Return to Uppsala

Since Finland is really just Eastern Sweden (just kidding...), it's been really easy to travel back and forth.  So easy, in fact, that you might not have to show your passport to anyone -- not even at the check-in counter (if you use the electronic kiosks) or at security.

Ekeby

Passport commentary aside, I was happy and excited to take another trip to Sweden a couple of weeks ago because this time, I returned to Uppsala, where I lived as an exchange student for six months.  It was very surreal to be there again.  Mostly, Uppsala was the same way I left it four years ago -- a small, but beautiful city, dominated by the Cathedral, castle and university.  There were some unexpected changes -- the train station received a complete overhaul and now has several tracks and escalators!  And, there are lots of new shops in the city center and new apartment buildings near where I used to live.  But, so much of the city remained the same.  I walked around all day, feeling nostalgic and reliving all of the good memories -- attempting to learn Swedish, coping with sharing a kitchen with 12 people, adapting to the extreme winter with long hours of darkness and extreme summer with long hours of daylight, navigating the grocery stores and laughing at foiled attempts to buy milk, visiting the Systembolaget, having fikas, experimenting with baked goods, learning from language foibles and being lost in translation, celebrating birthdays, national days and everything in between, meeting wonderful people and making lifelong friends.  Uppsala will always be a special place and I'm looking forward to returning in 2016 for a ten year reunion!

2006

2010

Art goes Kapakka

Helsinki Cathedral

On Thursday night, "art went to the bars" in Helsinki -- resulting in a choir tour meets pub crawl, with tons of choirs singing in more than 30 bars and restaurants throughout the night.  The event started with a huge concert in the Senate Square, where, unfortunately, none of the songs were in English, so I felt a bit left out when all of the choirs and most of the audience belted out Finnish songs in unison.  And, though I coveted event shirts worn by the bartenders, it was a great night, complete with a tasty margarita and performances of ABBA (with choreography), Sister Sledge's "We are Family" sung by a Finland's only female barbershop chorus, and "It's Raining Men."

Redemption

This is what chocolate chip cookies are supposed to look like.  Not like this. 

 

Street Signs

People with afros, pony tails, and cats crossing streets in Uppsala, Sweden

Road Trip: Finland Style

Highlights from a weekend trip to Hanko, Tammisaari, and Fiskars in the southernmost part of Finland:

- Visited a real bunker from the war between Russia and Finland.  Nearly got lost in the woods due to missing ribbons (aka caution tape) along the path.  

- Edited museum brochures in English as necessary.   

- Coastal cities are really windy.  Especially when on the top of a water tower.
- Be prepared to be asked to leave the store if you're shopping right before closing time.  Just because you're a tourist, it doesn't mean that you'll be catered to.

- Fiskars is a lot more more than just scissors.  It's a really cute & scenic village to visit.
- Museum guides in Fiskars are friendly, and ensure that Finns don't misplace their American tourist friends.
- Finnish hares are big!  Bigger than Baron.

- Don't neglect music for the car, even if you aren't the driver. 

- Finnish eateries at rest stops provide real silverware and plates, not plastic and paper.  Not to mention real, balanced, not-fried meals. 
- Homer Simpson makes an unexpected, yet entertaining, road trip companion.

Kulosaari II

Living on the island of Kulosaari for the past two months has had its pros and cons.  I'm neighbors with the Iranian Embassy and diplomats from many other countries -- a departure from my typical kind of neighbors.  I'm walking distance to Mustikkamaa and the zoo (which I still need to visit), but not walking distance to downtown or work.  There's a casino nearby (which I don't plan on visiting), but no pharmacy, gas station, or shopping center.  The bus stops right across the street from my house and the metro stop is less than a 10 minute walk away, but it's been closed since June 7.  There's a small grocery store for (overpriced) essentials, with a consistently poor selection of bananas.  I can buy stamps at the convenience store, but there's no post office.  The island is beautiful, safe, quiet and there are lots of gorgeous homes with waterfront views.  Unfortunately, mine is not one of them.  And though I'd prefer to live in the heart of downtown, I really can't complain too much about living for free in Helsinki!

Backyard neighbor

Finland's Hawaii