I should maybe try these suckers out. When I saw my butt in Lycra I panicked and had to leave. The fact that you try them on over your underwear, so people will touch them after, and the resulting diaper-like, bunching up effect didn't help. After a couple more hours of wandering and a fish dish buffet I found these swanky shorts in another store. This time I conquered my fear, although the loud Hawaiian style ones should be banned, and am now a more aerodynamic swimmer as a result. That's right Cole wears short shorts. Maybe not for recreational purposes (eg water balloon fights and family picnics) but when I actually go swimming they are quite nice. Surprisingly you still need a drawstring with speedos, which I found out when I dove into the water last night. It turns out the drawstring was in a loose knot somewhere around my ankles, but I learned I can swim for quite a while with no hands so it was all right. Maybe pecular looking from the surface but all right. The other handy thing was I had no clean underwear when I came home from Turku at four o'clock in the morning. To the rescue were my new swim trunks, who are now permantly "my backup pair". I felt sexy all day. Now isn't that much more interesting than Rauma, a wooden town, or Åland, Finland's Quebec? I thought so.
In other news, I will have completed my tenure in Mikkeli this week and will be heading to where there a bunch of students in Lappeenranta. I guess what I'm saying is this is where it all starts getting good. Kimmo is also taking me fishing tonight and I'm really looking forward to being fishing from a boat.
All the best,
Cole
Well it's Thursday,
High time I told you what I was up to last weekend. Well I went to Turku in Southwestern Finland. It used to be the capital of Finland when Sweden was in power but Russia soon changed that because the place is too accessible to Sweden. Swedish is even commonly spoken there. Turku has a beautiful riverside section where I sat for about a third of my time there watching people and enjoying the sunshine. For actual events, Saturday was spent going to three museums one of which I remember. Yes, the castle was okay but with the advent of cannons and other firearms the high cliffs across the river became a problem. Suddenly it was the perfect target for bombardment and, coupled with the fact that western Finland has risen out of the ocean half a meter in 500 years meaning the castle was no longer on a small, very protected island, the castle was quite possibly in the worst spot for a castle... ever. The Swedish even caught on to that but they didn't have the money to move the capital or build a new castle. That meant it was up to the Russians to abandon the place until Tourists took interest late in the 20th century. Ah, the rise of the Tourists. I also went to a handicrafts museum but it was kind of like Beaverlodge's Pioneer Museum so I taught my Italian guide about rope making, spinning wool, and basic farm implements inexchange for glass blowing, cord making, and something else. It was quite funny because they had all of these trades listed on a map and one house was the widower's house. Being my tourguide was walking around aimlessly for the hour before the tour started I asked her if she was the widower. I was the only person she gave a tour to all day so we talked for quite some time after that provocation.
It's funny because when you meet someone from another country the first thing you ask them is, "Why did you come to Finland?" The best part is no one ever has an answer so they just stare. I always say that the Finnish forest industry is foremost in the world but really it's because my alternative was a power plant in Switzerland and I've worked in a powerplant. If I actually say that, though, I usually get a remark about Switzerland versus Finland. I've also read a book where there is a mentioning of being "Finlandized". I probably shouldn't go into depth but I'll be the devil's advocate anyway; the remark is in regard to how dealing with a woman is like dealing with Russia. If you do what they say you are being cooperative and if you don't you are "meddling in their internal affairs" and "resorting to cold war tactics". The problem with the easy route of doing what women say is that eventually you end up "Finalndized" and only in control of half of your life. The book was entitled "Stanley and the Women" so maybe I should have seen that coming.
Right, Turku. On Sunday I went to a nearby town of Naantali where they have a massive Moomin theme park. This is like their Disney. The tourist stats for people visiting the town are 200 000 year per year and for the theme park 220 000 people per year so basically more people visit the theme park than the community. I, however, went for a bikeride on the Archipalego. I couldn't find a name for which archipalego it was but they nevertheless capitalise it out of shear respect. It was pretty cool out in the country side but I only made it fifteen kilometers before the one land gravel road I had chose completely ended and my butt was killing me. With no where to have my lunch I resorted to asking about nearby public places at a farmhouse. Of course it was fine if I sat on their lawn because the man and his wife didn't mind. The catch, they were going for a sauna and that means I had about twenty minutes before there were naked people running to the Bay of Bothnia. I ate quickly, anxious for my first substantial hemorrhoids, and then went to my bike to get my camera. You see, their house was the most typical Finnish house I had even seen and I needed a picture. It had the tradional red color with white trim, the 2 meter by 20 centimeter flag that resembles a windsock (I must buy one) flying proudly, and all set on a rocky outcrop near water. When I returned to capture this moment for posterity I saw a naked bigfoot figure very startled to see I had not left but instead had opted for a fake so I could draw him out in the open. I acted like I saw nothing, faked a picture of the Bay, turned the direction to show this beast my back instead of my front, then pedalled. You will never see a typical Finnish cottage as a result but I think what I did was polite and good for all tourists that find themselves at this man's cottage in the future.
The rest of the day was spent playing pool in the local bar against a local boy and reading Finnish captions on the TV to see if I could understand the Audrey Hepburn special when it was muted. Cable Guy was too much of a challenge so I just plain watched that one.
Monday I spent shopping back in Turku. I could have gone to the UNESCO world heritage site of the Rauma old town or have visited Åland (12 hours on a boat round trip though) where Swedish speaking people have a high level of autonomy after trying to separate or even join Sweden (they couldn't decide). Both would have been interesting but I was kind of pooped when it came to cultural experiences for the weekend and it rained so "vegging out" was in order. It turned out to be the experience of a life time anyway. I saw some "European" swim trunks and thought I should maybe try these suckers out. When I saw my butt in Lycra I panicked and had to leave. The fact that you try them on over your underwear, so people will touch them after, and the resulting diaper-like, bunching up effect didn't help. After a couple more hours of wandering and a fish dish buffet I found these swanky shorts in another store. This time I conquered my fear, although the loud Hawaiian style ones should be banned, and am now a more aerodynamic swimmer as a result. That's right Cole wears short shorts. Maybe not for recreational purposes (eg water balloon fights and family picnics) but when I actually go swimming they are quite nice. Surprisingly you still need a drawstring with speedos, which I found out when I dove into the water last night. It turns out the drawstring was in a loose knot somewhere around my ankles, but I learned I can swim for quite a while with no hands so it was all right. Maybe pecular looking from the surface but all right. The other handy thing was I had no clean underwear when I came home from Turku at four o'clock in the morning. To the rescue were my new swim trunks, who are now permantly "my backup pair". I felt sexy all day. Now isn't that much more interesting than Rauma, a wooden town, or Åland, Finland's Quebec? I thought so.
In other news, I will have completed my tenure in Mikkeli this week and will be heading to where there a bunch of students in Lappeenranta. I guess what I'm saying is this is where it all starts getting good. Kimmo is also taking me fishing tonight and I'm really looking forward to being fishing from a boat.
All the best,
Cole
Friday, June 27, 2003
The Difference Between Canada and Finland
Terve,
I know all of you think Finland is almost exactly like Canada when it comes to climate, flora, fauna, etc. but it's just simliar enough to make you relax to the many sutle differences. Even I, when asked what Canada is like, start with the assumption that Canada is like Finland. In truth, though, this place has more extreme hours of sunlight and more precipitation so the effects on plant life are enormous. Then there's the fact that.....
Let me sum this up with the perfect and most explanitory anecdote. I was telling Kimmo, my co-worker, how their Finnish squirrels are 'exactly' like our red squirrels except their squirrels have tufts of hair sticking up behind their ears. Anyway, he replied, "Oh, and your's turn grey in winter, too?" That blew my mind because I thought squirrels inately hibernated because that's what squirrels do. It took a while to explain hibernation to him because he forgot the word and he didn't associate it with squirrels. The point is you can think that you noticed the slight differences right away, but once you get talking about everyday things it starts to blow your [my] mind how much everything familiar is now completely different. It's like that show Sliders where they 'slide' into different dimensions and everything will be exactly the same, but Elvis won't have existed and instead Mark will the most popular music figure ever (basically something correspondingly very different). Or maybe farmers control the major world governments through an organization called OGEC (Organization of Grain Exporting Countries) and God Save the Grain is the British National Anthem. Basically, the world looks the same but earth shaking 'weirdities' are occuring left and right when you're not looking.
God Save the Grain,
Cole
Terve,
I know all of you think Finland is almost exactly like Canada when it comes to climate, flora, fauna, etc. but it's just simliar enough to make you relax to the many sutle differences. Even I, when asked what Canada is like, start with the assumption that Canada is like Finland. In truth, though, this place has more extreme hours of sunlight and more precipitation so the effects on plant life are enormous. Then there's the fact that.....
Let me sum this up with the perfect and most explanitory anecdote. I was telling Kimmo, my co-worker, how their Finnish squirrels are 'exactly' like our red squirrels except their squirrels have tufts of hair sticking up behind their ears. Anyway, he replied, "Oh, and your's turn grey in winter, too?" That blew my mind because I thought squirrels inately hibernated because that's what squirrels do. It took a while to explain hibernation to him because he forgot the word and he didn't associate it with squirrels. The point is you can think that you noticed the slight differences right away, but once you get talking about everyday things it starts to blow your [my] mind how much everything familiar is now completely different. It's like that show Sliders where they 'slide' into different dimensions and everything will be exactly the same, but Elvis won't have existed and instead Mark will the most popular music figure ever (basically something correspondingly very different). Or maybe farmers control the major world governments through an organization called OGEC (Organization of Grain Exporting Countries) and God Save the Grain is the British National Anthem. Basically, the world looks the same but earth shaking 'weirdities' are occuring left and right when you're not looking.
God Save the Grain,
Cole
