On Tuesday, we drove 2 hours to visit Marja's sister, Kaarina, who lives in the town of Loimaa. Kaarina, who is 70, lives by herself with her loyal cat, Tassu. As I looked out her window, miles and miles of meadow land met my eye. The brilliant yellow rapeseed plants provided an illustrious contrast to the shining blue sky. She cooked us a wonderful and satisfying lunch consisting of some quintessentially Finnish dishes, which I've unfortunately forgotten how to spell. Before we were about to leave, she offered me a pair of her hand-knit woolen socks. I was very moved, as we had not known each other for long yet despite this, she extended her compassion and graciousness to me.
On Thursday, I went to Sarkaniemi, one of Finland's largest amusement parks, in Tampere. Before going to Sarkaniemi, my family and I walked around the city center and along the river, admiring Tampere's architecture. By sheer luck, I ran into another FUSYE scholar, Emma, who lives all the way north in Ala Vieska. What are the chances of running into a FUSYE scholar in a city as huge as Tampere? What's even crazier is the fact that she lives in Ala Vieska, which is about 6 hours north of Tampere, and I live in Rauma, which is 2 hours southwest of Tampere, and we just happened to be in Tampere on the same street at the same location at the same time! After eating lunch at Rosso and chatting a bit with her host sister Ida, we headed our separate ways. Overall, Sarkaniemi did not disappoint. Because the lines were no where near as long as Great America, Six Flags, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, or Disneyland, Camilla and I got to experience all the rides we wanted to! Some of my favorites were Tornado (the most ridiculously intense roller coaster), MotoGee (a roller coaster in which the seats are shaped like motorcycles--I almost felt like I would be flung off over the handlebars!), Log River (we sat in a log and then braced ourselves for a huge plunge, getting soaked along the way), Trombi (a roller coaster ride in which you lay on your tummy while getting tossed and turned and flipped), and High Voltage (Sarkaniemi's newest ride--basically you're strapped onto a seat that's attached to a claw arm structure, and when the ride begins, the claw arm begins to flip and spin you around. I would not recommend this ride to people who get easily dizzy). One of Sarkaniemi's main attractions is their Angry Bird land, where all the rides and food stands are Angry Bird themed and there are Angry Bird play structures scattered around the area.
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