That Which Concerns a Young Man and Airplanes...

I've been in Finland now for about two weeks, and I can safely say that my experience has been a mixed bag, with highs and lows, but for the most part, confusion.

I just received stable internet a few days ago, and now want to update this blog with a series of posts. Let us begin:

The journey started off on a sour note, with my plane being delayed for an hour in Toronto, due to icy conditions. I was scheduled to land at Heathrow Airport in London, England at 9:00 am, London time, and leave London for Helsinki at 11:00 am. In the days leading up to my flight, my mother had made it quite clear to me that, based on information she had received about Heathrow, landing at Terminal 5 (the new terminal) getting the shuttle to Terminal 1, and then passing customs and finding the waiting area for my flight would take me nearly 2 hours. Sitting on the plane at 9 am London time, still 1 hour away from landing, I was terrified that I would indeed miss my flight.

Having caught a brief glimpse of the Thames just moments before, I stepped off the plane at 10:10 am a determined man, sparing neither man, woman, child, nor beast, and making a beeline for the complimentary shuttle service to transport people between terminals. I looked down at my newly purchased watch as I arrived at Terminal 1: 10:20. This was going to be tight.

I admit to not knowing where to go at first. Luckily, my musical interests served me well, as I caught a conversation that I knew to be in Finnish, and followed these two travelers for a minute or two, and found my way to customs. Thank you Nightwish! At this point, I ditched this slow-moving duo, and set what could indeed be a record time for Terminal 1 transport, arriving at the designated waiting area by 10:30. Ten minutes! I was quite proud of myself. My only regret was not being able to have sampled the food at Gordon Ramsay's Terminal 5 restaurant, Plane Food.

I sat down, and exhaled, confident that I was safely on my way to Helsinki. Minutes later, a massive group of 13-16 year old boys entered the waiting area, wearing leather jackets emblazoned with the Finnish and Canadian flags. They were in fact a Finnish youth hockey team returning from a tournament in Canada. At least I had something to talk about on the plane. :)

This plane, an older model Boeing, did not offer the same amount of in-flight entertainment that had kept me busy on the last flight. I was really impressed with everything that had been available on the previous flight. They even offered an episode of psychedelic British comedy, The Mighty Boosh. I can only imagine what the person sitting next to me must have thought as I watched the antics of Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt.

What may be of interest to some (but realistically, none), is that the food served on both flights (British Airways), was supposedly conceptualized by the famous Michelin-starred chef, Michel Roux, of Waterside Inn and Le Gavroche fame. I don't think that my beef, with mashed potatoes, gravy, and Yorkshire pudding was up to Michelin star standards (:P), but it wasn't bad, and after all, there is only so much you can do with a microwave anyway (as that one episode of Top Chef proved). It was certainly not as bad as I expected.

Anyway, back to the part where I am sitting in a seat and things around me are moving fast. Two and a half hours after leaving London, we dipped under cloud cover just outside Helsinki, and prepared to land. As I looked out the window, I saw a vast, untouched landscape, beautifully dotted with forests of evergreen trees. Every so often, seemingly cut out of the forest, I would see a lone house, and almost without fail, another small building just behind it, which I can only imagine is a sauna. I was able to see the sea, just behind Helsinki, and before I knew it, we were touching down. It was only 3:30 pm Helsinki time, but the darkness made it seem like it was much later. I do not remember it being too cold, and in fact, since then, Canada has experienced far more extreme weather conditions than we have in Helsinki.

I picked up my bags, rolled them out the door and was kindly greeted by a student assistant from the Helsinki School of Economics. He was waiting with two others, both from France, and one of whom, as I would find out later, happened to be one of my roommates. After packing the car with luggage, we left Helsinki-Vantaa airport and made way for Vuosaari, the region of Helsinki that I am living in (as described before). I was quite pleased with the apartment that I received, with the lone disappointment being the stove and oven, which are both slow, inaccurate, and very very old. I would be certifiably insane to attempt recipes from Thomas Keller and Marco Pierre White on this equipment.

Side Note: In other news, I am certifiably insane, having recently attempted a re-creation of MPW's "Salmon in a tomato butter sauce," conceptualized when he was a two-star at Harvey's (the record setting British restaurant, NOT the Canadian burger chain!!! :P). It was nearly a faithful recreation, with two exceptions: 1. I did not have goose fat to poach the salmon, so I pan-seared it with butter, and 2. I am not in the tax bracket to even consider truffles, to add "earthiness" to the sauce. But it was good, and that's what counts.

Back to the point, though: All in all, an interesting experience, but there was much more to come.

Coming Soon: My first impressions about Helsinki, and Finland, as a whole.

Now Listening: Dead Meadow -- I'm Gone

P.S. Happy Birthday Robyn! :)

2 Days Till Departure

Fitting your life into two bags is fun.

Anyway, in a few days time, I'll be moving it to Vuosaari, Finland for five months.

A quick search on Wikipedia reveals the following:

- It's east of the Helsinki city centre by about 15 km, and is by the sea. My favourite parts of Kingston were always by the water, so I think I'll like this.

- It is known for its natural environment, and its seashore

- It is considered to be relatively multi-cultural, for Finland, that is

- In WWII it was used as a "decoy Helsinki" to divert bombs away from the city

- There is a big construction development to build Vuosaari Harbour

I was really happy to get Vuosaari as my residence. I think I'll like it.

Right now I know two words of Finnish:

- Sauna
- Suomi (Finland in Finnish)

My knowledge of the Finnish musical scene is somewhat more substantial. Good to know I have my priorities straight...

In other news, I'm in soup deprivation mode at the moment. They really are the most fun of all foods to make. So when I get to Finland, here's what I'll do:

Make a nice bowl of hearty caldo verde if I can get my hands on some decent chorizo. Should be easier in Europe than in Canada, or at least you'd think so...

Now Listening To (in honour of Finland): Nightwish - Sleeping Sun

Start of the Blog

This is the start of the blog.

There will be words.

And sentences.

And meat.

Now listening to: Porcupine Tree - Lazarus

P.S. Not gone yet.