Festival Weekend, Water Tower, and Finnish Dinner

This weekend was incredible. There was enough activity to fill a week! Sooo, on Friday Ika and I went into Karis for a BBQ at her friend's place after visiting a celebration of the town of Karis; a street festival type gathering. I went with Ika's sister Frida from the BBQ (Ika had to work the night shift so I stayed with Frida for the weekend) to Ekenäs. We went to the European Peoples Festival there. This was a week-long festival where people from, I think, about 17 nations around Europe gathered to represent their countries. The picture above is of the outside stage where groups from different countries performed various things. In the daytime, the inside portion of the festival had booths for all the countries with information and special things to buy. However, at night it turned into a big party. That...was a blast. Partying is definitely a universal concept! The picture above is of me and a super nice guy from Scotland.

On Saturday Frida and I started our day (well, the day began at about 2pm) at Faces, another multicultural festival. It was a really great festival, in spite of the crumby weather. I felt almost as if I'd gone back to Bellingham for a day. It was a giant hippyfest. I ate some great food, listened to some interesting music and met some awesome friends of Frida. Later after Faces, we went back to the EPF and hung out with the Scotish lads again.

On Sunday we went to Faces again. Then Frida took me to what she called a "secret place". It ended up being the water tower in Karis. She got the key to it and we climbed the 104 stairs to the top and peered out over the town. It was great to see everything from above; it gave me some perspective (the picture is of she and I at the top, albeit a bit greasy). She drove us, on her motorcycle, to Mona's for some food. Then drove me to the summer house to meet Ika and Sebbe. That evening we ate dinner with Sebbe's family at their house (picture above).

So much fun. Tomorrow: Helsinki!

Hanko, Finland

Today was such a fantastic day. Ika, Mona, and I went to the southern-most tip of Finland: a little coastal town called Hanko (or Hangö in Swedish). The weather ended up being absolutely perfect in spite of the not-so-perfect forcast. First we walked about the shopping streets and paid a visit to the public library (where they have blue lights in the bathroom so druggies can't see their veins...yep, it's a habor town). Then we went into a small bookstore where I bought the final book of my beloved Harry Potter series (I'm only taking a break from reading right now). Then ate at a nice little restaurant next to the guest dock in the harbor. The meal at this restaurant was substantially better than any of the previous meals out. After lunch Mona went and visited her cousin while Ika and I strolled around the guest dock. We climbed up a cliff and took a nap on a rock :) Then we went further and looked at the old cannons and other war remains. Then we looked at the Villas (I've decided that I will live in one someday) as well as the casino, which isn't actually a casino. We later reunited with Mona and ate cake and coffee at the House of Four Winds (pic of us at the table). It was gorgeous...duh. Then we left. The end.

Boat Trip, Forest Skills, and Turku, Finland

It's definitely been good times here in Southern Finland. I'll start from where I left off last :) Soooooo, we didn't actually make it to the Åland Islands. Our petrol consumption estimate was drastically off. It would have ended up costing about €500 in gas alone. Way over budget, plus one can easily take a ferry for about €20. Woops! In spite of the, uuuh, minor glitch, we made the most of the trip. We had made it only one fifth of the way to Åland. We ended up stopping off at Daniela's (one of the people with us) family's summer house, as well as Sebbe's family's summer house. Both of these places were accessible only by boat. It's pretty cool to wonder around places that are virtually untouched much of the time. After cruising in the boat all day (we also drove through this really really cool canal) we went back to our (well, Ika's) summer house and played some games and drank some beer (surprise, surprise!). All in all, it was great fun.

I've been acquiring some very useful skills in case I want to become a mountain person or what have you. Ika has taught me how to dig for worms and use them as bait for fishing. I was rather traumatized by the whole experience (all the sticking and killing, etc)! I've also learned how to chop wood. It was great, I got a workout and firewood out of the deal! However, it's not exactly my exercise of choice ;)

Yesterday was also fun. I went with Ika and Mona (her mom) to Turku, Finland. Interesting fact: if the city/town is of Swedish speaking majority, the Swedish name is listed before the Finnish name on signs. Turku is the Finnish name of the city and Åbo is the Swedish name of the city. So, yeah, anyway. The three of us went to the Handicrafts Museum which is a collection of old houses from the turn of the 19th Century in which actors are making things like pottery and baskets (pic above of Ika and Me). Then we had dinner on the river in a big boat (rather unimpressive meal actually, booo). After that we went to Ika's big brother's apartment in Turku. We had SUCH a fun time there. We played Nintendo Wii for a while. That was my first time playing with one. What a blast!

Last night on our way home from Turku, Ika and I saw an elk. I am so glad that I finally got to see one. Finland is known for the number of elk they have roaming around. Ika saw 6 while driving home one evening. I tried to take a picture of it but it was a little bit dark. I posted it anyway becasue you can see it if you look closely.

This weekend should be a blast. There is a 3-day-long festival called Faces that happens every year (it is actually directed by Ika's dad). It's a multicultural celebration with music, food, and dancing. Then on Monday I will go to Helsinki for a night, and on the 5th I will be going to Stockholm, Sweden (again) before I fly back to the States. I've got less than 2 weeks left so I've got to make the most of it!!

Finland: Karis & Ekenäs

All I can say is: serious change of pace. The most spectacularly beautiful change of pace, may I add. If you want the most gorgeous scenery ever, come to where I am right now! Where else does one get to see a rainbow at 5 in the morning? I am staying with my good friend Marika (from Western) and her family at their summerhome in Ekenäs, Finland. We frequent one of the neighboring towns, Karis, which is where Ika grew up. They are both very small towns. The area I am in is actually not really "Finnish Finland". Everyone here speaks Swedish, although a different dialect from those who speak Swedish in Swedin. It's very interesting, I'm able to pick up on the difference at this point.

Alright, so I've done a few things since arriving here. I've gone out on the town one time (which resulted in the picture of Sebbe, Me, and Frida...don't look too close), which was last Saturday. Then on Sunday I went with Ika, her sister Frida, her boyfriend Sebbe, and her mother Mona, to an outdoor, community production of The Full Monty. It was a cute play, although it was in Swedish. Ika would translate some of the jokes for me and I would laugh late :). I have spent a couple of full days lounging because the summerhouse is very secluded, and I don't have a car. But I can definitely handle having to keep busy relaxing and reading in rural Finland. I also went to Fiskars, Finland (15 min drive) with Mona. Fiskars is where everything Fiskars comes from (you know the scissors, etc). That was really really fun. I learned all about the history of town in the tiny museum and we also went to a gallery of modern art. Fiskars was actually an industrial town that has been converted into the local artists scene. Very cool. I've jumped from sauna to ocean several times in a thunderstorm (some of the most incredible lightening I've ever seen). I painted the tool shed yesterday and today! And today was Mona's birthday so I got to meet Ika's (and Frida's) extended family. They're fun folks.

I've had some very rich conversations about culture actually (with Ika's older brother). It's like a raw interaction of two cultures. It's awesome and intimidating at the same time to be a person who is representing an entire country really.

I must say, I will appreciate running water much much more when I get back home. There is none in this house! I've learned to wash dishes and bathe the hard way (uuh, every three days or so...you get used to it, seriously). I had the coolest experience this afternoon. I was in the ocean, out in front of the house (there is a small beach) taking a "bath", when it started to downpour. It was like a real shower. There is nothing like standing in the ocean and watching the rain sparkle around you.

Tomorrow we are going on Sebbe's boat the Åland, which is a small independent island near Sweden. It should be an absolute blast. I'll get more pictures of ME on this small trip instead of just landscape. Trust me though, bathing every third day is not a pretty sight!

Berlin, Germany!

I am already in Finland (and have been for a couple of days), however I wanted to give Berlin its own post because it definitely deserves full attention. This city ties with Paris with regard to being filled with crazy awesomeness. I learned SO much history and have now become addicted to the subject. Unfortunately Berlin has such heartbreaking history I was rather drained once I left. I had the option of touring a concentration camp but ended up passing because I'd just gone to the museum beneath the Holocaust Memorial. I'd learned enough about that horror for one day. Also, simply looking at the remaining portions of the Berlin wall is exhausting when you think about all that it stands for.
There were so many things to see and do in Berlin that I barely even scratched the surface. However, I'm happy with the amount that I saw in the amount of time I had. I went on an awesome walking tour of the city which gave a nice overview of about 800 years of history. I saw and learned about things that I would have walked right passed had I not been on the tour. I also met some really really cool people from the States that I may actually keep in contact with. All of them were from somewhere in California. Actually one of the people I hung out with for a couple of days was DJ Qualls and his best friend. They were great. Just another couple of cool people I got to laugh and hang out with along the way.
I'm happy to share that on my last full day in Berlin (July12th) I went to the Sony Center and watched the new Harry Potter movie. I actually had alot of fun. I didn't have any expectations for doing something like going to the movies. However, even the seemingly uninteresting things become interesting when you're in a place like this.

Woohoo Amsterdam and Dublin is incredible...and wet.

I guess one could say I've been having a bit of fun over here on this great continent. From Paris I took a train to Amsterdam which took about 6 hours. I met up with a woman who was one of my roommates in my Paris hostel. We took part in a traditional Amsterdamian activity that evening and walked around Leidsesplein ;) In Amsterdam I saw the big touristy things like the Centrum (city center) and I even took a stroll through the Red Light District. I took that walk during the early evening considering my solo traveller status. It was perfectly fine until I was the victim of a run-by-butt-slapping. I decided to go back to my hostel after that. I met some really great people in Amsterdam with whome I went to a jazz club one night=)

After three nights in Amsterdam, I flew to Dublin, which is where I am now. The is a fantastic city, however wet. The weather is very interesting and a tad inconvenient. It has been raining for about 10-15 minutes every hour. It stops, dries out, then rains again. Yesterday I walked to Trinity College and looked at the Book of Kells (a book from around 800AD). Today I am going to go and do some things that don't cost any money...my funds are shrinking quickly :) Luckily there is a TON of stuff to do in Dublin that doesn't cost anything.

That's all for now! Next stop: Berlin, Germany.