Hello from Helsinki!
If there was ever a time to use a livejournal, an epic European trip would seem to be the time. Also, it's 3 AM here and I can't sleep at all, probably because my brain thinks it's 8 PM.
The sun is just coming up over the city now - midsummer was last week, so technically the nights are getting darker although it never really gets dark. I'm staying in a lovely apartment owned by one of my brother-in-law's relatives, and the best thing about it (besides the awesome location and the fact that it's free accommodation) is that there are huge windows in every room, so no matter where you look, there's always something to see. From their glassed in balcony, I can see all of downtown - the beautiful churches, the striking old buildings, the parks and the waterfront. I haven't had much chance to explore yet, but Susie and Jukka and the kids get here tomorrow and I'm sure they have everything planned out.
The trip was nicely uneventful. I left Kingston on the noon coach canada bus Wednesday and got to the airport so early that I had to kill time in the Toronto airport before heading off. The free w-fi was a nice surprise, so I chatted with friends and family while I had a bite to eat at Swiss Chalet and waited for them to start check-in. Once through security there was nothing to do but bother the Starbucks people for hot water, drink tea, and read a book. Our flight left a bit late, but it was comfortable enough - not quite the leg room you get on long-distance Amtrack trains, but it wasn't unbearably small. The best part was that it was covered in all sorts of information about Iceland (Icelandair, you see). I tried to stay awake to watch a movie but I passed out to the airplane's classical radio station about an hour into the flight and slept most of the way to Reykjavik. Once there, I got off the plane, went through security (again), got on a DIFFERENT plane within the next five minutes, and was on my way to Helsinki before I could really register I was in Reykjavik.
The Helsinki airport was small and super easy to navigate. You apparently don't even have to clear customs if you don't have anything to declare, awesomely enough. I was out and on my way downtown on the bus within 20 minutes. Everyone here seems really nice, which is lucky for me, because although most people speak English, very few signs or packages have English translations on them. I had to have one very nice person at the bus stop explain which fare I needed to get downtown (because although there was an English translation, it didn't exactly explain the differences between the three types of fares listed on the screen), another show me where the Finns put their bloody street signs (on buildings, in places you can barely see) and still a third, a cashier at the local supermarket, who graciously picked out the proper change for me from my handful of coins. (Note to self: take a good look at the euro coins before trying to go shopping again.) I then went out to dinner with Jukka's cousin and her boyfriend, and spent the rest of the evening trying not to fall asleep.
Lot of good it did me. I understand jet lag a LOT better now.
Jukka was right, though - Finland looks a lot like Minnesota. I keep expecting that I'll be able to read the street signs, or that I'll run into someone I know, or that my kitties will jump into my lap. It's strange, but Helsinki feels a lot like home.
Of course, there are a lot of little reminders. Like the fact that my kitties aren't here, but more to the point, I just wrote a LJ entry in a Finnish language browser with a Finnish keyboard and now I'm about to guess which button will actually post it to my account. I'm not even going to bother with mood - that's all in Finnish too!
Time to try and sleep, but if that fails, I can always watch the sun rise. At 4 AM.
The sun is just coming up over the city now - midsummer was last week, so technically the nights are getting darker although it never really gets dark. I'm staying in a lovely apartment owned by one of my brother-in-law's relatives, and the best thing about it (besides the awesome location and the fact that it's free accommodation) is that there are huge windows in every room, so no matter where you look, there's always something to see. From their glassed in balcony, I can see all of downtown - the beautiful churches, the striking old buildings, the parks and the waterfront. I haven't had much chance to explore yet, but Susie and Jukka and the kids get here tomorrow and I'm sure they have everything planned out.
The trip was nicely uneventful. I left Kingston on the noon coach canada bus Wednesday and got to the airport so early that I had to kill time in the Toronto airport before heading off. The free w-fi was a nice surprise, so I chatted with friends and family while I had a bite to eat at Swiss Chalet and waited for them to start check-in. Once through security there was nothing to do but bother the Starbucks people for hot water, drink tea, and read a book. Our flight left a bit late, but it was comfortable enough - not quite the leg room you get on long-distance Amtrack trains, but it wasn't unbearably small. The best part was that it was covered in all sorts of information about Iceland (Icelandair, you see). I tried to stay awake to watch a movie but I passed out to the airplane's classical radio station about an hour into the flight and slept most of the way to Reykjavik. Once there, I got off the plane, went through security (again), got on a DIFFERENT plane within the next five minutes, and was on my way to Helsinki before I could really register I was in Reykjavik.
The Helsinki airport was small and super easy to navigate. You apparently don't even have to clear customs if you don't have anything to declare, awesomely enough. I was out and on my way downtown on the bus within 20 minutes. Everyone here seems really nice, which is lucky for me, because although most people speak English, very few signs or packages have English translations on them. I had to have one very nice person at the bus stop explain which fare I needed to get downtown (because although there was an English translation, it didn't exactly explain the differences between the three types of fares listed on the screen), another show me where the Finns put their bloody street signs (on buildings, in places you can barely see) and still a third, a cashier at the local supermarket, who graciously picked out the proper change for me from my handful of coins. (Note to self: take a good look at the euro coins before trying to go shopping again.) I then went out to dinner with Jukka's cousin and her boyfriend, and spent the rest of the evening trying not to fall asleep.
Lot of good it did me. I understand jet lag a LOT better now.
Jukka was right, though - Finland looks a lot like Minnesota. I keep expecting that I'll be able to read the street signs, or that I'll run into someone I know, or that my kitties will jump into my lap. It's strange, but Helsinki feels a lot like home.
Of course, there are a lot of little reminders. Like the fact that my kitties aren't here, but more to the point, I just wrote a LJ entry in a Finnish language browser with a Finnish keyboard and now I'm about to guess which button will actually post it to my account. I'm not even going to bother with mood - that's all in Finnish too!
Time to try and sleep, but if that fails, I can always watch the sun rise. At 4 AM.