The Journey to Finland

Twelve hours.  That's how long I slept  last night.  I think my body hasn't fully adjusted to the time difference that I found myself  feeling sleepy at 5pm for two days.  The time difference between Finland and the Philippines is +5 hours.  I feel better now so I guess my internal clock has adjusted.

The Erasmus Student Network organized the "Ultimate Sauna Experience" yesterday but I decided to skip it because I got tired from walking the whole day.  It would have been a wonderful way to end the day but unfortunately, I would have to walk back home as I haven't bought a bike yet.  I walked a total of 16428 steps according to my pedometer.  My flat is about 3km from the university and it took me about 30 minutes to cover the distance.


Allow me to backtrack to Thursday, September 1.  I took the midnight flight from Hong Kong and arrived in Helsinki at 6am.  The flight was 10.5 hours long and it was surprisingly pleasant.  I couldn't help but notice though that the cabin crew weren't as warm as I expected.  Is the hospitality of a cabin crew related to the airline which he or she serves?  I don't know but 9 out of the top 10 best airlines in the world in 2011 are from Asia.  Technically, it's 9.5 because Turkey is part of Eurasia.  The hypothesis is the hospitality of the cabin crew is correlated to the average annual temperature of the country from which the airline is based.  Or is it?

1 September 2011.  6am.  Helsinki International Airport.  I realized that I was finally back in Europe after 11 long years.

20 July 2000.  That was the first time I set foot in Europe at the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.

It's a good thing that Helsinki Airport had free wifi so I passed time chatting with friends online.  The connecting flight to Jyväskylä was 12:45pm.  The flight was short but the cabin crew were smiling more.  Maybe because they didn't have to serve 200+ passengers on a midnight long haul flight.  I will never know for sure.

The Jyväskylä airport was small.  It reminded me of the one in Nelson, New Zealand.  The airport is located 20km from the city center and one has the option to take a bus to the city center, or taxi straight to one's desired destination.  The decision was between (1) taking the bus to city center, dragging 30kg worth of luggage along, and taking another bus to the student apartment building, but paying only 8.10 euros total, or (2) taking the taxi straight to the apartment and pay 24 euros.  I decided not to be a prince.

The Finns are very organized.  They have arranged student tutors for the incoming international students and these tutors help the new students to get settled in their new home.  My tutor, Lisa, is from Moscow and a 2nd-year student under the EMSEP program, the same program that I am in.  Thanks to Lissa, all the logistics have been ironed out already on my 2nd day here.

Thursday was to help me get settled in the apartment, including the forms to fill out, the key which can open doors in the building, flat, bedroom, laundry room, etc., and taking me to the nearby supermarket so I could start buying the essentials.

Friday was showing me the campus/city/2nd hand shops/bicycle store, activating the email account, paying the student ID, showing me the cafeteria, submitting the form to KOAS, the student housing office, and having my apartment internet connection activated. There were so much information to deal with but it was good.  There was a lot of walking as well.

Saturday was more walking for me as I wanted to explore the city and to figure out the routes by myself.  I also wanted to know where the Ashtanga studio and how far it is from the campus.  I know where it is now so I will try to catch the 4:30pm mysore class this week.

As for practice, I did my 2nd asana practice in Finland this morning.  Like the first one on Friday, it was nice and easy.  Sweat wasn't pouring but the body was warm enough to bind and bend like a 10-year old kid.

I'm still warming up the kitchen so today I cooked my first dinner.

A simple scrambled egg with Finnish bread and spinach patties on the side.  The patties were ready-made.

Saute 1 clove garlic, minced, handful of slide onions.  Add the bread.  I used 2 slices of Finnish rye bread cut into small pieces.  Stir occasionally until lightly toasted.  After 1-2 minutes, add a basic scrambled egg mixture (2 eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and herbs) into the toasted bread and let it set for a bit before mixing it thoroughly.  I will try to make spinach patty from scratch in the future so I will end with that.

Here are some photos of my room and kitchen.  For now, nakemiin!