Back to Helsinki

Sunday August 17th:

We slept in (wooo) then ate brunch and enjoyed the sunshine on the deck with Leo. Johanna's mom made a traditional porridge type food with the currants we picked from their backyard on Friday. She also made biscuit type things and a pie. All were tasty (biscuity things being my favorite). We then headed to see the nice old castle ruins of Raasepori! I do wish things had been labeled a bit better with explanations but we managed to figure out what was what. Honesty seems to be big here. You're supposed to pay to have a ticket to go inside the castle but nobody is there to check or enforce it. Same with the local trains; well, they might come by and check but nobody has on any of my train trips thus far. Also, the produce labeling at the grocery stores. Finns are very honest an up front with everyone. It's kinda nice.

Side note, things I forgot to write about on other days. On my way to the train station on Friday, a man spoke to me in Finnish. I was a bit wary and replied "I only speak English." He then said "oh, okay, I was just saying happy weekend!" He asked me where I was from and if I was visiting and told me he hoped I had a great time in Finland. It was a nice start to my journey :] The ladies at the bus stop were also super nice and helpful. I knew my stop was the last stop but one lady was getting off at the stop before mine and said she would make sure to let me know when to get off. Nobody seems to mind too much that I don't speak Finnish or Swedish. I did try and learn a few words like "hello" and "thank you" in each to be polite.

Back to today. Johanna and her mom helped me get a train ticket (we don't have the ATM cards where there is a chip in the short end. They've been common in Europe for years but don't seem to exist in the States yet). My card wouldn't work and the machine only accepted card so Johanna bought my ticket and I paid her in cash. I had to buy a coke and used a 50 Euro note since it was  the only thing the machine gave me. The train ride was really nice. It was a 2 story train and the seats were assigned since it was so big and intercity. It also had wifi! I put my earphones in to drown out the sounds of the crying baby so I checked out the window at each stop to make sure I got off at the right place (instead of listening for the announcements). I made it!

Jonna picked me up and we headed to Sipoo where her Mom, step-dad, and brothers live. Her older brother and his wife and their sons were visiting for dinner too. Her nephews are named Alex (6 years old) and Anton (almost 4). Alex greeted me when we got there by telling me "My name is Alex" in English. He had been practicing for me :]  They don't speak English yet but their mother is a native Swedish speaker so they speak Swedish and Finnish already. The boys had tons of energy (duh) and reminded me of when Evan and my cousins were younger. Dinner was lovely and Jonna drove me around Sipoo after to show me her school buildings and the town. Henry drove us back to Helsinki where we went to the grocery store to get stuff for breakfast. Now i've been uploading photos and writing and watching Geordie shore. ha. Time to sleep so I can wake up and see more Helsinki tomorrow!