Moi :)
Phwar... well, I must say, right now I am feeling rather chuffed with myself, having survived one week skiing in Finland without becoming incapacitated... hurrah! This past week, I spent skiing in Vuokatti with my host family, during Hiihto Loma, or 'Ski Holiday'.
I must admit, my first time skiing on the slopes was quite disastrous. I am insanely scared of heights, almost to a vomitous extent, so looking down a mountain whilst having my legs strapped to moving planks of wood/whatever skis are made of was not exactly an enjoyable experience for me. I kept falling over and managed to slide down an entire hill sideways, because I fell at the top and couldn't quite manage to bring an end to the momentum driving me towards the base. I can remember fighting back tears, at one point, because I was so scared, which was quite humiliating, especially when I was surrounded by three-year-olds that could pratically do handstands on their snowboards. Despite this, after a day or so, I eventually worked out how to use skis, with much support and encouragement from my lovely and all-too-patient host family. At first, I manage to ski down the beginners' slope without falling. I also managed to exit the ski lift without falling. The only major peak left to conquer was the Hill Of Doom: the only slope leading back to our cottage, upon which I managed to fall... Every. Single. Time!
By the end of the week, I successfully accomplished skiing down almighty slopes, practically sculling searing hot chocolates and not falling over every thirty seconds. A highlight, off the slopes, was making my first ever snowman! During the four-ish weeks that I have been here, I was yet to experience positive temperatures. Yet, as fate would have it, on the first day of Hiihto Loma, the thermometer's mecury rose to a whopping 2 degrees! And on that fateful day, Bertie, my first snowman/baby arrived into the world! P.S... [Just in case you didn't know, without positive temperatures, you cannot make snowmen: the snow is too cold and can't condense enough... it's pretty much just white fluff. ] It might sound pathetic, but that was one of the best days I have had here... I had so much fun playing with the snow and acting like a child at Christmas :)
Another mind-blowing experience was visiting the spa at a local hotel. Not only did I see more penises than ever, but was largely outnumbered by greying, middle-aged men with more ample busoms than mine. Still, it was a fun night and I really liked experiencing the different varieties of sauna [menthol, wood, steam, stone and floral-toilet-spray-scented]. I also had a great time bonding with my host sisters and my host brother and his fiance, while we were away. We played multiple games of Uno [intense!!], very complicated medieval boardgames, roasted Wilhelm makkara [sausages] on the fire, had Minttu jaatelo for breakfast and went Ten-Pin Bowling. On our final day, I am proud to say that I managed not to fall over for an entire day and even successfully defeated the Hill of Doom! I was radiant with triumph! I even learnt a new Finnish word to embody my newfound glory... helpponakki, which literally means "easy sausage", but is the equivalent of "piece of cake" :D
And that's the end of that adventure :D
Heippa :D
