Tappi?

As part of the Textile Design course here in Kuopio we do weaving, only these looms are 10x bigger than the ones used in 1st year!  After a demo from Helena, I learned how to set up the loom and use the pedals in a pattern that creates circular shapes within the woven fabric.  It feels good to be back at a loom, it feels new again!

After a lot of explaining, I'm yet to figure out what 'tappi' is...

Mad for Marimekko

Since starting uni I have continually heard about 'Marimekko', and asked a few times if I have heard of the name.  Until now, I had not.  Marimekko is a Finnish textile company who's geometric and bold patterns are the pride of the Finnish  design community.  Anyone who is anyone owns Marimekko, and the prints are very easy to spot once you know them!  You can buy almost anything from them, including clothes and interiror furnishings.  There are quite a few prints I really like, but I find their items are a bit pricey!  I think this is one of the most common and recogniseable Marimekko designs:

Meeting with Kaisa

Our meeting with Kaisa went very well. She is a very lovely lady (she gave us chocolate, so she's a Goddess in my books) and was very helpful in giving us information on our timetables. We also met a new student tutor, Paula, who is on the same course as us. She did an exchange in America for a year so her English is really good, and has a strong American accent, can't sense any Finnish in it at all!

8am starts are going to be interesting...

Neulalahti

Another day, another part of the lake to explore. Today we took a bike ride to a different part on the lake near our accomodation. After helen got entangled in the greenery after falling from her bike, we followed some steep paths and finally came out at Neulalahti. Here there is a sauna, portaloo, jetty and BBQ pit. This was the perfect place for a quiet swim, and we were even joined by an old lady and her dog!

Orientation

Today we met with our international student co-ordinator, Pirjo, who is like our new mother hen. She helped us fill out the appropriate forms and select our studies. For term one, Helen and I will be in Textile Design at Turo. For term two (Oct), we will swap to Glass and ceramics, something I am very excited about!! We have a meeting with Kaisa on monday to sort out our timetables. I really can't wait to start and get into some work!

A Beach You Say!?

Yes, believe it or not, Finland has beaches! Lake beaches! Today we visted such a beach, not far from the town centre, named 'Väinölänniemi'. Again, the weather was amazing today, which made for a very nice walk and swim!

Puijon Torni

The Puijo tower is a 75 metre high observation tower in Kuopio, Eastern Finland. This tower has a revolving restaurant with 100 seats, which has worked flawlessly since its opening in 1963. It is the first tower with a revolving restaurant in the Nordic countries. The restaurant was an inspiration to Erkki Lindfors, the mayor of Tampere, who got an idea to build a similar one at home, resulting in Näsinneula tower, which opened in 1971. The current Puijo tower has been visited by over 5.5 million tourists. - Wikipedia

Helen and I decided to see the best possible view of kuopio today by going up Puijon Torni. What wikipedia failed to tell us, was that the tower is situated ontop of a MOUNTAINOUS HILL!! Walking up such a hill in 31°C was not the most fun I've ever had, but after getting up the tower it was well worth it!!

It was quite windy on the viewing platform...

But the view was amazing...

Lake Kallavesi

Kuopio is surrounded by the most amazing lake:

Today, we explored this lake. We took a long walk around an area near Neulamäki (where we live). The weather has been glorious and it was one of the most pleasant walks I have ever taken. We decided to stop off on a small bank where boats were moored and have a swim. The water was not cold at all!

After our swim, we took a walk to PRISMA, a super dooper hypermarket that sells anything you could think of (food, camping gear, crafts, gardening, tvs, homeware, horse riding gear, bikes etc.)  It's fair to say i was most impressed by the cheese aisle (it was like this on BOTH sides!!):

G'Day Neighbour!

Some new people moved into the flat opposite us last night, 3 guys from The Netherlands, Peet, Gerben and Stef. We decided to all go to town together to meet Aleksi, who then took us to the school, Kuopion Muotoiluakatemia (try sayin' that with a mouthful of cake...actually, trying saying it without!) The university consists of about 3 buildings, but we will only attend 2. Textiles is based in Turo, a few stops before the town centre. The main building, which holds a gallery space, cafeteria and library, as well as classes for the main design subjects, is down by the lake and has amazing interiors.
After our guided tour, we were taken to purchase our monthly bus pass, which will let us travel an unlimited amount of times anywhere in Kuopio - handy!
Aleksi also showed us the second hand sotres in town. Finnish charity shops are the best! You can literally find everything for very good prices. They also tend to have thing's cleaned before selling them!

Third Day in Finland

Third Day in Finland

So far i have:

• Seen a man dressed as santa
• Seen a rather fat lady sitting on a couch in the middle of a second hand shop next to an arm and legless mannequin
• Found a shop that sells my hair dye after about 2mins of getting into the town centre
• Angered a bus driver
• Put up a about a 3rd of my pictures and bought a rug to make my room more homely
• Learned that 5 small potatoes are not the same as 1 big jacket potato
• Found a piercing shop
• Drank moomin juice…mmm..bubblegum flavour..
• Stood on a bug..barefoot
• Worked out how the internet works
• Rearranged my bedroom furniture
• Found a second hand shop come cafe come bookshop come post office
• Walked twice as far to and from the shop then finding a route that takes about 1 minute
• Aquired a small love for the Bye-Bye cashier at our local supermarket
• Only eaten 1 chocolate related snack
• Seen various people using what look like ski poles to walk and skate
• Turned on about 5 taps in the bathroom, all of which produce running water

Hei Finland!

So, I arrived in Kuopio yesterday after a veeerryyy long day consisting of 3 flights! We got picked up at Kuopio airport (approximately 1 room big) by 2 student tutors, Maaritt and Aleksi, who are very nice! They took us to our new humble abode, Juontotie 3 B, flat 10! Helen and I are currently the only people living here, which is fine by us!

Today, I decided to make my room more homely. I put some photos up and bought a rug from the second hand shop for a mere €2.50! I think the fairy lights I brought with me also help! I'm very excited to begin exploring to surrounding greenery and lakes!


Getting used to euros and the time difference is going to be weird!