Europe 2006

The Kings Palace

Stockholm
Enjoying some tax free booze on the Ferry


Church
Our Hostel

Hello Everyone,It has been awhile since I have talked to some of you so here is a brief update of what I have been up in the last year. Last September I started studying at the University of Victoria, on the beautiful island of Vancouver. I studied hard all year, and decided to take summer courses so I ended up having only one month of summer vacation, but that is fine. Also in mid-August I had an operation on my knee to fix some cartilage damage I had suffered from playing sports, which resulted in me having to be on crutches for the next 6 weeks. The payoff to all my hard work was an international exchange to Tampere, Finland, where I am currently studying. So…….After a very long, painful and exhausting flight, I arrived at Helsinki where my very distant cousin Hanna, and her friend picked me up and drove me to their house. I have a few relatives here in Finland, as my great Grandpa lived in Finland, so the cousins that I have here share the same great-great-Grandpa. After that Hanna took me to her parents and grandparents farm, so I could meet them. Our conversations were fairly short, and mostly comprised of hand signals because none of them speak English! So after that I went to my student housing building, which is filled with mostly Germans, Russians, Italians, French, and a few students from Poland (who absolutely love their vodka), Lithuania, Australia and just about every other place you can imagine. I have met a lot of great people, and now it looks like I will have to visit them in their native countries, which should be fun.The school system is very different here than in Canada, attendance is encouraged, but definitely not mandatory, as you are expected to do a lot of your learning on your own time. I am taking a Finnish language course (which seems impossibly hard at the moment) along with a few Finnish history classes. The first few weeks here consisted of parties every night, but it seems to be slowing down just a bit. Last Tuesday, the student association hosted a “Sauna Party” which means drinking, sauna, and a dip in the freezing cold lake. It was a great time, and apparently they get even better in the winter when you cut a hole in the frozen lake, and swim in there, then run back to the warmth of the sauna. And as for the Finnish people….There are a few things Finns take personally; saunas, drinking, hockey and Santa Claus. As for sauna’s I think it is in national building regulations that every single residence have at least one sauna, preferably more. The Finns invented the sauna, and they usually like to frequent the sauna a few times a week. There also is a rule about saunas as my uncle said, “You must drink before you go sauna, and after you come out.” So yeah if you’re planning on quitting drinking anytime soon, I wouldn’t recommend coming to Finland. In Tampere there are two teams in the Finnish Liiga, and I have chosen to cheer for the much despised Ilves (Mountain Lions) much to the discomfort of my family, who cheer for their hometown Hameenlina Knights. As for Santa Claus, there is no doubt that he is from northern Finland, which lies inside the polar circle. They even have “SantaLand” here, which I am hoping to visit when there is snow on the ground.Lately I have been studying a bit, and last week I went to Stockholm by ferry, for a few days. It was a great weekend, a very beautiful city and we saw the Kings Palace, a few museums, and a lot of beautiful buildings. Yesterday was my first day without my crutches, and it is a little weird trying to get used to walking again, but I am extremely happy to start on the road to recovery. My new physiotherapist (also named Hanna) is excited for me, and is happy with the healing. Well I should get back to all of that hard studying I have to do; I would love to hear what you have been doing so please drop me an e-mail.Oh yes I do have some pictures posted on the internet, just go to;http://nelsonlamb.blogspot.com/Moi Moi,Nelson