This weekend was sure crazy! It had it's ups and downs - or rather it started off awesome and then in the end got a little bad, though all in all it was a good weekend and definitely an interesting time! ;P
Friday night I went drinking a Finnish friend! :) We met some time ago at one of the concerts and it was great meeting him again. I had so much fun, enjoyed great music, found my way out of a labyrinth bar, played an E-guitar and I can proudly say that I survived going drinking with a true Finnish guy :P though where this led is not meant to be documented at this place.
Saturday followed with sleeping almost 24 hours and recover from the night before :3
Starting on Sunday, unfortunate things were happening. Suddenly everyone was talking to me about how awful life is, that everything's just fucked up and I couldn't help but stand there in the middle of the chaos thinking "just what's going on here?! what a crazy Sunday" (though telling this to another Finnish friend of mine, she said "Sundays are always like that... :)" )
also, I found my little sister to be in a bad situation, involving shattered friendships and a guy...sometimes it's not easy to be away from the ones that you hold dear, if you know that they're in pain...but I believe this is also an important lesson that I learned during my EVS - how to cope with this in that kind of position!
...but even Sunday had it's nice moments, like when I went to cinema with Lilli to see "Beautiful Creatures". One of the best finnish decisions ever made is to show movies in the original language, which means, for most of them, in English. :)
Monday, March 25, 2013
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Northern Lights reaching Tampere ( * - *)
17.03.2013, ~ 23:00 was the time when I finally saw it - the famous NORTHERN LIGHTS, Aurora Borealis!! :D :D :D
Living in the south of Finland, I knew chances aren't that high to observe them, though way higher than in other countries around the world, and I guess this experience is something almost everyone that comes to Scandinavia is hoping for, but that night a solar storm caused the Aurora to be visible all around the entire country and it was just breathtaking! *o*
There's no words to express the feelings rushing through your skin that moment...it was simply amazing!
Thanks to not that high quality camera and too many street lights around, it was hard to take pictures, but that's about the best one:
Legend says a fox is running across the sky and his swinging tail creates sparkles that become what we call the northern lights.
...it's also said that one who's seen the Aurora once will be rewarded with luck. :)
At any rate, I'm entirely happy that I had a chance to observe them. It's not just about experiencing a special phenomenom, but about reaching a goal set long before moving to Finland and standing right underneath this burning green curtain awakened undescribable sentiments...
Living in the south of Finland, I knew chances aren't that high to observe them, though way higher than in other countries around the world, and I guess this experience is something almost everyone that comes to Scandinavia is hoping for, but that night a solar storm caused the Aurora to be visible all around the entire country and it was just breathtaking! *o*
There's no words to express the feelings rushing through your skin that moment...it was simply amazing!
Thanks to not that high quality camera and too many street lights around, it was hard to take pictures, but that's about the best one:
Legend says a fox is running across the sky and his swinging tail creates sparkles that become what we call the northern lights.
...it's also said that one who's seen the Aurora once will be rewarded with luck. :)
At any rate, I'm entirely happy that I had a chance to observe them. It's not just about experiencing a special phenomenom, but about reaching a goal set long before moving to Finland and standing right underneath this burning green curtain awakened undescribable sentiments...
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Amaranthe live @ Klubi, Tampere
Moi!! ;D
Wednesday evening was the time to go and see Amaranthe in Klubi, Tampere. (^ o ^) \m/
It was an awesome performance and I'm so glad I had the chance to rock with them on their tour!
It's been a while since I enjoyed an evening this much :P Great music, great performance and great new friends!
I went there alone, since my friends, who also like this band, live in different cities of Finland and Amaranthe was playing in each one of them! xD but that didn't matter, since I met cool new people and I had so much fun!
Amaranthe is an amazing band in many ways and one of the most interesting facts is that they actually have 3 singers and each one of them is absolutely needed to create this kind of music! Also, they were really happy to play in Tampere (again), saying it's the best gig in Finland, and welcomed the fans with, of course, "PERKELE!!!!" xDD Elize was also greeting everyone in the front row by holding hands - me too :3
Their new album is about to being released, streaming right now here (check it out!!):
...what's left to say is that I hope to have a chance to see them again sometime soon and up to then:
Wednesday evening was the time to go and see Amaranthe in Klubi, Tampere. (^ o ^) \m/
It was an awesome performance and I'm so glad I had the chance to rock with them on their tour!
It's been a while since I enjoyed an evening this much :P Great music, great performance and great new friends!
I went there alone, since my friends, who also like this band, live in different cities of Finland and Amaranthe was playing in each one of them! xD but that didn't matter, since I met cool new people and I had so much fun!
Amaranthe is an amazing band in many ways and one of the most interesting facts is that they actually have 3 singers and each one of them is absolutely needed to create this kind of music! Also, they were really happy to play in Tampere (again), saying it's the best gig in Finland, and welcomed the fans with, of course, "PERKELE!!!!" xDD Elize was also greeting everyone in the front row by holding hands - me too :3
Their new album is about to being released, streaming right now here (check it out!!):
http://www.imperiumi.net/index.php?act=page&id=54
...what's left to say is that I hope to have a chance to see them again sometime soon and up to then:
" Thank you, Amaranthe, for introducing me to an awesome night that became even better with every second! You rock! \m/ "
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Mizuki in Tampere - ♪♪
Mooooi! (^ . ^)/
Mizuki from Japan came to visit me in Tampere (and this time we managed to find each other immediately!!)
It was so much fun and I believe I've never been talking so much Finnish like I did this weekend, since she doesn't know English quite well. --> proud of myself!! (^ 3 ^)b
We were walking around, visiting Tampere's churches and went shopping in Koskikeskus and Hämeenkatu.
The sun was enlightening a clear blue sky, which made it seem like spring is coming, though that might still be too early for Finland.
Mizuki also brought me a little present - real japanese Miso-soup!! ヽ(*´∀｀*)ﾉ (tried it today and it's really delicious! - ありがとう!! 楽しかっ た! - ♪ ♪
We also had some fun drawing manga-style and exchanging infos about our countries. She showed me a lot of great music and I taught her some German and French :3
Besides, we made plans for meeting again, at least for "Sauna Open Air Metal Festival" in Tampere and "Opera Festival" in Savonlinna (〃＾▽＾〃)
Mizuki from Japan came to visit me in Tampere (and this time we managed to find each other immediately!!)
It was so much fun and I believe I've never been talking so much Finnish like I did this weekend, since she doesn't know English quite well. --> proud of myself!! (^ 3 ^)b
We were walking around, visiting Tampere's churches and went shopping in Koskikeskus and Hämeenkatu.
The sun was enlightening a clear blue sky, which made it seem like spring is coming, though that might still be too early for Finland.
Mizuki also brought me a little present - real japanese Miso-soup!! ヽ(*´∀｀*)ﾉ (tried it today and it's really delicious! - ありがとう!! 楽しかっ た! - ♪ ♪
We also had some fun drawing manga-style and exchanging infos about our countries. She showed me a lot of great music and I taught her some German and French :3
Besides, we made plans for meeting again, at least for "Sauna Open Air Metal Festival" in Tampere and "Opera Festival" in Savonlinna (〃＾▽＾〃)
Ice skating on the Lakes (^ - ^)b
Last Saturday I was ice skating (or rather wanted to, though after a few miscalculations and a lost key, our plans failed xD ) with Caroline...but still we had a little time to take a walk on the frozen lake and I have also some pictures from our last meetings to share :)
Last time we were on the northern lake of Tampere and it was such a wide view:
...and at some point we reached a tent that sold snacks and coffee, of course ;) Stina was also with us!
and on the ice there was a huge gap throughout almost all of the way! :O
Last time we were on the northern lake of Tampere and it was such a wide view:
...and at some point we reached a tent that sold snacks and coffee, of course ;) Stina was also with us!
and on the ice there was a huge gap throughout almost all of the way! :O
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Cruise Holidays in Stockholm
Moi! :D
I am so happy! This week I travelled to Stockholm - by ship! ;3
Let me introduce to you:
Though it's not that far away from Helsinki, it was still about 16 hours afloat, but that wasn't a nuisance at all, since the cruise was pretty awesome iself and there was a lot to do: "Viking Line" offered everything from shopping mall to spa area - including sauna of course! You could relax in the lounges or have fun in the Youth room, playing Wii or surfing the internet. If you're hungry, there were restaurants and snack bars. As for the night, it was a choice between pub, casino or nightclub (shows and karaoke as well!).
Sunrises and sunsets were always most beautiful on the outside corridors and on the sun deck - especially since the weather was so nice these days! Hardly any clouds, pure sunshine and a lot of little islands to pass by in the icy waters of the northern sea. <3
The only thing that was missing was Isa, my friend from Costa Rica that was supposed to come with me :/ I was sure everything would be fine until they told us at the Check-In, that she, 18 years old, is actually too young to go on the boat. Due to some special students' holiday's offer, they set the age limit for this certain cruise to 21. I'm only one year older than her, 19, yet they considered that it might just be okay to let me on the boat. Isa, however would be too young. I feel like this was a big exaggeration since there were also a lot of small children with their parents, plus I met some 18 year old guys on the boat as well. What difference did it make if an 18-year old has a 21-year old companion with him or not? The result of consuming alcohol to the limit is the same.
At any rate I had an awesome time! And from the moment we arrived at the port in Sweden's capital at 10:00, I didn't have time to rest - after all, it wasn't even a whole day that I could spend there since we were leaving again at 16:30! :O
So I rushed to one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited - "Gamla Stan" - the historical old town of Stockholm, housing some amazing churches, the Royal Palace, tight strees, old houses, countless souvenir shops and a lot of places selling antique/viking stuff *-*
Gamla Stan is actually an own little island - as a couple of Stockholm's other districts.
Then I travelled northwards to see a little bit of "Norrmalm". I went a little shopping there before returning.
There were 2 main differences to Finland that I didn't expect:
- The time difference of 1 hour! It's actually the same time that we have in Austria.
- The sun was out and it was actually warm! So warm that I felt like putting of my jacket and that snow was melting away to reveal small places of meadows.
As for souvenirs:
I found the necklace in one of the viking shops and the little bag is where I'm going to deposit the Swedish "Kronor" that I still have, since I'm planning to return to Sweden this summer.
Another interesting surprise was the backside of the money, by the way:
...anyone recognize this? ;P (treasures of my childhood!)
Travelling back to Helsinki once more gave me a chance to catch the last glimpse of sunlight above Stockholm and the Baltic Sea...
I am so happy! This week I travelled to Stockholm - by ship! ;3
Let me introduce to you:
MS GABRIELLA
Though it's not that far away from Helsinki, it was still about 16 hours afloat, but that wasn't a nuisance at all, since the cruise was pretty awesome iself and there was a lot to do: "Viking Line" offered everything from shopping mall to spa area - including sauna of course! You could relax in the lounges or have fun in the Youth room, playing Wii or surfing the internet. If you're hungry, there were restaurants and snack bars. As for the night, it was a choice between pub, casino or nightclub (shows and karaoke as well!).
Sunrises and sunsets were always most beautiful on the outside corridors and on the sun deck - especially since the weather was so nice these days! Hardly any clouds, pure sunshine and a lot of little islands to pass by in the icy waters of the northern sea. <3
The only thing that was missing was Isa, my friend from Costa Rica that was supposed to come with me :/ I was sure everything would be fine until they told us at the Check-In, that she, 18 years old, is actually too young to go on the boat. Due to some special students' holiday's offer, they set the age limit for this certain cruise to 21. I'm only one year older than her, 19, yet they considered that it might just be okay to let me on the boat. Isa, however would be too young. I feel like this was a big exaggeration since there were also a lot of small children with their parents, plus I met some 18 year old guys on the boat as well. What difference did it make if an 18-year old has a 21-year old companion with him or not? The result of consuming alcohol to the limit is the same.
At any rate I had an awesome time! And from the moment we arrived at the port in Sweden's capital at 10:00, I didn't have time to rest - after all, it wasn't even a whole day that I could spend there since we were leaving again at 16:30! :O
Gamla Stan is actually an own little island - as a couple of Stockholm's other districts.
Then I travelled northwards to see a little bit of "Norrmalm". I went a little shopping there before returning.
There were 2 main differences to Finland that I didn't expect:
- The time difference of 1 hour! It's actually the same time that we have in Austria.
- The sun was out and it was actually warm! So warm that I felt like putting of my jacket and that snow was melting away to reveal small places of meadows.
As for souvenirs:
I found the necklace in one of the viking shops and the little bag is where I'm going to deposit the Swedish "Kronor" that I still have, since I'm planning to return to Sweden this summer.
Another interesting surprise was the backside of the money, by the way:
...anyone recognize this? ;P (treasures of my childhood!)
Travelling back to Helsinki once more gave me a chance to catch the last glimpse of sunlight above Stockholm and the Baltic Sea...
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