Midsummers Day 2
For me Day 2 of Midsummers started around 10am. The first thing I remember is smelling breakfast downstairs. I woke up on the floor next to the bed I crashed into the night before, at least that’s what I foggily remembered. I climbed down from the loft to see what was cooking in the kitchen. After an initial “good morning” each person I saw asked if I had taken a morning swim yet, which of course I hadn’t. Actually, I hadn’t even thought of it. But after about the 10th time being asked, I decided I should give it a try.
Morning Swim
I went down to the dock where I found Andreas in his boat just waking up. From what I gather he went to bed around 8am. I knew the water was not exactly warm, so I figured I should get it over with quickly. I dove in, swam 10 feet out and back. It was freezing, but I have to admit it felt good – but it also felt good to get back in the sun.
We were all drained from the night before, so the morning was pretty lazy. We took in some sun by the sauna. A few did the same on one of the boats. But a lot of us gravitated toward the volleyball net. I spent the majority of the day playing volleyball – good thing too, because we really sucked at first. It took hours for us to get a decent game going; it got pretty competitive too.
Who Rolled Me Out of Bed?
Occasionally someone would ask how I slept. Each time I said that I thought someone rolled me out of bed. I guess I could have fallen out, but I really thought I was pushed. Then Joen told me that he was party to that – One of the other couples planned on sleeping there, so they all rolled me out. Later when I saw the couple in question, they yelled at me for taking their bed. Then they told me that they had to leave because I was snoring way too loud. Funny!!
Robert had the bright idea to bring an inflatable pool to the sea. The package included a water pump, but the hoses were too short to reach a water supply. So we took turns getting buckets of water from the sea to fill it. Yeah – that went on long. We probably got it about a third full. I heard he had a similarly good idea for Midsummers the year before.
Sumo Wrestling
At some point volleyball gave way to sumo wrestling. Yeah, you read that right – SUMO WRESTLING. Every event I’ve ever attended here included some game, and this year we would have a sumo wrestling championship. Guys against guys, and girls against girls. It was hilarious. I lost in the first round to Anders, but I had a great time doing it.
After sumo wrestling came dinner. I think everyone was still tired from the night before. The group barely sang – there were very few toasts. While everyone was eating appetizers, which consisted of potatoes and herring (YUCK), I began grilling the pork and chicken. The food was a big hit.
Drinking Games
After dinner, Joen arranged a drinking game for a few of us. But the few turned into a mob. I think we had 15 people taking shots. The number shrunk when it was time for girls sauna. Otto, Joen’s older brother, had a game he really liked. The purpose of the game was to count as high as possible. The first person started with one. When you got to 5, the person was supposed to say auto. And then when you got to 7, you were supposed to say bussy – and the direction reversed. If you screwed up, you took a drink and started with 1 again. With the big group, we could barely count to 14. So when it was time for guys’ sauna, we took the game in there.
Otto's Rules
In the sauna, Otto set the rules. Nobody gets out of the sauna until we get to 35. So we were 5 – the temperature was 100c – and after 20 minutes, all we wanted to do was run to the sea. Just before we finished the vodka bottle, we managed to reach 35 and ran to the sea. After sauna we continued the drinking, dancing, and eating – for some it lasted until 8am. I crashed a little early – probably around 4am.
The next few days have been genuinely low key. We haven’t managed to stay out past 10pm since Midsummers. Tonight, however, is my last evening in Helsinki; so the guys are thinking about having a late night. I’ll fill you in when I get to Budapest.
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