Friday, December 21, 2012
Sunday, May 10, 2009
The Finnishing Touches....
Today is Monday, May 11th, 2009, the official last day of GSE 5550 Canada to 1380 Finland. For a month I haven't been able to find the Finnish words I need and now I cannot find the English words I need. Fantastic, Incredible, Nice, Lifelong, Amazing, New and Delightful, that's Finland. The warmth, humor, kindness and hospitality of the Finns will stay with me always (but I might let go of the ice-bath memory!. So it's time to explain the complicated yet ingenious point system that we devised for this GSE trip. WHAT'S THE POINT? you may wonder. Just for fun. So for the review: MARTY - he had the best souvenir, a DIEMO lazered metallic desk stand that depicted the Maple Leaf and Moomin, very good. 50 pts. Marty was never cold in Finland. He wore short sleeves (and at least twice nothing!) and everyone always asked him, "Aren't you cold?" and his reply was always the same, " I'm freezing. Marty Friesen." 20 pts. Marty had many memorable point-making moments: when he ordered a Baltic yacht (30 pts), when he ate bacon every morning possible (minus pts), when he turned into a fanatic hockey fan and sang the Finnish version of Hockey night in canada (100 pts), when he smashed his finger playing Uniball (50 pts)when he learned to introduce himself as Marty, from the Mestaranta (forest), 30 pts.and when he made an historic trip to Sisu Diesel (70 pts) But Marty's really BIG points comes from 3 important things: 1. meeting with Fredrick, the amazing inventor, 100 pts.
2. Learning that the sausage is the Finnish man's vegetable, 100 pts.
3. Naked Sauna, 1000 pts!!!!!
Go Marty!
Not to be outdone however, we come next to Christina - she really took to heart the slogan, Been there, done that, got the Tshirt. Christina made GSE tshirts for all of us and for the Finnish GSE team. Thanks, Christina! 100 pts. Christina had jet lag and made good points with a 3 a.m. conversation, 20 pts. She has interesting conversational phrases and picked up on the Finnish ones too, "Let's just say" 50 pts. and "Maybe let's go" 30 pts. She really blossomed at our last stop when she stayed with the ballroom dancing maestros, the Panulas. Christina danced, she watched dancing, she attended a major dance competition, and she even helped out with ballroom danicng lessons, all of which add up to 300 pts. But, the finale, the "piece de resistance", the BIG points, came when Christina took one for the team and her kayak overturned and she went into the cold Seinajoki river! 1000 pts. Go Christina!!!!
And I did try to keep up with my much younger friends but from the start they did take good care of me so I'll collect points from each of them:) 25x4=100 pts. thanks Team! Then I was the first, the leader, to go into the ice-cold Baltic Sea after sauna, 100 pts for me. And I kept referring to our last stop, Kauhajoki, as karaoke (20 pts). Big points because I actually like salmiakki! 50 pts. And to talk even further about the food, because you know that I loved the food in Finland, I give myself 100 pts.(not 1 per pound, I hope!) We had an amazing Rotarian host in Vaasa that organized our lives so well, Maj-Britt, so I stayed with her so I get her points! 180 pts. But of course, my biggest points came from a "mere slip of the finger" when I jammed it in a van door and took everyone on their first vocational visit to a hospital! 1000 pts. Hurray!
Now for Catherine's standings: from the start we discovered that she needs alot of sleep, and I mean alot! so for all her deprived-of-sleep nights, when we told her once, "Catherine, it's 12 a.m." and she flew out of the room to go to bed, 50 pts. Catherine didn't meet too many civil engineers,in fact only 3, but she brought us all along on a wonderful field trip to a Waste Management facility and we could tell that was a highlight for her! so she has a lovely souvenir of a bag of "waste", hmmm. okay, still 150 pts. And also from the start, Catherine had the best grasp of the Finnish language. she could ask for the bathroom anywhere in Finland! That's alot of points. 300 pts. But Catherine gets major points on behalf of her husband, Brad, who interviewed for and received the honour of an Ambassadorial Scholarship to do a PH'd in New Zealand. 1000 pts. Go Brad! Go Catherine!
And Laurel scored "gianormous" points throughout the trip too, in fact, 50 pts for letting us all use her word, gianormous! Well, you've heard enough about Laurel, the policewoman, getting lost while out jogging. 300 pts. but you should also know that she's the best at finding things! 100 pts. She managed to find not 1, but 2 lovely Icelandic music concerts. 100 pts. minus 50 pts. But the highlights of the point sytem for Laurel were when she witnessed a dog attack at a lovely Dog Show, when she found Diet Coke once, when she lost an entire 2 hours of blogging!, and when she proved she could hold the title of "SuperPower Shopper!" all of which earned her 1000 pts.(and anyway, everywhere we went, the Finns wanted to meet the "policewoman on the team"). Go Laurel!
SO, NOW TO ANNOUNCE TE WINNER!!!!!!drum roll please......ta dah...... THE WINNER IS
ROTARY GSE!
Of course, this was all in fun, but you know what, the whole trip was all in fun! We learned so much we can hardly describe it, although we made a pretty good stab at it by posting the blog, but the biggest thing we learned, is one of the best values of Rotary: true friendship. We are really leaving behind our new friends, and we want to say thank you to them and to Rotary for this most amazing experience. This was a lifelong adventure, "From Start to Finnish". Thank You.
2. Learning that the sausage is the Finnish man's vegetable, 100 pts.
3. Naked Sauna, 1000 pts!!!!!
Go Marty!
Not to be outdone however, we come next to Christina - she really took to heart the slogan, Been there, done that, got the Tshirt. Christina made GSE tshirts for all of us and for the Finnish GSE team. Thanks, Christina! 100 pts. Christina had jet lag and made good points with a 3 a.m. conversation, 20 pts. She has interesting conversational phrases and picked up on the Finnish ones too, "Let's just say" 50 pts. and "Maybe let's go" 30 pts. She really blossomed at our last stop when she stayed with the ballroom dancing maestros, the Panulas. Christina danced, she watched dancing, she attended a major dance competition, and she even helped out with ballroom danicng lessons, all of which add up to 300 pts. But, the finale, the "piece de resistance", the BIG points, came when Christina took one for the team and her kayak overturned and she went into the cold Seinajoki river! 1000 pts. Go Christina!!!!
And I did try to keep up with my much younger friends but from the start they did take good care of me so I'll collect points from each of them:) 25x4=100 pts. thanks Team! Then I was the first, the leader, to go into the ice-cold Baltic Sea after sauna, 100 pts for me. And I kept referring to our last stop, Kauhajoki, as karaoke (20 pts). Big points because I actually like salmiakki! 50 pts. And to talk even further about the food, because you know that I loved the food in Finland, I give myself 100 pts.(not 1 per pound, I hope!) We had an amazing Rotarian host in Vaasa that organized our lives so well, Maj-Britt, so I stayed with her so I get her points! 180 pts. But of course, my biggest points came from a "mere slip of the finger" when I jammed it in a van door and took everyone on their first vocational visit to a hospital! 1000 pts. Hurray!
Now for Catherine's standings: from the start we discovered that she needs alot of sleep, and I mean alot! so for all her deprived-of-sleep nights, when we told her once, "Catherine, it's 12 a.m." and she flew out of the room to go to bed, 50 pts. Catherine didn't meet too many civil engineers,in fact only 3, but she brought us all along on a wonderful field trip to a Waste Management facility and we could tell that was a highlight for her! so she has a lovely souvenir of a bag of "waste", hmmm. okay, still 150 pts. And also from the start, Catherine had the best grasp of the Finnish language. she could ask for the bathroom anywhere in Finland! That's alot of points. 300 pts. But Catherine gets major points on behalf of her husband, Brad, who interviewed for and received the honour of an Ambassadorial Scholarship to do a PH'd in New Zealand. 1000 pts. Go Brad! Go Catherine!
And Laurel scored "gianormous" points throughout the trip too, in fact, 50 pts for letting us all use her word, gianormous! Well, you've heard enough about Laurel, the policewoman, getting lost while out jogging. 300 pts. but you should also know that she's the best at finding things! 100 pts. She managed to find not 1, but 2 lovely Icelandic music concerts. 100 pts. minus 50 pts. But the highlights of the point sytem for Laurel were when she witnessed a dog attack at a lovely Dog Show, when she found Diet Coke once, when she lost an entire 2 hours of blogging!, and when she proved she could hold the title of "SuperPower Shopper!" all of which earned her 1000 pts.(and anyway, everywhere we went, the Finns wanted to meet the "policewoman on the team"). Go Laurel!
SO, NOW TO ANNOUNCE TE WINNER!!!!!!drum roll please......ta dah...... THE WINNER IS
ROTARY GSE!
Of course, this was all in fun, but you know what, the whole trip was all in fun! We learned so much we can hardly describe it, although we made a pretty good stab at it by posting the blog, but the biggest thing we learned, is one of the best values of Rotary: true friendship. We are really leaving behind our new friends, and we want to say thank you to them and to Rotary for this most amazing experience. This was a lifelong adventure, "From Start to Finnish". Thank You.
Welcome to the Finnish GSE Team
It was so good to meet and greet such a wonderful Team and to start them on their journey in Canada's District 5550. I have enjoyed reading the blog and hope to catch up with you in Gimli on Tuesday so Cam & I can see your presentation. Enjoy your exchange.
From your honourary Finn (that you made me!!)....................Myrna King
From your honourary Finn (that you made me!!)....................Myrna King
Thanks for the Memories
Thank-you for the wonderful Blog, I have enjoyed reading about your journey. A special thanks to District 1380 for making the Canadian Team so warmly welcome. GSE certainly makes the world a wonderful place to exchange ideas, friendships and Rotary. The Finnish GSE Team arrived safely and are delightful. They were off to Kenora and met up with snow!! Today was a much better day. See you all back in Canada. Love Myrna
Last Few Days Before We´re Finnished
It is hard to believe that the Finland portion of my GSE is almost at the end. The last few days have really been great.
As I already mentioned, my hosts Jaakko and Helena are very involved in ballroom dancing. This has been great for me because Keith and I took lessons when we were in univeristy. Needless to say we have had many conversations about dancing. I even introduced Jaakko and Helena to the world of Michael Buble who has excellent music for dancing.
On Saturday I went with my hosts Jaakko and Helena and their daughter and boyfrined (Heidi-Maria and Artturi) to Vaasa for a ballroom dancing competition. The competition was the Finland Grand Prix. Heidi-Maria and Artturi were competing in the standard dancing portion of the competition so we were their "groupies."
Jaakko and Helena arranged a table right beside the dance floor so we literally had front row seats. In the words of a Celine Dion fan...You could smell the sweat! It felt like we were at a strictly ballroom dancing version of So You Think You Can Dance. The dancing was so spectacular that I didn´t even realize that I had been watching dancing for 8 hours! And I can´t even begin to describe the costumes...fantastic! To make the day even better, Heidi-Maria and Artturi danced beautifully and placed third in their group!
Today I met the team in the morning to wish Laurel and Marty farewell. It was sad to see them leave. We have experienced so much together.
After packing my suitcase and resting in the afternoon, the ballroom dancing activities continued when I went along with Jaakko and Helena to their ballroom dance lesson that they lead. I started out by helping with the secretarial and treaurer duties. Jaakko and Helena then spent an hour on waltz and an hour on cha cha cha. I was an extra "man" for some of the students and I was even "demo girl" for open breaks in cha cha cha. All in all it was a good day.
Tomorrow Catherine, Gailmarie and I travel to Vaasa for our flight to Stockholm. It will be once again very sad to leave my hosts. Like all my hosts, they have been so hospitable, generous, and welcoming.
Thanks again to all my hosts (Jaakko, Helena, Harry, Katriina, Pertti, Riita Liisa, Tiina, Hokan, Alvar, and Volter) for making this experience so memorable. I will remember your kindness always and I hope that we will meet again. Everyone is always welcome in Canada! Keep in touch!
Also...three cheers for Rotary for the GSE program. This has been a once in a lifetime opportunity. I experienced everything that I intended to experience here in Finland plus much more...including being baptized in the Seinjoki River!
I guess I am Finnished...until next time!
I suppose we are Finnished....
On Monday this one-month journey through Rotary District 1380 of Finland will come to an end. It has been a truly amazing experience. We have seen and done so much that would no be possible without the help of Rotary and Rotarians, and the GSE program. We have a acquired a knowledge of this area of the world and it's people that could not be obtained simply by travelling through.
What has struck me the most about the people I've met in the past month is their kindness and humbleness. Everyone welcomed us into their lives wholeheartedly and bent over backwards to make things possible for us. Thanks so much to all my host families who were kind beyond words: Jan-Erik and Nina, Anu-Liisa and Asko, Riita-Liisa and Pertti, and Juha and Erja. Thanks to you, I've learned what life is like in this part of Finland. I've made many new and amazing friends this past month. As a GSE team, the many experiences we have had have brought us closer together. We will never forget this time we've shared. We will all come away from this experience as better people, because we have truly experienced kindness, teamwork, adventure, and friendship. Thank you so much to everyone who has made this unforgettable experience a reality!
What has struck me the most about the people I've met in the past month is their kindness and humbleness. Everyone welcomed us into their lives wholeheartedly and bent over backwards to make things possible for us. Thanks so much to all my host families who were kind beyond words: Jan-Erik and Nina, Anu-Liisa and Asko, Riita-Liisa and Pertti, and Juha and Erja. Thanks to you, I've learned what life is like in this part of Finland. I've made many new and amazing friends this past month. As a GSE team, the many experiences we have had have brought us closer together. We will never forget this time we've shared. We will all come away from this experience as better people, because we have truly experienced kindness, teamwork, adventure, and friendship. Thank you so much to everyone who has made this unforgettable experience a reality!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Finland and Canada are the same and also different
Hi, like Catherine, I am inside out of the rain. I really enjoyed the trip to Tampere yesterday also. The city reminds me of Saskatoon with so many bridges and parks beside the water. It's big but has a small-town feeling to it and it's also a university town. The typical Finnish meal at the top of the tower was sooooooo good: fish, reindeer, cloudberries,suklaa chocolate and strong coffee. Many thanks to Jaako Panula for that experience. Also we have to thank him especially for taking Marty to SISU - he was in automated-machinery heaven! Laurel kept saying that it was just like the movie "Wallee". I think this progress is so typical of Finland. We've seen many, many small family businesses that have blossomed into large-scale ones. This creates an interesting dilemma about peoples' lifestyles and industrial needs...a debate that will always be ongoing. Marty's summation was not unlike " I think therefore I am", he said, " I am therefore I think". Well, as you now realize, Marty is defintely proving true to the nickname we gave hom from the very start, Philosopher King.
Today I went to Seinajoki with Terttu and Yohanna Soini. We were on a mission to find telescopic Nordic walking sticks that could fit into my suitcase which is 67cm. long. Unfortunately, our Power Shopper, Laurel, wasn't with me and I didn't find them. We had a nice time anyway and when we returned we went to the outdoor market in Kauhajoki where I found some Finnish souvenirs :)
As we drove around, Terttu told me that all of the houses in one block must be the same color...an interesting law. But they have bike/pedestrian paths beside almost every street which is very nice. And the Finns are great about building houses etc and still leaving many of the trees. It's so aesthetically pleasing and even practical. We defintely should do this on the Prairies. I think Marty's area of Manitoba does this because he introduces himself as being from the "metsaranta", or forest.
Well maybe I will post one last time still before our GSE journey together ends on Monday. The rain is refreshing, perhaps it has refreshed us too. It seems so long ago that we began, April 13th, but now it's sad to be ending. The Finns say they are famous for 3 "S's": sauna,(self-explanatory) salmiakki,(salty licorice) and Sibellius (Finnish musician and composer) but I think they must add an "s" for sisu(determination).
Today I went to Seinajoki with Terttu and Yohanna Soini. We were on a mission to find telescopic Nordic walking sticks that could fit into my suitcase which is 67cm. long. Unfortunately, our Power Shopper, Laurel, wasn't with me and I didn't find them. We had a nice time anyway and when we returned we went to the outdoor market in Kauhajoki where I found some Finnish souvenirs :)
As we drove around, Terttu told me that all of the houses in one block must be the same color...an interesting law. But they have bike/pedestrian paths beside almost every street which is very nice. And the Finns are great about building houses etc and still leaving many of the trees. It's so aesthetically pleasing and even practical. We defintely should do this on the Prairies. I think Marty's area of Manitoba does this because he introduces himself as being from the "metsaranta", or forest.
Well maybe I will post one last time still before our GSE journey together ends on Monday. The rain is refreshing, perhaps it has refreshed us too. It seems so long ago that we began, April 13th, but now it's sad to be ending. The Finns say they are famous for 3 "S's": sauna,(self-explanatory) salmiakki,(salty licorice) and Sibellius (Finnish musician and composer) but I think they must add an "s" for sisu(determination).
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