It was a Thursday. It was cold, even by Finnish standards, and raining outside. I sat in cozy little coffee shop, quite a ways off the beaten path, and sipped a Chai tea. I'd been sitting in the same spot for the last half hour, not yet wanting to brave the icy weather outside.

Despite it's hole in the wall location, the little coffee shop was packed to capacity of other's trying to get out of the rain. So to ease the time, I was people-watching.

The doorbell clanged and I looked up to see a dark haired man in a beanie and hoodie walk in. He was sopping wet but didn't really seem to mind. In fact, he had a large smile on his face as he walked up to the barista and ordered a tea.

I went back to people-watching as he chatted with the barista in Finnish. There was a blonde girl sitting between two older men a couple tables away from me, and I was making up dialogue for them in my head when I heard a voice being cleared above me.

"Is this seat taken, love?" I looked up to see the man I'd just watched walk in smiling at me.

"Um, no. Have a seat." I gave him a shy smile and then blushed when he kept standing there and I realized he couldn't because my messenger bag was in the only available chair.

I moved my bag and he chuckled and took the seat next to me. He sipped his tea and stared distractedly out the window, so I went back to the blonde girl and her companions.

"What are you doing?" I glanced back over to the beanie-wearing man, who was watching me with an amused expression on his face, and I realized I'd giggled out loud. i flushed.

"Ummm, I'm people-watching." He raised an eyebrow. "When you watch people and make up what they're saying. Like adlibbing, I guess..." His grin had grown. I looked away, embarasssed.

A few moments passed by with me fiddling my thumbs, and him sipping his tea. "So, what do you think that guys saying?" I looked up to see him nodding at an overweight guy at the bar who was leaning towards a younger girl, who was clearly uncomfortable with his attention.

"Hmmm..." I lowered my voice and adopted a heavy Finnish accent. "So, come here often...?" I laughed. "Alright that was lame. What do you think?"

He laughed. And then turned to look straight at the other man. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "Well, first off, he's obviously American. Probably a tourist." He cleared his throat an imitated a hokey Western accent. "Hey, there, Pretty Lady. How you doin'?" He made a pouty face. "Don't wanna talk? Okay. That's one thing I like about Finnish chicks. They know how to keep their mouths shut. Aaaaaand, big tits." He finished off with with a nod and a kissy motion.

I busted up laughing, and pretty soon we were both clutching our sides and wiping tears.

"He's definitely Finnish, tho." I turned to him when I finished laughing.

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, and why's that?"

I crossed my arms. "Just look at the way he's dressed. That's pure hokey Finnish."

He was shaking his head as I finished talking. "No, no, no. That's obviously a level of dorky that only an American tourist could achieve. The t-shirt was probably bought in a Finnish store, but the man underneath is alllllll American."

It was my turn to shake my head. He grinned at me. "Don't believe me? Wanna bet on it, then?"

I laughed. "Sure. What're we betting on?"

He grinned. "Tonight, me and some friends are going out, if I win, you have to accompany me."

I contemplated it. He seemed nice enough, and I really hadn't been out since moving to Finland a month ago, and I'd been itching to experience some Finnish culture. "Alright, deal. What if I win?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, what do you want?"

I blinked. "Ummm, I don't know. Have you lived in Finland long?"

He laughed. "Oh yeah, quite some time."

"Alright, then if I win, you have to take me sight-seeing."

He smiled. "Seems like a fair deal. You're not going to win, though." He winked at me and stood up. "Come on."

And so, we creeped towards the man at the bar, trying to be subtle. Our competition quickly went from whether the fat man was Finnish or American, to who could find the most ridiculous reason to sneak the closest to him. I gained the lead when I pretended to rub my eye and pop my contact out on the floor of the shop. The guy in the beanie had stopped to watch my crawl around on the floor. A few other patrons had even joined in my search.

I crawled as close to the fat man as was polite, and sat back on my haunches to listen, occasionally patting the floor. He'd quickly gotten over the three idiots, well, one idiot and two helpful Finns crawling around on the floor, and gone back to hitting on the girl next to him. To my horror, he spoke perfect English. He even had a Texan accent, just like Beanie Guy had predicted. I sighed.

I pretended to find my contact and thanked the people that'd helped me look. Beanie Guy met me back at the table.

"Well?" He raised an eyebrow. I gave a dramatic sigh.

"Looks like I'm going out tonight."

He laughed at me.

"Hope you like beer."

I laughed. "Lovely."

He smiled. "So... " I looked up at him. "What about the girl over there...?"

About two hours and six teas each later, we'd dissected every patron in the bar, and Beanie Guy announced that he needed to get going.

He pulled out his cell phone. "Here, trade me." He entered his number into my phone and I put mine in his.

"I'll text you later and tell you where to meet us." He smiled and hugged me goodbye.

After he left I realized that I hadn't even gotten his name.