Sunday in the City

Sunday ended up being the perfect close to the week. It was a relaxing day filled to the brim with indulgences- just the way I like my Sundays.

It was spent with Danielle, a fellow American who was nice enough to impress her street skills upon me and show me some great places to eat and drink. The day began with lattes, followed by thai food, ice cream, and chocolate. Fazer chocolate to be exact... It's true, I'm now a firm believe in Finnish chocolate. I'm actually eating my last piece of the bar as I write this.

We also went to some famous hotel with most amazing views of Helsinki. The stairs were the most dangerous things in the world for a klutz like me, but the cool bar and balconies at the top were worth it.

I still can't get over how beautiful this city is!




So this evening something very exciting is happening. I don't want to say more, but hopefully it'll be something to blog about!

The Finnish Experience

Saturday I met up with the lovely Aino. She's a really fun and friendly Finnish girl who speaks AH-mazing english (despite what she thinks) and knows Helsinki like that back of her hand. She was willing to take me around to where the locals hang out and even taught me north from south. Then it was time for the real Finnish experience. Dun dun dun.

I bought alcohol legally for the first time! It was pretty thrilling if I do say so myself. I bought a "long drink" (gross), a Finnish light beer (gross), and Finnish pear cider, which was absolutely delicious... I'm a girl, what to you expect? Although, I'm not much of a drinker so I ended up only drinking half of each and then setting them down, which I suspect is a cardinal sin among Finns, but maybe they'll cut me some slack seeing as I'm only a beginner. Anyway, with drinks in hand, we headed off to join some Finnish boys recently released from the army.

In Finland, joining the military is mandatory for men over 18. They either join for 6 months, do civil service for a year, go to jail, or flee the country. They're not the best of options, so needless to say these boys were ready to celebrate in a traditional Finnish fashion. They were hilarious guys who described the army as "running around in the forest and shooting lasers at one another." Oh, and sleeping in tents in the middle of winter and waking up every hour, but thats a lot less funny.

They taught me some important lessons too! Several Finnish phrases which I forgot all too soon and some essential steps when doing sauna.

Step #1- Do sauna... All the time.
Step #2- Get out of sauna and have a cold Finnish beer, preferably Koff.
Step #3- Repeat process and drink as many beers as humanly possible.

I think that's only one version of sauna, so I may try the other pleasant alternatives like getting slapped with birch tree branches or jumping into a hole carved in the frozen lake. The Finns have some interesting hobbies. And did I mention their passion for gardening?



All in all, it was a pretty fun night. Thank you again Aino for everything.. But most of all, thank you for this...



This, people, is what I love about the Finns... It's ammonium chloride flavored Finnish candy. Not even kidding. It's made almost entirely of sugar, liquorice, and ammonium chloride. And guess what? People here actually like it. Yeah. I, on the other hand, do not. But at least I actually let the stuff touch my tongue before spitting it out.

In conclusion, it was an awesome weekend. Today (Sunday) was pretty exciting too, but this is long enough so I'll post on it tomorrow. Goodnight!

Hello Sello

So today was a complete success. Let me explain...

Successful event #1:



My Finnish debit card came in! Sure, they spelled my name wrong, but as a foreigner I can't afford to be too picky.

#2



Naturally, I went shopping. I went to Sello, a shopping mall pretty close by with all the good stuff. Well, H&M at least. That pretty much covers all the good stuff.

#3



I bought Finnish chocolate! I was told that this chocolate brand, called Fazer, is good enough to rival Swiss chocolate. Supposedly it's one of Finland's best kept secrets. I like to think that its their super sexy men, but hey, what do I know.



Ultimately, I wasn't impressed with Finnish chocolate. This one with the blue and white wrapper was my favorite. All the others will probably be sent to my family in the States as gifts.. They should appreciate the thought.

Anyway, shopping at Sello taught me a few very important lessons. Firstly, don't order noodles from Wong's Noodle Bar- you'll be terribly disappointed. Secondly, that I'm a European size 38- who knew! I only had to ask some poor person what size they were and do a rough comparison to figure it out. :/ And lastly, that Finnish people are annoyingly well-dressed only because they have fantastic stores and clothes to choose from. Now I can be super stylish too!

One is the Loneliest Number

I'm a lone wolf. Just doin' my thang in Finland. It's cool, sure, but a bit lonely at times. When I'm working or at home it's not a problem, but when it comes time for "recreation", things get a bit sad.

I know, I know, I haven't even been here a week. But too often in the past five days I've found myself wandering in circles (literally wandering in circles around the city) with no clue how to spend my free time.. Today was no exception.

Throwing myself once again into the madness that is downtown Helsinki, I hoped for some great adventure. But sadly, it did not come. Instead, it was just a girl and her camera buying ice cream and riding trams. While that certainly doesn't sound like a bad day, it's all the time spent in between ice cream and trams that is a bit depressing. Like the time spent walking miles just to find a place that looks comfortable enough to eat alone in. And having to take pictures of yourself, hoping you get the landmark in behind you. And working up the courage to go into a bar by yourself, only to learn that although the drinking age is 18, a certain bar in particular (Aussie Bar, I'm looking at you) requires that you be 20 to enter.

Yeah, I've lived here five days and I'm already complaining. It's not that I don't love living in a foreign country and experiencing all these things, it's just that being a "solo traveler" isn't as fun as sharing such a beautiful city and country with someone else. So here I am. The girl doomed to forever take pictures of herself in public.



I promise though, I'm not too pessimistic. I look forward to when I'll start meeting people and getting out there. I'm just not completely sure how to go about it so any tips would be great!

In the meantime, I'm enjoying exploring the city piece by piece. Today I took more pictures of buildings, landmarks, people, and the awesome statues.









I'm seriously obsessed with them. I think I might spend a whole day next week devoted to photographing all the ones in the city. Oh, and I'll try to make some friends too. :)

"This is kind of like Disneyland"

Today was my first official day "out on the town." I tried exploring Helsinki a bit last night, but that went terribly wrong after my many mishaps with public transportation. Anyway, today, armed with back-up and a destination, I was able to see what Helsinki was all about. Although I only caught glimpses as we made our way to the zoo (which is on a really cool island off the coast!), I now feel much more prepared to face the city again tomorrow. In the meantime, I present to you Helsinki in a nutshell.



This is Helsinki. Lots of people and lots of cool things to see and do. It reminds me of Disneyland, not even kidding.



A typical Helsinki street and a typical Finnish family.



I'm just throwing this out there, but I think bikes are a popular form of transportation.



In summer, berries are the thing in Finland. They're sold and eaten everywhere. And they're super delicious too.



Along with the berries, there are a variety of fruits and vegetables sold in a little outdoor market near the harbor.



There are several of these old, green statues in the town squares. I'm not sure of the history behind them, but I will certainly find out.







I don't love all the seagulls. They're very aggressive and I've been warned several times about buying ice cream near the harbor. Apparently they're swooping thieves.



Sexy Finnish men on their motorcycles... Mmmm.



The Lutheran Cathedral- one of Helsinki's most recognized landmarks. Finally seeing it in person after months of googling images was pretty amazing.






And finally, one of the many train stations. A key component in finding my way back home.


So yes, that is a very small look at a place that has so much to see and be explored- I can't wait! Today was great though. I still can't get over how beautiful and amazing everything is. Never having been to Europe, a place with so much history is a bit overwhelming. It's like something out of a movie. Sure, I've seen people's pictures of their travels throughout Europe and in cities just as (if not more) beautiful than Helsinki, but actually being there and seeing it with your own eyes is a different experience entirely.

Wish me luck tomorrow!