Oh yeah, this old thing

Not that I think anyone really reads my non-proof read, poorly spelled and punctuated mindless rants but I figured just in case I'd give the low down on what's been going down in the old Finland. The answer to that is not really that much for the last week or so. Prior to that though I have been on several super cool skate trips which have seen me heading into the lappish wilderness and going down some big hills quite fast on a skateboard. It was quite the surreal experience as we did a majority of our skating between the hours of 6pm and 5am because there are no cars and the sun doesn't set. There were several times where we would have to stop in the middle of a run because a family of reindeer would run over the road, get scared and then start running in every direction and falling over which made things interesting. I even got to do some driving which was interesting considering that everything about it was the opposite to what I'm used to. All in all those were some swell times that can be viewed in this here video.

The cabin in question

A week or so after that I had the pleasure to visit my good friend Sampo and his family at their summer cabin in southern Finland. This has been something on my to do list since I first came to Finland and I must say it did not disappoint. The basic idea of a summer cabin in Finland is that it is a somewhat basic house that you go to during the summer to have a relaxing time without all the hassles of modern living. They are usually in a  lovely and picturesque location next to a lake or the ocean or some such. Many of them don't have electricity or running wanter, however the one I was at had electricity and bore water (you couldn't drink it but it was good for washing things and the like. It is also common for them to have a composting toilet rather than a flushing one and oddly enough they don't really smell and they have a nice little window in the side so you can observe the wilderness while you take care of your business. And of course there is a lovely wood fired sauna. Basically what we got up to at the cabin was help out with some yard work, play lots of games (Mölkky is a game worth investigating), eat well, have sauna (which involves and invigorating jump into the sea), picking berries and mushrooms and go traveling around the area in a boat (Once we even took the boat to the store). All in all a most relaxing time indeed.

But now that that exciting stuff has happened I've mostly been hanging out in Rovaniemi. I fixed up a bike the other day that I hope to sell it and I created a delicious egg custard type bake thing using some blueberries I picked in the forest near my house (which is delicious). I have also become a favorite snack stop for the local mosquito population which kinda sucks.

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