This is the finnish, not the end.

Today is my last day in Jyväskylä, tomorrow I fly back to Canada. I am sad that my time here is over. I had such a wonderful semester. I met a ton of amazing people from around the world who I will miss dearly. I know that I have changed while I was here, but I feel these changes have made me a better person. This has been an experience I will never forget and I'm sure you will all have to listen to my stories for years to come. I hope you have enjoyed my blog so far but don't fret, it's not over yet! Stay tuned for my adventures next semester when I will be attending Swansea University in Swansea Wales.

Wishing you all a very happy holiday season,
Emily

My day in Tampere!

Earlier this week I took a day trip to Tampere. Tampere is located about an hour and a half west of Jyväskylä.

On the day we went to Tampere, the temperature was around -20C. This meant we couldn't spend a great deal of time outside, but the parts of the city that we did see were quite beautiful.

Tampere Theatre

Christmas Market

To stay out of the cold we spent a good part of the day in museums. First we visited a building which contained the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame, a toy museum and a shoe museum. As I'm sure you guessed I wanted to see the hockey section. The museum was quite interesting with lots of English captions below exhibits which was very helpful. There was also a large section dedicated to Jyväskylä's professional team, JYP, as they were the champions within their league last year. I was quite shocked and excited to see a picture of one of my classmates who plays for JYP. I certainly didn't expect to see a picture of someone I knew in the Hall of Fame!

Finland Jerseys

Canada jersey...I couldn't resist!

I had this Ken doll as a child... I didn't think I was old enough for my toys to be in a museum!

We also visited a spy museum. Apparently there is a long history of spies within Finland because of its geographic location. There were some interesting facts, but if you ever go to Tampere I would suggest you skip this small museum.

All in all it was a great little day trip and I would love to return to this city someday for a longer stay!

Floorball Night in Finland!

Recently I have become very familiar with the sport of floorball. Last week one of my classes hosted a floorball tournament. On Saturday I was lucky enough to attend a professional game.

Floorball is basically indoor hockey played with a wiffle ball. The “rink” is lined by small boards, approximately 1 ft high. The game was very fast paced, much quicker than I had anticipated. I was probably most surprised by the style the goalies played with. Rather than what I will call the crouching position held by an ice hockey goalie, floorball goalies spend the majority of the game on their knees. Just like hockey, the game consisted of three 20 minute periods.

The Jyväskylä team, named Happee, unfortunately lost the game 6-2. It was however still great to be exposed to another sport. Maybe someday it will catch on in Canada!

Action shot!

Faceoff

This picture is for all you readers who don't particularly care for my sports banter. Here is a picture of my snack at the game..a traditional Finnish pulla!

Independence Day

December 6th was Independence Day here in Finland.

I was lucky enough to take part in the festivities. One of the student associations at the school arranged a "parade" and ceremony. Those of us participating in the parade walked from the school, through the city centre to a cemetery where the ceremony took place. We were each given a torch to carry. The torches didn’t have very good wicks, so by the time we were half way through the route only one or two were left burning. It must have looked quite odd for the few people who lined the streets ready to watch a torch-lit parade!

I will admit that I do not know very much about this holiday. I was not able to follow the majority of the ceremony which was primarily conducted in Finnish but from what I gathered, it is similar to our Remembrance Day. The soldiers who fought to give Finland independence were honoured and wreaths are laid at the cemetery. The cemetery where the ceremony took place had hundreds of candles for the occasion and was actually quite beautiful.

I am very glad that I was able to attend an event unique to Finland. But, I must say that I am looking forward to Canada Day...the weather will be much warmer (hopefully)!

Christmas decorations in the city centre as seen while on the parade route.

At the cemetery during the ceremony.

A flag in the city centre. The Finnish flag is only displayed on special occasions.

A Novel About My Lapland Trip!

I survived the arctic! I recently returned home from a trip to Lapland in Northern Finland. Our trip began with a long overnight drive from Jyväskylä to Rovaniemi.

In Rovaniemi we visited the Arktikum museum. Arktikum is a museum about the North, with much emphasis placed on nature in the North. There was a display featuring artificial northern lights. This sadly was the only chance I got to see them. It was cloudy throughout or trip which did leave the chance to see this natural phenomenon. Next it was off to a Santa Claus Village! Did you know that the real Santa lives in Lapland? The Finns certainly think so and will not appreciate if you say that Santa is actually from the North Pole! The village is situated on the border of the Arctic Circle. I of course had to pose for a few classic tourist shots with display made to show this otherwise invisible line. I was fortunate enough to meet Santa. Sadly no photographic evidence of this exists. Since it is a tourist attraction you have to pay ridiculous amounts to purchase pictures.

Me standing over the Arctic Circle line

Next we were off to Inari where our cabins were located. Inari is situated next to Lake Inari, one of the largest lakes in Finland. The town was quite small with only a few stores, one ATM but the people were friendly and the scenery was quite beautiful.

Now, before I write this next section, I must tell you about my love/hate relationship with the cold. I love the cold because when it is cold, it is hockey season. I hate the cold because well, it makes me cold! When I began looking into Finland almost a year ago, I of course read many things about the sauna. Often paired with the sauna is the switch to an extremely cold temperature...something I am certainly not a fan of. This trip provided plenty of opportunities for combining the sauna and cold temperatures. I can now say that have run from the sauna to jump into the snow and that I have entered a lake via a hole cut in the ice. Not exactly activities I ever thought I would do.

Next up, skiing. My entire life I have avoided skiing. I often claim I have avoided it because of my lack of coordination. Well, on this trip I gave in a skied. I can now tell you with confidence that citing my lack of coordination for all of these years would be no stretch of the truth. I fell down the hill countless times and by the end had even acquired a technique to soften the blows of each fall. I suppose my skiing did improve too, but don’t be looking for me at the Olympics.

At the top of the slope... they recommended helmets for the beginners.

Not only did I survive the arctic, I also survived a survival course in the arctic! All of our activities were pretty basic but still entertaining. For me this day was like my taste of Outer Limits (an outdoor education class in high school that I did not take). We started the day with some orienteering, and then it was lunch at an open fire. After lunch there was the chance for ice fishing and quinzee building (see I told you it was like OL!). Despite our quinzee building only lasting until 2:30pm, by the time we finished it was completely dark.

Why build a quinzee on the THS field when you could build one in the Arctic?!

Yay! Now it’s time to talk about my Arctic Ocean adventure! From the moment I saw that there was a chance to visit the Arctic Ocean, I knew I had to go. Of course as a Canadian child, I had grown up seeing the Arctic Ocean at the top of the map but had never really expected to ever travel far enough north to see it. This trip gave me my chance. It was a long ride to the ocean, but we made a few stops along the way that kept things interesting. The first stop was at an old Sami village (The Sami are the indigenous people of Scandinavia). Then we stopped in the northern most community within the European Union. While there we visited the northern most café in the EU... yes, almost everything in this community used the northern most claim to its advantage.

Me in the Sami village.

After crossing into Norway we finally arrived in the small fishing community of Bugoynes. This is where we were given the chance to swim in the Arctic Ocean. I will admit that when leaving Jyväskylä, I had no intentions of swimming but as the trip progressed I knew it was something I just had to do. In the end I am very glad that I did it and it actually wasn’t too bad. If anything the run to and from the bus on the cold ground was the worst part. I didn’t stay in the water very long, but it was long enough to smell the salt and appreciate where I was and what I was doing.

Me (right) in the Arctic Ocean!

The trip was very quickly coming to an end but there was still time for one more fun filled day. I once again attempted to ski (this time cross country rather than downhill). I cannot say I was any better at this variety of skiing. I suppose like anything it takes practice to get better... we will just have to see how willing I am to practice in the future.

Me covered in snow after skiing.

Following skiing, we went to a reindeer farm! Finally my chance to get a picture with a reindeer! The farm was run by a Sami family. We were able to spend some time with the reindeer and then we were treated to coffee, tea and cookies! The mother also sang some traditional Sami songs for us.

Me and a reindeer!

The trip ended with a 12 hour drive home. It was a long journey, but certainly worth it. I was able to experience so much on this trip and can say with confidence that I will be talking about it for years to come.

Sea Battle! (Stockholm and Tallinn)

Last night I returned home from an excellent trip. The trip, called Sea Battle, was arranged by the Erasmus Student Network (ESN). In short, over 2 000 exchange students from Finland, Estonia and Sweden go on a three day cruise between the three countries. Stops are made in the capital cities allowing time for sightseeing.

Stockholm: As a child, I somehow developed a love for Sweden (I'm guessing partially because of hockey). Visiting Stockholm on Tuesday was really like a childhood dream coming true. We didn't get very much time there, but the city certainly exceeded all of my expectations. For me it was just one of the cities where you get that feeling. The feeling is hard to explain, but it's almost like knowing that somehow you are just supposed to be there.

Our first stop of the day was the Changing of the Guards at the Royal Palace (as shown in the picture below). The rest of the day was spent wandering around the city trying to take in as much as we could in the short time we were there. We found a lovely little cafe called Muren where we had lunch. The city was very beautiful even with a grey sky and rain. Some day, I will return to Stockholm for a longer visit.

Me and Stockholm!

Changing of the Guards at the Royal Palace

Tallinn: Tallinn was also a beautiful city. We spent the majority of our time there in the old city. We were also able to take a tour which gave us a little bit of extra info. Unfortunately the tour guide wasn't the greatest. Nevertheless, it is always fascinating to visit a city that you know very little about.

St. Olaf's Church, once the tallest building in the world

Within the old city of Tallinn

On the Boats: I cannot write about this trip without at least mentioning my time spent at sea. The time we spent on the boat was a lot of fun. ESN had arranged a ton of activities for us to do. I was able to make new friends from all around the world. Sea Battle was definitely an experience I will always remember.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

There's freshly fallen snow and the stores are overflowing with Christmas decorations...too bad it's only November 7th!

Last night it snowed. Now this isn't the first time it has snowed here, but it is the first time the ground has been completely covered. I went on a walk with my roommate last night to try and get some pictures and to take a chance to enjoy the scenery before it gets too cold.

Snow!

A house we saw on the walk. It looked so pretty with the lights, I had to take a picture. I was then told by my roommate that it looked like a very American house... I will have to try and get some pictures of Finnish style houses. I certainly didn't come here to only see beauty in American styles!

A picture from my window this morning.

Well as I'm sure you can see, there's nothing too exciting to report this week. But stayed tuned. In the upcoming weeks there will be trips with stops in Estonia, Sweden and Lapland (in Northern Finland)!

Things that make you say "hmm"

Well it's been a busy week with exams and essays so no exciting adventures to report. I've decided to write this post about a few of the things that have made me say "hmm". Most are just general everyday observations that are probably normal for a Finn, but to someone new in the country have required a second glance.

-Calendars. The days of the week are listed Monday to Sunday. None of this confusing "the week starts on Sunday" stuff.

-Time. A.M.? P.M.? What are those? Say hello to the 24 hour clock.

-The Academic Quarter. For every one hour of scheduled class, there is only instruction for 45 minutes. If your class is listed as starting at 14:00, class will not actually commence until 14:15 (like my use of the 24 hour clock?!)

-Food Packaging. I would like to take 2 of my favourite foods as examples. Peanut butter and ketchup. Now, think about the steps necessary to open a new bottle of either. You have to take off the seal right? Wrong (Okay, right in Canada, wrong in Finland.) If food is in a bottle, there isn't an additional seal.

-Beep. Pedestrian crossings are accompanied by a beeping noise. When you are able to cross to beeping becomes faster.

-Seeing double. In public washrooms there is often a sink and soap dispenser within the stalls (I can only say that this is true for women's washrooms.) There is then a sink outside of the stall as well. Do you wash your hands twice? We haven't quite figured this out yet.

-Soup. No creative title here. The other day I went to the store to buy some tomato soup. Well, lets just say I was shocked by the price. And remember, we're talking Euros here.

I hope you are all having a wonderful week :)

The City of Light!

So last night I decided it was about time that I ventured out to see this "City of Light" that I have been living in for a month and a half! One of Jyväskylä's marketing ploys is lighting up some of the local monuments. Some of the city turned out to be quite beautiful. Here's a summary of the adventure in picture form...

Ylistö Bridge

Me with Art on Campus

L-Building (where most of my classes are)

City Church of Jyväskylä

Kuokkala bridge

Picture Post!

Here's the promised Thanksgiving pictures and a few more from my adventures around town. :)

The "table" and decorations

Lots of food!

A lookout tower with Jyväskylä in the background

The city centre from the lookout tower

Top of a beautiful stone staircase near the city centre

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's that time of year! Turkey Day! Well, at least in Canada.
So studying abroad certainly makes the celebration of a Canadian holiday a bit more interesting. At the beginning of the week I sent out a quick email to some of my Canadian friends here in Finland to see if they'd be up for having a Thanksgiving dinner. Well, the simple plans in the initial email quickly grew.
Five nationalities were represented at our dinner last night! 10 of the 15 people present celebrated their first Thanksgiving. With the Canadians doing the majority of the cooking, we were able to create a pretty stereotypical Canadian Thanksgiving dinner. I must say that I was quite impressed with how well the meal turned out considering it was a bunch of students who cooked it!
Sadly, my weekend came to an abrupt end. No holiday Monday here. My week began with an 8am exam. So I hope you were all able to enjoy the extra day off!!

Stay tuned, I'll post some pictures tomorrow hopefully!

It's Officially Cold in Finland!

This morning I woke up and turned on my computer. The weather gadget on my desktop sadly informed me that it was -6 degrees. I figured it wouldn't be a big deal so I added a scarf to my outfit. Today is one of those deceiving days. For once it was a bright morning, so you get the impression that it will be warm... well, its not. I went outside to get my bike and -6 turned into a big deal. All of the bikes are covered in a thick layer of frost. So my journey to school began by scraping the frost off of my bike seat. As I was scraping it occurred to me how much worse it is to scrape frost off of a bike than it is a car. At least with a car you know you can turn on the heat and it will be warm in a matter of minutes. With a bike, that's not quite the case... you're going to get colder as the wind hits you.
Hmm, I may need to go back to my original opinion on biking in winter...

Helsinki!

Well folks, I was lucky enough to spend the weekend in Helsinki! It was a whirlwind trip, but excellent none the less!

Our trip began early Saturday morning with a 3.5hour train ride from Jyväskylä to Helsinki. It was a great chance to see some of Finland...in between naps. I must say though, if I hadn't known I was in Finland I would have assumed I was still in Canada, the scenery is very similar!

After arriving in Helsinki, we checked into our hostel then wandered around the city. I should take a moment to tell you about the hostel. It is located in the Olympic Stadium from when Helsinki hosted the 1952 Olympics. For a sports nerd like me, it was the perfect place to stay! I didn't get a chance to climb the tower or go to the museum in another part of the stadium on this trip, but they top the list for my next trip!

Olympic Stadium

The city is very cool. Lots of modern buildings mixed in between older very ``European`` looking buildings. There was also a nice market at the marina but sadly we stumbled across it just as it was closing for the day.



Now before I start this next story, I should say that part of the reason I wanted to go to Helsinki was that the NHL was in town. How could I miss being in the same random foreign city as the NHL?! I unfortunately didn't have tickets to the games, but just being in Helsinki was going to be enough... or so i thought!!! While shopping in a souvenir shop, 2 men came in wearing suits. Immediately I knew "they're here for the NHL", who else would wear a suit on Saturday? As I walked past them my intuition was confirmed by the NHLPA pins on their lapels. After leaving the store I wished I had talked to them, who knows, maybe they could have gotten me my dream job in the NHL. But no need to worry about that. Instead I proceeded to tell the girls I was travelling with about my first NHL encounter in Helsinki. They unfortunately didn't share my excitement since neither is a hockey fan.

We continued walking throughout the city. Lots of great sights, the Parliament Buildings, the Helsinki Cathedral, a sauna supplies store and the marina . Sadly the Cathedral's main dome was under construction but it is still a very impressive building.

Parliament Buildings

Helsinki Cathedral

As we started walking back to the hostel, my second NHL encounter occurred! Two men (again wearing suits) walked past us. Their North American English gave them away. In a rash decision we decided to follow them... no, I'm not a stalker, let's get that clear! After walking a short distance they turned onto a side street. And where did they lead us... right to the hotel that the Chicago Blackhawks were going to be departing from momentarily!

A small crowd of fans had gathered to see the team, we of course waited too. It wasn't long before the Hawks slowly started to leave the hotel and get on the bus. It was almost surreal to be standing maybe 15 feet away from the bus door. I've spent years watching players like Toews and Kane play in international tournaments and then the NHL. Who knew I would see them in Finland?! It was also really cool for Sport Management major like myself to see who was travelling with the team, how security was handled, etc. As the bus pulled away, I got a smile and wave from Duncan Keith who had been sitting on the bus parallel to where we were standing.

NHL and Emily in HELSINKI!

Toews!

So needless to say, that chance sighting of the team was the highlight of my trip! Sunday it was a very windy and rainy day and most of the stores were closed as is common here on Sundays. We again wandered around for a bit then stopped to get some lunch. We ended up in what I thought was a mall food court. Well, in this food court you order you food and sit down. Your food is brought to your table and your dishes cleared when you're done. So basically it's half food court half restaurant. After lunch we got onto a city streetcar/tram so that we could tour the city without having to be in the rain. It was a great way to see some of the city that we otherwise wouldn't have seen.


Well, sorry for the novel but I didn't want to leave out any exciting details!

It's a pretty laid back week so far here in Jyväskylä.

Yesterday I went to this cute little vegetarian restaurant in the city centre. I will be definitely be going back there, great soups, breads and great prices!

Fall has arrived in Finland. The leaves on the trees are quickly changing. It's also getting a lot colder, it's been around zero the last few mornings. I'm hoping that I get at least a few more weeks with this weather, anything colder is not good in my books!

Not much to write about right now, sorry for the short post.. but stay tuned for exciting adventures!!

Here's some pictures from the hockey game I went to last week!

Hockey Night In Finland!

Just moments ago I arrived home from my first Finnish hockey game. The local team JYU lost 4-3 to the opposing HIFK from Helsinki.

The Game:
I mean no disrespect to the Finns, but the skill level was not nearly as high as I had expected for an elite league. Between missed passes, the misread plays and messy skating I would place this team somewhere between Jr. A and OHL. At moments you were "wowed" but then a sloppy play only seconds later put the game back into perspective.

The seven goals made the game quite entertaining as HIFK had at one point been winning 3-0.

The Ads:

Ads are everywhere. On the nets, the refs, the players, the boards, the ice. Everywhere. There was a Bauer ad with an unidentified Goalie wearing a Leafs jersey. Nice to see JYV likes the Leafs too!

The Fans:
The ends of the rink had the standing sections/cheap seats. Mainly filled with students, and the dedicated fans. A drummer kept the crowd clapping most of the night. Over all I would say the crowd was fairly unenthused. Of course they cheered for the goals and big saves, but overall there wasnt much. The cheering that occured for some of the hits certainly made me (the Canadian hockey fan) laugh. A hit which at home would go by with very little notice stirred the crowed here.

My TSN Turning Point:
For me the defining moment at the game was not a part of the game itself. I looked up at the clock early in the first to see 4 minutes, I was shocked at how fast the period had gone by. Then minutes later I looked up again to see more time on the clock. That is when it hit me. I am actually watching a game in Europe. At that moment my location in the world became clear. Despite having spent three weeks here, that was the moment I truly realised I was in Europe. I have watched games from Europe on TV for as long as I can remember, but to realise I'm actaully here, my night was made :)

In the last few days, many people have assumed that I am Finnish. Yesterday however, I unintentionally gave away my true nationality. While sitting in class, I pulled out my Hilroy notebook. The guy beside me then said "Oh, you're an exchange student! I thought you were a Finn!" He apparently knew I was an exchange student because I had the paper all of the exchange students have. Who knew a simple notebook could reveal so much about someone!

(I should probably state that the paper commonly used here is what I would call graph paper. Also, if the paper is punched to fit in a binder, it has either 2 or 4 holes. I have yet to find any 3 hole lined paper here!)

Now for some exciting news! I have booked a trip to Lapland! Not only will I be travelling to the Arctic Circle, I will get to go to a reindeer farm, visit Santa's Village and hopefully see the northern lights!!

I've also attached some pictures to this post, enjoy!

Typical scenery in Jyväskylä.

Famous bridge in Jyväskylä, located on campus

Bikes in the city centre.

Me with my bike (note the bike shelters behind me).

Well folks, school is underway here in Jyväskylä. I have had 2 Finnish courses so far. It will certainly take a lot of effort for me to learn the language, but I know it will be worth it. Tomorrow I have a four hour lecture. Eeek. Let's hope we cover an interesting topic!

I must take a moment to talk about my bike. So far, other than food, my bike has probably been my best purchase here in Finland. The bike has made the journey to and from school much easier, not to mention faster. Today I conquered a hill which only days ago I said I would never be able to ride up. Next hill on the list is right outside of my flat. Today seeing a child ride up the hill as I walked my bike will act as extra motivation on my next attempt.

I would also like to discuss the dirt bikes and motorcycles here. (I am reminded as one drives past my window.) They seem to be very popular among tweens and teens. Groups gather at the school yard near my flat to see who can ride the fastest, make the most noise or do the best trick. I would compare the school yard to the infamous Tim Horton's parking lot at home. The bikes simply take the place of strollers.

Oh, I am still in seach of a store that sells alarm clocks, so if you know one in the Jyväskylä area, please let me know!

Stoiltellaan!

Finnish Life Lessons. Part 2.

11. Moi is not pronounced like 'I' in French. It is pronounced "moy" and is a greeting like "hi".
12. The top seats in a sauna are much hotter than the lower seats.
13. It can be quite entertaining when someone who hasn't been on a bike for 10+ years attempts to ride a bike which is too big for them.
14. Nordic walking is all the rage. Let's see if it will catch on anywhere else in the world. (Google pictures!)
15. The person who invented curtains is brilliant... I really need to get some.

My rez is slowly becoming a bit more homey. I'm now unpacked and have put up a few decorations. My roommate and I have created a makeshift dining room in our small common space. It's been great to have someone to eat with and talk to.
I went to my first Finnish sau na yesterday. It was quite an expeience. The lake isn't too cold yet which was a bonus.
Talk to you soon!

Finnish life lessons. Part 1

1. Bikes are essential. They are not a want, but a need. Unfortunately the arrival of students in September leaves the bike shops in short supply.
2. Lunch is accompanied by a glass of water and a glass of milk.
3. Locks are locked by turning them to the left. No more "righty tighty, lefty loosey"
4. Shredded carrots are an acceptable replacement for salad. They are not simply sprinkled on a salad to add more colour, they are a main dish.
5. Do not trust cookies that have an unidentifiable grey icing. Beware, the chocolate cookie is deceiving.
6. Group meals are complicated by the fact that the majority of exchange students currently own one for and one knife. The key is to know the pattern on your cutlery so that you can take it home to wash it yourself.
7. It is important to walk in a straight line. If you do not odds are you will be struck by a bike.
8. It is normal for a male to have a flowered or pink blanket for their bed... well that is if they are an exchange student with a survival kit!
9. Being fluent in multiple languages is the norm. Good thing my finnish courses start next week!
10. Canadians are awesome.


All in all things here in Jyväskylä are pretty good. I'm slowly learning my way around and there seems to be a lot of cool little stores that I will have to check out. Classes start next week which will be awesome for meeting more people. I've been very busy this week with an orientation for international students. Learned a bit but sat through a bunch of seemingly pointless presentations.

As the departure approaches...

Hey Everyone!
Thanks for taking the time to stop by my blog! So as you probably know, I will soon be leaving for an exchange! I will be studying at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland and Swansea University in Wales.

I'm hoping that this blog will be an easy way for me to help stay in touch with all of you despite the thousands of miles between us! I will try to post as often as possible, but no gaurantees.

Feel free to leave comments, I don't want this to be a one sided conversation!

Talk to you again soon,
Emily