Excel in Helsinki

curious about a goatherding neophyte?

2010-02-21T22:57:00.000+02:00

Hello hello-

In an unexpected development, I've accepted an apprenticeship at a sustainable goat dairy in New Mexico. I'll be instructed in the craft of cheese making and goatherding from March 15-May 28th. I've created a new blog, "from the goatherd's throat," for this experience.

http://fromthegoatherdsthroat.blogspot.com/

What an adventure!

-Anne

Hiatus

2010-02-02T22:06:00.000+02:00

I suspect I'll do an over-arching analysis update when I return to the States in mid-March, but until then I am way too involved in graduate school admissions and wrapping up my job here in Helsinki to update. There is simply too much to write for me to even start.

This blog is officially on hiatus. It's been really real!

-Anne

Helsinki Returns

2010-01-03T14:32:00.001+02:00

I have just returned to Helsinki after spending 2 weeks at home with my family for the holidays. This vacation was lovely in itself, but it has also re-opened my eyes to how wonderful Helsinki is. The winter snow pack has set-in, and I am considering learning to cross country ski.

Jet-lag, ameliorated by a vicious virus (there is a 7 hr difference), meant that I woke at 6 am. Without The Sickness, I probably would've woken at 3. I baked bread and watched as the sky lightened and the snow flakes swirled around outside my window. I can't tell if new snow is falling, or if it is just recirculating. None of the apartments across the street from me had lights on until after dawn (around 9:30), so I think people adjust their schedules and sleep later in the winter. Either that, or everyone has moved out and I am the last woman remaining in Helsinki.

This seems to be the case in my suite, where everyone is gone over the holidays. As people leave, they dump their unused supplies on our communal table. I snagged far more nuts and beans than I can consume in my two remaining months here.

I used some of these scavenged supplies in the aforementioned bread I baked to cozy-up my empty apartment. I *basically* followed KAF's recipe for multi-grain sunflower bread, but I subbed 1/2 c of barley flour for reg flour. I especially liked it smeared with honey. The toasting seeds make this bread exceptionally fragrant, and my kitchen smells lovely.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/multi-grain-sunflower-bread-recipe

Cold St. Lucia's

2009-12-14T22:10:00.007+02:00

I woke up to 10F. I snapped the above picture when I cut through the park on my way to work this morning. The light was really pretty, and I failed to capture it adequately. The sky was a pale turquoise, and the clouds were peach set off by the blue light bouncing back from the snow.

As I write, it is 3F outside. My snow boots are rated to 7F, which seemed slightly excessive when I bought them. 10F was OK (with boots, parka, and lots of wool), but I wouldn't have tried it if I hadn't had errands necessitating my walking a while anyways. I don't think I'm going to attempt whatever gawd-awful temperature I wake up to tomorrow. I like my toesies attached to my footsies. This weather is such a shock because, until now, temperatures have been better than one would expect from this latitude. Last night an arctic air-mass dropped in and tanked the temperature by 20 degrees F in a few hours.

St. Lucia's day after the jump!

Last night was also St. Lucia's day. St. Lucia is a popular holiday in Sweden, where the eldest daughter brings her parents a breakfast in bed of special St. Lucia 'ess' shaped saffron rolls. She does this wearing a white robe and a crown of candles. Finland was ruled by Sweden for 600 years, and is still technically bilingual with Finnish and Swedish, though only 6% of Finns are native Swedish speakers, so it is reasonable to expect that St. Lucia's Day would be big in Finland.

They celebrate by crowning an official "St. Lucia" at the State Cathedral. As far as I know, she's just some cute blonde chick. I think it would be cleverer if the oldest Finnish woman were crowned as the "eldest daughter of Finland", but I guess that would be a different event. Anyways, "St. Lucia" then leads a procession of other maids of Lucia from the Cathedral down to the Market Square on the harbor. I attended this year's parade with my roommate. It started to snow just as "St. Lucia" was being crowned, and there were lots of little blonde girls running around with electric candle-crowns, so I was glad to see it though the parade itself was not exactly impressive. Also, the lights downtown are lovely. I hope they remain after Christmas.

Another representation of St. Lucy, for comparison.

The inevitable "darkness" post.

2009-12-08T23:00:00.000+02:00

Today the sunset at 3:15 pm, and tomorrow the sunrises at 9:11 am. It isn't even the winter solstice yet, but that equals about 6 hours of somewhat dim daylight. If I wake to light, then I've overslept. Conversely, it's always dark when I'm getting off work unless I take a half-day. I'm not really bothered yet, but I expect the post-Christmas season to be grim. I intend to take a couple mediterranean weekends (Istanbul HUZZAH!).

This diminished solar input means that the temperature of the air relies almost exclusively on fronts, and that the weather forecast is always: "temperatures in the mid-_____, remaining steady throughout the day..." The Baltic seems to keep the weather relatively mild. After having a white-toed close call, I bought wool inserts for my boots and have been comfortable enough to walk home from work most days.

An effect of the darkness is that personal reflectors are ubiquitous. Sidewalks are not common on back-roads in my neighborhood, and it is either "strongly suggested" or mandated that everyone wear a small reflective item on their right side, approximately waist height. I've gone native and bought a moomin reflector to hang from my down parka.

Moomin are cuddly finnish trolls. They have a children's comic devoted to their exploits, and they are to the Finns what Asterix is to the French and Hello Kitty! is to the Japanese. Moomin are EVERYWHERE. There are moomin books, mugs, stationary, cutlery, toys, etc. They are sold at Tarjoustalo (literally: "Bargain House"), at the post office, and at the Arabia outlets.

The moomin love the bogs of lapland, and they love fishing. They live in spindly cottages that look like land-locked lighthouses. There are poppa, momma, girl and boy moomin. I bought the top-hatted daddy moomin reflector key-chain because I thought it was cutest. To my eyes, they are nordic anthropomorphized hippos. I actually think the subsidiary characters look more interesting. My favorite are the hattivatti, thunderstorm ghost eels that get excited by lightening but are otherwise harmless.

Thanksgiving and holiday intro photo dump

2009-11-30T18:19:00.000+02:00

I've finally gathered some of the pics taken on Thanksgiving and the subsequent weekend. Enjoy!

*Very* carefully setting the hot galette on the table.

(more pics after the jump!)

This is our table without most of the food. Note that there's still room for centerpieces.

One of my roomies carving the chicken she roasted. We kept it on the desserts table, along with the potatoes, desserts, unopened wine, and stuffing.

The desserts table.

__________________________________________________

The following pics were taken the weekend after Thanksgiving:

Fire dancers!

Suomenlinna, aka Hobbitton

Hobbitton on the shore.

Holiday Kick-off

2009-11-30T15:29:00.002+02:00

I had such a packed start to the holiday season this weekend, I hardly know where to begin. It's almost enough to make me say "eh, too much" and write nothing. First, I think it is important to note that in Finnish the word for December, "Joulukuu", translates as "Christmas-moon". This gives a hint of how seriously they take their holiday celebration.

On Friday the Kumpula Campus hosted a Christmas party with the theme "Cirque du Destins Lumineux." The entire Physicum (physics building) was decorated like a travelling circus. I went with one of my colleagues, expecting it to be an uncomfortable "nurse your wine and make small-talk" gathering. I knew I was mistaken when I saw that my (free!) ticket included FOUR drink vouchers and I heard the band performing sound-checks as I wrapped-up my work for the day.

(more after the jump)

They started the evening by feeding us a tastey buffet dinner with champagne (separate from the FOUR drinks vouchers). After dinner, there were fire-dancers in black swinging around props that looked like flaming shot-puts, wings, and batons. It was hypnotic, and difficult to document with my camera. My favorite was the woman who looked like a phoenix with her bird-movements and her firey wings.

There were jugglers who danced to disco and dressed like art-school clowns (in the literal sense), a band, a dj, games and more; but by far the emotional peak of the evening was the unexpected nudity. Apparently, one of the 'surprises' hinted at in the email was a co-ed burlesque troupe. My jaw dropped, and I turned to my colleague and stuttered "This... this would NEVER happen at an office party in the States... NEVER!" She was interested in my response, because she is also a foreign national (from the mideast), and she was surprised that America is so culturally different from Finland. There was a man who did a butt-heavy fan dance with a peacock tail, a woman dressed as Cleopatra who ripped off her clothes because "she thought she saw a snake", etc etc. My colleague laughed at how shocked I was, and she said it is also common for coworkers to go home together at the end of the night. I told her that fraternization at the workplace is not uncommon in the States, but that it is generally discouraged. The nudity and general drunkeness were unlike any office party I've ever been to. It wasn't just 20-somethings either, all generations were represented.

Two of my friends that I mentioned in the Thanksgiving post had visitors for the weekend, so I had a bustling time running around town. On Saturday, we took one of them ice skating before hitting the bars. We went to the Palace Bar, located at the top of a swanky hotel and from which one can see all of Helsinki spread out below. You have to climb narrow, spiralling metal stairs the last floor, and then the bar kind of resembles a lighthouse on the inside. We went to a few other bars, but the other hit of the evening was another hotel establishment, the Mecca Bar, where we danced until late late late. Upon entry, me and my new scottish friend were flabbergasted. Everyone inside was completely beautiful and dressed to the nines. I couldn't figure it out-- they didn't seem to be running a door, but somehow the crowd had self selected to be extremely attractive. Seriously, all of the patrons-- men and women-- were stunningly beautiful. If I return, I'll throw on an LBD and heels. I did feel a little down-market (in a rock-and-roll way!) with my shaggy short (for Finland) hair, boots, jeans and cardi.

On Sunday I accompanied my friend and her visitor to Suomenlinna. I had been once before, but it is a lovely park and I was happy to return. I am especially glad I did because they had opened a special Christmas Market since I had last been. Children dressed in costumes sang and acted out something I did not understand, and all the artist's studios were hosting openhouses. We toured the island, popped into a studio (where the artist's mother, a woman in her 70s, sat down beside my friends and chatted them up about Finland and how they had ended up at her daughter's show), and climbed over the hobbiton-looking gunpowder magazines. Before returning to the mainland we had a very late lunch at the island's brewery, where I had a delicious port and creamy fresh salmon soup with potato and dill. My friend ate reindeer with lingonberry sauce, and her visitor had baltic herring.

This week, the general holiday busy-ness continues. I'm attending a finnish-style "little Christmas" party this Tuesday, the first of December. The Finns have parties on the first day of December to celebrate the beginning of the lead-in to Christmas. They call it "Little Christmas" because it is just a taste of the season to come, the way they call having a night-out on Wednesday a "little Saturday." This "little Christmas" is billed as a bacchanalia featuring a randy Santa. It's traditional to wear pointy red Christmas hats to the party.

On Thursday my apartment building is hosting a Christmas party, and then on Friday my office is hosting a second, department-specific, Christmas party at the astronomical observatory. This time I'll actually dress-up for it. Additionally, on Wednesday the Kiasma (modern art museum) has free-admission, so I plan to go downtown to check it out and do a little Christmas shopping. This means Monday night is my only unscheduled night this week. I am so glad I finished all my graduate school applications in November.

Thanksgiving Wrap-up

2009-11-27T13:23:00.003+02:00

Thanksgiving was more wonderful than I could've hoped for. It started with me introducing my coworkers to pumpkin pie and culminated in a dinner party that stretched into the early AM.

I called my colleagues to the break room around lunchtime for pie and cookies, and they all dutifully sampled pumpkin pie and chit-chatted about whether they needed a new drill, new samples, etc (geophysicists...). My South African coworker said pumpkin pies are traditional for him too, but that they were different than what I had prepared. I let him know that American pies aren't exactly like what I prepared either. The only pumpkin I could find was a jack-o-lantern, so the flavor was a bit watery.

Then (with my boss's permission) I dipped out early to dash home and start cooking. I got on video-skype with my parents, and it was like we were hosting dueling cooking shows, because I'd be darting on and off screen, furiously whisking a bowl of popover dough, while mom was stirring collard greens and dad was showing off his ambrosia.

One of my roommates decided to roast a chicken after all, so we got dinner on the table a touch later than we had originally planned. I teased our guests about how we were participating in the annual "waiting for the bird to finish" tradition. Everyone was surprised at how nicely we had arranged our bleak Soviet-looking apartment. I was thrilled that we made it look swank using scavenged goods. Our centerpiece was a massive candelabra that my roommate found when she was walking on Suomenlinna. I added origami decorations, filling little folded boxes with paper flowers that resembled mandalas. I also built a pyramid out of stacked origami turkeys. The finnish text on the paper looked great with the box-pattern. It was gratifying that our guests appreciated the effort. My Indian friend's eyes got huge when she saw our table, and she snapped tons of pictures. The final touch was an evergreen branch that I stuck in an old-fashioned beer bottle. At the end of the meal we decked it out in candy canes like a Christmas tree to celebrate the start of the holiday season.

(more after the jump)

It turned into a delightful dinner party, with the very gracious non-Americans gushing about how much they enjoyed the meal and our customs. In particular, a Vietnamese girl was really cute because she had only ever seen Thanksgiving in movies before, so celebrating with actual Americans was super exciting for her. We went around the table and said what we were thankful for, and then we kicked off a marathon 7-hour feast.

The head count expanded to 8 people (3 Americans, 1 Latvian, 1 Indian, 2 Scots, and 1 Vietnamese), but we didn't have an issue feeding everyone. There was plenty of food for all of us to stuff ourselves silly. We sat down for dinner at around 6:45 pm, and we didn't call it a night until 1:30 in the morning.

We enjoyed lively dinner conversation, but we certainly ate. Our final menu was: brussels sprouts with pine nuts, green beans, two types of stuffing, mashed potatoes, homemade lingonberry sauce, popovers, sweet potato chevre galette, roast chicken, pumpkin pie, chocolate truffles, chocolate tart with a MASSIVE dollop of whipped cream, and plenty of wine (red, white and glöggi).

One of the Scots was a friend-of-a-friend that a guest picked up from the airport mid-meal. He had just gotten off the plane, and we immediately sat him down and buried him in food and wine. By the end of the evening he was part of our little group. He was just visiting Helsinki for the weekend, but he wanted to make sure that we all hung out together for the few days he has in town. I really think Thanksgiving can bring out the best- warm and welcoming- side of Americans. Our new Scottish friend seemed bowled over that he was adopted into our little tradition.

I'll post pictures later.

Thanksgiving RETURNS: less flesh, more people (not in a diet-y way)

2009-11-23T22:45:00.008+02:00

My plans for Thanksgiving have evolved in a way I'm rather pleased with. As alluded to in my title (and in the borrowed image above), I've reconsidered the meat portion of my Thanksgiving meal. The impetus for this decision is laziness. Every time I thought about scrounging for a '2-kg gammon,' I just really wanted to lie down. I've decided to go with it, and instead I'm adapting a recipe for a sweet potato-chevre galette as the main dish. It seems that "a Vegetarian Thanksgiving" is a meme this year. Martha Stewart had an episode about it, tying it to the wholesome foods and farms eco-movement. I remember growing up with people who didn't eat meat for moral reasons, but now it seems many vegetarians are ecologically motivated. Martha's having a veggie Thanksgiving with her daughter, though she is still roasting a turkey at home. NPR also had special coverage.

When I made the decision to go veggie for Thanksgiving, I also solidified my plans to celebrate with my roommates, one of whom is a vegetarian for reasons a little more idealistic and less pragmatic than myself. We divvied up the food load, and I'm responsible for the vegetarian main dish, popovers, whatever brussels sprouts I have, and cookies for after dinner (in case our foreign friends aren't game for pumpkin pie). My roomie is making mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, green bean casserole, dressing, and maybe roast root vegetables. We are making anyone who attends bring wine. I might also bake a swedish limpa or some other bread to add heft to the spread. Maybe I could make baked beans or hoppin' john too...

I'm still going to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade with the family via Skype, but now I'm having a real sit down meal too! My veggie roommate's family has the same tradition as mine of going around the table and naming something you're thankful for. We're going to do this, and we even plan to light candles for the centerpiece.

As for my changing menu, I made a half batch (8 mini-cookies) of the almond ambrosia macaroons and they are already gone. I will not be making them again. Calorically, ounce for ounce, it's like eating butter. Instead, I've put together some slice-and-bake cookies from the leftover toasted coconut and orange zest. I spiced it with cardamom and vanilla sugar to echo the kheer I made a few nights ago. I've been really into quasi-Indian flavor profiles lately. I blame it on my meatless, legume-heavy diet.

As in my previous Thanksgiving post, I'm including the links to recipes and details about how I'm altering them after the jump.

Sweet Potato-Chevre Galette
I'm mainly using the first recipe I link to, and then checking the spicing and proportions against the NPR Mushroom galette in the second link. The third link is for an intriguing sweet-potato mushroom lasagna, which augments sweet potato with the flavors of both mushroom and chevre. Hmmm... maybe I could prepare both. Or at least, add the mushrooms to the galette. Sauteed mushrooms are so good.

http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/sweet_potato_galette.aspx

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97137098&ps=rs

http://savour-fare.com/2009/03/26/sweetpotatolasagna/

Toasted Coconut, Orange, and Cardamom Slice-and-Bake Cookies
Again, I used the general ratios of the first recipe, checking it against the second as I adapted it. I made a half batch (25 cookies), adding 1 tbs orange zest, a pinch of cardamom, and replaced 1/2 cup of the flour with toasted coconut.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/12/a-slice-and-bake-cookie-palette/

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aida-mollenkamp/toasted-coconut-and-orange-icebox-cookies-recipe/index.html

Swedish Limpa/Joululimppu (finnish)
I think I will make limpa/limppu afterall. I have fennel seeds that I need to use. Combining these recipes, using barley flour for rye and double portions of fennel for anise (because I don't have rye or anise) should work out well. I just have to remember to lengthen the rise. Of course, I'll use molasses as my primary sweetener.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/swedish-limpa-recipe

http://www.finnguide.fi/finnishrecipes/recipeinfo.asp?c=1&t=1&p=1

Vegetarian Baked-Beans
It has been surprisingly difficult to find an enticing vegetarian baked-beans recipe. I am not quite sure what to do. My instinct is to add butter and vegetable stock to compensate for the missing fat and flavor that would be supplied traditionally by bacon. I'll definitely throw some molasses and maybe smoked paprika in there. The links below are the best of the bunch.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/baked-beans

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/maindishentreerecipes/r/vegbakedbeans.htm

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/veggiebostonbakedbeans.htm

Thanksgiving Abroad

2009-11-18T14:02:00.012+02:00

I've been wrangling with the challenge of celebrating Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday, BTW) so far from home and family. I believe I've hit upon a satisfactory solution.

First: Stream the Macy's Parade. The 9 am eastern time showing is actually perfect for me, because that translates to 4 pm Helsinki time, right when I'll be getting home from work and preparing dinner. After the parade, I'll scrounge for Charlie Brown Thanksgiving clips.

Second: Video skype with my family! When I suggested that they set the lap-top a place at the table, I was only half joking. This is a legit case of better living through the internet.

Third: While turkey is not on the menu, I am taking this opportunity to experiment with 'special-occasion' dishes I've been wanting to try. I've been pretty much a vegetarian since I got to Finland (meat is too expensive!), so Nigella Lawson's ham in coca-cola is perfectly festive. The re-entry of meat in my diet is more than enough to compensate for the missing turkey. I've included the rest of my menu below.

Thanksgiving Menu

(recipes adapted from Martha Stewart, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Nigella, and FoodNetwork)

pan-seared brussel sprouts with pine-nuts and garlic
roasted root vegetables (sweet potato, potato, beets, celeriac)
popovers
Nigella's coca-cola ham
pumpkin pie (to bring to work)
chocolate-dipped ambrosia almond coconut macaroons

links to recipes and reasoning after the jump...

sprouts: The man who uploaded this recipe ripped it straight from the Gourmet cookbook. I remember using it before... so good. After eating this, I can't make brussel sprouts any other way.

http://www.food52.com/recipes/1334_pan_roasted_brussel_sprouts_with_caramelized_garlic

roasted root veggies: A good, basic recipe from Ina Garten.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-winter-vegetables-recipe/index.html

popovers: I had a plethora of recipes to choose from for this course and I have selected Martha Stewart's. Ostensibly, I like the simplicity, but I suspect I chose hers because she uses the word 'perfect' in the name. Points for confidence!

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/perfect-popovers

coca-cola ham: This is from Nigella Lawson's website, and it is a recipe she developed based on a "trashy-foods" theme. I am going to scale it down so I don't need to buy a massive ham to soak in an entire 2 L of coke. The coca-cola/ham fat left over from the roasting process will be great for making baked beans.

http://www.nigella.com/recipe/recipe_detail.aspx?rid=253

pumpkin pie: Another Martha Stewart recipe. I liked this one because it uses home-made pumpkin puree, and only 1.5 cups of it, which is about what I've got. I'm going to have to sub double cream for the condensed milk.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/favorite-pumpkin-pie

chocolate-dipped ambrosia almond coconut macaroons: This is a recipe I'm pulling together by combining Martha Stewart's almond coconut macaroons with Bon Appetit's ambrosia macaroons. I went a little crazy at the Indian grocer and bought unsweetened shredded coconut and almonds without a plan, and Martha's recipe calls for both these ingredients. I am adding touches of the Bon Appetit recipe because dad always makes ambrosia for the holidays, and I want that little hit of tradition. Also, I've been using depression-era zest saving tactics and skinning all my oranges before I eat them (you would too if it was a $/orange!), thus I have a stockpile of zest I'd like to break-into. The chocolate is just a little extra decadence for the holidays. Notice that I'm hording these for myself, and offering my coworkers pie instead. ;)

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/almond-coconut-macaroons

http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/2008/12/ambrosia_macaroons

As for timing, I'm making the desserts a day or two ahead and starting the ham the night before. I think the popovers and the roast veggies can go in the oven at the same time while I sear the brussel sprouts on the range. The ham will have to roast first-thing while I prep the veggies- no one likes cold brussel sprouts!

All in all, on Thanksgiving I should only be cooking for 1-2 hrs. Perfect.

Urban homesteads in Helsinki

2009-10-28T23:54:00.002+02:00

I was walking home from work today, and it was such a pleasant trip I've decided to walk to work again tomorrow. My walk takes me parallel to a park, and I was investigating potential paths that would take me through the park when I discovered strange markings on the map denoting a "Kumpulan siirtolapuutarha." The markings were so little, I thought maybe they ID'd crypts in a cemetery. Kumpula is the name of the campus where I work and, according to google translate, siirtolapuutarha can be mean either colony or allotment. I became curious.

At first, I wondered if these allotments were the result of Soviet domination. However, after a flurry of internet research, I discovered that the urban homesteads I passed on the way home were Finland's method of dealing with a food shortage in the 1920s. My local colony is one of the oldest still in operation, founded in 1927. These cottages on the plots are truly tiny, the better to accommodate a kitchen garden. The impression I got from poking around my local homesteading colony's webpage was that this is somewhat competitive subsidized housing, and that in order to retain it one must grow something edible on the plot. How cool.

For pictures: wiki and http://siirtolapuutarhat.net/kumpula/

For more info: http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&sl=fi&u=http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siirtolapuutarha&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dwhat%2Bis%2Bthe%2Bkumpulan%2Bsiirtolapuutarha%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den&rurl=translate.google.com&usg=ALkJrhgm5DiG0kaYz4NcfBU3ZV-dJtPa4Q

dividing up the days

2009-10-25T01:29:00.004+03:00

I am retro-actively adding Tuscaloosa AL to the itinerary. I hadn't noticed I practically pass through it on the way to Austin. I should definitely take the chance to see my family there.

If I were to take the longest road trip option, I think I would divide up the road-days as follows:

Day 1
DC-->Charlottesville, VA (2hrs 15min)
Meet with professors at UVA. Get brunch on the downtown mall.

Charlottesville-->Chapel Hill and Durham NC (3hrs 45min)
Check-in to hotel, explore town

Total driving: 6hrs

Day 2
Meet with professors at UNC and Duke.
Continue exploring towns.

Day 3
Chapel Hill, NC-->Athens, GA (5hrs 30 min)
Check in to hotel, meet with professors at UGA.
Explore Athens.

Day 4
Athens, GA-->Tuscaloosa, AL (4hrs 40min)
Visit with family! Yay!

Day 5
Tuscaloosa, AL-->Austin, TX (12 hrs)
Check-in to hotel. Find beer.

Day 6
Continue scoping Austin.

Day 7
Austin, TX-->Guadalupe Mountains NP/Gila Cliff Dwellings (9hrs 40min/13hrs 15min)
Camp.

Day 8
Continue exploring.

Day 9
Guadalupe Mountains NP/Gila Cliff Dwellings-->Phoenix, AZ (9hrs 40min/6hrs)
Crash. Hang.

Day 10
Meet with ASU profs.

Day 11
Continue hanging out.

Day 12
Phoenix, AZ-->Santa Barbara, CA (7hrs 15min)
OR-->San Francisco, CA (11hrs 40min)
Check-in, grab dinner.

Day 13
Meet with prof?
Hit the beach.
Santa Barbara, CA-->San Francisco, CA (6hrs)
Catch up with buddies. Leave car parked at airport for safety.

Day 14
Love on San Fran

Day 15
Keep on lovin San Fran.

Day 16
San Francisco, CA-->Zion NP, UT (12hrs 20min)
Camp at Zion.

Day 17
Hike around Zion.

Day 18
Zion NP, UT-->Pueblo CO (11hrs 45min)
Dinner with family.

Day 19
Pueblo, CO
Spend time with family

Day 20
Pueblo, CO-->Fort Collins, CO (2hrs 50min)
Meet with professors.

Fort Collins, CO-->Boulder, CO (1hr 10min)
Stay at hotel in Boulder.

Total driving: 4hrs.

Day 21
Continue exploring Boulder/Denver/Fort Collins

Day 22
Boulder, CO-->Omaha, NE (8hrs 30min)
Leave early. Check out Omaha scene.

Day 23
Omaha, NE-->Bloomington, IN (10hrs 45min)
Sack out.

Day 24
Meet with professors. Explore Bloomington.

Day 25
Bloomington, NE-->HOME! (10hrs 20min)

Travel PLANS, Christmas and beyond.

2009-10-24T23:15:00.008+03:00

I am writing all this down here so I can keep track of my plans, and so I can get feedback as necessary.

For Christmas, I am going to Paris. One of my friends is letting me stay in his apartment. I am super psyched!

After Paris, I am heading to Copenhagen to spend New Years with some friends I made while studying abroad there.

Later, I might try and meet up with another friend who recently moved to Switzerland.

Beyond this Europe-excursion, I am toying with the idea of taking another big road trip out west. I need to visit schools anyway, and I want to check in with all my friends and relatives who've scattered across the country. I need to remember to try and hit Uni-towns on weekdays and friends on weekends.

My current dream itinerary is:
DC-->Charlottesville, VA-->Chapel Hill and Durham, NC-->Athens, GA-->Tuscaloosa, AL-->Austin, TX-->Phoenix, AZ-->Santa Barbara, CA-->San Francisco, CA-->Zion NP, UT/Grand Canyon NP, AZ-->Pueblo, CO-->Boulder, CO-->Fort Collins, CO-->Omaha, NE-->Bloomington, IN-->HOME!

Alternate slightly shorter route:
DC-->Charlottesville, VA-->Chapel Hill and Durham, NC-->Athens, GA-->Tuscaloosa, AL-->Austin, TX-->Phoenix, AZ-->Santa Barbara, CA-->San Francisco, CA-->Zion National Park, UT-->Pueblo, CO-->Fort Collins, CO-->Omaha, NE-->Bloomington, IN-->HOME!

Alternate shorter route:
DC--> Charlottesville, VA-->Chapel Hill and Durham, NC-->Athens, GA-->Tuscaloosa, AL-->Austin, TX-->Phoenix, AZ-->Santa Barbara, CA-->Grand Canyon-->Pueblo, CO-->Fort Collins, CO-->Omaha, NE-->Bloomington, IN-->HOME!

Red = University visit
Blue = friend
Purple = both!

I want to spend some time hiking around the Southwest. I didn't get to do enough of that on my last trip.

Day trip to Tallinn!

2009-10-20T01:20:00.001+03:00

On Saturday, I went to Tallinn for a day-trip with my roommates. It was amazing! Tallinn is an old Hanseatic port, founded by the Danes in the 11th or 12th century. Estonians, like the Finns, speak a language in the Finno-Urgic language family. Supposedly they can understand finnish but Finns can't understand them. Estonia is 80 km/ 1.5 hours away from Helsinki by ferry.

Estonia is solidly Eastern Europe. It is slightly cheaper than the States, but it is an order of magnitude cheaper than Helsinki. The difference in the cost of living is most noticeable on liquor. For this reason, 1 in 3 Finns make it to Estonia every year for a MASSIVE bender. Estonians refer to Finns as "two-legged deer," because by the time they make it back to the boat to take them home, they typically can't stand up by their own power. The low alcohol taxes, combined with a new discount airfare connection at the local airport, have turned Tallinn into a major destination for Finns on holiday and British bachelor parties. Me and my roommates, while we did not abstain from the cheap beer, were mainly there for the lovely old town and city center.

We got up before dawn and caught the fastest ferry (Linda Lines) to Tallinn. It was a cold and rainy day, but I was so excited and Tallinn was so beautiful I couldn't be upset by it. We spent most of our time just walking around the well preserved medieval quarter. I liked the old buildings with their Russo-Baltic architectural blend. We really lucked out with random cultural experiences. First, as we were walking towards Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, we intercepted a 'procession of the icons.' This is a Russian Orthodox tradition of taking the religious icons for a walk on special occasions. The church elders were dressed in gold robes with special black hats. They were singing as they walked down the old alley. I didn't take any pictures, because the atmosphere was so solemn at first I thought it might be a funeral.

The second cultural experience we happened upon was a free organ recital at Niguliste (St. Nicholas') Church. This building is now a museum, but it started out as a 13th century cathedral. Now, it houses religious art. Visiting this museum was my favorite part of the Tallinn trip. The building itself is beautiful but what makes this museum special is that it displays late medieval and renaissance art in situ, as it was meant to be seen. The altarpieces are on an alter, the religious paintings are set in their original frames, and the wooden statues still have the gaudy flesh-tone paint. The most famous work housed at Niguliste Church is the "Dance Macabre," a rare large northern renaissance work on canvas. The image below is from wiki.

In addition to touring, I did the typical "trip to Tallinn" activities of getting a haircut and stocking up on booze. We hit the Alko (ABC store) right before our scheduled ferry ride home, and we hustled on down to the terminal to check in. We needn't have bothered, however, as the seas were too rough for our little Linda Line boat, so our departure was cancelled. They placed us on the Tallink cruise home, leaving at 9 pm instead of 7. This was OK, but the Tallink is a party-boat, so we were molested by a drunk Finn on the ride home. He was so drunk, we couldn't tell if he was trying to bum a cigarette, sell marijuana, or buy sex. However, other drunk Finns rescued us, so I guess we came out even. Finns drink more than any other nationality I've encountered.

Tallinn was a touch touristy, but it was local tourists. I'd give it a weekend, with a solid night of hitting the bars sandwiched by two days of sight-seeing. The exchange rate is fabulous, and I intend to return in a few months to get another haircut and buy more wool and whiskey.

Temppeliaukion kirkko and baking

2009-10-11T16:12:00.000+03:00

Today at 2 pm, me and another one of my roommates caught an english-language service at Temppeliaukion kirkko. Neither of us are religious, but I wanted to see these beautiful buildings in action. It is an international evangelical congregation, so I found their message a tad harsh compared to what I'm accustomed to. However, the service ended strong, with a couple swahili song-and-dance hymns performed by the African women in the church. Their little babies toddled and danced along beside them.

I’ve also decided this is a baking day. I’ve already made “dimply plum cakes,” following Dorie Greenspan’s recipe here, except that I made individual cakes using a muffin tin, pressing half a plum into the top of each cake. They were a delicious breakfast with coffee. I’m also making sweet potato shepherds pie to use up the remaining sweet potato puree, adapting this recipe to the veggies in my freezer.

I’ll probably also make this garlic-potatoes gratin to eat during the week

Delightful Töölö

2009-10-11T12:55:00.002+03:00

Yesterday, the sky was perfectly blue and cold, and I took the opportunity to wander Töölö, a cute neighborhood on the west end of town separated from the city center by lake Töölö, "Töölönlahti". It is known for being a bit "bo-bo," but I found it delightful.

One of my roommates and I first took the tram up to the north end of the neighborhood, and then we walked down through Sibelius park to the Seurasaarenselkä (selkä = fjord). We passed the Sibelius monument, a metal construction that resembles a floating pipe organ. You could walk all around in it, and it had a pretty convincing illusion of being airborne.

I smelled woodsmoke, and followed it to Cafe Regatta. It was tiny red and white building overlooking the marina, with a large outdoor seating area with an open birch-fire. Inside, they were baking their pastries in a small oven behind the counter, pulling them off the cookie sheets and arranging them on the counter and in the dimunitive display case. It was completely charming. I bought hot cocoa (which was not such a good deal, really pastries are the way to go here), and sat outside by the birch-fire over looking the water. I smelled like spice-y birch smoke for hours afterwards. It was perfect. There was even a french-finnish couple there teaching their little baby how to roast sausages over the fire.

We continued walking along the fjord, where my roommate found apples to join the chestnuts I’d collected in my bag. I got excited about the chestnuts, remembering playing “conkers” in England as a little kid. We went down to Helsinki’s beach, Heitaniemi Sandudd, where we climbed on the rope gym before heading off to the cemetery.

There was a huge funeral underway, so we didn't linger.

On the walk back to Rautatientori, the train station where we would catch the bus north to Kumpula, we passed by Temppeliaukion kirkko, the "Rock Church". From the outside it looks like a bunker. I actually said "Is that it?". But on the inside, you see that it has been literally blasted into the rock. I liked this church because it reminded me of the church I attended as a kid. It had a floating copper dome, set off from the walls by a ring of skylights, which brought to mind my art history courses covering the Hagia Sofia. On another art historical note, I found it interesting that this building was designed entirely to be viewed from the inside.

We caught the bus home, but I made us bail out again at Hakaniemi because I saw pumpkins for sale at the outdoor market there. I didn't end up buying one, because they were selling for 2.5 to 2.8 E/kilo, but I will probably cough up the money closer to Thanksgiving. I bought some cheap plums (4E/2 liters) at the outdoor market, and then walked to the adjacent Kauppahalli (market hall), where they sold fresh meat, breads, more produce, and handicrafts. There is a more famous, more touristy Kauppahalli downtown, but the Hakaniemi Kauppahalli is for working class Finns buying their groceries. Meat is cheaper and fresher at the market than at the grocery store.

It was so cool! I bought really great Tibetan tea and lingonberry jam at a shop, and there were great looking cuts of meat that I'll come back for next time I'm preparing a special dinner. They also had butternut squash for sale, which I haven't seen at the little down-market Aleppa across the street from my apartment.

The second floor of the Kauppahalli is where local vendors sell their crafts. There were lots of kitchenwares, carved wooden items, wool, and fur. They had a yarn store and a Marimekko outlet. What more could you want? Strangely enough, there were at least five different coffee shops in this little market hall. Finns have a rep for drinking lots of coffee, and I guess they've earned it.

Later that night, I went to a dinner party that the Forestry department of the University of Helsinki threw. I got to meet and chat with other foreigners at Vikki, the University's forestry building.

Around 10, me and four others went to the Musta Kissa (Black Cat), a french-owned bar near the Kallio district. It is a tiny bar, filled with art, where I first heard finnish tango. Very art-y crowd, but a pleasant atmosphere. It wasn't a pick-up joint, and you could talk, so I liked it even though we did get stared-down a bit upon entry.

Pictures, as promised.

2009-09-25T01:16:00.000+03:00

Flugtjarn? Wandered off into the woods, found a lake.

Couldn't capture the depth of the image as I wanted, but I like the ripples.

The colors got better towards the end of the trip, much brighter than they are pictured. However, I got camera fatigue.

I like that this image gives you an idea of the forest composition-- fir and birch alone.

Home!

Tomorrow, I'll update about all the amazing people I've met in the past few weeks.

Sweden continued, and NSF grant proposal

2009-09-21T20:02:00.000+03:00

I'm in Sweden until Wednesday night, so I'll be sure to upload pictures then.

This has been a very productive time for me. I've used this period of forced focus to hone in on what exactly I want to study for graduate school. Hopefully, this will enable me to get more funding.

I'll do a real update Wednesday night, I promise!

Sweden

2009-09-16T22:24:00.005+03:00

I'm so tuckered out, I'm only giving a cursory update to say:

I'm 100 km south of the arctic circle, and it is so green and beautiful. I have taken some pictures and will post them when I return. I'm working really hard at this conference, but I am really enjoying it. I feel like I am contributing something significant. Also, they feed us well. We are staying at a converted farmhouse at the northern tip of the Gulf of Bothnia. The birches are turning gold. There is a consistent understory of vaccinium spp., noticeably shorter at this high latitude, that is edging towards fuschia. The air is cool, but the forest is so lush I can't believe that we are this far north. There is thick moss and huge mushrooms among the lingonberry shrubs.

The proprietress stopped by my room to change a light bulb, and she offered me fresh baked focaccia and tea, out of the oven in half an hour.

Sleep now.

klaus haapaniemi

2009-09-13T17:35:00.009+03:00

A friend reminded me how much I love Klaus Haapaniemi's illustrations.
Yes, he's finnish. The image below is my new wallpaper:

In Haapaniemi's original, the colors are much starker. I like this print because it's more earthy and faded out. This is from an etsy limited edition letter-press (?) of his design, found here. Haapaniemi is the same man who drew the picture on my favorite mug, Iittala's Taika pattern.

work etc

2009-09-13T16:14:00.009+03:00

Of course, it isn't all cooking and running off into the forest. I've got a full-time job here in Helsinki that is the reason I get to go spend a week in Sweden. I'm shifting into the new work pattern, and I am pleased to discover that I am more tech-savvy than I thought.

My mentor's data got shuffled and misaligned, and I remembered enough MSaccess from my brief period as an environmental consultant to build a database and fix it for him. As a result, the major grunt-work is being shifted onto one of my colleagues while I am now in a more IT role. He has a number of spreadsheets that have been messed in the same way, so I am his go-to for fixing it. This is much more challenging work, and thus more interesting, than data-entry.
---

In other work news, I've met with a specialty coffee lady, and she seems excited that I might pick up a shift or two a week. I told her that I had a full time job, and that I need to see how the hours settle out before I commit to something else, but that I'm interested. She believes a cafe would hire me even if I only wanted to work Saturdays. I think this is because of my barista-ing so long at a quality shop.

bilberries, not blueberries.

2009-09-13T15:45:00.006+03:00

It turns out the berries I've been snacking on are bilberries, not blueberries. They seem to be distinguished by having purple flesh (instead of light green). I've also been seeing cowberries, but being from the States I'm not comfortable eating red fruits that aren't raspberries or something else as easy to identify. There's more room for fatal error than with the blue members of vaccinium spp.

I went for a longer walk in that amazing park this afternoon. I was so happy to be outside I was running and hopping all over. I would duck down into the places between the rocky balds, pick some berries, and then one-handedly climb back up to the top, look around for another likely destination, and run off that way. After I'd picked as many bilberries as I could carry, I decided to head back home to throw them into oatmeal cookies.

However, at that point I was slightly turned around. I knew where I wanted to be in relation to the water treatment plant, but I couldn't seem to get there without going over a cliff. I climbed down to an apartment's courtyard (!), and after many forays-and-returns into the park I gave up, worked my way over to a street and asked directions.

Again, I was the bizarre American, this time clutching fist-fulls of bilberries to my belly, in a dotted-purple sweater, with hands stained purple up to my wrists as I asked directions of a couple, neither of whom spoke english. They called over a little girl to help, who also didn't speak english. I tried to convey where I wanted to go by repeating street names, bus routes, and making frantic (purple) gestures. It turns out I was around the corner from my apartment, down a street I hadn't bothered to explore yet. Darn.

I made bilberry-oatmeal cookies. I like to think the bilberries are sweeter for being warmed and macerated in my concerned hands. I've adapted smitten kitchen's oatmeal raisin cookie recipe, substituting bilberries for raisins and omitting walnuts etc, which I don't happen to have on hand. They are AMAZING. The berries baked up so sweetly, and they dyed the cookies an interesting shade of purple. I am glad I decided to experiment.

I also made a "whatever's in the cupboard" bread, inspired by King Arthur Flour's no-knead bread recipe. However, it is too loosely inspired to even bother linking the recipe, because I added dill, onion, semolina, and cracked wheat. Apparently, you are supposed to boil cracked wheat for half an hour before baking it, so my bread is denser than other no-kneads normally are. It wasn't as wonderful as the simpler no-knead recipe I've used in the past, but it isn't bad. It is certainly flavorful, and the crust has the same chewy-crunchy consistency.

My recipes are getting more and more creative as I attempt to use everything in the fridge without buying anything perishable before I leave for Sweden tomorrow. I made a surprisingly delicious fried-rice vege stir-fry last night that is worth eating even if you aren't on limited supplies.

Metamorphic

2009-09-09T19:25:00.024+03:00

I just had the most surprising adventure in my backyard. I was taking garbage out to the dumpster, and it being such a bright and windy day, I decided to take a walk.

The earth was rocky, but not in the sense that it was filled with pebbles. It WAS rock. There were just a few licks of soil on top of a massive formation. I started up a path, and I got about half-way when I decided that my slippery-soled dress-boots were hindering more than helping me. Naturally, I took them off. At the top of the promontory, there was a large open area of exposed gneiss about the size of a city block.

I don't think anyone saw me, but if they did I would have appeared a bit eccentric-- a barefoot foreigner in a blazer hopping from rock to rock in the woods.

In a dip between outcrops, I stumbled upon a large blueberry patch. I couldn't believe it. I pulled my boots back on and picked blueberries until my fingers were purple from juice. Finland has "jokamiehenoikeus", meaning "every-man's right", which allows you to walk, harvest wild berries and mushrooms, and even camp on open countryside as long as you aren't close to someone's house. This includes private lands.

As I was scampering around the rocks I could smell wood smoke, and I felt as far from Helsinki as DC is from the Shenandoah. It boggles my mind that there is a park like this >5 miles from downtown. Finland seems much more natural than the rest of Europe. They still have bears and wolves in their northern lands.

If I get up early enough, I'll go for another walk before work tomorrow.

food as entertainment, autumn nesting.

2009-09-08T17:45:00.005+03:00

The weather here is changeable. 20% chance of rain seems to mean it will rain 20% of the time on that particular day. Since I've arrived, there has not been a day without sun or a day without rain. I believe this is the nature of early Fall in Helsinki. The birch trees are already shot through with streaks of yellow, and I am greatly anticipating ruska, the two week period of Autumn color in Finland.

I've been nesting for the Winter, and for me this involves tea-drinking, reading, listening to folksy music (Ola Belle Reed and Devendra Banhart), and lots and lots of cooking. I've been experimenting with traditional Finnish dishes, mainly focusing on lingonberries because they are the one of the few things in Finland that seem surreally cheap. 2€ gets you a liter of Lingonberries at the outdoor markets, 3€ buys 2 liters. In taste, lingonberries resemble small, juice-y cranberries.

I've baked a lingonberry tart (known as Puolukkapiirakka) with shortbread crust, Lingonberry porridge (Vispipuuro), and I've got Tilliliha (beef stew) on the burner right now. The lingonberry tart would've been more successful if I had a tart pan, but was still tasty. Vispipuuro is similar to what I imagine grits would taste like if you stirred in cranberry sauce. It is a mild breakfast, especially with vanilla yogurt poured over. The Tilliliha is delicious, but I haven't shown real fidelity to the recipe. I will not make beef stew without potatoes.

In further seasonal celebration, I have been planning to make a leaf-peeping expedition to Nuuksio National Park weekend after next. I am now wondering if I must go this weekend to catch any of the Fall colors. My mentor has very kindly offered to take me to Sweden with him for a conference, so I will be on the road for 7-8 days. Fall passes so quickly here, the leaves might be gone before I return! My thoughts are that I can always return to the park if I hit it before peak colors, but I can't go back in time if I miss it, so I should go both this weekend and when I return from Sweden.

Incidentally, bunnies here look like bunnies back home. I snapped this pic from my balcony. There's snow on the ground 3 months of the year. I wonder if they turn white or hibernate...

Design Week

2009-09-06T16:42:00.000+03:00

Today I took the bus down to the Cable Factory because it is Design Week in Helsinki, so there was a sample sale of finnish designers. I didn't have much luck shopping, but there are galleries in addition to the design market. After poking around some video installations, I had pulla and coffee at the stylish cafe on the first floor. Fittingly, it was packed with interesting modern design, like molded wooden chairs and sculptural chandeliers. Its windows had views of an inlet. Pulla are traditional finnish pastries that resemble cinnamon buns spiked with cardamom.

On the way home I stopped at the Hakaniemi Open Market, where I found a cheap-ish umbrella and lingonberries. My nectarine galette worked so well I am tempted to try it again with a lingonberry and custard filling. Lingonberry crepes are traditional, but tarts excite me more.

Also, I don't stick out quite as much as I thought. Three elderly Finns addressed me in finnish today. The Finns do seem shorter than the other Nordic peoples, so I blend better here than I did in Denmark.

Näkemiin!

Engel's downtown

2009-09-05T18:19:00.002+03:00

Despite sleeping till noon today, I took the bus downtown and snapped some pics. These may be the first and last images I share for a while, because my mac charger only works on apple products. My battery is so low I must ration it from now on.

My main impressions of Helsinki were that it seemed to be a real blend of the Swedish and Russian influences. The buildings are rectangular and Scandi, but then they are topped with onion-domes. I am definitely going to pursue a tourist VISA to Russia so I can check out St. Petersburg. I also intend to take a weekend trip to Stockholm.

Apparently, most of the city was designed in the early 19th century by Carl Engel. I don't know if it was just the time, or if it was Engel's aesthetic, but this is a very feminine looking city. The most common color scheme is pale yellow with white trim. Engel's dome, which punctuates the skyline and marks Senate Square, is white with baby blue onion-domes trimmed in gold. The city feels safe and super-pleasant, but eerily deserted on a Saturday afternoon. Businesses aren't open long on weekends, and I didn't see many Finns out wandering the streets, so I wonder where they hide-out. I've read that many Finns have country homes in the Lake District, so maybe they are all getting a last taste of summer. I did see some people congregating at cafes with terraces.

Tomorrow I am either going to the Cable Factory to price discount designer goods, or to the Hakaniemi Open Market. After that, if it isn't raining, I am going to walk around the nearby Botanic Garden.

The only umbrella I saw was marimekko, and it was 32 euros. It was lovely, but that is a bit of a princely sum for my needs. Of all the things I brought, I forgot rain gear.

Next weekend I think I will check out the Suomenlinna Sea Fortress. Once the fall colors are in effect, which could be weekend after next, I am going to take the bus out to Nuuksio National Park. It looks so beautiful. Flying in I saw how Finland was splattered with lakes, and covered in tall Firs. Even in the city, it is still fairly lush. There are abundant trees and moss.

f1rst!11!!!

2009-09-05T17:40:00.000+03:00

Helsinki is 7 hours ahead of DC, and 22 degrees of latitude north of home. At this time of year the weather is perfect, with temperatures in the mid-60s (~18 C) and a decent day-length.

I arrived yesterday. My boss picked me up from the airport and walked me around the campus where I'll be working. It is only 1.5 miles from my apartment, but the bus stop is right in front of my door so I doubt I'll be walking it this winter. My new home is a little over 4 mi north of the main downtown area.

My bags seemed to cause plenty of incomprehensible (because it's in finnish!) finnish consternation. They were so heavy it cost extra for the plane to take them! I am living here for 6 mo, so I tend to feel defensive about bringing so much. My verdict on books and lighter clothing: probable mistake. However, bringing my favorite quilt and teapot was an excellent decision. They make my room much more home-y.

My apartment has a small kitchen and bathroom that I share with one other woman, and a living room and balcony which I share with 7 women. I am in the University's international housing, so there are no Finns here. One of the women I've met is an American studying forestry, the other is a Lithuanian woman leaving soon. In addition to my apartment's facilities, we also have a game room with billiards and ping pong, a sauna, and a gym in the complex.

I might try and practice billiards later tonight, after breaking in our oven with a nectarine galette.