Thursday, June 14, 2007
Boxin' Lynn
Sanna has been trying to get me to come to her boxing class for about 4 months now. Every week I have thought of some wonderful excuse not to go; the main one being that I have to watch the kids. Well today she got me. She was over with her youngest girl and my family had to go so she knew I didn't have to take care of the kids. So I went. I was very skeptical going in and now I'm hooked. Who knew that bashing at someone's head, arms, legs, and tummy could be so much fun:D! And it's not even just the hitting that's fun it's also very good exercise. I was sweating like a pig (sorry for all the details...hehe). I just have to make one quick apology...Jan and Elissa I'm very sorry b/c I am now covered in bruises. Oh well...all a part of the fun...no pain no gain.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Changes
In less then 2 weeks I am coming back to Canada. For this reason I have been thinking quite a bit about how I have changed b/c when you are present as the changes happen you don't notice them but now that I am going back to people who know me I realize that they might see some changes. Well an experience yesterday really clarified one big change for me. I just walked up to someone that I didn't know at all and started gabbing away. She is also an au pair for the best friends of my family. I was talking with one of the girls she takes care of and I said "Is that your new au pair?" As soon as she said yes I just walked up to her, asked her if she spoke english and invited her to go to the movies with me and a friend that night. People might say that that's not out of character at all but really it is. Usually when I am surrounded by my friends I can talk to anyone but as soon as I am by myself I stick to myself and don't like to talk with new people. I am hoping that this new found independent confidence continues when I am in Canada!
Monday, June 4, 2007
Finland
I'm overly excited that I got to go to Finland for many reasons. First of all, as I feel that I am in competition with people from my family on who has gone to more places, I am the first to have gone to a Scandinavian country. This to me is a great accomplishment;D. I'm joking about the competition but I am pretty happy with myself for being the first. Another reason I am so happy about going is that I got ridiculously cheap flights. You can't beat 97 euros. Also, I got to go with 2 friends, one of which is from Finland so we got the insider tours. I also got to spend 5 complete days there which is wonderful b/c that meant that it wasn't whirlwind tour but instead it turned out to be extremely relaxing. I can thank Henk and Sandra for the extra long trip b/c they very graciously let me miss 2 days of work for it.
While I was in Finland I made a few observations that I would like to share. First of all it looks exactly like Ontario's Canadian Shield area but with cities and people. It's not that there are tons of people living in Finland but there are people living in a landscape that many Canadians would live in b/c it's too far up north. I think it's wonderful. You get to enjoy the beauty and nature but you also have access to all the things that cities have to offer. Here is a picture to demonstrate what some of the landscape looks like:
(these are the girls that I went with).
Something that Claudia and I were absolutely amazed by was the length of the days. We didn't have to worry about trying to do everything before dark b/c it basically never got dark! The first night we were there we went out with Sanna's friends and we went into a place at 12 and there was still some light in the sky (my picture didn't work out at this time so the first picture is from 10:15). When we came out at around 2 in the morning there was again light in the sky but this time it was from the rising sun as opposed to the setting sun. And it's not even the longest day of the year yet!
Of course this means that in the winter the days are incredibly short, which brings me to me next observation: People drink crazy amounts. This seems to be a common trend in a lot of northern areas all over the world. If it's cold and dark I guess they figure they might as well drink.
The Scandinavian countries are always known as having the best quality of life. Just listening to how their school system works screams socialism (I would even say it's leaning towards communism but of course that's my opinion) and everyone makes a lot of money no matter what they do. The only problem is that everything is very expensive! For this reason houses were very low-key. I don't know if I took any pictures but houses were very small and I didn't notice any beautiful neighbourhoods. The nature is beautiful but I don't know if I would say that you would go there for the beauty of cities. It's nothing like Western European cities.
This was the centre square of Tampere. This design of building was very common; especially the yellow paint. When I saw beautiful buildings they were in this style.
Hummm...what else. Oh yes! Everyone had dyed hair. And I don't just mean dyed dyed hair; I mean really dyed hair. It was all extreme colours like too blond or too black or too red. Nobody chose a natural colour. They also all had blue eyes. I saw nothing but blue eyes. One thing that I really respected about the Finnish people is that you could tell that individuality was really respected. People wear what they want. I saw so many different styles which is very refreshing after being in the Netherlands which I am finding are the most top style people in the world (well after Italy) and nobody ever steps out of those boundaries.
Even though they were excepting style wise you could tell that people were pretty closed to other cultures. Claudia and I noticed the very first night that everyone talked more to me then they did her. That could be b/c I am Canadian and therefore we have hockey in common and people know more about Canada then Mexico but there was something there. I can't really explain it but I just remember that I was something a little off when it came to people who weren't fakely bleached blond and blue eyed. But anyway in the end it was fine b/c at one place there were a lot of people who were interested in Mexico or the Spannish language so it evened out.
I have pictures of what we did but I don't really feel like saying everything so I'll explain while I show you my pictures in full. I will just talk about the winter cottage I went to. I can't remember if I already told you but we got to go into a Finnish sauna where it gets so hot that you need to breath into water and put cold water on your skin. When it's unbearable you run out and jump into the lake no matter what time of year it is (in the winter you have to cut a hole in the ice first)! While when we went the ice had basically just melted so the water was pretty cold but after we could stand outside for 15 minutes b/c our skin had been so hot! Here are some pictures:
That's all I'm going to do for Finland. My next big trip is Canada! which I'm looking very forward to. I am enjoying my time with the family and friends from the area for now which is really nice for me too. I'm glad that I'm taking the time to just enjoy what I have been given. Henk and Sandra and the girls are amazing and all is good. There were 2 Canadians here this weekend and Henk gave us a canal tour in his boat in Amsterdam and it was so nice to do except for the pushy man that bumped into us:(. I also got to stay in Henk's canal house with Sanna and since I secretly love big cities it was really fun to have access to Amsterdam with a place to stay. I also went to the English Reformed church on Sunday and I have decided to make the trip in every Sunday to go. Even though the church in Huizen is of my denomination I am finding that that does not help me much when I can't understand everything that is going on so it's more beneficial for me to go to an englisdh church (and I can always make it to my church in Huizen in the afternoon). This was the first time I heard an english sermon in 5 months so I think you can imagine how relieved and excited I was. Please remember me when you are complaining about a sermon that you heard on Sunday b/c it's a blessing that you were able to understand it. I realize now how much I took going to church on Sundays foregranted. I don't know why I didn't come to this going into Amsterdam every Sunday conclusion earlier; maybe b/c it is more presbetyrian but I'm happy with the decision. Another thing is that it's in Beijnhof which is one of the most beautiful places in Amsterdam and it is right across from the oldest house in the city.
Well I must go. Enjoy.
While I was in Finland I made a few observations that I would like to share. First of all it looks exactly like Ontario's Canadian Shield area but with cities and people. It's not that there are tons of people living in Finland but there are people living in a landscape that many Canadians would live in b/c it's too far up north. I think it's wonderful. You get to enjoy the beauty and nature but you also have access to all the things that cities have to offer. Here is a picture to demonstrate what some of the landscape looks like:
(these are the girls that I went with).Something that Claudia and I were absolutely amazed by was the length of the days. We didn't have to worry about trying to do everything before dark b/c it basically never got dark! The first night we were there we went out with Sanna's friends and we went into a place at 12 and there was still some light in the sky (my picture didn't work out at this time so the first picture is from 10:15). When we came out at around 2 in the morning there was again light in the sky but this time it was from the rising sun as opposed to the setting sun. And it's not even the longest day of the year yet!
Of course this means that in the winter the days are incredibly short, which brings me to me next observation: People drink crazy amounts. This seems to be a common trend in a lot of northern areas all over the world. If it's cold and dark I guess they figure they might as well drink.
The Scandinavian countries are always known as having the best quality of life. Just listening to how their school system works screams socialism (I would even say it's leaning towards communism but of course that's my opinion) and everyone makes a lot of money no matter what they do. The only problem is that everything is very expensive! For this reason houses were very low-key. I don't know if I took any pictures but houses were very small and I didn't notice any beautiful neighbourhoods. The nature is beautiful but I don't know if I would say that you would go there for the beauty of cities. It's nothing like Western European cities.
This was the centre square of Tampere. This design of building was very common; especially the yellow paint. When I saw beautiful buildings they were in this style.Hummm...what else. Oh yes! Everyone had dyed hair. And I don't just mean dyed dyed hair; I mean really dyed hair. It was all extreme colours like too blond or too black or too red. Nobody chose a natural colour. They also all had blue eyes. I saw nothing but blue eyes. One thing that I really respected about the Finnish people is that you could tell that individuality was really respected. People wear what they want. I saw so many different styles which is very refreshing after being in the Netherlands which I am finding are the most top style people in the world (well after Italy) and nobody ever steps out of those boundaries.
Even though they were excepting style wise you could tell that people were pretty closed to other cultures. Claudia and I noticed the very first night that everyone talked more to me then they did her. That could be b/c I am Canadian and therefore we have hockey in common and people know more about Canada then Mexico but there was something there. I can't really explain it but I just remember that I was something a little off when it came to people who weren't fakely bleached blond and blue eyed. But anyway in the end it was fine b/c at one place there were a lot of people who were interested in Mexico or the Spannish language so it evened out.
I have pictures of what we did but I don't really feel like saying everything so I'll explain while I show you my pictures in full. I will just talk about the winter cottage I went to. I can't remember if I already told you but we got to go into a Finnish sauna where it gets so hot that you need to breath into water and put cold water on your skin. When it's unbearable you run out and jump into the lake no matter what time of year it is (in the winter you have to cut a hole in the ice first)! While when we went the ice had basically just melted so the water was pretty cold but after we could stand outside for 15 minutes b/c our skin had been so hot! Here are some pictures:
That's all I'm going to do for Finland. My next big trip is Canada! which I'm looking very forward to. I am enjoying my time with the family and friends from the area for now which is really nice for me too. I'm glad that I'm taking the time to just enjoy what I have been given. Henk and Sandra and the girls are amazing and all is good. There were 2 Canadians here this weekend and Henk gave us a canal tour in his boat in Amsterdam and it was so nice to do except for the pushy man that bumped into us:(. I also got to stay in Henk's canal house with Sanna and since I secretly love big cities it was really fun to have access to Amsterdam with a place to stay. I also went to the English Reformed church on Sunday and I have decided to make the trip in every Sunday to go. Even though the church in Huizen is of my denomination I am finding that that does not help me much when I can't understand everything that is going on so it's more beneficial for me to go to an englisdh church (and I can always make it to my church in Huizen in the afternoon). This was the first time I heard an english sermon in 5 months so I think you can imagine how relieved and excited I was. Please remember me when you are complaining about a sermon that you heard on Sunday b/c it's a blessing that you were able to understand it. I realize now how much I took going to church on Sundays foregranted. I don't know why I didn't come to this going into Amsterdam every Sunday conclusion earlier; maybe b/c it is more presbetyrian but I'm happy with the decision. Another thing is that it's in Beijnhof which is one of the most beautiful places in Amsterdam and it is right across from the oldest house in the city.
Well I must go. Enjoy.
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