Boozy Baltic Buccaneers

Photos Added...!

Christmas Market in the square below the Cathedral, Helsinki.  No Snow!! It was a "Black" (aka green) Christmas in most of the southern part of Finland this year.

I met Scott in Helsinki on Thursday morning and we had a few days there to check out the big city, or pääkaupunki (literally "head city" aka capital city).  We spent most of the time wandering the streets, checking out the architecture and stopping in on a few shops.  There was a big Christmas market in the square at the base of the Helsinki Cathedral, so we spent some time there looking at what the stalls had to offer.  Lots and lots of knitted things, wooden things, woven things, home-baking, and of course the odd place with some very imported-looking goods.  I could be wrong, but it was sort of like the old "One of these things is not like the others" game.

Not the exact ship we sailed on, but pretty much identical.  There are passenger decks above (alcohol store, bars, shops, restaurants) and the middle decks have cabins (for consumption of purchased alcohol) and the lowest decks have cars.

After a couple of days in Helsinki, Scott and I set off on a quintessentially Finnish experience - the Estonian Booze Cruise.  Due to taxes, alcohol is significantly cheaper in Estonia than it is in Finland.  The obvious solution is to go to Estonia regularly to a) stock up and b) party.  Several ship lines run regular sailings each day between Helsinki and Tallinn that take about 2.5 hours each way.  These may be ferries, but they are nothing like the BC Ferries I am familiar with.  For starters...there are cabins.  Some of the sailings leave Helsinki in the evening and then overnight in Tallinn harbour.  This way people can party all evening, pass out in a cabin, then find themselves in the land of cheap liquor in the morning.  This sort of brings me to the second difference: the passenger decks don't really have seating areas. Instead.... there are bars, gambling areas, an enormous liquor store, a dance floor, cafés and restaurants, but no real areas to just be comfortable and wait out the 2.5 hour journey.  There are no real restrictions on these bars and gambling areas; children can be seen running across the dance floor at the bar or teetering on their tippie-toes to reach the buttons on a slot machine.  Ok, so, children aren't served in the bars, they are merely present and they may not have actually been playing the slot machines, just pressing the buttons. 

Old Tallinn street and graffiti

Our crossing had some pretty rough waters, so people were having trouble maintaing their balance as we rolled across the Baltic Sea.  However, I noticed that when we got to the calmer waters just outside the port of Tallinn, people still had trouble maintaining their balance....and wow...what A LOT of people.  We went on a Saturday at a popular sailing time and the boat was PACKED!!  I have never seen so many Finns get so close to each other as on that boat.  Never mind that old "personal space" cliché...we were just packed in there.  Especially as we queued to get on and off the ship.  It was most entertaining as we left the ship to go into Tallinn.  These were hundreds of the most...uh..."talkative" Finns I have ever met.  Some still had beer glasses in their hands, others swayed merrily with their suitcase in tow as we were herded down the gangplank...and disappeared into the horizontal sleet we had arrived to...

Orthodox Cathedral

Prayer at the cathedral steps

This is our second night in Tallinn and it's an interesting place.  Most of the city is pretty "normal,"  but there is a section called "Old Town" that is medieval.  Very neat old city wall, winding old streets, apartment blocks, aaaaaand.... churches, churches, churches.  The only thing that outnumbered the churches were souvenir shops (...and the tourists outnumbered those).  There was, of course, a Christmas market, cafés, restaurants, museums, embassies...all neatly contained within the old city walls...where they still exist.  If you ever have the chance to come to this Nordic/Baltic part of the world, I do recommend it...just hope for better weather than what we have found!  Snow would improve matters as would sunshine...

Christmas Market in the main square.  Rain...rain...wind....rain...

A forgotten corner of Old Town

Christmas is coming....

...the goose is getting fat?

Well, there aren't too many geese around at this time of year.  However, the stores are full of Christmas Hams, there are decorations on the streets, markets full of goodies are held regularly, and lots of other things indicating that the season is upon us.  Leading up to Christmas, friends, employers and student associations hold pikkujoulut ("Little Christmas") parties that usually involve lots of alcohol, food and other goodies.  Last week...or maybe the week before (I've missed a post)...I even hosted a pikkujoulut party.  Some friends made excellent ham (baked with mustard) and K-Market provided some side dishes.  April made a salad, and I did Gluvine and Ris A L'amande (both Danish).  I had a private sauna turn/time available in my building's sauna, so we took advantage of that.  Finally, we ended up in the city centre enjoying the fine local establishments...ahem.

More Christmas fun: In Finland, Santa's reindeer do not fly.  I have heard that some families will actually pay for 'Santa' to come make a special visit to their homes on Christmas.  Additionally, they pay to make sure that the same Santa will return year after year.  You can't have Santa changing a few suit sizes between visits!  Most families get christmas trees, or joulukuusi ("Christmas spruce").  I thought it was interesting that the species of tree is specified.  And, as most people of Scandinavian/Nordic heritage know, Norway spruce are the traditional Christmas tree.  These trees may be brought inside or simply decorated outside.  Another interesting name for a traditional Christmas plant is Joulutähti ("Christmas star"), which is in fact a pointsettia.  Joulutorttu are a delicious bit of Christmas baking that are eaten regularly as the days get shorter and shorter.  Puff pastry squares are cut and folded into the shape of 4-pointed stars and a dollop of plum/prune jam or apple-cinnamon jam is portioned into the centre.  After a few minutes of baking, the delicate stars may be sprinkled with icing sugar.  They are extremely easy to make as you can buy the pastry in the freezer section of any store and the jam also comes in ready-made tins.  I have made them.  twice now.

Joulutorttu (NOT my photo, but my tortut looked just like that! - ha!!)

So that should be enough Fun Finnish Facts for the past couple of weeks.  Other than that, I haven't really been doing anything exciting until quite recently.  I've had the end-of-semester crunch with assignments due in 3 courses and a couple of exams.  BUT...I am currently in Estonia.  With Scott.  Very cool....next post!

...Sorry for almost no pictures!

Hunting Holidays

The midday sun....**sigh**  I wish it would get just a bit higher in the sky!

Today is Suomen itsenäisyyspäivä, or Finland's Independence day.  Even google has a banner for it (at google.fi), which I thought was neat.  It's a national holiday and as a result, everything is closed.  like...EVERYTHING...If you didn't manage to get what you needed yesterday, you're just going to have to do without for the rest of the day.

Itsenäisyyspäivä Google

Looking at a calendar, Finland appears to have a lot of official holidays, which is true, but it's not as straightforward as that.  Not every holiday marked on the calendar is a day off, in fact most holidays work continues pretty much as usual.  These are called Flag Holidays and the only thing that really changes is that every flagpole in town flies the Finnish Flag.  That is another thing I found to be very interesting - there are only certain days that people fly the Finnish Flag. The rest of the time, the flagpoles are either bare, or hold flags of the institution (university, museum, region, hotel..etc) that owns the flagpole.  When you notice the flags, it certainly makes you stop and think about what is being recognized that day, something that is often missed on Canadian Holidays.  Another interesting fact about the flag (according to Wikipedia) is that the current flag was first used by a yacht club in Helsinki around 1861.

Finnish barn and countryside and weeds.  Thanks for the photo April!

The Finnish National Anthem is Maamme, or Our Land.  Translated, the words are about the natural beauty and splendor of the northern land of Finland.  It is a very positive, celebratory song (in my opinion) with no mention of conquoring or defending or how wonderful the peoples are or religion...just a song about joy of the natural landscape.  Ok, so that's probably enough facts for one day, but I could probably go on; moving to Finland is the first time I've really been interested in learning about history and culture.

The logyard / railyard by my house.  I thought the bunks for the logs on railway cars were pretty neat.   From here the logs go for processing at either of the mills or processing plants in town.

Last weekend I went to the city of Kuopio (actually nearby in Siilinjärvi) for another metsäterapiapäivä (forest therapy day) also know as a day of hunting.  April, Aku, and I set out for a weekend of wandering through the forest, having lunch fires, shooting guns, and watching wildlife...with the offchance that we may shoot something.  Well, we did.  Aku and I were walking paralell to each other and a hare (metsäjänis) shot out right between the two of us.  It was like a flash of white darting across the dull, brown and grey forest floor.  Well I was so busy pointing in surprise that I had hardly touched my shotgun, let alone taken the safety off, before Aku had it down.  Apparently I still have the "point and shout" reflex....not the "point and shoot" reflex.  Anyways, it all worked out well (for us, not the rabbit) and we took that one home at the end of the day.

Fuzzy Bunny...it was so soft!  They now have their winter fur on, but the snow has melted leaving them a little vulnerable to hunters and predators.  Thanks for the photo April!

Highlights of the weekend:
  - teaching April to shoot (I can't imagine learning with a 12ga.)
  - driving a car for the first time in 4 months
  - Sauna
  - homemade food
  - cutting down a christmas tree (actually 2)
  - spending a day outside with friends and actually having a successful hunt.

Practising!  Looking back on it, April is probably the fourth friend (from conservation mostly) who I have handed a firearm to for their first time shooting ever.  Notice she's still smiling...even though it's a bit of a nervous smile. 

I like to check out the weather around Finland and other places in the world on a fairly regular basis...It's just interesting.  So I was looking at the weather for Inari, the city I visited in Lapland a few moths ago. It's not that cold yet, but have a look at the weather forecast (click on the image to make it bigger):

Notice that the sunrise and sunset times...they have DATES on them.  The sun set on the 1st of December and will not rise again until the 11th of January.  How crazy is that?  I mean, I knew it happened, it's just really amazing (in my opinion) to see a sunset and sunrise that are weeks apart.  I imagine the opposite is true in the summer when there are weeks between the last sunrise and the first sunset.  

Thanks for the sweet hat Karina!  It sure kept me warm last weekend!

That's it for now...have a great week (or what's left of it)!!

The Perils of a Finnish WInter: Part I

Pielisjoen ranta...I think it could be called that.  See how bright it is now?? hahaha

So, I have named this post "Perils of a Finnish Winter Part I." because I foresee plenty of potential to build upon this topic in the future.  I don't have a plan on how to continue this idea yet, but I'm sure as we get deeper into winter, I will encounter more things to write about. So, this week I have two, well maybe three, things to share: icy roads, darkness, and sitsit.

The view out my apartment window

Icy Roads.  True, this is not a winter feature exclusive to Finland, but it happens to have impacted me directly this week.  Literally.  I was riding my bike (pöyrä) in a hurry (mistake #1) and I decided that I could make it across a crosswalk where the "walking man" had just changed to a "not walking man" (mistake #2).  Really, you have about 15seconds at this point to cross the street which was more than enough given my speed (mistake #3) when I left the sidewalk and started onto the pavement.  Mistake #4 came when I assumed that the pavement surface would have equal traction to the sidewalk I had just left.  Nope.  The coefficient of friction on the pavement was significantly less than that of the sidewalk thanks to a very thin layer of black ice.  That was all it took and my bike was no longer under me.  I had some really great momentum because I had just come down a hill so I managed to cover some pretty good distance on my side, skidding across the icy, yet gravelled, road.  My bike is fine, and I am fine.  I just a few bruises and a very small patch of road rash to show for it.  I guess that's the benefit of winter bike crashes: you're wearing a lot of clothing to protect you when you go down.  I have to say that I was pretty embarrassed. It was during morning traffic, so there were traffic lineups in all direction that got to witness the foolish cyclist trying to make it across on a slightly red pedestrian light and "biting it" as a result.

Buried bicycles.  The snow makes it easy to see which bicycles have been locked and forgotten

As embarrassing as it is, I am definitely not alone in this experience.  Almost every person I have spoken to has crashed their bicycle at least once or twice due to ice on the road.  Others have been almost hit by cars (autot) that couldn't stop in time.  I wear a helmet constantly now that ice is lurking on the roadsides, sidewalks, bridges, and forest paths.  I also don't ride my biek in front of cars even if it looks like they are going to stop.  I don't trust that they actually will stop until they do.  My father has offered to buy me studded bike tires for Christmas (Joulu)...very cool!  They are just like studded car tires, but they are for a bicycle.  Apparently it is common to get them only on the front tire, but they can be put on both.  I imagine they help, but they are probably not going to save me if I try the speeding-turning-black ice stunt again.

Berries and Blue...

Darkness.  Ok, so our nights are long, no surprise there.  The thing that really gets me is that when the sun is above the horizon, it is so low that it is still behind the trees and buildings all day.  If it happens to be cloudy or...**shudder**...raining, then it never really get light out.  Even at midday, headlights are required and it is brighter indoors than it is outside.  It always looks so warm and bright under the artificial "high efficiency" bulbs.  I never thought I would describe high efficiency light that way.  Snow helps mitigate this significantly, but until a few hours ago, the ground has been bare for most of the week.

A very blurred photo from a park in town... (sorry, I was in a rush)...but you get the idea

While sitsit isn't exactly a winter peril, it does feature one of the Finn's favorite pastimes: drinking (which could be considered dangerous).  Or, is drinking a favored summer pastime?  I would have to say that drinking is a winter hobby, while partying is a summer pastime...do you see the difference?  There is very little celebration in winter drinking, whereas it sounds like summer partying is all about having fun and enjoying the long days.  I should probably tell you a little bit about sitsit.  Sitsit is a tradition that I believe the Finns adopted from Swedish culture.  It is an evening of ridiculous-ness disguised as a dinner party.  There is a dress code that must be followed (determined by the host) and there are toastmasters that must be obeyed.  They have absolute control and make the rules, give permission to go to the bathroom, and punish those who do not follow the rules.  Punishments include dancing to finnish disco, reciting poetry in a foreign language and other creative and publicly embarrassing acts.  The admission fee comes with some drinks provided, but you are encouraged to bring your own so that you never have an empty glass when a toast is called, which is very often.  Singing is another key feature of a sitsit.  When a song is called by the toastmaster or requested by an attendee, everyone must sing (songsheets are provided).  These songs are usually in Swedish, but there are some Finnish favorites, a few English, and a sprinkling of French or German.  It was really really halarious.  At any point during a song or dinner a toast may be called at which point you must drink.  It's like a mass drinking game...but water is liberally provided (and so is schnapps).  Overall, a highly recommended experience.  If you ever have the opportunity to attend one: do it.  oh yes, and as a side note, a 3-course meal is served.  Definitely no the highlight of the evening, nor should it be.

One of the heated sidewalks mentioned in a previous post

 Until next week...Moikka!!

Setting Suns and Snowfall

Helsinki Dawn...Swans (Joutsenet) on Töölönlahti

Things are starting to get a little more interesting around Joensuu.  It has finally started to snow (sataa lunta) so the landscape looks very different.  Actually, today was our first official snowfall (it must snow more than 1cm to even count as snow).  We now have a grand total of 4cm and our coldest temperature has been -7 C.  Not to stereotype, but I was kind of expecting it to be a little colder here...it's just about the same latitude as Yellowknife, NWT (actually we're just a little further North).  However, on Saturday, it was 26 degrees colder in Williams Lake, BC than it was in Joensuu.  It just seems like there is something wrong with that picture.  Anyways, the night appears to be a lot brighter , which is excellent seeing that the sun now sets at 15:00.

Baroque gardens in Fredriksborg, Denmark.

The dreary grayness has been been given a new face with the fresh snow, a face that is  brighter, more festive, appropriate to the season, and...more slippery.  I have to admit this is the first time I have ridden my bike in the snow.  I've been in snow lots....skiing, walking, driving, on the bus...but I have never considered mounting a bicycle.  The especially lethal traps are when a frozen, smooth puddle on the sidewalk hides under a layer of white.  Given the sunset time and the new riding surface my two favorite bike accessories are a light (the law) and a helmet (not the law...as far as I can tell).  Interesting.  I haven't hit the sidewalk yet, but it has been close a few times.

Danish...pastry, chestnuts, cheese, flags, jam.  Tulips of unknown origin...hmmm. But the colour fits the theme!

School is picking up a bit too.  My current class, Economics of Multiple Use Forestry, is a class that has really met my expectations in terms of content and work.  In the past "multiple use forestry" or "other forest values" has only included carbon...carbon credits, carbon cycles, carbon markets...carbon.  However, this course also includes discussions of wildlife, habitat, mushrooms, berries, and recreation.  Finally.  Also, our silviculture course came with a well-endowed stack of reading material, which was fairly interesting information on plantation management (as opposed to the "ecosystem-based forestry" of Canada):  thinning, pruning, genetics programs...all that sort of "fun" stuff.

The Mermaid, Copenhagen...watching some of the German Navy leave the harbour.

As you can tell by the photos, I've been thinking back on my trip to Copenhagen a lot this week.  It is interesting to consider about the differences between Denmark and Finland, they're a lot less similar than most people (I know) would expect.  Denmark feels, well, European for lack of a better description.  Rolling fields, deciduous forests, cobblestones, brick houses...managed and neat.  Finland feels Nordic as opposed to European:  endless forests, more modern architecture...perhaps just a little more wild.  There's a sense like mother nature (or something else) is still in control and that the future may not turn out the same as we plan it to be.  That being said, forests are still immaculately kept and planned...for the most part.  Denmark is the picture of Scandinavian culture (shhh...just don't tell Sweden).  Finland has aspects of it's culture that make it similar to Scandinavia, though it's not technically Scandinavian.  Interior design of new homes and popular home furnishing designs are often what non-Finns would classify as "Ikea-esque design."  Yes, clean lines, bold colours, and botanical motifs...but not IKEA!  Can you tell I live in Finland??  :-)

Swans and the Anglican Church, Copenhagen

Anyways, my Fun Finnish Fact for this week is actually more of a Joensuu fact instead of a Finnish Fact. The main pedestrian-only street has subterrainean heating.  Seriously.  At first I thought they just had a huge sewer or something under there causing the ice to melt, but I've asked around and it's actually heated.  It doesn't feel warm; it's certainly not like walking over in-floor heating.  But, it's just enough heat to slowly turn ice crystals to water and even encourage some evaporation.  I don't think it keeps up with heavy snowfall, but it will eventually catch up when the snowfall stops.  I think it's a fairly brilliant idea.  Just think that in a city that has up to 8 months of winter, the main walking street never needs ploughing.  Reduced liability, reduced long-term work, happier store-owners...but I hate to think what kind of work is required when it needs to be repaired.  Hopefully they don't have to dig the whole street up!

Reflection of Helsinki in a restaurant window...way out of my budget I'm sure!

Nähdään!  Maybe next week I'll have some snow pictures...if I take my camera out before it all melts again!

Kastellet, Copenhagen.  The old army barracks along the original city ramparts.  Apparently there is a high likelihood that my grandfather spent his army service time stationed here.

Blue Steel...Steal?

My bicycle and me.  We have a bond.  With April's help we found each other, and now we are committed.  He waits for me at the bus station, or train station, or outside the bar...just waiting to give me a safe ride home.  Blue Steal provides me with transportation and freedom.  In return, I take him out for adventures.  My favorite are night rides. Standard route: 6.5km Noljakka to Niinivaara.

I have to leave the warm comfort of a friend's house. Stepping outside the air is damp and chilled.  Click.  Helmet on.  Next: the gloves.  If you put on gloves before doing up your helmet the buckle is very hard to fasten.  Bike unlocked...thank goodness it hasn't frozen shut (I helped it out with some cooking oil a few weeks ago).  3 clicks on the bike light...1 - epileptic flash....2 - steady beat....3 - steady on.  Just about ready.  I'm not sure how warm or cold it is out.  Earlier today it was snowing.  Then raining.  Now it is just a thick fog with a penetrating chill.  I test the sidewalk by running the sole of my shoe along the surface...sand and pebbles roll beneath my foot making a scratching sound.  Ice.  Definitely re-frozen; no sudden moves allowed on the way home.

The ride starts with a stiff uphill. My nose is already dripping. Then, I duck behind a church and I'm onto the forest paths.  These are my favorite, particularly on nights like this.  They are lit at regular intervals by high efficiency lights...also known as the lights that keep you in the dark.  However, the lights throw just enough light to illuminate sharp lines through the mist in the trees and create eerie shadows across the paths and into the darkness of the forest on a nordic winter evening.  The lights cast my shadow onto the pathway and it distorts as I ride by.  At first my shadow drags behind as I approach the light, but it slowly creeps forward until it is under me and I am under the light.  Suddenly, my shadow races ahead of me into the darkness, as if to race as quickly as possible away from the light that is making it.  Finally, it dissipates and becomes one with the darkness that is my surroundings.

The trees.  Scots Pine.  Some glow in the mist while others cower in the darkness.  It is a hallway of columns to glide through:  behind the neighbourhoods, under the roads and through the frigid night air.  It is not yet so cold that the air has no smell.  In fact, the air has many scents....exhaust as I pass under a road, cooking as I swiftly slip behind a neighbourhood, wood smoke - pulling at my memories, tobacco smoke - making me cringe.  The tobacco smoke lingers along my ride.  It may have been a cyclist that passed through, a driver (probably with a dangling air-freshener too), a couple on a walk...a single smoker hovers on a balcony; exiled from the warmly-lit indoors

In some places the snow has survived creating a delicate crunch as Blue Steal rolls along.  In other places, I can see the path glistening - an icy concrete.  Footprints and the shallow ruts of bicycle tires have been frozen in time... until the next thaw at least.  Perhaps tomorrow?

All too soon, the lights of the ice hockey arena dance between the columns of pine.  It is the end of the forest path for me.  The zambonie is emptying its oversize nose between the already existing piles of "snow." It's odd that it's called snow because the zambonie tailings are nothing like snow.  It is not natural....it is not clean, fresh, pure or crisp.  It is rejected; the dirty ice scraped off the surface containing the blood, sweat, tears, and spit of many hockey players, figure skaters, and recreational skaters. Zambonie un-snow....definitely not zambonie snow.  

My nose is a faucet at this point.  My butt is cold, but my hands, heart, and feet are like ovens.  I am soo glad I put on these ski socks this morning.  It was a battle.  The skinny jeans said that knee-high wool socks were not a functional article of clothing.  Each time I tried to pull my pant-leg down, the socks would get rolled down to the ankle with it.  ugh.  to  anyone else who wants to wear knee-high socks with skinny jeans: put the socks on before the jeans.  It's like doing up your helmet before putting on your gloves.  it just works better.  I won.

Now I am home, wam, and dry while Blue Steal waits outside in the fog.  He will get a place inside as soon as they are finished re-painting my bike room.  the fumes are offensive too. We look forward to our next barely-lit outing in and out of the Joensuu neighbourhoods.

Kööpenhamina!!! err...Copenhagen!

November cherry blossoms North of Copenhagen.  Seriously.  I guess the fall was so mild that these poor guys thought they could get another crop in...or maybe they thought it was spring already...hmmm

So last week was actually a very eventful week for me.  In between writing reports, scheduling exams, getting sick, and travelling to Denmark...I celebrated my birthday!  A whole quarter-century...phew!  Given the circumstances, I have to say I had a fantastic day and I really appreciate all of my friends around the world.  Much to my surprise, April baked me an amazing birthday cake (gingerbread with lemon icing) and the whole cafeteria sang happy birthday to me at lunch.  It was mildly mortifying.

15:07 sunlight at the Joensuu Rautatieasema.  The days here are already shorter than the very shortest day in Vancouver.

The reason I had to qualify the day with "Given the circumstances..." is because there was just too much going on.  I got a nasty nasty head cold, so I was stuffed up and out of it.  I had to finish a major report from my field course last summer, so I was tied to a computer during any free time.  I didn't plan my travelling to Copenhagen very well, so I ended up spending the evening of my birthday on a train...only to spend the night in a Helsinki Hostel working on my report.  Bleh.  There was just too much going on to fit much of a celebration in...sometimes these things just happen!!! I really appreciate how everyone went out of their way to wish me their best!

Sorry to disappoint those who were expecting a species ID...I don't know what this tree is, but it had a hole in it, which was very cool.  Denmark.

So...now for my trip to Copenhagen, or Kööpenhamina as the Finns call it.  Some international cities have a Finnish name, while most do not.  I went to Copenhagen to visit my aunt, Mille, for her birthday and to spend some time with family who I have not seen for many years.  My trip started with a train ride into the frosty sunset (at 15:17) as I started my journey south to Helsinki.  April saw me off at the train station (Rautatieasema..."Iron road station") with a final "Happy Birthday!," and then I was off.   I did not manage accomplish anything on my report that trip due to technical difficulties.  However, it gave me a significant amount of time to work on my latest knitting project: a gift for my aunt.  It had to be completed by Sunday...yet another thing on my list.  The rest of the travelling went smoothly for the most part (we almost didn't leave Helsinki because of something wrong with the airplane...but they fixed that quickly...phew).  By then end of the day I had made it successfully from Helsinki to Copenhagen and I managed to complete (and submit) my report.

Baroque gardens at the Frederiksborg Castle.  Funny-shaped trees due to human intervention....pruning.  I think it looks really neat with no leaves on them.

Some people don't like flying.  Some people don't like trains.  Some people don't like navigating through the streets of an unfamiliar city at night with a poor map.  I am totally fine with all of this (I enjoy it!).  My weak spot: public transit.  Especially city busses.  I had to take the bust from the metro to Mille's house, across Copenhagen.  The thought of this gave me butterflies for two days before I even got there. In the end, I chickened out and walked for 45 minutes instead of taking a 10 minute bus ride.  I tell myself (and most others) that I walked because it was a beautiful day out (true...it was 10 C and sunny) and because I needed the exercise after so many hours of travelling (also true).  However, I think it was nerves in the end that made me walk.

Nyhavn, Copenhagen

On Friday, Mille was an excellent tour guide and took me around the countryside North of Copenhagen where we visited a castle, admired gorgeous gardens, and basked on a beach (in a frigid sunset).  The next day, Stine arrived from Canada.  It was absolutely fantastic to see Canadian family for the first time since moving over here.  On Sunday we had the birthday party: a rich Danish Smørrebrød for brunch followed by birthday kringle.  Monday, Stine and I headed into downtown Copenhagen to see some of the tourist sites and take a look at some museums.  Ok. So they're not actually museums, but stores like Royal Copenhagen or  Ilums Bolighus or Georg Jensen have goods that could be purchased by 1% of people who walk in the store, just because of the extravagant prices.  Be careful not to knock any of that china off the shelf! Perhaps I could interest you in a €1,600 teacup (with a saucer!!...what a deal!).  Don't need a teacup?  Well, surely you need a €30,600 ice bell...!  I'm not even sure what one would use an ice bell for....

How could you have Copenhagen without bicycles??

Overall, Copenhagen was wonderful place to spend a weekend and get away from school and the cold grey that Joensuu has been recently.  I don't know what my Mormor (Danish grandmother) means when she says that Copenhagen is cold and dark...it felt positively tropical compared to Finnish weather!  The sun got high in the sky, and some trees even had leaves on them still!

Only the Danes would lose a naked woman like this in the neighbourhood bushes.  Copenhagen.

Today I will not write about a fun finnish fact because I have spent most of my week in Denmark.  However, I did manage to do some writing in Finnish about my weekend in Denmark.  If you don't know Finnish, you're not missing out on anything ;-)....I mean, what I wrote in Finnish has already been said in this post....so here goes:

Viime viikonloppuna, minä matkustin Kööpenhaminaan.  Minä kävin perheelläni, jotka asuvat Kööpenhaminassa.  Myös minun tätini Stine tuli Vancouverista, joka on kaupunki Kanadassa.  Me (Stine ja minä)  kävimme Kööpenhaminassa, koska oli minun isotätini syntymäpäivä viime sunnuntaina.  Minun isotätin nimi on Mille.  Perjantaina, Mille ja minä ajoimme maaseudulle ja kävelimme metsässä ja rannalla.  Me myös kävimme kuninkaanlinnassa.  Linnan puutarha oli erittäin kaunis ja ihana.  Lauantaina, Stine tuli Kanadasta.  Sunnuntaina oli Millen syntymäpäiväkutsut.  Lounaaksi söimme tanskalaisia voileipiä ja joimme tanskalaisia oluita.  Lounaan jälkeen, me palasimme Millen kotiin syömään kakkua ja juomaan kahvia tai teetä.  Ne olivat erittäin hyvät syntymäpäiväkutsut.  Maanantaina, Stine ja minä menimme Kööpenhaminan keskustaan.  Me shoppasimme, mutta en ostanut mitään. Me kävimme myös meidän isotädillä Annalla.  Se oli erittäin kiva viikonloppu!

Helsinki Cathedral, Helsinki.  Afternoon light from across the water really lit it up like a postcard photo this afternoon.

Ok, so some of the finnish is a little repetitive.  Thanks for the editing help Krista!!

Have a great week everyone!

Copenhagen Graffiti.

November...like a swift current

Duck on the river...this week's photos are river-centric

Well, November (Marraskuu) seems to be flying along in some kind of hurry.  It will soon be December (Joulukuu) and I will have had no idea what I've been doing for the past month.  I just know it.  The weather is surprisingly balmy compared to that of Williams Lake, but the days are dismally grey.  I've stopped counting the days in a week that I wear long underwear (pitkät alusvaatteet - tops and bottoms; or pitkät alushousut - bottoms only) and instead count the days in a week when I don't...it just requires fewer fingers this way.  School is going through a bit of a busy stretch now. I've got 2 courses ending (silviculture and research methodology) with all of the associated assignments and exams.  In addition to this, I have a fairly major report from my trip across Canada due.  Ugh, not looking forward to the week...but the following weekend should be amazing!

The eastern river bank: my side of the river.  I cross the bridge in that photo everyday on my way to school.  It's the long bridge; it crosses the river, stays elevated through the area pictured here, goes over the railyard, and finally joins the ground on the far side of the tracks (where I live).

Yesterday, Saturday, was April's birthday.  She has been wanting to have a picnic lunch by the lake for quite some time now (i.e. ever since arriving).  But, the weather has always been off, or no-one could make it.  Yesterday the weather was far from perfect, but it wasn't raining...so a handfull of us went down to the beach and had a birthday picnic, complete with a sparkling rosé.  It was 2 degrees and blowing wind off the lake, leaving us (3 hardy Canadians, 1 brave Brazilian, and 1 fearless Finn) with some pretty serious goosebumps and purple fingers.  At least I think my fingers were purple...it was after 15:30, so it was too dark out to tell.   Let's just say the  rosé was well chilled, as were the picnickers (what a strange looking word!).   Things really got heated up later as April convinced me to come out to a salsa dancing-halloween party; pretty much her 2 favorite things (dancing and halloween) conveniently on her birthday.  Salsa was great fun!  For those of you who know my previous record of trying to learn how to salsa, I didn't punch anyone this time!  I am rather sore today though...

Western river bank: the Lutheran Church, Ilosaari, downtown (keskusta) and more of the long bridge to school.

I am continuously learning new interesting things about this country and culture.  April's birthday picnic brings up my First Fun Finnish Fact (the alliteration is getting cheesier and worse by the week).  It is totally acceptable to consume alcohol in public places...provided you are not drunk and belligerent.  For example, having beers (kaljaa or olutta) or wine (viiniä) with a picnic lunch or dinner will not get you in trouble with the police. Compare this with Vancouver where you would have to pour out all your beverages if the police found you picnicking with wine or beer...especially at a public park or beach.

My second interesting story I only just learnt from my roommate this afternoon.  Apparently, people's income and tax information are public domain.  At this time of year (sometime last week I believe), a publication is made available with the details of each taxpayer's name and details of their tax return.  This seems very strange to me.  You can go online (pay-per-view) or purchase a publication with all of this information.  You can look up the information of your neighbours, friends, colleagues, boss, celebrities, the rich and the famous.  Apparently, it's excellent tabloid material.  This practice can be a big source of local news (I took this to mean gossip), especially in small towns where everyone knows each other.  Income from gifts and grants is not included and names are not published for those who earn less than €10,000. Bizarre.

Some of the last leaves left on the tree in all of Joensuu are on willows leaning out over the river. 

Finnish trivia: what is the mostly commonly used Finnish word in the English language???  Sauna


I'll be spending next weekend in Copenhagen (hooray!), so there will be no Sunday blog update as I usually try to do.  Have a great week, and....

Lest we forget

And it gets darker...

Fields and Farmhouse near Kuopio

So, my to do list is growing...and I'm procrastinating.  Apparently not much has changed since my undergrad...or highschool....or life inbetween.  That being said, blogging is on my list and I am currently accomplishing it.  Learning Finnish will never be off my to do list while I am here, unless by some strange event I start speaking it.  And some things just aren't getting done (room cleaning).  Oh well, here's my next (and slightly late) blog update!

Mmm...Thanksgiving dinner in the making! €8 for a pumpkin!

Since returning from Lapland, not a whole lot has happened.  A few hours of class every day, running around town, riding my bike through the cold fog, homework, and oh yes...social events.  Since I'm studying abroad, it would be irresponsible of me not to partake in social gatherings.  About a week and a half ago, April and I made a Thanksgiving dinner to share with some Finnish Friends.  It was amazing.  Last week, all the forestry students in Joensuu held a "Suomi Parti" at the local yacht club's house near the water.  "Yacht Club" makes it sound like a classy event...ummm, sure.  Dress code: anything finnish, blue and white, ridiculous, comfortable, or any of the above in any combination.  Welcome drink: vodka shot with a slice of cold hotdog on the rim, which was drizzled with hot sinappi (mustard).  Dancing was not ballroom: check out an example of the Fine Finnish Tunes that were played.  And, of course, there was a sauna.  :-)

A very colourful, slightly abandoned farmhouse

However, what was much more interesting was hunting this past weekend.  My friend Aku invited me to his home where he grew up, about 130km West of Joensuu.  I took the bus out on Friday night, we spent Saturday in the forest and came back yesterday, Sunday.  I would like to describe Saturday as the ultimate Suomi Saturday, the only thing it was missing was excessive quantities of coffee (I don't drink it).  It started with a light breakfast before sunrise, followed by a few practice rounds.

We then spent the morning trying to flush jänikset (rabbits) from the bush and into the field (preferably) where we would then (theoretically) take our shot.  It never happened, we didn't see a rabbit all day.  I did, however, run into 3 moose, but, alas we were not moose hunting.  Just before lunch, Aku tried his whistle for pyy (hazel grouse).  Success!  One came to the call and Aku got it with a clean shot.  Nice.  We made a fire (nuotio) for lunch and roasted sausages (makkara).  Oh yes, and had a celebratory beer.  After a leisurely lunch we continued to look for pyy.  We had lots of success calling them in, but they all stayed out of sight.  And they got really quiet when a hawk cruised the forest.  We also ran into a fourth moose. Very cool.  I don't think I've seen that many moose in the bush in a day in Canada.  I have seen a lot more moose in a day, but from the road, which doesn't count.  Dusk started to settle in (it was 16:30) and so we headed back for the day.

mmm....pyy for dinner this week!

There was home-made moose soup waiting for us at home, which was fantastic!  We heated the sauna up (of course) and each took a turn basking in the heat.  Finally we wrapped up the day by heading into the town of Kuopio and having a few drinks.  Definitely a fantastic metsäterapia päivää, or forest therapy day.  That was something I made up - it's not actually a thing, though it should be.  A great break from school and general daily life in Joensuu!

Fields, birch and Norway spruce.  The only thing missing from this photo is a lake...it's just to the right about 0.5km

My Fun Finnish Fact for the week is about a product that is involved in many aspects of life in Finland and has been for centuries: terva.  Tar.  In addition to what we may consider "standard" uses, in Finland it is also used in medicine, saunas, food, alcohol...skin creme...candy...Really.  Seriously.  Don't believe me?  Wikipedia will confirm. After all, "if sauna, viina, and terva don't help, the disease is surely fatal."  This past weekend I enjoyed tar in a licorice-flavored candy and as a sauna water additive.  It was...interesting.  Kind of a smokey flavour and smell...but not like wood smoke and not like burning plastic.  Apparently, the EU is trying to ban it claiming that tar is carcinogenic.  Guess what the Finn's reaction is?  Of course: the crazy Europeans don't know what they're talking about - Why are we involved with those guys anyways?  It makes me laugh a little...or at least smile to myself.

They certainly grow large carrots here!!

I've been really bad about photos recently.  I haven't gone on that many exciting adventures in the past couple of weeks and I never remember to bring my camera into town with me.  I'll spend a day and take some more photos around Joensuu before the snow flies!

North of 66° 36'

Herd crossing!

I think we have now past the point of no return on autumn weather here in Joensuu; there will be no more summer-like days occasionally to get our hopes up about a glimpse of temperatures near 10°C. Nope, it is now well into October weather where the temperatures drift between 0° and 7° with daily rain showers and possible frost.  The Finnish word for October is Lokakuu, which translates roughly to "mire moon."  All of the months end in kuu (moon), but the beginning of each month has a descriptive (or irrelevant) name for the month; October (Loka) happens to be mud, mire, or a semi-frozen dirty sleet mixture.  Nice.

Believe it or not, this is the light at noon in Ivalo.  The sun probably doesn't get more than 15 degrees above the horizon already, combined with clouds and rain make for a dark day!

Last weekend (well...Thursday to Monday) I was off on exciting adventures in Lapland (Lappi), North of the Arctic Circle.  After class on Thursday, three of us (John, his wife Emily, and I) and all our gear crammed into a tiny little Nissan Micra equipped with studded tires and headed off into the wilderness...well...sort of.  I would call it wilderness by any European standard, but we were never more than an hour from civilization.

The arctic circle and me...in Finland

The first night we rented a little cabin with its own sauna and electric heating (hooray!).  Whenever you ask if a cabin or residence is equipped with a sauna you are usually met with dumbfounded look...of course!  Every small cabin or residence is equipped with at least one sauna.  Probably more.  We woke up to a hard frost on Friday morning, which was spectacular, but a little cold - my first real sub-zero temperatures so far.

Feather-like ice crystals on the lake at sunrise (8:30am)

The skies were clear and the air was crisp as we headed out into the arctic fells (hills) for our second night in a more remote hut in a National Park.  It was an 11km hike in over gentle terrain to the day-hut that we had decided to overnight in.  The lady at the information counter discouraged us from trying to spend the night in a day hut...no sleeping spaces, others may be there, you are only really supposed to overnight in these huts if it is an emergency, you should bring a tent....However, she assured us that it was equipped with a cookstove, a woodstove, and it would provide adequate shelter if required.  So we went for it.  The hike was spectacular, the weather was fantastic, the trail was well-marked, and we were surrounded by reindeer, ptarmigans and lemmings the entire way.  We found the SMALL (10m square?) cabin (with 3 perfect built-in benches for sleeping) on the edge of a small lake without incidence and started up an outdoor fire to make dinner.  As we were finishing dinner, two people came up the trail, obviously intent on spending the night in the cabin as well.  Ok. 5 people total, the cabin is small, but it will be do-able.  Then, another 3 came up the trail, now we had a total of 8 people to accommodate in 1 small cabin...it was...cozy? It turns out it was a group of 5 international students from Joensuu (2 from Russia, 3 from Czech Republic) who were planning on camping in the park for 4 nights, but were so frozen on their first night that they re-routed to spend the weekend in huts.  It was easy to see why they froze in their tents on the first night that easily reached -5...they were equipped with jeans, t-shirts, sweaters, and summer sleeping bags.  Some had raingear, I'm not sure if others did.  I have no doubt that I was wearing more wool at one time than they all had combined.  The raingear certainly would've been handy the next morning.  We woke up to -2 and horizontal freezing rain.  ugh.  Fortunately it stopped before we set out, but it was just enough to glaze all of the rocks, boardwalks and bridges along the path to an absolutely lethal degree!

Cabin we stayed at in the park

After skating out of the park, we drove further North to the town of Inari where we were to spend the next 2 nights in a well-equipped, but off-the-grid cabin.  Sauna (of course), wood stove, outhouse, water from the nearby river, and a rowboat.  From this base we carried out our activities for the next couple of days: the local (excellent) museum on the arctic and Sámi culture, a wilderness church, and walks on nearby trails.

Sphag and such.  A pretty typical scene in Lapland....forest...lake...swamp

On the way home we stopped in Rovaniemi to attend a few mandatory tourist attractions.  The arctic circle line was the first on my priority list.  The Marttiini knife company was first on John's priority list. Fantastic.  Now...here's the fun fact: contrary to popular belief, Santa does not reside at the North Pole. Instead, Santa lives on the Arctic Circle in Rovaniemi.  It's true, I saw him with my own eyes.  Don't believe me?  I had my photo taken with him...but I can't show you because I don't have the photo...because it cost €20 at a minimum to get a copy of this photo.  I could've had a €60 poster printed.  I guess Santa has to pay his elves somehow!  The Santa village itself was a little creepy when we were there:  a large commercial setup (akin to Disney without the rides), in cold dense fog, with Christmas music drifting between the nearly abandoned buildings.  Apparently it's not Santa's busy season yet!

The wildnerness church.  They still hold midsummer services and weddings.  4.5km hike each way or a boat ride and 2.5km hike.  It certainly is scenic!

Overall, an amazing trip that was some of what I expected and more.  Some surprises for me:
- There are trees and forests all the way up past the Arctic Circle.  I was expecting tundra at some point, but never encountered it.  That being said, the tree line was about 50m above the valley bottoms and any small hill ("fell") was treeless.
-  I was hoping to see a reindeer and was surprised by their abundance.  On the road, on the mountains, in the forest, by the cabin.  They were like the UVic bunnies of the boreal.
-  Lemmings, lemmings everywhere!
- None of the buildings are very old and they're mostly constructed of wood.  Most towns and infrastructure were burnt in WWII with the retreat of Germany from Lapland in what is known as Lapland's war.
-  Some of the Reindeer management techniques as follows...

What are they doing in figure I.  ???

Ohh...that doesn't make sense....

Anyways...That was about all of the excitement in my weekend.  If you ever have the opportunity to...
1) come to Finland (preferrably while I am still here)
2) visit Lapland (the summer may be a little better, but apparently winter is spectacular too...if you don't mind aurora borealis as your main source of light....

check out the photo blog if you want more pictures!
Fun Finnish Fact: eggs come in sets of 10, not 12

Snowmobile parking outside the Lapland Shop, Inari