My Last Few Days - Coming Home
Some Sailing!!A couple days ago, Robert suggested we go sailing. His friend’s family owns a sailboat, and if we wanted, we could go out for an afternoon. I was pretty interested, and Saana said she would love to go.
The day of, I met Robert & Anders for lunch. I had some salad and coffee, and then we went to Anders’ apartment, where we could pick up his girlfriend Saana. Anders & Saana grabbed some warm clothes; Saana filled a few water bottles; and at the last minute Anders realized that he hadn’t hung their laundry. So we pestered the crap out of him while he slung his clothes over a metal contraption designed to air dry clothes. Finally we were off.
Where is the Damn Boat?We needed the key; so we drove to the appropriate island, over a series of bridges, to pickup the key. From there we headed to the boat, which was just across the way, but required driving another 20 minutes to another island. Robert navigated while Anders drove. Somehow we ended up at a dead-end. No boat here!! Then came the phone calls. How do we get to the marina? Two phone calls and another 20 minutes, and we found her.
She is docked in a tiny little marina with about 8 boats and a seaplane. Anders didn’t see a parking spot, so he drove past the marina. About 10 minutes later the street dead-ended, and he thought it was a good idea to park there. He saw a foot path, and insisted that it lead to the marina. We all rejected his assessment and made him turn around. We did of course park right in front of the marina – he still insists the foot path would have taken us there.
Breaking InThe key we got to the gate didn’t work of course. So Saana had to climb around the gate and open it from the inside. I was starting to doubt whether we were getting on the right boat. It’s a great little 26 footer, similarly rigged to the boat my father bought last year and later sold. Starting the outboard took some work, but we took off. And once the sails were up, we were off.
The water around Helsinki is really beautiful. There are a series of islands and it makes sailing through it a lot of fun. Robert took us around for a few hours and then back to the marina. We sailed around into the wind preparing to drop the main, and started drifting toward a rock wall. Robert couldn’t start the outboard again. At any point we could have sailed out of there, but Robert really wanted to start the motor. So we drifted…and drifted, and then he figured out that the kill switch wasn’t being held out far enough. He enlisted Saana to hold the kill switch out with her fingers, and he then started it right up. It was nice that we didn’t end up drifting into the wall. We dropped the main and spun around to dock her. Great day!!
My Last EveningMy last evening in Helsinki, I spent with Anders, Saana, Joen, Heidi, Robert and Andreas. We had dinner at a cool little Asian/Italian restaurant. Joen said he had to go early, but a few of us were up for some drinking. After dinner we all went to a pub to throw back a few last drinks. We started with beer and graduated into shots, and we ended up closing down the bar. Joen never did get to go home early. Luckily Robert ordered me a taxi before we were too far gone, and the next morning I left Finland for one more night in Budapest.
My cousin Adam picked me up at the airport. My last night in Europe I spent having a quiet and sober dinner with Adam and his girlfriend. I’m glad – my liver hurts!!
Fantastic TripAll in all it was a fantastic trip. I saw my friends and family. I saw a few new cities. I got to have a romantic week with Kristin. And I am coming home without any serious damage to by person. I did of course manage to lose my wallet with some cash and credit cards, but that didn’t seriously harm my trip. Of course my new rolling duffel bag is having a serious malfunction. The handle that you use to pull it is broken, and I’m gonna try to get it fixed as soon as I get home.
Well, I gotta go!! My plane is boarding - I’ll be in LA in 17 hours.
Midsummers Day 2
For me Day 2 of Midsummers started around 10am. The first thing I remember is smelling breakfast downstairs. I woke up on the floor next to the bed I crashed into the night before, at least that’s what I foggily remembered. I climbed down from the loft to see what was cooking in the kitchen. After an initial “good morning” each person I saw asked if I had taken a morning swim yet, which of course I hadn’t. Actually, I hadn’t even thought of it. But after about the 10th time being asked, I decided I should give it a try.
Morning SwimI went down to the dock where I found Andreas in his boat just waking up. From what I gather he went to bed around 8am. I knew the water was not exactly warm, so I figured I should get it over with quickly. I dove in, swam 10 feet out and back. It was freezing, but I have to admit it felt good – but it also felt good to get back in the sun.
We were all drained from the night before, so the morning was pretty lazy. We took in some sun by the sauna. A few did the same on one of the boats. But a lot of us gravitated toward the volleyball net. I spent the majority of the day playing volleyball – good thing too, because we really sucked at first. It took hours for us to get a decent game going; it got pretty competitive too.
Who Rolled Me Out of Bed?Occasionally someone would ask how I slept. Each time I said that I thought someone rolled me out of bed. I guess I could have fallen out, but I really thought I was pushed. Then Joen told me that he was party to that – One of the other couples planned on sleeping there, so they all rolled me out. Later when I saw the couple in question, they yelled at me for taking their bed. Then they told me that they had to leave because I was snoring way too loud. Funny!!
Robert had the bright idea to bring an inflatable pool to the sea. The package included a water pump, but the hoses were too short to reach a water supply. So we took turns getting buckets of water from the sea to fill it. Yeah – that went on long. We probably got it about a third full. I heard he had a similarly good idea for Midsummers the year before.
Sumo WrestlingAt some point volleyball gave way to sumo wrestling. Yeah, you read that right – SUMO WRESTLING. Every event I’ve ever attended here included some game, and this year we would have a sumo wrestling championship. Guys against guys, and girls against girls. It was hilarious. I lost in the first round to Anders, but I had a great time doing it.
After sumo wrestling came dinner. I think everyone was still tired from the night before. The group barely sang – there were very few toasts. While everyone was eating appetizers, which consisted of potatoes and herring (YUCK), I began grilling the pork and chicken. The food was a big hit.
Drinking GamesAfter dinner, Joen arranged a drinking game for a few of us. But the few turned into a mob. I think we had 15 people taking shots. The number shrunk when it was time for girls sauna. Otto, Joen’s older brother, had a game he really liked. The purpose of the game was to count as high as possible. The first person started with one. When you got to 5, the person was supposed to say auto. And then when you got to 7, you were supposed to say bussy – and the direction reversed. If you screwed up, you took a drink and started with 1 again. With the big group, we could barely count to 14. So when it was time for guys’ sauna, we took the game in there.
Otto's RulesIn the sauna, Otto set the rules. Nobody gets out of the sauna until we get to 35. So we were 5 – the temperature was 100c – and after 20 minutes, all we wanted to do was run to the sea. Just before we finished the vodka bottle, we managed to reach 35 and ran to the sea. After sauna we continued the drinking, dancing, and eating – for some it lasted until 8am. I crashed a little early – probably around 4am.
The next few days have been genuinely low key. We haven’t managed to stay out past 10pm since Midsummers. Tonight, however, is my last evening in Helsinki; so the guys are thinking about having a late night. I’ll fill you in when I get to Budapest.
Midsummers Day 1
What is Midsummers?What a weekend!! I expected to have a good time on Midsummers, but this was not at all what I anticipated. Each time I came to Finland for Vaapu, one Fin or another would say that the next best time in Helsinki was Midsummers, which is a celebration held at just that point of the year when the day is absolutely the longest. It was explained to me that the city just about empties out, and all Fins go to their summer cottages to celebrate. Last week when I met Anders and Joen in Parnu, Anders told me that they invited over 30 people to Joen’s family cottage for the weekend, and this was going to be the biggest Midsummers party they have ever had at Joen’s place.
Back in HelsinkiI flew to Helsinki from Budapest on Thursday; I arrived around noon, and Anders was still working. So I grabbed a Finnair bus to downtown. Anders met me at the bus stop, gave me a key to his parents' unoccupied apartment, and sent me on my way. And as usual I arrived with my last pair of clean boxers, so I threw a load of laundry into his parents washer as soon as I got there. Unfortunately, dryers are not all that common in Finland. Fins prefer to hang dry their clothes. So when Anders got off work, we transported my wet clothes to his apartment, where luckily they have a dryer.
Now we had planned on having an early evening, since the next day we were going to the cottage, but instead Anders, Robert and I ended up at a club downtown partying until 5. My last memory of that night is staring at a very drunk Anders while we ate kebab shortly before I walked back to his parents place.
You Have 5 Seconds to Get DressedWhen I woke up the next day, I was without clean underwear – we left it all in the dryer at Anders’ place. So I showered and waited for him to bring my dry clothes over. Then at about 11:30am he calls – I buzz him into the building. I open the door and he says, “You have 5 seconds to get ready.” The entire time I’m packing a bag and putting on my clothes he’s downstairs pushing the doorbell.
Downstairs I jump in the back of Robert’s VW, and we were off. So the story is that everything in the city closes at 2pm on this holiday, and we needed to shop for Saturday night’s dinner. The three of us ran around a Walmart style store searching for toilet paper, insect repellent, and food for 26 (Saturday’s dinner was smaller than Friday’s). Anders already had 6 liters of vodka in the car. We barely finished in time.
Tandem SeatingJoen’s family cottage is situated in a particularly beautiful area. It is surrounded by birch trees, and it is right on the beach. The actual building is probably about 1000 square feet, so there is no way 36 people were going to be sleeping there. So as people arrived, up went their tents.
Also, it is normal this far from the city to have no water or sewer. So there were special bathroom instructions. Women may use the bathroom in the house, but men had to use a “special facility” around the back of the shed. The special facility is a wooden outhouse for 2. I’m not sure why, but when the original owners built it, they cut 2 holes in the seat side by side. I guess the husband and wife enjoyed using it in tandem. These new rules were put in place because there was a toilet emergency the year before that everyone wanted to avoid this year.
We spent Friday afternoon drinking beer and setting up for the asian-themed party. When it was time for dinner, Joen selected the seating arrangement, ensuring that couples and close friends were split up. Then came the singing. Everyone started with a full shot glass of vodka, and 36 people erupted into song. Then at the end of the song they yell the Finnish equivalent of “cheers” or “skol” and take a shot. Another song, skol, and another shot. And another, and so on. This continues from appetizers through the main course. By this time everyone is in a party mood, which is why we immediately broke into dancing. Don’t forget that it is bright as day at 11pm.
Sauna TimeUnfortunately we had segregated sauna time. The women went first, and so the men were left to drink some more vodka and beer. And when the women were done, we brought our vodka with us. I won’t go into it here, but if you’re curious, you can read about how the sauna process works in
A Proper Finnish Sauna. Only this time they added a twist. I guess it is customary to collect birch leaves and hit each other in the back when in the sauna. They say it is for circulation. So we piled into the small cedar lined room with the temperature hovering around 100 degrees Celsius and hit each other with tree branches. Oh – don’t forget the drinking game where we sang, drank vodka, and poured more water on the stove. After all that, we took a nice dip in the Baltic Sea to cool off, and ran right back into the sauna to start all over again.
Dancing and DogsWhen we got back to the music, it looked like the girls were celebrating our absence. There they were, 12 or more girls dancing wildly with just themselves. Finding that unacceptable, I immediately jumped into the crowd. The dancing continued into the wee hours. At some point it was time for second dinner, so out came the bbq and hot dogs.
How'd I Get HereAs I said before, there just isn't enough space in Joen's cottage for everyone. At some point I was ready to snooze, but I didn’t have a tent or a sleeping bag, so I went into the loft to sleep. I found an empty bed and crashed into it. At some point in the evening, the couple that had been assigned that bed to sleep dumped me onto the floor, where I found myself the next day.
