better late then never

Here a little flashback on my trip to Finland in March. I know it is already the end of May but i was busy and well better late than never :D

So from March 1st until March 8th I was in Finland, in Lahti, Turku and Helsinki to be precise. And I am so glad that I have so amazing friends there. I never had to pay for any accommodation just for trains and buses which were super expensive as always. But well it's Finland after all.

In Lahti, usual, I went to the Lahti Ski Games. Same procedure as every year you might say, just that this time I didn't have so many friends around. But well with 2 Katrins in the city I still had a fun time including a night out with dancing and watching ex-skijumpers, coaches and Nordic combined athletes getting drunk and hitting on ugly old women. Well if they need it! :D
Oh jeap and then there was 'some' wind again. looks like every 3 years or so Lahti weather just sucks. So half of my comps were canceled and this year i didn't had a press accreditation so no place to sit and warm up. Really need to work there next year to make it fun again. :)
But to spice things up I almost killed myself. Totally by accident of course! Stupid Steffi doesn't listen when people tell her: Don't walk over the frozen lake. Steffi just sees ice fishers on there and thinks: If they can do it, I can do it! I ended up ankle deep in water and knee deep in snow, made it to the shore, totally exhausted and scared as h*ll. After almost crashing my car a couple of years ago, I think this was the second near death experience in my life. I hope the last one. At least i won't go on a frozen lake ever again!

Oh and in Lahti I finally had the chance to watch an ice hockey match again (Ok not true I watched a regional league match in February in Leipzig but well that doesn't really count). It was a pretty cool game. The Pelicans from Lahti won, who later came in 2nd in the Finnish championship. Nothing compared to a match Turku but  we have the second biggest arena in the country so of course the ice hockey stadium in Lahti looked kind of cute to me. :D

And this year I got another cool souvenir from Lahti. During the last 2 years I started (thanks to my friend Katrin) collecting bibs (start numbers) from different Nordic Combined athletes. and this year I got one from my favorite ski jumper. Too bad that he fel in exactly the bib from the team competition that i got but he was Ok in the end and kind enough to sign the bib. Now i will have to frame it together with my Mikko bib from last year and then i will have some cool wall decoration in my new room.

All in all I was from Thursday till Sunday morning in Lahti. And if i say morning i mean my bus to Turku left at 4am! So after dancing half of teh night I spend the rest sleeping in the bus, or well trying.

I arrived around 7am in Turku, went straight to McDonalds, the only one in Turku and the only place open that early on a Sunday. I had 2 cocoas (I LOVE OBOY!) and killed 2 hours before surprising my friends. Oh my goodness. Who would have thought people could be so happy to see me. Surprise visits are just the best. I was for 2 more days in Turku and went on Tuesday morning to Helsinki to visit other friends. :D Seriously it is so awesome to see people again who you are so close to but haven't seen in 6 or 9 months! 
I then did some sightseeing with my friend Laura and just relaxed the last days in Helsinki.


I had to fly back early in Thursday morning. early means i had to be at the bus stop around 5AM. And of course the troubles started already there. i didn't have enough money for the bus and was almost kicked out of it again. But a nice man gave me the 15c that were missing. Can you believe it that somebody makes such a fuss about 15c. Ok in Germany nobody would have borrowed me that money and i would have been kicked out of the bus for sure but in Finland it was a surprise for me. The whole bus was full and nobody besides the driver would have checked if i paid or not and in Turku the bus driver would have taken me in for free but well Helsinki people are always different. So and then the bus driver almost drove the wrong way and we were so very late that i nearly missed my flight. So much stress so early in the morning. But also no surprise here, always when I travel everything just goes wrong. But I arrived eventually in Berlin were I spend the rest of the day.

Unfortunately the weather was really bad so i didn't really do anything besides waiting to meet another friend for diner. Around 9pm I finally caught my train back to Leipzig. Totally exhausted and somehow i caught some stomach flew on the way which made my next working day a very short one.

So much for my trip to Finland and Berlin. Don't know when I'll be back home in Suomi but everybody, especially the people in Turku told me to move back. Well if it was that easy. But I think if I ever go back for longer I might not leave again. third try is the charm, isn't it?

Next trip: Copenhagen in July. I hope! :D



 

Helsinki, elections and the end of winter

After the 5 days in Lahti I went for 2 days with Nina to Helsinki. I've been so many times to Hki that I stopped counting and so I think I'm the perfect guide. I've done that also many time in every season by now. :D So since Nina is going to study in Hki next spring I've just went with her to the usual spots in the city enter including the Cathedral and the Kauppahalli. Since Nina was sick and I've seen everything so often we didn't really do much outside the city center. Although the weather was so beautiful but it was still very cold and when you are sick you cannot enjoy anything anyway. So just a small sightseeing tour this time.

March was also the month of the parliament elections. And how crazy it was. For the whole month all parties had their little campaign booth so the pedestrian area looked like it was Christmas market all over again. You got flags, candy, coffee and other things for free, if you wanted too.
And seriously I didn't noticed how annoying election ads can be if you are not allowed to vote. Half of my facebook page was full with ads from different candidates. Yeap new medias are great but you can also overdo it. Funny in Finland are the election posters. In Germany they are scattered all over the city on lampposts and you have very huge billboards sometimes but here in Finland you have all election posters from all parties together and usually there are not many slogans on there but instead all candidates from each party. And seriously people are standing in front of these billboards and actually checking them out. Well I guess most of the people heard about the populist party called Perussuomalaiset (PerusS) in English often called True Finns. And well yes they got a lot of votes. Too many for my taste and I can just repeat what a good friend of mine wrote on fb after the election: 'I'm so disappointed by the Finnish people.' So by now it is still not 100% sure what the government will look like just that my second favorite Finnish politician (first one is of course Muumin mama Tarja Halonen) Jyrki Katainen (to be clear: I just like him not his party!) will be the new Prime minister (Pääministeri). But seriously it doesn't look very good. Especially since the top 3 parties of the election are so very different from each other. Kokoomus (National Coalition Party) the Party of Jyrki as a liberal-conservative party, then the Social democrats (SDP) and the right wing PersusS. Very weird combination. And it looks like they may not include the Swedish People's party in the government which I very much dislike. I should maybe add that it is very common in Finland to have multi-party coalitions. The last governments had between 3 (2003) and 4 (2007) or even 5 parties as in 1995 and 1999. So Finns are not at all afraid about different opinions and parties in the government. But well we'll see what the new government brings. Everybody is already worried about the EU politics, especially concerning the Portugal financial aid, but also about immigration and the position of the Swedish language.

Last but not least winter is over. It took a while till the snow started to melt but it eventually did when the temperature rose at the end of march. Problem was for a week the whole city was one big ice skating ring. During the day all the now was melting and doing the night everything was freezing over again. So in the morning the whole pathways where covered with ice. It was horrible. So in the morning you could barely walk without falling every two meters, then in then afternoon it was even worse because at the same time your feet where wet because half of the ice had meted and the resulting hydroplaning is seriously not much fun. But after a week that whole mess was over so no slippery pathways anymore just water, lots of water. Hurray for my rubber boots. :D
At the beginning of April then the miracle happened: The river was ice free! :D Seriously nobody could believe how fast it was going in the end but now spring is almost here.

Salpausselän kisat 2011

So, as in the past 5 years, at the beginning of March it was time for the Lahti Ski Games (Salpausselän kisat). This year due to the World Ski Championships in Oslo a week later than usual but still a must for me. Well that is the only constant in my life and I'll hold on to that till well till I'm ready to grow up and let go of my favorite sport. ;) So I'll probably hold on to Lahti forever. :P And please don't imagine me now as a 60 year old grey haired women in a bright blue jacked screaming at twenty something skiers who could be my grand-children. ;)

Well anyway, I was for about 4 1/2 days in Lahti and as always I wasn't alone. My sister was visiting me for a week and two other friends came also to Lahti (Angy and Nina) and well Katrin is living there so a whole bunch of people. To sum it up it was a great time with a few downs but more ups. I had an access-all-areas-pass which made me feel like a VIP. And this time I didn't even have to work part time as I did at the Nordic Junior World Championships in 2010. So I could go wherever I wanted including the media center, using the internet there, eating jummy food and in general warm up. :D So It was the most comfortable ski competition I've been to. :D No frozen feet!
So I was able to see all the competitions I wanted to see. Which where? Well Nordic Combined of course.

So if you haven't googled Lahti Ski Games by now I maybe should explain what it is. Well it is the combination of the 3 Nordic winter sports cross-country skiing, ski jumping and my favorite Nordic combined. So at that one weekend in March all three World Cups are held in Lahti which means 4 days of world class sports for a few Euros (or like me for free ;)).

The competitions I saw were great as always but my highlight was of course that the Nordic World Cup would end in Lahti, meaning the medal ceremony for the World Cup winner, or more important for me the second in the World Cup ;) , would be held in Lahti and I had the access-all-areas pass, so perfect chances to finally get some decent pics myself.

Well you can evaluate the pics yourself. :D

I had a good time even though everybody got sick and I felt more like a nurse than a friend or sister. ;) But now I know I can survive in a pharmacy with my 'super' Finnish skills. Thanks to our 'great' Finnish teacher in Turku and Riina and her ear pain. ;) (one of the many awful texts in our Finnish book)

So did I miss to mention anything important? Well not really, but we also went on Friday night to a Heavy Metal concert which was Ok but the day was so long that I was too tired to stay at the concert till 2am or maybe I'm just getting old. ;) And on Saturday I went out with a new friend and well it was interesting. :D There are some things you don't really want to see. :D Well I'm just glad that I'm probably the only one remembering how crazy everybody around me behaved. Hurray to teetotalism. ;)

Well also the 6th year at the LSG were great so surprise, surprise, I'm coming back next year. The room is already booked and a companion organized.


Nähdään vasta vuonna, Lahti!

Rauma

Moikka!

Between all those weird days as Runeberg's Day, Friendship Day/Valentine's Day and the upcoming Kalevala Day it's time for a short update.

So last week some friends of mine had an appointment in a little town called Rauma and that was for me the opportunity to join them since a 1,5h bus ride is much more fun with nice company. So Rauma is a special town for me. For once my best friend Tellu is living there and it is always great to see her but I also had my first snow in Finland there in October 2005. :) So for me this was the first time that I saw Rauma in real Winter and well I still have to say it is a little bit more interesting in summer but still very beautiful in winter. My Problem was that it was freezing cold and so windy that it made the sightseeing a challenge. As always I love to show Tellu Finland and it is always nice but to show her her own city is very funny, especially since I know the touristic sides much better. Anyway we did a little tour through the old city part which is THE tourist attraction. And surprisingly the Old
City of Rauma changed during the past 5 years. Most surprisingly the Hesburger (Finnish version of McDonals and makes the best cheeseburgers ever!!) moved out of an old wood building. Well besides the lacking of Hesburger I had a great day with good friends, learned a lot new things, went back on memory lane and realized how important it is to have cash money with you. :D They should really tell that to Americans before coming to Finland ;)

Enjoy the photographs!

Back on track

Moro!

Hmm been absent for a while or better say just too busy with other stuff and now i noticed that somehow the files where i from time to time wrote something down to post it here later is somehow gone or at least i cannot find it anymore on my laptop. So there won't be much on what happened here in Suomi during the last weeks since i cannot really remember it anyway. But if I forgot something important, then just remind me and i will write a little bit about it.

Just a short summary of December.
Well I was here, no internship in Germany because I am stupid. That is all i am going to say about it. And please I don't need any questions about uni or my future right now since i feel already bad enough about it and I don't need more pressure. Thanks.

So December. It was äh COLD! FREAKING COLD! Even for Finland. We had snow, very much snow which is very unusually for December at the coast here. And 3 weeks long under – 15°C is also very unusual. So we were all freezing and well not spending much time outside. But it is still one of the best month to spend in Finland.
Here December is call Joulukuu. Joulu means Christmas :D So it's the Christmas month. And Turku is the official Christmas city in this country.

So Joulukuu and in general the Christmas season starts with the openings of the Christmas markets all over the country. In Turku it opened at the end of November, at the first Advent weekend. The Christmas market here was very small but very nice and traditional, no drunken people, no weird smell of liver or other disgusting things like in Germany :) And in Turku Christmas market is just open on the Advent weekends. I was at the opening, - 20°C and of course I wasn't properly dressed. I thought my toes would freeze off.

At the same weekend was the traditional Åbo Akademi Christmas concert of the two choirs and the university orchestra. It was as 5 years ago the perfect start to the Christmas season. This beautiful Christmas music filling every corner of the cathedral. Very special I can tell you.

Anyway the next big thing was December 6th. And no it is not St. Nicolas day, ok it is but that is not important. The 6th of December is Finnish Independence Day. That day is very special. It is not celebrated as a big party like in countries as the USA or Norway but it is very quiet and a day to remember all people who fought and lost their lives for the independence of this country. The student unions of all the universities organized every year a torch procession from the student union buildings to the main cemetery. As 5 years ago I was of course a part of that procession. This year I even got my own torch. It felt pretty amazing being part of that big group of students that walked to the city in remembrance of the past. Since the procession was around 6 you could see in many windows two blue/white candles flickering. That is part of the independence day tradition. As well as watching the presidents ball in the evening on tv. I missed parts of that but well I have seen it the past 3 years so besides the different dresses it is not that much different every year.

Then I went one evening with Carolin to the so called 'Best Finnish Christmas Song' singing in one of the local churches. It is somehow tradition that in December people gather in the Churches to sing together. Sounds weird and well it was little bit weird and great at the same time. We went to Mikaelinkirkko which is a huge Gothic church, very nice and for me it was the first time that I've been to that church and well it was impressive. So was the singing. I love Finnish Christmas songs and charing that with a few hundred other people was so great. :) Definitely a great tradition.

So next on the agenda was Lucia Dagen. A Swedish tradition which comes from the days of Catholicism in the North. Well as in Sweden also in Finland there are Lucia celebrations and a Finnish Lucia is elected who is doing the whole traditional events in Helsinki. Since Turku has a big Swedish community we had also our own Lucia celebrations in the Cathedral with our own Lucia. I was a little bit late so I didn't got to see much but it was also more about here the songs and speeches. Luckily it was in Swedish so I at least understood more or less everything even if I didn't see it all.

Before Christmas it was time to say goodbye to a whole bunch of people. And that wasn't nice at all. I miss my flatmate Eva, my German friend Carolin, the crazy Peruvian girl Vicky, weirdo Adam and Hitomi my Japanese cherry blossom. :( Well life goes on, somehow although more or less all my friends are gone now so I have to make new friends.

For Christmas as I mentioned in an earlier post I was invited to a family Christmas diner with delicious food, singing, more food, Christmas story reading, caroling and well food. :D I think I gained around 3 kilograms during the holidays. If you want to know more about Finnish Christmas food just read this http://www.dlc.fi/~marianna/gourmet/season1b.htm and that is more or less everything I ate on Christmas.

The Wednesday after Christmas my friends Katrin and Tellu visited Turku at the same day and it was so nice to see some good friends again. From time to time it is just nice to see and hug some people who know you longer than 4 month and understand you better than many other people.

New Years Eve was a little bit quieter than Christmas. I was alone in my flat with my DVD collection which my mom finally send to me and since there were people blowing their money in the air I had my own private fireworks and didn't even need to leave the cosiness of my apartment. :)

So last Monday the new semester started here and that means new exchange students. Well haven't met many of them but well. Got also a new flatmate, from China, but she is already here since August which is nice that I don't have to tell so many thing for the dozens time. Seriously I am so tired of answering questions like: 'How long are you in Finland?', 'What do you study?', 'Why did you came to Finland?' .... bla bla bla. I know that it is necessary if you meet new people here but seriously I explained everything already a thousand times and at one point it is just annoying.

So that was it for the moment. Should get a little bit sleep before the Combined race and grand opening of the Culture capital year tomorrow. :)

Oh yeah I forgot: Turku is next to Tallin the culture capital of Europe so if you have the chance you should visit this amazing city this year. There is a lot going on.

Will tell more about opening ceremony during the next days. Hopefully before I leave to France.
Jeap I am going to France next Wednesday. The first time that I leave this country since August! Woohoo!!

Nähdään! (See you!)


PS: Happy New Year to you all! :P

Lappi on ihana!!!!!

So I'm back from Lapland. Still exhausted, since i just came back this morning, and I still have to much work to do so here are just a few impressions for the moment, the stories follow later.









So enjoy the pics and feel free to be jealous :P














more pics you find in my picasa album