The lake is named lake Vesijärvi which translates to "water lake". My city, Lahti, is situated right on the lake, but most people fish a few kilometres away from the city shoreline.
I can say now, that ice fishing is not easy! First you must drill a hole in the ice (which was about half a metre thick).
Scooping the ice out of the hole makes it easier to hold the fishing line steady.
Then, you wait! Actually, you should give the line a small vertical jerk about every 5 seconds, so you can't just sleep until you feel a fish.
The Rotarian I was with, Heikki Niemi, caught about 10 small perches (ahven in Finnish) but it took me until 4PM to catch my first fish! I guess I'm just unlucky! Anyway, we were the last people on the lake while I desperately tried to hook a fish. When I finally got one, it turns out the fish hadn't even bitten the lure! I simply hooked into the side of it as I pulled upwards. Oh well.
Here you can see that it wasn't exactly a clean catch but I think that makes it even more special. Heikki and I had a good laugh about it anyway.
Ice fishing is truly a Finnish tradition and I had a great time on the lake today. It really was a lot more fun than I was expecting! I will post a picture of Heikki and me later on.
Things are going very well right now, my Finnish language skills are at an all-time high! I can speak quite comfortably and make myself understood almost always. I still use English with friends, since truly expressing myself in Finnish remains difficult. I receive compliments on my Finnish from almost every Finn I meet, since they are used to foreigners speaking only English. Most people who come to Finland have lived here for years without having to speak Finnish, since almost every person here can function in English.
My 18th birthday is coming up in a couple weeks (April 6th), making me a legal adult in Finland. I'm still not sure how I will celebrate but my friends have suggestions although I'm not really thinking about it right now. I'm focusing on attending school, practicing footbag, playing music and learning Finnish.
4 comments:
Congratulations on your first fish ever, Dante! What a huge catch!! Hope you never have to count on fishing for a living - ha, ha!! Proud of you for trying something new, son.
xx Mom
BAHAAAAAA!
that's one impressive fish :)
you're so fly.
Simo here.
By "playing music" meaning jamming with me for 24/7! No, just kidding :D Ice fishing is (in my opinion) pretty boring, but it's something everybody has to experience, plus if you catch more than one fish then it's that much better!
Hey my name is Brooke, and I am going to Lahti, Finland for my 09-10 senior year with Rotary. It's really interesting to read your blog. I am very excited to go to Finland!
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