It is the ideal way to experience Finnish Lapland.

While there is a mad exodus come winter by Brits to the Alps, Rockies and just about anywhere else that allows them to throw themselves down black runs or show off their skills on a Super Pipe, but mention cross country skiing to them and they look at you as if you have gone mad!

As Lapland is usually the first place to see snow in Europe there is an influx of international Cross country Ski teams from all over the world desperate to get in some pre-season training. A first flurry of snow last October saw the arrival of 6 international teams to the resort of Saariselka in the far north of Finnish Lapland. Each team arrived with hundreds of pairs of skis, a huge support team and operated in great secrecy. They have experts to wax their skis, a chef to prepare their food, this is serious stuff. 
Having to gain access to one of the conference rooms a team was using to prepare and store their skis, the hotel manager rang the team manager on our behalf to ask permission. The team manager adamantly denied the request due to secrecy until he realised we were British, when between chuckles he changed his response implying that we were no threat as Brits know nothing about cross-country skiing! Hurtful but on the whole true.
As the days warmed once again the snow quickly began to disappear leaving the teams competing for an ever shrinking short distance of track! We had the last laugh the following day when we passed all six teams out jogging along tarmac roads in glorious sunshine!

I have to admit that in the past the mere mention of cross country skiing would be met by a rolling of eyes and yawns but after many years visiting Finnish Lapland during its long beautiful winters I have  slowly been won over. Not by the Finns, I think they quite like our indifference as it means all the more never ending trails for them, but by nature. Come spring, not your British spring of daffodils and gambling lambs but the Lappish variety, metres of snow, crystal clear blue skies and long sunny days, there is nothing more amazing than setting out on a trail through the silent forests for a days trek.  

I guess the equivalent in the UK is hiking or rambling. The Finns take their cross country skiing seriously, there isn’t a village in Lapland that can’t boast at least a 250km network of trails, all lovingly cared for and maintained. For those crazy people that wish to ski on the short winter days of November to January there are also illuminated tracks. Along the network of trails you find small Kotas (Lapp tepees) where you can rest, make a fire to prepare lunch, or in the middle of nowhere cabins where coffee, soup and cakes are on offer.

There are a small number of people in the UK that have discovered cross-country skiing. Put the skis on children and they are off, making it look so easy. For many people that hike it is not the process of walking that they love but the scenery along the way. Once they had mastered the basics of cross country skiing they would soon love exploring, Finnish style!

In Finnish Lapland you are spoilt for choice when it comes to cross-country skiing, to learn more about the villages and resorts click here.

Saunas play a major part in Finnish life.

If the entire population of Finland was told to immediately enter a sauna, they'd all be accomodated. With a population of around five million, there are more than 2.5 million saunas. That means almost every household has its own sauna.
And there are plenty of public saunas.

"Sauna is basically in the nature of everything here," says Jari Etelalahti, who runs local tour company Eat and Joy Helsinki.
"A lot of homes have them and Finnish people are crazy about summer cottages which all have sauna."

For Finns, going to a sauna is more than a passtime. It is part of their Nordic culture.
"In the old days, that was the only place that was really heated," said Etelalahti.
"It was hygienic also so you gave birth in a sauna ... you spent half of your day in the sauna.

As a tourist, there are many opportunities to experience the traditional Finnish sauna.
Public saunas are open daily and you may be lucky to be invited to enjoy some Finnish hospitality at a local's home.

Traditional sauna is a wooden building where the bathers sit on benches splashing water on the hot stones of the stove and gently beating themselves with leafy birch whisks.
More common in homes nowadays are electric saunas.
"The real sauna is the smoke sauna which is heated for like six hours before the whole event and it stays like that."
"Saunas can be electrical ... many of these flats nowadays have electrical saunas.
"But for me the wooden heated saunas are the best."

Temperatures can range from 70 degrees celcius to 180 degrees celcius for the more hardcore sauna lovers.
"It can get up to 150 or 180 degrees and the guys sit there happily sweating."
There are even competitions where people attempt to stay in the sauna for a lengthy time at a high temperature. Etelalahti said men were particularly competitive.
"Of course when guys have a sauna, they want to be competitive and there is also a world championship for people to see who can stay in the sauna the longest at some high temperature," he said.
"But usually it is about being therapeutic so you can stay in the sauna as long or as little as you want. Of course when guys have a sauna, they want to be competitive and there is also a world championship for people to see who can stay in the sauna the longest at some high temperature. "Guys are always competitive and many have fainted in the heat of the battle.
"But usually it is about being therapeutic so you can stay in the sauna as long or as little as you want."

Certain rules generally apply to saunas. "Sauna is not supposed to be a connection to business so the rules are: no politics, no religion, no business and hardly no sex talk at all," says Etelalahti. "It is just about pure and natural things. It is nice to just talk about everyday subjects like the weather or food."

A trip to the sauna usually takes a couple of hours and involves a whole process of activities.
One must first get naked and shower before entering.
Sauna is usually done nude - it is more hygienic that way - and in public places, male and females are normally separate.
At home, saunas are usually mixed. "Every time you go naked because it is more hygenic not to go with the swimsuit," says Etelalahti.

The term sauna refers to the whole bathing process and includes several repeated periods of perspiring in the heat and the steam, known as "loyly", produced by the water thrown on the stones.
Loyly is described as the spirit of the sauna. It is a Finno-Ugric word going back 7,000 years.
Between bouts in the sauna room, people often bathe in cold water.

In winter, people cut holes in the ice in the Baltic sea or any lake and jump in for a short time.
If there is no water nearby, people will often roll around naked in the snow.
"If you have water next to you, of course you want to jump into it," says Etelalahti.
"If you don't have the ocean or a lake near you, you always go outside and chill out in the cold for a while."
"It is addictive, both sauna and going into the icy water."

Jonathon Moran, Sydney Morning Herald. September 12, 2006
Image provided by the Finnish Tourist Board.

To visit finland and sauna among the experts click here.

Saunas play a major part in Finnish life.

If the entire population of Finland was told to immediately enter a sauna, they'd all be accomodated. With a population of around five million, there are more than 2.5 million saunas. That means almost every household has its own sauna.
And there are plenty of public saunas.

"Sauna is basically in the nature of everything here," says Jari Etelalahti, who runs local tour company Eat and Joy Helsinki.
"A lot of homes have them and Finnish people are crazy about summer cottages which all have sauna."

For Finns, going to a sauna is more than a passtime. It is part of their Nordic culture.
"In the old days, that was the only place that was really heated," said Etelalahti.
"It was hygienic also so you gave birth in a sauna ... you spent half of your day in the sauna.

As a tourist, there are many opportunities to experience the traditional Finnish sauna.
Public saunas are open daily and you may be lucky to be invited to enjoy some Finnish hospitality at a local's home.

Traditional sauna is a wooden building where the bathers sit on benches splashing water on the hot stones of the stove and gently beating themselves with leafy birch whisks.
More common in homes nowadays are electric saunas.
"The real sauna is the smoke sauna which is heated for like six hours before the whole event and it stays like that."
"Saunas can be electrical ... many of these flats nowadays have electrical saunas.
"But for me the wooden heated saunas are the best."

Temperatures can range from 70 degrees celcius to 180 degrees celcius for the more hardcore sauna lovers.
"It can get up to 150 or 180 degrees and the guys sit there happily sweating."
There are even competitions where people attempt to stay in the sauna for a lengthy time at a high temperature. Etelalahti said men were particularly competitive.
"Of course when guys have a sauna, they want to be competitive and there is also a world championship for people to see who can stay in the sauna the longest at some high temperature," he said.
"But usually it is about being therapeutic so you can stay in the sauna as long or as little as you want. Of course when guys have a sauna, they want to be competitive and there is also a world championship for people to see who can stay in the sauna the longest at some high temperature. "Guys are always competitive and many have fainted in the heat of the battle.
"But usually it is about being therapeutic so you can stay in the sauna as long or as little as you want."

Certain rules generally apply to saunas. "Sauna is not supposed to be a connection to business so the rules are: no politics, no religion, no business and hardly no sex talk at all," says Etelalahti. "It is just about pure and natural things. It is nice to just talk about everyday subjects like the weather or food."

A trip to the sauna usually takes a couple of hours and involves a whole process of activities.
One must first get naked and shower before entering.
Sauna is usually done nude - it is more hygienic that way - and in public places, male and females are normally separate.
At home, saunas are usually mixed. "Every time you go naked because it is more hygenic not to go with the swimsuit," says Etelalahti.

The term sauna refers to the whole bathing process and includes several repeated periods of perspiring in the heat and the steam, known as "loyly", produced by the water thrown on the stones.
Loyly is described as the spirit of the sauna. It is a Finno-Ugric word going back 7,000 years.
Between bouts in the sauna room, people often bathe in cold water.

In winter, people cut holes in the ice in the Baltic sea or any lake and jump in for a short time.
If there is no water nearby, people will often roll around naked in the snow.
"If you have water next to you, of course you want to jump into it," says Etelalahti.
"If you don't have the ocean or a lake near you, you always go outside and chill out in the cold for a while."
"It is addictive, both sauna and going into the icy water."

Jonathon Moran, Sydney Morning Herald. September 12, 2006
Image provided by the Finnish Tourist Board.

To visit finland and sauna among the experts click here.

Man trapped in Chimney in Johannesburg, South Africa

Joburg emergency personnel have battled for two hours to free a man trapped in a chimney.

The 21-year-old became stuck after allegedly trying to make his way into a Yeoville house through an L-shaped chimney on Sunday.

Emergency personnel first tried to pull him out through the top of the chimney. When that didn't work, they broke their way into the chimney from inside the house.

"He was hanging in there and we broke away some bricks to free him," said spokesperson Malcolm Midgley. The injured man was taken to hospital.

Homeowner Gavin Almazien thought it was a joke when a friend told him someone was in his chimney. He later found out it was a man who had lived with him in the house for about six years.
"I asked him to leave as I couldn't handle his behaviour anymore," Almazien said, adding: "He knew he could knock at my door at any time for help."

By Poloko Tau
This article was originally published on page 2 of The Star on September 11, 2006

JAPAN WINS AIR GUITAR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR THE FIRST TIME

Air Guitar World Championships took place in Club Teatria, Oulu, for the 11th time. Japan's strong presence produced a world champion and this year Ochi "Dainoji" Yosuke gets a chance to spread the gospel of air guitars. Yosuke outplayed the other skillful contestants with his simplistic but extremely classy air guitarring.

The five finalists who had made their way from the Qualifying Round on Thursday were challenged with Michael "The Destroyer" Heffels, the reigning champion, and the winners from national competitions. There were people from Australia, Austria, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, the United States, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, and the Great Britain. After a round of optional songs, the ten best players performed a song chosen by the organisers, "Who's Your Daddy", the latest single release by Lordi, the winner of this year's Eurovision Song Contest.

In addition to fame and prestige, Yosuke received a custom made Finnish guitar called Flying Finn and a special donation from the Queen guitarist Brian May, a VOX BM Special amplifier, designed by the man himself.

The results of the Air Guitar World Championships are:
1. Ochi "Dainoji" Yosuke (Japan) 35.4
2. Clay "Bangers" Connolly (Australia) 34.8
3. Christian "Heart Buckboard" Sweep (Germany) 34.6
4. Gabriele "The Hoxton Creeper" Matzeu (United Kingdom) 33.9
5. Takeshi "Takeshi the SAMURI Kongochi" Kongochi (Japan) 33.8
6. Craig "Hot Lixx Hulahan" Billmeier (United States) 33.7
6. Rainer "Le Freak" Fussgänger (Austria) 33.7
8. Romain "Sideburn" Lesaffre (France) 33.4
9. Christian "Der Prettauer" Steinhauer (Italy) 33.1
10. Benjamin "Helmutt" Greaney (New Zealand) 32.7
11. Karita "Rässi Rinsessa" Kivioja (Finland) 16.7
11. Michael "The Destroyer" Heffels (The Netherlands) 16.7
11. Igmar "Iggy Stardust" De Haan (The Netherlands) 16.7
11. Eero "Oulun oma poika" Ojala (Finland) 16.7
15. Max "Max" Heller (Austria) 16.4
16. Kanagawa "Super IQ" IQ (Japan) 16.2
17. Terje "Doc" Stephansen (Norway) 15.7

The chair of the prestigious jury was, for the 11th time now, Juha Torvinen, a legendary Finnish guitarist himself. In addition to Torvinen, the jury included Sami Lopakka, an ex-guitarist from Sentenced; Marzi Nyman, a real guitar virtuoso; Milton Mermikides, a guitar professor of Royal Academy of Music London; and Philipp Brammer, the organiser of the Austrian competition.

As usual, the contestants welcomed everyone to join in as they played their guitars along with the song Rocking in the Free World. Air guitarists believe that all the bad things disappear from the world when everyone plays the air guitar, you know.

The first ever CIRKO Festival: 18th-29th October 2006

The CIRKO Helsinki Contemporary Circus Festival 2006 is an event for all interested in modern circus and the performing arts. During the week and a half there will performances by 13 acts from France and Finland at various venues throughout Helsinki.

The festival, being organised or the first time, is enabled by the tight cooperation between Cirko –Centre of New Circus and Centre Culturel Français, the City of Helsinki, The Cultural Office of the City of Helsinki and 5-3-1 the Festival of New Juggling.

Cirko - Centre for New Circus was established in Finland in the autumn of 2002 for the purpose of gathering together the resources of new circus groups and artists and to promote new circus. In the spring of 2004 the Finnish Cultural Foundation granted Cirko significant three-year funding for a development project, giving Cirko the decisive impetus for starting its activities. Cirko was established as a response to the development of new circus in Finland in the mid-1990s.

A few of the performances include:
From France: Compagnie Pré-O-C-Coupé´s LES KUNZ fascinates, COUNTREPOINT by Les Objets Volants, Compagnie XY
From Finland: Ville Walo and Kalle Hakkarainen´s DISCUSSIONS, Tatu Tyni introduces his production MULTIMAGIGA

For further details of the festival click here.

To visit Helsinki click here.

The only ferry route between Britain and Sweden to be discontinued from the end of October.

Danish shipping company DFDS Seaways is to scrap the only passenger ferry route between Sweden and Britain, with the axing of the Gothenburg-Newcastle route at the end of October.

The company said that "a number of factors" were behind the decision, including rising fuel costs and falling passenger numbers.

DFDS has been running ships between Gothenburg and England for decades, with the Newcastle route the last to close. The company had previously also served ports including Harwich and Immingham.

The company said it would still continue to operate routes to England from Norway and Denmark. The company said it was in the process of purchasing the M/S Fjord Norway from rival ferry company Fjord Line, and would run the ship on a Norway-Newcastle route.

DFDS has faced competition from airlines in recent years on its routes between the UK and Sweden's second city. Ryanair has invested in new lines from Gothenburg, and FlyMe has recently introduced new flights to London.

DFDS Seaways' sister company, DFDS Tor Line, will continue to run shceduled freight ships between Gothenburg and several English ports, although these have limited capacity for passengers.

Published: 6th September 2006 15:11 CET
The Local by James Savage

Image by Kjell Holmner, Goteborg & Co.

The 11th Anniversary taking place in Oulu, Finland.

Tomorrow sees the start of the Air Guitar World Championships in Oulu, Finland. Finalists from 11 countries will be competing for the world title.  The event runs along side the Oulu Music Video Festival.

Following qualifying rounds on Thursday 7 September, The Grand Final will take place on Friday 8 September 2006 at Finland’s biggest rock club, Club Teatria.

During competition intervals there will be performances from the Finnish rock bands The Sweatmaster and The Crash!

Besides fame and glory the winner of the Air Guitar World Championships will be awarded a hand-made Flying Finn electric guitar and the Queen guitarist Brian May's donation, a Signature Vox amp.

The evening will be rounded off with the finalists and their fans gathering to play air guitar together for world peace!

For further information visit the Air Guitar World Championships Site, click here.

Image provided with thanks by wgarcia / Wilfrido García Espinosa , Flickr

Televised debate to be in their second language as it is felt they will be less evasive and will keep it simple.

There can’t be many countries where you could persuade four high-level politicians to turn up for a televised election debate in their second language.

But this is Sweden, and Swedish politicians are as keen as the rest of their fellow countrymen to show-off their English skills – as well as to give people who understand English better than Swedish the chance to hear the issues debated.
That’s why on Wednesday evening SVT will be showing Election 2006, a one-hour debate between representatives of the two blocs competing to form Sweden’s next government.

Presenter Keith Foster says that the main aim of the debate is to give immigrants a better understanding of the election, with four leading politicians discussing issues including unemployment and immigrants’ integration in Sweden.

But the programme should be interesting even for people with a grasp of Swedish and for Swedes themselves.

Doing a debate in English makes it harder for politicians to be evasive, Foster says:

“When politicians are asked questions in a foreign language, it’s harder for them to avoid answering.”

"It also keeps the debate at a basic level - you don't have to have a knowledge of Swedish political history to be able to grasp it," he says.

The debate, pre-recorded last week, will also be unusual for only featuring women: the Social Democrats are represented by sustainable development minister Mona Sahlin and foreign aid minister Carin Jämtin, while the Alliance is represented by Centre Party leader Maud Olofsson and the Moderates’ Ewa Björling.

The debate takes place on Wednesday, 6th September, at 9:30 pm on SVT1.

The Local: James Savage

Image by: R Ryan. Stockholm Visitors Board

Finland continues to make preparations for next years Eurovision contest.

Next years Eurovision contest is to be held in Helsinki following the win by the Finnish band Lordi in Athens earlier this year.

The 2007 Eurovision Song Contest is to take place on 10th May (semi-final) and 12th May (final).

Although there was intense competition from various venues throughout Finland, YLE, the Finnish Broadcasting Company, have chosen the Helsinki Arena (Hartwell) as the location for the event due to ease of access and capacity.  Additional facilities will still have to be built at the Arena to accommodate both the contestants and the media.

It is estimated the event will cost 13 million Euros to stage, a cost that will be met by YLE, Finnish government, City of Helsinki and ticket sales. The City of Helsinki has plans to arrange events throughout the city in the week leading up to Eurovision final to help in creating a festival atmosphere.

A definite date for tickets to go on sale has not yet been set but it will probably be during the autumn.

Within Finland there is a great deal of interest as to who will host the event on the night with many TV personalities, actors and pop stars being mentioned. The name of the hosts will be announced in January. You just know that whoever they choose will delight Mr Wogan!

A Finnish Opera Singer in collision with a squirrel!

A squirrel scampered into the bicycle wheel of an unlucky Finnish opera singer, causing him to fall, knock himself out and break his nose just ahead of the world premiere of a new opera.

Esa Ruuttunen was pedalling his way to the Helsinki Opera House last month when the squirrel ran into his spokes.

The singer ended up concussed and in a local hospital, rather than at his rehearsals for the Finnish opera Kaarmeen hetki (Hour of the Serpent), which opens on September 15.
"He is not yet singing in rehearsals, but thinks he will be able to perform at the world premiere," Finnish National Opera spokeswoman Heidi Almi told Reuters.

The squirrel died in the accident.