Happy Birthday to ....

.... ME!!!! :D


Jeap it's time again to get one year older. I hate getting older but I love getting presents so if you want the presents you have to accept the not so fun part. I spend a nice day with my family (jeap they are in Finland right now, more about it tomorrow) and met some friends in the evening. I got some nice presents (some people are just amazing!) and very many b-day greetings via SMS, facebook, e-mail, studivz, ICQ or in person. Loved every one of them!! Kiitos! Thanks! Danke! Merci! Tack! ...

After a very good friend of mine told me that a lot of her friends forgot her b-day I was a little worried but it's good that these new social networks remind you of every b-day. :D But I'm still waiting for some stuff by old fashioned mail. Let's see if it comes tomorrow.

SUOMI ON UUSI MAAILMANMESTARI!!!

So after 24hours of partying I need to share this miracle also here with you. So I'm not sure if everybody has noticed but the last 2 weeks it was ice hockey world championships. And these were awesome championships. It started with Germany kicking Russia's ass with 2:0. After that amazing victory I said to many friends that now with Germany winning against Russia everything can happen including Finland winning the world championships. And what did they do?

THEY FREAKING WON!!!!!!

Seriously, we all have hoped for it but the final game was against the arch-enemy Sweden and in the past the Finnish Lions usually were really scared against the 'Tre Kronors' and played like little boys. But not this time. On Friday it was said Swedes are more afraid of Paradise Oscar (ESC) than Mikael Granlund but on Sunday it showed that they should have been truly afraid of the whole team. 6:1 was the end result!!!!! And the only goal Sweden made was by a guy called Pääjärvi, so a guy with partly Finnish blood in his veins. :D So much for that.

Today was the official party in Helsinki but there was a huge street-party already last night. Since I am in Turku and a poor student I didn't have the financial means to go to Helsinki but they put up a big screen at the market square in Turku and a few hundred mostly dunk people dressed in blue and white with flags and hockey jerseys celebrated as well. And you guess right, I was among them, not drunk but celebrating of course. It was very emotional with lots of singing and cheering and shouting and well it was 'almost' as good as being live in Helsinki. Or at least it was better than watching it on tv.

So here a few Songs that are played over and over again since last night.
The most popular one is Ihanaa, leijonat, ihanaa! from 1995 where the Finnish commentator screamed so enthusiastically that they made a song out of it. Btw 'ihana' is one of my favorite words since half a year and means 'awesome'.
Another on is Den glider in (it [the puck] goes in), especially popular since it is in Swedish and original the 1995 World Championship Song for Sweden but they lost back then against Finland and they lost this time again, so it is like a certain finger towards the Swedish team and country. But you could also hear this and Sankarit (Heros), which was sung by all the fans, the team and well just everybody today in Helsinki (and here in Turku). :D And Poika saunoo (the boy goes to the sauna) which is my discovery of the day (Kiitos Tellu!). Enjoy!


Another highlight of the tournament was a certain goal last Friday which made a 'little' 19 year old poika (boy) to become the hero of this country. Seriously when Mikael Granlund came on stage today everybody screamed louder for him than for any other player and even louder than for the President herself (and yes I was among those who screamed so loud!). So Mikke Granlund made an amazing goal on Friday and within minutes it was all over youtube. But the best version is in Finnish since there the same commentator as 1995, who is a legend himself in Finland, had one of his moments. So much for Finns never show emotions. :D So enjoy Mikke's 1:0 goal from the semi-final. And here of course as a song version. Finns are really fast with that.


Kiitos Leijonat!

Eurovision Song Contest 2011

Well some might think I'm crazy and I have to say I would never deny that anyway but when it comes to the Eurovision Song Contest I might be a little over the top. I watched that show almost every year for over 10 years now and I have to say it is every year a highlight. The combination of awful songs, weird dresses, gay dancers and the regular total embarrassment of the German contestant is very fun to watch and a good topic for endless discussions with various friends.
And well after I've been to the ESC last year in Oslo myself the whole excitement around it really got to me. But this year is a little different. Not like 2 years ago, where I knew, before Norway hasn't even decided who to sent to Moscow, that Alexander Rybak will win the contest in Moscow (call it intuition or just really good taste of music :P), but this year I didn't even know the time when the crazyness is held in Düsseldorf 4 weeks ago. Anyway after a little research and the funny evaluation of all ESC2011 Songs by the Swedish TV channel SVT I'm ready for the first semifinal tonight. I haven't seen that semifinal in 2 years since I missed it last year. Well instead of watching the show in the hostel TV room it was nicer to sit on my xxth birthday in the TV total studio with other weird people enjoying the company of Alex Rybak. Definitely one of the highlights of my Oslo trip.

Anyway I made up my mind and here are my Top 5 of this years Eurovision:

5th place Latvia: Musiqq- Angel in disguise
What a great dancing song. And it shows that you don't need to kick in glass windows, have weird background dancers or a crazy fire show! Sometimes less is more. And, well, I prefer a funny rap instead of a circus show on stage. Strong 6 points and a spot on my mp3 player!

4th place Iceland: Sjonni Brink's friends - Aftur heim
Besides the tragedy of the original singer's death right before the national selection I really like the song. Different style, no crazy half naked dancers. And Icelandic is such a cool language. I really hope they don't perform the complete English version of the song in Düsseldorf since that version sucks. Anyway 7 Points from me!

3th place Bosnia & Herzegovina: Dino Merlin - Love In Rewind
I just love it, a little bit Balkan style but without overdoing it. You just need to move to the great melody. :) And you see, a country doesn't need to send an Idols or whatever Casting Show winner to have a great entry for the ESC! Love it! Funny also that they faking the playing of their instruments. 8 points to Bosnia & Herzegovina!

2nd place Azerbaijan: Eldar & Nigar - Running Scared
Well I love ballads. Always have, always will. And this one really gets me. Besides that I don't like the female singer very much and there is no chemistry between the two singers the song is just great. Let's hope the live performance will be as well. 10 Points!

The last but definitely best song for me is Finland's Paradise Oskar and his Da Da Dam
Well Paradise Oskar or Axel, how he is really called, is just the best. A great message and the song is so cute and adorable. Well and so is Axel :D His music just reminds me of a mixture of Teitur and Tom Dice (participated for Belgium in last years ESC). Ok his album is not as genius as Tom's but anyway 12 Points from me! Too bad that I cannot vote for him :'( So please everybody vote for Finland!

So everybody enjoy the Eurovision and Share the moment!


PS My biggest disappointments this year are Israel and Sweden. Israel is usually my secret favorite. I just love songs in Hebrew and well and I think my all time ESC favorite will always be Boaz Mauda's Fire in your eyes written by the one and only Dana International. Too bad that she couldn't write a decent song for her participation this year. :( Well and Sweden, what the heck? Last years song was so amazing. Not that anybody besides me seemed to have noticed that but well I still feel that song from Anna Bergendahl was written just for me but this years participant is just a no-go. Well after a meaningful song last year which didn't even make it into the final (shame on you Europe!) Sweden probably thought: Let's send a typical meaningless Swedish pop song with lots of dancers and a window-kicking Idols winner to get into the final again. Well let's hope next year will be better again.

What the .....

... heck is going on in this country?

Enjoy but be warned it's completely insane but can lead to humming that song for the rest of the day.

Munamies - Pomppufiilis

Hauskaa Vappua!

Happy Vappu to you!

The most important days for Finnish students are the April 30th and May 1st! If possible, it's a week long party with lots of pick-nicks (if the weather is good), Tippaleipä (funnel cake) eating, Sima (bäähhhh) drinking, wearing student overalls and student caps. In general a crazy time where most of the people are just drunk all the time. But there is also a lot of tradition behind it. :) Finns love traditions!

Germany Visit (part 2): one wedding and no funeral

... but a lot of friends and not to forget a castle


- visit of friends in magdeburg
- wedding of my cousin in wernigerode