A few of my favorite (belated) things...

So I've been back for a little over a week.. and although it is good to be back home, I miss a few things about my new-found Finnish culture.

So! Here are a few of my favorite things...

…from Norge (i.e. Norway).

The lakes and ponds in Northern Lapland and Norway are BLACK. It’s unbelievable, and as you can imagine, have spurred on several myths and stories that are part of Saumi legends and folklore.

Beating Kevon to seeing the fjords of Norway! (Haha!) And they are breathtaking by the way…

Making friendship bracelets, playing Nintendo, and sharing iPod earbuds with Megan like we were in 7th grade all over again.

Sara wearing her awesome headband... with reindeer and campfires and the word “Finland” emblazoned on it. She feels it’s her best purchase, and I could not disagree… and even more so, because I would never want to disagree with a finnish ninja.

Driving by all the lonely, sweet, and salty windblown houses, fishing boats, and churches along the coast of northern Norway. There is a certain romantic, hearty feeling one senses as they view these homes. What a different life the people who live up here must live… and yet, as I am learning on this trip.. there are still so many similarities (my deep moment for the post).

Going for a relaxing sit by the Arctic Ocean to watch the sunset at 11:30pm... for THREE hours! In the summer, the sun sets, but never goes below the horizon in Alta, Norway. We watched as the sun touched... and as it began its ascent again at 12:00am… crazy beautiful! This is something worth taking a trip to see in your lifetime.

Finnish home cooking… I will never look the same way at a beet patty in my life. Other yummy things included on the menu: steamed potatoes and reindeer stew.

The fact that I just took a 20 some hour bus tour in 36 hours… yet enjoyed it. Don’t know if I ever want to ride in a bus again, but I’m sure that statement will come back and bite me in the butt later.

…from Helsinki.

Sitting in a restaurant patio the firs t night in Helsinki, and realizing/ feeling for the first time this trip that… Hey, I am in Europe! …Apparently this Nepalese restaurant on the square is what I had envisioned myself doing when I finally got here…

The mixture of fantastic architecture. Russian, Swedish and Finnish mix! So interesting. One of the goals on my list is to visit the glorious Russian Greek Orthodox church… but I may have to settle for just exterior photos.

Free public wifi – which is especially hilarious on the tram… So just in case you can’t find a café that will meet your needs, just hop on the tram and ride around the city until all your internet needs have been met. I may try this yet.

People watching in a reggae music playing, organic, college age coffee shop in downtown Helsinki. Not a favorite thing: paying 2,60€ for a tiny cup of coffee, which I better enjoy, because refils are a mere 1,50€... sheesh.

Nepalese food in Finland.

Hearing seagulls before I fall asleep, and remembering that I am near the ocean, when in fact I only feel that I am the middle of a foreign city.

Merimekko. Period.

Gas station coffee that actually tastes GOOD. Only a 1,60€… what a steal. (I’m feeling a bit coffee robbed in Finland, by the way… the gas station has been the cheapest by far. I may or may not be spoiled by our cheap coffee in the US.)

That there is darkness at night in Helsinki. One can look forward to dusk, about three hours of this "darkness," and then dawn on the other end… and I am supremely happy to be able to sleep again.

For the last time, moi moi,
R. Gray

London: The Whirlwind Tour

Bonjour fellow followers:

let me start off by apologizing for the lack of blogging as of late. i have a lot to say so sit down..get cozy..and stay a while. we have been on quite the tour of the UK. so here's a wrap up.

sara and i flew from Helsinki to London for the second leg of our eurotrip. we met up with two of my BFFs (Morgan and Kate)at the airport. this was a challenge in itself because:

a. we don't have any communication devices.
b. we are in a strange country.
c. kate and morgs were jet lagged and very weary.
d. we didn't have a meeting spot.

so sara and i landed and we got grilled by passport control. who was a very angry man with a british accent...but don't let the accent fool you..he was an arse. for a few minutes i thought we were going to be denied into the country based on a miscommunication. moving on.

we finally found morgs and kate and they were scared we didn't make it. so we celebrated and hugged and then we had to tackle the next challenge which was....finding a way to our hostel. 75 pounds (if you know the conversion rate..do the math...it blows) later we arrived safetly at the Palmers Lodge Hostel.

our hostel was really nice and the people there were very friendly. we met people from Australia, Romania, England, Korea ummmm i forget where else. anyway we were in a 12 person all female dorm which was fine...except for the girl next to me had a very nasty cold and had the strangest coughs ive ever heard.. obviously i did not get any sleep to her overly snotty self. by day three i wanted to punt her. i blame her for my chronic blood shot eyes.



this is the front of our hostel. this is sara jumping for joy.

so we all decided that we were going to spend one day and go to every big touristy spot we could. here are the highlights in a photo montage.



this is Buckingham palace. there were a crap ton of people just standing at the gates. crossing the street was quite the ordeal. there were these little guards that made you walk completely around the side of the street in a single file line. he would point and say (in a british accent) "follow the rope please. ma'am please stay to the side!" i was never very good at follow the leader.



this is us by the statues across from the palace.



this is kate and i recreating the statues above us.



this is also part of the monument...i wish i knew the name of it...moving on. im squishing a man with my monster fingers.



this is us doing the obvious signifier of OSU. please note that i am wearing a pink tank top that ties at the top by my shoulders...this information will come in handy for the next picture.



this is me realizing that my tank top just came untied. shit.





this picture is for my dad (an avid follower of this blog). this is the queen's limousine. a rolls royce phantom iv...they only made 18 of these for royalty and heads of state. the queen got style.

so my pictures of our day stops here due to a dead camera battery. but we went to big ben, Westminster abbey, the TATE modern art museum, and hyde park.

the next part of this story will be dedicated to the luggage mishap...please enjoy the reenactment.


sara and i switched bags for the trip to the airport. she was rolling mine and i was rolling hers. this entire trip i had been warning sara, "hey sara! don't drag your luggage down the stairs" (clunk clunk clunk)



"hey guys! we have to catch the jubilee line all the way down to london bridge! oh look! we gotta get on this tube (aka the tram)! hurry! hurry!" as sara shuffles in last..climbing the tube. NOTE: on our journey we have seen multiple people get squished in between the doors of the tram..very scary and we wanted to avoid this at all costs.

*grunt* doors are beeping, warning the passengers that the doors will close in five seconds. *grunt again* with a couple of tugs to save my luggage (megan's luggage) i pulled and i pulled and i heard *snap* *tear* then a small asian woman comes out and presents the wheel from the bottom of the suitcase.



"megan. i am so sorry."



with no wheels and the bottom threatening to rip...i carried my suitcase, my life, all the way to edinburgh. i carried a 30 pound child across the country. needless to say...my arms are still hurting today.




exhibit a. hanging on.



exhibit b. the bleed.



exhibit c. the contents.

that is all for now. the other ladies will be blogging soon.

moi moi,
megan

p.s. - i officially turned in my master's thesis yesterday : ) now it's time for vacation...needless to say there was a pub crawl after my submission.

Helsinki: The City I Haven't Really Seen

Well once again I am beyond in the blogging realm. It has been extremely difficult this week to get anything done in this blog and just in general…we have no time for anything.

I really don’t have anything to speak too much about. We hardly get let out of the cage so Helsinki continues to be a mystery to me.

The top 52 most interesting facts about Helsinki:

1. It is bigger than I was anticipating.
2. They have a large tram and metro system.
3. People do not jay walk. It is not illegal…people just don’t do it.
4. There is public wi-fi in the center square.
5. There is A LOT of shopping here. I mean stores everywhere.
6. Marimeko is huge.
7. Metal has it’s own special culture.
8. The mustache, fohawk, and man-pony are all live and well here.
9. The teen population all consists of hipsters.
10. Open containers are A-OK.
11. They have an island that I can’t pronounce or spell which is similar to Put-In-Bay.
12. Finland has hands down the best strawberries I have ever eaten.
13. There are open markets everywhere = no need to buy produce at grocery stores.
14. Their street signs are in Finnish and Swedish.
15. Finnish Kebab is completely different than U.S. kabab.
16. There are at least three huge multi-level malls all within a block of each other.
17. Beer is expensive.
18. The sun almost sets for three hours a night.
19. There are seagulls everywhere. And they will eat your ice cream right out of your hand.
20. Cider beer is better here.
21. Everyone smokes but all institutions are smoke-free.
22. Hostel Academica will nickel and dime you for everything.
23. Washing your laundry in a laundry-mat costs 5euro and 8euro to dry plus 1euro for one scoop of detergent.
24. Hesberger is the equivalent of Burger King.
25. I have seen 3 McDonald’s.
26. Diet Pepsi = Pepsi Max.
27. There are public saunas.
28. It costs .50euro to use a public toilet.
29. People recycle their bottles and cans for money. It’s not just for bums.
30. Nalgen or re-useable plastic water bottles are not used here…everyone just re-uses their regular bottled water containers.
31. Finland has extremely clean tap water.
32. Most people speak English.
33. Nudity is not a problem.
34. Taxis are Mercedes and BMWs.
35. Everyone bicycles everywhere.
36. When standing at any location in Finland there will be at least three ice cream stands in sight.
37. Postage stamps are expensive.
38. The mall food court items are really fancy.
39. Most Fins have summer cottages.
40. The average Fin is in college for 7-8 years.
41. Hygiene is not an issue.
42. Cookies = Biscuits.
43. Fins love their Lady GaGa.
44. Leggings and Ts are the dress of choice for most girls, especially studded ones.
45. Stores have to stop selling alcohol at 9pm.
46. The downtown center looks like New York at rush hour…minus jay walking.
47. The streets are clean. No trash.
48. Gypsies dress in Renaissance style clothing.
49. There is no universal law for doors. It is hard to tell which way the door opens which has caused many embarrassing moments.
50. There are really small locks on doors where you have to turn the lock to open the door. This is very confusing and easily looked over.
51. The exit signs for a building are green with a white man running, an arrow pointing down, and a white rectangle.
52. Smurfs have made quite the impression in Finland. Smurfi candy, pop, decorative wear ..you get the picture.





for now fellow followers,
megan

Conference: Art Educators Unite.

Greetings from the land of no night –

I am going to be writing about the INSEA conference as well. Sorry this blog is out of order from the rest. Just to clarify the INSEA conference came before the Arctic Ocean.

The conference was actually pretty interesting. The best part about it was being around people who are like minded. So many times it is difficult to find those others who share your views or who actually understand what you’re talking about.

The conference took up four days (Monday-Thursday) this was one of the only times that we as a group did not have a scripted schedule where every detail is planned out for us. We were able to come and go as we pleased. We could attend any symposiums that we wanted to see or that had some special significance to our research or interests. We were given the option to ride the bus every morning at 8am and take it home around 5pm...needless to say we did not take the bus....ever.

The entire congress was in English but it was hard to understand most presenters. I am assuming that this a cultural difference but in the U.S. we have presenters who have engaging power points and they make eye contact and if they’re using notes it is done in a professional and secretive way. Not here. It was so different seeing how each person presented their information. Majority of the sessions I went to the person sat at the desk in front of us and just read page after page after page of notes with no images on the screen. We are art educators therefore we are most likely visual learners. We need visuals for us to be engaged.

As a group we presented on Wednesday morning at 9:30am. Our presentations went really well! They put us in a super small room and our entire group (35 ppl) took up the entire lecture hall. Our group was first (cultural sustainability) and we set the bar high. The other two groups took the stage and their presentations were equally as awesome. In comparison to all the other presentations and symposiums I attended, our was beyond unique. We told narratives and actually looked at the crowd (in contrast to the others that just read from the paper) and we also had engaging images....after our presentations there was a lot of interesting commentary that was vital. Not to toot our own horns....but TOOT TOOT!

Enjoy the photo-montage.

Part of our conference experience was spent at museums hob-nobbing with all the art folk. Mainly i was most concerned with when the food was going to be served but enjoyed the complementary champagne while waiting for all the speakers. long speakers = a lot of champagne.





This is from the opening of the conference. A traditional Suomi folk singer. She will make an appearance later.



These are traditional Finnish children during the opening ceremony for the Congress.



This is Rebekah looking thrilled at the first Keynote.



The small Suomi woman makes an appearance again!





These are the strange small fish that had bread crumbs on them.



These are the ladies who thought it'd be fun to the small breaded fishies.



This is the face of a lady who regrets her daring decision.



This is the introduction to our presentations! Yippie!



This is an image from sara's group. notice what is at the top of the slide show.



This is what happens when we are cooped in the same building for 12 hours a day.



Passing time at the conference...the usual.



fyi: Blueberry soup stains your teeth.



once again. stained.

ok that's all. moi moi. megan

Arctic Circle: The Land of Three-Legged Men

Moi fellow followers! We apologize for the lack of blogging as of late...we have been traveling all over Finland and have now finally settled in our last stop of our whirl wind tour of the land up north.

Speaking of traveling...our past weekend was spent spending 27 hours in a charter bus touring the sights and sounds of the Arctic Ocean...oh wait we spent so much time in cramped quarters that we could only see the Ocean for two hours.

We were on the bus for 14 hours on Friday and about 13 hours on Saturday. And I know you're wondering, "But Megan, how did you entertain yourself on such a long bus ride?" Good thing I will be providing a brief glimpse into how we piddled away a mere 27 hours.

1.) I was given the opportunity to listen to an assortment of traditional Finnish music. (The unfortunate thing is that the speakers above our heads had blown cones so it sounded like the traditional Fins were in a heavy metal show)

2.) I figured out a way to sleep while the gentle rocking of the bus lulled me to sleep. (Finnish driving is a bit different than U.S. driving. There area few things to note: a.) The hills of Norway are quite treacherous and have sharp turns. Imagine the hills of Tennessee or the Carolinas only much higher, colder, and you can't read the street signs. b.) Our driver was plowing through these hills and if we were in a charter bus race we totally would've taken the gold. c.) Reindeer and sheep are everywhere in Norway so just when you think you are almost asleep, BAM, you are hitting your head on the seat in front of you due to Santa's favorite pet walking across the street.

3.) We made friendship bracelets out of handmade yarn by the Lappish students.

4.) My DS provided a good hour or so of fine entertainment. In case you are wondering we are not Smarter Than a Fifth Grader.

5.) We played cards for hours. I was able to teach everyone Kemps, the up and coming popular card game most played by middle schoolers.

6.) Sara learned how to play hearts. It took a while but homegirl finally got it.

7.) Lots of chocolate.

8.) Sleep.

9.) Complain about the trip.

10.) Ohhh and Ahhhhh about all the sights.

11.) Complain about the trip.

Putting aside the fact that the trip consisted of far too many stops to souvenir shops and the limited time actually at the Ocean, the bus ride through Norway was truly beautiful. There really isn't a way to describe how clear the skies were or how surprisingly green the grass looked or how cold the water was on our feet. I just wish we could've spent more time there...

There is nothing else I can say to describe our trip so enjoy the photo montage below.

Watch out people! This is reindeer country!



Finally arrived at Alta, Norway! Walking down to the Ocean.



Fish smell = close to Ocean.



Falling rocks in Norway.



I'm on top of the world! Seriously though...at the top of the world.



This picture was taken around 1am. Sunset in Norway.



Marina.



Dave: The PhotoBomber.



Somehow the idea that swimming in the Arctic Ocean came about and the U.S. students were a little shy...so the Lappish tour guide showed everyone how a real Fin takes a dip. She literally just stood there and took off her clothes and jumped in. Nudity is not a concern in Finland. Obviously.



On our tour of Norway we also visited two museums, one on the way up and one on the way back. On the way back we stopped at the museum of rock carvings made by ancient Norwegians. This museum was actually quite interesting.



This was our 'rockin' tour guide....bwhaha.



This is a carving of a reindeer 'plussing' (+ing)



The inspiration for the blog title. The tour guide kept talking about the male and female carvings and the way to distinguish the two is by looking for the male's "third leg". Essentially all the men look like pitch forks.



Sara at the Arctic Ocean by the rock museum.



The last picture of Norway....

The trip was really fun and exciting. We were able to see some great pieces of nature and experience part of the world I never thought I would be able to see. I just wish we could've spent more time there. Two hours is definitely not enough time in Norway.

Kippis,
Megan

Its sauna (sow+nah) time

Sorry, no naked pictures!

So the mystery of the sauna time has been solved. my first encounter with the idea of sauna and the importance of it to the finnish culture stemmed from taking a shower and noticing a small ´memo´on the wall beside the light. it was a picture of santa (cartoon santa, of course) and he was running with a towel barely covering his "knochel-raisins". anyways, the memo wanted to inform me of the importance of remembering to bring a towel to the sauna (which is located on the top floor and is open between the
hours of 5-8). So if santa uses the sauna, i think it is only appropriate to use the sauna as well.

I like to think i had a legit sauna experience. If i was Jessica Simpson, and i was thinking of an episode for Price of Beauty (i know only like 15 ppl in the U.S. watch that show, but hey-thats what u get for summer tv) I would go to sauna in Rovaniemi.

We (as in 30 Finnish and American students) rented a sauna cottage for 4 hours. it was 300€ but it was a helluva relaxing experience.

This was to be the order of operations:

1. shower

2. sit in sauna til u can barely keep your head up

3. shower

4. dip in the river (the Kemijoki river)

5. shower

6. sit in sauna until your bones are finally warmed from dipping in the river

7. shower

8. dip in the river

(repeat as necessary)

I know that in the States it is like 80-90 degrees and this sounds like no big deal, but here in Rovaniemi where it is 5 miles from the artic circle, it is a bit brisk at times. So, the idea of dipping into a river kinda makes me feel like a bad ass. And to all the Buckeyes out there... I felt like i was well prepared to dip into frigid water thanks to our Mirror Lake adventures during Michigan Week.

Overall, the experience of the sauna was liberating, and it helped to clear my sinuses. My skin felt softer and I was very, very relaxed. Naked or not, I can see how this ritual can become a part of a weekly routine. I was very pleased that I restrained my desire to have a beer or two while enjoying the sauna, but I am pretty sure I would have thrown up due to dehydration. I mean if I am literally sweating so much that I am convinced that jumping into a river is the only way to cool myself off, I can only imagine what non-sober Sara may think is a good idea. I am glad i stuck to water.

Fierce & Reindeer,

Sara Christmas

The Weeping Willow War

Greetings from the land of no night! As a group we have decided to play news anchor and we have divided up the adventures that we will be writing about in the future. My current assignment to is speak about the engaging weekend at the willow workshop.

How do I start describing this past weekend...well our first taste of the University of Lapland was a 2 kilometer walk through the woods. Now, this is not a bad thing but keep in mind that we do this walk twice a day in the sun, rain, and mosquitoes. We have been making this walk for almost a week now to attend the INSEA conference...anyway.

The start of the willow workshop was rather confusing at first. There were about 35 of us standing around in the University waiting for the Lapland students to start directing us. There was a short presentation on the history and meaning behind willow sculpture making and then we were set free. It was decided by the Lappish students that we were going to be making bears out of willow. Giant, man eating, bears not to be confused with a teddy graham.

We were quasi divided into three groups which really meant that people who did not want to do heavy labor were in one group, the brains and heavy laborers in another, and the lack of decision makers in the final group. Rebekah and I ended up in the lack of decision group and Sara situated herself in the anti heavy labor group. Rebekah and I were instructed on how to make rope out of willow. Being it was 9am (2am your time) I was not all that keen on making rope out of willow plus I am not that good at it. So, for a while I was the official rope holder for Rebekah as she tied the branches together.

This was our first glimpse of what would be the most challenging task Rovaniemi has to offer.

This is the rope making station...Plenty of time was passed under this tent of mosquitoes.

NOTE: Willow branches and the Weeping Willow branches are different. We are speaking about the willow that can be seen in the Harry Pottery movies commonly referred to as the 'Womping Willow' not the Weeping Willow that is shown in Pocahontas. There is a fine line when speaking about willow and as we soon found out that the offensive mark it can leave on a Lappish student.

But I digress. The heavy labor do-ers made the wood structures for the bears. The anti-heavy laborers pulled the leaves off the branches which looked quite dreadful. I was just happy making rope...at least for the first three hours.

This is what the bare bones structure looks like.

Hour five came and went of willow making and by this point all of us were fed up. We were jet-lagged and were being eaten alive by those gosh darn mosquitoes. In many cases there were far too many cooks in the kitchen so us passive people were booted out to the outskirts of the area. The bears started to come together and in some cases even started looking like bulls, but that is not the point.

Exhibit A: Bull or pile of sticks. You decide.

The point is we willow-ed for five hours a day for two consecutive days and by the end of this willow workshop the group morale was rather unpleasant. Oh did I mention that it rained on the second day? Awesome.

Note that everyone is wearing a rain coat with their hoods up. Rainy, rainy, Finland.

The willow workshop was extremely unpleasant but the end results are quite incredible. I did have fun laughing with everyone and this is where the strong US and Finnish bond started forming. And this is where I realized I cannot go to another material workshop where I am being instructed by someone who does not speak English very well.'

I do have to give credit to Sara who started a journey while in the workshop that was inspiring. In this workshop there was a caste system that was unspoken of but everyone was aware that it was there. The leaf pullers were the hard laborers and they were at the bottom. The rope makers were a little higher on the totem pole because we had coverage from the sun and rain. The structural builders and designers were at the top, looking down upon us all. Sara was able to start at the bottom and slowly but surely gain the respect of the class directly above her and start working on their projects...once she had mastered their craft then she was able to gain the respect of the highest class and start actually building the willow bears. This took time and a lot of effort but eventually she did it, she worked at every station despite the glares and disapproving words she may had received. Great Job Sara! You make us all so proud!

Did I mention that while Sara was reaping the benefits of being top dog she was told by a Finnish instructor that what she was doing did not look "right" so she had to leave? I personally giggled but I think homegirl was silently offended. haha.

On a lighter note, Sara and I were able to pass the time by having "willow saber" wars. This passed the time and was simple entertainment for those delirious students around us.

Exhibit B: Sara pretending that she is the wicked witch of the west and flying on her broom. Note the action shot of the leaf pullers behind her.

Finnish Willow Saber Wars...

Overall, willow could possibly be interesting if:

a.) I was not suffering from jet lag.

b.) It was not raining while working.

c.) If I was not the main course for numerous mosquitoes.

On the bright side we did learn a new craft and got to bond with our Fins...sooo all in all a great learning experience.

xoxo,

Megan