Forests and Lakes

I have come to realize that there are two main things here in Finland: Forest and Lakes. Like really – whatever you are imagining now – it’s more. Much more. And even more!
Heli, her mom Raija (who speaks about 5 words in English) and I traveled almost 500 km farther north in Finland. On the way I somehow became the navigator with a 12 year old map of Finland that was no longer accurate. Heli & Raija were highly entertained by my pronunciation of Finnish towns! We spent a little time with Grandma, who speaks no English at all but kept speaking to me in Finnish even though I couldn’t understand. We also went to a big orienteering competition. That’s basically running around the woods with a map of the terrain and a compass looking for check points. After thinking about it, and the fact that I have never tried it before, I decided to not be beat by a bunch of 5 year olds (that’s the group I would’ve had to join). I decided, wisely I think, that my pride could not take it. I did however cheer on the two champions that I was with (ok… so they weren’t in the elite status… but I thought they were great!)

On the way back we saw more forests. You'd be amazed at the differences that you can notice after just a few hours of only forests...