Alex Rybakoff's blog

It’s so wonderful to be in Finland again!

I feel now more than ever that I have unbelievable friends here. And I have my awesome workplace. And there are forests and mires around. And countless other things I missed during last half of the year.

My first week in Finland was hard. On Monday we woke up on 3 AM in Saint-Petersburg and on 2 PM I was already getting my Polytechnic diploma. Then Elena started her studies and I went to see an apartment in East Helsinki.

Next days were not much easier. Work, more and more apartments to see, Critical mass, all sorts of meetings and TODO-lists. And after this I was so tired and angry that I decided to spend most of the weekend in the forest. So I did :)

As you can see, weather was not promising any good, but we are severe northern people, aren’t we? :)

Weather was even worse when I arrived in Tikkurila. But soon the rain stopped and second part of the day was warm and sunny.

A mire and its wonderful smell! I stood there who knows how many minutes, breathing fast to take more of this wonderful smell inside.

Sometimes there were need to use asphalt roads as well, but even motorists were kind on that day.

And perhaps something changed in my face or behaviour after living in Switzerland. People there start to speak really easy, which is something hard to imagine in Finland. Usually I speak with zero people, cycling all the day alone. On Saturday, however, I spoke with three (!) people. All of them were nice and friendly: a couple with a kid from Russia, living in Vantaa and working in an oil company here; a lady with her e-bike broken (unfortunately I wasn’t able to fix it); a mountain biker from Porvoo, who noticed my muddy mountain bike.

* * *

Sunday was also very nice and sunny. And this beautiful lake is located only in less than 4 kilometers from Kirkkonummi station. It’s a quiet and clean place, because it’s not accessible by car.

We spent with Elena the whole day in the forest, first with our friends, hiking, swimming, talking and grilling sausages. And then alone, doing a little bit harder (as it turned out) hike, swimming even more, sitting on the warm rock and making plans for the next week.

After such a weekend I am refreshed and happy and ready again for the work, apartments and all other things to do.

P.S. I will publish photos and notes from the MegaTrip during this autumn. Just stay tuned! :)