It is a national custom in Finland to travel by boat either to Stockholm or Tallinn. Actually the destination does not matter too much as long as you have an opportunity to have fun and relax. There are big ferries full of entertainment on the routes and the cruises are relatively cheap. It was a must to me to check out this phenomenon during my stay in Finland.
Kimmo, one of my Finnish friends at the university, was about finish his studies to become a teacher. The spring semester was about to end soon and he had been working as a high school substitute teacher for some weeks when a group of students asked him to join them for a cruise. They were mostly turned to 18, but the age limit on board was 23 and they needed to have at least two overlookers. Kimmo and Mika, two male teachers, had accepted the invitation and the group had reserved two cabins for them.
I met Kimmo at the university and mentioned the trip. Of course I told him about my intention of having a cruise during my stay, if I just had money and company. Surprisingly he asked me to join the cruise – he was sure that the guys would easily fit into one cabin, they would even have more fun. I had just broken up with my Finnish boyfriend, who I had been dating for two months, and I was not in the mood of having fun. But I could not resist the offer for a free cruise.
The cruise departed from Turku on Friday evening and to last the full 24 hours. My cabin was on the 4th deck and I had plenty of restless teenagers as neighbours. Would I be able to sleep at all? There were two students in each cabin and later on I heard that our group also occupied the cabins above us. My spacious cabin was for up to two persons and there was a just folding door between my and the neighbouring cabin. I was told that those two cabins were usually combined, but the ship was packed and they had no other choice but giving us a family cabin.
As soon as I entered my cabin, I noticed that I was able to hear every my neighbours moving and talking behind the folding door. I checked that the folding door was locked. It was, but you could spy your neighbours through the keyhole. As far I understood it correctly the two boys were talking about tax-free shopping, disco, drinking, and dining. But you should not trust me as my Finnish is far away from perfect…
After leaving the Turku harbour I went for a dinner with Kimmo and Mika. We had great time, but my head was aching slightly and I went to my cabin already around 11 pm. Soon after turning the lights off I heard someone entering the neighbouring cabin. I heard a young female voice first, speaking English with a weird accent. She might be Swedish, I thought. She wanted to know whether they might get disturbed. I heard a male voice answering that they had agreed that it was his turn to use it first. I almost forgot my headache – my young neighbours had planned it well!
I remembered the keyhole and I could not resist having a glance. After having a glance I could not resist continuing my spying. The girl sounded like a Swedish girl, but she definitely looked like that as well. Blonde hair, slim body, beautiful face. She was about the age of my young neighbour who was one of those who had already turned 18. The boy was handsome, but not very muscular. They were kissing and caressing each other.