It was so refreshing to have a ‘skiing week’
off school at the beginning of February, but instead of spending my time rolling down
slopes (I say rolling because I’m terrible at downhill skiing!), I decided to
return to Finland to visit some of my good friends. I toyed with the idea of
travelling somewhere new and fulfilling my wish to see more countries, but it
seemed a good time to take a break from that. Anyway, I experienced plenty of
new things in Finland!
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| Pic: First wifi experience on a board a flight with Norwegian airline, en route to Finland. |
I found myself reflecting on the contrasting life
I now lead, compared to that I had in Finland. The differences struck me from
the moment I arrived in Helsinki, while getting the bus from the airport to the
city centre. Even how you enter a bus differs; in Finland, you can only enter
through the front door next to the driver and exit through the middle or back
doors, whereas in Austria you can hop on using whichever door takes your fancy.
These things you pick up only by observing what the locals do. The way of life
is simply different and in Finland a lot of that is based on the fact that
there are so few Finns. As a result, the capital city is much quieter,
slower-paced, and with only one underground line (cute, compared to the six
that exist in Vienna.)
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| Pic: Ice swimming last year. |
Needless-to-say, I’m a huge fan of some of Finland’s
contributions to the world, including a very old, tradition originating in
Finland and even expanding the use of the Finnish word to other languages; that
is, sauna. I couldn’t resist going to sauna on this visit of course, and although I didn’t
get round to ice swimming (one of my favourite winter pastimes), I at least got
to roll in the snow in my bikini.
There is also a relatively new and ever-growing ‘tradition’,
started for the first time in Helsinki in 2011, called Restaurant Day.
It is an opportunity for anyone to set up their own restaurant for the day (four
times a year) and it has become a “worldwide food carnival”. I have experienced
it twice, in Turku and in Helsinki (see pic: Helsinki, May 2013), and both were fantastically, unique days. Since
it has originated in Finland, it has gained a lot of popularity there and there
are many pop-up restaurants to choose from. So far, from what I can see, the
concept has caught on in Vienna but nowhere near to the same extent, yet.
Hopefully it does!
Keeping in line with the theme of food, it has to be said
that the food I had in Finland during this winter break was to-die-for! It was
all homemade and ranged from Thai curry, to Finnish reindeer and smoked salmon, to Indian
chicken biryani, to popping candy dessert sushi! I even tried chocolate fondue and rolling homemade sushi for the first time. The Thai chicken curry I
assisted in making with my friend Eni, who’s training to be a chef, was simply
a mouth-watering fusion of flavours from coconut milk, pickled bamboo shoots,
lime leaves, Thai fish sauce, lemon grass, chilli and much more! We also made a
beautifully soft pear and white chocolate cake that accompanied nicely as a
dessert.  |
| Pic: My first time making sushi rolls! |
I’m sure it may seem bizarre to some people to have sushi as
a dessert but, believe me, that is definitely worth trying and makes you feel a
lot less guilty about submitting to your sweet tooth! As my Comenius friend
Laura said, “If you ever feel guilty [about eating dessert], just wrap it in
seaweed!” We used sheets of seaweed and filled them with flattened Japanese rice,
a line of spread Nutella, grated white chocolate and popping candy, before
rolling them to create our sushi rolls. Yum!
Although I missed the Viennese style of life that involves
indulging in a slice of cake with a cup of tea (meaning I can hardly have a cup
of tea now without cake!), Finland supplied its own pastry custom in the form
of pulla buns with jam and cream in the middle, as well as Runeberg cake (Runebergintorttu, in Finnish.) It
is named after the 19th Century Finnish poet, Runeberg, and is traditionally
eaten on his birthday on the 5th February every year. One of the many Finnish
flag days is also dedicated to him, besides the tasty, moist, almond and
rum-based cake. I probably had one too many of these while I was there!
However, I think I made up for it during my first ever aqua-jogging session.
Eni and I went to sauna and aqua-jogging at a public swimming pool
during women-only hours, meaning that no men are allowed, as women can swim and
go to sauna naked there (in fact, swimsuits are forbidden in sauna.) Naked
aqua-jogging was another first for me and it was revitalizing. At first, I had
to get used to how it works as you have to wear a float as a belt so that you
float at the deep end of the pool and the only way to move is to ‘jog’. The
best part is that you hardly feel like you’re doing much because the water
lifts all the weight from you, yet it is a great workout!
More highlights from the trip to my second home include
some quirky and rather difficult to watch movies we saw (Dallas Buyers Club,
Requiem for a Dream, Her); Matti's narrowly lost bet on Turku’s local ice hockey team as we watched them play a live match and saw ourselves on the big screen; time spent with a lovely,
Finnish family, admiring an amazing website the father made that shows photo animations of
how Finnish countryside has changed over the centuries; and playing a guest role
in my favourite club, the UTU Debating Club. I have missed my usual debating club as it was always fun to play with a group of friendly, open-minded individuals who are not overly competitive about debating and can enjoy it as a game.
What was particularly surprising during my trip was how quickly people seem
to be ‘settling down’ or ‘growing up’, or however you would like to call it.
Couples moving in together, getting engaged, having a baby. That quarter-life
crisis age has come – at least for me! It’s a challenge not to become engulfed
by the rapid surge of commitment from those surrounding me and not apply it to
my own circumstances. Nevertheless, I’m happy to share in my friends’ joy and
join them on their new journeys in life.
I have to say I was well looked after by my international and Finnish friends, almost spoilt even! Though, it was almost like I’d
never been away and I know it won’t be my last time going back. I can’t wait to
see what my next time in Finland has in store!
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