suomi a-go-go

Been a while, but in my defense, the winter holidays in Russia are serious business.  Because the Russian Orthodox Church still runs on the Julian calendar, Christmas here isn't celebrated until January 7th.  What that means is that New Year's is the big blowout celebration while Christmas is the aftershock, the opposite of the way it is in the States.  Some assorted friends and I gathered in my apartment to celebrate.  I made a kind of Tex-Mex dish based on what ingredients I could find around town that corresponded vaguely to the Rio Grande region.  The reaction was positive and no one got food poisoning, so I'm chalking it up as a 'W.'  Soon after, I was off to the reindeer-infested winter wonderland of Finland.

Tervetuloa Helsinkiin, baby.

What is already a very long bus ride (yes, I went by bus) was made even longer by our having to wait five hours at the Russian-Finnish border.  Why, you ask?  Because there were an estimated 160,000 Russian tourists in Finland during the holidays (which in Russia run from roughly Dec. 31 to Jan. 11).  And apparently they all decided to go at once.  Luckily, I had no difficulties getting through the border, though the guy on the Russian side had no idea what to do with my detachable booklet multi-entry visa, and the guy on the Finnish side was clearly suspicious of a young man passing from provincial Russia to provincial Finland on a bus with an American passport.  Thanks to the Schengen Agreement, I got to play 20 questions with the Finnish guard before I got my stamp.  It was actually quite fun; he was deadly serious, but visibly brightened whenever I got an answer right:

Frown.  "Where are you going?"

"Helsinki."

Brief smile.  Another frown.  "What is the purpose of your visit?"

"Tourism."

Brief smile.  Another frown.  "How long are you staying?"

"Three days."

Smile.  "Welcome to Finland."

"Hey Onni, I think we're stuck."

Helsinki is a charming little town.  Despite the fact that it's the capital, it's still only got a population of 500,000, and the downtown area is quite small.  By the second day, I already had a pretty good impression in my head of where the various streets and landmarks were in relation to each other.  I got to see my Finnish friends again, which was fun.  Helsinki, like many European cities, has seen a significant influx in immigrants over the past decade, meaning I got to sample some cuisine I hadn't since leaving the States, including Mexican and Chinese.  We also visited the Aussie Bar, which, naturally, is owned by Kiwis, as well as Molly Malone's, an Irish pub across the street from a bar called Texas.

Otherwise, we did the typical tourist stuff.  Saw a few churches, went to a museum.  I had a fair bit of sticker shock having grown accustomed to Russian prices.  Food and drink especially is very expensive, but at least the quality was good.  I only stayed two days, which I actually think was perfect.  At least during the winter, I got the impression that Helsinki is of the "great place to live, slightly boring place to visit" variety.  I say that with the utmost respect; after all, I'm from Ohio.  The bus ride back, despite taking only thirty minutes at the border, somehow took even longer than the first.  For reasons that shall forever remain unknown, our driver decided to take the Karelian Isthmus down through St. Petersburg, then east and north into Karelia.  I mean, why bypass the largest lake in Europe when you can drive all the way around it?

Anyways, if you have the chance, visit Finland.  Any country that loves the moose as much as they do is okay in my book.