First few days in Finland

I grabbed a series of trains back from the West coast of Norway to Stockholm. I spent two nights in Sweden, and met two Australian friends Brett and Rohan from Melbourne. We had plenty to talk about and wound up getting some drinks together and chatting up some Danish girls who were staying at the same place as us. Then a Finnish girl showed up speaking five languages, and was one of the funniest girls I've ever met, though I'm sure I'll never see her again.

The following day was the Swedish Royal Wedding. The Swedish Princess Victoria was marrying a normal guy named Daniel. Does great things for my dreams. Here is a picture of the royal boat being carried through the canals of Stockholm from the carriage to the Royal Apartments. There is a Swedish Princess on that boat, and I saw her from a distance with my own eyes. Cool, I guess?



Then we took the Viking Line cruise over the Baltic Sea from Stockholm to Helsinki. The Aussies have all the good pictures of the trip, and I took only about two before blacking out after slamming all the inclusive beer I could at the time limited buffet then drinking a plethora of cocktails at the bar. I wound up dancing on the floor with the guys and suddenly some Finnish girls showed up. Then they left. Taking a page from the book of my friend Dylan Purcell, who I am meeting in Spain, I saw they went to the smoking room and proceded to ask them a question I knew the answer to. Like magic, it worked. They lent me a lighter, though I already had one, and next thing I knew not only was I dancing with a pretty blonde Finnish girl named Kirsi, but she was telling me 'kiipis' and force feeding me some kind of sweet alcoholic drink in a can that I would later learn is called Finnish Long Drink.

From there the night is blurry, but I woke up with Kirsi in a room full of her Finnish friends and the loudspeaker told us we were in Helsinki. With sweat on my face and a pounding headache, I said my goodbyes, exchanged numbers and Fbook info, and dragged myself back down to my unused cabin room. I frantically packed my things and made my way off the boat...probably literally the last person to do so. And who should I see as the first person waiting but Emmi. Well, actually she recognized me first and stood up, otherwise it is possible that I might have walked right by her, since my Von Zippers were covering bloodshot eyes that were only half open. So there I was, sweat on my brow, shirt still slightly unbuttoned, and with a headache that could split wood, face to face with Emmi again. Strangely enough, it was like a day hadnt gone by and we hugged, I kissed her on the cheek, and we got to finding my hostel for the first few days and planning what we were going to do for the week I was there. Perhaps one of the most surreal moments of my life, but no time to think about it, life had to go on and I had to meet her parents and family. They were wonderful people, and her mom was especially nice and welcoming.

I had a few meetings the first few days and found them with no problem, and fortunately noticed that Finland is significantly cheaper than Norway and Sweden, so my weekly expenditures for once were below my budget.

On Tuesday we also met Meri and Leena and went out and had some drinks then went to get some tacos. I started a thing randomly when in Melbourne called Taco Tuesdays because Ben and I ate tacos on a Tuesday and got drunk and I realized they were one of the few things I enjoyed about Australian cuisine. The Finnish girls at the RMIT Village, Meri and Leena, were instantly interested, though I can't say I remember why or how... I met Leena first at the white church, and she is the same as always; ungodly and casually gorgeous and forever a fan of wearing bright colors. Pretty much the most Finnish girl you could ever meet, and a complete sweetheart who doesn't drink to where she gets out of control and who constantly radiates an extremely confident and reserved demeanor. I admitted to her that I was really intimidated by her when I first met her, but over time she became my friend and is now one of my favorite people I've met.

Meri was doing well too, though I didn't steal any pictures of her during the night. I kind of started drinking and forgot to do that. Still a sassy little redhead giving people hell and studying the law by the sounds of it.


I'll have to finish the story in a second post. I'm in Amsterdam now and need to go get something to eat. I'm staying with my lovely Dutch friend Fleur who is much taller than most men and loves to surf. Plus she is hilarious and one of the greatest people you could ever meet.