What?! A post two days in a row?! Yes, it's true.
I was in Finland for two weeks, which was quite the trip. It had been one of my dreams to have the opportunity to go to Finland with my Mummi to see where she was born, raised, and to meet some of her relatives with her. My mom has been twice, my sister once, and my aunts have been as well. I really wanted to go sometime in my life, but wasn't sure if I would have the chance to go with Mummi. When I found out that she and Scott were going for an extended period of time, I found the dates they would be there and looked at my schedule to find that I had a two-week break between semesters, while they were in Finland. So, my last final was Monday, April 26, in the morning and I left that night, at 9:30 pm. I flew from Boston to London Heathrow and then Heathrow to Helsinki, Finland. I was warmly welcomed with open arms in Helsinki by Mummi and Scott, and Mummi's cousin and her husband. We had dinner at their home in Helsinki and then we (Mummi, Scott, and I) took the night train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. After maybe 10 hours of plane travel and 12 hours in the train, we met some relatives in Rovaniemi and borrowed one of their cars to make the 2 hour drive to Kongas, the village where Mummi grew up. We got to spend a few days there and I saw the house she was born in, the bed she was born in, the school she went to, Ounasjoki (a river through the village), I met other relatives, saw our cousin's reindeer farm, went bowling, ate food, relaxed a bit from all the traveling and finals I had just finished, and spent precious time with my grandmother in her homeland.
the night train from Helsinki
we arrived in Rovaniemi the next morning!
Riita took us to her home
welcome to Kongas!
we made it to Kongas, where we met Elsa (Mummi's aunt) and Terho (Elsa's son, Mummi's cousin) and stayed with them
Mummi's birth bed, in Elsa's home
Jari, Katariina, and me after bowling (Inkeri-Katariina's mom-was also there)
feeding some reindeer
Siltila (sp?) today, where Mummi grew up
After spending a few relaxing days in Kongas, we began our trek back down south. We stopped in Rovaniemi for a few hours and went to the Arctic Circle, where I met Santa Claus, in his workshop. We spent the time with Riita and did a few other errands (post office and driving tour of the city) before getting on the train to Kokkola to spend a couple days with Mummi's sister, Anna-Liisa and her husband, Lasse. There was quite a gathering at their home with people from nearby in Kokkola and others a bit further away in Pietarsaari. I had the opportunity to meet many more relatives and see them all together, which was a lot of fun. There were babies, little kids, parents, and grandparents alike; it was so enjoyable and so neat to meet relatives that I had only heard about and seen a couple pictures of a few times! :) Anna-Liisa is a very talented artist and she gave me one of the beautiful ceramic plates that she had painted. It was very interesting communicating with people who speak a completely different language; easier with some people than with others, but regardless, fun everytime!
I was on top of the world at the Arctic Circle
After a couple nights in Kokkola, we got back on the train and went to Hameenlinna to spend some time with Paivi and Paula and their families, which was a grand time! :) Lots of fun and lots of laughter being around those two! They spoke English, which made it easier to communicate with them and get to know them better as well. It was a great time to meet them and their families, see their homes, see their town, and spend time with all of them! After a night stay in Hameenlinna, we said good-bye and boarded the train once again to return to Helsinki!
The train ride from Hameenlinna to Helsinki was a rather short ride (only an hour and a half or two hours, I think), compared to the previous train rides. We arrived in Helsinki, which was the end of the line, and took a taxi to Minna's home, who is Mummi's cousin. It was so wonderful to meet Minna and her two children, Paulinna and Oskari. They are darling little ones! We were able to spend some time with them and then the next day, we (Mummi, Scott, and I) went on a tour bus to tour Helsinki. It was a rainy day, so not the best day to see the city, but still fun nonetheless. Helsinki is not a very large town and I think on our 2 hour(?) tour, we drove by the same places multiple times. I think we drove by the library 3 times. I definitely recognized places (again) the second time we drove past the same buildings. Either way, I got to see the city of Helsinki (multiple times) and it was a nice audio tour and a great way to see it on a rainy day! :) And, Mummi lived in Helsinki for some time before coming to the states, so she would tell me some of her stories of the apartment she lived in and how she would walk all around the city, from one end to the other in 45 minutes or so, when she lived there. She showed me where her apartment was (just don't ask me to take you back to it because I don't remember where it was). Then, later that evening, there was another gathering with relatives closer to Helsinki. Everyone who came that night spoke English, which made it MUCH easier for me to communicate with them. The further south we came, the more people spoke English. I think we counted 18 people who came that evening, and what a fun gathering and send off party it was! I left very early the next morning. Said good-bye to Minna, Mummi, and Scott, and took a taxi to the airport.
I found my way and got on a plane from Helsinki to London Heathrow, which took off without a problem. Then, when I got to Heathrow, I waited through my layover and boarded the plane a bit late and then waited on the plane for a couple hours before we could take off. You see, it was during the time the volcano in Iceland was erupting and all the planes were being re-routed to an alternate route. Fortunately, we were able to take off after some time of waiting and I didn't get stuck overnight in Heathrow. And, because of the new route, the flight that normally takes 6 hours took 7 and a half hours. When all was said and done, I was back in Boston the day I was expecting to be (May 8th), just 3 hours later than originally expected, which I was okay with. Instead of getting back at 1:30 in the afternoon, I got back at 4:30 pm, which is still a very decent time to return from a long trip.
The day after was Mother's Day (Happy Mother's Day to my mom, my grandmoms, and all the other moms out there!!!) and I was able to talk to my mom (and the rest of my family) for the first time in a couple weeks, which was extremely nice and refreshing! :)
That's about it for Finland; well, not all of it, but a small glimpse of my time there. I took so many pictures to help me remember my time there and the people I met. It is such a beautiful country and loved seeing and experiencing God's creation in that part of the world. It was so amazing and such a blessing to meet relatives face-to-face and get a little taste of Finland and Finnish culture and to learn more about my grandmother and my own family heritage and culture. Thanks Mummi and Scott and everyone for such a wonderful and memorable trip to and experience in Finland!!! I hope I can return again one day; maybe with my mom and sister and aunt(s)....maybe some of the boys and some of my first cousins too?!?! It's another dream at this point in my life...some dreams do come true though (like this first trip with Mummi!)!!!
Next time: the rest of my busy month of May.......
so, I have tried adding more pictures a couple times, but blogger has not let me. Maybe I have reached the max number of pictures for one post....is there such a thing? More pictures of Finland to come soon...
