A is For.... AVANTO

Avanto really just means "hole," but it's used most commonly to refer to a man-made hole in the ice that you jump into after the sauna. If this sounds like torture... it kind of is. You sit in the sauna, which is usually a steamy, brain-scrambling 168 degrees or so, and when you just can't take it anymore, you run outside and down the dock, and then lower yourself down into water that is just shy of freezing. This all should be done without cursing or shrieking.

So why do it? I won't deny that it's probably partly the collective crazy streak that runs through the Finnish people that prompts them to do, but a funny thing also happens to you afterward. When you climb out of that watery pit of frozen doom, miserable and feeling like your limbs are going to snap off, as soon as you pull yourself up onto the dock you feel fantastic. Invincible. Nevermind that you're standing around outside in -10 degrees F, wet, in a swimsuit, and if you're stupid like me, barefoot. You feel stronger than you've ever been. Like you could lift a car. Which, after a bottle of scary Finnish vodka, I probably could.

This picture says more than words ever could.

I've got exam number 5 of 6 in approximately two hours, and I've really ceased caring at this point. I realize now that my exchange over here would have been so different if I didn't have the academic pressure- I would have socialized more, traveled more, explored more of Turku. I have three weeks left here, one of which will be spend in France, and the last week I'll be running around trying to get my life together to go home. I'm really starting to question whether attempting to graduate with cum laude honors was worth it.

I'm really not ready to say goodbye yet. Saturday I'll be leaving Turku early to have one last swan song in Helsinki- say goodbye to the beautiful places I discovered there. Like the islands you can see looking across the harbor, and that beautiful park just west of the Fish Market.

Before I come home, I'll be doing a series of posts that is my "Finland alphabet." These will be some of the most memorable things in my exchange so far.

Weather thoughts

Each time I go out of town, it seems like I come back to nicer and nicer weather. The past few days have been sunny, and around 20 degrees in the afternoons- I was actually too hot yesterday in my hooded sweatshirt and jeans. One exam tomorrow and then Vappu means that I am holed up in my apartment for today, but expect me to be out this weekend celebrating, exams on Monday be damned! Until then, I'll be enjoying the fact that is it currently warmer and sunnier in Finland than in Seattle and chilling on my balcony in shorts and sandals (!), stealing my neighbor's wireless.

...

Summary of the past week:

Went to Edinburgh, came back from Edinburgh, got depressed when I realized I can't afford to study in Edinburgh. Spent three days up to my elbows in lake mud and gave myself two headaches from diatom analysis but I am almost done with the most tedious parts of lab work. In the past week I have had approximately 30 cups of coffee and only one full night's sleep. Made mac and cheese for the europeans which involved 8 cups of heavy cream and two cups of cognac. Spent last night at a Balkan Beats night at the hipster hangout in Turku which was predictably disappointing, as most things "cultural" in Turku tend to be, but high points were dancing to the undertones with Lena and enjoying some unexpected conversation with club denizens. Learned three new phrases from the Germans which make them laugh each time I say them, so, there's that.

The Local Wildlife Part 1

While I was at the supermarket yesterday returning my bottles I had the sort of strange encounter that has seemed to be the norm for meeting Finns in Finland. An extremely drunk Finnish man in front of me said something in Finnish about the bottle return, and me not understanding his accent/slurred speech, politely explained that I was sorry, I didn't understand, and that I only speak a little Finnish (Anteeks, en ymmärrä... puhun vain vahan suomea).

This resulted in the following exchange (in Finnish, of course):

MAN: Where are you from?
ME: From America.
MAN: You're not from America. What country are you from.
ME: America.
MAN: Where are you from?
ME: I'm from America, but I've studied some Finnish.
MAN: You're from America?
ME: Yes.
MAN: But where are your parents from?
ME: Also America.
MAN: No. Where are you from?

...aaaaaaaand repeat about 4 times.

My Last Day in Paris- Afternoon

AFTERNOON

In the afternoon I headed over to the Museé Cluny, Paris's medieval museum. I really enjoyed the museum- it was just the right size to be informative without overwhelming. For my folks, who weren't able to go there with me, I took a lot of pictures so I could put together a little "virtual tour."

The buildings that comprise the Museé Cluny are as unique and interesting as its collection. Half of the museum is situated in ancient Roman baths (the only ones in Paris, if I'm not mistaken) and the other half in a genuine Renaissance building, the former town house that housed the abbots of Cluny starting in 1334.

The museum has an amazing collection of stained glass, a lot of which came from St. Chapelle (that my parents and I tried to go to earlier, but which was unfortunately closed). From the Rick Steves guidebook, about the stained glass:

"Enter the Dark Ages, when life was harsh and violent, angels and demons made regular appearances, and the Church was your only refuge. This room offers a rare close-up look at stained glass, which gave poor people a glimpse of the glories of heaven. These panels (many from the basilica of light, Sainte-Chapelle) give us a window into the magical, supernatural, miraculous- and often violent- medieval mind."

Most all of the glass here had a narrative function, telling biblical stories to the church-goers (who most likely could not read). I absolutely love the way the glass was presented in this museum- you entered a dark room, where the only source of light filtered in through these intricate panels. It was breathtaking.


Down the hallway from the lovely stained glass, I entered a room of the baths that contains medieval statues.


The three heads here are the stone heads of the ancient kings of Judah. They were originally part of the Notre Dame's facade, but were pulled down by an angry mob during the French Revolution and not found again until 1977!


Down the corridor was the Frigidarium of the Roman baths- I think I loved the architecture of the museum itself as much as the museum's collection!



After this room I entered the second building (the Medieval one). This building houses one of the Museé's most famous artifacts- the "Lady and the Unicorn" tapestries.




One of my favorite things in the museum was the collection of metal objects, which were so mind-bogglingly intricate that I still find it hard to believe that human hands, not machines, crafted them:




They also had some armor and weapons on display, and I geeked out looking at the chain-mail, since there was a time in my life when I spent hours hooking metal loops together to make chain mail squares. I can't imagine how much time went into that tunic- or how heavy it must have been to wear!


A few more shots of the museum:



And that was my afternoon. I really loved this museum, and I think my parents would have enjoyed it, too (yes, even Mom)! After I left, I had disappointing crepe number 3, which brings the tally to 1 good, 2 mediocre, and 1 just plain bad. Ironically, I think the best crepe I got was also the cheapest.

Signing off for now- here's another "self-portrait" I took at the Musée Cluny for you guys.

My Last Day in Paris- Morning

This series of posts is especially for my parents. While both my folks and I left Paris on the 30th of December, due to the timing of our flights, I had a full day left in Paris without them. So here's a post chronicling what I did with that day!

MORNING
The first thing I did upon leaving the apartment was drag my luggage down and up several flights of stairs on the metro with the sole purpose of dropping my luggage off at the Gare du Lyon. I'm pleased to say that this particular scheme went off without a hitch, and with my luggage safely stored, I set off sans baggage for a full day of adventure. I got my first Pain au Chocolat of the morning, and then set off. First stop? The L'Orangerie (again).



It was actually extremely sunny that morning (though still a bit cold). I took a little self portrait for you on my way to the L'Orangerie.


I also spent about 15 minutes trying to get the perfect "I'm squishing the Eiffel Tower" picture. This was the best of the bunch:


I then went for one last look at Monet's waterlilies in the L'Orangerie. The line to get in was surprisingly short- probably because it was only 10:30AM at this point. I took another self-portrait here, though I tried to do it inconspicuously, thus the, er, strange expression on my face.


Mom really loved these exit signs, with the little man sprinting towards the door, so I took a picture:


I then headed over the the Canal St. Martin. It was a lovely little walk, along the canal, and I even saw a Swan! I took a picture of the locks on the canal, which were featured in Amelié, and later greenified it, like they were in the film. It felt a bit cheesy to be one of the "Amelie pilgrims" taking pictures of everything in Paris related to the movie (the cafe where she worked, the Abbesses metro stop, the canal, etc), but I have seen that movie so many times (probably more than 30 times at this point) that it didn't make sense to stifle myself.


Next post- Afternoon in the Musée Cluny.

I was going to make this post about my recent European travels, but a current event has superseded the need to write about myself.

From NPR, reported at 1:14 PM: "Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head by a gunman at a public event in Tucson on Saturday."

I am frequently saddened by American politics and current events. Rarely, however, do they bring me to tears. This event did.

As an American in Europe, I find that often in my conversations with Europeans I end up defending American culture and politics, and explaining to them just why American culture and politics is the way it is. As trite as it sounds, being in Europe has led me to realize just how much I love the country I was born in. I am well aware of its flaws, but if you dig deeper you come to what I think is the core of American culture: our seemingly unshakable hope that life can always get better, our fierce independence and individualism, the American love for the land itself, from the Great Smokey Mountains to Death Valley to the Everglades. I feel a small surge of pride when I think about these things; today, however, that pride has been covered by frustration and deep disappointment.

Though it seems unlikely, I hope that this shooting was not politically motivated. Why? Because it would be proof that people actually listen to the violent rhetoric that is employed in current political campaigns. Case in point, from Sarah Palin's "Take Back the 20" campaign, to remove from office the 20 people that voted for the health care bill:


Gabrielle Giffords' name is fourth on the list, with her senate seat indicated by cross hairs. She, along with many other politicians across all parties, has received death threats on a sadly regular basis. When asked by the New York Post if she had any enemies, Gifford's father replied:

"Yeah. The whole Tea Party."

This act of violence was shocking, brutal, and incredibly wasteful. John Stewart's "Rally to Restore Sanity" was overall lighthearted in tone, but with an incredibly important message at its core: that we, as a society, need to push for change in the way politics are handled in this country, and to move the plane of discourse from the ridiculous, the hateful, and the militant, back to one firmly grounded in sanity.


UPDATE: As of 3:50 pm, MSNBC is reporting that Rep. Giffords is responding to commands and is expected to pull through. Eighteen people were shot in total; six are reported dead, including an aide to the congresswoman.

Nothing like a 9-hour day at school

It was pitch black when I arrived at school this morning, and pitch black when I left. It's amazing just how late 6pm has started to feel- the campus is normally deserted by 4pm, so when I leave in the late afternoon it feels like walking back home from Odegaard at midnight. Thank goodness for the snow- it brightens everything up, even in the dark. It looks like the snow will be sticking around at least until the weekend- I'm glad as I haven't gotten to go play in it yet. A Finnish girl in my geology class told me that last year people didn't have to go to lapland to go skiing, as it was snowy enough to do it near Turku! I'm hoping some Finns with an extra pair of skis adopt me while I'm over here, since I would love to learn.

From one snowy place to another,
xoxo Lexi

I've caught my first cold of the season! I'm actually pretty surprised that it's taken this long for me to get sick, so I don't mind too much that I've become a walking snot-factory. Though this does mean that instead of having adventures this weekend, I've been sticking around the apartment, drinking lots of tea with honey. I think I might venture out into the city today, however, to try and get some work done at the library. It's been snowing on and off since Wednesday, which means that there's still a blanket of snow on the ground, buildings, and trees.






In some slightly scary news, here is what the weather is supposed to be like this week:





I don't think I've ever experienced 9 degree Fahrenheit temperatures before. Maybe I should also use today to shop for a down jacket...