I continued to fulfill my desires to further educate myself through all the glorious museums Tampere has to offer by visiting…the Spy Museum. DUN DUN DUN.

It’s a really tiny little museum that used to be a bar, but they converted it into a little shrine to spy’s of the past.   They claim that it was the first of it’s kind in the Nordic region and that it’s the only spy museum in the world- but if you do a google search,  there’s one in Washington DC. 

It was alright…some of the things they had on display seemed a little pointless- like “really tiny cameras” that they used to use to spy on people- except that they were “really tiny” back in the 60’s- so compared to the technology today, they look huge.  And some things, like telephone bugging equipment, you just had to trust that they were the real deal because they were in glass cases…so I was just like, “ok”.  But then there were a few exhibits that were interesting.  They had some of the old spy machines used in WWII, like the enigma coding machine (which, if you read about and are dorky like me- is fascinating),  KGB memorabilia, and some other old random spy equipment.   The coolest part was that they had some equipment you could try out.  Obviously, not anything REALLY cool, but they had invisible ink that you could use (if you heated the paper, the ink shows up),  one of those microphones that can pick up sounds really far away.

a device that can alter the sound of your voice (that was a little freaky…i could make myself sound like a guy or a little kid), and sometimes they let you try out a lie detector, but unfortunately it wasn’t working when I was there. Oh, and an ultraviolet light that you could hold money or your passport under, to see all the little secret details that aren’t visible in normal light.

But the weirdest thing that they show you how to do, is to read other people’s email! They have this little setup of two computers that you can try out.  One computer is to send an email, and then the second one can intercept the email.  Isn’t that a little strange? Do they really think it’s wise to teach people how to become stalkers?  You all had better watch out…I know how to hack into your computers (no snarky comments from the BDML- that was an accident)

Actually- I don’t.  The explanation of how everything worked to hack into people’s email was in Finnish, so I got to try it, and see that it could be done, but I don’t really know HOW they do it. Too bad!  And I’m guessing they had setup some system with very low security, so I’m sure whatever method they were using wouldn’t work on most email servers…at least…that’s what I hope…

(um- I’d like to point out that these photos were taken from the museum’s website…that should give you a clue as to how serious this “museum” is)

So, I mentioned before that I saw Marie Antoinette- it my first time going to a theater in Finland.

It’s…not that different.

Beforehand, my labmates kept telling me- “oh, our theaters are so small, you’re proabably going to think they’re tiny compared to the huge American cinemas…”

But I thought about Shoreline…(the theater nearest Stanford) and so I tried to reassure them that I was sure their theater would be fine.  I mean, anything is better than Shoreline, right?

Guess what?

Their movie theater seats are SOOOO comfy!!!  (and you probably thought I was going to say it was worse…) They were these large, plush, red seats that reclined, and it was stadium style seating.   I almost fell asleep, the movie was so boring and the seats so comfy… Plus, when you go to the movies here, you buy your tickets in advance, and there is assigned seating, as if you are going to a real theater.  So the seats themselves had the seat numbers embroidered on them in gold writing.  And the theater wasn’t even that small, so I don’t know what my labmates were talking about.   I think they’d be in for a shock if they ever came to the theaters in Palo Alto…

The only downside was that there are an enormous amount of commercials before the movie starts.  You know how we have like, 5 previews and maybe 2 commercials?  Here, it’s like 2 previews and 10 commericals.  

You know how only tourists can get away with taking photos of really random things?

I’ve been a typical tourist, taking photos of things only tourists can get away with (like butter in the grocery store)  and luckily I always look like a tourist (the only time I feel lucky to look like a tourist), so no one seems to think twice or give me strange looks for wanting to take photos of things I think are funny.

Now- I was doing some window shopping (this weekend was a holiday- All Saints Day, so the shops were closed) when I saw this.

Am I the only person who finds this a bit disturbing, yet a little funny??? Don’t you think you’d be a messed up kid if you had that in your kitchen while you were growing up? Actually- don’t you think you’d be a messed up person if you would have this in your kitchen, period? Or maybe it makes me disturbed b/c I find some humor in this…

I continued walking and then I saw this sign for a clothing store.

Maybe it doesn’t seem that strange to you at first glance, but then you have to ask yourself- what else would you possibly use to enter the store? the window? the ceiling? and then, I forgot to take a photo of the other side of the sign, but it said something like, “please do not enter if door is locked unless you have key”…which I suppose is one way to deter would-be burglars, but I’m pretty sure if someone is going to rob the store, a sign that politely asks you not to isn’t going to stop them.  And, I thought it was strange that the sign was in English, because NOTHING here is written in English.  Does that mean they think the foreigners are so stupid that they won’t know to use the door to get into the store?

Also- Tampere has a river going through the center of the city, and there is a bridge to cross it.  On this bridge, there are 4 statues.  Here is one of them.

It’s a naked man holding a dead squirrel. 

(shrug)

The other statues are also of nakedmen holding various other objects.  I think I’m going to have to ask someone what the meaning/significance of the statues are…unfortunately I’ve also realized that my labmates aren’t the best people to ask questions.  I feel like they don’t really know the answers to the questions I’m interested in- like- I noticed that a lot of hair salons are open pretty late (past 9pm) so I asked someone if that was common, and my labmate said, “they aren’t open that late” and I was like, “yes they are.  I walk past them all the time and they’re open”, and he said, “oh. i didn’t know that”.  And with the drier weather, my lips are getting chapped so I asked one guy in my lab where I could buy Chapstick (yes- I know Chapstick is a brand, but they knew what I was talking about- it’s called medilip here) and he said, “I don’t know…I think only the pharmacy’s carry those because it’s like medicine” but then I walked into a convenience store and saw them on a shelf and bought one, so I told my labmate you could buy them elsewhere and he said, “oh, i didn’t know that.”  In some ways the people have been very helpful…and in other ways…not so much. (sorry. random tangent)

…

And finally (at least for this post), I was walking past a hair salon (when they were open at an unusually late hour) and I saw these glass blowfish in their display case.  I wanted to take a photo for Judy because blowfish are her favorite fish, but since there were people inside, I felt a little strange about taking the photo.  So I went inside and asked for their permission.  Then the hairdresser smiled and said that of course I could take a photo.  In fact, she said I could pick up the fish and take a photo with it. I’m sure they didn’t think I was strange at all 🙄 …but I suppose that’s the other great thing about being somewhere temporarily- you don’t really care what other people think of you!   So here it is. 

(for the record- I don’t know why a hair salon would have a giant glass blowfish in their display case…and the blowfish was spikey, so it actually kind of hurt to hold it)

“A brilliant city in many ways, Tampere received the international City Light Award 2005 for the lights in Keskutori central square especially. In Europe, Tampere remained second only to Cologne with its famous Cathedral.”

If you’ve been reading this blog- you must know how this is going to turn out.

I read the above statement in my Tampere 2006 Light and Life tourist book and thought, wow, that’s pretty cool.  I should check that out sometime- it must be really nice, especially because christmas is such a big deal here.  They probably go all out on the light decorations- heck, they even won an award for it!

Impressive, eh? (do you see how deserted the streets are too?)

Aw, I’m just kidding! It wasn’t that bad. I mean sure, it was no Rockefeller Center, but the city looked  very pretty.

Of course, I still don’t know how they won an award for it…maybe other cities didn’t submit an application to the contest…

One thing I AM hoping to see though is the northern lights.  Unfortunately I’m not here during the “peak months” to see them.  Oh well. I’ll definitely let you know if I ever catch them in the sky.

Oh, but just to show you know how cold it is here…that’s me.

Even if the photo wasn’t blurry- you wouldn’t be able to see me anyway, lol!  Even though it’s really cold, I like the feeling of inhaling cold, crisp air when I step outside.  It just feels fresh and cleansing.  And I love walking around at night when it’s snowing- it’s quiet and peaceful- all you can hear is the snow crunching beneath your feet and everything has this light, white glow from the snow. 

(but then 5 minutes after I’m outside, all I want to do is run inside and have a nice hot cup of cocoa)

Oh, and that’s another thing- it took me a couple of minutes to figure out how to turn up the heat in my apartment!  I was actually starting to panic that I wouldn’t know how, and that I would have to put on all my clothes (a la Joey in Friends) to keep warm.  I have this water furnace, and there was some sort of safety lock on the dial to increase the heat.  Obviously I figured out how to work it, but now that the heat is turned up, I hear this constant trickle of water, like those water sounds on the relaxation CD’s, and all it really does is make me want to go to the bathroom at night…