Friday, December 31, 2010
Hyvää - Happy - Gott...
Hyvää Uutta Vuotta - Happy New Year - Gott Nytt År - Bonne Annee - Gelukkig Nieuwjaar - Hau'oli Makahiki Hou -
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Sorry to say but I hope only in Finland...
I tried to check if I've complained about this also earlier but I couldn't find it. Hence even more important to say what I think. Just like I told the staff that was not focused on serving customers = selling more = doing the job they were hired for.
I was today in a ice hockey game of my home team, Espoo Blues. As some of you know, they play 3 times 20 minutes where the clock is stopped when the game stops (different from soccer). That makes the game lasts normally a bit over 2 hours.
What do you think happens when the first 20 minutes is played and you have 15 minutes (I think it is not more in Finland, didn't pay attention...)?
Well, I can tell you that most of the people want to go and buy something; beer, soda, hot dog, hamburgar, crisps/chips etc.
In my business thinking it would be wise to make sure I have a proper number of hands to make sure these are sold in the fairly short time period, since if there are queues many leave the money in their pockets.
HOW THE HELL CAN THIS BE POSSIBLE:
In a "club" section for season ticket spectators (in Finnish league there are not too many of them) there is a nice, fancy 15 meters long bar and some hundreds of people. When the 15 minutes start, there is one (1), yes I mean one single person, at the bar. In seconds after the buzzer there is a queue of 10s of people.
What do I do after wondering this and seeing one lady clearing glasses at the end of bar and another doing whatevershewasdoingwithoutpayingattentiontothecustomers? Of course I go to these ladies and ask if they really plan to serve the customers with only one person. Well, they were looking at me like I was a 2-headed frog from Tsernobyl - and continued whatevertheyweredoing...
Unfortunately it was not the first time in this arena. Too bad I was with a guy who is responsible for next partner negotiations of one of Blues main sponsors. I was biting my tongue and he was the first to say out loud what we both thought about the damn queue vs business.
Now I remember!
It was in the Finland - Hungary football game where almost a similar thing happened. But this one was worse as tonight they had the potential to serve more. In the football game there was just too few salespeople.
It was towards the end of this blog posting where I complained about the lack of business sense.
What about the game then?
My team Blues played most of time fun, enjoyable hockey and was able to push the game to the enemy goal but they seemed to be avoiding shooting for some reason. The enemy, Porin Ässät - Aces from Pori (the Jazz town) - took twice the lead with similar 1-1 vs goalie from left side -goals but Blues came back both times, also with similar goals from a bit of a traffic jam.
Game goes to overtime, puck in Blues end and all of a sudden the puck is in a wrong net.
Well, Blues got at least the one point but Ässät 2 points that most likely made the >3 hour return bus trip a bit smoother...
C'mon Blues, step up the game winning touch and you will go far this year!
I was today in a ice hockey game of my home team, Espoo Blues. As some of you know, they play 3 times 20 minutes where the clock is stopped when the game stops (different from soccer). That makes the game lasts normally a bit over 2 hours.
What do you think happens when the first 20 minutes is played and you have 15 minutes (I think it is not more in Finland, didn't pay attention...)?
Well, I can tell you that most of the people want to go and buy something; beer, soda, hot dog, hamburgar, crisps/chips etc.
In my business thinking it would be wise to make sure I have a proper number of hands to make sure these are sold in the fairly short time period, since if there are queues many leave the money in their pockets.
HOW THE HELL CAN THIS BE POSSIBLE:
In a "club" section for season ticket spectators (in Finnish league there are not too many of them) there is a nice, fancy 15 meters long bar and some hundreds of people. When the 15 minutes start, there is one (1), yes I mean one single person, at the bar. In seconds after the buzzer there is a queue of 10s of people.
What do I do after wondering this and seeing one lady clearing glasses at the end of bar and another doing whatevershewasdoingwithoutpayingattentiontothecustomers? Of course I go to these ladies and ask if they really plan to serve the customers with only one person. Well, they were looking at me like I was a 2-headed frog from Tsernobyl - and continued whatevertheyweredoing...
Unfortunately it was not the first time in this arena. Too bad I was with a guy who is responsible for next partner negotiations of one of Blues main sponsors. I was biting my tongue and he was the first to say out loud what we both thought about the damn queue vs business.
Now I remember!
It was in the Finland - Hungary football game where almost a similar thing happened. But this one was worse as tonight they had the potential to serve more. In the football game there was just too few salespeople.
It was towards the end of this blog posting where I complained about the lack of business sense.
What about the game then?
My team Blues played most of time fun, enjoyable hockey and was able to push the game to the enemy goal but they seemed to be avoiding shooting for some reason. The enemy, Porin Ässät - Aces from Pori (the Jazz town) - took twice the lead with similar 1-1 vs goalie from left side -goals but Blues came back both times, also with similar goals from a bit of a traffic jam.
Game goes to overtime, puck in Blues end and all of a sudden the puck is in a wrong net.
Well, Blues got at least the one point but Ässät 2 points that most likely made the >3 hour return bus trip a bit smoother...
C'mon Blues, step up the game winning touch and you will go far this year!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Åland - Ahvenanmaa (Aland), a wanna-be country
We Finns know well what Åland, Ahvenanmaa (or Aland in Flag Counter language) is or what it is not. It is many things, not least a beautiful island in Finnish archipelago between mainlands Finland and Sweden, but what it is NOT is a country of its own.
No matter what the locals or Flag Counter says;
Since the Peace of Hamina 1809 it has been part of Finland, first under Russian governance until 1917 and after that part of independent Finland. Prior to 1809 Finland and Åland were part of Swedish kingdom.
Both the Åland people and Swedes have had plans to join it with Sweden, most likely the strongest plans during 1918 fairly short civil war in Finland. I can't blaim them - neither of them;
On this island of less than 30.000 inhabitants over 90% speak the 2nd official language of Finland: Swedish. Only 5% are Finnish speaking. I can tell you it is a bit difficult to get anything done on the island only in Finnish. For the stats and more details from Wikipedia.
Somehow they have managed to get Swedish to be the only official language, even though on the main land Finland we have somewhat the same %'s with the language split but vice versa. Here are these numbers.
Why is it like that?
As many other Finns I'm not quite sure. Naturally it is due to historical reasons and part of the fact is that the Finlands Svenska, Swedish speaking Finns, have for what ever reason had strong community and people in influencal positions. There is also a Swedish Party in the parliament and most of the time they have had a minister seat in the government.
I am happy to have Åland as part of Finland, as it is quite unique place with beautiful nature. It also gives me another place to keep up with my Swedish. Many Finns do not like the fact that we are obliged to study Swedish in the schools, since they would see it more beneficial to put the effort in some other "more beneficial" language. Believe it or not, many parents would like to have their kids to study Chinese...
I studies Swedish at school for about 8 years but it was only during one summer job that I got to a level of speaking it somewhat bravely: I worked for the ferryline operating between Finland and Sweden.
Anyways,
A piece of info for you: Åland - Ahvenanmaa is not a country, but a small region of Finland representing only 0.49% of its our area and 0.50% of our population.
PS Till mina Svänska vänner;
Jag har inte skrivit på Svenska för nästan alla av ni kan väl prata Engelska. Vi får nu se om många nya läsare kommer till detta blog - tack för detta skrivning. Om det händer, det är betyende för denna skrivning på Svenska.
PSS Kan ni vänligen ge mig en råd: Borde jag skriva Svenska eller svenska?
Tryck på "Comments" och berätta... Tackar o' bockar!
PSS We shall see if this brings new readers from Sweden. If that happens, it must be partly due to the short Swedish text. As I'm posting this, I've had 89 visitors from Sweden. If it increases a lot, it must be due to Google search. Would be first proof of such.
PSSS For the fools who still wonder where is Finland or Åland, here is a little helper...
No matter what the locals or Flag Counter says;
Both the Åland people and Swedes have had plans to join it with Sweden, most likely the strongest plans during 1918 fairly short civil war in Finland. I can't blaim them - neither of them;
On this island of less than 30.000 inhabitants over 90% speak the 2nd official language of Finland: Swedish. Only 5% are Finnish speaking. I can tell you it is a bit difficult to get anything done on the island only in Finnish. For the stats and more details from Wikipedia.
Somehow they have managed to get Swedish to be the only official language, even though on the main land Finland we have somewhat the same %'s with the language split but vice versa. Here are these numbers.
Why is it like that?
As many other Finns I'm not quite sure. Naturally it is due to historical reasons and part of the fact is that the Finlands Svenska, Swedish speaking Finns, have for what ever reason had strong community and people in influencal positions. There is also a Swedish Party in the parliament and most of the time they have had a minister seat in the government.
I am happy to have Åland as part of Finland, as it is quite unique place with beautiful nature. It also gives me another place to keep up with my Swedish. Many Finns do not like the fact that we are obliged to study Swedish in the schools, since they would see it more beneficial to put the effort in some other "more beneficial" language. Believe it or not, many parents would like to have their kids to study Chinese...
I studies Swedish at school for about 8 years but it was only during one summer job that I got to a level of speaking it somewhat bravely: I worked for the ferryline operating between Finland and Sweden.
Anyways,
A piece of info for you: Åland - Ahvenanmaa is not a country, but a small region of Finland representing only 0.49% of its our area and 0.50% of our population.
PS Till mina Svänska vänner;
Jag har inte skrivit på Svenska för nästan alla av ni kan väl prata Engelska. Vi får nu se om många nya läsare kommer till detta blog - tack för detta skrivning. Om det händer, det är betyende för denna skrivning på Svenska.
PSS Kan ni vänligen ge mig en råd: Borde jag skriva Svenska eller svenska?
Tryck på "Comments" och berätta... Tackar o' bockar!
PSS We shall see if this brings new readers from Sweden. If that happens, it must be partly due to the short Swedish text. As I'm posting this, I've had 89 visitors from Sweden. If it increases a lot, it must be due to Google search. Would be first proof of such.
PSSS For the fools who still wonder where is Finland or Åland, here is a little helper...
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Talvi - Vinter - Hiver - Winter in Finland, Suomessa
I love winter, rakastan talvea, jag älskar vinter, j'adore hiver, ich liebe Winter, is breá liom an gheimhridh!
Tonight I wanted to amuse you with some winter pics. I have plenty of them in the back pocket so let's see what & when comes after these... Hope you enjoy them at least a fraction of what I have enjoyed live!
----
Backyard right after the first snow in November
Badkyard a bit later on
Same tree at the back a bit later
And tonight, 25th of December a reality check with the snow
Was it smart, I don't know but it's a standard to make sure you know what the white stuff you live in the middle of is...
Muy loco!!!
A bit of chocolate info in between;
Fazer, a Finnish chocolate producer that makes also the best chocolate in the world, Fazer Blue - Fazerin Sininen, has made a "gourmet" chocolate that should be gooood. It is good, but not praline quality and what is a bit surprising (or actually not), is that the chocolate itself is not that big vs the package.
So if you want to get the best chocolate in the wold, get Fazer Blue - Fazering Sininen. If you wish to do it the "wine tasting way", go for the fantastic pralines. In Brussels a small, fantastic chocolate factory Passion Chocolat can be found at rue Pére Eudore Devroye 197, 1040 Etterbeek / Bruxelles, Belgium, about 500 meters from Montgomery roundabout. I recommend it, they also have fantastic ice cream at summer time. They are also at Grand Sablon.
Back to Finland;
Snow also comes over the door decoration.
The moon can be beautiful also behind the trees.
And to finish off tonight, here are two muy loco niños that seem to take after their father...
Tonight I wanted to amuse you with some winter pics. I have plenty of them in the back pocket so let's see what & when comes after these... Hope you enjoy them at least a fraction of what I have enjoyed live!
----
Backyard right after the first snow in November
A bit of chocolate info in between;
Fazer, a Finnish chocolate producer that makes also the best chocolate in the world, Fazer Blue - Fazerin Sininen, has made a "gourmet" chocolate that should be gooood. It is good, but not praline quality and what is a bit surprising (or actually not), is that the chocolate itself is not that big vs the package.
So if you want to get the best chocolate in the wold, get Fazer Blue - Fazering Sininen. If you wish to do it the "wine tasting way", go for the fantastic pralines. In Brussels a small, fantastic chocolate factory Passion Chocolat can be found at rue Pére Eudore Devroye 197, 1040 Etterbeek / Bruxelles, Belgium, about 500 meters from Montgomery roundabout. I recommend it, they also have fantastic ice cream at summer time. They are also at Grand Sablon.
Snow also comes over the door decoration.
Stay tuned, more to come...
Very merry Christmas - Erinomaista Joulua!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Christmas in Finland: Traditions and Tips
In Finland THE day is on 24th of December. All offices close on 23rd in the afternoon and open again on 27th. Many people keep holidays between Xmas and New Year, but this year we don't get any extra days off since the 25th and 26th (that are both public holidays) happen to be over the weekend.
And in here they are not "compensated" as in Belgium and many other countries, that means it is bad luck that we "loose" them.
There are many traditions that vary per family, often depending on how their own families have spent it. When two people get married, it creates new traditions when you combine two histories. You pick the best you like, skip some you don't like and it becomes your traditions that you pass on to your kids.
And they make their own...
We start our day with a rise pourage made in the oven. It has got one almond in and the one who gets it, gets to make a wish. I love to have it with cinnemon, sugar and milk but some haei it with plum fool (not stupid, the sauce, kiisseli in Finnish).
We have been quite gentle with our kids and allowed them to open one present from under the tree. In my side of the family the tree was decorated only in the morning of 24th, but that's one thing where I have given in and we decorate it few days ahead. This way we get to enjoy it longer.
I love the smell of the ordinary Finnish pine tree that you can see in the forests, but as my wife is allergic to them and the thicker ones look nicer, we miss the smell but get the looks. Also the needles stay better in the thick ones.
It was actually during the Brussels years that we got used to them. Up here the tree sellers in the corners charge somewhat 70-80 Euros for them, but shamefully I found a very nice looking one from Bauhaus for 40 Euros, danke schön! And as I had a van available, it was a piece of cake to bring it in without a hassle.
We have loads of decorations and most of the years we select the main color between silver and gold. This year we decided to make it without the ribbons. Let's see if you will see a pic later on
Santa Claus, Joulupukki, comes and visits most families during the day or evening. He brings a bag of presents, many of them based on the wish list sent to him in advance. In our family the kids leave Santa's letter outside and the little elves, Santa's helpers, collect them. Most of the time it has been in Santa's bag so the Santa who comes in must be the real one.
The main meal we eat also on 24th, either before or after Santa's visit. If it is after, we open at least one round of presents before that so that the kids can focus a bit more on the meal - and have fun. After all, that's one of the main points of Christmas.
The meal, well I can tell you there are as many variations as there are families but almost all have ham (also Turkey has increased its share but still very marginal), carrot-, turnip-, and potatoe caserols, salted raw salmon, variation of herrings, caviar, paté, cheeses, and many many other goodies.
For dessert we have gingerbread (we also made a house again), plum pastery, chocolate in many variations etc. Some have cake but that's something that no one else in our family likes and I forgot to get one: pinecone cake with marzipan cover. What the heck, I can get one for New Year's eve. Or what eve Tuesday or Thursday when I feel like it ;o)
For the ones who wish to buy some wine or other alcohol for Christmas dinner, the only thing available in Finland is beer with alcohol content less than 4,7%. But remember to buy it before noon as the shops close at 12:00.
We have red wine and freezer cold vodka schnaps = shots with the meal. That tradition comes from my mother's side of the family with a background in St Petersburg before the revolution. You know, Russians like their vodka...
Here are some tips for Christmas season;
If you need to explain why forexample the father of the family is always somewhere when the Santa comes for a visit, how about this:
Dad needs to go up on the roof to help Santa to hold his reindeers so that they won't fly away while the Santa is visiting your house.
For the ones who have family members that are not fond of Christmas ham, here's a good quote I heard yesterday;
"Kinkku on lihaa ja elävänä se oli possu" - "Ham is meat and when it was alive it was a piggy"
(Kiitos LL!)
My high school physical education teacher - legendary Jussi Markkanen at Tapiola School - was a vegetarian at the time. He had not eaten meat for years, and hence it was not that big of a surprise to hear that his younger daughter at the age of 7 or so had never - I mean never - eaten meat.
She was quite ok with it most of the time, but at Christmas time she was a bit hesitating but her father - a PE teacher and a coach at a local track & field team - had a well thought comment to doubts of the young lady;
"Would you like to eat pig's bottom?"
And so they spent their Christmas happily without a ham :o)
I guess I saved the most important tip as last;
If your mother-in-law says something you would like to comment harshly right away, have a zip of wine you have next to you and smile. You will NOT win anything by saying what's your brilliant opinion that is 179% different than hers.
Yes, the same applies to father-in-laws, sons-in-laws and daughters-in-laws.
Have a fantastic Christmas you all, enjoy the company of the ones near you and cherish the memories of the ones not present!
...I know I will light few candels tonight for the ones I miss a lot.
And in here they are not "compensated" as in Belgium and many other countries, that means it is bad luck that we "loose" them.
There are many traditions that vary per family, often depending on how their own families have spent it. When two people get married, it creates new traditions when you combine two histories. You pick the best you like, skip some you don't like and it becomes your traditions that you pass on to your kids.
And they make their own...
We start our day with a rise pourage made in the oven. It has got one almond in and the one who gets it, gets to make a wish. I love to have it with cinnemon, sugar and milk but some haei it with plum fool (not stupid, the sauce, kiisseli in Finnish).
We have been quite gentle with our kids and allowed them to open one present from under the tree. In my side of the family the tree was decorated only in the morning of 24th, but that's one thing where I have given in and we decorate it few days ahead. This way we get to enjoy it longer.
I love the smell of the ordinary Finnish pine tree that you can see in the forests, but as my wife is allergic to them and the thicker ones look nicer, we miss the smell but get the looks. Also the needles stay better in the thick ones.
It was actually during the Brussels years that we got used to them. Up here the tree sellers in the corners charge somewhat 70-80 Euros for them, but shamefully I found a very nice looking one from Bauhaus for 40 Euros, danke schön! And as I had a van available, it was a piece of cake to bring it in without a hassle.
We have loads of decorations and most of the years we select the main color between silver and gold. This year we decided to make it without the ribbons. Let's see if you will see a pic later on
Santa Claus, Joulupukki, comes and visits most families during the day or evening. He brings a bag of presents, many of them based on the wish list sent to him in advance. In our family the kids leave Santa's letter outside and the little elves, Santa's helpers, collect them. Most of the time it has been in Santa's bag so the Santa who comes in must be the real one.
The main meal we eat also on 24th, either before or after Santa's visit. If it is after, we open at least one round of presents before that so that the kids can focus a bit more on the meal - and have fun. After all, that's one of the main points of Christmas.
The meal, well I can tell you there are as many variations as there are families but almost all have ham (also Turkey has increased its share but still very marginal), carrot-, turnip-, and potatoe caserols, salted raw salmon, variation of herrings, caviar, paté, cheeses, and many many other goodies.
For dessert we have gingerbread (we also made a house again), plum pastery, chocolate in many variations etc. Some have cake but that's something that no one else in our family likes and I forgot to get one: pinecone cake with marzipan cover. What the heck, I can get one for New Year's eve. Or what eve Tuesday or Thursday when I feel like it ;o)
For the ones who wish to buy some wine or other alcohol for Christmas dinner, the only thing available in Finland is beer with alcohol content less than 4,7%. But remember to buy it before noon as the shops close at 12:00.
We have red wine and freezer cold vodka schnaps = shots with the meal. That tradition comes from my mother's side of the family with a background in St Petersburg before the revolution. You know, Russians like their vodka...
Here are some tips for Christmas season;
If you need to explain why forexample the father of the family is always somewhere when the Santa comes for a visit, how about this:
Dad needs to go up on the roof to help Santa to hold his reindeers so that they won't fly away while the Santa is visiting your house.
For the ones who have family members that are not fond of Christmas ham, here's a good quote I heard yesterday;
"Kinkku on lihaa ja elävänä se oli possu" - "Ham is meat and when it was alive it was a piggy"
(Kiitos LL!)
My high school physical education teacher - legendary Jussi Markkanen at Tapiola School - was a vegetarian at the time. He had not eaten meat for years, and hence it was not that big of a surprise to hear that his younger daughter at the age of 7 or so had never - I mean never - eaten meat.
She was quite ok with it most of the time, but at Christmas time she was a bit hesitating but her father - a PE teacher and a coach at a local track & field team - had a well thought comment to doubts of the young lady;
"Would you like to eat pig's bottom?"
And so they spent their Christmas happily without a ham :o)
I guess I saved the most important tip as last;
If your mother-in-law says something you would like to comment harshly right away, have a zip of wine you have next to you and smile. You will NOT win anything by saying what's your brilliant opinion that is 179% different than hers.
Yes, the same applies to father-in-laws, sons-in-laws and daughters-in-laws.
Have a fantastic Christmas you all, enjoy the company of the ones near you and cherish the memories of the ones not present!
...I know I will light few candels tonight for the ones I miss a lot.
Loistavaa Joulua!
Have a fantastic Christmas
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Short day today...
Dear Friends,
Today has been the sortest day of the year in Helsinki. The daylight we had lasted for 5 hours 48 minutes. Not that I had any chance to enjoy it as we are living the months when I leave home in the morning at dark and return at dark. No need for sunglasses...
To check your home town sunrise and sunset times, go here.
I guess we are lucky, as up North in Lapland the guys don't have a day at all. As I've said earlier, up there above the Arctic Circle the sun stays below the horizon for weeks. It was a fabulous experience last winter to go skiing, just check out the posts from around New Year 2009-2010.
We also have heck of a lot snow for the time of the year. We were in almost 70 cm, but the wind has moved the snow in the official measuring point so that it is now somewhat 60 cm.
I gotta say I have quite many good pics from the past month of winter, I think the first ones are from mid November when the sea was already frozen. Sorry, won't have the time & energy to take the effort right now but I have here a pic from http://www.iltasanomat.fi/ taken from one of the Helsinki cemeteries.
Christmas is coming, it's time to relax and enjoy the company of your friends and family - your loved ones. And for the loved ones who are not there with you any more, you can light a candle in a place where it feels right for you. It doesn't need to be for example the certain cemetary or so, you can choose the place that you and the persons up there are both happy with.
Be good, the Santa's helpers are still out there watching you. The REAL Santa that comes from Lapland, Finland will come and visit all the ones who have behaved well. I'm one of them since I actually help him regularly :o) Reminder, be aware of the fake ones...
Today has been the sortest day of the year in Helsinki. The daylight we had lasted for 5 hours 48 minutes. Not that I had any chance to enjoy it as we are living the months when I leave home in the morning at dark and return at dark. No need for sunglasses...
To check your home town sunrise and sunset times, go here.
I guess we are lucky, as up North in Lapland the guys don't have a day at all. As I've said earlier, up there above the Arctic Circle the sun stays below the horizon for weeks. It was a fabulous experience last winter to go skiing, just check out the posts from around New Year 2009-2010.
We also have heck of a lot snow for the time of the year. We were in almost 70 cm, but the wind has moved the snow in the official measuring point so that it is now somewhat 60 cm.
I gotta say I have quite many good pics from the past month of winter, I think the first ones are from mid November when the sea was already frozen. Sorry, won't have the time & energy to take the effort right now but I have here a pic from http://www.iltasanomat.fi/ taken from one of the Helsinki cemeteries.
Be good, the Santa's helpers are still out there watching you. The REAL Santa that comes from Lapland, Finland will come and visit all the ones who have behaved well. I'm one of them since I actually help him regularly :o) Reminder, be aware of the fake ones...
Enjoy the moment and take care of yourself and the loved ones!!!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Siitäs saitte - Told ya!
Minähän sanoin että se on kiinni meistä itsestämme! Miksi muuten http://www.positiivarit.fi/ olisi tänään laittanut englannin kieliseksi ajatukseksi alla olevan, jonka vapaa suomennos on;
"Elämä on 10 prosenttia sitä miksi sen teet,
ja 90 prosenttia miten siihen suhtaudut!"
----
As I said in Finnish in the previous post, you are yourself responsible for your life. Here is a quote from a Finnish site http://www.positiivarit.fi/ - "positive thinkers...";
BREAKFAST FOR THOUGHT
Life is 10 percent what you make it,
and 90 percent how you take it.
-Irving Berlin
"Elämä on 10 prosenttia sitä miksi sen teet,
ja 90 prosenttia miten siihen suhtaudut!"
----
As I said in Finnish in the previous post, you are yourself responsible for your life. Here is a quote from a Finnish site http://www.positiivarit.fi/ - "positive thinkers...";
BREAKFAST FOR THOUGHT
Life is 10 percent what you make it,
and 90 percent how you take it.
-Irving Berlin
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Oletko onnellinen
This is about being happy - sorry folks, this time only in Finnish!
Kodin Kuvalehdessä oli mielenkiintoista tarinaa onnellisuudesta. Tarinassa oli yksi knoppi jota haluaisin haastaa;
Siinä sanotaan että kansainvälisten tutkimusten mukaan ainoastaan 40 prosenttia onnellisuuden avaimista on omissa käsissämme ja noin 50 prosenttia on geneettisesti määräytynyttä ja vain 10% riippuu ulkoisista olosuhteista, kuten terveydestä, varallisuudesta ja elämän erilaisista sattumuksista ja tapahtumista.
Vain 40% onnellisuudesta omissa käsissämme?
No way, sanon minä! Jos haluat olla onnellinen, sinulla on enemmän valtaa ja vastuuta muuttaa asioita. Elämä on täynnä valintoja, tänäänkin minä olisin voinut valita itsekkäästi ja vaikka lähteä rantakahvilaan nauttimaan kaakaosta ulkona vellovan lumimyräkän keskellä - tai tehdä vastaavan kotisohvalla suuren ikkunan ääressä.
Ei, en tehnyt sitä vaan valitsin jakaa hieman onnellisuuttani ja autoin minulle läheisiä ihmisiä tilanteessa jossa heille oli antamastani avusta hyötyä - joka osaltaan tuo heille sitä onnellisuutta. Vaikkakaan onnellisuus ei välttämättä ole päällimmäisenä mielessä kun olet muutama päivä ennen joulua keskellä muuttoa ja myöhässä olevaa remonttia...
Tiedän kuitenkin että valitsin tekemisen joka teki heitä onnellisemmaksi, minä sain viettää aikaa heidän kanssaan ja samalla tuli aavistuksen verran hyötyliikuntaakin. Ja minulle onnellisempi olo. Niin, sain toisaalta samalla hoidettua vähän omia hoidettavia asioita joten loppu hyvin kaikki hyvin. Kai.
Joo, olisin varmaankin himassa ollessani saanut tehtyä duunijuttujakin eteenpäin mutta...
Mitä sitten tehdä jotta tulet entistä onnellisemmaksi?
Lehti listasi 10 ohjetta. Joitain näistä toteutan usein tai jopa jatkuvasti, jotkut taas vaativat hieman petraamista...
Tarkempaa tietoa varten hanki luettavaksi Kodin Kuvalehti 23/2010.
Onnellista Joulun valmisteluviikkoa kaikille!
Kodin Kuvalehdessä oli mielenkiintoista tarinaa onnellisuudesta. Tarinassa oli yksi knoppi jota haluaisin haastaa;
Siinä sanotaan että kansainvälisten tutkimusten mukaan ainoastaan 40 prosenttia onnellisuuden avaimista on omissa käsissämme ja noin 50 prosenttia on geneettisesti määräytynyttä ja vain 10% riippuu ulkoisista olosuhteista, kuten terveydestä, varallisuudesta ja elämän erilaisista sattumuksista ja tapahtumista.
No way, sanon minä! Jos haluat olla onnellinen, sinulla on enemmän valtaa ja vastuuta muuttaa asioita. Elämä on täynnä valintoja, tänäänkin minä olisin voinut valita itsekkäästi ja vaikka lähteä rantakahvilaan nauttimaan kaakaosta ulkona vellovan lumimyräkän keskellä - tai tehdä vastaavan kotisohvalla suuren ikkunan ääressä.
Ei, en tehnyt sitä vaan valitsin jakaa hieman onnellisuuttani ja autoin minulle läheisiä ihmisiä tilanteessa jossa heille oli antamastani avusta hyötyä - joka osaltaan tuo heille sitä onnellisuutta. Vaikkakaan onnellisuus ei välttämättä ole päällimmäisenä mielessä kun olet muutama päivä ennen joulua keskellä muuttoa ja myöhässä olevaa remonttia...
Tiedän kuitenkin että valitsin tekemisen joka teki heitä onnellisemmaksi, minä sain viettää aikaa heidän kanssaan ja samalla tuli aavistuksen verran hyötyliikuntaakin. Ja minulle onnellisempi olo. Niin, sain toisaalta samalla hoidettua vähän omia hoidettavia asioita joten loppu hyvin kaikki hyvin. Kai.
Joo, olisin varmaankin himassa ollessani saanut tehtyä duunijuttujakin eteenpäin mutta...
Mitä sitten tehdä jotta tulet entistä onnellisemmaksi?
Lehti listasi 10 ohjetta. Joitain näistä toteutan usein tai jopa jatkuvasti, jotkut taas vaativat hieman petraamista...
Onnellista Joulun valmisteluviikkoa kaikille!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Gimme 5! + Joke / Vitsi: Only one wish / Vain yksi toivomus
"Gimme 5!" was not what I had in mind in January 2010, less than a year ago, when I added the flag counter on the blog site. But today we reached 5000 visits!!!
Honestly, I had no idea what to expect but sincerely I wasn't expecting to get in average >400 visitors per month.
That is from ~1900 different visitors (IP addresses), over >600 of them from Finland, >200 from US and >100 from UK. I can easily explain ~100 visitors from Finland, somewhat 20 from US and a handful from UK. From Belgium I could list or guess perhaps 20 and max a handful from Italy, Spain, France, Holland and some others, but the countries I mentioned are between 25 and 70 visitors.
So the core question still is:
How the heck you guys find your way here?
I don't know but since you keep coming back, I guess I should go on.
Why?
I truly don't know as there is only very limited direct benefit from this. That is giving the people who personally know me and the family a flavor what is going on with us. The ones who follow regularly can on the other hand say it is only now and then that I truly tell what's going on with the family. The Tallin being one of them.
The rest is something about different opinions about this and that more or less important things. Like the following joke that I wish to share with you to loosen up your mind for the weekend.
Have fun, enjoy the last weekend before Christmas and stay tuned. And remember to be good, Santa's helpers are on the move. As said many times, the REAL Santa comes from Finland. If you wish to get Santa's help with the letter to the kids, click here.
The the story that I promised for the weekend fun. I've got it this time also in Finnish, as almost 1/3 of the visitors are from Finland. And hence 2/3 of you are from other countries, I've written less and less in Finnish.
Ja A.M.:lle tiedoksi, koska 2/3 lukijoista on Suomen ulkopuolelta, tarinaa tulee jatkossakin pääosin englanniksi :o)
Ja sitten tarinaan - And then the story;
Nainen käveli metsässä ja kompastui yhtäkkiä johonkin, joka lähemmän tarkastelun jälkeen paljastui öljylampuksi. Kun nainen pyyhki sitä tuli tietenkin henki esiin.
While a woman was walking in the woods, she tripped in something that appeared to be an oil lamp. When she was wiping it clean, a genie appeared.
"Gracias por su visita!" as many napkins in Spain say...
Honestly, I had no idea what to expect but sincerely I wasn't expecting to get in average >400 visitors per month.
That is from ~1900 different visitors (IP addresses), over >600 of them from Finland, >200 from US and >100 from UK. I can easily explain ~100 visitors from Finland, somewhat 20 from US and a handful from UK. From Belgium I could list or guess perhaps 20 and max a handful from Italy, Spain, France, Holland and some others, but the countries I mentioned are between 25 and 70 visitors.
So the core question still is:
How the heck you guys find your way here?
I don't know but since you keep coming back, I guess I should go on.
Why?
I truly don't know as there is only very limited direct benefit from this. That is giving the people who personally know me and the family a flavor what is going on with us. The ones who follow regularly can on the other hand say it is only now and then that I truly tell what's going on with the family. The Tallin being one of them.
The rest is something about different opinions about this and that more or less important things. Like the following joke that I wish to share with you to loosen up your mind for the weekend.
Have fun, enjoy the last weekend before Christmas and stay tuned. And remember to be good, Santa's helpers are on the move. As said many times, the REAL Santa comes from Finland. If you wish to get Santa's help with the letter to the kids, click here.
The the story that I promised for the weekend fun. I've got it this time also in Finnish, as almost 1/3 of the visitors are from Finland. And hence 2/3 of you are from other countries, I've written less and less in Finnish.
Ja A.M.:lle tiedoksi, koska 2/3 lukijoista on Suomen ulkopuolelta, tarinaa tulee jatkossakin pääosin englanniksi :o)
Ja sitten tarinaan - And then the story;
Nainen käveli metsässä ja kompastui yhtäkkiä johonkin, joka lähemmän tarkastelun jälkeen paljastui öljylampuksi. Kun nainen pyyhki sitä tuli tietenkin henki esiin.
While a woman was walking in the woods, she tripped in something that appeared to be an oil lamp. When she was wiping it clean, a genie appeared.
'Saanko nyt kolme toivomusta?' nainen kysyi.
'Et', vastasi henki, 'Huonojen aikojen ja muun sellaisen takia saa nykyään esittää vain yhden toivomuksen... No, mikäs se olisi?'
'Can I now get three wishes?' she asked.
'No you can't. Due to bad times you get nowadays only one wish. What would that be?'
'No siinä tapauksessa haluaisin rauhan Lähi-Itään', sanoi nainen ja kaivoi esiin kartan. 'Näetkö tämän kartan? Haluan, että nämä maat lopettavat taistelemasta keskenään.'
'No siinä tapauksessa haluaisin rauhan Lähi-Itään', sanoi nainen ja kaivoi esiin kartan. 'Näetkö tämän kartan? Haluan, että nämä maat lopettavat taistelemasta keskenään.'
In that case I'd like to have peace in the Middle East.' she said and pulled out a map. 'Can you see this? These countries should end fighting against each others.'
Henki katsoi karttaa ja sanoi: 'Voi herran jestas sentään, nämä maathan ovat tapelleet keskenään jo tuhansia vuosia. Luulenpa, että asialle ei ole mitään tehtävissä. Olen hyvä, mutta en ihan NIIN hyvä. Toivo jotain muuta.'
Henki katsoi karttaa ja sanoi: 'Voi herran jestas sentään, nämä maathan ovat tapelleet keskenään jo tuhansia vuosia. Luulenpa, että asialle ei ole mitään tehtävissä. Olen hyvä, mutta en ihan NIIN hyvä. Toivo jotain muuta.'
The genie looked at the map and said: 'Oh dear, these countries have been fighting for thousands of years. I'm afraid there is nothing I can do with it. I am good but not THAT good. Can you please make another wish?'
Nainen mietti hetken ja sanoi:
Nainen mietti hetken ja sanoi:
'En ole vielä onnistunut tapaamaan sitä oikeaa miestä. Miestä, joka on ajattelevainen ja rakastavainen, joka
ottaa muut huomioon, osaa laittaa ruokaa ja tekee puolet kotitöistä. Mies joka on uskollinen, hyvä sängyssä eikä katso urheilua koko ajan. Lyhyesti sanottuna ihanteellinen elämänkumppani.'
ottaa muut huomioon, osaa laittaa ruokaa ja tekee puolet kotitöistä. Mies joka on uskollinen, hyvä sängyssä eikä katso urheilua koko ajan. Lyhyesti sanottuna ihanteellinen elämänkumppani.'
The woman though for a while and said:
'I have not yet found the right man. A man who is considerate and loving and takes others into account. He can cook and takes care of half of the cleaning, laundry, dishes and so on. A man who is faithful, good in bed and doesn't watch sports. To put it in a nutshell, a perfect partner for life.'
Henki oli hetken aikaa hiljaa ja murahti sitten:
'Näytä nyt vielä sitä saatanan karttaa...!!!'
The genie was silent for a moment and then growled out:
'Show me the damn map again...!!!'
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Winter Tallinn
Before going to the main topic, I'd like to congratulate the Finnish Floorball Team for winning the World Championships 2nd time in the row. In the final Finland won the strong team of Sweden 6-2.
Well done, I'm sure the players enjoyed the game in front of home crowd of 13000 people.
I made yesterday a trip to the capital of Estonia, Tallinn. The old Hansa-town with its medieval centre and fantastic restaurants was again enjoyable - despite of the harsh winter weather.
They had just gotten 20 cm fresh snow - just like Helsinki - so the city was still recovering but that didn't bother us that much. We got a taxi in front of the terminal without waiting and had good shoes to walk on winter roads. In some places we had to climb over piles of snow, but that was all fun.
Cold, windy winter weather was on the other hand a good reason to have a break and warm drink inside...
Here are some images from Tallinn, but as I have said also earlier, you should go and check it out yourself.
You can enlarge the pictures by clicking them - suurenna kuvat klikkaamalla.
And what does not belong in the next picture?
To finish off, tell me what is in the picture below!
PS While Estonia will start using Euros soon, I sincerely hope that your price level will not increase like it has happened in so many other countries.
Well done, I'm sure the players enjoyed the game in front of home crowd of 13000 people.
I made yesterday a trip to the capital of Estonia, Tallinn. The old Hansa-town with its medieval centre and fantastic restaurants was again enjoyable - despite of the harsh winter weather.
They had just gotten 20 cm fresh snow - just like Helsinki - so the city was still recovering but that didn't bother us that much. We got a taxi in front of the terminal without waiting and had good shoes to walk on winter roads. In some places we had to climb over piles of snow, but that was all fun.
Cold, windy winter weather was on the other hand a good reason to have a break and warm drink inside...
Here are some images from Tallinn, but as I have said also earlier, you should go and check it out yourself.
You can enlarge the pictures by clicking them - suurenna kuvat klikkaamalla.
And what does not belong in the next picture?
To finish off, tell me what is in the picture below!
PS While Estonia will start using Euros soon, I sincerely hope that your price level will not increase like it has happened in so many other countries.
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