Day 8: Time to explore!

Depending on how you look at days, mine started the second the clock hit 12:00. After finishing the last of our student-led dialogue as you might have read in the previous post, it was time to unwind and explore! Some students decided to go to a punk rock show with others going to karaoke. While a tough decision, choosing karaoke and watching Evan and Burhan sing Akon was worth every euro. 

Performance of Smack That by Akon

Exploring the wonderful town of Joensuu late at night was a lovely experience until I realized that the white night made time disappear, and it was 3am when I finally got back to the hotel (Unsustainable practice). Despite the bright night, it was also clear to see that Joensuu as a whole invested alot in lighting the town which would have been crucial during the long winters. While it is a cool practice that helps the town look amazing at night, it also likely helps the citizens during the long winters. 

Darkest I've seen Joensuu - taken at 1am 

After a beautiful 5 hour sleep, Vanne and I decided to try out one of the coffee shops in the city center. We decided on Hokutus which was very good -> https://houkutus.fi/. Vanne managed to get a picture of his breakfast, but by the time he sat down, I had already eaten mine. Hokutus's sustainable significance was that they made everything from local ingredients, and had actual cutlery in their restaurant - which was a trend we noticed in Finland. Doing that reduces waste from plastic or even wood cutlery and also gives a more home-ey feel to every place you go and eat.

(Notice one meal missing)

Breakfast provided some much-needed energy, but before we left to explore, our group took some time to plan out our proposal for this project in greater detail. I, of course, contributed greatly with a pillow over my head, lying in bed. However you can't let yesterday's problems carry over into the next day, (and I needed to get content for this blog) so Vanne and I headed out towards a trail by the river to take in some sights. Each trail and path we walked was spotless, which could possible be attributed to the multi garbage bins placed everywhere. 

A ridiculously long walk influenced us to take a scooter ride to the sauna which, to us Canadians (or to me) is a fun, cost-effective, and quick transportation method that promotes sustainability. While Joensuu's amazing walk/bike infrastructure may help influence the ease of things like this, however, it was still amazing to see day in and out people walking, biking, and scootering more than driving vehicles. 

Our second time back at the sauna this trip was just as enjoyable as the first. We also found that while quite reserved in public, when Finns are at the sauna and have a couple beverages, they can be just as loud as Canadians (still just as friendly). Sauna and alcohol seems to be the way that many Finn's enjoy themselves - which is a decently sustainable practice. I also would've taken a picture of Vanne's face after he got out of the cold plunge, but unfortunately, phones weren't allowed in the spa (for good reason). 

here is a picture of me after a nice sauna instead

After another enjoyable experience, my curiosity about the paths and trails kicked in, and we scooted off to explore. For a 20ish minute ride only costing ~7€, it is easy to see why these eco-friendly ways of getting places is popular. While scootering cheaply, and environmentally friendly, we got to see how nature is engrained into the Finnish culture and city structure of Joensuu. Thousands of people were outside, enjoying the beautiful weather, but because taking pictures of people is kind of frowned upon, you'll just have to trust me. One of the most amazing things to me was the abundance of garbage cans around the city, and the lack of garbage anywhere, two things which might have something to do with each other. 

(Speed)

Our last activity of the day was watching the Finland-Canada IIHF hockey game at one of the bars here in Joensuu. Some of the students of Karelia that we had spent the last week with also came out, albeit we were friendly to each other, we still wanted to kick each other's ass (in the game obviously). Surrounded by passionate Finnish bargoers, the atmosphere of the bar was electric (if you were Finnish), and giving up 2 goals in the first 2 minutes was tough, to say the least. Things turned around by the second period, and the score was 3-3. It was also bittersweet for me, as all the goals scored by Finland were by Pittsburgh Penguins players, - Jesse Puljujarvi and Valtteri Puustinen. Canada eventually ended up winning the game 5-3, and being in the opponent's country, I decided to keep my excitement and pride inside. 

Notice every TV has the game on

Overall, this day showed me many great things about Joensuu and the people here; their respect for nature, love of saunas and beer, and national pride in hockey. I can already see myself coming back soon! 

Written by Matt

#iLEAD_Expeditions2024 #GlobalSkillsCA #CompétencesMondialesCA #NipissingUniversity_SchoolofBusiness #NipissingUniversity