The Week Reviewed.

OK, while my fish fingers are cooking I will try to write up all the stuff that has been going on this week. Maybe a day-by-day breakdown would be easiest, else I forget and get get lost in my own ramblings. So...

Sunday: At 2pm I managed to suss out the train ticket system and got myself to the centre, where Stephanie showed us around the uni buildings and then to a cafe and the supermarket. In the evening we went back into town to head to an Irish pub, Molly Malones. Was nice, but as with most places here, a pint was about €5. Hmmm.

The Main Train Station

Monday: Was a bit more chaotic. We met in the moring at the university for all the introductions, and then went to our first lesson. After that we were met by students who were going to take us to register residency so we could get a travel card for the trains/buses/trams etc. After we did that and then went and got the cards it was too late to make it to the accommodation office to sign the tenancy agreement (they close at 4).

Tuesday: So tusday was the first full day of lessons. We have 90mins in the morning, followed by lunch, then 90mins in the afternoon, followed by a tea break, and then another 90mins in a small group with Taina. Our teachers are really good. Taina is sweet, and she's studied lots of different languages. Jarrko studies drama and is witty and funny. Tuedays afternoon is when I decided I was fed up of not having seen any tourist sites, so went and walked around and explored. You can find the photos somewhere on the right ------->

Carvings on the Main Cathedral

Wednesday: Wednesday was more lessons. And then a trip to the Kiasma museum of contemporary art. This was a bit like a smaller version of the Tate Modern. Some of the displays were quite inetersting, but some I just didnt get the point of (a row of old hankies in a line constitutes art these days...?)

Inside Kiasma

Thursday: Again, we started the day with lessons, but for the afternoon they had a filmed planned. I was quite interested to see a Finnish film, as I often enjoy world cinema. But as you can guess by my lack of a film review it was rather disappointing. It was called Kauas Pilvet Karkaavat (the drifting clouds), Aki Kaurismaki. The pace was just too slow, and the humour was very dry, which would normally be a good thing, but in this case I just didnt like the style and I found it a bit boring. Shame.

Friday: We had our final set of lessons for the week. Jarkko arranged a small test, where we were put into group and had to play a game of sherades, where we would pick a card, act out the verb, our team would then have to name it in Finnish and conjugate it. We did quite well, but had some amusing verbs. I had to act out the verb 'to sauna' and Fillipo got the verb 'to love', which gave Taina a shock! In the evening, we headed to a resturant, which although was nice, was grossly overpriced (€12 for salmon soup!). After that the teachers took us to a bar, which was really nice trendy place. The cue for the bar was small, there were comfy sofa's and pool tables etc. And the cider was only €4, which seems reasonable for this city.

In the Bar

Saturday: we went to the Seurasaari Open air-museum, which is on an island connected to the land by a bridge. Old farmhouses and typical Finnish homes form the west, east and centre of Finland had been rebuilt from their originals on the island, and you could see the differences between the east and west of Finland, how the east had a stronger influence from Russia, and how the west were generally highly religious. In the evening was a party for Fillipo's birthday, which was interesting to say the least, and perhaps I should leave it there.

A Central house in Seurasaari

As for today, there is a trip to the natural museum planned, but since I went with Rachel to the one in London not too long ago, and since I've already seen 2 museums this week, I thought I'd give it a miss. Instead I intend to see what the shops are like here - if they're even open on a sunday :/