I drafted the below post on August 17, 2013. I just rediscovered the draft on January 28, 2026. I clearly meant to write more, but I'm going to click publish. Why not.
Joy from 12.5 years ago writes:
I've been in Finland for a little over a week now! I'm here as part of a three-week visit with research collaborators at the University of Helsinki, and I'm staying in Espoo, which is right across a long bridge from Helsinki. I commute by bus, but I might start biking on days with good weather.
Here's the place I'm staying:
My parents think it looks like I'm staying at a place outfitted by IKEA.
Food
Immediately after my arrival, I went to the nearby supermarket, where all of the labels were in Finnish, so it was a little difficult to figure out what I was buying. I ended up with some Moomintroll toothpaste and a Moomintroll variety pack of black flavored teas.
I got some meat that I am about 90% sure was pork, but it was hard to tell for sure. A few days later, I bought some stuff that I was about 75% sure was marinated chicken kabobs. When I opened the package, it smelled really strange... and after 10 minutes of deliberation, I still couldn't tell whether the marinade was supposed to smell that way, or whether the chicken had gone bad. I played it safe, and had breakfast for dinner that night.
I've been eating a lot of food that I remember eating in Norway when I was younger. Not sure if the culinary traditions are quite the same in Finland as in Norway, but I figured it was close enough... and it's certainly easy to get all the relevant berries and stuff.
Open-faced sandwiches:
Picnic food:
Meatballs with sauteed mushrooms and tomatoes, brown sauce, chives, dry hard cider (this meal has been the most successful dinner):
And Daim, my favorite candy.
(Also, I found a bee cake.)
Also successful have been the flatbread with butter and fresh black currents (breakfast), and the sweet potato with smoked reindeer cheese. Don't know where I'm going to get those ingredients when I get home.
