Jyvaskyla here we come!

By guest blogger Jesse Swanner

Saturday, May 16 was our last morning in Helsinki. In the afternoon, we had three sauna boat trips planned for the group in Jyväskylä, Finland. There had been some fear that the first group, planned for 3pm wouldn’t be able to make it to the lake in time. The ten people on the first boat left Helsinki on a public bus and headed to Jyväskylä about an hour and a half earlier than the rest of the group, while the rest of the group headed to Jyväskylä at about 11am. Once in the new city, a group of students got onto a sauna boat at 3, 5, and 7pm. The sauna boat had a front deck, a bathroom, and a small sauna that seated 8-10 at a time. Once in the sauna, the boat captain anchored the ship. We would sit in the sauna for however long it took to a get too hot, then jump in the chilly Finnish lake. It was very refreshing! After doing this routine several times, the boat started back up and food was thrown on the grill. After docking and after everyone had eaten dinner, the entire group went out to a karaoke bar to experience the culture and dance.

There was also street festival going on in Jyvaskyla.  There were musicians on every corner and food around every bend.  We were blessed with good weather, and more importantly FINNISH FRIENDS!  Former exchange students to our program, Veli Vehvilainen and Tommi Timonen were great hosts on our first day in Finland.  We also met a friend of Veli’s, Siru Valtonen.  She was a gracious host as well.  Between the three Finn’s our group was able to experence many great things on our first day!