A glimpse of Helsinki

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

School begins...

Ok school started for me today..

Went for a morning class.. supposed to be Intercultural Communication..
And the lecturer came in and spoke to us all in German... STUNNED!
So i raised my hand and said.. "Sorry?"
.
.
.
Cut the long story short.. we made a mistake and this module doesn't begin until the 4th teaching term.. (its the 3rd now).. meaning we are 7 weeks early.. haha.. well done coz we now have a super slack 3rd term and super packed 4th term.. which is bad coz this term is bad for travelling due to bad weather..

Finnish class later in the afternoon went much better. I had so much fun trying to pronounce and understand not just the Finnish words.. but also the teacher's English.. looking forward to picking up more Finnish so i know what i am buying in the supermarket.. =)

Oh another thing.. i took a grand total of 1 picture today on my camera.. (my first fast food meal in Finland.. a local brand called Hesburger)
guess it signals the start of less frequent blogging and picture uploads..

ok gotta go practice my Finnish =)

Monday, January 19, 2009

Running (and falling) on water

This is rather unglam

With faith.. i can walking on (frozen) water

It's really snowing heavily now =)

We came out from the cafeteria.. and i just couldn't resist starting a snowfight! haha.. my first snowfight was fun.. Wee! Unfortunately no pics.. the reason's obvious.. we were fighting!

Watch out!

Snow on the pine needles

Wei Sing's Snowman =)

Shu Shan's Snowman is camouflaged =)

Spent some time playing in the snow before heading down to walk on the frozen sea (as i promised) hehe

The boardwalk now covered with snow

Leaving the boardwalk behind

The frozen sea covered by snow

The end of the boardwalk.. proof that i am on the water!

Somebody cut a hole here to do some ice-fishing
(We can see how thick the ice is from the block that is cut out)

Sea =)

My very first snowman (Excluding the Christmas Cafe one haha)

I left my snowman there.. He is now the guardian of the frozen sea!

Of all the things i've seen since coming to Finland.. the frozen sea must be the most striking. I'll never forget the day i walked on (frozen) water!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Snow!

Oh yes the snow is really beginning to fall =) Hope it gets really heavy soon!

And i'm gonna walk on the frozen see tomorrow! =) i'm so excited!

Went to church!

I went for my first Sunday service in Finland! =)
Visited this place called the International Evangelical Church at Mellonmaki Parish Centre. Quite hard to find the place but we managed to navigate.. and be on time! If i'm not wrong.. IEC is actually quite a big interdenominational organisation.. and this church that i visited is just one of many.

I visited this nice cosy little building with many little kids and people of all skin colours. What struck me was not the beautiful traditional order of service or good English Pastor Timo had.. but the sense of fellowship that a close knit family has. Its a really family church with a warm congregation.. we even had time to stand up and introduce ourselves. After service the whole church stayed behind for coffee and biscuits and everyone just stayed around to mingle. Many people came up to us and welcomed us. It was a really pleasant experience. =)

Communion being served

Coats were hung outside

This lady even offered to link us up with her friend who was involved in a Christian group in the university i am in right now.. The best thing is.. i heard they meet for bible study in Otaniemi Chapel.. which is.. guess what.. right outside my apartment! 1 min walk.. haha Happy Days

Oh i forgot who the WE refered to.. My secondary sch friend Lip Hang (the guy in stripes) is here on exchange as well (diff university) and we met up a few days ago. He being the earliest here.. managed to link up to this church.. so i followed along =) The other 2 girls who went with me are Antonia and Cindy.. who are from NUS and now in TKK (the uni i am in). Bumped into them on the way back from Kamppi last night and they decided to follow along. =)

In the Small Sanctuary (Antonia left, Cindy Right)

The same pastor preaches at the afternoon service as well. But the afternoon service is at the Church in the Rock. A popular tourist destination that i haven't visited yet. =) Will try to visit the afternoon service some time. Although this congregation i went to is really warm.. the place is really very far for me..well.. i'll see!

What Finns eat

This post is dedicated to the wonderful things i saw in Old Market Hall, an indoor food market selling all kinds of local food. Helped me to see a bit of what Finns actually eat. =) Taking in the many sights and smells...

Entrance of Old Market Hall

2 Long rows of food stalls n grocery stalls etc..

First of all.. Finns drink coffee.. a lot

there are also a lot of Kebab stalls..not very local.. but they are the cheapest for a poor student like me

A variety of Finnish 'sandwiches'.. yes they call these sandwiches.. basically different breads and pies with various toppings. Toppings include smoke salmon, crayfish.. and various other types of seafood. They taste rather good (we bought a few kinds to try) but quite ex!

I'm having this puff thing that is filled with a 'bate' stuffing. Apparently Bate is a type of fish.. which is white in colour. It tastes good =) Weising had something called Riisi Pirakka, a pie that has rice in it. Its super fragrant and sweet. A Finnish old man stopped me and explained that Riisi Pirakka is the national dish of Finland. This simple bread can then be topped with butter and other things like salmon..

Finns also eat lots of smoked fish (mayb coz fresh ones are rare in winter?)

Fresh vege! So hard to find =)

I dunno what kinda meat they eat.. but the one on the top looks like a whole Rabbit

I dunno what are these or how they should be eaten.. but there are lots of these around

And i never knew there were so many types of olives..

Oh yes i finally found this.. confirming my beliefs.. Finns do eat their reindeer

Recipes included as well..

Then i came across some canned foods that caught my eye.. see canned rabbit and grouse...
BUT THE ULTIMATE..
I CAN'T FRICKIN BELIEVE THIS...

FINNS EAT BEARS!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Sightseeing Saturday

Spent the Saturday out in Helsinki City and it was truly a tiring day of walking in the cold and taking photos with painful hands. But it was really all worth it =) This was the first time we saw Helsinki in daylight. Most pics will be on facebook!