Swimming

Hmm. What can I tell you next?

Last night I went with many of the other students to a tiny island, which was only a short walking distance from the apartments. Only a few Finns came to the island, and they mostly remained on the dock rather than entering the island. So we had it to ourselves. There was not much sand, which means that to get to the water we either had to climb down a sort of sloping ladder of smooth rocks, or jump. The water was not cold, and there were drifting pockets of warm water. No, I don't think it was urine.

Though my intention was to bring alcohol back to the states for souvenirs, I discovered something about Finnish alcohol last night. Finnish alcohol is both expensive and disgusting! I don't mean that the intensity of the alcohol is disgusting, but the flavors are! I had a couple bottles of cider, which were okay but peculiar. Finns must be bored all the time, because they like to mix together any fruits they can find and make juice. One of my bottles of cider was watermelon and pineapple flavored, but there have been combinations of fruits I don't even recognize. Also, the cheapest beer we could find at the market was 1.90 euros (about $2.70), and tasted similar to any of the cheapest beers you could get in the US. The champagne we had was hardly drinkable, it was so sweet! Though of course, everyone loves champagne so we drank it anyway. I have yet to try liquor, but I've heard rumors that Koskenkorva Viina (the only vodka made in Finland) is reminiscent of battery acid.

So that's nice.

Supposedly, there are many famous Finns in Savonlinna right now for the opera festival. I may have even flown on the same airplane with the president. We flew into Savonlinna on the same day, and there are only a couple flights into Savonlinna every day. However, I can't recognize anyone and sadly I probably won't be reporting celebrity sightings.