We've been here in Finland at the Norvalla Rehab Center for two nights now. So far, so good ...
We drove on Monday up to Umea from Falun -- about eight hours. The drive was pretty easy and went fast -- mainly because my van was rocking the tunes. The Scorpions proved to important friends.
The ferry ride over was easy and pretty comfortable. The seats were big and soft, and there weren't many passengers on it, so I was able to catch a little catnap. Nice. Got to take it where you can get it. They also showed two movies -- "The Yes Men" and "Matchstick Men" -- in English with Swedish subtitles.
Finland looks similar to Sweden, but the people speak less English. I had always understood that the Finns were taciturn, stern people, but that isn't the case. For some reason, they tend to want to talk to us, and will continue jammering on in Finnish even after you tell them you only speak English and shrug your shoulders when they ask you questions. Maybe they've been told Americans are all really shy.
The ski trails here are good, but there are only five kilometers! That being said, three kilometers are lighted, there's nice grooming and the courses are fun. The sprint course is 1.24km, with three little hills. There is probably close to 800m of flat on it, with about 250m of flat going into the finish. There will be some serious drag races tomorrow in the heats. Luckily, all of our kids ate Dragster 2000 candy in Sweden.
The Rehab Center is pretty nice -- and not a drug/alcohol rehab center. There is still a little confusion in my mind as to what role the place plays in the community, but it's supposed to be where Finnish war veterans and people who get injured at work stay while getting better. There is also a gym and weight rooms, swimming pools, a cafeteria and meeting rooms here, and there are always teenagers playing pool in the lobby.
The food is good -- we were a little spoiled at the Scandic hotels, but we're getting along fine now. Today at lunch we had the ominous-sounding "Grounded Meet Temptation," which turned out to be a potato and hamburger casserole and was delicious. Jamie was eating an open-face sandwich with cucumber slices on it at breakfast -- so clearly some of the kids have figured out how to eat like locals.
We have seen a couple teams today, and met some local skiers. No doubt they are fast, but none of them are enormous monsters. We toured the sport gymnasium/school in Voyr yesterday. The weight room there was pretty pathetic by most standards -- not a ton of gear, and nothing really new and shiny. It goes to show that you need to make the most of what you have -- and these kids are doing so. But so are our kids. Ian and Noah are adjusted to the time change and are looking ready to go out and race.
I haven't been taking pictures lately -- the light is really bad, and I'm no Ansel Adams. I'm not even Pete Vordenberg. I'll try to get some stadium/race photos tomorrow, if I have time between waxing skis. [Read that as: I'll steal some pictures from someone else.]
The sprint is tomorrow night, and the weather is supposed to get cold -- down to -15 C. Brrr. It will be nice to have all day to test wax and skis, but the classic races are first thing Saturday morning, so I'll be up late Friday and up early Saturday taking care of business. I bought Rex Mantyranta Fluoro kick wax yesterday because I'd never seen it before -- but I might end up using it. Hope not, though ...
Not sure when I'll be able to update next -- but I'll make time eventually and get results up ASAP.
-- Jason Cork
This trip is supported and funded by the National Cross-Country Ski Education Foundation. Buy goods that support these trips or donate today at: www.nccsef.org