Goodbye to Finland
How Do You Leave?
So last time we spoke, I hadn't made up my mind about when to leave Finland. It was hard. Everyone there accepted me so graciously into their lives. I saw my friends there every day. I never felt like an outsider - to the contrary, there were times I felt like I spent my whole life with these guys. So how do you leave people for whom you care so deeply? It wasn't easy. I decided to leave several times, and each time postponed for one excuse or another. But really I just didn't want to go.
My Sendoff - The Park
Finally after several postponements, I decided that I would go the following day to St. Petersburg, Russia. It was a beautiful day in Helsinki; so we all decided over coffee at Carusel that we would all go to this beautiful park. We bought a box of beer, frizbee and a plastic soccerball at a local store and headed for the park. As we drank beer, we played "soccer-frizbee" - you never knew whether a soccerball or frizbee was heading in your direction.
After a few hours of beer, sun and laughs we were beat. We scattered for a bit. Joen went home to rest; Anders, Robert and I got Micky Ds (Robert's favorite restaurant) and watched hockey at Robert's apartment. After the game, Ander's and I went to his flat to change clothes. More importantly, I had a chance to say bye to Saana, Ander's girlfriend. We were off to the club.
My Sendoff - The Club
First of all everybody made it, namely Joen, Anders, Andreas, Robin, Robert, myself and a few new faces. Anders and I walked back to Robert's, where Joen was going to meet us. Joen was running late, and hadn't eaten dinner yet; so we dropped into a Hessburger and grabbed him a burger and fries. We were rushing to make the club before there was a cover ($5 I think :-). So I fed Joen in the car as we drove wildly through Helsinki. Did I mention that Joen had an accident the day before?
We all met outside on the patio, and later went in just in time for the band to start playing. The place packed up - the dance floor was full, and we hung out for a few hours buying each other cocktails and enjoying each other's company. I had been promising but had yet to deliver to Joen & Anders a perfect gin martini (for some reason bartenders here insist on measuring each part of a cocktail, making martinis undrinkable). I taught our bartender how to make one, and we enjoyed one of my favorite cocktails together.
Around 3am we knew it was time to go home. Joen very intuitively asked me what we should do, knowing I might have some last wishes. I said that a last kebab would be perfect. We all shared a final drink & walked out.
Final Kebab
Nobody was sober enough to drive; so as is custom, we walked to the kebab restaurant. Of course these places are generally open all night. They serve the same purpose as a Taco Bell/Del Taco - cheap and greasy food eaten after going out. The core group walked, joking & laughing, all the way from the club to a kebab place near Robert's house. We had our final kebab & went outside to figure out how to get home. As we were sharing some of our final thoughts, a very drunk man joined our conversation for a brief, strange moment. Robert & Anders walked home; Joen & I caught a cab.
Shouldn't I Pack?
Joen & I didn't say much on the way home, but when we got there he remarked that if for some reason I didn't wake up in time for the train, that would be fine too. We said goodnight, and I started packing. I went to bed far more sad than I expected to be.
St. Pete Here I Come
My train was to leave Helsinki for Saint Petersburg at 7:42am. I awoke to my Nokia alarm at 6:55. I couldn't resist a shower, but it was 7:20 before Heidi and I could leave. I forgot that Joen left the car at the club; so Heidi and I had to catch a tram to the station. With no more than seconds to spare, we caught one and made our way. We ran from the stop to the train station; of course I'm weighed down by 75lbs of pack. I tripped and went to my side, picked myself up, and we ran on. I hadn't purchased a ticket yet, nor had I enough money to buy one onboard. I ran to an Otto (ATM); grabbed some money; then Heidi and I ran to the train to see me off. With two minutes to spare and a lot of heavy breathing, we could not say much. I said goodbye to my dear friend there and climbed onto the train.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home