Went to Tampere

I went to Tampere yesterday, which was lovely. I saw this church from the train, and wondered if I'd accidentally gone to St Petersburg. Oddly I didn't take many photos.
Tampere was very nice, and I thought it looked rather like Oslo, or at least the part of Oslo that I saw when I was there. There's a flower festival going on there at the moment, so there were lots of plants everywhere, which made it look beautiful. I liked Tampere better than Oslo, and it had a lot more interesting stuff there. Although it was nice, I still like Turku more. Turku gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling. I won't be running away to live in Tampere just yet.
Mainly we wandered around the streets, so I got a good feel for the place. We went on a big wheel in the kauppatori, but unfortunately phones/cameras were not permitted so I couldn't take any pictures of the lovely view.
I was told that every year students from Tampere go to Turku with shovels in an attempt to detach us from the rest of Finland. Disgraceful! Why would they want to get rid of the best part of this country?
We also went to a very nice park just outside of the center, where there was a beautiful lake, and some sort of botanical garden. It wasn't too busy; very peaceful and quiet.
For once my travel plans did not turn into a disaster. On the way home I was talking to a very nice man, who dragged me onto the platform for a cigarette when the train stopped somewhere. I forgot that smoking on railway platforms is still allowed in this country. The conductor was a very nice lady, who didn't mind at all, and even came to let us know when we needed to get back onto the train. Excellent. The journey between the two places doesn't even take that long, so it all went well.
I'm very happy that I went there, as I had a very nice day. It's a good thing for me to see some new places in this country before I leave. This was totally worth spending all my money.

I'm home

I got back to Turku last night, and proceeded to sleep for a very long time. I hadn't had a proper night's sleep since last Tuesday, so I desperately needed to catch up. I had a brilliant time in Norway and I'm really glad that I went. Later on I'll make another entry with some pictures because I have so many nice ones.
My sleep deprivation started last Wednesday. I had to get the bus to Helsinki at 5am on Thursday, so I decided to just have a short nap before leaving. As I'd drank a large can of Red Bull it didn't work out so well. The flight wasn't very long so I only slept for an hour, and then I landed in Oslo.
I didn't really like Oslo, but other people, incuding Norwegians, all told me they didn't like it either. It was quite pretty, but it wasn't very interesting. Luckily it was very hot and sunny so I spent my day wandering around, sitting in parks (of which there are many), and sketching. What I did like was that there were so many sculptures and statues, which gave me plenty of drawing material. The thing I absolutely hated was that there were so many beggars - I was approached by about 20 people throughout the day, which seemed a bit outrageous. If I'd only visited Oslo I would have quite a bad impression of Norway, and definitely would not be willing to return. Maybe if I'd been more energetic and hadn't been alone I would have had a better time. I had been given some suggestions of things to do, but I was so tired that I just wasn't in the mood.
On Thursday night I got the overnight train to Bergen, which took about eight hours. On the train everyone gets a little bag containing a blanket, inflatable pillow, eye mask and ear plugs, which was a good idea. Norwegian trains are quite comfortable, so at least I got some sleep then. I remember waking up at 5am when it was just getting light, and the landscape was so beautiful that I couldn't close my eyes again, despite being exhausted. I must have fallen asleep eventually because I woke up to the train conductor announcing that it was 6.30 and we would soon arrive in Bergen.
Immediately I found Bergen preferable to Oslo; it's much more beautiful, and is surrounded by seven mountains. I've never seen anything like that before. I met Selina and we took the tram back to her house. Originally we'd planned to have a nap but because we hadn't seen each other for so long we couldn't stop talking! The royal wedding was on that morning, so we decided to be patriotic and watch that, with snacks and alcohol. We played the now famous royal wedding drinking game, which lead to me finishing a bottle of wine by noon...not something I do on a regular basis. This was definitely the most drunken holiday I've ever had.
In the afternoon we walked to a forest, where there is a very beautiful church, Fantoft stavkirke. It's very famous for being the first one burned down by Varg Vikernes in the Norwegian black metal church burnings. It was rebuilt, and it was absolutely stunning. I can't believe anyone would want to damage such a lovely building, but then Varg clearly isn't quite right in the head. We sat in the forest and had a couple of beers, the weather was beautiful and it was a really nice afternoon.
Later we went into the city centre to have dinner. Bergen really is a lovely city, the architecture is quite old and most of the streets are cobbled. There's a mountain in every direction, and I really liked it. I can understand why Selina is so happy to be living there, I found the idea quite appealing too.
We met a couple of her Norwegian friends, and in the evening went to quite a dodgy club night. It was set up for the foreign exchange students, and I think most people were there because it's cheaper than a night out in central Bergen. Selina went to stay with her boyfriend but a couple of her friends looked after me, a Norwegian girl and an English girl, they were both very nice. She'd given me her house key so we went back there and at least got some sleep - about 8 hours which was the most I managed throughout the whole trip. At least I felt more lively when she came back on Saturday.
On Saturday afternoon we had a barbecue with her boyfriend and friends, which was nice. We were lucky that the weather was great all weekend, warmer than it was in Turku last week, and I've since found out that it rained over the weekend. I made a good choice to go away.
In the evening we went out to an Irish pub in the centre of Bergen, lots of Selina's friends, her boyfriend's friends, and friends of friends turned up, so there was a very good atmosphere and there were lots of new people to meet. I found Norwegians to be very nice, sociable people, and as they'd never met me before they were all keen to chat to me. It was a good night and I felt very welcome.
Sunday was a typical Sunday - very lazy. We just watched tv and chatted all day as Selina was hungover and I hadn't slept very much. The good thing about northern countries is that even if you go out quite late, there will still be light for a long time. We didn't leave the house until almost 9pm, but it was still bright enough to do things for a few hours. Selina showed me around the centre a bit more, and we took a tram up one of the mountains! I found the idea a bit mad, but when we got to the top all of Bergen was visible and we watched the sunset. It was amazing, and the view was unbelievable. On the mountain there is also a Norwegian troll, who we cuddled and took photos of. We went back down and got some food, and sadly that was pretty much the end of my trip.
After a few hours sleep I had to be up to get the train back to Oslo at 8am. At least this time it was the day, so I could see the beautiful countryside. Norwegian countryside is absolutely stunning - I saw mountains, fjords and forests, and some places were just breathtaking. What a lovely landscape! Then it was back to the airport, and home to Finland.
It was a shame to leave, but it was also quite nice to be back. I finally understand my mother's mantra that "it's nice to go away but it's nice to come home again." Being in another place where everything is alien to me made me realise how comfortable Finland has become for me. It was nice to see things written in Finnish and to be able to understand again. I got back to Turku at about 10.30 last night, and it was good to get home.
That being said, I'd really love to visit Bergen again. It's a wonderful city that I'd highly recommend, and it was also so lovely to see Selina again. Even before she went to Norway we didn't see each other much just because of circumstances, but we talk almost every day and it was great to actually be with her and spend time together. I'm very glad that I took the trip, I had an awesome weekend, and I hope that at some point I will be able to go back, probably without a day in Oslo. I still love Finland, but Norway was brilliant.

In Finland

The trip to the motherland was fairly successful. As a special treat you can see a picture of my cat, who I attempted to teach Finnish to. I thought she managed "moi", but my parents were more convinced it was just a normal cat noise. Hmm. Mainly I ate a ridiculous amount of food and drank about 2 bottles of Lucozade per day. I even had a few bottles left for my suitcase.
As ever, my trip back was very...interesting. It lasted around 23 hours. Great. Due to times and prices of flights not being on my side I got back with SAS and a stopover in Copenhagen. I thoroughly enjoyed Denmark...for the hour I spent there. There are some damn good looking men in that country. Well done Denmark. It's kinda funny to think that I spent yesterday in 3 different countries.
In order to get to Heathrow in time for the flight I had to take 3 trains, the first one leaving at 11.50pm on Friday. When I arrived at 5.30am on Saturday I just wanted to collapse and die. I completely slept through both of my flights, even through the offers of complimentary coffee, which might have helped me.
Eventually, after 2 taxis, 4 trains and 2 flights (that sounds mammoth!) I got safely to Turku and went to bed. It seems that in the past week the snow has been melting, freezing and melting again, because the streets are covered in a lovely looking sludge. Last night in both Turku and Helsinki the snow seemed very thick so maybe it's only just happened. The snow in Helsinki was an absolute joke, even the inside of the train station was exactly the same as in the street. The square outside the station hadn't been cleared at all, and it's a bit silly considering how many people are wandering around there with suitcases, which are almost impossible to carry through snow that thick. It cheered me up that someone there was playing 22 Pistepirkko songs. That's what I expect when I come to Finland!
I'm glad to be back, even though I enjoyed my trip and have certainly learned to appreciate my own nation more after being in another one. The climate was much more pleasant. I did notice, however, how filthy English streets are in comparison to Finnish ones. Seriously, English people - find a bloody bin! I also found that some stuff is much cheaper in Finland, for example cigarettes and public transport. Also, all this talk of vat going up and taxes rising etc made me feel very relieved to be in another country for the time being. Also slightly concerned about going back there in the autumn, but maybe the situation will have calmed down by then. Yeah right...

Day one...

By popular demand, here is a blog about my time as a Johnny Foreigner in Finland! So here I am, sitting on a lovely green rug in my new flat. to be honest, it's so cold outside that I don't want to leave the house. Unfortunately, Jussi (my delightful boyfriend) is very insistent that I should explore. Hmm.
I got here at about 1am this morning. My journey was a complete nightmare. All was going fairly well until I got to Gatwick, where it transpired I'd bought a plane ticket for the day before! There were 3 seats left on the plane so I managed to get one, whilst putting a lovely £260 dent in my credit card. Which I have no idea how I'll repay. Fuck you easyjet. I rushed back to check in with my new ticket, and then discovered that my luggage was 24kg over my baggage allowance! And to take said luggage with me would cost another £230...
Then my credit card got declined. I did very well resisting the urge to cry. Not so well resisting the urge to shout "Fuuuuuck!" However, I called my beautiful, brilliant, perfect mother, who paid the extra money over the phone, got myself checked in and rushed off to security, paranoid that I wouldn't get to the gate in time.
Thankfully, after that the journey went very smoothly. Aside from the fact that the flight was filled almost entirely with Finnish families, complete with their out of control, screaming little darlings. But I survived, found Jussi at Helsinki-Vantaa and we went for a drink by the train station.
Then we were faced with a 2 hour train journey to get to Turku. And for some ridiculous reason, Finnish trains have no luggage racks! Which is very frustrating when you've spent all day carrying around 44kg of crap. I was getting tired and snappy, and hadn't actually eaten all day.
We arrived in Turku after 1am, it was 0 degrees, and it would be an understatement to say that my mood was flagging. We dropped the suitcases off in our new flat and wandered into the night again in search of food. This is where it gets interesting.
We found a kioski (a burger stand) and Jussi bought some crazy chips, deep fried with chunks of sausages! Apparently that's very normal. It was far too meaty for me but I found it fascinating. I just had normal chips, and even those were covered in salad and sauces. I think I'll like Finnish chips...
Eventually I got to bed, and today I had a slightly strange trip to the supermarket. It might become a problem that I don't understand what most of the food is...