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Published: October 24th 2008
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sauna
10 degrees C = really cold in hawaii, on the weekends, mostly, i used to play this game, i used to pretend that i wasn't such a little girl- that i didn't weight 115 lbs, and that i could play with the big kids. usually we'd go out drinking and i'd be okay for the first half, even 3 quarters of the night, (depending on what, or if, i had eaten for dinner), but at some point little dana would show back up, let herself in the game and find herself completely overwhelmed. normally something like a scarf or jacket would get lost in the process, along with a bunch of dignity and some self respect. i had been playing this game for some while, thinking that, believing that, or at least telling myself that, i was getting better at it. i was after all learning, sometimes relearning, the rules. especially the one about eating. but anyway i had myself pretty convinced that i was beginning to hold my own, that was at least until i came to Finland.
They have this thing here, in finland, it's called the "after party." the "after party" isn't some little get together after a night out, where everyone gets
together to have another drink or hang out for a few more hours. it's a full on ordeal. let me explain, first of all the problem here in finland is that it can get quite cold. this means that the people here wake up a little cold, it isn't that they are particularly unfriendly per se, but more so that sleeping seems to ad a layer of frost that means when you walk down the street and smile at the average person, they aren't likely to smile back, this frost makes them just a little more difficult to penetrate. the fins however have discovered a wonderful solution to this problem, it's called drinking. lucky for me, i believe, i've had some practice at this game, little did i know, i was in a whole nother league out here. you know you are going to be in trouble when the night starts at 3 pm with b vitamins, pizzas, champagne and cider. they don't fool around here.
you maintain a brave face, hold your own for quite sometime, infact you are quite proud of yourself as you remember to give yourself water breaks and even eat at half time. however you
hel
sinki soon find out that what you believed was half time was actually first quart or maybe even the first half of the first quarter... the after party starts some time just after the last night club closes, 4 am on this night. everyone goes to a hotel or a house or boat, a park if it happens to be summer and still light out, here the normal fan fare continues with drinking and smoking, cards and a lot of whatever anyone can do to stay awake until 9 am when the karaoke bar opens. the whole night people keep talking about this damn karaoke bar, i thought they were kidding, having fun in the spirit of being drunk, and pretending (like i've done so many times) that they were big tough kids. they aren't kidding, they aren't even joking a little bit, it's a full deal, and everyone, celebrities and the like, show up a PaƤntos- this hole in the wall, and that is a nice description, of a karaoke bar to sing a mash of english and Finnish songs until it's time to go to the clubs again. I wish I were kidding, or even joking a little bit, but it's a full deal.
finland is this place, Larrio once explained, where in the summer, you go outside in the middle of the day only to discover all these people falling down, stammering across the street, peeing their pants, and you think there must be something wrong, some kind of sars or plague. you cover your mouthing, wondering what you can do to help them, and then you realize the clubs are just closing and everyone is just making sure the frost doesn't set in. this actually happens all year round.
Mikaela and I picked up right where we left off 6 years ago at the academy. we went riding. her 5 year old was 11th in the world this summer, he's a big deal, and Mikaela is doing great with him. from the moment i got off the plane she has been talking about how we need to, in my short 3 day stay here take part in a Finnish tradition, it's very popular here, especially when it starts to get a bit cold. everyone goes out to this place, some people take all their cloths off, everyone gets all hot and uncomfortable, and then they go outside and freeze again. Scandanavian Hunks, is the Finnish full montey, and is actually a relatively new tradition in finland, but it is mikaelas insistance that it must be experienced before i leave. Of course it's all in the name of charity actually, for children with small fingers, or men with too many muscles or something along those lines, i'm sure it was a for a good cause...
we also went to the sauna at mikaela's grandfathers lake house, where i did jump in the freezing cold water, naked.
i'm off to russia today... if anyone gets a phone call about a Russian bride or daughter that you wanted to adopt, please just accept the charges, it's just me and I'm trying to get home. Thanks.
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