HELSINKI, FINLAND.- I got a call last Thursday night.
"Hello, is this Duke?"
"Yeeeeees?"
"My name is Ronen, I saw your number on CouchSurfing. I'm in Helsinki and I don't really know anyone, so if you want to hang out..."
"Where are you right now?
"In a hotel near the train station."
"Ok, I'll meet you in 30 mins. at the McDonald's next to the station."
"Wow, that was easy! See you there."
Yeah, it doesn't seem to be very common in Europe to have no plan. Everyone always has plans in advance. Ok, probably if I had a job and a few more responsabilities, maybe I would already have a plan, but fortunately for Ronen, from Jerusalem, Israel, I had time to hang out with a poor stranded foreigner. ;) Ronen's a professional hacker (on the side of the good guys) and was in town for a couple of weeks, hired by a Finnish company to test the security of their systems. So that's what this guy does, and travels all over the world to do it. Cool, eh? I took Ronen to the Java Cafe, which I guess was a mistake, since mostly foreigners hang out there and he seemed eager to experience some real Finnish cultural experience. Paula joined us later in the evening and took us to a typical bar in her neighbourhood, Kallio.
Saturday night was Halloween at Stefano's huge flat. I was warned about November being the most depressing month in Finland, and right on cue: as I was heading to Stefano's place I noticed all the cars on the streets covered with frost. It's already a bit below zero in the evenings, so it's cold enough for snow. Walking on frost-covered streets is trickier than it looks. You can't really notice the thin coat of ice that has formed on the ground and slipping can be very easy if you're not careful.
Aaaaanyway, Stefano's party rocked, especially the music they were playing! I didn't really know anybody besides Stefano and Richard, but soon enough, Serkan and Yani arrived as pirates, and Marianne and Sussanne as Bavarian waitresses, complete with their own huge Oktoberfest beer mugs. All in all, it was a very fun evening, until one of the neighbours called to complain about the noise, and were forced to turn the music down, causing most of the people to leave. Party over! :P Stupid neighbours.
I just had a 2 hour Marillion-a-thon. Will I ever get tired of this music? Probably not. After all, it's a better way of life.
Discover a lost art: listen to Marillion. ;)
"Hello, is this Duke?"
"Yeeeeees?"
"My name is Ronen, I saw your number on CouchSurfing. I'm in Helsinki and I don't really know anyone, so if you want to hang out..."
"Where are you right now?
"In a hotel near the train station."
"Ok, I'll meet you in 30 mins. at the McDonald's next to the station."
"Wow, that was easy! See you there."
Yeah, it doesn't seem to be very common in Europe to have no plan. Everyone always has plans in advance. Ok, probably if I had a job and a few more responsabilities, maybe I would already have a plan, but fortunately for Ronen, from Jerusalem, Israel, I had time to hang out with a poor stranded foreigner. ;) Ronen's a professional hacker (on the side of the good guys) and was in town for a couple of weeks, hired by a Finnish company to test the security of their systems. So that's what this guy does, and travels all over the world to do it. Cool, eh? I took Ronen to the Java Cafe, which I guess was a mistake, since mostly foreigners hang out there and he seemed eager to experience some real Finnish cultural experience. Paula joined us later in the evening and took us to a typical bar in her neighbourhood, Kallio.
Saturday night was Halloween at Stefano's huge flat. I was warned about November being the most depressing month in Finland, and right on cue: as I was heading to Stefano's place I noticed all the cars on the streets covered with frost. It's already a bit below zero in the evenings, so it's cold enough for snow. Walking on frost-covered streets is trickier than it looks. You can't really notice the thin coat of ice that has formed on the ground and slipping can be very easy if you're not careful.
Aaaaanyway, Stefano's party rocked, especially the music they were playing! I didn't really know anybody besides Stefano and Richard, but soon enough, Serkan and Yani arrived as pirates, and Marianne and Sussanne as Bavarian waitresses, complete with their own huge Oktoberfest beer mugs. All in all, it was a very fun evening, until one of the neighbours called to complain about the noise, and were forced to turn the music down, causing most of the people to leave. Party over! :P Stupid neighbours.I just had a 2 hour Marillion-a-thon. Will I ever get tired of this music? Probably not. After all, it's a better way of life.
Discover a lost art: listen to Marillion. ;)
0 comments:
Post a Comment