Joulutori Opens

Uno said that it's snowing cats and dogs. That's a good way of putting it.

Today's web publishing exam went fine. It was half multiple choice, half short answer. After we finished, I had lunch with the Spanish guys, Vikki, S and Z. The cafeteria food was boring (sausages with rice), but we had fun.

Diego, Pablo and Vikki left, so the rest of us decided to check out Joulutori, the christmas market in Keskustori that began today.





(Along the way we stopped for a break and for a quick snowball fight.)

At Joulutori, it was too cold and windy to walk around leisurely. We found a hut, bought some glögi, and sat around a small table next to a window.



Albert and Zhenia had to go, so Shizuka and I stopped at some other booths. We found a hut that looked like a yurt, with a fireplace in the center and seats all around. Four Finnish students in vocational school were managing the place. One student, who said she was from Thailand, was quite talkative and asked us about our stay in Finland. I asked if they worked here every winter. One student said that it was his last year of school and he wanted to make money for the future and for now. They gave us each a long metal stick with a sausage pierced at the end to grill.

After about 10 minutes, the meat was ready, and our feet were freezing (Shizuka has a hole in her boot!). We ate and left promptly. On the way to the bus stop, we stopped at a booth with honey and soap and other products from bees. The seller, a man with a pleasant smile and a large hat, said he was a beekeeper in Ylöjärvi, about 50 kilometers west of Tampere. He has been in the profession for over 20 years. "What inspired you to take up beekeeping?" I asked. He chuckled, "It's a long story," he said. He was living in Helsinki many years ago, when a friend asked him if he wanted to bring bees to the country side. "In two seconds I said yes," he said, "not knowing anything about bees." He gave us a sample of honey, which was rich and had a rougher texture than honey I've tried. I said thanks, and that we needed to leave because our feet were killing us. "Then you need to walk like Donald Duck," the man advised. He said that by walking in an exaggerated way for many minutes, the blood flow in our feet would speed up. We said thanks, and were on our way to the bus stop.

At home, I took a two hour nap. I was exhausted. I hung out with the girls for a while, and then cooked dinner (scrambled eggs with potatoes, purple onion, garlic and cheese). Tomorrow we're going on the forest visit that I've been arranging with two degree students. Hopefully the weather won't be awful!