RE: First Impressions

After being in Helsinki for over a month it's time to re-examine or confirm my first impressions. I like bullet points so here are some.

Helsinki is young.
-The city was first settled in 1550 by the Swedish as a trading port, but it burnt down a couple times so the current city center wasn't established till 1820. Which makes it younger than Boston and New York. Which I found quite surprising for a European city.

Small Grocery stores on every corner = kickass
- It's so much better and economical than in St Louis where I had to take a bus or the metro to the grocery store. It's easier to save money and eat better when you have a grocery store right next to you as opposed to a take out joint/fast food place.

The transit system is awesome.
-Trams are frequent and fun and the metro is bright orange and fast. It also sounds like something from the old school Nintendo game Megaman when it winds up after leaving a station.

Finnish Cuisine = not so awesome
-I haven't really basked much in the local delicacies because what I have had hasn't been that impressive. potatoes seem to be on top of the food pyramid and Herring and other fish are the staple. However I haven't gotten to the reindeer yet, which has potential and there is an awesome bakery right around the block from me which has great cheap pastries, sometimes they OD on poppy seeds though.

Them Finns love their sauna.
- Considering i have been to sauna a number of times here already and i cant remember the last time i went to one in the states I have to say that the Finns love their Sauna. We were just told in our building systems class that there are about 5.5 Million people living in Finland, and there are roughly 2 million sauna structures, our professor said "So on average every family owns 2 saunas." I wonder when you are federally unemployed if you get "sauna-stamps" granting you federal access every month or so.
I enjoy sauna as well. There's something about standing in the buff on the rocks, drinking a beer with your compatriots, shooting the shit and watching the clouds pass by trying to dim the moon, somewhat/how liberating.

Meet my classmates. Here is some photos of others.



Vaclav and roommates (Jordan + Cassie)


Johnny (drawing shit)


Jono (JB Dowse) Laughing at me


Misseur Frombeau (Matt Frombo about to mock me, most likely with hand motions)

Tunes 09.#1

A friend of mine once said "if you copy one thing it is plagiarizing but if you copy a lot of things it's called research." So before 2009 is two months finished I should probably post some of MY favorite tunes I have discovered.

Phoenix Jukebox (Myspace)

From reading some blogs it seems pretty day and night the way Mash-ups are perceived, in one day out the next. But this guy or guys (not really sure) are amazing. Paul Simon, Fifty Cent and Enrique getting along as well as Chromeo, Whitney Houston and Digitalism. Quite amazing, also the beginning of "You Better Stop" is quite hilarious.
Phoenix Jukebox - We Goin Down

Oren Lavie (Myspace)
Found this last night, and fell in love with it. It's kind of funny, the lyrics are a bit melancholy, but I find it happy and optimistic. I guess I would say its like a "walking in the rain" song; when something appears gloomy but can actually be enjoyable. The music video is pretty cool also.
Oren Lavie - Her Morning Elegance

Russ Chimes remixes Justin Faust (Myspace)

I have been on a Technodisco-new wave kick lately and this one definitely suites it. It keeps me going and I dig the bittersweet twangy ending.
Justin Faust - Revenge (Russ Chimes Remix)

"Beer-lectro" SB 2009

Headed to Germany and Southern France for Spring Break! Covering all the bases, seeing family, friends and exploring new territories. Haven't seen David and Ethel or Melanie and Markus in almost SIX years! So I'm pretty stoked and surprisingly somewhat nervous about going back to Wiesbaden.
On the other hand Southern France is met with some great suspense. I got my flight from Frankfurt Hahn to Montpellier for 9.50 Euros total (thanks RyanAir) Hoping to get to Marseille, Corsica and Nice probably some swimming or cave jumping, I doubt the Mediteranean will be cold enough to deter me. And oh yeah maybe some disco-electro-Yelle meats Justice-dance-Daft Punky bar hopping.


Wiesbaden


Unite d'Habitation

Utö - Middle o' Baltic

Pretty amazing being in the middle of nowhere. From the high points or almost anywhere on the island you can see all the horizons.
Utö was orginally settled by the Swedish King back in the mid 1700's as a post for shipping pilots to stay here and help foreign ships navigate through the Baltic. Since then its been thrown around between the Finns and Russians as a military base so there are tons of bunkers and cannons everywhere. Historically speaking it never was really active during war time so Utö is most famous for shipwrecks and rescuing those stranded.

Here's some things I have taken in:
- I have never seen the moon so clearly and bright at night.
- There is one traffic sign on the island and its to watch out for toad crossings
- The wind changes everyday and sometimes when I look up it looks like its blowing in every direction I turn
- I feel like I can see the curvature of the earth when gazing at the horizon line over the sea



Ferry ride



Town



Baltic









Moon

Utö

...hate to employ my pathetic photoshop display but I think it gets my point across. We are going to an island for ten days. There are thousands of islands speckled around Finland but this one is the most isolated island in the Baltic Sea (isolated, being an island with a population.)
The island may inhabit 50 people but holy shit its in the middle of nowhere.

I'm really looking forward to it, I'll keep you posted if I can.

Small tour of Helsinki

Walked around one sunny afternoon and took a bunch of pictures..





Bus ride to school





Aleksanterinkatu - Main shopping pedestrian district, Stockmann is a huge department store with everything



Facade of building along Esplanade



Harbor - Where to fetch ferries to Stockholm and Tallinn (Estonia)



Looking up to Senate Square and Helsinki Cathedral



Metro (It's orange)