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After my exam on Friday, I joined some friends on a weekend getaway to a cottage in the Finnish archipelago. We left on Friday and came back on Sunday morning; ready for Vappu, the most important holiday in the Finnish calendar. It has been a truly wonderful and contrasting 4 days. The first days were taken up by the cottage weekend and its incredible views and peaceful relaxation; immediately followed by two days of uncontrolled, alcohol-fuelled mayhem that not only enveloped the entire city of Turku, but the entire country of Finland.

Cottage Weekend in Korppoo

Countryside cottages are very common in Finland; many people own their own cottage in the Finnish countryside, lakeside areas, Lapland (in the Arctic Circle) and in the archipelago. The archipelago is located in the south-west and western coasts of Finland and consists of about 20 000 nearly untouched islands (from memory). I heard that this entire area is really peaceful and beautiful, and I was not disappointed. The two-hour bus trip from Turku to a very small village in Korppoo was really beautiful and we passed from island to island taking in the amazing open spaces filled with water and surrounding islands covered with trees. The route to Korppoo even involves the bus actually being ferried across some islands; that's how isolated some towns in the archipelago are. From Korppoo our cottage is about a 15min walk to the shore line of that island.

Upon our arrival we saw a nice, little cottage on the seaside with pristine views of some of the other islands in the archipelago. It was incredible how untouched this entire place was. Of course you could see a few other cottages; but they just blend into the nature. It's similar to the log cabins we see in American movies; but much more beautiful as you're not stuck in the middle of forest but on an island in the middle of many more islands. You would think that this place was really rustic, but our cottage was like a palace. Despite its humble exterior, the inside was filled with polished timber floors/walls/chairs/tables, extrememly comfortable leather chairs and even a sauna (but this isn't that suprising since saunas are included in many normal Finnish homes...after all sauna is a Finnish invention and also a Finnish word). The two days were so relaxing, we spent so many hours just lazing around the house and going to the sauna.

We also had our very own rowboat, and some of the others went for a ride. But it was incredibly windy and they were unable to row back. Eventually they ended up on one of the other islands and luckily met a couple in a cottage there who used their motor boat to tow them back to our island. It was quite an adventure for them, and they were quite lucky. Unfortunately I didn't go rowing as the wind did not die down, and I didn't really want a repeat of their episode (the Finnish guy wouldn't have been happy if he had to tow us back twice).

We also spent an incredible amount of time just walking around the coast of our island, finding rocks and jettys of other cottages to just lie down on and take in the amazing views. It was quite memorable to just lie there silently with 11 other people just staring out into the clear blue water and island-filled horizon with cloudless skies and a bright sun. It was truly inspiring. On one of our walks we encountered a huge wall of rocks which Ivana and I decided to climb as it looked interesting (it reminded me a little bit of the Kalbarri gorge...but of course it was not even close to the unbelievable craziness of that adventure). The others reluctantly followed, but from the top we were rewarded with amazing views of the forest and of the archipelago. It's always good to just do random things!

Saturday was Gil's birthday, so for dinner we had a mini-suprise party where we gave him a cooking apron signed by all of us (he is an incredible and passionate cook) and we had a great dinner followed by the sauna and playing games. Our group consisted of 9 girls and only 3 guys, so it was good odds. The girls did everything; from cleaning, cooking and preparing to cook. But don't criticize me, I offered to help so many times, but my help was always rejected with them telling me that there was nothing for me to do. Klari and Anita even told me they actually liked cleaning the dishes. Though feeling guilty, I really wasn't going to argue. The cottage weekend was so relaxing, especially since I didn't have to do any work. All of us would have loved to stay for longer, but we had to go back on Sunday to trade our peaceful serenity with the insanity of...

Vappu (in Turku)

Like many other countries, Finland has its Labour Day on the 1st of May. But unlike Australia, European countries are actually conscious of Labour Day and are not ignorant of it all. In the Scandinavian countries, and especially Finland, Vappu is out of control. In Finland, Vappu is a combination of Labour Day, Springtime celebrations and a Student's Day. In ways it similar to Australia Day, as everybody drinks to celebrate. But the drinking of Australia Day does not compare with Vappu; it is in a class of its own. It starts on the 30th of April and then finishes on the 1st of May, which is a public holiday. Each city has its own traditions; but the main tradition is the countrywide "hat ceremony" on Sunday evening that I will talk about later. We got back from the cottage weekend in time for this, and it was so suprising to see the city alive. The Finnish are a very, very quiet and shy people, and it is rare to see lots of people around...especially because we were here during most of Winter. Like other Scandinavians, the Finnish get quite miserable and hermit-like in winter... but would't you if you were exposed to many months of grey clouds and freezing weather? Hence, they get excited and come alive once the sun appears and brings with it the beautiful weather of Spring and Summer. It was nice to finally see everyone frolicking about, having fun in the sun and full of life, especially in a quiet, small town like Turku with only about 190 000 people (only small compared to Perth of course).

In Turku, Vappu starts on Sunday lunchtime with the traditional drunken rowing race between some of the different Student Faculties on the Aura River. This is traditionally organised by the Law Students, and as my tutor Eeva is the president of the law society here, she was the one who was in charge of everything. She really did an amazing job; especially considereing that this is a major event in the celebrations of the most important Finnish holiday. I think she was quite relieved that it was finally over, and was probably happy that she could finally have fun with her friends for the night-time Vappu celebrations. My friends and I just sat along the river watching the race, and lots of people lined the river edge and in the resteraunt/boats to watch and celebrate. In Finland, students who are currently studying in University have their own coloured jumpsuit that distinguishes them from other fields of study, and so it was cool to just look around the river and see the different coloured uniforms. The jumpsuits are always covered with badges that have different meaning to different students. For example, one girl had an Aussie flag embroided on her uniform because she went for a year to Australia. The marone jumpsuits are for the law students, navy blue is for business, black for medicine, red for chemistry and so on...but the lamest group is the history students. They don't even have their own uniform, all they have is a ridiculous black cape reminiscient of Batman.

The "hat ceremony" starts at 6:00pm and is truly an amazing sight. In Turku, everyone gathers at the square in front of the Arts Museum, which is at the top of a hill just north of Kauppatori (the Market Square and centre of the city). At 6:00pm, everyone (and also everyone in Finland) then gets a special white cap, waves it in the air, and then puts it on their head. You get a white cap once you graduate from high school, so all people young and old have it. It is a really unique and different tradition that was quite interesting to see. I know it sounds pretty lame, but the main reason it is so cool is the amount of people that do it. In this square and the surrounding streets of Turku, 20 000 Finns that have graduated from high school all perform this tradition at exactly 6:00pm....and it is incredible. My friends and I were lucky to be at the top of the hill where we were able to see the entire square and all the people put their hats on...I really cannot describe it. Excluding sport games, I have never seen so many people gathered in one place. And to see the streets in a sea of thousands of white hats was a pretty memorable sight. After the hat ceremony everyone then walks down past Market Square and to the river for the ceremonial brushing of the statue (with a gigantic tooth brush), after which a white hat is placed on the statues' head. I don't really understand the tradition, but I think it is quite important as everyone lined the bridges across the river, the river edges and the areas around the statute just to see it. Strange country, Finland.

So anyway, once that finished the celebrations began. Everyone then starts drinking and by the end of the night the whole city is hammered. I really mean it. The young and the old, from the ages of 18 to 80, start drinking champagne, wine, beer and vodka in the streets. On the walk back home at 3:30am, I saw people drunkenly swaggering across the footpaths every 50m. It is totally crazy. When you think about how quiet the city (and country) has been during the Winter, you can only wonder what the hell happened to them. I have never seen the city so alive, let alone so many people in any city go so insane. Market Square, the river edges, the bars/pubs/clubs, and other streets near the centre were just packed with people celebrating. My friends and I just walked around talking to different Finns, who were usually quite drunk. We ended up at the party for Medicine students (being a part-Students Day, each faculty has its own party, but anyone can go to them). I wanted to go to the Law School one, but as the most common field of study among the friends I was with at the time was Medicine, we went there. Though the Medicine girls weren't anywhere near as attractive as those at the Law School, it was quite cool and we celebrated with some Finns and played pool.

The next morning was the official public holiday of Vappu, but the celebrations on this day are much more subdued (after all, the whole city was quite hungover). On the hill surrounding the observatory there is the annual Vappu picnic, and I estimate that about 3000 people attended. It was a really nice day; we sat around, talked, ate, drank (not a lot) and listened to the live bands on a perfect sunny day. Nothing happened at night time as everyone was too burnt out from Sunday, the picnic and lack of sleep.

And so capped the best days that I've had in Turku so far. I was able to see just some of the magical scenery that Finland is famous for, and also experienced what is by far the biggest party I have ever seen so far (who knows, I may see bigger ones while travelling around Europe). The cottage weekend was such a great bonding session between already-good friends, and the pristine environment could not have been more perfect. Vappu was so contrasting from the previous days of peace and relaxation, and it emphasised the absolute insanity of the festival even more. I was enthralled with the celebrations that this town put on. After seeing Turku in all its quietness (which I quite like), it was interesting to see it throw off this disguise to rip into an all-out night of total madness with ppl going crazy. Go Finland!!!

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