Winter break week has arrived in Finland

Where has all the time gone?  It seems like it was just Christmas and now suddenly the ski week also known as the "winter break" has arrived.  Every school in Finland has one week off in February and that week changes depending on what part of the country you live in.  The goal is that that everyone doesn't take the week off at the same time.  Seems like a reasonable plan and then one would expect that every ski resort or vacation spot is not surrounded with millions of screaming children.  :)

What does the typical Finnish family do for a winter break?  That really depends on the family's budget and its interests.  It seems that there are two distinct types of vacations that people take during the Finnish winter holiday.  There are the sun seekers who just need a break from the long Finnish winter and there are the snow lovers, who enjoy skiing, sledding, ice skating and other outdoor winter sports.  There might even be a lucky few families who manage to do a little of both during the week long break.  The sun seekers from Finland have a few favorite destination spots.  The most popular by far seems to be the Canary Islands.  The folks from the United States might have no clue about this small cluster of Islands off the coast of Northern Africa owned by Spain.  I haven't been there myself, but it seems the Canary Islands have taken over as the Hawaiian Islands alternative for Europeans.  There are a few other sunny options in February, but none quite as popular as the Canary Islands.  Other prominent destinations for sun seeking Finns include Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Egypt in Northern Africa.  For those more adventurous with additional time on their hands, some might even venture all the way to Thailand.   There are direct flights from Helsinki to Thailand and those are growing more popular with Finns. The southern European countries of Spain, Greece and Italy are beautiful and pleasant in the winter, but also might be a bit cool this time a year so they are not as popular.

Then there is the snow sports seeking crowd. There are a multitude of options for these folks.  Many loyal to their country decide to fly or drive up to Lapland for a pseudo downhill ski vacation.  I say pseudo because if you aren't really that familiar with Finland, it is a very flat country.  The northern part of the country (Lapland, etc.) gets a bit steeper, but I think the largest mountain is Halti at only 1,324 meters.  I am from the San Francisco Bay Area and we have a 1,024 meter mountain alongside my little home town.  Suffice to say there are many 1 kilometer mountains in California and we even see mountains in the 2 and 3+ kilometer range.  Others may choose to go exploring the Alps and other wonderful ski places throughout Europe.   There are many choices scattered throughout Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria and other countries.   The budget minded stay home and hit the local cross country trails, sledding hills and some small downhill resorts.  For example, within 5 to 10 minutes from my home there are hundreds of kilometers of cross country ski trails, sledding hills and natural ice rinks.  Our kids should have plenty of activities to choose from if we stay local.  I prefer to cross country ski when I have the time because it is such a great overall exercise and it is a great way to get out to the nature at the same time.  My kids enjoy skating, sledding and building snowmen.

Winter is cold, winter is long, winter is horrible.... Yea, you have already heard it all from many Finnish blogs, and I have been guilty myself of repeating similar thoughts.  In spite of everything, winter is also a joyous time of the year and the snow scenery can be captivating and magical.  Make the most of it and then take the pleasure to know that once old man winter decides to crawl back into his cave there will be bright days ahead for many months.

Engulfed in darkness at -26 Celsius (-15F)

I told myself I wouldn't complain about this winter season in Finland.  However, the winter which commenced in late November with a blizzard, isn't even half over and I am already counting the days till Spring.  We just experienced the two coolest days of the season and the coldest single day since I moved to Finland.  Last Saturday morning it reached -26 Celsius (-15 Fahrenheit).  That was officially the coolest day I have ever experienced anywhere.  As much as I love outdoor activities, I wasn't able to go for a walk or ski.  Some days are just meant to be indoors.  I think 15 degrees below zero Fahrenheit qualifies as a day you just stay inside and keep warm.  :)

A rare glimpse of  the sun

I won't lie to you, Finnish winters are definitely challenging.  Many might think that the cold, freezing weather conditions are the worst part of the winter.  While the cold is not always comfortable, in my opinion the most difficult aspect is the darkness.  This time of year in Southern Finland it gets light around 9:30 in the morning and gets dark again starting around 4:00pm. That doesn't sound all that bad, and trust me it is much worse in Northern Finland.  However, what people who don't live here don't know is that most of those days, the sun almost never appears.  It slowly creeps up the horizon each morning and sets each evening, but it is normally obscured by clouds.  This time of year, it seems the cloud cover goes on for weeks and magically all of a sudden the clouds depart leaving blue skies that I once thought had disappeared forever.  And trust me, I celebrate those days when the sky reappears to cast its bright blue spell.

Secondly, my next biggest complaint about the winter is the slippery, icy sidewalks and streets.  It makes no difference, what type of shoes you wear, you will slip if you do not walk carefully.  You must slowly trudge along, kind of like a penguin.  It sometimes feels as you are walking on glass or an ice rink. Then, sometimes a small powdery snowfall will dump a light cover on top of the ice, making it even slicker than you thought was possible.

Lastly, I must complain about the whole driving experience.  First, you must always plan on starting your car 5-10 minutes before your leave.  While the engine is warming, you can scrape off the ice layer on your windshield and windows, and if necessary dig the snow out of the driveway.  There is nothing worse than pulling out of the driveway and spinning your tires in the deep snow cover and going no where.  Then you must try to drive safely to avoid sliding all over the road, even though you are armed with the latest high tech snow tires.  Knock on wood, I haven't actually had any accidents, but several times my car slid as I tried to stop at various stop lights, nearly avoiding hitting the car in front of me.  Sometimes there is just no control and not much the driver can do.

The challenging winters are an inevitable part of living in Finland.  But, as I blogged last winter, with a positive attitude and by using some of the techniques I posted, you can overcome the winter and go on with life.  Maybe I will re-read this section myself again for tips.  :)

http://scandinavianinterlude.blogspot.fi/2012/01/tips-on-surviving-finnish-winter.html

A winter's smiles among the darkness.

Cross-country versus downhill skiing

Took entire family out for cross-country skiing this past weekend in Espoo.  We ventured down to the only currently open cross-country ski track which is located near Lake Bodom in Espoo.  The place was absolutely packed with various skiers and families just out to frolic in the snow and sled down the hills.   Even though we are all still just getting our feet wet, we had a great time and look forward to many more outdoor adventures on skis.  Being a California native, I am really only used to downhill skiing and let me tell you, cross-country and downhill skiing are worlds apart.  They each have their pros and cons, but I would have to say that for all around nature and exercise, cross-country skiing is the king.   With downhill skiing you wear a very heavy and tightly locked ski boot and it clicks into your binding, but can easily pop out if necessary for safety.  Also, downhill skis are much wider than the cross country version.  Cross-country uses smaller boots which are essentially as comfortable as hiking shoes, but they also have a small metal bar in the front which locks into your ski.  The downside is that cross country boots do not release when you fall, they need to be clicked out by pushing a button on the binding.

Which one is better to actually do?  This is all a matter of personal preference of course.  But if you are an endurance sports nut like myself (swimming, triathlon, running, hiking), then cross country would be your preference.   Don't get me wrong downhill skiing is very fun, but it is mainly about getting to the top of the hill and flying down as fast as you can.  It can be quite exhilarating and thrilling when you are flying down the hill at breakneck speeds, but there is always that fear factor of crashing which happens to the best of us.  Falling down a hill at extreme speeds is no laughing matter.  With cross country skiing, it can be more of an escape to the nature, like hiking with skis on. Cross-country skiing is typically done in little tracks that are made in the snow, but you could also just ski over the smooth snow.  With cross country skiing you essentially shuffle your legs and arms simultaneously back and forth over the flat surface to move forward and you "walk" up steep hills with the skis in a V position.  Screw the chairlifts, time to walk up those hills, baby!  If you have never tried cross-country, it is one hell of a workout.  I honestly cannot think of a better way to get in all around shape than spending a few hours a week on cross-country skis.  You are getting a leg, arm and even stomach workouts all in one. Technically there are 2 distinct types of cross-country skiing now, the classic type (shuffle motion) and the skating (like ice skating on skis) type of skis.  I wanted to do both, but then I found that one needs to purchase additional equipment (boots, bindings, skis) for each one.  Ouch!  One equipment investment at a time I guess.  What's nice is that after the initial equipment investment, you never need to pay to use the many parks that offer cross-country ski tracks in Finland.

When you live in a Nordic country like Finland, there are many places to cross-country ski, assuming the snowfall has been good.  We supposedly have over 30 areas in our city of Espoo alone for skiing.  It is great to see so many Finns out and about enjoying the nature and getting their exercise via cross-country skiing.  It must be in their blood, as I even noticed that they are encouraging skiing during recess at my 5 year old son's school. So grab your skis and go out and enjoy the nature.