Dispatches From FinnCon #4

[kevin_standlee]

Now that the convention has actually started, the amount of news appears to be increasing.

The con is now underway. I have been on duty at the academic conference, and at the writers' meeting where we had two excellent panels. We have declared Judith Clute's art exhibition open. We dined on reindeer and snails. The ice hockey tournament is now in full swing.

I've spoken briefly to Joe. He seems pretty much unscathed after his unfortunate experiences in France. He says they kept trying to torture him by force-feeding him French food and wine while showing him photographs of McDonalds. Somehow he managed to survive.

Because we are so close to the Arctic Circle it never gets dark here at night. This means that the con can run all through the night hours. This is fine for the Finns, who from an early age have become used to hibernating through the winter and staying awake all summer. Us guests are going to be consuming a lot of caffeine and will be very relieved on Sunday night when we can go to sleep.