Phew! That was a long 5.5 days traveling around Tallinn and Helsinki with a group of 38 people! I had a great time, but I am sure glad to be blogging from my bedroom in Copenhagen right now. I forgot how much traveling can take out of a person! Usually when I go on vacation to Mexico, I am the laziest person ever, sitting on the beach, sitting by the pool, sitting at the restaurant… you get the idea haha.
Anyway, Thursday night we went to the hockey game, Jokerit vs. JYP. Jokerit was the home team, so we cheered for them, although I have no idea what the rules of hockey are, which will become obvious later.
DIS gave us 10 euro for dinner at the hockey game, which meant I was stuck eating a 7 euro combo meal of a hot dog and soda. I asked the Finnish lady behind the counter if they have diet pop, and she looked at me like I was crazy. She just looked at me with a confused look on her face. I thought she wasn’t understanding the diet part, then I realized… “Oh, diet soda!” It cracked me up, literally. The lady probably thought I was super weird.
I watched the game with Chelsea and John, and since we had no idea where our seats were, we just sat at some empty ones close to the front :)
We didn’t really watch much of the game, none of us are hockey buffs or anything, but we had a great time watching the “cheerleaders.” Chelsea and I were pretty sure we could learn their “dances” in less than a minute and do a better job than them. No pep at all.
We were having fun, but we were glad when the game was over because we were getting super tired.
Then we realized that a lot of people are still sitting down. Why isn’t everybody leaving!? Oh crap, hockey must have 3 periods instead of 2. Well, either way, the score didn’t change in the 3rd period! Our team still won!
After the hockey game, about 6 of us decided we needed a chill night, so we played bananagrams in the hotel lobby for about an hour and sipped tea. I was still feeling kind of out of it from my cold, so it was a nice relaxing night. Luckily, I woke up on Friday feeling 100% better! Of course it was the last day of the trip that I finally felt well enough to enjoy it all.
In the morning on Friday, we had our last academic visit to Folkhälsan, a Swedish-speaking NGO in the social welfare and healthcare sector in Finland. They carry out scientific research, provide social welfare and healthcare services, and provide information and counseling in order to promote health and quality of life to the Swedish-speaking population in Finland. About 6% of Finns speak Swedish instead of Finnish, and since they are one of the wealthier and more powerful groups in Finland, they have Swedish-speaking schools, NGO’s, etc. so they don’t have to speak Finnish even if they live in Finland. I thought that was weird because in the US, we are obsessed with making everyone speak English if they want to live there… but populations immigrating to the US are usually not the powerful, wealthy ones.
We took a tram and then walked the rest of the way to the organization’s offices. It was snowing a ton outside, and the ground was so slushy and nasty. I hate cold and snow.
We had a few different speakers from the organization talk to us. One told us about the main function/role of the organization, one talked to us about their anti-bullying initiatives in the schools, and the other talked to us about baby-swimming! Apparently baby-swimming is really popular in Europe, but I have never heard of it. Parents bring their babies (anywhere from 3 months to 2 years) to the pool and “swim” with them. The main purpose is to strengthen the bond between the parents and the baby and to hopefully make it a hobby for them to do together in the future. We didn’t actually get to see it, but she showed us a video. It was adorable!
Then we had an hour wrap-up session about the entire study tour, headed back to the hotel for lunch and our bags, and went to Kuusijarvi Sauna.
Saunas are huge in Finland! According to my study tour booklet, “the Finns have been taking saunas for generations. There has always been something magical about the sauna! If it were just a place to get clean, it would hardly have survived as a national institution for over two millennia.” I was looking forward to the sauna all week long. I had never been to one before! However, I was told that the Finns sit in the sauna and get really hot, then they walk outside to a lake and jump into freezing cold water! The closer and closer we got to this experience, the more I started to freak out and get a little nervous. 1. I hate the cold. 2. I really really hate being cold.
The sauna was it a beautiful area in the woods surrounded by snow-covered pine trees. A small lake was in the back, and that was where I would be jumping in, in my bathing suit, with snow and ice everywhere. Please tell me this is a huge joke. Whoever came up with such a crazy idea?!
Anyway, we all got changed and crowded into the sauna. They had a hot one, 140-176 degrees Fahrenheit, and a hotter one, 176-212 degrees Fahrenheit. I stuck to the hot one, and after sitting in there for about 10 minutes, I thought I was going to die. There were two old Finnish ladies in there who would pour water onto something that would make a bunch of steam, and every time they did it, it got 10x hotter! We started talking to the old ladies, and they said they go there about once a week, and that when they go into the cold water afterwards, they usually stay in it for about 30 seconds. Are they crazy!?!
Little by little, the other girls in my group got up to go dip in the cold lake outside, but I just sat there still thinking if this was a good idea or not. I finally got up and left the sauna to go outside, but as soon as I did, I freaked out. I decided there was no way I was going to do this. I hate the cold! There was no way I could do it. So I went back inside of the sauna again. I was in there for about 15 minutes this time, and I was dripping in sweat. It didn’t feel as much like sweat as it felt like someone had just poured a bucket of water on me. I can’t even describe how hot it was. Then I realized that being in a cold lake actually sounded great right now, so when a couple girls got up to go outside, I went with them. As soon as I left the sauna though, I started to feel the cold air from outside, and I became really afraid. It sounds kind of silly, but I was actually scared of doing this. Why would I put my body through something that doesn’t feel good? Then I remembered a New Year’s Promise I made to myself: Be Fearless. So I sucked it up, and I walked the 50 meters down the stairs and around to the lake. They had two ramps that led into the water, so you can gradually expose your body to the cold. I started walking down, went in to about my knees, and started to turn back. Then one of the girls in my group yelled, “You have to go in all the way to your shoulders!” Crap, she is right. If I am going to do it, I am going to go all the way! So I did, and then I ran back inside to the warmth :)
It was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. It didn’t hurt at all. It actually felt amazing. It is really hard to explain the feeling, but I was so proud of myself for actually going through with it. I am normally a wuss about things, so it was a big moment for me haha.
After everyone felt rejuvenated, we headed to our concluding dinner at a cute little place in the middle of nowhere called Tuomarinkylan Ravintola.
The tables were decorated so cute! We had a yummy salad to start, then some of the most delicious salmon and potatoes for the main course.
Dessert was some fruity thing. I don’t know what it was, but it was tasty!
We all agreed it was the perfect, relaxing meal for the end of our trip. It was also a nice break from the heavy buffets we had been eating. Blech! I think we were all tired though, and ready to head home. Luckily, our next stop was the airport! The flight went quickly. I just zoned out with my music for a couple hours, and my host parents picked me up when I arrived. When I got home, I had a glass of wine and some popcorn with them and we just chatted about our weeks. It was so nice coming home and having people to talk to about my trip.
Now it is Saturday morning, and I am not really sure what the day has in store for me. I want to go on a run (it’s in the 40s here today!), then I think dancing is definitely a must for tonight. It’s been way too long! I might also go out for dinner with my host family before they go to a Michael Jackson musical.
Hej Hej from Copenhagen!
Emily
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