Don't worry, I'm still alive and writing

Hey folks,

This post has been long overdue. I know, my last post gave the impression that I was gonna write sooner... but I didn't. I really thought I would though, I just kept putting it off and getting distracted. I just had a lot of things going on in February...and March.
Sorry.

So what have I been doing all this time? I've been to a few events, parties and Finnish experiences. I've also learned a few things about myself, Finnish culture and life.

So here's what I did in order to get Finnishized.

1. I participated to a stiz, it was for Valentine's Day. Basically it's a dinner where you get to play games, sing some songs and get drunk fairly quickly. For those you used to be in cadets like me, it's pretty much the same concept, but less formal and more fun. Although I had fun, I wouldn't do it again: one sitz is enough for me. I've heard that the sitz I attended was toned down in order to not traumatize the exchange students, it was a kiddy version... How considerate.

2. I went Ice-Swimming in February. Apparently, it's super healthy for you... but it is not advised for people with heart problems or pregnant women... It was cold, hot, and somewhat awesome... but I wouldn't do it again, some Finns are quite skeptical of the ice-swimming benefits.

3. Participated in a Running Dinner. The concept is that you're in a team of 4 people and have a 3-course dinner. Each team would eat each course at a different house/apartment, hosted by Finnish people- most of which are students. Each team is also provided a map in order to navigate through the city of Turku. We had about one hour in each home, but obviously, being chatterboxes, we stayed a bit longer every time. The first course, the appetizer, consisted of a ham and cheese pie and a mini-burger; the second was oven-baked potatoes with bread and salmon sauce (smoked salmon in crème fraîche and dill!); and finally the third was lingonberry and chocolate cake with vanilla ice-cream. YUMMAY! Needless to say, everything was scrumptious. The first two meals were hosted by students and the last was a Finnish woman  probably in her 30s. That last person  felt was a real Finn: super shy and not that talkative. So cute.
What I also liked about the event, is that it made me discover Turku: I would've never gone to those parts of the city if it weren't for the dinner.

Potatoes and salmon sauce

Lingonberry+Chocolate cake with Vanilla ice cream

Some tea!

4. Cooked with a Finnish family.
The universities here in Turku offer what we call the Friendship Program. Basically, it's a program that promotes cultural exchanges between exchange students and local Finns. I ended up with a Finnish family. I've been to their place twice and we cooked a meal of our own country each time. I ate cabbage rolls and meatballs with lingonberry, and my Finnish family tried a sweet and sour beef stir-fry, Vietnamese style, cooked by yours truly. It turned out pretty good, considering I've never tried cooking it by myself, let alone here in Finland, where most ingredients just don't exist.

Visit n°1: Eating Finnish food.

Visit n°2: Eating Vietnamese food:

5. Attended my university's band/orchestra concert- Axelbandet. It was fun.

6. Went on a Nature walk, met some new people and had a barbecue.
Hurray for glorious amounts of food and meeting people in other contexts than alcohol!

7. Went to Sauna.
So I finally booked a time to go to Sauna by myself. What's interesting here in Finland is that a lot of things are categorized/super organized. For instance, there's only one washing machine and dryer available for 3 buildings where I live. So, in order to prevent ridiculously long cues and temper tantrums, there's an online system. Basically, you just book your time online and plan your day/life around your laundry time. It's really neat.
The same goes with the sauna, but there are not that many timings available so you'd have to book crazy early, like 2-3 weeks beforehand... unless you get lucky.

So, Sauna. It wasn't my first time since I did a bit of it during my experience in winter swimming, but still.
First, you go in. You're in this changing room and there's a shower between you and the sauna itself.  (Picture is taken in the shower).

Once you get in, there's a bucket full of water. It's everyone's responsibility to keep it full (with that green bucket in the previous picture). 

Already getting in there, it's pretty humid and hot. BUT, if you feel like dying of heat, you just add water to the stones and it generates heat.  You add it with the spoon ( more like a huge ladle maybe? I don't know what it is) provided in the water bucket.

Then, you just sit there and relax. Now, I must say, although I didn't add that much water, I had to get out of the sauna a few times because it was really hot. Still, I really liked the experience and am planning on going again a few times. It's really a great feeling when you decide to cool off after the sauna in a cold shower. You know when you just had a massive workout and feel all lethargic afterwards? Yeah, it's that feeling.

Side story: When it was my time to leave, I met up with a Finnish student, it was her time to go there. She asked me how it was and we talked a bit. And then she offered if I wanted to have another round there: I was really welcome. I kindly declined because I didn't feel like fainting and I had other stuff to do. It was still really nice of her. Damn, people here are really nice.
Also, every house/apartment here in Finland has a sauna. It's like a right that they have here. And so is having a cottage. I was talking to a Finnish friend that lived in Switzerland and her mother requested a sauna to be imported from Finland to their Swiss home. That actually happened. So, you can only imagine how strongly they feel about saunas.




What I learned about myself and life so far:

1. Navigation
Now, I've never been particularly gifted in that department. I don't have that much of a good sense f direction, even with a map or GPS. I even got lost in my own neighbourhood in the beginning. I remember, on the first day, I wanted to go to the grocery store. It took me a while to find it like 15 mins. And It took me about 1h30 to get back.. and the only reason I was able to find my building was that the 5th person I asked for directions lived in that same building.
But, just like any other skill, it requires practice, you work at it. I've become better at navigating (or at least I think). I don't have a GPS so I rely on maps- which are, by the way, so underrated. I've got a long way to go, but at least I'm getting better  at it.

2. Cooking
My parents and I didn't really have faith in me in that field either. Now, for those of you that have known me for a long time, you know that my mom, although she doesn't own a restaurant or anything, is some kind of underground chef. Her cooking is amazing: she smells and tastes pretty much everything in food and likes to experiment. She's a real chef.
So, growing up I've always felt this pressure that I had to be a good cook. I've watched and helped her around the kitchen since I was little, but I was never alone when cooking something... and I didn't have the motivation either. I was constantly pressured in learning how to cook properly, mainly to show off my skills to a man and that really pushed me away.
Now, I'm learning how to cook, especially because I like variety and want to eat something else than pasta, ramen, and frozen pizzas. I've discovered that I'm a pretty decent cook: I guess all those years training in the kitchen paid off.
Also, I find cooking to be fun and relaxing. When I'm in the kitchen and cooking for myself, I feel quite calm and relaxed, one part because there is no pressure to impress anyone but myself, and the other part is because I enjoy it. It's like I'm in another world when I'm cooking, it's hard to explain. Maybe it's a new found passion? I might look more like my mother than I thought.

3. Creating/Maintaining relationships
Not everyone will like you and you won't like everyone. I've always knew about that but it has become much more apparent here, probably because I get to meet 100X more people in 1 month than I do in a year in Montreal. And it's okay, if it doesn't work, don't force it. Just move one, there's plenty of people on this planet. They just don't happen to be as crazy as you are.
In terms of maintaining relationships, there are some exceptions but, I've noticed that I've grown much closer to those that I chat/skype with on a regular basis. Keeping that regular contact with people makes a big difference whenever you feel homesick. Now, I'll be lying if I said I've never had any down moments. Of course I miss people back in Montreal and there are times where I'd like to fly back and see them and hug them super tight... but I guess that's what makes every visit so special: you know that time is precious so you cherish every moment of it.



That's it for now. There's much more I want to write but I have to get ready for my trip to Lapland. I'll be going to Saariselkä for a few days. I know I'll feel guilty not updating my post before leaving for Lapland so here you go!

I'll try (I promise!) to write a new one once I get back from the land of Laps.

Till then, enjoy your much anticipated tax-returns.

Skål