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).