Finland - Helsinki and Tampere

Just an overnight trip from Stockholm on the Baltic Sea by big boat brings us to Helsinki, Finland.  Here we are inspired by the land of the big rock, big trees, moomintrollen and Finnish folk music.  Wanja was the first Reiki Master to bring  Reiki to Finland in 1983.   We spend time with a few of Wanja's Reiki Masters including Johanna Manderbacka, Marja Virtanen, Kati Tarma, Ulla Lindroth and  Marja & Jyrki Kiviaho. Thank-you for making us feel so welcome  here. 

Going in the boat and one of the longest promenade shopping streets on deck


Arrival in Helsinki - statues and sculptures abound

Kangasala Workshop

We immensely enjoyed the workshop put on by Reiki Masters Marja Kiviaho and Jyrkki in Kangasala, Finland.  Many people attended the event in the beautiful new community centre there. There was a scrumptious healthful lunch buffet in the community lunch room for all attendees.  The Kangasala area is filled with glistening lakes and the shimmering bright green leaves of the birch trees.  The continuous daylight close to midsummer's eve and the arctic circle made for a breathtaking nature experiences all along the way.  Thank-you Finland!!

I would like to thank personally Marja and Jyrkki for their help with photos after I thought I lost all my digital images on my camera card.  Miraculously, the lost photos turned up again in my camera card once I asked for help. Reiki works well in the computer world too !

Celebrating women's work in Tampere- The Atlas Girl made in 1954

Picture
A women holds up golden thread in a determined fashion.  Her hard work and dedication as a weaver of silk thread that can be woven into Atlas silk is an important industry here.  The factory gave the statue to Tampere to commemorate its 50th Anniversary.

Come to Finland and hurl a rubber boot.

We had the rare opportunity to witness one of Finland's national sporting events...rubber boot hurling.  The event was held in downtown Tampere as part of a local competition.  At first we thought it was a joke, then we discovered that the Finns take their obscure sporting events rather seriously.

The Finns say there is no better way to celebrate the short summer months than with contests that add a jolt of adrenaline and silliness to the bright summer.

Most of the 50 or so competitions that take place over the three summer months - many billed grandly as world
championships - started at summer fairs or as village affairs.

But today the top competitions can each attract about 10,000 people to the Nordic country annually to watch or join in, staggering across hurdles with their spouses clinging to their backs or diving headlong into ponds of mud after a soccer ball.

Some events are so popular - swamp soccer, wife-carrying and air guitar - they have prompted other nations to hold their own contests to select who will compete in Finland.