Two weeks in Finland

Here are the journal entries I made while in Finland for the Christmas holidays. They're not perfect- made on the fly. I'll add some pictures to this later or you can see them on Imagestation.

20 December

5:32 am: (12:32 PM /Toysä, Finland)
Lots of things to write about. Saturday morning we actually got up on time and left by 8:30 AM. We got to the airport about an hour before they opened the British Airways counter. Oh well, better too early than too late.

Kathy sat on her water bottle and it looked as if she had wet her pants. That was just the first of her airport adventures. We got adjoining seats by being early. That was nice. First we found our gate. (By following directions from the ticket agent, we got lost. We had to find our own way to the real gate. She had told us the wrong gate.) Of course, they changed the gate before the flight so we had to schlep back to a different area. We took off about half an hour late headed for Chicago.

The first leg was great. About one third full and very friendly. At Chicago we took on a full load including a group o Belgian clarinet players returning from an international clarinet convention. (?) The flight to London was crowded and long. One of the flight attendants said I looked like Father Christmas. At Heathrow airport, Kathy almost lost her passport. She left it in the tray at the security station. A little later I asked everyone if they had their passports. She didn't. Back we went, and they recognized her from her passport picture. It was at the security desk. Saved!

We changed just enough $ into pounds to eat lunch with only about 5 pounds over. Then the flight to Finland on Finnair. Interesting-- at Heathrow they don't assign gates to planes until they are landing, so we had to wait till the last minute to find out which gate and get there. Weird.

Jaana met us at the airport and off we went. A four hour drive later...Charley and Kathy slept most of the way. I nodded off a few times, but stayed awake most of the time. We got here, ate a snack and went to bed. We slept till 11 AM the next day (Monday). There's only 4 or 5 hours of daylight (such as it is) each day, so the "day" was half gone when w got up.

We walked to the store through the snow. It was the first time we had really been out in the weather. Our clothes kept us nice and toasty. Later we went to a dinner at Jaana's work and she and I went to a meeting after. When we got back, we had sauna- ladies first then us men. Then a little TV and bed.

That gets us to today, skiing. We tried cross-country skiing this morning. Kathy and Charley did really well. I was OK and only fell twice. I got really tired, but in a good way...like a workout. More later. We're going to go to where we will get fresh milk for Jaana's mother to make cheese for Christmas (Joulu). We will head down there about noon tomorrow. I'll try to post more tonight.

22 December
12:14 am: Jaana's parents live in an old house on a lake. The house was built in about 1930's. It's a traditional house with the sauna down by the lake. They only heat the areas of the house they are using.

We were preparing for the evening sauna by cutting a hole in the ice beside the pier. From that hole we took several buckets of water for the sauna. That's the water for the löyly and for washing after. The hole will also be for dunking. I broke the ice "tool" by trying to pry out the ice. I didn't understand that I was to push the block of ice under the ice we were standing on. I'll need to replace the handle or the whole tool.

The sauna was great. It's a little (a lot) hotter than ours at home, but the wood fired kiwas makes a softer löyly. I tried dunking in the lake through the ice hole. Yikes!! I only got in as far as my navel and chickened out. It was COLD!!

After sauna we sat tin the ante-room and roasted sausages over the fire and drank cider. It was quite nice. Then we headed back to the house and relaxed for a while with glögi.

Today we are going into Ittala and Hämeenlinna. We may pass through Tampere and try to find a new ice tool. I'll add more later.
9:02 am: (4:05 Finnish time) We went to Ittala glass factory today. Most of it was closed, but we did see the store, the chocolate factory, the museum, and the honey shop. We bought Steve and Terri's Aalto vase and a kissu (cat) for Mackie. We got chocolates for mom and honey and birch oil for us.

From there we went to Hämeenlinna to the castle (linna). It was as I remembered it, but colder. Kathy and Charley were impressed. Charley took about 100 pictures. On the way back we stopped at Alko for more wine for glögi.

After we got back, we carried water from the hole, which we had to re-chop to the sauna. Then Jaana and I hunted out a Christmas tree. I got to do the sawing. It's a nice one.
We'll sauna later and I have promised, rather rashly, that I will go in the lake water through the ice hole. Be brave.

2:37 pm: (9:37 Finland time)
During sauna tonight I did, in fact, go into the icy water. Wow.

24 December

2:27 pm: (10:30 PM Finland time)
Couple of skipped days here-
We experienced - 18.5 degrees Celsius today. That's about 1 below zero in Fahrenheit. It was really OK. When we got here, it was severely cold and about -7 C. By Thursday, -18 C seemed OK. Friday, -4 C actually seemed warm. Funny how we can get used to things pretty quickly.

Christmas Eve--
After an early breakfast, we went to the cemetery outside of Lempäälä to put candles on the grave of Jaana's mother's father who died recently. He apparently had been really looking forward to our visit. It was very sad. We returned through Lempäälä, and had a history lesson as we went. Very interesting.

At home, we carried water for the sauna from the ice hole. Then we made a snowman in the shape of joulanpukki (Santa Claus). We also played with the snow sliders that we bought on the way home. It was a lot of childish full for all four of us. Charley has really taken to Finnish things and food. He is also sleeping a lot. Maybe he is growing again. :0

After a snack lunch, we sat around for a bit waiting for the sauna to finish heating up. Arto and Carita went first, then the rest of us. While they were in the sauna, Joulupukki (Arto's youngest brother) came by in full costume. That was fun. Charley missed him as he was occupied in the WC. Kathy kissed him!! Then off to sauna. During sauna, I went in the ice hole for the third time; all the way this time. Charley rolled in the snow on the ice. :)

After a little more sitting around resting, we were asked to take the dogs for a walk, which we did. Upon returning, Christmas Eve Dinner was well on the way. (A little later) Dinner was a feast. First course- fish: smoked salmon, fresh salted salmon, salted herring, herring in mustard, and silli (herring from the Atlantic). There was also rossolli, potatoes, and salmon roe w/ crème. I tried everything. Second course: baked ham, potato casserole, rutabaga casserole, homemade mustard, and gravy. What a meal! For dessert there was chocolate "cake" and raspberries. There was also lots of alko with every course.

After that, we began to pass out presents. Here they pass out all the presents then everybody opens all of theirs. Pretty good idea. Then the cognac and walk the dogs again. Then off to bed. We have to b up before 6 AM to leave for church by 6:30. As late as it is, Kathy and Charley are playing chess on the couch here, upstairs. I'm going to bed.

Tomorrow is Christmas. I must remember to call Mom tomorrow evening (morning, her time).

25 December

1:49 pm: (9:49 Finnish time-still in Lempäälä) Janne & Pia came around 12:30 today. They were delightful. We sat around & talked, had lunch, and sauna-ed.
Janne and I had a lot in common and talked up a storm. We had leftovers from Xmas feast, so I had fish again. Janne and I went to sauna au naturale, which made sauna easier, simpler, and generally more fun.
I hope Charley gets better sleep tonight. Last night Charley didn't get much sleep. More tomorrow.

26 December

9:30 am: (17:31 PM Finland time}
On a bus for Helsinki & the boat for Tallinn, Estonia. I think Jaana is getting a little tired of us. She hasn't said a word, but it seems that way to me. I think that she may be tired of how long it takes for us to go anywhere- especially Charles. He's been great (for him) in every other way, but...

27 December

1:10 pm: (21:12 Finland)
Wow! What a time we had inTallinn, Estonia! The trip over was rather blah. The food, though good, was the same old thing. There weren't very many people going over, the band seriously sucked.

In Tallinn, we put our luggage back on the bus then struck out on our own, opting not to go shopping shopping shopping all day. Jaana was our guide. We went to out of the way places in old town. We saw the old city walls and a gorgeous cathedral (Orthodox). We had coffee and hot chocolate in a great little shop. And yes, we did do some shopping. I actually spent more than I anticipated, but we got some cool stuff.

The trip back was much shorter, only a couple of hours. Then on the bus for Tampere. Now

30 December

12:40 pm: (on the way home)
Final journal of the journey-
Saying goodbye yesterday was bittersweet. We were made to be part f the family for a while. I think "Mama" will miss us even more than Jaana. Though she would never admit it, I still think she was ready to get back to her life. We were a little demanding of her time and energy. We took her to places she had been to a hundred times, so she was not so enthusiastic about the outings. I think she enjoyed the home stuff more- sauna, skiing, walking, and glögi. She took us to the hotel, and instead of having to put our luggage in the storage, they had our room ready. Nice. Jaana then took us to the keskus (centrum) to the train station. From there we could find everything.

First we sent to the Ateneum museum. We all enjoyed it, but Kathy was about to burst. Even Charley got excited about some of the works there, insisting on certain pictures. Then we went to Memphis for a meal. We walked to Alexander's Cathedral and down to the harbor. We stopped at an Ittala store on Alexanderkatu and bought Dixie a votive holder. Then we began a double search. First we began looking for Charley's cloak that he wanted to buy in Europe. Second, I NEEDED a WC--badly! None to be found. I finally found one in the train station that cost a euro. I didn't have one! I finally got some change and found paradise. We ran into some Goth's, and while Charley and Kathy were in the WC, I asked them where to find the cloak. They recommended 'Morticias', a Goth shop a few blocks away. I couldn’t remember how to get to the street they told me, so when Kathy came out and told me that there were some Goths hanging in the ladies room (including a guy in a black Rasputin outfit with piercings and black fingernails) we knocked on the door and he showed us on the map (right before the police busted them). We found the shop, after much walking, right after they closed. Bummer for Charley, but a little relief for us. We decided that we were to tired for the other museums so we walked back to the train station and caught a taxi back to the hotel in Vantaa, the Hotel Cumulus. We had a late snack, then went to the room and prepared for today. The alarms were set for 4 AM... and we got right up and going so fast that we had time for breakfast.

We're just a few minutes out of Canadian airspace. We had a great look at Greenland. Glaciers... icebergs... the lot. Getting through London was not fun. First, our plane was late leaving Finland- weather. That put us late on the ground at Heathrow. Then we had to catch the bus for Gatwick. We had to change some money into pounds to pay for the bus- no transfers, my dear. The bus ran us about 47 pounds, and that's with Charley at the child's rate. Then we had to schlep all the way across the terminal to the bus stand. It was cold and windy and wet waiting for the bus. The bus ride was about an hour and a quarter plus. But he put us right in front of where we needed to check in. Security went fast (not even Charley got searched this time. Did I mention that Charley got patted down at Heathrow?) The plane was over an hour late leaving due to delays before boarding and delays taking off. That's going to put us behind getting to Houston. While we were waiting at the gate, we met a family from near Belfast, Northern Ireland. Very nice young family with a girl about 8 and a newbie right at four months named James. The dad gave me his email so I could send him a copy of the picture I took of his family.

We're over Northeastern Canada right now. Starting to turn southward with about 5 hours to go. I am so tired of airplanes. I said this was the last journal entry, but I guess I'll do a couple more before I'm done. Certainly that's it for now.

1 January 2006

Back at home, I look back on the trip. It was a great experience. Kathy had a good time, but decided she didn't want to live there all the time. I guess she's just too used to Texas weather. Heck, she gets cold feet standing in front of the fridge. Charley had a lot more fun than I thought he would. He really enjoyed the snow, and the food agreed with him.

I, on the other hand, wouldn't mind living there. I really like the people and the attitude of the country as a whole. Of course most of Europe has no use for Americans. It seems that most Americans they come in contact with are ethnocentric, pushy, complaining, judgemental yokels who want the world to be like them. They don't want to experience countries as they are, these people want to be given American-style treatment wherever they go. They are surprised to find out that not all Americans are like that. There are lots of us, they just haven't met us yet. Come on you guys- let's get out there and show the world the best American face. Experience the world as it is, in all its variations and differences. Enough preaching.