All I can say is WOW! This place truly is so amazing. I noticed after this week and weekend that Helsinki is filled with all sorts of artist, whether it be my landlord who is a famous illustrator and does the cartoons in the newspaper or my boss' girlfriend Hanna having her own gallery show or Tuomas' friends who are freelance artists here...this place is filled with photographers, painters, artists, journalists and designers. I freakin love that! I met a guy the other night who designs watches in England or my friend Jacakko who does ad design here. It's just unbelievable to me that everyone you meet and talk to has something to do with ART! I love it!
So Friday I went out with Tiki and Kaisa (who is actually traveling to New York in May for research for the GROW program) to the movies to see the Seth Rogan movie Zack and Miri and then afterward we went to a place called Mbar which was a lot of fun. I had my first Crowmoor Dry Apple Cider. It was tasty. :) The girls had what you call Lonkero - this drink was introduced to the Finns in 1952 during the Helsinki Olympics - most popular in Finland. Tastes rather sweet with grapefruit and vodka. At the movies I noticed a few things. Here they assign your row and seat and you are allowed to bring in your own drinks and candy. I know this because we went to a candy store beforehand and filled a bag full each. Finnish people love liqourice! (By the way Sommer I love to use explanation points myself!!! Plus I have to tell you all that I love all the comments off my blog. Then I feel you are experiencing it, too so thank you! Oh and not to get off the subject, but I totally am the washer is a very interesting thing indeed. I dry my clothes on a clothes dryer in side that I just hang my clothes on. The washer itself has an opening on the top of the cheese grater looking thing and you throw your clothes in middle while putting soap at top then close the cheese grater and close the washer push button that looks like a tshirt and Voila!)
Saturday I met up with Niina at 11 under the clock of Stockmann. (common meeting area) From there she showed me all the famous designer shops of Finland, to include Stockmann, iittala, pentik, forum shopping center, marimekko, artek, Alvar Aalto academic bookshop (Aalto is a famous architect here in Finland and his building are freaking awesome!). After walkinga round a lot we then ended up at the Cafe Delicato where we both enjoyed a chicken salad with water. We then went to the flea market area and walked around there and afterward we decided to go the the Forum box. Here they had oil painting on canvas.

Alvar Aalto Bookstore (Click to enlarge), Paintings from show at the Forum box.
Sunday I woke up early and noticed that everyone was pretty much inside till about 1pm. The city was quiet and most of the stores were closed. I have been eyeing this shirt from the window and today I convinced myself to buy. Guess what...store was closed and I still haven't bought it. hahaha :) The Ateneum Art Museum opened at 11 so I waited till then to go over there. On my way there I experienced what you call ice booting. I will explain later. After my experience, I saw that at the ice skating rink they were having ice hockey games among the children. Looked pretty cool if you ask me! Ateneum Art Museum is the basic part of Finnish National Gallery. The largest art collections of the country contain Finnish art from 1750s to the 1960s and Western art from the late 19th century to the 1950s, including many national treasures. The museum I noticed featured many different artists from Finland, Russia and France. They also were showing an exhibit called Black and White. Black and White presented the works of Kikuji Kawada, Ihei Kimura, Shomei Tomatsu, Shoji Ueda and Yutaka Takanashi after world war II. The japenese photography showed depictions of landscapes, urban scenes, everyday life and the changes in Japenese culture. It was breathtaking.

Later that evening after taking a break at the apartment and eating a mozz salad, I decided to walk around Esplanade Park, which is situated in the heart of Helsinki. It was great to see the kids playing and sledding. I wanted so bad to ask to borrow the sled but instead I chickened out and just took pictures of them. On my exploration i noticed my first sighting of a nordic walker. Nordic walking is defined as fitness walking with specially designed poles. It evolved from an off-season ski-training activity known as ski walking, hill bounding or ski striding to become a way of exercising. After that I decided to take it easy and go to the movies again. I don't have my cable or internet set up yet at home so i ventured to the same movie place to see Yes Man! with Jim Carrey. The movie is funny and sort of reminds me of what I have been going through here. Everytime someone asks me would i like to do something...I say YES! I want to experience everything I can here! Why not? right?