Whoddathunk that I'd ever make it back to Europe. I'd always wanted to see the world, but I had never expected that that journey would start in Finland, land of ice and snow, of all places. Here's some excerpts from my journal that I wrote about my first night in Finnyland:

My journey began on Wednesday 9/19 as the Moshking so graciously hauled my ass and ten bazillion pounds of luggage to the airport. I was sooooooo sure the airline would be charging me out the left buttcheek to take everything that I was taking -- hell, I'm surprised the plane could stay aloft at all with my luggage on board -- but surprisingly, the guy checking in bags just remarked that my luggage shore wuz heavy and tagged 'em and sent 'em on their way.

I had an unexpected surprise as I stood in line to board Lufthansia flight 451... I heard someone call "Melanie!!" and turned around to see Bart, the dude who served as a tour manager for the Rosies trip to Japan. He was ushering a band from Tijuana to Kosovo and Bosnia for a two week tour of the military bases out there. He does this sort of thing often, but I was surprised to see him on my flight! I didn’t think I would run into anyone I knew for four months, once I left the Moshking at the security checkpoint.

I was fortunate to have a window seat for the ten hour flight to Frankfurt Germany. The two gentlemen that set next to me were Americans, both going to Barcelona, Spain for different reasons. The first, a dark-haired Architect who had just completed a new Westin hotel in Phoenix, was going on a much-needed vacation, and meeting some friends out in Spain for two weeks of play. The guy in the aisle seat was a very tall man, 6'5, and his knees were barely wedged between the seat and seat back... He looked very miserable and uncomfortable. He was a young man going to Barcelona for his third year of teaching English. He goes there for ten months at a time, hanging out and partying in Spain, then he comes home for two months and loafs at the parents house. An interesting pair they were, the model of responsibility and the American dream, and the model of irresponsibility and the American dream.

I arrived at the airport in Vantaa, a suburb of Helsinki, on the evening of Thursday 9/20, and was surprised to not even be passported n stamped or even questioned. After meeting up with my gracious host and friend Kimberly and Alexi, we headed from Vantaa to Helsinki.

These folk truly live after midnight. We dropped my stuff down and settled down for a beer and watched a bootleg copy of Sinergy's recent gig in Moscow, the first time I saw the band live -- I was most definitely impressed. Then Janne (yah-neh), Sinergy's drummer, came by and we all took a taxi to a club called On the Rocks. Janne's friend's band was playing that night, called Ensiferrum.

The club looked like any other club, except you had to be 24 to enter. Weird, huh? Many of the clubs out here are apparently 18 and over, but some were as high as 24/25 and older!! My ID was scrutinized very well, being a foreign driver's license. We went into the bar where the house music was Metal and there were a bunch of longhairs drinking and shooting pool, and then proceeded to go downstairs to the club part. The first thing you have to do is check your coat, which costs 1,50 Euros. You always have to check your coat. I was cold, but informed that I would be rude if I kept it on. Sooo, with reluctance, I surrendered my leather jacket and went into the club.

Here's a picture of me, Kimberly, Alexi, and Janne at the club On the Rocks.

After the band finished, the freak show began!! I kid you not!! To the tune "Voodoo" from Godsmack, young Finnish boys came out with shaved heads and clad in skirts, looking like twisted Hare Krishnas, and began breathing fire and rubbing the fire all over their skin. Then a Finnish girl, also clad in only a skirt, came out pulling a cart from large metal clasps burrowed into the skin of her back and then proceeded to wrestle another guy for a rubber chicken filled with fake blood.

Ouch!!

Two other members of the sideshow circus took out snare drums and swung them from large cables that were dangling from metal clasps imbedded in their pecs!! ouch!!

Stage right

Stage left.

Stage left had metal clasps in his pecs, stomach, chest and the skin of his knees, while stage right had the clasps burrowed around his shoulders and the skin of his elbows. They were then raised into the air hanging by the claps and bleeding by other members of the freak show while another guy stuck nails into his cheek and someone Kimberly recognized was spastically dancing on glass. The music playing was aptly "They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha Ha"

In talking to the glass dancer the following day, he told us that the buy hanging from his chest and knees had to be taken to the hospital. Apparently the clasp had been inserted too deeply and hit an artery. He was literally splurting blood after the show. Gagh!!!

Pretty weird for a first night, no?

Thank you to Jake for the photos!!