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Sunday 17 May 2009

International evening & Welfare trip Helsinki

First off: a delay in posting just means I'm too busy doing something else, not that something is wrong.

Friday was the international evening, where the students from the various nations got to show of their national specialties in the culinary department - in other words; food and drink. The Norwegian table featured cured meat and smoked salmon along with enough Løiten Linje Akevit to help the food go down. The Danes had brought enough red hot dogs to feed a battalion, and a selection of various akevits and bitters. On the Swedish table there was a selection of dried and cured meats, the Army Pea Soup as well as snaps and lingonberry saft. On the small German table there was some really good cheese, as well as Jeagermeister and pear liquir. Our Montenegroan student had brought some very tasty cured meats while our Slovakian student had filled his backpack with plenty of wine to help wash everything. The Finns off course had the home field advantage, and their offerings were spread over several tables. Overall a very successful - if late - evening.

On Saturday we left for Helsinki, capital of Finland. We started with a sightseeing from the bus, with a couple of stops along the way. After checking in, a group of us set out on foot to find some lunch, ending up at the very Finnish, very exclusive restaurant McDonald... In the evening we had a semi-official dinner - good food, interesting company but taking a little too long. And while some of the students decided to sample what Helsinki night-life is like, several of us went back to the hotel to see about getting a full night of sleep.

Sunday we started off with breakfast at the hotel, before we visited the Mannerheim Museum. interesting, but would have benefited from a guide with a bit more skills in spoken English. After the museum we went by bus back to Tuusula, for a hearty lunch in the officers club. Unknown to us, the staff had decided to celebrate both the Norwegian Constitution Day as well as the Norwegian victory in the Eurovision Song Contents by baking a large cake - so we were all pretty stuffed when we got back in the bus to head 'home'.

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