And Who Said Road Trips were an American Thing?

I've always had this idea that road trips were mainly American undertakings. Especially among Midwestern American families and college students. Regardless of my previous associations, a group of international students in Vaasa and I are possibly defining the great Scandinavian road trip. What began as a meeting a month or so ago to plan a trip to Swedish Lapland turned into an epic itinerary to visit some of the most beautiful and most Northern parts of Scandanavia. Ironically, we're not actually visiting Swedish Lapland on this trip. But we are visiting North Cape, the Lygen Alps, and the Lofoten Islands, all in Norway. According to the pictures that occasionally circulate on Pinterest, these are drool-worthy sights that I'm confident will be worth the car time required.

See you in a little over a week, Vaasa!

The recipe for the great Scandinavian road trip:

11 international students

2 cars

5 or so planning meetings and shopping trips

6 different tasks divided amongst the group

Not a lot of euros

1 big appetite for adventure

What a Weekend in Oslo Entails

As I sat with Niels, my Belgian friend from EPS, and Zach and Thomas, both friends from SDSMT, on the train in Oslo Saturday night back to the student village, we recapped what we had done that weekend to make sure that Niels and I had seen all of the must-sees in Oslo. My version of that list turned out to be rather quirky, and I decided it was worth sharing. Don't get any weird ideas about Oslo--it is a truly a wonderful city that I loved visiting, especially since I got to see good friends from home. But anyway, here's my list of what a weekend in Oslo might entail.

 What a Weekend in Oslo Entails
Note: Items appear in no order; this list is not exhaustive

• Go to the store Moods of Norway just to see the famous pink tractor and gawk at all the price tags.
• Eat a meal made up almost entirely of products made by TINE, the dairy monopoly.
• Walk around the Vigeland Park make attempts to interpret some of the 200-some sculptures, especially the 14 meter tall monolith that is essentially a pile of bodies. Appreciate the art and beautiful landscaping nonetheless.
• Watch 18 year olds scamper through the train stations toting their shopping bags full of beer for russ, a ridiculous event in which teenagers indulge in binge drinking and wilderness sex to celebrate finishing 13 years of school.
• Eat brown cheese and jam for breakfast and imagine yourself as a Norwegian eating copious amounts of the stuff.
• Approach the fake swan in the river that is actually a penis from just the right angle so you actually think it's a swan at first.
• Eat pie at the Mathallen.
• Laugh at the fact that you just spent as much money on dinner as you did on your round trip flight from Helsinki. And decide it was worth every euro.
• Not only see the anarchy building, but go inside the anarchy building, a feat which almost no EPS Oslo students have accomplished.
• Order an 8 euro beer and shrug because it's Norway.
• Make a point to use to the bathrooms at the opera house because they are both free and insanely nice.
• Never wait for a train. It's not koselig to wait for trains.
• Speaking of which, hear all about the word koselig from your friends' Norwegian friend and then search out every possible scenario that can be described by that word. That used book sale in the library? So koselig.
• Take the train all the way up the hill to see the world's only steel ski jump. Think it's cool even though the fog and rain are inhibiting the view.
• Hear about the ridiculous nuances of the Norwegian language, like how nobody actually speaks legitimate Norwegian and everyone has his or her own dialect that they think is far nicer than all the other dialects. That's what it seems like anyway.

Mathallen - Market Hall

The dinner the cost as much as my flight

The sculpture park

Street art

Some of the Sights of Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is known as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and I believe it! If I had to use one word to describe it, it would be vibrant. There's just something about the city that gets to you in a good way. I loved seeing (some of) the sights of the city, and I loved hearing their stories from our Russian guides.

Something almost as interesting as the contents of the museums and churches of St. Petersburg was how they were affected by the drastic changes in government and WWII. I think it's easy for Americans to take it for granted that fighting rarely takes place on our own soil. To hear about how a city coped with these things is quite remarkable no matter what side they were on. In St. Petersburg, almost every noteworthy building went through a lot of changes during Soviet times, again during WWII, and once again transitioning to modern day.

I'm no historian. In fact I've never been good at history. Even now I'm getting timelines and details mixed up. But there was something about being in this place that really captured me, perhaps because I got to experience a little taste of something firsthand that I've learned about from only one perspective before in school. And that's the point.

The State Hermitage Museum
This is one of the largest and most famous museums in the world. If you were to look at every item on display for one minute each, you would be in the museum for 8 years! The main building is the Winter Palace, which was the home of the Russian Empire's royal family during the winter time. It's built in baroque style and just so impressive to look at!

During WWII, some museum docents became afraid that the Germans would try to occupy the city at some point, so they decided to take preventative measures to save the collections. Almost everything was taken out of the palace, leaving behind empty frames as a sign of hope that the items would be able to return one day soon. A lot of the items were kept in the museum's basement which was also used as a bomb shelter.

People actually toured the museum despite it being almost completely void of contents. Tour guides would describe what was normally kept in the frames, and the visitors would imagine them. I suppose it was a way to boost morale during hard times.

The collection is obviously massive and I got to see works by Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Raphael, Matisse...basically think of a famous artist's name and there will be work with that name on it at this museum. It was very cool!

St. Isaac's Cathedral
This huge church was named after the patron saint of Peter the Great. It took 40 years to build, and the techniques were pretty advanced for the 19th century. It's the 4th tallest dome cathedral in the world, and when it was built it was the largest Orthodox church in the world.

During Soviet rule, everything religious inside was confiscated and was later turned into a museum of atheism (ironic, right?), but of course it was later rededicated as an Orthodox cathedral after the fall of the USSR. A lot of churches were destroyed or turned into things like ice rinks, warehouses, movie theaters, and warehouses. The dome is actually covered in real gold, and it was painted grey during WWII so it wouldn't be spotted during air raids.

Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood
The oddly-named church is actually called quite a few things, but this is the name that sticks. It was built on the spot where Alexander II was assassinated, so the "spilled blood" refers to that plus Christ's passion.

 During Soviet times this church was almost torn down, but thankfully it was left standing. During WWII the space was used as a morgue and then as a vegetable warehouse, donning the nickname of Savior on Potatoes. In the 1970s restoration began on it. The restoration took so long that people joked that as soon as the scaffolding was removed, the Soviet Regime would fall. Sure enough, the scaffolding and the Soviets went down in the same year.

 

Oddly enough, this church was never a place of worship, but more of a place to commemorate Alexander II. The interior is breathtaking--completely covered in mosaics.

Catherine's Palace
The Catherine Palace is another spectacle of royal frivolity, but still just beautiful to look at. It was the summer home of the royal family, since Russians preferred to live in the countryside during the summer months.

The 70ish-room palace was all about parties, and you definitely get that feeling when you're in the dramatic dining rooms and huge gold ballroom. Most famous is the Amber Room (not pictured). The walls were covered in panels of amber mosaics. The panels were stolen when the Germans invaded during WWII, and then the room was recreated later on. They don't allow people to take pictures in that room today, and I think it's because they're superstitious about it.

This lavish buildings and its gardens are celebrated by Russians and visited by tourists because it is one of the most important pre-Soviet artifacts. Our tour guide said that even though Russians only visit it once or twice in their lives, it is very important to them because it helps them remember what Russia was like all those years ago. And after seeing the many grey Soviet-style apartments on the way from St. Petersburg to Pushkin (also called Tsar's Village) where the palace is located, it sure it a sight for sore eyes.

I Still Can't Believe I Went to St. Petersburg

I should have counted how many times I or one of my friends said, "Guys, we're in RUSSIA!"  over the past 4 days. I know I was thinking it a lot. It was quite remarkable to visit this incredibly beautiful city, something I never thought I would actually get the opportunity to do. The excitement in the air was palpable from my first afternoon there as the sun sparkled on the Neva River and spoken Russian swirled around me. I had a wonderful time, some of which I hope to document on this blog in the coming days.

The group on the first day there--all international students in Finland and Sweden

My time in Russia can be likened to the classic wooden nesting dolls that are often associated with the country. I bought a set of my own, hand-painted in brilliant blue and gold. Now I can look at my matryoshka dolls and think about the layers of my experience just like the layers of the dolls. First you have what you see on the outside, the entire appearance. The shape of the country on the map. Maybe in some past contexts, the elephant in the middle of the proverbial room of the world map. The stereotypes. Next, just beyond that in the next doll you have the artifacts. These are the things that people come to see that aren't visible from the outside but you know are there like the palaces, cathedrals, and monuments. Even the drab Soviet style buildings in the outskirts of the city. Each of these items has a history that comes to life when you see them. Then in the next layer you have the people and what they have to share. This layer is a bit harder to discover as it is hidden within these nesting dolls. The paint on this doll is just as beautiful as all of the others and maybe even a little more intricate because the small figure requires a steady hand. This is where you really get to know the place you're in because the each individual has a unique story that cannot be told by the collective. And finally, there is the last little doll at the very center. The heart of the whole thing, it is the only piece that cannot be pulled apart and distorted by twisting the pieces. This one is that lingering feeling you're left with after having a grand new experience. It takes time for it to develop just as it takes time to open all the dolls and arrange them just so. It’s a sense of understanding of what you’ve experienced and the exhilaration of how that understanding was reached. A quiet but intense feeling that you will be forever stained by this experience just as these dolls are decorated with permanent paint. Now I have these dolls and their layers to remember my short time in this country and what it taught me. What a nice feeling that is.

Everything I Love about Winter I Found in Lapland

The bus rocked me to sleep as the landscape said its farewell. The grey sky turned blue as it welcomed dusk and the snow answered, enveloping me in a peaceful, snowy, blue world. The headlights glowed orange and the pine trees stood tall in the cold. There will always be some Lapland in me, I thought, as I drifted off into that groggy, sitting-up bus sleep. I was heading south but the Arctic would surely be seeing me again.

As the snow of February and March turn into the rain and occasional snowstorm of April and hopefully the sunshine of May, I reflect on why I love winter so much. Especially today since I woke up to a snowy white Vaasa. As it turns out, everything I love about the season I found in Lapland, which I had the pleasure of experiencing at the end of February.

1. Snow
I just really love the fluffy white stuff. It's magic.

2. Skiing
This is a no brainer for anyone who knows me.

3. Christmas
Ok, I just put this one on the list because I met Santa Claus while I was in Rovaniemi. I really do like Christmas though.

4. Adventure
Winter can be an adventurous time for some, with the heightened challenge staying warm while taking advantage of the wonderful outdoors. In Lapland I experienced some of the best winter activities like snow shoeing, husky driving, and ice swimming.

5. Snowmen
My snowman building skills have always been less than stellar, but I do enjoy making friends with a snow giant when I can.

5. Community
Winter brings people together because sooner or later it brings them inside. The time spent warming up by the fire or in the sauna is often when the best conversations and bonding moments happen.

6. Childhood
Because who doesn't love getting bundled up and playing in the snow without a care in the world?

7. Culture
The time you spend inside during the winter lends itself to culture, whether that means fully experiencing your own or learning about a new one. In Lapland I got to learn about the Sami, or the indigenous people to the region.

8. Reindeer
It's something to love about Lapland, at least. These creatures are just so dang cute.

Being a Tourist in Vaasa

It's easy to neglect the "tourist attractions" in the cities in which we live. But I've found that these things can really add something to our perception of our surroundings. These things showcase the culture and history of these places and allow us to look at our cities with different eyes than the ones that look at the same buildings on our way to class or work everyday. After doing some traveling around Finland I realized that I had been neglecting some of these places in Vaasa. Besides the gulf anyway; I love being so close to the beautiful gulf of Bothnia and I see that as often as I can.

I didn't have any meetings yesterday and my tasks for the project were progressing just fine, so I took the afternoon to explore two of Vaasa's art museums--Tikanoja Art Museum and the Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition currently on display in the former is about coffee culture in Finland--how coffee came to Europe in the first place, how coffee culture developed in Europe and particularly Finland, and how the tools and artifacts associated with coffee have changed over time. It was a fun exhibition if you ask me. :) In the modern art museum they had a really cool exhibition called "Who are you?" It showcased a collection of people from Finland and Russia. Each person had three photos--his/her idol, a self portrait, and his/her enemy.

Cedric the Gnome at Tikanoja

Tikanoja Art Museum

At the Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art

No matter what I see, though, nothing is quite as beautiful as the sea right by campus, whether frozen white or bright blue.

Tampere for Easter: Just the Solo Escape I Needed

I woke up at my hostel in Tampere on Saturday with a mind open to the possibilities of the day, and what I got was a fantastic weekend that left me recharged and content.

Pyynikki Observation Tower

Bus number 25 took me to Pynnikki Park, where I wandered through the forest and climbed to the top of a surprisingly not very tall observation tower that sits atop the world's largest esker (a rather useless geology fact for all of you). Despite its size, the view from the top was spectacular with the city of Tampere nestled between two lakes framed by the rich green of the forest. Every European destination almost seems incomplete without climbing some stairs for a great view (the Vatican, the Duomo in Florence, the Eiffel Tower, St. John's fortress in Montenegro, the list goes on...), so in that way this is quite a nice piece to my quilt of Finnish experiences. Plus it was just beautiful!

At the cafe in the base of the tower I enjoyed what is known throughout Finland as the country's best doughnuts. Ask Rachel, I even texted her telling her that I would marry my doughnut if I could.

Tampere from above

Next, it was back to the city center for the adorable Easter Market at the Tallipiha Stable Yards. Back when Tampere was a major textile milling city, these stable yards belonged to the Finlayson factory's owner. They have been restored for use in little markets like this one.

The story gets a bit more interesting at my next stop: the Aussie Bar for lunch, which was recommended by the hostel. I popped my head into the almost empty bar, and I was greeted by a cheery Belgian guy with a fake Australian accent. I got to chatting with him and the other customer there, a guy from Seattle working on his Master's at the University of Tampere. At least two hours passed. I saw no more of the city but instead saw it from the inside, looking through the eyes of locals of the international community. Maddie, the bartender, invited me to come back for the bar's party that night. He even put my name on "The List" so I could bypass the line and get in for free. It's pretty hard to say no to that, especially as a solo traveler with not much else in the way of Saturday night plans.

I did have something planned for the first part of the night though. The Tampere Cappella, the city's professional chamber choir, performed Arvo Pärt's Passio, a work by a modern Estonian composer. It was beautiful, especially to a choir nerd like me. How funny, I thought, that here I was offering poised applause for a choir when I was about to go to a party at an Australian bar. Oh well, it's good to have a well-rounded experience, right?

The exhilaration of saying, "I'm on the list," to get into Aussie was quite fun, as was being greeted by Maddie with a hug followed by a spritz in the face with the soda water. I set off to make some friends for the night, which proved to be rather terrifying but extremely fun and rewarding. There's a stereotype that Finns are extremely quiet and reserved during the day, but once you get them out drinking they become lively and outgoing. It seemed pretty true to me that night, as out of anyone I could have talked to in that bar (Australian bar = English speaking = big international crowd), I ended up talking to only Finnish people! One guy went through a list of Finnish things I should try, and was very impressed when I said yes to all of them. He said I must really be a Finnish girl because I've eaten mämmi more than he has, which is this traditional rye porridge dessert that Finns love to hate. Mini victory for me! Finland has only made me feel welcomed, and Saturday night Tampere was no exception. To build on this "I'm on the list" thing, how exhilarating it was to put myself out there and reap the rewards. Something tells me that my comfort zone will be a bit larger when I get back to the US.

Easter Sunday was a poignant day for me, as of course I missed my parents and siblings, but thankfully I found a Catholic church and an Easter egg hidden in the hostel to make the special day sweeter. The Easter Mass was wonderful. Where else could I celebrate Christ's resurrection with a Polish priest surrounded by people from literally every corner of the globe? The celebration of the Mass brought tears to my eyes, for it truly felt like a celebration. After Mass, I talked with young people from Finland, Germany, South Africa, and Pakistan about keeping our faith alive no matter where in the world we are.

I then took one last look at the Tammerkoski rapids in the city center and had one thought: as you travel alone, being total dependent on only yourself, it is inevitable that you will discover just how capable you are.

Some Easter Break Exploring

The completion of my EPS team's midterm report and presentation meant one thing to me: time to travel. On Thursday morning, I hopped on an early morning bus to Tampere with a hostel reservation and a symphony ticket awaiting me.

I spent the day exploring Tampere, a down to earth city whose red brick buildings tell the story of the industrial textile milling center it used to be. The industrial buildings have been retrofitted into a network of unique museums, cafes, boutiques, and cinemas, making it a lovely place to wander around for an afternoon. Especially interesting was Vaprikki, a former engineering warehouse that now houses museum exhibits on almost anything you can think of--the Finnish Civil War, shoes, Catholic pilgrims, toys, ice hockey, the post service, Finnish inventions, rocks and minerals, and more.

Looking down the Tammerkoski Rapids in Tampere

This morning I took a train to Turku, most often remembered as Finland's oldest city. Upon my walk from the train station to the city's main square I realized that Good Friday is not a normal day to be out and about. Even still, the museums and most places to eat were open.

Turku's main square

Turku cathedral--a patchwork of bricks and stones dating back to the 1300s

The most notable thing about today, though, was the Good Friday service I attended. As a primarily Lutheran country, Catholic churches are few and far between in Finland. I found one in Turku though, St. Bridget and Blessed Hemming's Parish. If anyone is curious, the Passion in Finnish has lots of p's and k's and "yksi"s and "ainen"s . . . well, actually those are the sounds I associate most with the Finnish language. Needless to say, I didn't understand much more than "kittos" (thank you) during the priest's announcements. Lucky for me, the Catholic church is universal, and I knew exactly what was going on as a mumbled along with the script in front of me. I saw almost every ethnic group I could recognize in that service, what a truly universal church it is!

I took the train back to Tampere content with the day's adventure. The perfect conclusion? Some delicious Finnish food of course. :)