Kaksi Kalaa

Yesterday afternoon, my friend, Janina, and I participated in the annual Joensuu ice fishing competition.  With the blow of a whistle, all 200 of us contestants went running out onto the ice to claim our pre-drilled holes.  We then had two hours to catch as many fish as we could.  Together, Janina and I reeled in 70 grams of fish (one fish each).  While neither of us attended the official award ceremony later that evening, we were told at weigh-in that we may have caught the largest fish—a whopping six inch perch!  Below are some photos from the event.

Here is my six inch perch.

Janina peers down into her hole
to see if there are any eager fish.

Janina's perch!

The competition was held right around sundown,
making for some dramatic lighting.

Just about the time we could no longer handle
the cold, the competition was over and we brought
our catch over to the 'fish weighting' station.

One Fishy Cow and Some Valnötters

Back in September, I posted a story about my adventures in the grocery store.  In particular, I made a comment about how shopping in Finland has been an interesting study in product design—language often is of very little help to me when it comes to discerning a package's contents, so visuals are essential.  Anyways, this past week, the grocery store had a sale on pudding.  And you ask how I knew it was pudding?  Well, not only did this product come in small pudding-like packages, but all the labels also had cows on them in one form of another.  A bee cow.  A kangaroo cow.  A bird cow.  A rabbit cow.  A seahorse cow.  And one fishy cow.  In addition to the unique packaging, I found the flavors to be an adventure too.  I'd never heard of apple vanilla pudding before coming to Finland!

To be honest though, there are times when language is necessary.  My friend had asked me to go pick up some walnuts at the store.  After examining the nut selection for a good five minutes, I had narrowed down my choices to two types of nuts.  Having forgotten how to distinguish walnuts from pecans, I scoured the package for any clues.  While I could not understand the Finnish labels, the Swedish ones did come in handy—valnötters, anyone?

Just Another Wednesday Afternoon

Well, folks, it has been nearly seven months since I started my Finnish adventure.  Seven wonderful months of new flavors, curious sights and unfamiliar sounds.  From the rich egg butter spread on Karelian pies to the pervasive silence that permeates all-things-Finnish, I have come to develop a great appreciation for this Nordic culture.

However, despite all the wonderful experiences I have had thus far, I must admit that I don't think my Finnish experience would be complete without the adventure I had this past Wednesday afternoon.  The sun was shining brightly and I had just settled into doing some homework when my flatmate innocently asked, "wanna go ice swimming?"  While I had anticipated having just another Wednesday afternoon, this simple question fueled an adventure in temperature extremes.

After a 45 minute bike ride, I found myself in the Joensuun Jääkarhut Ry parking lot.  While waiting for a few more friends to arrive, Maria and I carefully observed the Finns to learn proper ice swimming technique.  Go to the sauna.  Stay there until you can no longer handle the heat.  Proceed outside, and down the dock in a slow but determined fashion.  Climb down the down-ladder into the hole in the lake.  Swim until you can no longer handle the cold.  Then, climb back up the up-ladder before heading back to sauna (again, in a slow but determined fashion).  It all seemed simple enough, so after a few minutes, off we went to have a go at it.

First, we watched the locals ice swim.  (If you look
carefully, you can see the skiers in the background.)

For the next two hours, I hustled between sauna and icy waters in a hilarious and futile attempt to not become too hot or too cold.  While I can't say I enjoyed either the hot, hot sauna or the cold, cold water, I did appreciate having the cultural experience.  It was fun to watch the expressions of the Finns as they watched us foreigners try to engage in their sport.  Even more exciting was being able to use the small amount of Finnish I've learned to communicate with the locals.  All-in-all, ice swimming was a great adventure—an adventure that brought me one step closer to obtaining a complete Finnish experience. 

I could only stay in the water for about 45 seconds.

Serendipitous Saturday

Growing up, my family enjoyed spending our Saturdays going on small adventures together.  Whether we went out to explore a new museum exhibit or discover the bluffs of southern Minnesota, each adventure started the same way—piling into the minivan in anticipation that we may have another "serendipitous Saturday."

While my family and the minivan were missing today, I think I may have just had a serendipitous Saturday of my own here at 62.6˚N. After dinner, my friend AnKa called to ask if I wanted to go play some frisbee.  I had no other plans, so we bundled up and headed out to the river.  As the sun set behind the clouds, faint pinks and purples subtly swirled about the sky as if on cue from our plastic disk. 

While our game of frisbee was spectacular, the real serendipity came when we headed back home.  As AnKa and I were leaving the river, I happened to glance behind me to see a large sphere the color of a ripe pumpkin floating on the horizon.  I pointed it out, and my friend looked back and asked, "what is it?"  It's the moon.  A large sphere the color of a ripe pumpkin.  While at the time I did not know this, later in the evening I found out it indeed was a supermoon.  Tonight, the moon came closer to the Earth than it has in 18 years, making it appear 10 to 15% larger than normal.  If you missed it, be sure to mark your calendar for November 14, 2016—the date of the next supermoon.  

DIY Ice Fishing

This past week, I had the opportunity to try my hand at a popular Finnish sport—ice fishing.  While this sport is also popular back at home, it was a first for me.  The above picture pretty much sums it all.  Hat, mittens, scarf and a smile bigger than the fish.  As I now qualify as an expert ice fisherman, I thought I would write up a comprehensive do-it-yourself guide complete with photos from my adventures this past Tuesday.  Please enjoy, and let me know if you have any questions. 

Step 1.  Go where the fish are.
As you begin your ice fishing adventures, you will first need to find a frozen lake and walk out onto it.  Please note that you may go waist-deep in snow if you attempt to plow through the wrong snow bank.  It is smart to keep to the ready-made trails.

Step 2.  Poke a hole.

After finding a suitable place on the lake, use an oversized screw to pierce a hole in the ice.  The ice will likely be about a meter thick, so just keep screwing.  Upon breaking through, give the screw a sharp yank to pull it out.  The hole you just drilled will immediately fill with ice shillings—I suppose it could resemble a slushy if you put some red or blue food dye down the hole?  Anyways, you must remove those ice shillings to get the hook to the bottom of the lake—a slotted spoon should do the trick.

Step 3.  Worms and waiting.

After creating a satisfactory entry point into the waters below, you must procure a pole.  While you may suspect the pole needs to be several feet long so you can get proper leverage when casting the hook (like the pro fly-fisherman do on TV), please remember you are ice fishing.  The rod needn't be too long because you are just going to drop the sinker straight down the hole.

With rod in hand, you must now weave a less-than-fortunate worm onto your hook.  If at first you are a bit squeamish about completing this task, you can ask the kind Finn who happens to be walking by to show you how to do it.

Finally, settle down on the frozen landscape and drop hook, line and sinker into the hole.  So begins the waiting game.

Step 4. A gentle tug.

As you sit there waiting, you may feel a small tug on your line.  Or, you may feel nothing and just be growing bored.  Either way, pull the hook to the surface of the lake and admire the fish which has taken an interest in your worm.  Quickly yank the fish out of the hole and shout "Kala!"  ("Kala" means "fish" in Finnish.)

At this point, perhaps I should comment on the abnormally small size of your fish.  While the fish may not be much larger than your index finger, rest assured that the joy which comes from catching it far outweighs its miniature stature.

It is also a good time to mention proper ice fishing attire.  It is strongly recommended that you wear large rubber boots.  While it is highly unlikely you will catch a fish large enough to splash your feet when exiting the water, the rubber boots definitely contribute to your sense of being a pro ice fisherman.  Such attitudes are necessary if you expect to catch fish.

Step 5.  Disconnect and document.

While still in an excited frenzy about catching your first fish, you must remove the hook from the fish's mouth.  Hopefully, the fish has only bitten the worm and not the hook.  However, if the fish indeed bit the hook, you will need to remove your mittens and perform a minor surgery.  Either way, it is important you fully document this catch with a camera once the hook has been removed.

Step 6.  Repeat. 

Repeat steps 3 to 5 until you have brought twenty small fish to the surface.  Each time, check that your hook has a worm.  Drop hook, line and sinker into the hole.  Wait.  Pull hook to surface and admire the fish that has taken an interest in your worm.  Remove hook.  Document.  It is important to understand that it is possible to catch all 20 fish with 2.5 worms.  Also, in the off-chance that your extremities get cold, it is advisable to pace around your hole to regain blood flow in your feet.

Step 7.  Consult the locals.

This step will come naturally.  As you stand out on the lake, a few Finns will more than likely ski past you.  As they do so, they will examine your catch.  Each examination generally generates the same reactions: a small grin and comment on how pieni/small your fish are, followed by a quick lesson on fish identification.  This is a kiiski.  And here is a muikku. 

Step 8.  Heat 'em up.

After enjoying an afternoon out on the lake, it will be time to go inside and warm up.  Gather your catch in a small plastic bucket and make your way home.  The fish will likely still be alive when you arrive back at your flat.  So, before frying them, you will need to knock each fish on the head with a spoon to put them to sleep.  Then, season well and fry up.  Due to the size of your fish, you can skip all gutting steps.

Last but not least, eat up.  Or, if you don't like fish, find some friends to eat them for you.

So, there you have it folks.  Ice fishing in eight easy steps.  Now you are ready to compete in Joensuu's ice fishing competition at the end of March!

Bulls-Eye

When traveling abroad, I frequently find myself making comparisons between things in the foreign country and life back at home.  In particular, whenever I walk into a new store, I begin trying to figure out which store at home it most closely resembles.  In New Zealand, The Warehouse is K Mart.  Dick Smith is Radio Shack.  Mitre 10 is Meynards.  In Finland, S Market is Cub Foods.  Intersport is REI.  Gigantti is Best Buy.  And so on.

Well, this past week, I discovered one more store to add to this list.  Tokmanni is the Target of Finland.  With its bulls-eye logo and red color scheme, I would not be surprised if the original creators had previously visited an American Target (or vice versa).  Walking in, I was met with large signs hanging from the ceiling that read "Women," "Men," "Food," etc. (or course, in Finnish though).  Even the store names both start with the letter T!

Mathematics of Beauty

cos(ω) = –tan(φ) • tan(θ)

where  ω is the hour angle in degrees at sunrise
            φ is the latitude of the observer on Earth
            θ is the sun declination

This is the sunrise equation.  The equation that allows people to derive the time when the center of the sun rises above the horizon.  While the math itself is quite beautiful, the thing which it predicts is even lovelier.  With the increasing frequency of warmer temperatures and cloudless skies in Joensuu, I have recently taken a liking to sunrise walks.  As the birds start up their morning songs, the sky lights up with color.  Each morning's color is as magnificently unique as the last.  People, if you haven't gotten out and watched a sunrise recently, please do so.  Below are a couple photos from my recent outings.

Go watch a sunrise.

Twenty Below

Check out the tools used to carve ice!

Several weekends ago, Joensuu held its annual ice festival.  Located on the north bank of the river, all the townspeople came out to enjoy each other's company despite the frosty temperatures.  Children were given blocks of snow to carve out their imaginations while the teenagers participated in snowboard competitions.  Meanwhile, the adults used specialized tools to form marvelous ice sculptures.

My favorite ice sculpture.

And where were the grandparents, you ask?  A short walk across the bridge revealed a part of Finnish culture I have yet to come to terms with.  Approximately a hundred people were gathered around a large hole in the river's ice.  Across this hole were strung several ropes that formed swimming lanes (like those found in pools).  Every few minutes, a whistle blew, the crowd went wild, and four or five people would jump in the water to swim a few laps.  And the grandparents—they were the ones swimming!

AnKa and I watched the ice swimming
competition while attempting to stay warm.

Given that my feet had already gone numb and my fingers were on the verge of falling off, I have not a clue how these people could jump into the water and then proceed to swim laps.  I think I will cross "ice swimming" off my list of sports I'd like to try.  Brrrrrrrrrr (roll the r's in "brrr" if you want to sound Finnish).

One of the ice swimmers after her swim.