Merihovi Kemi

... at the border of Sweden and Finland is split down the middle by a river, Haparanda on the Swedish side and Tornio on the Finnish side (bizarrely 1 hour later too). There's no official border sign, but that the last thing you pass on the Swedish side is Ikea is symbolic enough! By this time it was about We trudged to the Finnish side and stayed at a non-descript hotel... and that was it for today!

... on almost every street, and it's flat enough that you don't really need more than one gear! Today I went a little further afield and took the train to Kemi, then a bus to Tornio. Tornio is a little town on the Finland/Sweden border - famous mainly for being on the Finland/Sweden border. I set off from the bus stop to wander around, and quickly found the tourist info center and got myself a map. Crossing the border to Sweden was easy - just walked ...

Last night we stayed up late talking to Klo Gay and Margaret as well as their niece Elsa who came by. Elsa lives in a different apartment less than 100 feet away. On Skype we contacted Elsa's parents who have now moved to Norway from a refugee camp in Thailand and are in the same program as the Doh's. Elsa's father is Klo Htoo Doh and her mother's name is Monday. With a webcam we talked with and saw them in Norway. I became better acquainted with Klo Htoo. Elsa's mother ...

It has taken a bit of figuring out on the trip up Sweden about how to get to Kemi, Finland. There is no rail service between Sweden and Finland, we are finding out from passengers and conductor about how to get across the border by bus or whatever. We find that that going to Boden is going to the wrong city for us continuing by the bus. We are told that there is no bus service from Boden to Finland and that we must go another stop to Lulea. From ...

What a wonderful visit on Sunday and Monday with Klogay and Margaret Doh. Their niece Elsa Doh also lives with them and we all felt like we knew each other for years as we met again tonight. As I had explained in a previous post from last summer, the Doh's are refugees from Mai La refugee camp in Thailand. They are Karen who have become displaced from a civil war in Burma that has raged for more than half a century. The Karen who comprise more than 50% of the ...

We board our flight to Kemi/Tornio located close to the Swedish border on the northern tip of Gulf of Bothnia. This is new territory for us with new people to visit. We are to see Klo Gay and his wife Margaret are refugees from Maela, a large Karen camp of 60,000 inhabitants outside of Mae Sot, Thailand. The Doh's were taken in by the Finnish government and allowed opportunity for a new life and ultmately a citizenship. We know very little ...

... The high in Kemi, Finland will be 62 degrees F which is almost a 25 degree difference from where we are at in Tartu. I hope that we have no environment issue with the baptism tonight. As we exit the elevator at the Pallas Hotell, we are surprised by Andrus Rips waiting for us. I really appreciated him coming to see us off. He just wanted to talk a little more and I really enjoyed his company. He seems to be very excited to be part of our fellowship and wants as ...

On the 31st we (Steve, Judy, Maaret, Gunnar, and I) went to see Lumi Linna in Kemi- an Ice Palace that people can rent rooms at. It wasn't quite finished, so we didn't have to pay to see it, but that night, 40 people were going to stay in the ice hotel. They wear special winter 'suits' to keep them warm.

... to be experienced to be believed. Half an hour into the journey we picked up some more passengers who had ridden out on snow mobiles to meet us. As they were boarding we headed to the restaurant for lunch. Waiting for our meal we sat in amusement watching as our cutlery and drinks bounce around the table with the shuddering of the ship. Our food arrived...on the menu today...reindeer! We did feel a little guilty eating one of rudolf's own, especially after they had so kindly pulled ...

... but voiceless, so it sounds like "Hk." "Ö" is a difficult blend of English "Ah" and "O", and sjörövare had two damned ö vowels in a row. One of the bicycle guys and I took turns comparing "sjörövare" pronunciations for a moment. I think we all got a brief kick out of Story-Time. Meanwhile, my restaurant construction job hasn't had much use for a skill-less American worker; so, I began a new hitchhiking trip this Thursday. Hopefully, I won't have any two-day-long waits ...