CURRENT MISSION

Heading towards a life with dogs, sheep, countryside and some kind of partial self-sufficiency.

ABOUT ME

* A red-headed folklorist, metalhead, wannabe-craftswoman, nature lover, living history geek and tradition nerd living with her husband Juuso and dogs Louhi and Sana. *

I believe in people, equality and nature, and am interested in old handicraft techniques, tradition, and ways of living. I'm living in Porvoo countryside but working as an educator in a quite big museum in Espoo. I studied folkloristics and other cultural studies like museology, archaeology and ethnology in Helsinki University.

Viking Age craftsmanship and living history are not only my hobbies, but my way to live. I also like the new weird, scifi, indie RPG's and Scandinavian/Finnish style LARP's. I wear mostly black, lilac and green clothes, and am listening to metal music and rock. I'm lively and like to speak a lot, but sometimes (especially in the mornings...) need my own space and can be a bit quiet and reserved.

I'm travelling with Juuso, who is a history and social sciences teacher. His academic interests are antiquity, social philosophy, anthropology and general history. He loves music, plays guitar and drums and listens to a wide variety of genres. He's also a geeky gaming enthusiast and is especially into tabletop rpg's, but also likes board games, CCGs and basically everything not involving a computer.

We tend to visit a way too many museums while travelling. ;)

PS. *whispering* I also have a weakness for the British Isles. It's a silly place: strange customs, stupid taps and carpets, funny people, I always get a flu there - but I just love that country.

PHILOSOPHY

You don't have to tolerate, but you should try to understand.

For me Couchsurfing is not so much for hosting people or finding a place to stay, but especially for meeting new, interesting people.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have mostly hosted people starting in summer of 2006, but also surfed at some places (Sweden, UK, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland, GB, USA). I have found many new friends via Couchsurfing!

Interests

Fire, books, a pen, handicrafts, trees and leaves, yarn, learning, warp-weighted loom, black pepper, music, wind, good food, history and tradition, sheep and wool, fields, autumn light, stories, spinning yarn, thinking, vintage, red wine, salmiakki, feminism, ambition, folk beliefs, Finnish Lapphund dogs, wood tar, candies, cold and bright winter days...

• dogs
• books
• folklore
• dining
• cooking
• red wine
• clothing
• traveling
• music
• folk music
• metal music
• anthropology
• cultural studies
• teaching
• history
• social science
• guitars
• rpgs

Music, Movies, and Books

Books - J.R.R Tolkien; Ursula le Guin: Mika Waltari; Bulkakov (The Master and Margarita); Tsehov; Kafka; Don Rosas comics; Susanna Clarke; Neil Gaiman.
Movies - City of Lost Children, Amelie, My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away, Ronja Rövarsdottir, Being John Malkovich, Coffee and Cigarettes, Sideways, and very, very bad movies such as Barbarella, Turkish Star Wars and italofantasy-films. Series like Deadwood, Doctor Who, Orphan Black, Downton Abbey, Pride and Prejudice, Carnivale and Game of Thrones.

Music - Dark Tranquillity, Laibach, Amorphis, Skyforger, Eluveitie, Dream Theater, Fates Warning, Paradise Lost, Depeche Mode, Samael, Moonspell, In Flames, Volbeat, CMX, Absoluuttinen Nollapiste, Kauko Röyhkä, etc.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Harilaid lighthouse in the middle of nowhere in Saaremaa, Estonia.

Huge fields of pure rock and fertile land built of sea hay on the rocky shores at Inishmore Island, Ireland.

A "ferry" in Russian Carelia - you had to drove your car on the 5x8m wooden raft by two ca. 15-20cm wide wooden planks. The river was broad and forceful. I have rarely been so anxious (the car wasn't mine).

The wind which almost blew me away and didn't allow me to walk straight in Duncansby Head, John O'Groats, Scotland.

Iceman Ötzi, a 5300 year old guy laying there in his fridge at Bolzano, Italy. Hard to explain, but he was tremendous.

Teach, Learn, Share

My photos in Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/tiuku

When in Finland, definitely try some of these:
* salmiakki - salt liquorice candy. Some love it, some hate it; I definitely love. The taste is strong.
* ruisleipä - hard-ish rye bread. Much better here than in Germany or Sweden, trust me. Best ones are 100% rye.
* Koskenkorva - a special Finnish vodka. Can be bought only from Alko (and of course from pubs).
* karjalanpiirakka - a small pie with rice, potato or carrot filling. Buy couple of these from a foodstore with bakery product shelf or try one with mashed egg in a cafe. Traditional eastern pie, the rice filling is best.
* Fazerin sininen - blue-covered chocolate of Fazer. Very good, and very Finnish.

A nice tip: If you're visiting the Seurasaari Open Air Museum, go also to the Pukkisaari Iron Age Household beside it. There are two bridges leading to the Seurasaari island. Beyond those bridges there is a small island. Take the path to the right and follow the narrow wooden bridge to the island you see in front of you. Pukkisaari ("Bock Island") is a reconstruction of a household ca. 700-1300 AD.

I can (and probably will! :) tell you about ancient handicraft skills, tradition, folklore and folk beliefs, prehistory and history of Finland, information about museums in Helsinki, Espoo and Porvoo area.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can tell you about history, tradition, folklore and folk music in Finland. I might also sing some folk songs, if you like. I can also cook or teach you to spin yarn. Juuso plays guitar pretty nicely. :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Finland, Sweden

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