Waking
up casually at 3:30 meant that i would be finally on time for my flight. But
the next time i opened my eyes the clock said 4:06. That made things very
complicated because:
A) i
hadn’t made my suitcase and
B) i had to get the bus at 4:24
I
got off the bed like a springboard and made my suitcase in the speed of light.
That means that i forgot things like my home assignments, my head hat and my
gloves. A really bad thing to forget when you go to the arctic circle.
Thankfully i got a present from my little arctic fox that keeps my hands warm
for now.
I
picked up the presents i bought for the whole family and dashed towards the bus
stop. The bus arrived one minute later and i was already exhausted with my
heart racing from pain and excitement, while i was surprised i didn’t slide and
fall from the slippery grounds of Uppsala.
We
made it to the central station and luckily the bus left 10 minutes early so i
skipped sitting out in the cold. I played some clash of clans and watch some
more avengers scenes to kill some time until Terminal 5 of Arlanda Airport.
I
casually printed my boarding pass as usual, bought some kanelbullar and a
redbull to keep me awake and waited for time to pass once more. I had only a
handbag so passing through the xrays was fast. From that point nothing of
interest happened until Helsinki. I actually even had a fantastic flight and i
was sitting alone for once which allowed me to stretch my legs and rest.
I
managed not to get lost for once in Terminal 2 of Helsinki Airport and there i
was with AF (short for arctic fox for convetnience) riding shotgun on the way to
Espoo. Nobody was at home so we just fooled around, unwrapped presents and
rested. I was a bit anxious since the parents didn’t speak english but i was
certain that we would have a good time, understand each other and they would
like me.
We
decided we should go and deliver the christmas presents to AF’s godson. There
we met Nadya and her two little kids, Michael and Gabbi. She was from Moldova
so i surprised her speaking Russian while her dog, a wienner from hell tried to
bite my fingers. We exchanged stories and she told me how she met Tero and she
moved to Finland. We had a great time, though the cartoons that kids watch
these days scare me. Especially that one with pacman was disturbing.
We
went to a training facility where we waited for Kamilla (AF’s little sister) to
finish school and drop her off at driving school. In the meantime we abused the
toilet facilities there and we watched a man losing half the part of his
motorcycle from a bump in the road. I rode shotgun again and we were on our way
home.
We
actually met her mother in the supermarket by pure chance and we regrouped at
home being greeted by a frenzied and happy Ippu. I carried the bags in and we
had small talk and were joined by Kamilla.
 |
| Joulu Koira - Christmas Dog |
We
had food and then we were joined by AF’s father who i absolutely adore. He is
just mental in a great way. Always smiling and happy, expressive and social and
always trying to crack a nice joke. His english is limited but the way he
shoots words like ¨beer¨to me and their timing made it such a joy.
In
friday we woke up like lazy bums and went for a spin in helsinki to walk around
the city, visit some local food stores and markets, devour a focaccio and take
photos with complete strangers. We also had to use Nokia’s fantastic gps system
to guide us in the city and lead us out from a dead end in a rich
neighbourhood.
We
were expecting the other sister, Christa and her boyfriend Teemu along with
their two dogs around 4, but they said they would be late as his Audi decided
to die after the boat from Estonia arrived. Apparently they drove for 2 hours
with no brakes and just the handbrake.
Mayhem
endured when they arrived. It was like a stampede. We were overtaken by Ippu, a Belgian shepherd (vicky) and a malinua (kava) running around like lunatics
while we brought 20.000 bags from their car, only to have to put them back in
the minibus her father brought 5 minutes later. Absolutely mental.
We
had booked seats in the cinema to see the 3rd Hobbit movie, but before that we
went for shopping therapy, bought a bathing suit (because in the arctic circle
it makes sense to go swimming), make up and we had a heart attack from the
prices of some items. The movie itself was ok, but way, way too long. That’s
Peter Jackson for you folks, if he could make a movie out of Bilbo Baggins
redecorating his house i am sure he would make it into a 3part movie.
It
was around 11pm and we had to sleep soon as the 14 hour trip to the cold north
started around 3 am. I could not sleep and i went to the bathroom only to be
greeted by a mob of angry dogs barking to me like i was an intruder. Embarrassed for waking up everyone i went fast and slept. At 3 the door opened and suddenly
3 dogs ran on my bed on my head and every possible place and went away after 2
seconds. The horror i tell you! I asked AF when i should wake her up and she
replied casually ïn one week¨. She had no recollection of that after.
We
entered a huge white VW Caravelle. In the front dad and mom, in the second row
Christa, Kamilla and Teemu and in the last one me, AF and Ippu with a mixture
of bags candies and coke. The other two dogs were in the back in a special cage
with tons of luggage. The race to the arctic circle and the cold north was
about to start...
Goodnight Arctic circle. And a sneak peak of what is coming...
 |
| The winter storm.. |
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