Finial days in Finland

So here we go, nearly 2 months since my last real post. I have a LOT of catching up to do. We will begin with a whirlwind tour of my last month in Finland.

One of the things I will miss most about Helsinki: The alley outside of my flat that is always full of hooligans.

I liked studying in the National Library of Finland. It made me feel scholarly. And like I was a student at Hogwarts.

My study spot and view:

People enjoying the sun outside the Lutheran Cathedral.

The inside of the cathedral wasn't very exciting. But it did have a large pipe organ.

This is my version of "fresh, spring Finnish food." Cucumber, potato, and sour cream salad with dill and roe (on a Moomin place-mat. I love Moomintrolls.)

And my favorite cardamom bun. This one was big enough for a full meal.

A magpie

In April I went to an annual party held by the forestry and agriculture students at the University of Helsinki called Laidunkauden Avajaisten, which translates to "Opening of the grazing season" or "Hay party." Here is the advertisement for the party:

JIIIHAAA!!!

Pian jälleen koittaa aika jokakeväisten Laidunkauden Avajaisten! Varaathan jo nyt kalenteriisi paikan perjantaille 16.4, jolloin saavut viettämään laitsareita kanssamme Viikkin Vadelmakallion ladolle!!!

/\ /\
/ \__---__/ \
. .
. .
. @ @ .
| __ | JIHAA!!!
| .` ´. |
: | () ()| :
. | | .
\. `-__-` ./
\.___ ___./
```

Luvassa hulvatonta menoa, kotimaista bilemusiikkia livenä ja ehkäpä jopa
latoromantiikkaa... Teemana luonnollisesti Maaseutu.
Lisää infoa lipuista, esiintyvistä bändeistä yms. bileiden lähestyessä. Tarkkaile sähköpostiasi, jotta et missaa kevään parhaita bileitä & lähtölaukausta laidunkauden vietolle!!!

The party is held in a barn on the middle of the Viikki campus. Before the party we went over to our Finnish friend Laura's house before the party for some food and drinks. This was my first (and only) time in a Finnish house!

We watched some terrible Finnish soap opera (for the cultural experience).

Then we drove over to campus (my first (and only) time in a Finnish car! It was a corolla). Here is the view of campus and the moon from the barn. 

They had spruce bows at the entrance to the barn to keep the mud down.

It was a beautiful old barn.

So this is the best (and possibly the only good) thing about school in Finland: All the university students get these coverall things to wear. And each department of each university has a different color coverall. And the students wear them to any school function or party or anytime they get together. The coveralls come with logos from different sponsors (depending on the department) on them, and then the students personalize them with badges and patches. And if you're dating someone in a different department, you switch legs with each other (like the White Coverall guy below who is obviously dating a Green Coverall person). I want one SOOO bad. I didn't get one since they only order them once a year and I guess I wasn't there at the right time. I spent most of my time at the party being jealous of everyone's coveralls. 

There was lots of hay wrestling.

So this is a Finnish party.

Look at all those awesome coveralls!

Moving on to another event: We tried to have a "spring picnic" in the "forest." It was really, really cold, and we were actually just in a park that was not really that rural. But we made the most of it.

Next event: The Helsinki Scouts parade. Boy and Girl Scouts are combined in Finland and just called Scouts.

All the Scout troops marched by, some wearing funny hats, some chanting (yelling) things in Finnish. It's the kind of thing that's not very interesting unless you know someone in it. I stayed for about 10 minutes.

A spring hike on April 24th. Here is a Finnish mire (bog).

Coltsfoot

A Finnish trail crew has been hard a work.

This little guy is enjoying the sap from the cut birch trees.

Pussywillow

Cute little red squirrel with long ears.

The last of the winter snow. yuck!

Since the first day I arrived in Finland I've been hearing about the biggest party of the year: The first of May, or Vappu. It's regarded as the biggest holiday in Finland, even though it's mostly just a student holiday. It really starts on Thursday and goes until Sunday, but the highlight is the "hatting" of the Havis Amanda (placing a student cap on a statue in the harbor square) on Saturday. The heads of the student unions are suspended from a crane by a giant student cap (which look just like captain's hats to me) to place the cap on the statue, and then everyone puts their own caps on (which they receive when they graduate from high school).

The rest of the hours and days are mostly spent on picnics and drinking.

 Basset hounds with student caps

Balloons are a big deal on Vappu. 

Student coveralls!

 These are the red Forestry coveralls I should have had. Red is even my favorite color! If only... 

So Finnish: They had people cleaning up the moment the party began. 

The last week of school I went on an "excursion" (field trip) with my forest hydrology class. I was really excited since I love field trips and I would finally get a chance to see the forests of Finland. But it turned out to not be very exciting. It was actually quite boring. 

Our first visit was to a planned urban wetland.

(btw, this is not standard practice for all runoff areas in Finland. This area was a research site for some project). 

Here is the drain (very exciting). 

 A Finnish backyard. Looks like it could be Anywhere, USA. 

 A Finnish sub-division

 Next we went to a research forest site where they are monitoring precipitation, litter fall, evapotransporation, etc.

 This was also nothing I hadn't seen before in the US. 

 Collecting soil moisture. 

Finnish rush-hour traffic on the way home from the Excursion.

My lease ended in April, but I wasn't leaving Finland until May 9th. Finland has a legal public access law called jokamiehenoikeus or Every Man's Rights. This means that everyone has the right to hike or camp on any land, public or private, as long as you don't disturb anything or infringe on people's lives. So, for my last 10 days in Finland, I decided to set up camp in the UH campus forest. In order to find a place that wasn't visible from a trail or a recreation spot, I ended up finding a spot about 2 miles from my class location on campus. It was a beautiful spot and the walk was great, but it wasn't always so much fun first thing in the morning or late at night when I wanted to go to bed. The first night I slept out there I woke up in the morning to a heavy, wet snow.

I was so soaking wet by the time I got to class that I had to take my pants off and spend the rest of the day in my long johns.

But overall, the walks and my time in the woods was wonderful. 

The community garden right outside of my campsite

 

My temporary home 

And that there is the end of my time in Finland. Next up, ferry to Sweden, then kayaking in the fjords of Norway!

Moi moi, Finland!