I’m a couple days late with this post but given that I’m in classes during the week and tend to do the most interesting stuff on the weekend I figured it was better to push my post out until today. My second week in Finland was as lovely as the first, and I’m already starting to worry that time is going by too fast. I spent most of my week attending class, hanging out with my floormates, and planning all the trips I’d like to do over the next few months. Easily the best part of my last week was spending the weekend at a mökki (Finnish for cottage).
Much like spending time in a sauna, going to the cottage is another interesting Finnish tradition with some incredible statistics. For example, as of December 2012, there are approximately 500,000 cottages (40 square meters or smaller) in Finland. That’s close to 1 cottage for every 10 Finns. For locals, spending time at a mökki is a chance to unplug (literally, as some cottages don’t have electricity or signal), tune into nature, and relax. This weekend I had the chance to do just that with about 40 other students thanks to a trip organized by ESN Oulu, the University of Oulu’s Erasmus Student Network.
On Friday afternoon we took a bus about two and a half hours Northeast of Oulu to our cottages. After unloading the bus and picking our cabins and beds, we spent some time just taking in the incredible view. Our cottages were right next to a lake and the vivid orange and yellow colours of the autumn trees reflected beautifully in the amazingly still water.
Afterwards, we had the chance to live the full mökki experience by spending time in a wooden sauna by the water. In Finland, when the 70 or 80 degree temperature in the sauna starts getting a little too hot or uncomfortable, you cool down by running outside and jumping into the nearby lake, sea, or pool. When I first heard that I didn’t think I would ever do it. I mean it just seems like a recipe for getting a cold. That being said, I couldn’t bring myself to give up such a traditional experience, and ended up jumping into the lake quite a few times over the weekend. The first time was a little scary and I didn’t stay in the cold water for long, but by my third or fourth time I was really enjoying it. At night we warmed up around a campfire and spent time playing card games and meeting new people.
On Saturday we woke up, ate breakfast, and took off on an approximately eight or so kilometre hike in Syöta National Park. As if the hike wasn’t beautiful enough, we ended up at a viewing point high enough to see the surrounding lakes. While pictures can’t capture the nature’s beauty entirely, you can see the view from the peak of the hike below. On the way back we stopped to have a “sausage party” where we ate traditional Finnish makkara (Finnish for sausage) cooked over a bonfire.
After getting back from the hike we took the boats out onto the lake and paddled around. Being on the water in what felt like the middle of nowhere was incredibly serene and I felt like I could’ve stayed there forever. However, I hadn’t met my daily quota of sauna, so we again spent time sweating in the sauna and jumping into the lake. The night was again spent getting to know other students and talking with my cabin mates. The trip concluded on Sunday after a late start to the morning and an afternoon bus ride back to reality, or well, Oulu. All in all it was an incredible weekend that exposed me to some fun Finnish traditions and Finland’s natural beauty.
I’ll be spending this week catching up on sleep and classes, and preparing for the busy next two weeks I have ahead. I’ll be spending this weekend exploring Tallinn (Estonia), Riga (Latvia), Vilnius (Lithuania), and Helsinki (Finland) which means next week’s blog will be a little longer than usual. As always, thanks for reading!
-Pallavi