Finland, Paimio (9/9/07)

Today was an easy, laid back day to enjoy our last day in Finland. We took our time waking up, getting ready and eating breakfast. When we were ready for the day Mette took us to see a few final things in Paimio. First we went to see the indoor (cross-country) skiing rink ... burrrrr, it was cold. We decided that we didn't want to rent equipment and ski since it was quite expensive.
Instead Mette drove us to the ski jumping competition – the same place that Chris and I went with Lassi and climbed the stairs to the top a couple days before. This time of course, there were people actually flying down the ski jump and landing on the plastic “ground” beneath them. We saw crazy people of all ages – men and women – jumping for the longest distance prize. Girls and boys as young as 11 & women and men into their later years were competing and Chris, Mette & I watched in amazement. We all agreed that we could not (rather, would not) ever attempt that sport!

Later that afternoon we returned to the house and waited for some of my friends to come over. Mette arranged for Leena & Rosa – two – of my good friends during my exchange year – to visit that afternoon. Once they both got to the house we had tea and coffee and just talked a lot about how our lifes were going now and what had happened in the last 12 years. A lot had changed. Each one is now living outside of Paimio and doing really well. Neither one had changed much (they said the same about me, I guess 12 years isn't really all that long in the grand scheme of things) and I was really glad that we had the opportunity to see one another again. It was a sad goodbye – again – but our visit felt just like the old times when we would sit around gabbing and drinking coffee. Hopefully we'll be able to see each other again.

Shortly after Leena & Rosa left the house Mette told us that she too would head home soon. Her house was about an 1.5 hrs away and as everyone knows, Monday mornings come early! It was hard to say goodbye because we had such a great time during our visit but hopefully we will see each other again before too long. Chris and I headed off to our last sauna in Finland and then packed our bags for the next part of our journey. Kassu and Sari would take us to the boat dock in the morning and we would be heading out to Sweden. Our sincerest thanks to Mette and The Gronlunds for their hospitality ~ we really hope to be able to return the favor someday when you visit us in Sacramento.

OH ... here are some pictures of Chris tasting the jarred herring with potatoes that is a traditional Finnish food, mostly eaten at Christmas time. Considering that he doesn't like fish in general, he got major points for trying it out :)

Finland, Turku (9/8/07)

Heading to Turku

Today we went to Turku with our fingers crossed that it would not rain. We started out at the river walk area. It was so amazing to me that there were barely any people out on the streets. Mette had to remind us a number of times that there are only 5 ½ million people in all of Finland and it was the start of their fall – she was right because it was cold and started raining shortly after we began to walk around Turku.

While we were walking along the river we saw many of the stationary ships that are restaurants as well as the Finnish Swan “Suomen Joutsen” that is now a museum. We were hoping to take a peek inside but it was closed :( We did get a preview of the Pharmacy (Apteekki) museum that is also along the river walk. The inside was a replica of the way the pharmacies looked a long long long long time ago ... it was really dark but there were hundreds of bottles of herbs and medicines lining the shelves along the walls. We also saw the old measuring and weighing tools. The women behind the counter were also dressed in the traditional clothes from (way back when, I don't know the dates).

Our next stop was Turku Castle “Turun Linna”. We were lucky that the majority of our morning in Turku was inside the castle because there was a heavy drizzle going by that time. Turku Castle was beautiful inside. Mette read to us from the English tour guide book as we walked from room to room which made it easier for us to take pictures and get a sense of how the castle was laid out and how it was used. The most amusing part of the tour for me was when we walked from the “prisoner” room to the guest room. Apparently they were right next to each other ... awkward!! LOL There were so many fascinating rooms and I just loved the furniture throughout the tour. I thought our furniture nowadays was big ... this stuff was enormous!! It was a great tour, although very long; we were all ready for lunch and so our next stop would be food ... :) OH, another cool thing we saw at the castle ... a wedding! The chapel in the castle was beautiful and we saw the preparations for a wedding later in the day. I was so curious to know where the couple was from because the photographer was giving them directions in English ... I didn't have the courage though to ask while they were posing for a picture in the corridor where they were from!! In any case, it looked like a beautiful place to get married ... hmmm, had I only known that was an option! j/k mom :)

As we were on our way to the car Mette asked what we wanted to eat. I requested “traditional” food since we had already eaten Hesburger three times! She headed out to find the Viking restaurant in downtown Turku but we ended up at a different restaurant because we weren't able to find parking near the Viking restaurant ... still it was pretty good. Mette and I both had Salmon and Chris opted for the garlic chicken. Everything was good and Chris even got everyone a soft serve afterwards :) YUM!

After lunch we walked around Turku's market square and saw a nice church just across the street. We walked over to take pictures and saw the priests were just walking out of the sanctuary and locking the doors. Mette asked a few questions in Finnish and the next thing I know the priest let us come in to take pictures. They had just finished their services and we could still smell the extinguished candles (and maybe some kind of incense).

As we walked across the market square Mette saw the Market Hall (the way shopping for groceries used to be it seemed). There were many traditional items for sale at each of the inside booths. Mette bought us reindeer jerky and musta-makkaara (black sausage – which we later found out has only blood and rice in it. Blah! As you can probably guess, Chris was the only one brave enough to take more than one bite!) When we tried the reindeer jerky later Chris said it smelled and tasted like dog food! LOL At least he tried it :)

After the market hall we walked over and picked Noora up from work and headed home. Sari was waiting for us and when we drove up we also saw that Henri was there with his son, Kimi, who is 3 yrs old. It was great to see Henri again and Kimi is definitely a popular little boy around the Gronlund house and he really enjoyed the fire truck that Chris and I brought for him.
That night Sari made one of my favorite dishes for dinner ... Spaghetti. Sari's spaghetti is very different from our spaghetti because the ground beef also has diced onions and shredded carrots in it. You put that over the noodles and top with ketsup. I know many of you are turning your nose up right now but I'm telling you ... it's delicious! I ate up until I thought I would pop, it was just like I remembered. When I thanked Sari and told her that it was very good, she said, “I know, you do not have to tell me that”. LOL It is her signature dish that everyone enjoys!

Finland, Paimio (9/6/07 & 9/7/07)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!! Yay :)

Chris and I prepared and saved for this trip for at least a year and in the few months before we left, the planning went into high gear ... so much so that I didn't have my normal birthday countdown. Add to this equation the 9 hr. time difference between the States & Finland. With all things considered, I woke up on the 6th – my birthday – thinking it was the 5th. As did Chris!! LOL We had been going non-stop since we arrived on the 2nd – we had already seen Hameenlinna, Tampere, Helsinki, and spent two nights at the summer cottage – we did not have any concept of what day it was. We had a good laugh once we figured out that it was indeed my birthday and Chris made up for not remembering (not knowing) with a really good back rub – my #1 favorite thing!!

We did not have any plans for the 6th so we woke up, ate breakfast and lounged around for the morning. Mette called from work and asked us to have lunch with her since we weren't off sight-seeing that day. We picked her up from work (since we had her car) and we all headed to the local gas station / Hesburger (Finland's equivalent to McD's)/ Mini Market that was right across the street from her office. After lunch we visited some shops in Karkkila before heading back home. Once back at Mette's place Chris passed out (asleep) because he wasn't feeling well, he got a cold on the way over, and I packed up our bags and got ready to head to Paimio for the second half of our stay in Finland.

When we arrived in Paimio the house was empty – everyone was still at work. Mette gave us a tour of the house and most things were the same. Appliances were upgraded since I had been there 12 yrs ago and some rooms switched around after the kids moved out but overall it still felt like my Finnish home :)

Mette, Chris and I were out in the backyard when the parents (Kassu & Sari) arrived so we hid on the side of the house until they were inside and then we rang the doorbell for a proper greeting. We were welcomed with open arms and big hugs!

Later that evening Noora and her boyfriend, Lassi, came over to say hello. We had to re-introduce ourselves since Noora was so young the last time I was here. It was really neat (and very different than last time) because we are both adults now and the conversation was no longer about Barbies and Pochahontas LOL. She is coming into her own and is a responsible and talented 19 yr old. She is an art student and hopes to design clothes professionally once she graduates. She has already made a number of dresses that were proudly on display in her old room and the sewing room at Kassu & Sari's house.

Before dinner was ready the entire family was called into the kitchen and Chris and I were told to stay put! A minute later they all came into the living room singing “Hyvaa Syntymapaivaa”, which is “Happy Birthday”. They gave me two beautiful pieces of Kalevala jewelry – a silver necklace chain with a heart pendant and a bronze/gold round link bracelet. I didn't even think they knew it was my birthday so it was a pleasant surprise for me!

Once we had dinner everyone turned in for the night and Chris and I decided that the next day we'd walk into Paimio's city center (which could be compared to Dixon's city center – LOL). I was excited to show him the high school I went to and the little shops on the main street.

September 7th, 2007

This morning we were woken up by my cell phone ringing ... Lassi (Noora's boyfriend) was going to go to work at the shipyard in Turku and wanted us to come along – he is a foreman at a steel mill. This was quite a privilege because visitors are not usually permitted into the shipyard – especially now since they are in the process of building the world's largest cruise liner for Royal Caribbean, The Independence of the Seas. Chris and I jumped out of bed, got dressed and were just stuffing breakfast down when Lassi rang the bell and ... off we went!

The shipyard was HUGE and there were workers everywhere. We were required to wear hard hats and safety goggles so I was thanking God that cameras/pictures were not allowed! Hehehehe The Independence was gigantic and it was really neat to walk around while the ship was still in the building stages. The Hull of the ship was assembled but the back end had yet to be completed. Lassi took us up and down stairs, showed us where the theater would be, where the swimming areas would be and where the biggest of the ship's restaurants would be. It was massive, and it wasn't even a completed ship yet! While we were there – the sole reason that Lassi had to go to work that day – Lassi's crew tested the life boat hoists with weights that were 9900 kilos each (I believe that is equivalent to 10 tons). The test was to “lose the brakes” and try to stop the weights from falling. It was incredible to witness this being done and to be on the world's largest cruise liner as it was being built :) We felt very fortunate. (The only bummer was that we weren't allowed to take pictures of the site - understandably so.)

After Lassi was done at work he drove us all around Paimio – we walked through the school I used to go to and the new library, it was really neat to see that again and it was just like I remembered it. Once we walked through the school Lassi took us to the ski jump for Paimio. Ski jumping is a huge sport in Finland – whether there is snow or not! We got to see the “summer” version of the jump which is hard, slippery plastic that allows the skis to slide, just like snow would. All three of us climbed the stairs up to the top of the tower for the highest jump there ... phew! What a tiring climb but the amazing views were well worth it. Once we were done being chauffeured around town Chris and I hung out at the house until everyone got home from work. Kassu & Sari packed up a picnic dinner and we headed out for a hike at a nature path in Paimio that led us through a forest which demonstrated many types of trees and landscapes in the Finnish wilderness – swamps, leafy trees, needle trees, and others. When we reached the highest point of the path we unpacked the sausages, breads, cheese, etc. for dinner and built a fire to grill the sausages. The community of Paimio maintains the nature path and provides wood for bonfires – so it is not hard to build the fire or gather wood. While eating dinner we could see the town of Paimio below and all of the surrounding nature areas. Once we packed up dinner we completed the nature walk and headed home. As soon as we got home Chris was in bed – still nursing his cold and the walk took every ounce of energy he had! The rest of us enjoyed sauna before hitting the hay and planned on visiting Turku the next day.

Finland: Helsinki (9/5/07)

well ... now we can pick up from where we left off ....

On Wednesday, September 5th, we returned to Mette's place from the summer cottage and on Mette's way to work she dropped me and Chris off at the bus station and we headed to Helsinki.


Helsinki is a beautiful coastal city. Chris and I made our way from the bus station, past the railway station, through the park, into the harbor area and climbed onto a boat that took us out into the eastern archipaelgos of Helsinki. We saw many of the island homes and the neatest thing for me was to see the saunas perched right at sea level with stairs leading down to the water. It is Finnish custom to go to sauna for a few minutes and then go outside for a couple minutes, back to sauna again and then outside again. So, when you have a sauna that close to the sea you can go to sauna for a few minutes and then dip into the sea for a couple of minutes, and so on. It may sound crazy to us but it is really refreshing!

After the water tour Chris and I walked the city and visited Senate Square. The Cathedral in the center of the square is magnificent inside and out. We climbed the steps and went inside (we had to be silent while there - at the request of the church) to see the beautiful podeum, pews and decorative dome. It was really quiet and all you could hear was the clicks of the cameras and a few whispers here and there.

After that we walked back down to the shopping area, grabbed a bite to eat at Carrol's (the Finnish equivelant to McD's) and hopped on a sightseeing tram. Chris and I had an interesting experience on the tram ... since we are not familiar with the Finnish "rules" on public transportation we hopped on and grabbed the nearest pole since there was only standing room available. At the next stop many people got off the tram and Chris and I naturally took a seat. At the next stop Chris got a nudge on the shoulder from an older woman but didn't realize that she was asking us to move. Finally she glared at us and said "Are you an invalid?" and pointed up to a sign clearly demonstrating that those seats were to be given to pregnant, elderly or invalid people. Ooops. We apologized and hopped up out of the seats. The rest of our tram ride was smooth sailing and we didn't upset anyone else. I wonder if it would have sounded so snappy had she been able to talk to us in Finnish ... but, then-again, she wouldn't have had to point out the obvious if we were Finns! OK, so lessons learned :)

The tram was helpful in getting around to some of the tourist attractions that were a bit too far to walk to. Our first stop was the Church in the Rock. The church is built into a rock (duh) and the round dome is all you can see if you are looking at the church from a higher perch. When you walk into the church you can see the surrounding walls are rock and there are beautiful windows that allow sunshine in (when it's not raining or snowing ... but that would be beautiful too!) and casts amazing shadows inside. People were again respectful of the request for quiet viewing and we were able to climb the stairs into the balcony seating for a panoramic view of the main sanctuary. I wish that we would have been able to attend a service in the church because it was a beautiful, serene atmosphere.
Our next stop on the tram was Olympic Stadium. The 1952 Olympic games were hosted in Helsinki and the stadium remains in quite good shape. For a small fee (2,00 EUR) you can take a (not so comforting) ride in the one elevator to the top of the observation tower. The elevator ride was worth the views from atop the tower. We saw all of Helsinki and the entire Olympic sport complexes.
While we were in the observation tower Mette called to let us know she was in Helsinki and ready to see some sights with us -- although she has lived here her entire life, there were some places she had never been. Our last tourist attraction for the day was the Jean Sibelius Monument. Sibelius was a famous Finnish composer that the Finns are very proud of. Here is the shiny monument for all to see .... the silver pipes don't play music but are representative of Jean Sibelius' love of music.
Once we were done with the "touristy" stuff Mette took us to a park in Helsinki with great walking paths that follow along the water and have really good views of the city across the harbor ... the areas that we were not able to visit. :)

Since we still had sunlight left Mette took us to an old city outside of Helsinki called Porvoo. Many people come to see the old part of the city that looks similar to how it did years and years ... and years ago. The old city center and the neighborhoods surrounding it are connected with cobblestone roads and there is a very large church atop one of the hills. Unfortunately the church was burned down by a couple teenagers last year and so they are now rebuilding it. Church services and functions have been relocated to other places in Porvoo.
Our day was complete and we headed back to Karkkila. That night we grilled sausages and packed our bags because we were off to Paimio the next day.

Finland: Hämeenlinna, Tampere & Summer Cottage (9/3 & 9/4)

Hey all,

Chris and I have had an amazing 3 days since I last posted an update. I'm going to try to make this short & sweet with more visuals (pictures) than before since I'm not sure how much time I have before we're off to Paimio, my Finnish "hometown". I am really excited to see my host-parents, Kassu and Sari, and other host-siblings, Noora and Henri. I have been staying with one of my host-sisters, Mette who is my age, and she now lives about an hour from Paimio so we have not yet seen the other family. Noora was 7 when I was here 12 yrs ago, making her 19 now!! I am going to feel soooooooo old when I see her!! LOL. Henri was older and had already moved out of the parent's house when I was there on exchange but we did see him regularly too. I am sure I will have pictures of them soon but for now there is a lot to tell everyone about our first days here.

Our first full day here was Monday, September 3rd. Mette & Pete had to work that day so Mette left us her car and we headed out to Hämeenlinna and Tampere.

Hämeenlinna is a small town with a lot of historical background. The main attraction there is the castle which dates back to xxx:

Chris and I walked around the main rooms of the castle and both agreed that we would not have survived long during those days. There were interesting deep pits (for lack of a better word, well-like holes might be a better description) and small, dark hallways (not good if your a little clausterphobic, like me!) and cold, echo-y rooms. We were both happy to be on the outside!

After visiting Hämeenlinna we continued to Tampere which is the third largest city in Finland. We started off by visiting one of Chris' favorite things ... a high tower that gives you a birds-eye view of the city. If the city we're visiting has a tower you can bet that Chris will find it and climb it! The picture to the right is Tampere and, as we later learned, it has quite an industrial history. The Finlayson cotton factory was the bread and butter for most of the residents. The visitor's guide that we had explained that the factory was a city within a city. There were material shops, doctors, etc. available for all employees - sounds a lot like the logging industry and industrial towns in the States! The Finlayson has since become a museum with shops and restaurants - again, a lot like our industrial cities too! Here are a few more pictures from Tampere:




Once we were back at Mette's place after seeing the sights at Hämeenlinna and Tampere, we immediately got in the car and headed to Pete's family's summer cottage (seen here)


Needless to say, the cottage was more like a summer house - much bigger than I expected. We stayed at the cottage Monday evening and all of Tuesday. Since we arrived later in the evening on Monday we were up very late and Mette & Pete were nice enough to build a fire in the sauna so that Chris could experience sauna for the first time! He wouldn't let me take a picture though!! LOL After sauna we ate dinner and drank beer, Mette even had us try the Finnish licorice vodka! Mmmm ... we slept very good that night!

After sleeping in until 10am on Tuesday we three (Pete had gone to work) launched the boat into the lake and went fishing. To Mette's disappointment we weren't getting any bites :( The lake was beautiful though - still, clear waters and we were the ONLY people on the lake! Both Chris and I enjoyed the Finnish fishing expedition. :)

After fishing Mette drove us to a horse stable to show us the "Finnish" horse, Finn Horse. They have recently passed the one-hundred year mark for having been pure-bred in Finland and were designed to be a sturdy, strong and brave horse. The picture here is of a male Finn Horse that reminded me of Tina Turner because of it's hair! hehehehe

Once we were done visiting the horses Mette drove us into town to shop for grocery. We then returned to the cottage and walked through the forest to gather birch tree leaves in order to make "vasta". It is a bunch of birch leaves that you use to "hit" yourself in the sauna and it stimulates circulation ... and smells great! That evening (still Tuesday) we went to sauna again and grilled steaks to go along with more beer! I loved the cottage life ... everything was great ... all except for the toilets! LOL I know some of you have been worrying about me since I thought that there was no running water in the cottage. Well, I was right. Sort of. There is a kitchen sink (regular faucet and all)that has cold water coming into it from a well and you can mix it with water heated on the stove or in an electric tea kettle - no problems there. The only difference was that the bathroom was an outhouse ... if you know me, you know I don't do outhouses. It is a "phobia" of mine, just as it would be if a clausterphobic person had to use an elevator! I am glad to report though that I got along just fine and essentially I conquered my dislike/fear of the outhouse! :) Here is a picture of it ... probably the nicest outhouse I've ever seen ...


We left the cottage on Wednesday morning so that Mette could make it into work and Chris and I caught the bus into Helsinki for some sight-seeing. I have more to tell about that but it is now 12:36 a.m. here and we have an early start. I will continue my "journal" sometime tomorrow and we will pick up at our visit to Helsinki :)

Jenn

PS. Thank you for all of the birthday wishes (either as a comment here or through email)! I had a wonderful day and will tell you all about it in my next post.

We're heeeerrreeeee ...

A very quick note\update to let you all know that we arrived safe and sound ... and tired. I believe that it is now 12pm on Sunday afternoon at home. It is 9pm on Sunday for us and we've only had little naps since we woke up at 6am Saturday!! Needless to say, we're off to bed very soon. All of our flights were GREAT, very little turbulance and wonderful customer service. We even arrived early at both Amsterdam and Helsinki. When we landed for our transfer in Amsterdam we had time to take a train from the airport to the city center - we walked around for about 10 min, took quick pics and headed back to the airport. We were so confused when trying to buy tickets from the kiosk that we just got on the train and the "ticketman" let us ride to the city for free. We did buy tickets back into the airport but no one checked - so if ever you're in Amsterdam, just get on and ride until someone asks you for a ticket :) Mette picked us up at the airport right on time and brought us back to her home. It was so great to see the Finnish countryside and foreign language signs again. A little bit came back to me as we were driving but most of it looks like jumblings. Mette had cooked dinner for us and everything. I had forgotten how good the food was here and now I'm going to bring the recipes home with me! Tomorrow we will visit Tampere and Hameenlinna in Finland before heading off to the summer cottage. We probably won't be able to update you on our excursions until after returning to civilization (power outlets) on Wednesday or Thursday :) Hope all is well, enjoy the holiday Monday! The Fields

On the Way

Chris and I are on the way, ready to go!! We're praying the traffic into SF is good since the Bay Bridge is closed :( I'm SUPER tired, so hopefully I'll be able to sleep on the plane ... I'm not the best flyer and drive Chris bonkers with my worrying. I read an article in our church newsletter a couple days ago that really helped me calm any fears and remembered that it's all in God's hands. OK ... more to come soon. We are on our way to my mom and Richard's house since they're taking us to the airport (awsome parents that they are!) and I'll write once we get to Finland! We'll miss you guys! (sorta) ;) Jenn