Over in Finland

Over in Finland now, the proper work begins. But first, I'm here in a mansion/ summer cottage called Wuolteen Kartana in Hauho. It has many bedrooms, and a somewhat elaborate living and dining halls. The workshop organisers are trying to get the Finns out on a retreat far far away from their offices. The place is in the middle of nowhere woods, facing a lake (although the lakes cannot be compared to the deep blue Norwegian fjord waters of course). Even though the roads here are better, faster, the scenery is suddenly all green & trees and flat instead of what I saw in the past days.

Back in Norway, the roads in Egersund/ Stavanger region were paved country roads, 1 lane each way with average speed limits of 50-70kmh. Often they were tiny narrow roads with no lane marking but meant for 2-way traffic, where cars have to be driving on the left/ right white line just so both can pass through in opposite directions. So if a coach bus was coming down a winding road, the opposite car would have to reverse until a suitable side bank for the bus to pass. Harrowing.

I miss the untouched scenery and nature in Norway though everything is very weather-dependent. And there are no pesky mozzies! The Finn summer mozzies are vodka-trained - highly insulated from the cold, but with retarded reflexes. I have never seen mozzies in such temperatures! Summer flies yes, not mozzies. Damn.

There are many rooms in the cottage. It's like they rent out the rooms in summer and operate the cottage like a mini hotel. We each have our own room, but shared bathrooms. Even then, it's very expensive. But the service is very good. There's this lady who runs the show. We had a very good dinner, ended with a HUGE cheese platter nicely arranged, and dessert prettily decorated. Except for the toilets and shower... like in hostel.

The sun almost never sets, and it gets bright by 3 or 4am. It gets darker for about 3h each day, but never pitch black darkness. For some people, they have problems sleeping, as our body circadian rhythm clashes with the sunshine. That was not an issue for me. I was totally enjoying and fascinated by the long long days.