Yesterday was an interesting day. I started out the day just going walking and exploring the area I live in. I thought it would be good to get familiar with it. This proved to be a good idea, as you'll see later on in the post if I remember to loop back.
This is a Finnish sidewalk:
Normally it's a lot worse, but this has been a mild winter and it actually rained yesterday. I don't understand how it can rain in Finland in January. Anyway, the place where I was last time still has a few feet of snow and no rain. Helsinki is just weird I guess.
This is the view from my balcony. Not as much Central Park as I would like, but still quite nice.
This is a road I walked over while I was out walking. Nothing special, but you can get an idea of the architecture and maybe see some of the car styles.
I live in Lansi-Pasila (West Pasila). The word right under it is the Swedish word for Pasila, as Finland is a bilingual country.
This is a bird for Stephanie to ID.
The pic is bad, but right under the wing there's a blue stripe. They're almost like crows, but not quite.
If you run out of the little blue pill in Finland, this is where you go. (Pfizer)
So those are bad pictures for the most part, but it's something. The quality of the pics will increase as I stop feeling like a tourist and accordingly don't mind looking like one.
After walking around and taking these pictures I went with my second host-family-sisters AnnaMaija, Katri, and Saara to the second largest shopping mall in Scandinavia, Jumbo. I've been to the largest one [Itäkeskus] many times, so it was nice to see what else they had to offer. By US standards it isn't so large, but for Finland it's massive. I got some real groceries, and today I will probably try to actually cook something for myself. Yeah, it's weird, but they have grocery stores in all the malls too. For the record, I prefer Itäkeskus to Jumbo, especially since it's just off the metro line and Jumbo is a drive, in Vantaa. Both are nice though.
After that I had to quickly get ready for the ESN (Erasmus Student Network) welcome party for the international students. I threw on some clothes, and jumped on the tram. It picks me up right outside my door, so it's pretty awesome. I got a little lost because I wasn't sure where to transfer to the second tram (I had to walk around the corner to the other line's stop), but eventually I got there. We had a pregame party at some apartment common room where there was an airhockey table and foose ball and the like. This preparty was just for people in the Faculty of Social Sciences. It was much easier to mingle here, and of course everyone was getting drunk too. I finally disclosed to my tutor that I know finnish by speaking with this guy Matti in Finnish. They were asking about why I chose Finland and such, and I just decided to tell them in Finnish. I had previously said I'd start talking in Finnish next week, but I thought I'd just put it out there for them ahead of time. They laughed at the way I talk because I speak a dialect of Finnish that is maybe comparable to a Cajun accent in the US. Pretty backwoods anyway. The problem is that I only recognize that I speak that way on some words, so I'm stuck speaking strangely I guess. It's alright though, no biggie. But yeah, at this preparty I spent most of my time with the Finns and not getting to know the international students. I'm in Finland, after all. Then we went to the bar they had rented, Club Ooppera. On the way there one of the girls from Holland had a few beers she needed finished, but no opener. I carry a bottle opener on my keychain, so I helped her out, and we each had a couple of beers while in transit to the bar. By the time I got there I had had 6. I got another inside, and then I bumped into Matti again. That was my downfall. He had just decided that he wanted to get plastered, and when he saw me he decided I should do it with him. Having already drank 7 beers I was feeling good enough already, but I conceeded. The bar was serving specially priced Finnish drinks, so I couldn't really pass it up. He said he'd get the first round, and I'd get the second. I agreed, only to find that his idea of a round was a couple shots each. We were drinki Salmiakkikoskenkorva, which I love (try saying it when you're drunk), but, well, it's a lot of alcohol. Four "rounds" later I was done. I mingled with some of the international students, then headed outside to catch the tram home. Alas, I had just missed the last tram home, so (this is where walking earlier in the day came in handy) I had to walk home since I don't know how to use the night bus system yet, or where they pick up. It was about a 30 minute walk at 3 in the morning I think. Luckily I wasn't feeling any of the cold. When I got home I made a snack and got on the computer. Then mom decided to call.... haha that was awesome. I talked to her for a bit then went to bed.
Surprisingly, for having done beer before liquor, I'm not feeling half bad. Later today Jarkko is gonna come and install the light I think. Fun stuff. Anyway, i think it may get light soon so I'm outta here to shower and get on with the day. Leave comments to let me know you stopped by! You don't have to register or anything!
5 comments:
How can you call that thing a sidewalk when it's not to the side of a road or anything? ;-) I'd call that a path I guess. But then again I can't see half of the picture. Looks quite treacherous though. I'd walk in the bushes ;-).
The picture of the road has "40" on it... is that the speed limit? Name of the road?
I'm gonna have to work on that bird, 'cause the books and programs I have are for North American birds.
Am I good or am I good :-). It's a Black-Billed Magpie. Here are some sites:
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i4750id.html
http://www.birdguides.com/html/vidlib/species/Pica_pica.htm
http://www.birdphoto.fi/lajikuvat/picpic/index.php
While the birds may be different, there are general categories of birds (such as magpies) that I can have an understanding of and therefore don't go looking through a zillion birds to find the right Finnish one. (My first guess was actually a grackle--oh well.) Feel free to give me some more IDs!! :-)
I like the path, reminds me of Buffalo. It would most likely remind me of Toronto as well, but they're much better at keeping things clean. Speaking of Canada, often one will see grocery stores in malls there too. I can think of 3 right off the top of my head, and also one mall with 2 grocery stores in it.
So can you drink on the trams then?
Oh, and for Stephanie, yes, that's the speed limit. Technically the sign with a red circle and 40 is the official designation, but it is also legal within the confines of standard EU street signage to paint it in the carriageways.
Rock on! Too bad my host family and I didn;t get along to great, but hey I got lotsa people in Brasil to visit. The hotel I believe is north of the helsinki main train center. Not exactly sure where. I feel guilty because I jus realized that I haven't seen you sing karkku and that makes me sad :(. Seriously, we shoudl ahng if your ever in ohio again because its been too long.
Awesome Steph! Good job. It looks like maybe 319 on the birdphto.fi site is right, but that still looks like it may be a bit smaller than the ones I see. They're pretty darn big. And aaron got you on the speed limit sign. Remember, though that it's in km/h and not mph;)
You can't "legally" drink on the trams, but the tram trashcans a full of beer bottles, and somehow again last night i ended up on the tram beer in hand. I'll write about that later though.
I'll be in ohio this summer when I leave here. Are you gonna come to columbus, anna, or do i have to drive up there? ;) I can't believe it's been so long!
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