An interesting time to be out of the country - I left DC on the afternoon of Election 2000, expecting to hear who had won the Presidency and returned two weeks later still without a decision. Meantime, mid-November in Helsinki is no picnic, but a festive holiday atmosphere was emerging and I had a wonderful time working with colleagues at the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and helping them assume the Chairmanship of the Arctic Council from the US. During this trip I visited many sites in Helsinki, as well as Rovaniemi, Inari and Saariselka, well north of the Arctic Circle.