Kauhava

On Monday we arrived in Kauhava. Catherine and I were greeted by our hosts Pertti and Riitta Liisa. Perttii immediately took us to the airfield to see his glider. His glider is 30 years old and it has a wingspan of roughly 45 meters. Obviously the first thing that Catherine and I wanted to do was sit inside of the glider. Pertti immediately suited us up with a parachute (safety first!) and he even buckled us in and "closed the lid."

Later in the evening we toured the Ruona Battle Site and then we all went to Pertti and Riitta Liisa's summer cottage. It was a beautiful cottage. We enjoyed a great meal with great company. After dessert and coffee it was naturally time for an ice swim and sauna. The sauna was a building down closer to the lake next to Pertti and Riitta Liisa's original cottage. Once again the initial shock of the cold water was nasty but it sure felt good to be in the sauna after especially with a Finnish beer!

Once everyone was "sauned out" we gave a very informal presentation to the group. Many of the GSE team members were shocked to find out that the "man in khakki" in Gailmarie's wedding picture wasn't Lorne! I guess you learn something everyday here in Finland...even things about your own GSE team! The evening ended with the presentation of Rotary banners and of course visiting.

Today we had a vocational day. Before heading off to each of our planned activities, we had lunch at the school where it happened to be porridge day! Then we received rotary banners for our clubs. Laurel took off for the Air Force Base, Catherine left to learn about explosives, and Marty took off for Finn Power.

Gailmarie and I went to a middle school and highschool with Pertti and the principal Jaako. We had a great tour of the school. We even visited a few classes and talked with a group of students in an English class. On behalf of Fonstad Tattoo Enterprises (FTE) I presented Canadian tattoos to one of the teachers to give to her students. Just another step closer to tattooing as many Finnish people as possible during the GSE exchange!

Below is a picture of the parking lot at the school. It is interesting to note that 15 years olds are allowed to drive scooters, smart cars, and TRACTORS to school...without a license!

Canada and Finland are much alike but we keep saying there are the little things that are different...like the elevators and the ledges at every doorway. Today Catherine and I found out that the Finnish calendar is unique. In each month the weeks are labelled as week 1, week 2, week 3, and so on to week 53. The Finns find numbered weeks as a practicial way of describing when things will happen. Also each day in the Finnish calendar is dedicated to Finnish names. Sometimes people have cake at their work place for their name day. Upon careful inspection I found that all the members of our team have a Finnish name day.

Christina: July 24th

Catherine: November 25th

Laurel: January 18th

Marty: November 10th

Gailmarie: July 7th

This is just another thing that I love about Finland...an extra birthday!

Well it is now time again to sign off for the evening. Tomorrow we leave Kauhava and move to Lapua for 1 day. It will again be sad to leave our wonderful hosts. We will go on many tours and take part in many activities while on the GSE but it will be the people that we will remember forever.