Coming to an end...

As my title says, this experience is quickly coming to an end. I just finished my last week of classes with 2 huge presentations yesterday (Thursday) and today (Friday), but still have one exam on Monday and a paper due by next Friday. This weekend will be lots of studying and then early next week will have to work on my paper.

Christmas is coming up fast and that means everyone I have met here, also goes home. Sarah is the first to leave on Wednesday, so it's going to be really weird. All of my roommates leave on Saturday the 22nd, so then everything will really sink in. However, Lilit may come around the 21st and then stay with me over Christmas, so I won't be totally alone! And then my parents and my brother will come on the 26th and then we're off on our own little trip around Scandinavia.

Christmas in Gothenburg is a huge celebration. It's so beautiful with all of the lights around the city and just this last Thursday, December 13th, there was the celebration of Santa Lucia (a saint known for her kindness and love). It is a pretty big deal in Sweden and as this site says: After lunch most schools close on Santa Lucia day around noon. It is a national holiday which comes on the 13th of December. There are also special foods for Lucia's Day like Lussekatter and spicy gingerbread biscuits. In big cities in Sweden there are beauty contests where some women dress up as Santa Lucia and the judges and the people vote for the Santa Lucia of the year. In schools people sing Santa Lucia's song. The words in Swedish and English are in the right-hand column.

Apparently there was some celebration in the Chalmers student union until 10am, but I was in class, so I didn't get to see it. There was a group of people walking through the halls of the building I was in with candles and white gowns and singing, which was neat to see. I also saw in Nordstan (the big shopping mall) posters up of girls competing for the most beautiful Santa Lucia. Don't know who won, but seems like it might be every little girls dream to become Santa Lucia (here in Sweden at least)!

Other than a lot of work these past couple weeks for all my projects, I haven't really done too much. Last weekend was a hard weekend of partying, but I had lots of fun. Won't get to see these people in a while, if ever again, so I've been trying to get out as much as possible.

This weekend I won't be going out, which I'm not happy about, but I really have to study for this exam. But after the exam I'm ready to hang out as much as possible with the people still here.

On Thursday's, a club called Valand has a student night and next Thursday (20th) there will be many people going. Myself and my roommates included. It will sort of be a good-bye party to everyone and it's easier than having someone throw a party.

Sorry if these seems so gloomy, but I have had such an amazing time here, and to know it's almost over is really depressing. It ended up going so fast and I am excited to be going home, but only really to see people, not to get on with school or that part of my life.

On a positive note, Joe Klockmann from Hamburg, Germany came to visit me! Even though I was really busy, I hope he enjoyed himself. Was hard to entertain when I was constantly working on projects, but we did get to do some stuff and he was able to go out exploring on his own. On Monday we went bowling at Frölunda SuperBowl, which was really fun.

Anywho....about time for me to start studying or go to bed to get up to study tomorrow morning. I hope everyone is doing well and I will be seeing you soon! Less than one month! (And for the family....I will be calling on Christmas, so most likely will talk to all of you within 2 weeks!)

I've updated my pics as well...added some to "more fun", "Göteborg" and some more to "Finland". (Hopefully you can find them if you really want to look...)

Sunday, December 2nd, 2007: Kuopio-Gothenburg

Woke up and had a taxi waiting for us at 9:30am. Took it to the Savonia Hotelli for breakfast. Grabbed some lunch from breakfast and was out the door in hopes of walking to the central station still about 2km away. After about 20 minutes of walking in the sort of right direction, we asked for help and eventually found the station. I ran ahead of Eugenia because we had 5 minutes to catch the train before it left and thankfully I did because they were ready to leave. Seemed like forever for Eugenia to get there, but she did and we safely made it on, thanks to the conductors for keeping the train a little longer!

About 4 hours later, we arrived at a stop near the Helsinki airport and got a bus to the airport and soon were on a plane to Gothenburg. Got in around 6pm and back home by 7:30pm! Was once again, a splendid trip and Eugenia and I are excellent travel buddies for the second time!

Saturday, December 1st, 2007: Kuopio

Woke up around 8am and made our way down, walking, the side of the hill to breakfast at Best Western Hotelli Savonia - a 20 minute walk. Breakfast was delicious but once it turned 10, you better have had all you wanted to eat, otherwise SOL - all the food disappeared. They had these amazing rice pastry things that were exactly like those potato things, but with rice instead. They were warm and you are supposed to put butter on top...so good!

Now for the unforgettable adventure! Eugenia had been e-mailing a dog sled company, Tassu Taival, that she was referred to by the tourist office. The man said that he would be able to pick us up in Kuopio and take us 60km north to his home, for a price of course. We took him up on his offer and shortly before 11am, he arrived at the Best Western. A very nice man, we talked a lot about what he does and the whole idea of dog-sledding. He has about 40 huskies, however he has only 25-30 working ones, and they aren't the typical husky you think of. He has Siberian, Alaskan, and Seppala Siberian to name a few. He also breeds his own almost every year, but does it only for himself, not to sell, and has been giving rides for about 7 years.

We got to his house and he had a huge cage that had 10 little cages, all outside with 3-5 huskies in each cage. He separates those that he knows don't get along as well, but also to keep them all cooperating with each other. We were able to go inside the main cage and we met Kisses (not sure what it was in Finnish, but that's the translation). She is a 10 year old husky that has also had a couple litters while he's had her. She is also an excellent leader for his rides, so she always goes in front and we would get her on our ride.

She was so much fun and would always lean against you so you would pet her. We met pretty much all of the dogs, or most of them, by petting them through their cages. They were so fun and so excited! When we first arrived, they started howling and barking and I heard recently that they do that to get the attention of the owner so that they get picked to run. I recorded a couple videos of them howling away and maybe I'll figure out how to post them somewhere. It was so funny! They actually get to a point where they get so angry and start fighting with each other. Wasn't too bad for the most part.

He had a few females either in separate cages or in their own area outside the cages because they were "in heat" so they couldn't be with any males. At one point, a male went running outside the fenced area and was going straight to one of the females. Pekka said that if he doesn't get him within a few seconds, we'll have more puppies! Guess it can happen that quick!

There was also a cage with at least 6 month old puppies! They were adorable! Soon after, he got 8 dogs ready to go. I don't remember all of the names, especially in Finnish, but I remember one he named Shadow because when he was a puppy, he'd follow Pekka around everywhere.

It was really neat how Pekka was so into each and every one of his dogs and they absolutely adored him. Put them all in their correct positions - how he remembers, I have no clue! Eugenia and I sat in the sled, her in front of me, and we were off. Because there was such little snow, Pekka said it was really hard to brake and dangerous because it's all operated by feet and if he would hit a rock or stump, it could really wreck your knees. The ride itself was such an amazing experience! The dogs were so great and it was interesting to watch how it really works. All Kisses really does is run without working too much, but she has to lead the other dogs. Pekka will yell left, right, stop, or go and she almost always listens, except she sometimes gets a mind of her own and decides to go her own way. She did that once while we were riding otherwise, she was good. 5 kilometers later and after stopping every once in a while for the dogs to rest, we were back at Pekka's place. Said good-bye to all the cute puppies and we were taken to a little tepee where he made a fire and then coffee, crepes or Finnish pancakes, and this excellent tea-like drink with red or white currents, raspberries, and cinnamon. I guess this is something that he does with all of his guests and it's so nice and fun!

A while later, we were in the car on our way back to Kuopio. When we got back to the center, Pekka showed us around a little bit more so we would get to see more of Kuopio. Pekka dropped us off on one street close to the main center and went on his way. Once again, Eugenia and I wanted to find souvenirs, but being 4pm, there was nothing open. Walked around in some bigger department stores and other retail, but other than that there was nothing. It was dark at that point and we were so cold that we found a restaurant. We each got a pasta dish (much better than fish...) and found a taxi to go back to the hostel. Were dropped off and we went inside Puijon Tower. Would have been better to do it during the day, but we definitely could figure out where the lakes were because there were no lights visible! Didn't do much for the rest of the night and were in bed by midnight! A fantastic day!!

Friday, November 30th, 2007 - Helsinki-Kuopio

Woke up a little later than planned, had a decent breakfast at the hostel, gout our luggage into the luggage room to grab later and headed out. Walked past an outdoor market where more traditional objects are sold. Was interesting and we ended up buying a traditional Finnish pastry with potatoes called Karjalanpiirakka. Turned out to be pretty good!

There is a self-tour they offer that is going around the city on tram 3T and they highlight what's interesting and if it's worth getting off to check out more. Took about an hour and all of a sudden it was noon.

Got to Savotta and it was such an adorable place! We got to sit in our own little space in the wall and was all underground. Some very interesting dishes on the menu as well. Could get reindeer, bear, lamb, veal, vendace, and much more. Eugenia got reindeer soup and I ended up getting vendace (little fish) in hopes of just getting the meat. NOPE!! Came out with little 2 inch fish all stacked on top of each other, tails and all. They were nicely fried though! Ate only a couple, after picking out the spine, but they were too fishy tasting for me, so I couldn't eat too many. Also ordered Glögli, which is a traditional warm sort of cider beverage. Tasty as well! Ordered apple pastry and homemade lingonberry ice cream for dessert....also very good!

Got out of there and ran in to Stockman's lost and found in hopes of finding my lost mitten, but with no luck, we headed to the hostel, grabbed our bags and went to the train station. We were extremely short on time to catch our 3:12pm train, and after missing the tram stop to get to the station, we thought we would miss it. With 10 minutes left, we grabbed a tram back from the stop after the station and practically ran to catch the train! Luckily, we made it!

After a few short snoozes each, 4 hours later we arrived in Kuopio! We found someone in the tiny train station to see if they knew how to get to our hostel, which we knew was about 2km away from Kuopio's center. All anyone told us was that we would have to taxi. Therefore, we needed cash and there was no ATM in the train station. We hunted one down about 3 meters away and also found a pizza place to eat dinner. After probably another hour, we went back to the train station to catch a taxi at the "taxisi" area where they line up for people to come. Twelve Euros and a ride up a hill later and we were at Puijo Maja Hostelli. It was amazingly beautiful and it had recently snowed, so all of the trees were covered in white!

There is also a tower called Puijo Tower that Kuopio is known by and we would head up to the top on Saturday night. We were pretty much the only people around, which was sort of weird. Just a couple weeks shy of when it gets really busy with Santa and many winter activities. Got our keys and made it to our wonderful room with 2 beds, a refrigerator and a toilet and shower. Didn't do much for the evening and eventually went to bed.

There is this huge story of how Santa comes from northern Finland and if you try to argue with any Finns about this, they'll argue right back. There is a whole city in the Lapland (northern area) of Finland and here's the whole website and the story for the Finnish Santa Claus: http://www.santaclausvillage.info/eng/story.htm

Thursday, November 29, 2007: Göteborg-Helsinki

We left Gothenburg around 8:15am - this time by plane - after a bit of trouble figuring out how to get to Landvetter Airport. Arrived in Helsinki around 10:40am and made our way to Central Station. Planning to get our train tickets to Kuopio, we got distracted by figuring out our way to EuroHostel. Got to the hostel, which is on an island to the east of the center and I was pleasantly surprised. The hostel looked very clean and very fun in the lobby and people were friendly. When we got to our room, it wasn't necessarily horrible, but definitely no the cleanest and we had very hard mattresses and lumpy pillows.

Decided to head towards Senate Square where, according to a travel guide "an assemblage of neoclassic buildings surrounds the Senate Square representing the soul of the city. Overlooking the whole arena is the grand Cathedral." The Cathedral was definitely grand! Was so beautiful from the outside and with the little bit of snow and Christmas lights, it was even more! We also passed by the Uspenski Cathedral, which is the largest Orthodox church in Western Europe.

Eugenia and I were talking about how some buildings look like they come from Russian influence, which makes sense in the fact that Russia used to own Finland. Also, many Russian souvenirs in stores made us feel like we were in Russia!

After doing those few picture ops, we headed back to the train station to buy our train tickets. Got our transportation to Kuopio and headed out in search of souvenir shops. After more than 4 hours of roaming around the city, in shopping malls (some were even underground!), going to a huge department store called Stockman's, we decided to find a place to eat dinner. We saw a traditional Finnish restaurant right across from the Cathedral. Found out we had to have a reservation and they had no open tables. They recommended another restaurant for us to go to, but it was quite a walk away and it was rather cold out (less than 30 degrees the whole time we were there), so we knew a couple places we walked by earlier that were closer to the hostel. Ended up at a pub that served food.

Grabbed 2 beers and 2 burgers and hung out there for most of the evening. Even got to speak with a group of drunk Estonian old men...that was interesting and weird. Paid, went back to the hostel and shortly thereafter, went to bed. First day was good. I like Helsinki a lot and from that first day, we were able to see a lot of traditional Finnish things, like the many little handicraft shops we went into.

The Christmas lights were all so beautiful around the city, which was fun! We also made a reservation at the Finnish restaurant for Friday at 12pm, so we still get to try it!

Thanksgiving - Friday, November 23rd, 2007

Before I get too much into my trip to Finland this last weekend, I wanted to update you on my first Thanksgiving dinner that I was in charge of....was quite difficult too. I decided to throw a Thanksgiving dinner primarily to show the international students what we eat, since it's hard to think of strictly American food. Only about 4 people who had never eaten turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, etc came, and the rest were either American or had been to the US and was able to celebrate Thanksgiving while they were there.

Turned out to be a fantastic dinner, but it was very stressful at times! I had no idea really what I was doing and all my directions were from my mom, so panic mode really set in within the last half hour. The fact that the turkey wasn't done on time didn't help either and gravy is definitely a tough task....at least I thought it was! Wouldn't thicken up for me! Overall, very good and everyone enjoyed it.

I will update my "More fun" album with a couple Thanksgiving pics and some more random ones. Should be towards the end. I also have some updated pics in the middle of my Norway trip, but close to the end. Were ones I got from Eugenia just recently and still wanted to add!

That's all for now....stay tuned for Finland! (Hopefully tomorrow it will be fully updated!)