Man, slept as much as I could since I went to bed at about 5 am. Of course, the fat snoring guy stayed in bed the latest of all the people in the "room". I kept waking up. I ate some breakfast I bought at the store that Philipp told me about at like 1245 and felt kinda awkward moving around the girls cleaning the rooms and floors.
I managed to get myself together and out on the town for a few more sights before the party that Samu invited me to later that night. I saw the Russian (or I read actually Finnish) Orthodox cathedral. It was beautiful.
Then I went to the Lutheran Cathedral. It was even bigger but more sparse on the inside.
Uh ok, then what did I do? Yeah, I just went around the city. Stopped to photo the theater (first image below) and the train station (second image below).
I bought the bottle of Minttu from Alko, the state run hard alcohol shop. No one else is able to sell hard alcohol. It's closed on Sundays of course, and has regular business hours the rest of the week.
Then I went back to the hostel and freaking slept. I was dog tired from the late night and constant wake ups during the morning. My alarm woke me up, but I was so out of it that it took me a few moments to realize I was sleeping and my alarm was ringing under my pillow.
I got changed, put on some nice men's perfume and set out for the party that Samu invited me to the night before. It luckily got pushed back to about 21:00 at the apartment of Katja, his friend/employee. It was originally supposed to be at 17:30 at a park, but the weather was somewhat threatening. I got a bit lost on the tram. I missed my stop, walked back a stop thinking the next train wouldn't stop at the stop I got off on, and finally waited for the connecting train only to find it stopped at the stop I walked away from. Grrr. No matter, it was a party. No need to show up early or on time.
I got to the place and it was very confusing. I looked a lot for the right building and passed by it unknowingly at least twice. I actually considered dropping my phone out of airplane mode to make use of the 300 megs of international data I have to see if Samu had messaged me about further directions. I saw the entrance I needed, but it was locked with no buzzer. I did another pass and saw that it was now propped open and a girl in a nice green dress was on the phone in the little foyer. I waited around shyly to ask her if this was the place, but she left. Screw it, gotta take chances. I came too far to turn back now. I went in and started up the stairs to the apartment number Samu gave me. The lights went out. Gosh darn it. I went down the stairs and found a switch to turn them on. Turns out these switches were upstairs, but I thought they were doorbells. But then, why would you need a doorbell on the inside of the building that cannot be accessed without a key to the outer door? I wasn't thinking.
Anyway, I found the door and was pleasantly let in by a pretty, slim, darker featured girl in a nice dress. Dang, I can't remember her name. She was nice and made me guess where she's from. Based on the accent and the fact that I knew Katja was Russian, I picked the same. She was surprised, how did I know? I gave my reasons. She said, yes, there are certainly some of us Russians here.
I met a guy from Syria who was a fun, kind of intense, somewhat classic middle eastern guy. His English was darn good and he had a great accent. He was thin and tall and was well dressed in a beige sweater. He joked that he was the bouncer to the kitchen and I must pay to pass. I mentioned how Finland is the least corrupt country and he said, "We are not Finnish!" motioning to two other girls next to him. One was a nice, husky Russian girl who was friendly and did a good job keeping conversation up. The other looked Indian and I only talked briefly with her. Anyway, the Syrian guy was studying in Finland and had to take intense Finnish language classes for 7 months to get his Finnish to a broken but serviceable state. He said people in Helsinki respond to him in Finnish when he speaks it, but people outside the big city respond in English as if to prove to him that they know English and aren't just hicks. He said he didn't really like it in Finland and asked himself "What the hell am I doing here?!" His family is in Syria. He told me he wants the USA to bomb Assad because he is bombing civilians, "someone should take him out!" I was surprised to hear he wanted US intervention, but it made sense. He said he has a Turkish friend in Finland and he teased him that "They are pussies! We shot down your plane and you do nothing!" I was hella laughing as he was suggesting Turkey should have responded violently to his own country! He also told me that on a business trip to LA, he heard some Finnish people speaking on a street corner. He said hello to them in Finnish and enjoyed their shocked reactions as they must have thought they were the only Finnish people in the city. He said he liked SF better as a lot of people in Scandinavia have told me. Ah, whatever. They just don't know the good parts of LA.
I met a fairly annoying conversation hog named... Well, I don't remember now. He spoke like an American, was a little fat, had ugly hair down the bottom of his neck, was fairly dark for a Finn, and wore a lame "reign in blood" Slayer t shirt. His English was American because his dad spoke American English with him. But his dad is Russian. I think his dad worked in the states. It was just really odd to hear this American guy who was actually a Finn. He speaks fast and really wants you to listen to him. He goes on and on about video game conferences (because he interns for some Finnish video game company) and Pacific Rim. He's kinda one of those loud, drinking, "the stuff I like is the best" tech nerds. Very annoying to me. He makes it seem like he knows everything, but that's just because he switches the conversation to topics he can blab about. He wanted to get Tristan's attention (he and Riley were there, too) and he tried once. Then he said, "Oh he's from the UK, he needs to hear loud oy's!" So he just started shouting at Tristan who was talking with someone else only about 5 feet away. "OY! OY! TRISTAN, OY!" Finally Tristan responded and chewed him out saying, "you're screaming at me, anyone is gonna respond to that, doesn't matter where they're from!" And I was like, yeah, you tell that pest. We moved to the train station and I was able to lose the fat Finn.
I talked to Tristan a little more and that was a refreshing change. He was telling me that in Newcastle guys roll a pack of fags in their short sleeve shirts and girls wear short skirts and flip flops in the snow because it's always some type of cold there. He boxes and was telling us a bit about boxing. It was fun to see him shadow boxing on the streets of Helsinki. He talked about throwing a roundhouse in self defense under a jab. I thought a roundhouse was a kick and his motion was a hay maker. Probably just a dialect thing. The loud Finn told us how you can only respond with equal force in self defense in Finland. He said most people use open palms so that it hurts, but there's no evidence of your attacks. Seemed a bit silly to me, hahha.
I met a girl who was part of an ethnic Finnish group of only 16,000. She was kinda pretty and had an awesome scar going from under to eye to below her cheek bone. I politely didn't ask. She was very friendly and liked asking me questions about my visit. I thought she might have fancied this particular foreigner.
The rest of the night really belonged to hanging out with Samu and Samuel at two bars/nightclubs. Samuel had to leave for Switzerland at 7 am I think. So he kept saying, "I have to be on the plane iiiiin... 4 hours" and then he would put his head in his hands. He wished it was a longer plane ride so he could just sleep for a full night on it. But it was only about three. Hahah, he did it to himself though. We were all tired from the last night and didn't feel like going too hard after a few drinks. But Samuel nonetheless said "I want to try this Minttu" and his slight curiosity or excitement was funny to me. We did a shot and it is good and strong. We had some more Fishot, too. I really miss the Finnish drinks.
The first place wasn't too lively, but Samuel and I decided to dance anyway because as I said "it will be the last time we are both going to be in Finnish nightclubs in a while!" We danced a bit and went back for drinks and they told me how important it is to do a Finnish sauna. They say the midsummer fest is when you get together with family and friends and just drink and go in the sauna and eat and drink and repeat. He said everyone is naked in the sauna, so you have to behave yourself when the genders mix. He said it's common to go with your family naked until you are maybe a teenager. They both really encouraged me to try it. I did on Sunday which will have to wait to that post.
We didn't discuss too many substantial things, but they encouraged me to talk to some girls. Usually in LA, Josh and I need a partial strategy, but Samu said all I had to do was say "Hi." in my American accent. He said they like talking to foreigners. It was funny how he presented me with saying hi. He would say, "You just go up, and say" then he takes a small dramatic pause "Hi." very proudly and loudly. So, there was a small, pretty, blonde girl with short hair (maybe mid or low neck) sitting at a table with her two friends and we went in. They let me sit right next to her and they sat to my right while her friends sat to her (and my) left. I just said hi. Hahaha, and it totally worked. She wasn't very interested, but she was still so polite! She would just kind of answer my questions and I had to think of another. Obviously it was going nowhere, but she was so much more nice than I expected. I felt like I bombed it because I had no ideas of topics after "hi". But I learned she's from outside the city, her name is Hannah, and they were thinking of changing bars soon. I tried to show off that I'm from LA and it lasted a few moments maybe. They eventually all said goodbye (even though I was talking to only Hannah) and left politely. Samu and Samuel said they knew they'd be leaving soon, but thought they had more time. They were going to come in shortly, but the girls left. They said I did a great job and I was not so sure I agreed, but happy for the compliment. It was just so surprising to really bomb a conversation and have the girls be very polite and still responsive. Usually they just make an excuse and bail immediately. It was fun.
The next stop was Cuba. It was a nightclub that we stopped at on the pub crawl. Only this time it was paaaacked. Samu was talking to two girls in line and wanted to show off he could get in ahead of them. He spoke to the bouncer and, sure enough, in we went. He said "That just cost me 30 euros, but I think it's worth it!" Samuel told me he had to show off to those girls and held out his hands, palms up saying "This is Samu."
We got more Fishot I believe and hit the dance floor. It was still funny to me to see so much clean dancing. No one grinding each other, no one making out on the dance floor. It felt much funner. Samu disappeared for a bit, so Samuel and I were dancing. Man, there were a LOT of girls around. I kinda sang a lyric to one blonde girl and she smiled so Samuel said, "Should we ask these girls if they want to dance?" Sure. So he talked to the blonde and then we kinda moved closer. I said, "Was that a yes?" And he said, "I think so." Haha, that easy. Of course, that meant just dancing next to each other. Samuel talked to the pretty blonde girl who was smiling a lot, and I was next to the more shapely brunette friend. She was pretty, but her eyes looked way drunk and really narrow. She didn't seem very interested, and that was a bummer because Samuel was talking to the smiling blonde quite a bit. They eventually moved on with a polite good bye.
I went to the bathroom and laughed at two girls or a guy and a girl going sometimes going into a single toilet bathroom at a time. I asked a drunk guy about it, but it was too loud and I didn't understand. I think he said it's big enough for two. Still, odd. When I got back, the Sams were talking to two girls in the back of the bar. I wandered over and stood close-ish by. Oh, a pretty brunette with light eyes alone next to me. Well, better try my line. Except, this time I had a valid question. It seemed her group had captain or sailor hats on and so I asked about that. She was slow to respond because she said she was surprised by my English. But of course hers was flawless. She said they worked for a bank and it was some party. She was more friendly than Hannah and talked about her social work. I must have mentioned LA because I think that was when she mentioned she went to Columbia with her boyfriend recently. We talked about travel a bit and how she should go to LA and it was fun. It was also fun how she was nice and wanting to chat when she had friends and her boyfriend right there close by! I was surprised again by that. I expected the boyfriend to come over protectively, but everyone was so chill. The Sams were leaving, so I politely said goodbye.
Samu saw the girls he bragged to in line on our way out, and he stopped to talk. I hung with Samuel and we ran into the pretty blonde girl and the drunken eyed brunette again. We said hi for a bit and moved to the door. Samuel said he wanted to get away because they already seemed uninterested and he didn't want to stick around. So we waited for Samu and Samuel again reminded me that this is what he does. Samuel is more reserved than Samu and has to talk him down/move him along sometimes. They are a good pair of friends.
We left and Samu said, "It looks like I'm not coming back to Cuba for three months! I was supposed to pay the bouncer 30 euros on the way out, but his back was turned and I ran out!" We all had a good laugh, but I was shocked that the bouncer would accept the money on the way OUT of the club. Hahaha, crazy Finland.
We went to a kebab place and the Sams regaled me with stories of nasty pudding only eaten on Easter. Samu blasphemously (and hilariously) said, "It tastes like shit, and we have to eat it because Jesus took our shit!" Samuel tried to get us going before Samu could start his diatribe on why men can't be in a committed relationship, but it was no use. Instead he said, "Ok Samu, you have 4 minutes, I have to be on the plane in 3 hours." So Samu told us how men need to sleep with as many women as they can to spread their seed and women need to keep the man to nuture the child. He said our monogamous culture arrived only 20,000 years ago, but we've been around for 100,000 years. I'm not so sure it's been 20,000 years, but he was probably drunk. I guess his argument holds weight for some unfaithful men, but Samu and I were just kinda humoring him. He got to a reasonable stopping point and Samu quickly let him know his time was up and thank you.
It was probably 4 am when we parted, and I was sad I wouldn't see them in the near future. They were so warm and welcoming that I possibly had the most fun in Finland. I will certainly miss those guys and those drinks!
I managed to get myself together and out on the town for a few more sights before the party that Samu invited me to later that night. I saw the Russian (or I read actually Finnish) Orthodox cathedral. It was beautiful.
Then I went to the Lutheran Cathedral. It was even bigger but more sparse on the inside.
Uh ok, then what did I do? Yeah, I just went around the city. Stopped to photo the theater (first image below) and the train station (second image below).
I bought the bottle of Minttu from Alko, the state run hard alcohol shop. No one else is able to sell hard alcohol. It's closed on Sundays of course, and has regular business hours the rest of the week.
Then I went back to the hostel and freaking slept. I was dog tired from the late night and constant wake ups during the morning. My alarm woke me up, but I was so out of it that it took me a few moments to realize I was sleeping and my alarm was ringing under my pillow.
I got changed, put on some nice men's perfume and set out for the party that Samu invited me to the night before. It luckily got pushed back to about 21:00 at the apartment of Katja, his friend/employee. It was originally supposed to be at 17:30 at a park, but the weather was somewhat threatening. I got a bit lost on the tram. I missed my stop, walked back a stop thinking the next train wouldn't stop at the stop I got off on, and finally waited for the connecting train only to find it stopped at the stop I walked away from. Grrr. No matter, it was a party. No need to show up early or on time.
I got to the place and it was very confusing. I looked a lot for the right building and passed by it unknowingly at least twice. I actually considered dropping my phone out of airplane mode to make use of the 300 megs of international data I have to see if Samu had messaged me about further directions. I saw the entrance I needed, but it was locked with no buzzer. I did another pass and saw that it was now propped open and a girl in a nice green dress was on the phone in the little foyer. I waited around shyly to ask her if this was the place, but she left. Screw it, gotta take chances. I came too far to turn back now. I went in and started up the stairs to the apartment number Samu gave me. The lights went out. Gosh darn it. I went down the stairs and found a switch to turn them on. Turns out these switches were upstairs, but I thought they were doorbells. But then, why would you need a doorbell on the inside of the building that cannot be accessed without a key to the outer door? I wasn't thinking.
Anyway, I found the door and was pleasantly let in by a pretty, slim, darker featured girl in a nice dress. Dang, I can't remember her name. She was nice and made me guess where she's from. Based on the accent and the fact that I knew Katja was Russian, I picked the same. She was surprised, how did I know? I gave my reasons. She said, yes, there are certainly some of us Russians here.
I met a guy from Syria who was a fun, kind of intense, somewhat classic middle eastern guy. His English was darn good and he had a great accent. He was thin and tall and was well dressed in a beige sweater. He joked that he was the bouncer to the kitchen and I must pay to pass. I mentioned how Finland is the least corrupt country and he said, "We are not Finnish!" motioning to two other girls next to him. One was a nice, husky Russian girl who was friendly and did a good job keeping conversation up. The other looked Indian and I only talked briefly with her. Anyway, the Syrian guy was studying in Finland and had to take intense Finnish language classes for 7 months to get his Finnish to a broken but serviceable state. He said people in Helsinki respond to him in Finnish when he speaks it, but people outside the big city respond in English as if to prove to him that they know English and aren't just hicks. He said he didn't really like it in Finland and asked himself "What the hell am I doing here?!" His family is in Syria. He told me he wants the USA to bomb Assad because he is bombing civilians, "someone should take him out!" I was surprised to hear he wanted US intervention, but it made sense. He said he has a Turkish friend in Finland and he teased him that "They are pussies! We shot down your plane and you do nothing!" I was hella laughing as he was suggesting Turkey should have responded violently to his own country! He also told me that on a business trip to LA, he heard some Finnish people speaking on a street corner. He said hello to them in Finnish and enjoyed their shocked reactions as they must have thought they were the only Finnish people in the city. He said he liked SF better as a lot of people in Scandinavia have told me. Ah, whatever. They just don't know the good parts of LA.
I met a fairly annoying conversation hog named... Well, I don't remember now. He spoke like an American, was a little fat, had ugly hair down the bottom of his neck, was fairly dark for a Finn, and wore a lame "reign in blood" Slayer t shirt. His English was American because his dad spoke American English with him. But his dad is Russian. I think his dad worked in the states. It was just really odd to hear this American guy who was actually a Finn. He speaks fast and really wants you to listen to him. He goes on and on about video game conferences (because he interns for some Finnish video game company) and Pacific Rim. He's kinda one of those loud, drinking, "the stuff I like is the best" tech nerds. Very annoying to me. He makes it seem like he knows everything, but that's just because he switches the conversation to topics he can blab about. He wanted to get Tristan's attention (he and Riley were there, too) and he tried once. Then he said, "Oh he's from the UK, he needs to hear loud oy's!" So he just started shouting at Tristan who was talking with someone else only about 5 feet away. "OY! OY! TRISTAN, OY!" Finally Tristan responded and chewed him out saying, "you're screaming at me, anyone is gonna respond to that, doesn't matter where they're from!" And I was like, yeah, you tell that pest. We moved to the train station and I was able to lose the fat Finn.
I talked to Tristan a little more and that was a refreshing change. He was telling me that in Newcastle guys roll a pack of fags in their short sleeve shirts and girls wear short skirts and flip flops in the snow because it's always some type of cold there. He boxes and was telling us a bit about boxing. It was fun to see him shadow boxing on the streets of Helsinki. He talked about throwing a roundhouse in self defense under a jab. I thought a roundhouse was a kick and his motion was a hay maker. Probably just a dialect thing. The loud Finn told us how you can only respond with equal force in self defense in Finland. He said most people use open palms so that it hurts, but there's no evidence of your attacks. Seemed a bit silly to me, hahha.
I met a girl who was part of an ethnic Finnish group of only 16,000. She was kinda pretty and had an awesome scar going from under to eye to below her cheek bone. I politely didn't ask. She was very friendly and liked asking me questions about my visit. I thought she might have fancied this particular foreigner.
The rest of the night really belonged to hanging out with Samu and Samuel at two bars/nightclubs. Samuel had to leave for Switzerland at 7 am I think. So he kept saying, "I have to be on the plane iiiiin... 4 hours" and then he would put his head in his hands. He wished it was a longer plane ride so he could just sleep for a full night on it. But it was only about three. Hahah, he did it to himself though. We were all tired from the last night and didn't feel like going too hard after a few drinks. But Samuel nonetheless said "I want to try this Minttu" and his slight curiosity or excitement was funny to me. We did a shot and it is good and strong. We had some more Fishot, too. I really miss the Finnish drinks.
The first place wasn't too lively, but Samuel and I decided to dance anyway because as I said "it will be the last time we are both going to be in Finnish nightclubs in a while!" We danced a bit and went back for drinks and they told me how important it is to do a Finnish sauna. They say the midsummer fest is when you get together with family and friends and just drink and go in the sauna and eat and drink and repeat. He said everyone is naked in the sauna, so you have to behave yourself when the genders mix. He said it's common to go with your family naked until you are maybe a teenager. They both really encouraged me to try it. I did on Sunday which will have to wait to that post.
We didn't discuss too many substantial things, but they encouraged me to talk to some girls. Usually in LA, Josh and I need a partial strategy, but Samu said all I had to do was say "Hi." in my American accent. He said they like talking to foreigners. It was funny how he presented me with saying hi. He would say, "You just go up, and say" then he takes a small dramatic pause "Hi." very proudly and loudly. So, there was a small, pretty, blonde girl with short hair (maybe mid or low neck) sitting at a table with her two friends and we went in. They let me sit right next to her and they sat to my right while her friends sat to her (and my) left. I just said hi. Hahaha, and it totally worked. She wasn't very interested, but she was still so polite! She would just kind of answer my questions and I had to think of another. Obviously it was going nowhere, but she was so much more nice than I expected. I felt like I bombed it because I had no ideas of topics after "hi". But I learned she's from outside the city, her name is Hannah, and they were thinking of changing bars soon. I tried to show off that I'm from LA and it lasted a few moments maybe. They eventually all said goodbye (even though I was talking to only Hannah) and left politely. Samu and Samuel said they knew they'd be leaving soon, but thought they had more time. They were going to come in shortly, but the girls left. They said I did a great job and I was not so sure I agreed, but happy for the compliment. It was just so surprising to really bomb a conversation and have the girls be very polite and still responsive. Usually they just make an excuse and bail immediately. It was fun.
The next stop was Cuba. It was a nightclub that we stopped at on the pub crawl. Only this time it was paaaacked. Samu was talking to two girls in line and wanted to show off he could get in ahead of them. He spoke to the bouncer and, sure enough, in we went. He said "That just cost me 30 euros, but I think it's worth it!" Samuel told me he had to show off to those girls and held out his hands, palms up saying "This is Samu."
We got more Fishot I believe and hit the dance floor. It was still funny to me to see so much clean dancing. No one grinding each other, no one making out on the dance floor. It felt much funner. Samu disappeared for a bit, so Samuel and I were dancing. Man, there were a LOT of girls around. I kinda sang a lyric to one blonde girl and she smiled so Samuel said, "Should we ask these girls if they want to dance?" Sure. So he talked to the blonde and then we kinda moved closer. I said, "Was that a yes?" And he said, "I think so." Haha, that easy. Of course, that meant just dancing next to each other. Samuel talked to the pretty blonde girl who was smiling a lot, and I was next to the more shapely brunette friend. She was pretty, but her eyes looked way drunk and really narrow. She didn't seem very interested, and that was a bummer because Samuel was talking to the smiling blonde quite a bit. They eventually moved on with a polite good bye.
I went to the bathroom and laughed at two girls or a guy and a girl going sometimes going into a single toilet bathroom at a time. I asked a drunk guy about it, but it was too loud and I didn't understand. I think he said it's big enough for two. Still, odd. When I got back, the Sams were talking to two girls in the back of the bar. I wandered over and stood close-ish by. Oh, a pretty brunette with light eyes alone next to me. Well, better try my line. Except, this time I had a valid question. It seemed her group had captain or sailor hats on and so I asked about that. She was slow to respond because she said she was surprised by my English. But of course hers was flawless. She said they worked for a bank and it was some party. She was more friendly than Hannah and talked about her social work. I must have mentioned LA because I think that was when she mentioned she went to Columbia with her boyfriend recently. We talked about travel a bit and how she should go to LA and it was fun. It was also fun how she was nice and wanting to chat when she had friends and her boyfriend right there close by! I was surprised again by that. I expected the boyfriend to come over protectively, but everyone was so chill. The Sams were leaving, so I politely said goodbye.
Samu saw the girls he bragged to in line on our way out, and he stopped to talk. I hung with Samuel and we ran into the pretty blonde girl and the drunken eyed brunette again. We said hi for a bit and moved to the door. Samuel said he wanted to get away because they already seemed uninterested and he didn't want to stick around. So we waited for Samu and Samuel again reminded me that this is what he does. Samuel is more reserved than Samu and has to talk him down/move him along sometimes. They are a good pair of friends.
We left and Samu said, "It looks like I'm not coming back to Cuba for three months! I was supposed to pay the bouncer 30 euros on the way out, but his back was turned and I ran out!" We all had a good laugh, but I was shocked that the bouncer would accept the money on the way OUT of the club. Hahaha, crazy Finland.
We went to a kebab place and the Sams regaled me with stories of nasty pudding only eaten on Easter. Samu blasphemously (and hilariously) said, "It tastes like shit, and we have to eat it because Jesus took our shit!" Samuel tried to get us going before Samu could start his diatribe on why men can't be in a committed relationship, but it was no use. Instead he said, "Ok Samu, you have 4 minutes, I have to be on the plane in 3 hours." So Samu told us how men need to sleep with as many women as they can to spread their seed and women need to keep the man to nuture the child. He said our monogamous culture arrived only 20,000 years ago, but we've been around for 100,000 years. I'm not so sure it's been 20,000 years, but he was probably drunk. I guess his argument holds weight for some unfaithful men, but Samu and I were just kinda humoring him. He got to a reasonable stopping point and Samu quickly let him know his time was up and thank you.
It was probably 4 am when we parted, and I was sad I wouldn't see them in the near future. They were so warm and welcoming that I possibly had the most fun in Finland. I will certainly miss those guys and those drinks!
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