I've been a bit grumpy lately. Not having any access to cash has made me, well, grumpy. Also it was pouring with freezing cold rain at 6:30 AM when I arrived here in Tallin (Estonia). The rain reminded me of some of the worst kinds of downpours we have in Vancouver.
Later it was snowing here in Tallin so I've been thinking I need to get further south. Before talking anymore about Tallin, I should mention my last day in Russia - if only to try and maintain some sort of chronological coherence.
On the last day I signed up for a guided walking tour of St. Petersburg. It cost 400 Rubles- 20CDN for about 4 hours. I was the only person who signed up that day so I got shown around the city by a tourguide and an her understudy (also a her). It was pretty casual, I wanted to try taking the bus as I'd figured out the metro by then and wanted to become more 'functional'. Anyway we toured the big sights together and went to a couple cafes which was cool.
What was funny is that the russian guide (I don't remember her name) had been on an exchange to Melbourne, Australia for a year or so, so she had an australian accent and would use certain phrases which just made me laugh before she could finish her stories. For example, "this cathedral was built by the famous italian architect XXX, who, poor bugger, died only 4 days before it was complete."
She also worked in the St. Petersburg hostel and we were talking about what people do in the dorm rooms *that they should not* and she told me that everytime they had an italian guests they knew to watch for extra guests... I have not run into any Italian tourists actually. Lots from Melbourne though *or Melbin as some pronounce it*
Getting out of Russia, I decided to take a bus to Tallin and check out the Baltic states. I went to the bus station early *about 4 hours early* to make sure I did not miss my train. While waiting in the station I did notice a couple kissing. They were kissing before I arrived and after I left. The Lonely Planet guide suggests that pubic displays of affection are not that common in Russia. I saw them everywhere. In my weaker momements, you might understand if I thought about learning how to say *get a room* in Russian :)
On the bus trip back, my seat was right at the back of the bus. Three other Russian guys joined me back there (dressed in the usual black leather jackets, jeans and black shoes). The only reason I mention them is that when we got close the the Russian border a military guy with a big hat with a red band got on the bus, walked down the aisle and gave these guys a lets-go-head-gesture and they got off the bus with him right before the border. I have no idea what that was about. My imaginiation is also unable to explain the situation (rationally).
Sunday, October 10, 2004
ATM update
I called CIBC and they cancelled my card. I have to 'contact my branch on Tuesday' to try and get another one. Apparently you don't get the same level of service with ATM cards that you get with Visa cards. In the meantime, I sold some stock that I have attached to another card so I should be able to get some cash soon.
Too bad... Estonia is a good place to go shopping. It is very touristy, very scandinavian but with very low prices. I just had a steak dinner and a beer for less than 10 dollars (charged to Visa).
Too bad... Estonia is a good place to go shopping. It is very touristy, very scandinavian but with very low prices. I just had a steak dinner and a beer for less than 10 dollars (charged to Visa).
Hello from Estonia - lost ATM card in Russia
I just went to go buy some Estoinan EEs and can't find my bank card. I think I lost in last night in St. Petersburg. Um...rats!
I converted my left over rubles and some Euros to EEs so I've got about 27CDN + 50EURO till I can sort this out...
I converted my left over rubles and some Euros to EEs so I've got about 27CDN + 50EURO till I can sort this out...
Friday, October 08, 2004
Day two in Russia
Ok. So I found out that my experience yesterday with no English at all was because I was outside of the core of St. Petersburg. I'm finding more and more people in the heart of the city that can speak some English. I'm also now used to living without speaking the language. I usually pick restaurants and stores where I can point to things and I can get by. By being quiet all day though, I notice that I talk ALOT and FAST when I meet someone who can speak English fluently. It's like I'm pressurizing all these words in my head...
So St. Petersburg is a big city. Kinda like New York. Like New York they have their oral fixations: smoking and cell phones... But here they also have drinking. It is very common to see young couples walking down the street in the afternoon and all evening carrying and drinking from bottles of beer. There are alot of beer bottles on the ground and on the window sills. I haven't seen any overly drunk people, but I have not gone out to any clubs yet.
Like New York, travelling here is to come in to real contact with something that is constructed in my mind by media. It kinda blows me away that I'm saying "Nyet" and "Da" and buying things in Rubels which heretofor were movie props. I've yet to use the word "Comrade" or ask for "Mr. Bond".
Fashion for men in St. Petersburg is pretty simple: buzz cut hair, Leather coat, blue jeans, black square point shoes and some sort of sweater or T-shirt is almost a
Female fashion is more interesting. Lots of short skirts and boots! Boots are usually thoese ones with the extra pointed tip and come in all sorts of types. On the first day I saw some really gaudy looking big-yet-matted-died-black-hair older ladies, but that was on the outskirts of town. In town women are dressed nicely. Cannot really categorize them as easily as the men. The women all walk arm in arm which is very different. I also notice that they give me alot of eye contact which is unusual (and good for the ego!). Last night I met a Swedish tour guide in the hostel who said that at night clubs it is more 'tiring for the men' - which means that women are apparently more aggressive here.
I've given up talking to pure (non-travel or restaurant industry related) locals here (male or female) though. The odds are that their English is so poor or non-existent that the conversations become embarrassing. I talk to tourists more now. (hee hee, all of a sudden I like tourists!). I emailed a russian friend back home and he is going to try and get me a guide - hopefully someone who can speak russian and english. I think that would be best because I'm really limited in my interaction with the city. If I can find one I'll stay another day, otherwise I'm heading back west tomorrow.
I tried to buy tickets for the ballet and for a hockey game here but the next hockey game in town that I could find mention of is in a week. Most people - locals or people in tourist offices know nothing about hockey or how to get tickets so I imply that they don't take hockey very seriously here. There are Pepsi advertisements for David Beckham (an overrated English soccer star) on many vendor umbrellas so maybe they are more interested in soccer. Or not interested in sport at all.
Regarding the ballet, the shows are sold out for the most famous theatre in town (called the Mariinsky). I tried to get there in time for tonight to see if I could get tickets from outside but got there too late. I did learn how to get through the Russian subway though. As I don't have grasp of cyrillic names, so I need to translate into my own language to remember them. For example, the Moscow train station terminal is named something else in cyrillic (I don't have a guidebook right now), but if you look at the words, to me it kinda looks like R. Boccachini. So I look for the Boccachini Railway to get to Moscow station. The word for Exit looks like 'Biloxi' (which reminds me of the movie 'Biloxy Blues' starring Ferris Bueler).
The cyrillic names for things is one of the reasons the Lonely Planet book I am using is pretty useless. It only has the roman spellings for items and even worse for road names on the map. I bought another map which shows both, so I can translate from what I want to see, to what I do see on the street.
Things are pretty cheap here. A big (half litre I think) beer costs about 17 rubels which is less than 1 dollar. A Big Mac dinner is $4, a chocolate bar is about 50 cents. The chocolate isn't very good though: mostly sugar. A token for the subway is about 25 cents.
As for the sights there are tons of palaces and interesting buildings. I went to the Hermitage and the Peter and Paul fortress. The hermitage has tons of artwork collected in bourgois times when Russia was a pretty hip European place to be. The Peter and Paul fortress was never used for defense, but was used as a jail for criminals such as Doesteovsky and the children of some royalty. Right now it holds the tombs of some roalty.
Speaking of sights, there are lots of blue things which is nice. It's pretty sad that I think the only blue picture I took in Sweden was some umbrellas and the side of an Ikea.
So St. Petersburg is a big city. Kinda like New York. Like New York they have their oral fixations: smoking and cell phones... But here they also have drinking. It is very common to see young couples walking down the street in the afternoon and all evening carrying and drinking from bottles of beer. There are alot of beer bottles on the ground and on the window sills. I haven't seen any overly drunk people, but I have not gone out to any clubs yet.
Like New York, travelling here is to come in to real contact with something that is constructed in my mind by media. It kinda blows me away that I'm saying "Nyet" and "Da" and buying things in Rubels which heretofor were movie props. I've yet to use the word "Comrade" or ask for "Mr. Bond".
Fashion for men in St. Petersburg is pretty simple: buzz cut hair, Leather coat, blue jeans, black square point shoes and some sort of sweater or T-shirt is almost a
Female fashion is more interesting. Lots of short skirts and boots! Boots are usually thoese ones with the extra pointed tip and come in all sorts of types. On the first day I saw some really gaudy looking big-yet-matted-died-black-hair older ladies, but that was on the outskirts of town. In town women are dressed nicely. Cannot really categorize them as easily as the men. The women all walk arm in arm which is very different. I also notice that they give me alot of eye contact which is unusual (and good for the ego!). Last night I met a Swedish tour guide in the hostel who said that at night clubs it is more 'tiring for the men' - which means that women are apparently more aggressive here.
I've given up talking to pure (non-travel or restaurant industry related) locals here (male or female) though. The odds are that their English is so poor or non-existent that the conversations become embarrassing. I talk to tourists more now. (hee hee, all of a sudden I like tourists!). I emailed a russian friend back home and he is going to try and get me a guide - hopefully someone who can speak russian and english. I think that would be best because I'm really limited in my interaction with the city. If I can find one I'll stay another day, otherwise I'm heading back west tomorrow.
I tried to buy tickets for the ballet and for a hockey game here but the next hockey game in town that I could find mention of is in a week. Most people - locals or people in tourist offices know nothing about hockey or how to get tickets so I imply that they don't take hockey very seriously here. There are Pepsi advertisements for David Beckham (an overrated English soccer star) on many vendor umbrellas so maybe they are more interested in soccer. Or not interested in sport at all.
Regarding the ballet, the shows are sold out for the most famous theatre in town (called the Mariinsky). I tried to get there in time for tonight to see if I could get tickets from outside but got there too late. I did learn how to get through the Russian subway though. As I don't have grasp of cyrillic names, so I need to translate into my own language to remember them. For example, the Moscow train station terminal is named something else in cyrillic (I don't have a guidebook right now), but if you look at the words, to me it kinda looks like R. Boccachini. So I look for the Boccachini Railway to get to Moscow station. The word for Exit looks like 'Biloxi' (which reminds me of the movie 'Biloxy Blues' starring Ferris Bueler).
The cyrillic names for things is one of the reasons the Lonely Planet book I am using is pretty useless. It only has the roman spellings for items and even worse for road names on the map. I bought another map which shows both, so I can translate from what I want to see, to what I do see on the street.
Things are pretty cheap here. A big (half litre I think) beer costs about 17 rubels which is less than 1 dollar. A Big Mac dinner is $4, a chocolate bar is about 50 cents. The chocolate isn't very good though: mostly sugar. A token for the subway is about 25 cents.
As for the sights there are tons of palaces and interesting buildings. I went to the Hermitage and the Peter and Paul fortress. The hermitage has tons of artwork collected in bourgois times when Russia was a pretty hip European place to be. The Peter and Paul fortress was never used for defense, but was used as a jail for criminals such as Doesteovsky and the children of some royalty. Right now it holds the tombs of some roalty.
Speaking of sights, there are lots of blue things which is nice. It's pretty sad that I think the only blue picture I took in Sweden was some umbrellas and the side of an Ikea.
Thursday, October 07, 2004
Hello from Russia!
Well I'm in shock.
I did not expect a huge cultural difference between the geographically close cities of Helsinki and St. Petersburg. For me, the cultural shifts between Norway, Sweden and Finland have been small. I was wrong about Russia! When I got off the train I could find no one (including the information desks) that could speak any English at all.
Pretty much everyone under the age of 40 speaks some pretty good English in Finland.
After getting off the train I literally did 3 circuits of the train station trying to absorbe -something-. I then wandered around outside, to try and get my bearings and see if it would become obvious where the hostel might be from where I was standing.
Eventually I went back in to the train station to try and figure out a subway to the Moscow station (it is still in St. Petersburg). Again the clerks could not speak any English. I was lucky though and found a Finn who could speak some Russian and German (German being their second language) who was going my way. He helped me get to the right part of the city.
The Finnish guy was impressed that I would go to Russia with absolutely no Russian or Cyrillic knowledge. He was intimidated by only being able to speak some Russian.
After leaving the Finn, I was able through pointing at my book and doing three sets of charades for three different audiences, get myself to the hostel.
After about 4 hours here, St. Petersburg gives me the impression of a very big city, like New York. But at the same time a 3rd world city: with stray dogs and warnings not to drink the water.
Once I settle down a bit I'll decide if I'm staying here for much longer. I may just try and find a ticket for a train to Estonia from here.
I did not expect a huge cultural difference between the geographically close cities of Helsinki and St. Petersburg. For me, the cultural shifts between Norway, Sweden and Finland have been small. I was wrong about Russia! When I got off the train I could find no one (including the information desks) that could speak any English at all.
Pretty much everyone under the age of 40 speaks some pretty good English in Finland.
After getting off the train I literally did 3 circuits of the train station trying to absorbe -something-. I then wandered around outside, to try and get my bearings and see if it would become obvious where the hostel might be from where I was standing.
Eventually I went back in to the train station to try and figure out a subway to the Moscow station (it is still in St. Petersburg). Again the clerks could not speak any English. I was lucky though and found a Finn who could speak some Russian and German (German being their second language) who was going my way. He helped me get to the right part of the city.
The Finnish guy was impressed that I would go to Russia with absolutely no Russian or Cyrillic knowledge. He was intimidated by only being able to speak some Russian.
After leaving the Finn, I was able through pointing at my book and doing three sets of charades for three different audiences, get myself to the hostel.
After about 4 hours here, St. Petersburg gives me the impression of a very big city, like New York. But at the same time a 3rd world city: with stray dogs and warnings not to drink the water.
Once I settle down a bit I'll decide if I'm staying here for much longer. I may just try and find a ticket for a train to Estonia from here.
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Bit the bullet - got a Russian Visa
I decided to spring for the Visa! I'm now taking the train tommorrow morning at 7:42 AM to St. Petersburg. I'm at the library now, trying to cram as much about Catherine the Great, Alexander the Great, Dostoyovsky etc.
Hockey night in Helsinki
After my enjoyable visit to a Swedish hockey game, I thought I'd try the same here in Helsinki. So last night I went and saw a Jokerit vs Saipa game in the largest stadium in Finland: Hartwell Arena.
The game was not as exciting as the one in Sweden. There was only about 50% attendence in the stands.
Here is some trivia:
* Referrees have EA Sports patches on their uniforms
* A finnish guy told me that lots of Finnish players who are not playing in the NHL are playing in the Swedish league. He wasn't sure why, but thought that it might be related to taxes.
* No english was spoken at all during the game. Most of the music was in english though.
* They had about 10 cheerleaders who formed a path for the players to skate by at the beginning. The cheerleaders then went up into the stands and did their cheers between any breaks in the play.
* One player on each team was wearing a reflective gold helmet. Why you ask? I thought it might be the captain, but noticed that other players had the C on their jersey. I asked someone and he said it was the best player. I asked if that meant he scored the most goals (as opposed to say points or plus/minus or something) and he agreed. I'm pretty sure he didn't understand my question and would have agreed to anything.
* At the end of the game, they hand out player of the game awards and each player shakes the hand of each opposing player.
The game was not as exciting as the one in Sweden. There was only about 50% attendence in the stands.
Here is some trivia:
* Referrees have EA Sports patches on their uniforms
* A finnish guy told me that lots of Finnish players who are not playing in the NHL are playing in the Swedish league. He wasn't sure why, but thought that it might be related to taxes.
* No english was spoken at all during the game. Most of the music was in english though.
* They had about 10 cheerleaders who formed a path for the players to skate by at the beginning. The cheerleaders then went up into the stands and did their cheers between any breaks in the play.
* One player on each team was wearing a reflective gold helmet. Why you ask? I thought it might be the captain, but noticed that other players had the C on their jersey. I asked someone and he said it was the best player. I asked if that meant he scored the most goals (as opposed to say points or plus/minus or something) and he agreed. I'm pretty sure he didn't understand my question and would have agreed to anything.
* At the end of the game, they hand out player of the game awards and each player shakes the hand of each opposing player.
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Getting naked (with other men)
Finnish saunas are a national pastime. Apparently lots of Finns have their own saunas and are supposedly the ones who came up with the idea to jump in the snow and back into the sauna.
So there are a few Saunas here in Helsinki. Two of them were reccomended to me by one of the Hostel employees. One called 'Sauna Bar' and another one called Yrjonkadun Uimahalli. Both of these places apparently require that you do the Sauna's naked and there is someone there to check that you are doing it right.
I wandered though the streets trying to find Sauna Bar last night and I was able to find it. The entrance was at the back of a building, down some sketchy looking stairs with lots of grungy looking paper posters on the wall. In the bar there was about 3 people in one smoky corner and about 2 in another corner. In between was about 12 empty tables. Very much a dive bar. Not a place I would want to take my clothes off in. I 'high tailed' it out of there.
Today I went to the other one. I had seen a picture of it before hand and it looked far nicer. It has huge ceilings which are reminicent of greek baths or buildings. On certain days only the women are allowed to go. On other days only men are allowed to go. Today was Man's day... And it sure was.
After paying my fee and walking upstairs a female clerk yelled at me. Then in english she told me to put on these shoe covers before entering the change area. I told her I was new and she offered to show me around a little.
From the second floor, I could look down to the pool in on the first floor. Yes there were naked bums in the pool. Also I noticed the lifeguard was female. The lifeguard looked bored.
She showed me a to a little personal change room, where I could undress and put on a dressing gown and showed me where the sauna was and where I could get coffee.
The sauna was a wood fired one, which is apparenlty the best kind to find and is becoming more scarce. There was another guy in there. I noticed by his posture that he was not an exhibitionist. I was curious about what the philosophy would be. But basically, I think it is appropriate to keep your legs together in the sauna. I also noticed that often people would sit with one leg folded towards their chest while sitting down, which provides a bit of a shield. I tried this once, but I thought I was a bit more exposed in this pose so stopped fooling around and stared at the wall.
Actually I talked a bit to the guy in the room. He was Russian and figured that in Canada, being nordic we should have lots of Saunas then.
He told me about the buckets of cold water, where you go out of the sauna and dump a cold bucket of water on your head to cool off. I actually did try this and found it did feel really good. I also noticed - about a minute later it also helped shrink my uh pores.
After trying that I went to the Turkish sauna, which is the kind of sauna you see on TV (or I do) where it is all very steamy and hard to see the person next to you. One rather muscular guy sat next to me and I was able to tell that he was doing some strange kinds of stretches involving pointing his toes, however.
Finally after that I went for a swim in the big pool on the first floor. I carefully selected the side away from the lifeguard, in case she started some sort of small talk - which might be a bit uncomfortable.
After jumping in it felt nice to be skinny dipping. I swam around breast stroke way and then as I was about to flip over to do the back stroke - I decided against it as no one else was doing this. Is it obvious why???
Actually later I did see someone doing the backstroke, so if I go again, I might try that.
Anyway, I thought it was great and I felt really good and relaxed afterwards. So far this was the highlight of my time in Finland.
P.S. A minor benefit of this system is you don't have to deal with that bothersome wet swimsuit afterwards.
P.P.S. I now know what a Finn looks like - really.
So there are a few Saunas here in Helsinki. Two of them were reccomended to me by one of the Hostel employees. One called 'Sauna Bar' and another one called Yrjonkadun Uimahalli. Both of these places apparently require that you do the Sauna's naked and there is someone there to check that you are doing it right.
I wandered though the streets trying to find Sauna Bar last night and I was able to find it. The entrance was at the back of a building, down some sketchy looking stairs with lots of grungy looking paper posters on the wall. In the bar there was about 3 people in one smoky corner and about 2 in another corner. In between was about 12 empty tables. Very much a dive bar. Not a place I would want to take my clothes off in. I 'high tailed' it out of there.
Today I went to the other one. I had seen a picture of it before hand and it looked far nicer. It has huge ceilings which are reminicent of greek baths or buildings. On certain days only the women are allowed to go. On other days only men are allowed to go. Today was Man's day... And it sure was.
After paying my fee and walking upstairs a female clerk yelled at me. Then in english she told me to put on these shoe covers before entering the change area. I told her I was new and she offered to show me around a little.
From the second floor, I could look down to the pool in on the first floor. Yes there were naked bums in the pool. Also I noticed the lifeguard was female. The lifeguard looked bored.
She showed me a to a little personal change room, where I could undress and put on a dressing gown and showed me where the sauna was and where I could get coffee.
The sauna was a wood fired one, which is apparenlty the best kind to find and is becoming more scarce. There was another guy in there. I noticed by his posture that he was not an exhibitionist. I was curious about what the philosophy would be. But basically, I think it is appropriate to keep your legs together in the sauna. I also noticed that often people would sit with one leg folded towards their chest while sitting down, which provides a bit of a shield. I tried this once, but I thought I was a bit more exposed in this pose so stopped fooling around and stared at the wall.
Actually I talked a bit to the guy in the room. He was Russian and figured that in Canada, being nordic we should have lots of Saunas then.
He told me about the buckets of cold water, where you go out of the sauna and dump a cold bucket of water on your head to cool off. I actually did try this and found it did feel really good. I also noticed - about a minute later it also helped shrink my uh pores.
After trying that I went to the Turkish sauna, which is the kind of sauna you see on TV (or I do) where it is all very steamy and hard to see the person next to you. One rather muscular guy sat next to me and I was able to tell that he was doing some strange kinds of stretches involving pointing his toes, however.
Finally after that I went for a swim in the big pool on the first floor. I carefully selected the side away from the lifeguard, in case she started some sort of small talk - which might be a bit uncomfortable.
After jumping in it felt nice to be skinny dipping. I swam around breast stroke way and then as I was about to flip over to do the back stroke - I decided against it as no one else was doing this. Is it obvious why???
Actually later I did see someone doing the backstroke, so if I go again, I might try that.
Anyway, I thought it was great and I felt really good and relaxed afterwards. So far this was the highlight of my time in Finland.
P.S. A minor benefit of this system is you don't have to deal with that bothersome wet swimsuit afterwards.
P.P.S. I now know what a Finn looks like - really.
Russian Schemes
I'm in Helsinki which is very close to the Russian border... Therefore I had what I thought would be a very cool scheme: rent a motorcycle and ride to St. Petersburg or Moscow even.
I spent awhile researching this and it does not look feasible yet. The rental rates are insanely high: 500Euros for a weekend + gear rental. Also the Russian Visas are also a bit of a scam: 220Euros for a visa (one day processing) or 100Euros for a 6 work-day-processing visa.
I considered doing the 6 work-day option, but the application requires that I surrender my passport which means I cannot leave Finland. So I'd be trapped here. Also the motorcycle rental places have not returned my emails asking about if they would even let me cross the border with their bikes (the travel bureau thought no)
Anyway, two grand (canadian) to ride a motorcycle for a few hundred kms does not make sense. Because I'm so close I'll probably bite the 220Euro bullet for the Visa and take the train there (about 50 Euros). Or steal a motorcycle. After that, I'll probably go to Tallin (in Estonia) before starting back west.
I spent awhile researching this and it does not look feasible yet. The rental rates are insanely high: 500Euros for a weekend + gear rental. Also the Russian Visas are also a bit of a scam: 220Euros for a visa (one day processing) or 100Euros for a 6 work-day-processing visa.
I considered doing the 6 work-day option, but the application requires that I surrender my passport which means I cannot leave Finland. So I'd be trapped here. Also the motorcycle rental places have not returned my emails asking about if they would even let me cross the border with their bikes (the travel bureau thought no)
Anyway, two grand (canadian) to ride a motorcycle for a few hundred kms does not make sense. Because I'm so close I'll probably bite the 220Euro bullet for the Visa and take the train there (about 50 Euros). Or steal a motorcycle. After that, I'll probably go to Tallin (in Estonia) before starting back west.
Strange situation / fight last night
Last night I was looking for something to eat, so I was walking through a mall and into a food court. As I passed a Turkish guy and a tall blonde I heard a bit of shouting and turned around in time to see a hamburger hit the floor.
The woman was about 3 metres away and the guy had apparently lost his temper and threw his hamburger at her. This could be a funny story, but unfortunately it wasn't. There was this air of violence and anger which was very threatening and I felt that I should do something.
The girl, then returned to the table and continued to talk to him. I walked away and kept my eyes on them. Later she was leaving and he started yelling at her.
... at this point I should point out I have no clue what they were saying as I don't speak any Finnish ...
She then started to sprint across the floor of the mall. He jumped up out of his chair and started sprinting after her. Like I implied before this was not a 'ha ha' chase through the mall, but rather a someone is going to get violent kind of chase.
She ducked into a pharmacy, which fooled him for a bit. I asked the clerk to call the police, but she and on reflection I did not even know if that was the right thing to do. Basically I and imagine the rest of the pharmacy was waiting for some sort of signal from the girl to see if she needed help. After a few minutes I slowly wandered through the mall and upstairs and waited a bit more to see if there would be something to do.
Anyway, this was a bit upsetting and again (like the seizure in New York) where you just try and be available for help, but things are really outside of your control. It would have been easier if this conflict would have been in English.
The woman was about 3 metres away and the guy had apparently lost his temper and threw his hamburger at her. This could be a funny story, but unfortunately it wasn't. There was this air of violence and anger which was very threatening and I felt that I should do something.
The girl, then returned to the table and continued to talk to him. I walked away and kept my eyes on them. Later she was leaving and he started yelling at her.
... at this point I should point out I have no clue what they were saying as I don't speak any Finnish ...
She then started to sprint across the floor of the mall. He jumped up out of his chair and started sprinting after her. Like I implied before this was not a 'ha ha' chase through the mall, but rather a someone is going to get violent kind of chase.
She ducked into a pharmacy, which fooled him for a bit. I asked the clerk to call the police, but she and on reflection I did not even know if that was the right thing to do. Basically I and imagine the rest of the pharmacy was waiting for some sort of signal from the girl to see if she needed help. After a few minutes I slowly wandered through the mall and upstairs and waited a bit more to see if there would be something to do.
Anyway, this was a bit upsetting and again (like the seizure in New York) where you just try and be available for help, but things are really outside of your control. It would have been easier if this conflict would have been in English.
Monday, October 04, 2004
Hello from Helsinki!
I took the ferry into Helsinki today. Or last night. It left Stockholm at 5pm and arrived here in Helsinki at 9:30 AM Finland time. I haven't had much time to check out Finland yet.
The ferry trip over was a big surprise. I expected it to be some sort of dumpy, damp, cold diesel ship with maybe about 50 people on it, being tossed around in the ocean.
Boy was I wrong. It was a big fancy cruise ship, about 15 stories tall, with stores, restaurants, discos, bars etc, etc.
My shared room did not cost me anything because of my Eurail pass and had it's own bathroom!
My own bathroom is a very big luxury! I spent the first two hours taking a shower, doing some laundry in the sink and trying to dry it using a hairdryer.
The guy on the bunk underneath me said that lots of Swedish and Findlanders take these as mini booze cruises where they can get duty+free booze. I wasn't in to that and enjoyed my comfy bed.
Anyway, the only real news I have from Helsinki is that I found a place with free internet (30 min - not sure if there is a limit on times per day yet). So you might have noticed a few more posts today.
The ferry trip over was a big surprise. I expected it to be some sort of dumpy, damp, cold diesel ship with maybe about 50 people on it, being tossed around in the ocean.
Boy was I wrong. It was a big fancy cruise ship, about 15 stories tall, with stores, restaurants, discos, bars etc, etc.
My shared room did not cost me anything because of my Eurail pass and had it's own bathroom!
My own bathroom is a very big luxury! I spent the first two hours taking a shower, doing some laundry in the sink and trying to dry it using a hairdryer.
The guy on the bunk underneath me said that lots of Swedish and Findlanders take these as mini booze cruises where they can get duty+free booze. I wasn't in to that and enjoyed my comfy bed.
Anyway, the only real news I have from Helsinki is that I found a place with free internet (30 min - not sure if there is a limit on times per day yet). So you might have noticed a few more posts today.
Stockholm buildings
Stockholm is a big city - much bigger than I expected. As mentioned before the train station is very busy and very rushed: Coming into the train station, Stockholm welcomes you with a nice punch in the face of human traffic.
The city is very beautiful and is arranged across about 14 islands connected by 53 bridges. The building all look like our parliment buildings/castles/museams. You know: europeanish. Sidewalks are all cobblestone.
There is also alot of park land, canals, low buildings, and sea walls which contribute to a nice city.
The city is very beautiful and is arranged across about 14 islands connected by 53 bridges. The building all look like our parliment buildings/castles/museams. You know: europeanish. Sidewalks are all cobblestone.
There is also alot of park land, canals, low buildings, and sea walls which contribute to a nice city.
Learning about Culture
Coming to Europe I wanted to learn more about my culture and - being Eurocentric - about my historic cultural framework.
What I've found is that every town has got a bunch of Museums. Even New York has a museum. In fact the New York museum is better than most museums I've seen. So it kinda makes you wonder why you (or I) travel so far away to find a museum in the home country.
Anyway, I visit museums because they give some context and history to a place and that is handy to have. Organized tours are also a way to get this but are so much more crass with the tourist trap/bathroom stops that drive me a bit crazy.
What I find most interesting is just to walk around and look at people. And visiting magazine stores. In someways visiting a magazine/drug store is equivalent, culture wise, to visiting a museum. You get a sense of what language they speak/read, what they eat, what kind of candy they have, what things cost and some other subtleties of the current culture.
For example, in Sweden I bought something and it came to 17Kr. I had 20Kr, but didn't want to get 3Kr back in change so I tried to hand the guy 22Kr (a 20kr bill and 2 kr coins). He took the 20Kr and said something. I looked at him stupidly and he pointed to a box. Well after pointing at the box a couple more times, I figured that he wanted me to put the change in the box. I did and the box gave me a 5kr coin. I find this kind of thin interesting. Our change boxes in Safeways etc. only give coins - this machine took and gave them.
Also there is alot of licorice eaten in Scandinavia. Hot dogs are very popular too.
What I've found is that every town has got a bunch of Museums. Even New York has a museum. In fact the New York museum is better than most museums I've seen. So it kinda makes you wonder why you (or I) travel so far away to find a museum in the home country.
Anyway, I visit museums because they give some context and history to a place and that is handy to have. Organized tours are also a way to get this but are so much more crass with the tourist trap/bathroom stops that drive me a bit crazy.
What I find most interesting is just to walk around and look at people. And visiting magazine stores. In someways visiting a magazine/drug store is equivalent, culture wise, to visiting a museum. You get a sense of what language they speak/read, what they eat, what kind of candy they have, what things cost and some other subtleties of the current culture.
For example, in Sweden I bought something and it came to 17Kr. I had 20Kr, but didn't want to get 3Kr back in change so I tried to hand the guy 22Kr (a 20kr bill and 2 kr coins). He took the 20Kr and said something. I looked at him stupidly and he pointed to a box. Well after pointing at the box a couple more times, I figured that he wanted me to put the change in the box. I did and the box gave me a 5kr coin. I find this kind of thin interesting. Our change boxes in Safeways etc. only give coins - this machine took and gave them.
Also there is alot of licorice eaten in Scandinavia. Hot dogs are very popular too.
Fashion Notes
I check out how people dress when I travel to see if I can get a sense of what is fasionable here.
I haven't figured anything out.
In New York it seems like there is more of an Anything goes kinda fashion sense. This constrasts with a small town like Karlstad where a 'Von Dutch' baseball cap is popular and represents something to the wearer and their peers. I wonder if this is because a 'Von Dutch' cap in New York is sold for about 5 bucks (all over the place in china town) and therefore does not represent the same thing here - sold for a higher price - therefore you might be able to ascribe a different meaning to it.
In Sweden, everyone wears scarves and women whear these triangular wool ponchos.
As for me, I'm lucky if I get to wear clean clothes. Actually I do wear clean clothes almost everyday, but I don't get the same selection. Yesterday I wore black socks in running shoes!
I haven't figured anything out.
In New York it seems like there is more of an Anything goes kinda fashion sense. This constrasts with a small town like Karlstad where a 'Von Dutch' baseball cap is popular and represents something to the wearer and their peers. I wonder if this is because a 'Von Dutch' cap in New York is sold for about 5 bucks (all over the place in china town) and therefore does not represent the same thing here - sold for a higher price - therefore you might be able to ascribe a different meaning to it.
In Sweden, everyone wears scarves and women whear these triangular wool ponchos.
As for me, I'm lucky if I get to wear clean clothes. Actually I do wear clean clothes almost everyday, but I don't get the same selection. Yesterday I wore black socks in running shoes!
IKEA in Sweden
I went to the IKEA in Sweden. It's like the one back home, but slightly bigger and the prices looked cheaper (almost half). I could be wrong about the prices though.
Everyone pronounces it 'eekea' here.
I had swedish meatballs in their cafeteria. There were a bunch of other tourists from France there who where having difficulty speaking to the cafeteria people.
This made me realize that with English as my native language, I have an advantage over many Europeans here. This is because the international language is English. If you go to a hostel: Everyone speaks English to each other(unless the people speaking all know their own home tongue). Sometimes I find myself translating peoples English: or basically just repeating it with my Canadian accent which is clearer than a rough European one.
It's a bit ironic I think because France, Germany and Spain are so much closer to Scandinavia, but my English is better understood and accepted than their languages.
Everyone pronounces it 'eekea' here.
I had swedish meatballs in their cafeteria. There were a bunch of other tourists from France there who where having difficulty speaking to the cafeteria people.
This made me realize that with English as my native language, I have an advantage over many Europeans here. This is because the international language is English. If you go to a hostel: Everyone speaks English to each other(unless the people speaking all know their own home tongue). Sometimes I find myself translating peoples English: or basically just repeating it with my Canadian accent which is clearer than a rough European one.
It's a bit ironic I think because France, Germany and Spain are so much closer to Scandinavia, but my English is better understood and accepted than their languages.
Hockey night in Sweden
I just went and saw a hockey game between MODO and Farjestad. I picked this game because I knew that the Sedin twins (and Peter Forsberg and Tommy Salo) are playing for MODO.
Farjestad is pretty far away from Stockholm. In fact I practically took the train back across Sweden to close to the Norweigian border to get there. Farjestad is a suburb of Karlsberg, which is a pretty small town (supposedly 80K people compared to Stockholm's supposed 750K people). I think I saw gypsies. Or atleast I saw some really drunk people at a bus stop.
Anyway it was a pain and a rush to get to the game on time. I managed to walk to the stadium and had this 'Im in backwater Sweden bias going' So when I saw a bunch of kids playing hackey-football outside the stadium, I thought that's pretty casual.
As I walked by, it registered to me that they were all wearing MODO track suits and yes, there was Forsberg and one of the Sedins standing next to me (I can't tell them apart - I took a picture so you could tell me). So anyway, everyone was pretty much just walking by these guys ignoring them (the away team) and I was just a little surprised. I thought about talking to the Sedin, but I'd have to interrupt and figured I wouldn't bother.
Here are some notes on the game
* Ticket cost 40 dollars. I was lucky to get it as it was a sold out game.
* Hot dog costs 2 dollars
* Stadium is warm inside, I was wearing a t-shirt
* Fans ride their bikes to the game. There were about 1000 bikes parked outside the stadium. Lots of young fans and families.
* Music was the same to a Canucks game: 'Panama', 'Rock the night', 'Boys are back in town', 'Pump up the jam'.
* Smell of the stadium was burning metal - like when you turn on electric heat elements. The stadium was only 3 years old so maybe it's still being broken in.
* There was a huge fan section behind home goal. This fan section had everyone all dressed in Farjestad colours, drums and two guys leading the chants. It was incredible - it is what I expected to see at a Football game, not a hockey game. The two guys leading the chants would stand up and say something like 'kung liver' and everyone in the stands would thrust their hands forward (ala Hail Hitler) and say Ra (thurst hand) Ra (thrust hand) Ra (thrust hand). They had about 5 different chants I think. After awhile I did notice that there was a very small section further away from the game but near this fan section for the MODO fans.
* No english was spoken during the announcements. Norway is very bilingual compared to Sweden.
* I lied a bit about the english. These were the phrases that were used in English (bracketed in Swedish dialogue):
* 'Welcome to the big show!'
* 'Let's get ready to rumble!'
* 'Offside' (the PA announces announce this)
* 'Icing'
* There was no shot clock. Farjestad was outshooting MODO by about 2 to 1, but I could not see the stats anywhere.
* The Sedin twins did not score. In fact they took 3 penalties and give me the impression that they are a bit rougher than the swedish players.
* No beer is allowed in the stands! Between periods, people would rush into these small beer gardens and presumably down a beer in the 15 minutes before the next period started.
This was one of the most exciting games I've ever been to and was the highlight of my trip to Sweden. I think it is because of the rabid home cheering stands which put out sooo much energy during the game. I will try and go to another Hockey game on my travels.
Farjestad is pretty far away from Stockholm. In fact I practically took the train back across Sweden to close to the Norweigian border to get there. Farjestad is a suburb of Karlsberg, which is a pretty small town (supposedly 80K people compared to Stockholm's supposed 750K people). I think I saw gypsies. Or atleast I saw some really drunk people at a bus stop.
Anyway it was a pain and a rush to get to the game on time. I managed to walk to the stadium and had this 'Im in backwater Sweden bias going' So when I saw a bunch of kids playing hackey-football outside the stadium, I thought that's pretty casual.
As I walked by, it registered to me that they were all wearing MODO track suits and yes, there was Forsberg and one of the Sedins standing next to me (I can't tell them apart - I took a picture so you could tell me). So anyway, everyone was pretty much just walking by these guys ignoring them (the away team) and I was just a little surprised. I thought about talking to the Sedin, but I'd have to interrupt and figured I wouldn't bother.
Here are some notes on the game
* Ticket cost 40 dollars. I was lucky to get it as it was a sold out game.
* Hot dog costs 2 dollars
* Stadium is warm inside, I was wearing a t-shirt
* Fans ride their bikes to the game. There were about 1000 bikes parked outside the stadium. Lots of young fans and families.
* Music was the same to a Canucks game: 'Panama', 'Rock the night', 'Boys are back in town', 'Pump up the jam'.
* Smell of the stadium was burning metal - like when you turn on electric heat elements. The stadium was only 3 years old so maybe it's still being broken in.
* There was a huge fan section behind home goal. This fan section had everyone all dressed in Farjestad colours, drums and two guys leading the chants. It was incredible - it is what I expected to see at a Football game, not a hockey game. The two guys leading the chants would stand up and say something like 'kung liver' and everyone in the stands would thrust their hands forward (ala Hail Hitler) and say Ra (thurst hand) Ra (thrust hand) Ra (thrust hand). They had about 5 different chants I think. After awhile I did notice that there was a very small section further away from the game but near this fan section for the MODO fans.
* No english was spoken during the announcements. Norway is very bilingual compared to Sweden.
* I lied a bit about the english. These were the phrases that were used in English (bracketed in Swedish dialogue):
* 'Welcome to the big show!'
* 'Let's get ready to rumble!'
* 'Offside' (the PA announces announce this)
* 'Icing'
* There was no shot clock. Farjestad was outshooting MODO by about 2 to 1, but I could not see the stats anywhere.
* The Sedin twins did not score. In fact they took 3 penalties and give me the impression that they are a bit rougher than the swedish players.
* No beer is allowed in the stands! Between periods, people would rush into these small beer gardens and presumably down a beer in the 15 minutes before the next period started.
This was one of the most exciting games I've ever been to and was the highlight of my trip to Sweden. I think it is because of the rabid home cheering stands which put out sooo much energy during the game. I will try and go to another Hockey game on my travels.
Friday, October 01, 2004
In Stockholm now
After that wild trip to Bergen and back to Oslo... I and Maki took the train to Stockholm.
Stockholm really shocked me. We arrived in the central station and it was busier than anything I saw in New York. Ok maybe it was AS busy, I just did not expect to be trapped in it. Walking across a hallway was difficult. I asked someone a question and was litterally about 30cm from his face and he completely ignored me and walked quickly away like he was blind. Blind and able to walk really quickly through foot traffic...
Maki and I spent yesterday going to a bunch of museams because we bought a 'Stockholm card'. Saw a national museam (saw my first real Monet there), a dance museam and a music museam (yay Abba!)
Stockholm prices are more sane than Norway or Iceland. We are now able to get coffee for about 2.00 and dinner entrees are about 20. Speaking of which we went to a swedish restaurant and I had reindeer and herring in three sauces.
Today I said goodbye and booked a ticket to see the MODO hockey team play in Karlstad tommorrow. MODO is where the Sudin Twins and Forsberg are playing now. Markus Nasuld should be playing for them in December or January.
Stockholm really shocked me. We arrived in the central station and it was busier than anything I saw in New York. Ok maybe it was AS busy, I just did not expect to be trapped in it. Walking across a hallway was difficult. I asked someone a question and was litterally about 30cm from his face and he completely ignored me and walked quickly away like he was blind. Blind and able to walk really quickly through foot traffic...
Maki and I spent yesterday going to a bunch of museams because we bought a 'Stockholm card'. Saw a national museam (saw my first real Monet there), a dance museam and a music museam (yay Abba!)
Stockholm prices are more sane than Norway or Iceland. We are now able to get coffee for about 2.00 and dinner entrees are about 20. Speaking of which we went to a swedish restaurant and I had reindeer and herring in three sauces.
Today I said goodbye and booked a ticket to see the MODO hockey team play in Karlstad tommorrow. MODO is where the Sudin Twins and Forsberg are playing now. Markus Nasuld should be playing for them in December or January.
Norway in a Nutshell
Rick Steeves says that anyone that doesn't see the fjords of Norway should have his passport revoked.
With that and other people's recommendation, I signed up for a day trip through the fjords from Oslo to Bergen (from the far east side of Norway to the West Coast and back).
Norway is very beautiful, the fjords are very beautiful. But very reminicent of B.C. so I cannot help but take it for granted. For me I thought it looked like Vancouver Island, another Canadian guy Lorne from Calgary behind me thought it looked like the interior. We later met a Canadian girl Ann-Claude (from Toronto) who said it looked like (actually I don't remember what she said). The three of us later met a Japanese girl (Maki from Osaka) who said it looked like some places in Japan.
From all of that, it is very beatiful in a way that might remind you of a beatiful place you might already know.
That night I, Ann-Claude and Maki went for Indian food and took the night train back to Oslo. The night train was a pretty wild experience. You know that dream state you are not quite asleep, but your mind gets all of these crazy ideas and makes these funny stories? Maybe it is just me... But anyway the train put me in that state for about 3 hours straight... Pretty trippy. I was able to sleep for some solid hours and that was good considering. I wish there was a shower though - I was stinky boy for the rest of the day after arriving in Oslo at around 6AM.
With that and other people's recommendation, I signed up for a day trip through the fjords from Oslo to Bergen (from the far east side of Norway to the West Coast and back).
Norway is very beautiful, the fjords are very beautiful. But very reminicent of B.C. so I cannot help but take it for granted. For me I thought it looked like Vancouver Island, another Canadian guy Lorne from Calgary behind me thought it looked like the interior. We later met a Canadian girl Ann-Claude (from Toronto) who said it looked like (actually I don't remember what she said). The three of us later met a Japanese girl (Maki from Osaka) who said it looked like some places in Japan.
From all of that, it is very beatiful in a way that might remind you of a beatiful place you might already know.
That night I, Ann-Claude and Maki went for Indian food and took the night train back to Oslo. The night train was a pretty wild experience. You know that dream state you are not quite asleep, but your mind gets all of these crazy ideas and makes these funny stories? Maybe it is just me... But anyway the train put me in that state for about 3 hours straight... Pretty trippy. I was able to sleep for some solid hours and that was good considering. I wish there was a shower though - I was stinky boy for the rest of the day after arriving in Oslo at around 6AM.
Seemier Oslo?
For my second night I wanted to find a hostel to save money. The night before I stayed at a 'Pension' which is like a hotel but with shared bath. The pension cost about 80CDN, and a hostel is usually around 50CDN.
The place I found was in East Oslo. Here is the scummier side of Oslo. What I didnot realize the first night, was that I was staying in a place kitty-corner to the King's residence and the high-street: a european version of Robson and 4th ave.
East Oslo was a bit scummier. I passed a few beggars on the way to the Hostel. When I got to the hostel there was three people ahead of me. While in line a man stood behind me. He smelled like he had been pickled. It was really bad and is probably hard to imagine, but it was difficult to actually stand nearby. It was at that point that I wondered how the Hostels allocated shared rooms... i.e. If there are two beds available and two random people show up at the same time do they get sent to the same room or do they get distributed throughout the hostel...
The East side is not bad. No worse than what we have in Vancouver.
The place I found was in East Oslo. Here is the scummier side of Oslo. What I didnot realize the first night, was that I was staying in a place kitty-corner to the King's residence and the high-street: a european version of Robson and 4th ave.
East Oslo was a bit scummier. I passed a few beggars on the way to the Hostel. When I got to the hostel there was three people ahead of me. While in line a man stood behind me. He smelled like he had been pickled. It was really bad and is probably hard to imagine, but it was difficult to actually stand nearby. It was at that point that I wondered how the Hostels allocated shared rooms... i.e. If there are two beds available and two random people show up at the same time do they get sent to the same room or do they get distributed throughout the hostel...
The East side is not bad. No worse than what we have in Vancouver.
Museums of Oslo
I took a ferry across to the island of Bygdoy which has alot of nautical museams. On the way I met a woman and her two children who were going over for a visit as well. She was originally from Poland and thought that Oslo was a good place to raise a family.
The museums were pretty cool. I went to a Viking ship museum, a folk museam where they have moved original homes from around the country to this single place and the Con-Tiki museum.
The Con-Tiki museum was very cool. I had not heard abouth Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002) but this guy built very old fashioned boats out of straw or balsa and then sailed them across oceans. He sailed the balsa craft from Peru to Polynesia, the Tigris around the Indian Ocean, The RA1 sank while he was trying to get from Morroco to America so he built and sailed the RA2 the next year to finish the trip.
It was cool because the ships were so small and old fashioned and the idea sounded pretty crazy. If I get time I'll check out his biography.
The museums were pretty cool. I went to a Viking ship museum, a folk museam where they have moved original homes from around the country to this single place and the Con-Tiki museum.
The Con-Tiki museum was very cool. I had not heard abouth Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002) but this guy built very old fashioned boats out of straw or balsa and then sailed them across oceans. He sailed the balsa craft from Peru to Polynesia, the Tigris around the Indian Ocean, The RA1 sank while he was trying to get from Morroco to America so he built and sailed the RA2 the next year to finish the trip.
It was cool because the ships were so small and old fashioned and the idea sounded pretty crazy. If I get time I'll check out his biography.
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