I could write a New Yorker length article on the drinking in these parts.

When I first arrived, two people told me, independently, that the women in Helsinki are like men. At the time, I didn't understand what either of them meant but now its a bit more clear.

They're as aggressive as men. They drink like men. (Thank the sweet lord they don't look like men!) They're as "carefree" as men. They pee in the street like men.

Strangely, people pee like crazy once the bars start to close. Its absolutely disgusting, but its true. Full blown conversations take place while one person, male or female, is peeing. I thought these women might have been loose, streetwalker-looking types but... On Monday I went out to dinner with a young lady who is not either of those. She's an intelligent, respectable, well-traveled, college grad and an excellent conversationalist. We went to tapas restaurant then to a lounge and ended up at a danceclub. On the way home, around 4:30am, she excused herself to the park where she unloaded her bladder.