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December 15, 2004
Suomi-girl again!
Long time since the last time! My last month in Tokyo, November, was busy. First with work and preparing for departure, then with more work, travelling and enjoying the last days.
Now I'm safe and sound again in good old Helsinki, Finland. I spent my first week in Finland in a hazy state of mind, landing from Tokyo bright lights into winter grim Finland.
Transitions
Central Tokyo to Narita airport, Dec 3 - Helsinki to Tampere, Dec 5.
Shibuya, Thursday Dec 2, 7pm - Helsinki main shopping street, Friday Dec 3, 11 pm.
Many things have made me smile since my return (yes, in the Finnish winter, it's an event.) One of my favourite snacks: Rye bread, salty Russian style sausage, Finnish cheese and sour milk.
The morning sun in my neighbourhood street.
A piece of Tokyo in the centre of Helsinki. There's one in Hakaniemi market square, too. Wild!
As I missed so many weeks of blogging in Japan, I'll return for a while. One of the highlights was finding a Heli-sensei note on a water bottle reserved for me at Waseda University. And almost any meal in Japan is a highlight in itself.
Talking about highlights, taking the shinkansen has to be mentioned.
I took it to Kyoto to discover Japanese traditions.
Then I took a slower train, a bus, and the ropeway to see what winter looked like in the altitude of 2200 meters in the Japanese alps.
Then it was time to leave, and many of my dear friends, some of whom you see here, joined me in an izakaya, a joint for cheap eating and drinking. We had good fun, if you ask me. (Note how well I have learnt to pose the Japanese way.)
To finish with Japan, I'll leave you with some souvenirs.
This book is for haiku poetry.
Thanks for your company in Japan. From now on, I'll fill you in with bits and pieces from Finland. You can look forward first for a pikkujoulu Christmas party, then a proper family Christmas, and then, a special treat, New Year's high up north in Lapland. Not quite like the mountains below, but hey, the real thing. (Although right now, I'd swop the real thing for Shinjuku any second.)
Posted by hrantavu at December 15, 2004 06:26 PM