Post-Finland...for now!

So my last post was....SEVERAL weeks ago, so much for trying to keep up! In my defense I have been absurdly busy since then with hardly a moment to catch my breath!

Welsh forestry (just kidding!)

German Forestry

I've been back in Canada for a little over 3 weeks and I'm still stuck with Finland on my mind...But before I left Europe I certainly made the rounds...2 days in Edinburgh, Scotland...5 days in Bangor, Wales...transit through Switzerland....5 days in Freiburg, Germany...transit through Switzerland and Northern Germany...4 days in Skinnskatteberg, Sweden...1 night in Stockholm, 1 night on a boat somewhere between Stockholm and Helsinki, Finland...2 nights in Joensuu, Finland...2 nights in Mekrijärvi, Finland...and then a week at home in Joensuu...finally I set out across the Atlantic for my first return to Canada in 367 days...I may have stretched my visa a little!

Field school group! (or at least some of it)

Beautiful beeches

Here's something that I wrote a few months ago to a friend, but I feel that it summarizes a lot of things about my experience in Finland...All of my predictions from when I wrote that have held to be very true!

"I am thoroughly enjoying Finland; I know that it will be very hard to leave! I can't exactly say what it is that is here to fall in love with, but I know that you can understand! I have met a lot of other international students who certainly haven't developed the same attachment that I have.  Maybe it's the forests and how they are valued by people here so much more than other places I have lived.  Maybe it's the culture and the pride of this country...it is uniquely not European.  The people know that their numbers are small, but are fiercely proud of their independence and stability.  Although they won't vocalize their pride, it is strong (and invisible from the outside) in each one of my Finnish friends here.  Speaking of friends, it never ceases to amaze me what a good friend a Finn is.  I know that I will keep in touch with my friends here better than most others.  And even if I don't communicate with them regularly, I know that they are still out there!  Also, I think I may go through a serious withdrawal from Finnish saunas when I go back to Canada...how have I survived my life without them until now? It is also interesting how many similarities I am starting to see between Finland and Canada.  As for the Finnish language...it still presents many challenges!! I'm still trying though!"

Swedish crayfish party

Well, now that I'm (almost) settled in Edmonton all I can see is a huge amount of work in front of me in the next 12 months. Then...if it all goes according to plan...I should be ready to hand in my theses (yes...2!) at the end of next summer!! I'm a little scared of what I have in front of me! Fortunately, I won't always be in school.  I'll play hockey, and coach biathlon, and play in the Rockies, and enjoy some fine Canadian beer (seriously) that I have missed for the past year.

Here are some photos of my trip to Jasper that I took with Katharina a little over a week ago:

nom nom nom

Maligne Lake

ORAVA PERKELE!

not sure what was actually over there...

we received several formal warnings about mating season and an excellent description of it from Parks Canada

heading up the Icefields Parkway!

bog birches in ruska

Columbia Glacier

Ruska in the Rockies

Catching up! Or at least trying to keep up!

Well...my summer is rapidly drawing to a close...I cannot believe that I am approaching the one year mark soon!! Really, I feel like I am just getting to know the culture, the land, make some good friends....oh yes and the language!  Don't get me started on that rant again...hahaha.  Although, I have been wondering how the English language can adopt a word like sauna and have saunas built around the world....but there is no word for löyly or even a decent description of it!  Every Finn knows that sauna is impossible without löyly...so how is is possible that, as anglophones, we can have a sauna and not a löyly.  Löyly is defined by sanakirja.org as "steam and associated heat in sauna," or, "generated by administering water on the hot stones placed on top of a sauna."  But, anyone who has has Finnish sauna, or is familiar with Finnish culture, knows that löyly is so much more.  So...if you come to Finland, you will have a sauna (this is not a matter of choice), and you should become familiar with löyly.  Ok...that's the end of my language rant!

I have not updated this blog nearly as often as I initially planned to, and it's nothing against you or against the routine of blogging...I have just had little, if any, contact to the world outside of Finland for the entire summer!  The biggest problem is that I use a computer about 1 hour a week and blogging doesn't always make it into that valuable time!  So...what have I been doing? Counting and measuring trees...it's endless!  I have been working long days steadily since the beginning of June (including some weekends) and I think I may finish my field work on Tuesday...if everything goes according to plan!  Then...I start to live out of a suitcase for the foreseeable future. Actually, just until September, when I will be returning to Canada to go to school in Edmonton.  I can't say I'm entirely excited about that...but change is good! ...right? I know I'm going to miss it here! A lot!

Other things I have been doing....This weekend I went to a music festival in Kuopio and that was an awful lot of fun!!!  It's called Rock Cock...yes, seriously.  And everyone understands that this can mean something totally different in English.  It's not something that's lost in translation, It's totally on purpose.  The weather actually turned out to be warm and calm.  I think it was the first sunny day that did not include a massive thunderstorm.  I found myself running from marble-sized chunks of solid, clear ice falling from the sky two weeks ago...not impressed!  We also found time to pick chanterelles this weekend, which some of you may know is something that I will go well out of my way to do!  It has been pretty much steadily raining since May, which has lead to a phenomenal year for 2 things:  bugs and mushrooms! ...and maybe rubber boots too!  This summer is definitely missing sun-sweetened berries (there are more than enough sour ones!), beach days, and quality fishing.  After some very successful ice fishing last winter, I have come to realize that while Finnish ice may hold many fish, Finish water contains no fish...they must grow in the ice or something! ;-)

Anyways, now I'll add a few photos and that's it for this post!  Also...interestingly, most of the people who have viewed this blog in the past month are located in the USA...thanks!