Sabaton @ Pakkahuone

Yay, concert reports are back!! ;D after the little break I'm back in front of the stage!

So, "Sabaton" was playing in Tampere and I went there with Thirza, a Dutch girl that I got to know at my language course.

As expected, the concert was really great, though we had to wait for about 3 hours until "Sabaton" was actually starting their show - BUT meanwhile 2 other bands were playing.

First off was "Dynazty":

Then there was "Raubtier":

(did you see these awesome drums on the background?xD ) They scared the shit out of me, because the guitarist on the right looked almost the same as my host daddy!!

And then of course Sabaton:

As soon as it was their turn, everyone suddenly wanted to fight their way to the front, so me and Thirza, standing in the first row, were maybe a little smushed >.< but we proudly stood our ground and defended our places! Many people went crazy about coming close to the stage for a little to get some photos and there was that insanely annoying guy right behind me that kept on leaning against and pushing everyone around him, trying to get to the stage, but at some point he finally gave up.

Regardless, the crowd was all fired up and so was  the band - so everyone was enjoying, screaming and banging their heads off  \m/

I don't know the person that took this video, but since he/she was standing a little further away, it shows the audience pretty good:

At some point the vocalist even decided to do some stage-diving:

The band also commented that the show's really great. After the first 10 minutes the vocalist said that we're an awsome audience, that he was having goosebumps and that they're now really looking forward to coming to Tampere again in June for the Open-Air with the most Finnish name ever --> SAUNA!!!
 - I think I'll go there too ;D

Beautiful Kangasala

Lately I've taken the chance to catch the awesome view of Kangasala's sunrise. It's the city that I work in, 20 minutes by bus from my home in Tampere.
It's been a breathtaking morning, so I decided I want to share it with everyone:

*no photoshop*!!
This is a glimpse of what I get to see every morning when I go to work and the sky is clear *-*

One Moves Away and One Moves Forward

Moving away:

This week's been the last time of this year that I've seen Kate (at the language course). She's going home to Chicago for some months and return probably at the end of February.
Goodbye, Kate, and have a safe journey to the United States! ;D I'm looking forward to seeing you again next year. 
And maybe I'll sometime have the chance to follow your invitation and visit you there. :)


Moving forward:

My host mommy was celebrating her 25th birthday this Wednesday :)
We had some awesome cake again!!
Happy birthday once again, Mirkka! 2,5 months and I'm still as grateful as ever that you've become my host family. :)

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more news :)

Dear readers:

Sorry for not posting any news for so long...BUT I'm back now to tell you what happened during these last days:


* I've met Silvia from Italy (another volunteer in Finland) again. We hadn't seen each other since our stay in Kokkola, so I was happy to be able to meet her again. We met in the city, had some coffee and talked about random stuff.


* I've gone to a "Kabuki" (traditional japanese theatre). Actually, this was part of Silvia's project and also the reason why she was travelling to Tampere. The performance was quite interesting, though I have to say that it seems rather odd, when Finns try to act as Japanese people (especially for me, who's very interested in everything about Japan). What made it even more confusing was the main talk in Finnish and actually most of the few phrases that I understood were those in Japanese xD
On the contrary, it was also impressing that they used so many different kinds of media and techniques to add some variety to the show (music, karaoke, movies, shadow games...)

Haha, by the way, this is what a Finnish orchestra in a Japanese theatre looks like: (wtf E-guitar?! xD )

* I gave an interview for my coordinating organisation Maailmanvaihto about me, my workplace and my feelings about being a volunteer. It will be published in their magazine ^.^


* This Sunday was Father's Day here, so we celebrated it with Lasse's parents and sister and the amazing food of Mirkka:

Yummy *o* this chocolate-mint cake was just as awesome as it looks like ;D
The celebration was great, though all the happy family gathering made me remember my own parents and siblings and showed me that I actually miss them a lot if I seriously start thinking about it.  


* At home in Austria, my mother had to undergo a surgery (not a difficult one, but still...), so I was kind of distracted for some days and also worried. It's strange how much more intense you feel the fear of something bad happening, if you're not near the ones you cherish...
However, everything went well and she's already back home waiting to fully recover and receiving visits of some family members.                                                       


* I've been attending so many concerts every since I set foot on Finland that it felt a little strange not to go to any the last two weeks...but there's just not been any band around that I would have really wanted to see. Anyways, I'm continuously looking for new gigs and I've already been making plans for some upcoming ones  ;) and some I'm not sure about yet.
At any rate, I'm going to see "Sabaton" and "The 69 Eyes".


-- Well, as much from my side. It's time to start into a relaxed evening :)