It's Winter (& Food) Time in Espoo, Finland - Finally!!!

Finally the ground is white!

Well, max 1cm but still... The skating track in Tapiola, Espoo has been open for a month and apparently good enough for skating, but now it becomes more winter-like! I like...!

If you visit Tapiola and you are hungry for an outdoor hamburger, you might find this trailer with lux burgers available. Could be excellent after an outdoor skating!

And if those wheels have rolled somewhere else, you can check out the Funky Burger at Ainoa, the ex-Sokos building's upstairs. You can get the baby below even with 3 steaks.

Or the always excellent Grilli Ribis, my favorite!

Bon appétit!

Suomi, Finland a.k.a. Sportsland?

What a sports weekend we had for Finland! Or how would you consider a result for a country of 5,45 Mio people...

• Finnish men earned a place in the next volley ball World Championship games after 32 years break
• Finnish ski jumper Anssi Koivuranta won the third stop of the Four Hills Tournament in Innsbruck
• Finn Kaisa Mäkäräinen took 2nd place in Biathlon World Cup race - for the 2nd time in a row
• In women's Tour de Ski the Norwegian ladies were at their own league, but Finns took positions 4, 5, 6, and 9 - worth mentioning on the list...
• Finland's women won the World Ringette Championship
• My hockey team Blues won
• Finland won the World Championship at men's (boys') U20 ice hockey by kicking Swedish team 2-3 at over time!!!

Last one was 16 years ago...

...and it's in!

WE DID IT!!!

What's left for the Swedes is to cry a bit and say PERKELE!!!

HYVÄ SUOMI!!!

PS Most important sports event for me was though seeing my son play! This time futsal, scoring 3 in 2 games with 1 clear win and 1 tight loss :o(

Hyvää Uutta Vuotta - Happy New Year!

New year - something new, something old, something changing, happy! As always.

What bothers me a bit is the lack of snow. It would be great to get some and to be able to enjoy the winter sports. Several ski resorts in southern Finland have been forced to close down due to consistant rain & lack of snow. Even Vihti, the one where I opened my season on December 8th.

Well, the ones who play golf are likely to be happy since they have their golf open...

Have a fabulastic year, hyvää uutta vuotta!!!

Heil the Sun - without snow...

The sun is a rare visitor at this time of the year in Finland. Today it made a visit to an empty marina and picked up the level of the view - and mind naturally. The sun is fairly down at 1:30 pm :o(

As you can see, no boats left to die in winter ice & snow. Hopefully in few weeks this will be all frozen. Most years it is already at this time frozen and would crush all possible boats left in.

Tomorrow the last day of the year and up North in Lapland only some weeks to go before the sun comes up again.

PS Game Day Blues-SaiPa 18:30

http://blues.fi/component/bluesnews/1173?view=uutinen

...should I stay or should I go...?

Wipe it clean - Hyvin pyyhkii!

Every one of us needs to use a wiper - toilet paper. In principle it makes sense to use a paper that is comfortable - soft and enduring enough. If in addition the paper brings joy or is otherwise good feelings via visual effect, why not...?

Hyvin pyyhkii!

Last Christmas jingles...

Loistavaa Joulua – Joyful Christmas!

On aika rauhoittua jälleen, viihtyä ja nauttia antaen aikaa ystävilleen. 

Mennyt vuosi on paljon tuonut, nautintoja, iloja ja huoliakin suonut. 

Kalat, laatikot, kinkku ja mädit odottaa, turha tässä painoa oliskin pudottaa. 

Vuoden vaihdetta kohti leijutaan hyvillä mielin, seurana uros tai enkeli sievin. 

Ei posti meiltä sulle korttia tuo, siitä fyrkat meni tulevan lasten sairaalan luo – anteeksi meille suo. 

Perhe on iloiten leppoisasti koolla, ruokaa ja juomaa nauttien talkoolla. 

Nautitaan ja iloitaan, iloitaan ja nautitaan, Joulupukkiakin viihdytetään – tietty myös sitä oikeaa.

Kynttilöistä valoa, joulun iloa, loistavaa Joulua kaikille, myös meille!!!

Without crappy poetry I am glad to notice anther year with lots of experiences is getting towards the end and it’s time to enjoy and relax with family and friends. Let’s enjoy the tastes, sounds and people. If you were expecting a Christmas card from us, too bad. The little money we didn’t spend on them is donated to support the new children’s hospital in Helsinki, Finland.

Nyt Herra Tammisen sika on uunissa ja Glögiä suonissa. Christmas ham is in the oven and glögi, the sweet glühwein, mulled wine, running in my veins.

HYVÄÄ JOULUA!

JOYFUL CHRISTMAS!

Take the effort - it will have an impact!

As I said in my previous post, if you take the effort to notice people, help out or do something that is valuable to others, it will have a positive impact! Often it is about small things and sometimes you get something back - on top of a good mind.

Like happened to me.

The other day I was driving home and saw in front of me a car changing its lane insanely and crashing another car. For a second I wondered if they need help or if my involvement is needed, concluding that I should take the effort to help out. I made at least one person very glad!

It appeared that the quilty driver was not with Finnish origin and was not happy to admit it was his fault, as well as the innocent driver had no clue what she should do and had no documents to report the accident for insurance. I stated shortly what I saw, gave the "victim" some tips, gave the insurance form and a pen. Since I had to leave for an appointment, I gave her my contact details and asked her to contact me if needed.

Well, she didn't contact me directly but a courier rang my doorbell two days later and this is what I got:

It was quite a big packet as you can see from the tennis ball comparison. And this is what I found from inside:

The "victim" lady had sent me a flower and a thank you -note. Apparently my little effort was very valuable for her so it paid off. Small input, big positive impact...

While we are on traffic topic, I want to share a picture and the feeling from the shortest days of the year.

Today it felt that the sun did not raise at all (and actually it didn't in Lapland at Northern Finland). It was gray and rainy all day, hard wind and sooo sad looking pre Christmas day. Perkele. Most of the time people post only the shiny, nice images and tell positive stories - just like I prefer to do as I try to act via positiveness. But if something is shitty, I think it's ok to say it.

Luckily the gray day was gray only at weather, joyful Christmas is 2 nights away :o)

Have a great moment, soon the Santa, Joulupukki, is here! Hauskaa Joulun odotusta!!!

PS Be aware of the fake Santa...

1 second effort - Lifetime impact!

I take my hat off to Charlie Coyle at Minnesota Wild NHL team. He took 1 second of his time and positively distracted himself at the game warm up to notice a young fan - small wave and a life time impact.

I bet the young man will remember this for life. People, small deeds do matter!

Open the door to a lady - or others. Say good morning. Say thank you. Help out without being asked. If you are a star, notice the fans. There will be a time when your name and face is forgotten... If you want to be a star, notice the potential fans.

All it takes is a bit of an effort... Have a great weekend! 

6 Joulukuuta 2013 Suomi 96 vuotta - December 6th 2013 Finland 96 years!

Corrected: "...Year 1917 Finland separated..."
----
Tomorrow December 6th is the Independence Day of Finland. Year 1917 Finland separated from Russia and started to develop a life of it's own. I guess someone at Russia - or later at Soviet Union - started to have doubts regarding the decision and hence they started a war against Finland at 1939, the famous Winter War.

This is how Wikipedia describes the winter war in brief;
"The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland in 1939–1940. It began with Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, and ended with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940."

Tomorrow the Finnish broadcasting company YLE shows again a classic movie about the second world war time in Finland, the Unknown Soldier - Tuntematon Sotilas from 1955. Wikipedia briefing at here and Youtube taste below.

Tomorrow's annual President's reception will be held at Tampere, since the precidential palace is under renevation. No dancing but a concert instead. Let's see what kind of a party it will be.
...and in case you are wondering, NO I am not going, it is always televized.

Let's finish off with a "music video" from the 1955 movie, a clip of Finlandia, composed by Jean Sibelius.

Hyvää 96. Itsenäisyyspäivää Suomi 

-

Happy 96th Independence Day Finland!

PS To check out my older posts about Finland's independence, click here.

PPS It's only 19 days until Santa Claus, Joulupukki, comes over. Welcome Christmas!!!