Students like parties. In Finland every reason is good enough to have some sort of celebration, and you'll know some of them as you keeping reading the blog. One of the most obvious is the beginning of the school year. This is 14th September and the event is called "Vulcanalia". The name has some edge to it, don't you think?

   This was the time in which I learned that finnish students are quite the experts in saving money for partying. Here's what happens: they organize a "before-party" at somebody's flat, where people start drinking beer and other light drinks, just to get warmed up. Then at the real party, they can go to a club or pub, where drinks are usually expensive, and drink 1 or 2 beers that last for some hours.. until they all go to the "after-party", again at someone's flat, where the heavy drinking takes place. This way they save a lot of money and still have a lot of fun.

   Vulcanalia was my second student party after Fuksisauna. We went to Meri's place downtown, and this was where I actually met most of the colleagues of my department. That's because I had already lost all shame and gained a lot of nerve. 15 days in Finland make you a less shy person because you really have to "do it yourself" if you want to meet anyone at all. So I started the usual and routiny approach:

- Terrrrve! Minä olen Eduardo, minä tulen portugalistaa. Mikä sinun nimi on? Hauska tavata!

   I realised that it is true that finns like that you speak finnish to them. They wonder why the hell should you even try to learn it in the first place, and I could tell they appreciate the effort very much. At least the ladies couldn't let go of my hand until we were finished talking (was it me or the beer I had before?).