A Frozen Picnic & Home Again

We ended up oversleeping a bit, originally intending to head to Kaivopuisto for the picnic in the morning, but 2pm was fine by me anyway. It was slightly less freezing than the day before, which was nice and so we managed to drag ourselves across the whole city, up and down hills carrying heavy food and drink, to get to the park.

Who's idea was it to have an outdoor picnic in early-May Scandinavia anyway?

On arrival we were faced with quite a sight, the whole place was rammed with thousands of people, most of them uni students wearing their distinctive overalls and caps.

With the fellow exchange students at the picnic

For some reason we decided to sit on the rocks by the sea, where the wind made it feel ridiculously cold but after a few beers it didn't seem to matter.

Me, Rob, Cord and Xavier doing something stupid again, no doubt

Walking round the park, I spotted all kinds of strange things. From people dressed in costumes to elaborately-decorated tents and even a Vappu push-chair, which thankfully contained a sound system and not a child.

It was surprising the lengths some people went to

It was too cold to stay for long and eventually I headed back to the city centre with Rob. On the way we passed one of the weirdest-decorated cars I've ever seen, but I've got used to seeing things like this by now.

Pimp My Ride...the Finnish version

I spent the rest of my Vappu week in Finland visiting friends, partying and clubbing as well as quite a bit of sleeping. It was really great to be back and have such a fun holiday. However, by Friday it was time to say goodbye to Helsinki (again) and return home to face reality and take my university exams, but I knew I'd be back eventually.

A bird by the sea...

In fact I'll be back sooner than I first thought. I'm returning on June 9th for a few days before I begin my pan-European adventure, which of course I hope to write about here. In the meantime, thanks to all the people who gave me such a wonderful time and perhaps I'll be seeing you on my journey!

Vappu!

Despite the cold weather, we had been out in the city all afternoon, meeting as many drunk Finns dressed in all sorts of crazy outfits as we could. We had gathered from some unnecessarily-long conversations with these people that the traditional celebrations in Helsinki would begin at 5pm with the 'capping' of the statue in the harbour, and it was something we didn't want to miss.

You don't see something like this every day...

Most students are wearing overalls, which act as a uniform for their particular department, e.g. Electronics is navy blue and Media Engineering orange. Adorned on these overalls are badges earned through different events, most of them parties involving heavy drinking. Some students were covered in a frankly alarming number of these.

The students are lowered over the statue. And yes, the top hat is apparently back in fashion

After spending the afternoon drinking in the park, we headed to the statue where I was to meet my other friends. Unfortunately the thousands of people surrounding it made the task a bit more difficult than expected, but I found them in the end, after being told to look for a 'giant bear'.

After the capping of the statue

The atmosphere was electric, everybody was so happy, although most likely because of the enormous amount of alcohol consumption, but it was quite a strange thing to see on such a cold day. It was also unusual to see so many people together at once in the city.

Andrew, Florian and me, feeling generally bewildered by the whole thing

Eventually the ceremony began, and I can honestly say it's one of the most random things I've ever seen. A group of students, hanging from a giant hat (itself connected to a crane), lowered over the statue and after a countdown placed a cap on the head. Apparently the cap is awarded to students graduating from university, so this marks the end of the academic year.

Heading toward Senate Square

The moment the statue was capped, the crowd went (even more) crazy, cheering and singing and firing off the corks from bottles of sparkling wine. It was an absolutely bizarre scene but a lot of fun to experience.

That's me about to sign somebody's leg

Afterwards we headed, along with the massive crowds, toward Senate Square and the steps of Helsinki Cathedral where more partying ensued.

Apparently a gas mask is standard student attire these days

There was a rather average free concert, featuring an unfortunate hip-hop act that tried to fire up the crowd and get them moving but it was far too cold and the people far too drunk to comply.

It's a shame Lordi weren't playing but it was still 2 weeks until Eurovision

I stayed for a while, at various times losing friends and finding others in the crowds, before queuing for about half an hour in a McDonalds to use the toilet. Afterwards I decided enough was enough and caught the train home.

Xavier and Josep getting in the party spirit

We partied in the flat the rest of the night, my third full night of such activity, but this time we knew we'd have to drag ourselves up in the morning(!) the next day for the traditional picnic.

Return to Finland

It had been four months since I left Finland, and I was desperate to go back. Many of my friends there were lucky enough to be staying for a whole year, so I had been feeling a bit unlucky with only getting to stay for five months. I needed an excuse to return to Finland, and luckily it came in the form of...Vappu!

The overly-happy musician in Helsinki continues to play...good to see that nothing's changed...

Many countries celebrate May Day (1st May), but none do it like the Finns. In Finland it is a celebration of the start of summer and the graduation of students from university, so it's a lot happier and livelier than the 'traditional' anti-globalisation protests we have here in London. Generally it's a week of partying and heavy drinking (which is pretty much how the Finns seem to celebrate everything) and that sounded great to me. After finding that eight of my friends from across europe were also heading back for Vappu, I booked my ticket with just a week's notice, and dragged my housemate along for extra company.

Chilling with Metzi back on the balcony, just like old times. It may look nice but it was almost freezing!

I didn't 'officially' have the time for a week-long holiday such as this, as exams were coming up at university, plus important coursework deadlines, but I knew it would be worth it. Walking back through Helsinki was such a wonderful experience...it seemed that nothing had changed, it was almost like I had never been away. I got the train, just as usual, back to Leppavaara where my friends were staying (right next to where I lived last year).

The things you do in the middle of the night...

The moment I walked through the door into my friend's flat, a beer was placed straight in my hands and the partying began. We literally didn't waste a second! It felt just like being home again. In fact the only shock was the temperature...in London we were having a phenomenal, record-breaking heatwave for late April of 26 degrees. Upon landing in Finland, it was 5 degrees and very, very windy!

Rob, the beer robot. Unfortunately I cannot post the dance.

The best part of the first night back was definitely the sauna...I forgot just how relaxing it is, especially in the freezing weather. After five or six goes in the sauna we headed back up to the flat and partied until late. It was nice to catch up with friends I hadn't seen in months and gave us a chance to warm up our livers for the main event of Vappu that would be kicking off in a couple of days...