Kiitos
I didn't really expect the city to be packed with actions and I was there rather for being relaxed as I was on holidays.
And frankly , Helsinki is the best for chill in my opinion.
After jogging the coast under beautiful ray of sun I was drinking beer at one of nice hilltops looking down on the shore.
19:30 , sun was still up , about to be going down.
That was when Olli , the nice gentleman spoke to me.
It seemed he popped out of nowhere.
He spoke to me in Finnish language first and I didn't understand so I went "Excuse me , I only speak English"
He then switched language swiftly into English.
He was born in helsinki , lives with his family.
He is a part-time care taker , and physical therapist he said.
He has stayed in Japan for 5 weeks for martial arts training so he knows some odd Japanese words related to it like Naginata lol
A little dog named Tepo(o comes with two dots on top , I couldn't make it appear on my laptop lol) was with him impatiently goofing around.
He tried to lecture me on the pronunciation of the dog name but it was so fiddly to say "o".
He opened the can of beer and asked me what I had done in city.
I said , "Basically not much , just walking , jogging , eating , napping"
He went "Oh so you haven't done the sauna yet?"
I was "yes not yet"
He then started looking at his phone trying to plan something out.
A moment later he went "Maybe , you can come to my cottage for sauna"
I needed a scond to understand it , he continued with leaving me behind ,
"I own the small cottage here and built the sauna in there , maybe you can come there tonight"
My enthusiasm gauge begun to rise.
That was already 8pm and I was't basically ready for it so I asked his e-mail address and left him. (My phone was being dead , no pen and paper , that was kinda nail-biting moment when he started to grope his bag for his glasses lol)
Later , he texted me about the location of the cottage and even the time of the bus I should take!
Next day , I took bus to where he guided , I ended up in residential area off the city center.
Do you nomally doubt first if someone is too nice to you? You think he's fishy?
You know what , there was no piece of evilness in his eye.
There you go , he appeared with the bike.
He said he just finished his dance lessons.
His cottage was incredibly charming looking , painted in red , lovely gardens with fancy chairs , kinds of plants , a swing hung from the apple tree.
Beyond my expectations , that's what that was.
His wife warmly welcomed me , she was in the middle of gardening.
Literally hatoff to their sense of design and color choises.
It also has loft space where they can sleep.
He opened the door from the common space , there was the sauna he built.
The cosy and DIY sauna!
I could smell the fragrance of wood immideately.
He said , it's a bit illegal to build this in personal property.
In the meantime I waited for sauna , his wife made this for me.
It was kind of sweets using vegetable called Rhubarb.
He grows that in his garden and I was totally new to that vegitable.
He used google translation to explain it but I basically didn't know that one lol
Taste was fresh and sour.
"How do you say good in Finnish?"
"Hyvaa" (again , a is with two dots)
Finnish language sounds cute , like they say "moi" for hi in English.
I asked them what their kids were doing.
"They are playing X box at home , they don't like it here because there is nothing to do"
"Young people like clubbing don't they? This place is for older people"
He chuckled.
He implies that we are meant to enjoy the nothingness here.
"One thing Finnish and Japanese people have in common is that we love silence"
Of course in the good way.
Unlike specific type of people who would die if they stopped talking.
We indeed can deal with the silence elegantly.
And I guess that sense makes me feel comfortable here when you're not pressured to socialize or speak.
After a couple of sauna sessions , we were sitting with the beautiful sunset.
The temperature was slowly getting down.
Holding beer he offered me in hand , I felt the breeze drying up the sweat.
What a chill this is!
That was like a moment carved out of never ending blur dream where you find the peace.
I wish I could be stuck in there forever.
