Asian market and Travelling

On Saturday 2nd we had planned to visit an Asian market located in Seppälä, Jyväskylä. Mayu and Rika had not visited the shop yet, so they really wanted to check it out. I met the girls on the bus, and even though it was already around 12:30, we were still little sleepy. After quite long bus ride we arrived to Seppälä, and got off the bus. On the bus stop there were several other exchange students getting on the bus, and one them decided to join us. Seems like she was a friend of Mayu and Rika’s.

We walked to Citymarket, where the Asian market is, and met Tiia and Jonas there. We explored the shop, and Mayu and Rika found some familiar foods there, and they were pretty excited. I’m sure they miss Japanese foods. We discussed little bit about Japanese foods, and asked how some dishes are prepared.

On the bus on our way to Seppälä we discussed little bit about 2nd hand shops. So somehow we ended up visiting the two flea markets located in Seppälä. I think it was first time to all of us visiting the shops in Seppälä. The Finnish concept of flea market doesn’t really seem to exist in Japan, I was surprised by that. Of course they have 2nd hand shops, and sometimes there might be flea market like events in parks, like in Finland, but not actual flea market shops.

After going around the flea markets, we went back to Citymarket, and went to do some shopping. We came across some Valentine's day cards. Valentine's day is spent somewhat differently in Finland and in Japan. For Japan it’s a day for couples, and girls usually make chocolate for their boyfriend and friends too. On the contrary in Finland, I feel that Valentine's day is not celebrated as much as in Japan.

After checking the cards we went to fruit section. We talked about the names of the fruits and vegetables, which are common in Finland, and so on. We went around the other food sections of the market too. Seems like the girls had come to like some of the Finnish breads a lot! And they told us that in Japan there aren’t really many different types of yoghurts, cheeses and milk, as we have here in Finland. Mayu was especially interested tasting “viili”.

We ended up in the ice cream section, and the girls really wanted to taste some Finnish ice cream. We went to the register, and since we had some time before our bus would arrive, we sat down, and the girls ate their ice creams. Jonas and Tiia decided to leave around then, because Jonas had some plans and Tiia’s bus was going to arrive soon.

After finishing the ice creams, which all turned out delicious, we left to the bus stop and headed to home. I don’t know if it’s the bus, or that we went around different places, but I felt sleepy again.

We met again already on Tuesday 5th on a café called Café Voca, located on Forum. Our topic for this time was geographic, mainly travelling. Our plan was to talk about travelling inside Finland and Japan; what’s the most convenient way, how about the prices, and so on. At first however, we decided to gather a words list that contained words from our last meeting and the meeting on that day. We wrote the words in Finnish, English and Japanese. It was a nice continuation for our word list that we had started on our previous meetings.

It was really interesting to hear about the ways to travel inside Japan, considering the fact that I really want to go to Japan for exchange. So knowing little bit how much it’s going cost, and how easy it is to travel, what’s the most convenient way etc. was helpful. We sat around the café for about hour and half, and started to leave. 

Mayu and Rika were still planning to stay in town, so I decided to tag along with them. Since our meeting was over Jonas and Tiia left, and we three headed to the book shop Suomalainen. Rika and Mayu both wanted to buy Valentine day cards, and sent them to Japan. I tried to translate the meanings of the cards for them, and one thing that surprised them, was the Finnish “Happy nameday” cards. Seems like that kind of celebration doesn’t exist in Japan, and they had both always wondered what the names on their Finnish calendar mean. After going around in a few shops we left home around half seven.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 19th February, and it will be our 8th meeting.