Hyvää Juhannusta - Have a great Midsummer!

It's again the time of the year when particularly Finns and Swedes enjoy the supposed-to-be-summer-festive (it should be summer, seldom is...) of Midsummer, Juhannus. Most of people who have the chance head up towards countryside, a summer cottage at a lakeside or seaside.

Traffic jams (big in Finland scale, only queues in European scale), cold, crowded summer housed, wet, cold swimming, lousy cooking conditions, no shower, no electricity, wet fireplace, small beds if any...

Despite of all that, it is sooooo loveable! Beautiful Finnish countryside, out of your daily routines, outdoor cooking, wooden heated sauna, swim in a lake, talks, games, reading, BBQ, fresh air, bonfires, white nights, good company = summer at countryside - mökki life!

Stay smart particularly when you go swimming, last year at Midsummer only 1 person drowned in Finland, biggest count in the past years being from 1999: 20 people drowned!!! For the ones interested in stats, check it out from here.

Helsinki became a ghost city today at Midsummer eve at noon when all the shops and market place closed. Many restaurants and cafe's are closed, while many remain open to treat the urban Midsummer people as well as the tourists that stop by with the cruise ships.

What beats me is why can't we still let the shop keepers to decide themselves when their business would profit to keep the shop open. We have soooo many rules and limitations also with this and I can tell you the unions are doing their best to keep their position strong. Well, I'd say the unions have been fighting a battle to survive as the world around them has changed while they still try to continue as they have for decades.

In addition to my previous Midsummer posts, I'd like to share with you an article "Enjoying Midsummer the Finnish way" by thisisFinland, (also on Facebook) a news forum produced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland.

Have a great Midsummer 

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Loistavaa Juhannusta!

Worth waiting?

Woops I did it again...! I mean the silence. It has just been again hectic in many areas and I am - just like many follow victims of North - trying to get along with the most depressing season of the year. It is wet, dark, cold and no week day holidays to give an extra break.

Luckily I had a chance for a break in a summer, Costa del Sol in Spain again. Sun, warmth, beach, swimming in the sea, great food, experiences and most important time off from normal routines. I miss it already...

One of the big ones was the basketball game og Malaga team, I can tell you guys that the Finnish fan culture is getting step by step there but we have maaaany steps to take. Dedication, passion and commitments are words that come to mind - and that is definetely what the guy on his bike has got on the clip you can find behind the link below. Worth to watch!!!

http://www.liftable.com/andreadcombs/ridge/

Have a great weekend you all!

PS We both did our parts in the aftermath of the weight project. Now the project has converted into ongoing process with ups & downs in compliance....

An attitude model for some laim sportsmen/women?

Have you heard about an 18 years old swimmer Tanja Kylliäinen who has got double citizenship, Finland and USA? Neither had I before I spotted the article in Helsingin Sanomat some time ago.

No wonder, she is young and has lived all her life at east coast Baltimore, US. Despite of that, she has already made some Finnish records so the swimming future is looking good for her.

She speaks poorly Finnish but perhaps that is only positive as she has adopted the American attitude. When she was asked about how will she go to the World Championships at Shanghai next summer, she didn't give the laim Finnish reply "I will go there to do my best and let's see where it will take me" but instead states "I am going to perform well when I represent Finland"!

That's the attitude, go girl!!!

Today's points for an attitude goes to Kaisa Mäkäräinen - or Maekaeraeinen as the no-dots-people would write;
She won the Biathlon World Cup, you know the one where they ski and shoot. Apparently Kaisa is the best shooter as she had hit all the skiers in front of her and was able to make it to the finish line first...

The attitude points come from her open statement wanting to party tonight! There is nothing bad in celebrating success, so go for it!!!

PS Blues won yesterday and are leading 2-0 in games at best-of-seven series!

Only in Finland

Dear Friends,

As you know we Finns are just like all others. In some things. Then there are some things we differ from the others. Just a bit. I guess all of you are used to have permanent snow and the temperature somewhere between -5C and -15C, sometimes down to -20C. Or are you used to it...?

Today it has been a bit more slippery then normally. By early afternoon there had been registered over 20 car crashes at Helsinki, about 500.000 people city. Yep, it was slippery indeed but I LOVE IT!

It has been icy and slippery ever since mid December and gotta say I have loved to drive, the more slippery the better! It is fun to play with the car, too bad there are not enough places to do it properly and safely.

My favorite spot is the silent road next to our place where I tend to park my car, while the other car is at our normal parking spot. Anyways, when I come ther so that I need to park on the other side of the road I'm driving to, it is ALWAYS SO MUCH FUN to do the hand break turn. If you have seen the legendary movie Blues Brothers, just imagine the guys parking in front of the church. That's what I get to practice on daily basis :o)  

As I said, Finland is just like any other country!

Also in the following articles that I spotted last Sunday from our main newspaper Ican prove you we are just like the others - or what do you thing?

This one is about salmiakki, the salty liquirice you can find in Nordics and something related from Holland (dank u wel Marieke!). My fool countrymen have established a salmiakki promoting union that on yearly basis arrange a tasting competition to find the best salmiakki of the year.

The funny thing is that the salmiakki that has once won the competition can not take part any more. No worries, they will not run out of options any time soon...

Out of the ones below for latest election, my favorite is the one far left, Haganol's one that is closest to the one you have been able to buy from the pharmacy. Nowadays they have made the same stuff also at liquid so making salmiakki vodka is easier then ever ;o)

To keep you guys on your toes, remember that you are always welcome and we are happy to join the winter swimming contest together.

Just for info, the winner was the 2nd from the right.

Back to the winter. Imagine yourself in open water (opened from the frozen lake or sea), naked, swimming. ...get the picture of us Finns? If needed go back to the post around the New Year where I showed a pic of a person in the snow, naked, -20C...

Welcome to Finland!

Want to snorkel? Don't go to Finland...

Moving can keep you too busy to write a blog, particularly if you are without a proper online connection. I will try to keep up posting once a week.
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Some years ago we had in Thailand some great snorkeling. We spent a week at Koh Samui, which was quite an enjoyable place even if they have Pizza Hut and McDonalds on the island.

One day we made a trip to Koh Tao, assumingly a paradise island for diving and snorkeling. Which it was, even if too many people know about it and hence it has got some touristic influences.

What a fantastic place, one of the few chances to feed fish from the hand.

When we came back we went to a lake house in central Finland. I of course took my snorkel with me and I gotta say I was surprised. Negatively. In Finland most lakes are muddy and the water is too cold to snorkel. When you try to breath through a tube, the fresh=cold water takes a breath away so you can't get enough air.

...so if you can´t have proper snorkeling, at least you should choose a proper company to snorkel with! One day in the office we had a lunch table discussion about this and smart colleagues suggested ice snorkeling with vodka spirit. If it feels too cold, you use the tube as a straw for the vodka...

Another suggestion was to spend a day with your mother-in-law: Go snorkeling or diving!
Why?
Well, it's easy to avoid unpleasant topics while you can't talk. My naughty colleagues also suggested to offer a weight belt to mother-in-law for snorkeling, together with a cork for the pipe.

Shame on them!!!

Hölökynkölökyn...

Swimming in Brussels

The other day I went again swimming with the kids. Instead of going to a pool 5 minutes from the house, we drove ~20 minutes to Overijse pool. There are 2 reasons for it; Overijse pool has got slides the kids love and most important, there you do not need to use a swim cap.

In Brussels local regulation requires you to use a swim cap. Yep, it’s a rule and we have tested it once and were thrown out from the pool… I’ve been told it is targeted to avoid head lice, which seems to be a problem now and then (at school they have sometimes checks but luckily it has not concerned our family so far).
This is all good, but if you think of another hygiene aspect we have again something to wonder. The thing is that the shower areas are mixed and people need to shower with their swim suits on. And some do not shower at all before going to the pool. Back in Finland – the country of Sauna – in public pools we have separate dressing and shower rooms with sauna for men and women, and rules say for hygiene reasons you must shower without swim suit before going to the pool.

I’m not a pro on this area, but common sense says that while all ages from toddlers to grannies use the pools without proper washing, a law about shower cap usage is not much of a help.

Another strange thing happened perhaps 2 years ago when we went to a local water park. After some slides and swim we felt like going to the sauna to warm up and relax. All fine but the staff didn’t allow children less than 15 years to the sauna! Yes we tried to explain these sauna-ignorant people that our kids have been in sauna since they were about 6 months old but “we have our rules” was the answer. No sauna for us.
Good thing is that the gym we go to in Brussels is part of a Swedish chain, and even if Swedes are a bit behind in Sauna culture, the gym sauna is built by a Finn who lives in Sweden. With a joy we enjoy it now and then together with the kids and have never faced a situation that someone would have thrown too much water...

Our previous gym was a Turkish style with multiple saunas; two “Scandinavian” with lower (70°C) and higher temperature (85°C), steam sauna and even an infra red one (don’t bother to try; it’s like sitting in a microwave oven). That one was a joint sauna so we were there with our swim suits on, even though in Finland families normally go to sauna naked.

Then one time in comes this man with a bath robe, takes it off and bare naked goes for shower and sauna – right in front of me, my wife, son and daughter! I know it’s a bit more common in Germany but please, save at least the kids from this…