Final day in Helsinki & Home Sweet Home

Well, that's a wrap for Olympic Quest 2014!

Our final day in Finland was busy with re-organizing and packing, spending any remaining euros, walking the frigid, but beautiful, streets of Helsinki, enjoying a final group meal of reindeer and salmon, and taking in a pro hockey game.
Aaron sums is up best:

Here are some other photos from the day:

Taking the tram to the hockey game:

Helsinki Ice Hall:

Bonnie hits 2 of 3 shots and wins!

Home team, H.I.F.K. (a traditional abbreviation of Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna i Helsingfors) wins!

After waking up between 3-4am for our early flight home on Friday, we were treated to a full day (24+ hours) of travel - there was quite a scare when it looked doubtful we would get out of Chicago (similar to trying to get TO Chicago on Jan. 6th) because of high winds in Chicago and snow and cold in Minneapolis.  We regretfully starting parting ways early (Nikki in Helsinki, Maegan in Chicago) and, eventually, the rest at MSP.  

This was truly a fantastic group of people - one of our objectives for the trip was to provide opportunities for students to bond with each other and the new culture, and to push themselves out of their familiar relationships and broaden their boundaries.  As we looked (and listened - as we sat in our hotel rooms, we could hear students walking by humming and singing ABBA tunes everyday after our museum trip!) at our group interacting the final few days, we think this happened - everyone seems to have made new memories and relationships that will last a lifetime.  This only happens when people are willing to be open to new experiences and are able to bounce back when things aren't familiar and/or don't go the way they were planned (as they never do when traveling) - we were lucky to have students who had these characteristics.  Sometimes it's hard to realize it at the time it's occurring, but we do grow when things don't go the way we want them to - maybe that seemingly strange person you were forced to sit with on the airplane ended up being one of your favorite people, or searching for the absent northern lights enabled you to tromp through a beautiful, nature filled area at night with new friends, or getting lost (and found) in a new and strange city helped you gain confidence as you realized you had tools to travel and handle the unexpected.  We're still working on what we learned by sitting at O'Hare for 7+ hours yesterday, but like I said, sometimes it takes time!  It truly becomes the process and the getting there that becomes so important - in the end, it didn't really matter that we didn't see the northern lights - we found the lights in the people we we were with, thru the experiences we had...

We will end with the top 30 things from our Scandinavian Olympic Quest - from the mouths of our students:

1. Reindeer meat
2. Singing my heart out at the ABBA museum
3. Learning how to dog sled
4. The shows on the ferry
5. Sitting around the fire at the ice hotel
6. Skiing in Norway
7. Dog sledding and sitting in the teepee drinking coffee
8. Dog sledding and the breath taking views
9. Climbing on the rocks on the coast of Summolina Fortress
10. Riding a giant bronze statue of a tiger in downtown Oslo
11. Going to my first pub
12. Being the first up Komsa in Alta, then leading the group the next day
13. Walking through the ice hotel
14. Last night's meal (reindeer and salmon)
15. Getting a traditional Norwegian sweater!
16. Meeting the locals in Alta
17. Crawling up a mountain in search of the norther lights!
18. Beautiful Lillehammer!
19. Getting a free bottle of champagne in Alta  :)
20. Spending time at a Norwegian guy's house
21. The ferry from Stockholm to Helsinkig
22. Skiing at Hajfell in Lillehammer, Norway
23. Snowboarding in Lillehammer
24. Relaxing around the fire at the ice hotel
25. Learning how to ski in Norway!
26. Hanging out with some Norwegians in Alta
27. Staying in a haunted hotel room
28. Learning how to ski at the site of the '94 Olympic Games
29. Going to a pro hockey game in Helsinki
30. Meeting an Olympic Gold Medalist

Thanks to all our students for a fantastic trip and to all those who read our blog and supported us throughout Scandinavia!

Bonnie & Aaron

January 22 blog

This morning started out with another big breakfast.  I will say that this breakfast fell a bit short of what we have come to expect here in Scandinavia!  Today, we started our day off with an hour and a half bus ride north to the city of Lahti, Finland.  Lahti is home to the annually held World Cup Winter Games, the Lahti Ski Games. As of 2010, Lahti is the only city to host the FIS Nordic World Ski Championship six times.  Our purpose in coming was to visit the Lahti ski jump as well as the Finnish ski museum on site.  Our guide, Lawry, informed us on the bus that today’s visit to the museum would be special.  We were going to get the opportunity to meet a Finnish Ski Jumping legend, Veikko Kankkonen.  Veikko or “Viki” won the gold medal in the 1964 Innsbruck games and allowed us to see his medals up close.   After going through the museum, we had the opportunity to meet Veikko and ask him questions about his career.  One of the highlights of the museum was getting the opportunity to test our ski jumping skills in the simulator.  We had a little class competition to see who could jump the farthest.  Veikko set the bar high with a jump of 83 meters but this distance did not last long.  This mark was eventually broken by one of this blog’s authors, Brian Simons, with a jump of 108 meters.  He can now say he beat the rest of his classmates and well as an Olympic gold medalist!  

After the competition, the group took a short bus ride to the base of the ski jump tower.  We all boarded elevators and went to the top for a spectacular view of Lahti.  Note to reader: Ski jump towers make excellent observation towers as well.  Next, the group headed inside for lunch; which consisted of salad, potatoes, chili, and rice pudding for desert.  While we ate, we were able to see a few Finnish skiers fly off of the ski jump.

After lunch, we said goodbye to Lahti and headed south towards Helsinki.  We made a  quick pit stop at the famous Littala Glass Outlet to see some of Finlands finest hand-blown glass.  Once back in Helsinki, the group enjoyed a free evening and time to explore Finland’s leading seaport.  We went around a few of the local shops near our hotel and returned for a trip to the sauna.  In the sauna, we experienced how many scoops of water Fins actually like on the hot rocks.  What seemed to be unbearable temperature for us; was probably a typical sauna for the Fins.  Tomorrow is our last full day in Scandinavia and we will be experiencing a Finnish League hockey game.  The Fins take their hockey very seriously and we are all excited to experience it first hand!  Good night from Helsinki!

Ryan & Brian

January 21st blog

Today we woke up to the graceful rocking of the ferry boat as it cascaded through the Baltic Sea.  Okay, that’s not completely true - the majority of us were up late and got little sleep while the boat rocking was far from peaceful.  It was a bit of a rough morning.  Thankfully, only one person was affected by the rocking boat (poor Eli!).  Those of us who did not get seasick were able to enjoy the early morning sunrise as we pulled into the ice-covered harbor in Helsinki - Lowry’s homeland. 

Many of us were tired from the long night of entertainment, but after the boat was docked we hit the ground running.  We started the day with a guided bus tour of the city where we saw many of the city’s landmarks and stopped by the Helsinki Cathedral - a 20 year construction project finished in 1852 - before taking some time to visit the Temppeliaukio Church (“the hole in the rock”). It was weird to see a church dug out of rock amongst the modern street buildings that surrounded the area.  The church felt out of place and in our opinion didn’t fit in with the rest of the city.  The inside of the church was like a cave and was very peaceful.  

After that we had an interesting cultural moment as we left.  Dr. Banks played an ABBA song as we gathered on the bus.  Our tour guide jokingly said we can’t play ABBA in Finland and continued to go into the kind of music Finns enjoy.  With her comment you could sense a bit competition between the bordering countries which carries a sense of pride they take in what their people accomplish.  Another notable fun fact from our bus tour: part of the city has heated sidewalks.  Overall, Helsinki at a quick glance is an intriguing city full of new and old architecture scattered with museums.  Many of the buildings around the city have similar characteristics to that of Stockholm.  The uniqueness of the old buildings is unlike anything you would see in the States. 

                  Our bus tour ended at the stadium of the 1952 summer Olympics where we had the opportunity to ascend to the top of the tower were the torch was brought, walk around the seats of the stadium, and tour a museum full of artifacts from the ‘52 Olympics and several famous Finnish athletes from throughout the years.  Built in 1938, the stadium looked shockingly similar to open air stadiums we see being built today (aside from having fewer seats).  Walking in the stands and looking around in the stadium one can imagine and feel the excitement the Olympic Games would entail.  Having just been in the stadium, learning about the games in the museum made us feel like we were a part of the festivities.  As we learn more and more about the history of the Olympic Games we find we have a growing respect for them and are getting even more exciting for the approaching games in Sochi.

                  After visiting the Olympic stadium we headed for our hotel which ended up being a laid back night.  Many people - ourselves included - took a nap for the two hours before dinner.  We were still tired from the night before and are planning to explore the city tomorrow.  After dinner we retreated to our room to work on our journals and blog before calling it an early night so we can hit the city hard during the two final days.  We are excited to use the sauna at the hotel in the next couple days because they were invented in Finland and they take great pride in their saunas - we checked it out and it looks pretty dang nice.  Apparently Lowry has three in his house - typical crazy Finn.  We are excited to see a little more of Finland tomorrow on our trip to Lahti - good night Helsinki.

Neil & Bobby:

January 20th

From Dan & Kaylee:

We began our day touring the 1912 Olympic site in Stockholm, Sweden.   After talking about the history of this stadium, our guide led us around the stadium where we got to sit in the Royal box seating section and walk up the tall spiral clock tower.  It was a great view of the stadium and the city up there!  We liked seeing the three crowns symbol throughout the stadium because it reminds us of Gustavus.  This stadium holds the most world records for track and field.  

Next, we visited the newly built ABBA Museum.  Everyone had a lot of fun here because it was very interactive.  We had a guided audio tour where we learned about the band, and the best part was the activities such as singing and dancing on stage with the holographic band members.  The motto of the museum is “Walk in, Dance out,” and we sure did!  We have been jamming to ABBA’s hits on the bus ever since we left.  

We were given a little more free time in Stockholm, where people did more shopping and visiting cafes.  Next, we boarded the Silja Symphony to Helsinki!  Some people were nervous about sleeping on a ship overnight, but a lot were very excited.  We ate at a delicious buffet for dinner, and explored the ship.  It had a shopping strip, a few bars and restaurants, a very nice sauna, and a couple nightclubs.  There were performances going on all night that were entertaining to watch.  Many of us had a blast trying to sing karaoke in Swedish/Finnish and dancing the night away.  

Overall, we had an eventful final day in Sweden, and now we are excited to explore Finland!