Who Let the Dog's OUT??

Dog-sledding safari & overnight lappish hut adventure...like nothing I have ever experienced!

Ashley (my friend from Colorado) & I continued our adventure up north in a doggy-dog world. The 2-day trip for 1,300 SEK ($185US) was much cheaper than staying at the ice hotel and much more adventurous than sipping vodka from an ice cup.

Top 10 things to do on an overnight dog-sled trip with Ash & Leasa:
1.) Learn how to dog-sled and set up dogs on sled.
2.) Drive a snow-mobile!
3.) Chop wood to keep the huts warm (or at least try-see video)

4.) Sled (or sledge if you're euro) like mad-divas...

5.) Eat rudolph the reindeer (even if you don't eat red meat, come on...it's only 10% fat.)

6.) Sit in sauna (fully clothed) for 3 hours and slowly strip down as it heats up.

7.) Sleep in a (heated) lappish hut (see video).

8.) Ice-fish with a local who wears funky rabbit fur shoes (see video).

9.) Cross country ski...ah!

10.) Drive the dog-sled into a brilliant sunset.

Ice, ice baby!

In the far north of Sweden, you will find a hotel made of ice...pure ice, baby!
CLICK HERE TO SEE ICE-BAR VIDEO (filmed by Ash)

Just the icy facts, dude:
Internationally acclaimed ice-sculptors! Not only is this a novelty but it is an artistic novelty. Famous ice sculptors from around the world travel to this small arctic town and design the guest rooms with water on loan from the Torne river. Every room is unique!

Absolut ice bar! They serve you absolut vodka drinks in cups made of ice from the Torne river water.

Slumber party! The hotel is a cool -5/-8C (17-23F ) and guests prance around in these HOT one piecers that LA designers would die for. You stay in special arctic sleeping bags...but I just can't imagine when your bladder wakes you up at 4 a.m. and you must get out of your warm cocoon to walk to the bathroom (that is located through a set of reindeer fur doors). No thank you! Did we stay? No, we decided to go dog-sledding instead!

Show me the money! This is a total tourist trap (it sure trapped me), so they can charge an arm & a leg. To stay a night in one of the artistically sculpted rooms it will cost you 3,300SEK per person/night ($473US)... For an ice-cold absolut drink in the bar, plan to throw down 120SEK ($17US ) and to refill your nearly-melted ice cup is only 80SEK($11.50US). Did we throw down some vodka, yes!

Off to kiss the reindeers!

I am heading north, 145 km north of the arctic circle to Lapland! I will take a bus, boat, taxi & train (click here to see a map of my trip) to journey to a quaint little Swedish village called Kiruna, where I will meet my dear friend Ashley (from Colorado). We are going on a dog-sled safari & hangin' out at the ice-hotel where they serve really COLD vodka. More later...be back Tuesday, Feb. 27. Cheers...

Ice-skating & Pig...

Sunday was filled with culture, cold and lots of ice. My friend, Laura & I went ice-skating on the biggest lake in Tampere, Nasijärvi . So, check this out...they take a zamboni (ok, a mini-zamboni) & clear a track that forms a 4.2 km circle on the lake. It's was pretty cool (literally) until you look down and see your death in the big cracks. Are those supposed to be there? Luckily, we didn't fall in...because it was frozen!

Click here to see the ice-skating movie and hear some Finnish tunes...(filmed by: Laura).

Then, we journeyed to the Chinese New Year Celebration to ring in the year of the pig. A troop of Chinese kids (who flew in from China) performed the traditional dragon-dance in the ice-cold environs. No gloves. No wool knickers. No wool in their costumes. No hats.

Click here to see the Chinese New Year celebration (again, filmed by: Laura).

Anti-American Sentiment!

Did you know Wikipedia has a page on Anti-Americanism? There are some people around the world that demean & degrade Americans because they don't agree with the U.S. politics, power and/or culture. The U.S. culture in the eyes of some Europeans is a depiction of what they watch on TV & movies. Imagine if we lived our life like Sex in the City, Gilmore Girls, The Bold & the Beautiful (soap opera), Sopranos, Prisonbreak or Desperate Housewives? But this is what they see, this is how they view our day-to-day life. I don't know how many of my friends here have said, "Oh yeah, I love Sex in the City," and I reply..., "Do you think that is how we live?" Perplexed, they answer..."well, that is what we see." So, basically some think American's are wealthy, gun-totin', spouse-cheatin', prom queen's who wear stilettos, sleep with the gardener and love war. Since I am American, I am lucky enough to be a target for this type of anti-American sentiment. Last night I was asked, "Does every American own a gun?" "Do you think tobacco or guns are worse?" "If 51% of the American people didn't vote for Bush, why aren't the American people protesting?" One guy said, "Holland is turning into the U.S. because high-schools now have metal-detectors." "Americans are stupid, haven't you seen those shows where they ask people on the street to point to China on a map?" "Why do you call yourself American...because there are other Americans...latin, central, south, and this is just further proof of the U.S. arrogance. You should call yourself North American."

So, how do I respond? Well, I'm still trying to figure that one out...but I have learned that I am super-sensitive to these types of degrading conversations, because I know how stereotypes, prejudices and assumptions can be dangerous. This is all very confusing to me, as I am caught in a crossfire...I am proud to be an American because of the quality of life we live but on the other side I am ashamed of our foreign policies and our global greed. I have never wanted to strip myself of my American identity...until now! Should I be defending my country?

Oh yeah, skiing in Finland!

On a tiny hill, just 5 minutes walk from my front door, I got to experience Finland skiing. I felt like I should be dancing to Macarena, back in the 90's, as I strapped on my rear-entry boots and old-school shaped rossignols. It was a special day...rental gear was 2.50euro/hour and lift tickets were 2.50euro/hour. A spankin' deal considering you could do about 50 runs/hour. Seriously, there are only 2 runs and one little tow rope. But, it was pretty fun to zip down the run in about 10 seconds and just fly into the tow rope. I wore a big smile on my face because my whole body was just buzzing with the feel of ski's on my feet and snow under my ski's. It made me miss the Colorado rocky mountains, my season pass, my tele-ski's and my ski buddies.

But, another highlight was to share my passion of skiing with some of my classmates. I hung with them for about 2 hours on the bunny slope and helped them learn the pizza slice and laughed as they crashed into each other. Emnet, from Ethiopia, and Liu, from Taiwan, are ready for the Colorado mountains. I love that my classmates are adventurous and eager to try new things.

Bob Marley's Birthday!

On Tuesday, February 6, my dear Ethiopian friend, Emnet, hosted a birthday party for one of his favorite artists, Bob Marley...reggae! There were about 15 of us and we danced for 3 hours, toasted many times in honor of Bob and sang along to the tunes of Buffalo Soldier, No woman, no cry. These days, we are becoming very creative with the themes of our parties and we are increasingly become more and more like a family (at times a dysfunctional family!) There are 17 of us here in Tampere and it's pretty incredible how we stick together as a group, yet bring other friends in.

Old Man Winter has ARRIVED!

So, a few days ago I woke up to frost on the inside of my window and a temperature gauge that read -35C, which translates to -25F. Now that is cold! So cold, that you must wear wool tights, leggings or long underwear and enough layers up top that you feel like the little kid in the movie A Christmas Story, "Mom, I can't put my arms down." Seriously, the other day I counted and I had 8 layers up top...! The problem is when you get inside, it takes you 10 minutes to strip down, and then you must carry around a load of clothes. Awesome! This cold is kind of debilitating, I feel like Rip Van Winkle, as I just woke from a long 3-hour nap in the middle of the day. What the heck??? But, the sun still shines (even though you can't feel it because we are pretty much at sea-level.) Today, the sun rose at 8:27 a.m. and set at 4:52 p.m. Ahhhh, old man winter!

Swim in a FROZEN lake? Yes, totally normal!

After much anticipation, I finally experienced the rite of passage for international peeps living in Finland during the winter months, COLD-water swimming (a.k.a. "*&%$ that's cold!") Not only was I a glutton for punishment once, but I enjoyed the pain and suffering so much I went for a cold-water dip 3 times (plus, I did it Friday night & Saturday night). For those that are mathematically challenged, that means 3x2= 6 dips in the frozen lake in 24 hours. Yes, some call it crazy...I call it frozen brain (too many dips makes you cold & stupified.)

No, really it was a BLAST! You walk into the HOT sauna and immediately want to burst into laughter as you see 30 sweaty sardines packed into a small wooden room with a fire and coals. As you squeeze in, you swap sweat with your neighbor without a care in the world. You sit there until you feel that you can no longer breathe, that your inner soul may go up in flames. Then, oh so gracefully, you walk outside into the snowy environs, throw off your flip flops, and make your way down the stairs and walk directly into the freezing-cold hole in the lake. At first, you think you might die because the cold just takes your breathe away...you try to scream but nothing comes out. A little swim around to the other side of the stairs and you walk up the stairs, out of the water. Then miracously, your body recovers ...your skin is cold, but your core is still hot and you're not cold or shivering. WHAT IS GOING ON? It is truly the strangest sensation. Then, you go into the common area, where people chill, drink beer or cider, before hitting the sauna again. And another round of sauna/cold water swimming. Wanna come to Finland???

Shrinkage?!

Look at the second dude coming up from the lake. (You can click on the photo...to REALLY see his facial expression.) It was pretty comical because he came screaming out of the water and holding on for dear life. I just so happened to have the camera there at the right time, beautiful!

This is Kaupinojan sauna, the oldest public sauna in Tampere. You have to walk about 10 minutes through the forest and another 10 minutes on the frozen lake to get there. I think it is my favorite (out of the 2 saunas I have experienced.) It feels like you are in the forest and it's easier to submerge yourself into the water.

Ice Hockey- Finnish Style!

You would have thought we were at the final round of Wimbledon, as the crowds heads moved from side to side watching the action, and it was so quiet you could hear a pen drop. But, they weren't following a tennis ball they were following a hockey puck *WHAT*? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I just experienced the most mellow hockey game in the history of all hockey games, right here in the coldest, most ice-laden place on earth, Finland. About 60 of us international students watched the local team, Ilves, get swallowed and spit out. Perhaps the loss was based on the lack of crowd participation, lack of penalities and the Finnish rendition of cheerleaders. None the less, it was unequivocally a taste of Finnish culture.