The Shortest Day of the Year

Many co-workers have assured me that after today, the amount of daylight increases noticeably. I haven't found the short days to be too bad. It's true that when I leave for work around 8:30 a.m., it's still quite dark and only a bit of pink daylight is beginning to peek over the horizon. At about 2:30 p.m., the sun begins to set again. In the interim, the sun stays low in the sky, tracing a shallow arc that barely rises above the tree line.

The short days lead to a real feeling of productivity: I got up, worked out, got ready for work, ate breakfast and made it to work -- all before sunrise! And when the sun begins to set, it feels like it's time to pack things up and leave work for home. The other advantage is the possibility of seeing beautiful sunrises and sunsets everyday.

I'll be leaving tomorrow morning to spend Christmas in Paris, followed by New Year's in Amsterdam. More blogging after I return to Helsinki. New Year's resolutions include taking and posting more pictures of Finland. Happy holidays, everyone!

"Sorry for the Disturbation"

Or so the sign read at my hotel this evening. It could have been referring to the malfunctioning elevator or the lack of hot water this morning. According to the front desk receptionist, there was no hot water in the entire city of Espoo (Espoo, essentially an outgrowth of Helsinki, is the second largest city in Finland). Perhaps unfairly, the lack of hot water made me think about this country's proximity to Russia. While in Ekaterinburg on a choir tour in high school, that Siberian city also decided to shut off its hot water for several days. Nevertheless, the hot water is now back and we're in business for a hot shower tomorrow morning.

The Elexia Gym: Although my hotel does not have a gym, guests are encouraged to patronize the exercise facility located in the adjacent mall. Yesterday morning, many hours before sunrise, I committed the reception clerk's directions to memory and set out for the gym. Getting there required me to snake my way along the outdoor paths that run between the mall buildings, find the side door of a grocery store, punch 3500 on a security number pad (feel free to use the secret code if you come to Espoo), climb three flights of spiral stairs, and walk down a long, dark hallway. At the end of the hallway I was greeted by a huge new gym with all of the latest in exercise equipment, as well as tanning beds and saunas. For ten euro, it was all mine. Really all mine as no one else had yet arrived to work out. The experience was very enjoyable and I plan to return tomorrow morning and perhaps add some sauna time.

Fearing that I'm emphasizing negative elements of my stay here (because they're inherently funnier), I want to leave you with a few of the extremely positive features so far:

- The Finns have a reputation for being dour and stone-faced. With a couple of notable exceptions, I have found the exact opposite to be true: almost everyone I've dealt with has been extremely friendly, cheerful and helpful. Perhaps it's holiday cheer, but Helsinkians appear to be having a great time.

- It's a bit less profound but I must also report that the taxi system is amazing. Upon request, any restaurant, hotel or office building will call a taxi service and immediately provide you with an order number. Within minutes (sometimes less) a taxi will pull up at your location. The driver will get out of the car and shout the order number in Finnish and English. If you haven't yet made it outside, the driver will wait -- even if other people are there and want to get in his cab! Every driver I've had has spoken English quite well. Every cab is equipped with a credit card machine that prints out lovely little receipts that will make expense account reimbursement quite easy.

- From my hotel's breakfast buffet to tonight's Finnish tapas dinner, I've found the food to be quite good. Even the daily hot lunch at the corporate cafeteria is homey and satisfying. The ingredients are fresh and well-prepared. Tonight I had reindeer (in the form of ham) for the first time. It will not count as the official tasting for the reindeer v. bear contest, but it was quite good.

Hei!

The above is the word of the day. It's how the Finns say "hello." Happily, the Finns do not often say "excuse me" (or its Finnish equivalent, "anteeksi"). This fact made it possible for me to bump into all manner of people in the Sello Shopping Mall in Espoo without having to utter any Finnish words besides the word of the day, "hei."

I'm pretty tired from jet lag, but I will report the following:

My hotel is awesome. It has heated floors in the bathroom and a flat screen TV. If I didn't live in New York, I might consider the room small. But in comparison to some studios I've seen, it's positively spacious.

The less-than-stellar fact about my hotel is that it's in a mall. Well, connected to a mall. This meant that I was able to witness the frenzied pre-Christmas shopping of hundreds of Finns while I attempted to buy some gloves today. Based on that limited experience, I have concluded that Finnish kids don't get as excited as American kids when going to see Santa in the mall. Perhaps this is because Santa lives right here in Finland. They can see him all year long.

I had Chinese buffet for lunch and Indian food for dinner. I suppose I'll eat Finnish food at some point. Maybe at my hotel's restaurant, whose menu lists both reindeer burgers AND bear burgers. Reindeer v. Bear: winner to be determined later.

Helsinki Complaints Choir

Less than 48 hours before departure. I'm excited to travel to a country with such a twisted sense of humor.