A Huevo Finlandia!!!
I'm back from Finland and while not frozen, am considerably more poor. I had such an awesome time though, it was completely worth it!
The trip there was ok, first I had to head to Brno and drop off my stuff. Then I hung out in Brno for a few hours since I was getting a ride to Prague with my boss (free!). As I was walking through the Christmas markets I ran into a Turkish girl I know that was working in Brno. Completely random, but great because then I had someone to hang out with! The next day when I was taking the bus to the airport I ran into a Finnish girl that I know that lives in Prague and turns out she was on the same flight as me! Small world...I felt so popular.
I met up with Towa in the centre and we hung out for a while and then Heini arrived. It was so great to see my preciosa, it did not seem like it had been over a year and a half. We went to pick Dion up at the airport and then headed to Tampere. We spent about a week in Tampere/Lempaala for Christmas and then went to Helsinki for a few days and New Year's. We also had the chance to meet up with Christian (another guy we know from Mexico), so that was awesome! And I saw my buddy Timo as well..I never imagined I would end up knowing so many Finnish people!
Christmas Comparison:
-Christmas is pretty much the same everywhere...spend time with your family and feel like you have ate so much you are 10 seconds away from vomiting. And then do the same thing the next day. It was marvelous. Heini's mom and grandma were the best cooks EVER. I gained some serious weight. However, in Finland they celebrate Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day.
-Heini's family makes someone dress up as Joulupukki (Santa...or literally translated into English--Santa Stud) every year and hand out presents. Dion got to be Joulupukki this year while I was an elf. Hot stuff.
Some REALLY Finnish things we did:
-Ate reindeer (caused a bit of a value conflict and I got an email from my mom saying, "I won't get any presents, you ATE Rudolph!)
-Went to sauna and rolled around in the snow (I wore a bathing suit though, as Heini's dad remarked..."Don't you know that North Americans are the only people born with their clothes on?")
-Cut down our own Christmas tree
-Made a snowman (we called him Suomi Stud)
-Drank Salmiakki (now I remember why I don't like it)
The most UN-Finnish thing we did:
-Watched "Pimp my Ride" (or Viritetyt Vehkeet in Finnish)
New Year's:
-Started at a party with Towa's friends who were all very nice, successful, and good-looking. Fun to party with too!
-Kissed one of her "famous" friends who used to host a show on MTV Finland. The funny thing is that his girlfriend told me it was ok and to do it because it would be a great picture-- me kissing a famous Finnish person.
-Gallivanted around Helsinki to a club, a burger place, and an afterparty
-Managed to lose an earring and FIND it again in the streets of Helsinki.
-Was called "Bombay" all night by one of Towa's friends and was slightly offended until Towa said, "Well, you have been calling him "Fucker" all night". Ooops. Sign #1857458756 that I swear more than a normal person. I then explained to him that in my world Fucker=Honey.
Yay 2006!
Pictures are in the Helsinki and Tampere albums.
On the way back from Finland I stopped in Prague for a few days to spend Bina's last days in Czech Republic with her! We went to the largest club in Central Europe...a venue much less impressive than the name itself. It has 5 floors, but 3 of them were closed! We still managed to have a good time, I was surrounded by Brazilians. And really, it's good to go out with Brazilians because everyone loves to dance! We also had a really good time making fun of the guys at the club, there were a lot of mullets running around. Also, I met a guy from the Yukon which is weird because I've never actually met anyone from the Yukon before, so the fact I met such a person in Prague is kind of random.
Now I'm settling into Brno, more on that later!
The trip there was ok, first I had to head to Brno and drop off my stuff. Then I hung out in Brno for a few hours since I was getting a ride to Prague with my boss (free!). As I was walking through the Christmas markets I ran into a Turkish girl I know that was working in Brno. Completely random, but great because then I had someone to hang out with! The next day when I was taking the bus to the airport I ran into a Finnish girl that I know that lives in Prague and turns out she was on the same flight as me! Small world...I felt so popular.
I met up with Towa in the centre and we hung out for a while and then Heini arrived. It was so great to see my preciosa, it did not seem like it had been over a year and a half. We went to pick Dion up at the airport and then headed to Tampere. We spent about a week in Tampere/Lempaala for Christmas and then went to Helsinki for a few days and New Year's. We also had the chance to meet up with Christian (another guy we know from Mexico), so that was awesome! And I saw my buddy Timo as well..I never imagined I would end up knowing so many Finnish people!
Christmas Comparison:
-Christmas is pretty much the same everywhere...spend time with your family and feel like you have ate so much you are 10 seconds away from vomiting. And then do the same thing the next day. It was marvelous. Heini's mom and grandma were the best cooks EVER. I gained some serious weight. However, in Finland they celebrate Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day.
-Heini's family makes someone dress up as Joulupukki (Santa...or literally translated into English--Santa Stud) every year and hand out presents. Dion got to be Joulupukki this year while I was an elf. Hot stuff.
Some REALLY Finnish things we did:
-Ate reindeer (caused a bit of a value conflict and I got an email from my mom saying, "I won't get any presents, you ATE Rudolph!)
-Went to sauna and rolled around in the snow (I wore a bathing suit though, as Heini's dad remarked..."Don't you know that North Americans are the only people born with their clothes on?")
-Cut down our own Christmas tree
-Made a snowman (we called him Suomi Stud)
-Drank Salmiakki (now I remember why I don't like it)
The most UN-Finnish thing we did:
-Watched "Pimp my Ride" (or Viritetyt Vehkeet in Finnish)
New Year's:
-Started at a party with Towa's friends who were all very nice, successful, and good-looking. Fun to party with too!
-Kissed one of her "famous" friends who used to host a show on MTV Finland. The funny thing is that his girlfriend told me it was ok and to do it because it would be a great picture-- me kissing a famous Finnish person.
-Gallivanted around Helsinki to a club, a burger place, and an afterparty
-Managed to lose an earring and FIND it again in the streets of Helsinki.
-Was called "Bombay" all night by one of Towa's friends and was slightly offended until Towa said, "Well, you have been calling him "Fucker" all night". Ooops. Sign #1857458756 that I swear more than a normal person. I then explained to him that in my world Fucker=Honey.
Yay 2006!
Pictures are in the Helsinki and Tampere albums.
On the way back from Finland I stopped in Prague for a few days to spend Bina's last days in Czech Republic with her! We went to the largest club in Central Europe...a venue much less impressive than the name itself. It has 5 floors, but 3 of them were closed! We still managed to have a good time, I was surrounded by Brazilians. And really, it's good to go out with Brazilians because everyone loves to dance! We also had a really good time making fun of the guys at the club, there were a lot of mullets running around. Also, I met a guy from the Yukon which is weird because I've never actually met anyone from the Yukon before, so the fact I met such a person in Prague is kind of random.
Now I'm settling into Brno, more on that later!
posted by Aruna at 3:24 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home