Lights
Host
Battery
Suomenlinna
Oodi
Asian children wandering in Helsinki
Helsinki, Oct. 2019
I looked at my phone screen.
6:15pm.
The bus supposed to have arrived at Kamppi at 6. I felt a bit annoyed. Not because I’m a perfectionist or something, but I had a meet-up with my gang around 6:30 at Tripla center – the “new heart of Helsinki” they said. But the unusual long queue of cars ahead seemed to wipe out my last hope of being there on time.
Yesterday was my last day of the “first period” – we have four periods in an academic year, each ends with exams, reports, and most importantly, vacations. This time we’ll have 9 days, and as usual, I will spend ’em all travelling. My first stop is Helsinki. Even though I’ve been living in Finland for a while, Helsinki so far was just a place for transferring to another cities/countries, or looking for jobs…so it deserves to be on my list this time, when I am care-free and travel-hungry.
Helsinki this time of the year can be considered as the “ugliest” face, when there is neither beautiful autumn colors nor white winter; only dark sky, strong winds, and rain. Lots of rain. It is this period when you can get easily depressed, as the surroundings can do very little to cheer you up in any way.
8pm+
We had dinner together at Laura’s place, after so many misguides from Mikko lol. It was the second time I visited Laura’s – a cozy studio apartment located near the city center. For me, in order to understand a person, knowing where he or she lives is a good point – you can see how they manage in their most-comfort zone, and the place itself reflects how the person is. Coming to Laura’s is like making a step slower than the general pace, when you feel calm and dreamy. I like how the quotes and pictures are hanged on the wall, how the clock looks like a clapperboard – it’s actually a clapperboard, how many cups she has in the cupboard, and how big the windows are, so Laura can sit by them and work or just watch people passing by.
Later on, we went to Linnanmäki – the amusement park nearby. Before winter starts in Finland, which means a long closing time from November – May, this park will be lighted up with colors – we call it “Valokarnevaali” or “Light festival”. And this is how it was like:
I hadn’t been to any amusement park for quite a while already – I thought I was old enough. But realizing how beautiful these affects can pose on photographers and video makes’ products changed my perspective – places like these can be golden.
11pm+, I left Linnanmäki, saying goodbye to my gang, whom I knew would take some time to meet again. Through buses (Helsinki has an advanced public transport system, where you can buy online ticket with clear instruction + timetable etc.), I got to Helsinki B, where my host lived. We met for the first time since last year, but not much talking, since I arrived quite late (I missed a bus stop by mistake). Dropping myself on his cozy sofa at almost 0am, I started dreaming of a sunny day ahead with full of plans, trips, and pictures.
Suomenlinna
The breakfast table had three people around: Me, my host, and his girlfriend. We all had plans for this chilling Sunday.
They: Go hiking and picking mushrooms, probably the last time before winter. My host was so into sleeping after arduous working hours. But he loves his girl, who really looked forward for some mushrooms – well, who can say no to their girls anyway lol.
Me: Meet up with my Asian gang at the harbor and go to Suomenlinna together.
The morning in Helsinki wasn’t much brighter than what I have mentioned: 8am felt like sunset, with yellow/white-ish light far away, between layers of clouds. At least there had not been snowy yet – I didn’t pack my travel clothes for a heavy winter time.
We went off near the main station, each went on different plans. I waved goodbye, then taking out my camera, ready for a good shooting today.
But something was wrong.
The camera was already on. Not when I took it out of the bag, nor 5 minutes ago. But already since yesterday.
It took me less than 10 seconds to know I was fucked. 10 more seconds trying to deny the truth. And the rest of the day cursing myself. I-was-an-idiot, sort of. This is the reason why in my travel videos coming up later this year, there won’t be the Helsinki part, regardless how beautiful this city is. I will render another trip one day 😦
Anyway,
The harbor lighted up that day. Especially when your friends are there waiting for you, and how crazy in person they are. We bought a €5 ferry ticket, which leaves twice every hour to Suomenlinna and back, and is valid for 24 hours.
For those of you who didn’t know Suomenlinna, it is a sea fortress, made by linking six islands together. It was initiated as the dock for Swedish navy, but later on was used mainly by the Russians. The complex nowadays serves as a historical site, also residence of nearly 800 people.
The “ugly face of Helsinki” mentioned above did contribute greatly in decreasing the beauty of this old town. Suomenlinna in October is grey-ish, with a few remaining autumn trees. And very strong wind. At the beginning we considered having lunch on Suomenlinna, but there weren’t much open places. So we ended up looking for something else in Helsinki.
When we were back on ferry thinking what to eat for lunch, it suddenly came to our mind that: the ferry ticket of us is still valid till the rest of that day, which would be a waste if we just kept it. So we tried to sell them to the new travelers with cheaper price, who turned out to be very happy. It was a win-win situation for both \m/
Oodi and the wandering Asians
Me and Chen knew each other since last semester.
She was a kind, crazy Taiwanese exchange student.
After the Spring term, Chen really fell for Finland and decided she wanted to spend another semester here. And this time she brought a crazy friend of her – a Japanese superstar named Ranko (or Lanko – Chinese accent). We went on well for some reasons, and this trip was our first time wandering together.
If you think a cold, grey, windy weather is bad enough, wait until it starts raining.
The worst case ever. I had my only pair of sneakers for this whole trip, and I couldn’t imagine wearing them soaking wet and awful smelly for the next seven days. The other girls thought the same.
So we ran. To the Oodi central library.
To celebrate 101 years of Independence, Finland introduced one of the biggest libraries in the world in Helsinki. Oodi functions as a multi-educational purposes, from books to computers, textiles, robotics, and many more. The best place you can think of for self-enrichment, not just a boring place to look for some textbooks.
We spent perhaps two hours there, reading educational books, charging our devices, and planning what to do next.
From 5-7 pm, it actually rained more. We neither wanted to travel far away nor stayed hungry (we were always hungry for some reasons lol). Finally, we found out an Asian buffet nearby, and ended up there, munching over all dishes, and breaking ice (if there were still any).
When we came out from the buffet and headed home, it was almost 9pm, and since I had quite some tasks to mind:
- Drying my shoes
- Charging my damned camera (cursing myself again)
- Not being home too late like the day before (It is not very polite to keep your host waiting)
So I hurried home.
It rained even harder, and the streets started to flood. Through some intersections and I ended up stepping on a random water pond on the street. My shoes felt like a spongebob 🙂
But anyway, I made it home on time. and the same process like last night. Except that I had to fill up my shoes with toilet papers, and charge my camera battery, which needed up 12 hours to fully charged. A huge lesson for me today.
Celebration day
I started my last morning in Helsinki slowly.
Gathering my stuff. Checking the shoes. Toilet. Reading something. Checking my camera battery. Reading something again.
But the best thing I did that morning, is to get to know my host better.
I knew him, barely. We just happened to have lots of mutual friends, and happened to come from a same country, study from the same town.
But from listening to his story, I got to know him better. Like many young people out there, me, him, and many more, all are struggling with the questions of identities – who we are, what is our career path, and where we really belong to. Those are yet to be answered, but meanwhile, on our way, we found friends, lovers, passions, and more – the elements that shapes our life and make it meaningful.
My host received what he has longed for on my last morning at his place. One of the best news for a long while. From this point his life had changed, but there were much to be done. Anyway, let’s celebrate it with a delicious Vietnamese lunch first.
At the end, Helsinki can be cold and gloomy by nature, but the people inside – which made it the most important – still live, love, and follow their goals. Finding out this fact encouraged me whenever I felt down and stagnant on my way.
Khanh Tr.
moink20.com 