Negative live @ Gloria, HELSINKI

This was the second time that I saw Negative live - both shows in Finland :3
They were as legendary as ever, though totally different from the gig at Särkänniemi, because that used to be acoustic and now it was a real rock concert! lml

Sarka from Czech, Kiveen from France and me arrived at the venue 3 hours earlier in order to make sure that we'll have a place in the front row. Though there were only a few degrees below 0, it seemed quite cold, as we were just standing or sitting outside the doors. Kiveen's hotel was quite near and at some point the two of us quickly went there for her to change as she didn't have much clothing on. While being there, we could also persuade Lara from Spain to join us :D YAAAY!

First "The Liar" and "Hellcity Punks" were playing, after that Negative finally entered the stage and rocked the audience (*o*)b

We were also joined by Isa from Costa Rica, Ruben from Spain and Istvan from Hungary :D in the end we had a really international group, so awesome!!! :D

A friend once told me "Music can help you in any kind of difficult situation and it's even better if you have someone to share your passion with."
I'm really grateful to have had the chance of getting to know all of you, thank you for being here! It's amazing to share my time here in Finland with all of you!!

 The highlight of the show was that I could catch one of the legendary roses of Negative - again! - and again from Antti! ヽ(*´∀｀*)ﾉ but this time it was a whole one and I will cherish it!

I hope there will be another chance to see Negative live, maybe in the summer. I don't know of any festivals coming up that they're attending, but there's a huge mysterious countdown on their homepage - I'm looking forward to the big announcement :P

Mid-Term!! ( #O_O)

By now, I've reached the middle of my EVS-term in Finland. I can't believe it's already been 5 months :O this thought somehow makes me sad, because it means the rest of my time here will probably fade faster than I think...

Anyways, I've had some great weeks at the Mid-term camps! Thanks to my co-ordinating organisation, I've had 2, one in Antaverkka (Tampere) and one in Sopukka (Helsinki).
Both were great in their own way, but so entirely different from each other, though they both shared the same purpose - meet other volunteers, share experiences, have fun and reflect about the future.


---------


First off was the training in Antaverkka. Since it was in Ylöjärvi, Tampere, I didn't have to travel and could fully enjoy the day of arrival. Some friends (Anita, Ruben, Elisabetta) took an early train and came here loooong before the bus left from the centre to the camp facilities, so I met them in the city. We were walking around, looking for sights and finally went to catch the sunset over the landscape on Pyynikin Näkötorni  \( ^ω^)/ it was ice cold and a real challenge to take off the gloves for handling the cameras, but we stood our ground:

Then we headed to the west and it felt awesome to be with the other volunteers again. Some I already knew from the On-Arrival camp, but others were strangers - from all over the world, since Maailmanvaihto isn't reduced to Europe. So I met all different kinds of young people from Russia, Taiwan, Japan, Kenia, India, Costa Rica and many many more :D - each person legendary in their own way! I think it was the best training I experienced so far!
I had so much fun and these 3 days seemed way to short. Before we knew, it was over and everyone had to go back to their place all over Finland.
It is amazing how multiculturality can arise such an delightsome atmosphere, so unique (*.*) or maybe it's not about the cultures, but about the individual people?

Anyways, during that time we had a really tight programme, but that was totally okay, since it was a lot of fun and it seemed like relaxed group activities.
Aside that, we went to sauna, did "Avanto" (diving into a lake through a hole in the ice), rolled in the snow (even crazier than Avanto!!), met the ancient shaman, tasted finnish delicacies and set up our own party!
I also started to learn Japanese again, supported by the girl from Japan that I met there.

I would like to give credit to the people that I enjoyed most spending time with:

- Mi-chan, thank you for teaching me your language. I enjoy your company really much and it's always fun. Sometimes it's not easy to comunicate in a mix of English, Finnish and Japanese, but we always manage to understand each other and that makes me so proud and happy ヽ(*´∀｀*)ﾉ
I can't wait until we see each other again!

Mizuki, I'm so glad we became friends! 愛

- Elisabeth S and Elisabetta - I knew I'd sooner or later use my identity on the camp, latest at the end where we all wrote our messages to each other xD anyways, I was glad that I could share my room with you once again! I always appreciate talking to you, Elisabeth S, you have a great personality and, Elisabetta, I really hope things will turn out for the best with you and I hope we can at least meet once again before you go back to Italy. -- Perkele!! ;P

- An-Chieh and Yi-Wen, I definitely want to meet you again - both in Finland and Taiwan!!  ヽ(*・ω・)ﾉ Maybe it's a cultural thing, but you always seem so happy and it sounds really cute when you talk in your mother tongue ;3 I had so much fun with the two of you, thanks for that!!

- Isa.......you're awesome!!! I can't wait to rock the festivals in summer with you together!! \(^o^)/ a friend once told me "Music can help you in any kind of difficult situation that you might face and having someone to share that music with is even better".  I'm really glad that we became roommates and friends!! :D

- Krisztina, at the On-Arrival Training we didn't have much chance to get to know each other, so I'm all the more happy that now we could talk a lot more and I'm looking forward to our next meeting, maybe in Helsinki, at a concert, at a festival, in another city or anywhere else! :D :D

I could write a little something to everyone I met, but it would just be too much...
and I feel like I'm raving too much (>.<) I just want to thank everyone for making my time here such a legendary experience! Kiitos kaikille!

Sometimes pictures say more than words:

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Second, there was the training in Sopukka 2 days later! I planned to meet Elisabeth S at the bus station, but it was quite a challenge to find each other and also the place where the bus was leaving from xDD but in the end, we managed to and we immediately met some old friends as well, some that I hadn't seen for 2 days, some for more than 4 months!
Since we all knew each other and there were so many of us, the camp was different from the earlier one, but also really great and we had a lot of fun. On the On-Arrival training I didn't find time to get to know all the people, so this time I also talked to some that were still sort of strangers. For that possibility, I'm entirely grateful! I especially got to know the french girls a little better and I've already made plans with Caroline, who is also staying in Tampere, to meet more frequently now, for sauna, ice-skating and whatever comes up in our minds :D this also gave me a chance to revive my French skills again ;P it's scary how much you forget if you stop actively practicing a language.
I'm also cheerful that I could meet my concert mates Sárka and Kiveen again and we even went to a gig together after the training! NEGATIVE!! <3
Sárka, I'll make sure to come visit you in Oulu, just wait for it!! ;D and I'm looking forward to meeting you again on a concert or in any other place!
Kiveen, je suis très heureuse que tu es ici en Finlande et que j'ai pu faire ta connaissance! J'aimerais te rencontrer bientôt!!

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What else to say....
After dancing salsa with a Japanese, singing christmas songs with a Greek, doing "Avanto" with a Kenyan, playing UNO with a Taiwanese and headbanging with a French, I can seriously say that I want to continue this international lifestyle in any way!

Reflections of the New Year :)

Hello again from the headquarters! ;D

This weekend was supposed to be spent in Tallinn - with my host mommy and some friends of mine. However, I managed to fall ill on Thursday evening. >.< After a nerve-racking, horrible fight with the enemy and 10 times throwing up, I was eternally happy that I could drink a bit of water withouth vomitting and sleep, so going on a cruise trip was kinda out of the question.
Anyways, this trip hasn't been cancelled now, it's just been delayed (one of my friends also couldn't make it, so in the end none of us went there today) and I'm still looking forward to it! Everyone keeps telling me how beautiful Estonia's capital is and I definitely want to see it myself. That decision was made before I even came to Scandinavia.

Due to my condition I've spent almost 2 days relaxing in my bed, sleeping, drinking water, reading and watching movies. It was good to come down, leave everything and just concentrate on regenerating. Thursday night, when all the mess started, more than ever I was happy and grateful to be with a host family. After repeatedly throwing up and lack of liquid, I broke down and felt like almost losing consciousness for a moment. That time it was really good to know that there are some other people aound in case anything worse might occure. In the end, there was nothing they or I could do, so I just had to endure the whole procedure. They say that you must feel really awful to be able to recognize the real strength of your body. It was a miserable state, but I could still cope with it.
I'm feeling all better again now, so enough of that ;) ...and it also had some good sides - I've been able take a proper look on a lot of things and clear my mind, so I'm feeling all refreshed and active again! ...though in some ways my increased emotionality during sicknesses was clouding my judgement over diverse other aspects too.

So, today I was outside for the first time since I started to feel sick. Actually, it was a very productive day! I cleaned up, went out and even did some work. After all this, I felt like I definitely deserved this :3

Sushiiiiiiii!!! >w<

I just love it <3 It's been way too long. This is definitely one of  the very few things that I miss in Finland --> Sushi, or generally rice (I like potatoes too, but I wouldn't mind having rice more often).


Furthermore I could finally enjoy my new CD :)
Awesomeness is when you go into a Finnish music shop, make a reservation on a CD and be immediately recognized by the sellers one week later when picking it up, so that you don't even have to say anything, but watch them come up to you and hand over your order :D


I'll soon have to prepare some sort of presentation about Austria, so I started reflecting and gathering material. In doing so, believe it or not, I guess I started to feel a little homesick for the very first time. I've come to recognize the value of my country, my surroundings, my home. I never thought I might someday say this, but I even missed the mountains a little! :O
It's the time now that I have to think about the near future - how I'm gonna continue and where... I get a lot of encouragement from my friends and family in Austria to come back and continue work or studies there and I get a lot of it from my friends and family in Finland to stay and go on here in the north...I'll be a little torn. xD


When I take a look at my personal notes, I can see clearly just how much I've already been able to gain from my EVS!!! :O They say that the actual realization comes waaaaaaay after the end of the project, when you can look at it from a distant point, but there's already a ton of achivements written here.
At the beginning of my stay my head teacher at work adviced me to keep a list of goals and accomplishments and write them down whenever I can think about them. There are some really good qualities recorded now and it makes me even more proud of my decision! Even only up to now, I've gained so much more of all this than I ever imagined and I'm eternally grateful for all the help and encouragement I got from all the people involved. I've been able to collect awesome experiences, mind-changing views, personal appreciations and precious international relationships. I've made a big step from where I started from.
Also, this seems to be a very good time to think about all of this, since the Mid-Term Trainings are just around the corner and after all, this will be the core topic. I also can't wait to see some old friends again and meet some new people there!!! :D

So, this is the plan for the next 2 weeks:

- Work and daily routines from Monday to Wednesday
- 1st Mid-Term Camp in Antaverkka (Tampere) from Thursday to Sunday
- Work and daily routines on Monday and Tuesday
- 2nd Mid-Term Camp in Sopukka (Helsinki) from Wednesday to Friday
- Going out and concert with Sárka (& maybe Ruben?) on Friday evening, staying at her friend's place


I'm also quite happy to hear that my two friends from Austria that now came to Jyväskylä to study for a term are doing fine and enjoying Finland! :D You can never tell how someone else's reaction to a place you love will be, but I was glad to hear that they think it's as awesome as I do. Now that they had some time to settle down and become familiar with the new surroundings I hope I'll soon be able to meet them again! :D

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oh, I just realized this post lacks some pictures xD so, here's a couple of views on Kangasala, where I work:

...oh, and there's something else I haven't shown you yet! --> the Love Bridge of Tampere <3 (finally found it!! >w< ) It is a very special place in many ways... when I was standing there,  it was as if I could feel the emotions of the couples that decided to join this tradition, I felt so happy. This is a place that I'd like to be kissed - so romatic >w<

This is where Tampere's lovers leave their own locks as a lucky charm :3 

like these: 

Lilly told me that there was recently also a scandal due to a group of artists. Under the cloud of night they sneaked onto the bridge, removed a mass of the love locks and took them with them to melt them together and form a statue as a symbol of love. Of course, the victims of the "robbery" were all mad about it, but since they "left them there and therefore didn't belong to their property anymore", the police couldn't do anything about it - it was legal. Still, I think it's a rather cruel act. Whoever chose to leave their lock there, they surely had some serious feelings about it and taking them away is sort of thievery after all.

Coming and Going - A double-edged Sword

2 weeks of holidays at home in Austria are over now and it was actually rather strange. I've been in Finland for almost 4 months and this time has given me a lot of experiences, as well as clearer understanding about myself, so in one way or another I probably have changed.

When I left the airport at Munich to take the train to Austria, the craziest feelings arose, I was sitting in the city railway thinking "wtf everyone's talking german here" xDD (it also took me some hours to get accustomed to talking in my own mother tongue again!).

However, after several more hours I finally arrived in Bludenz, half an hour away from my family's house. Up to that point, I had imagined to be overly happy to be with everyone I know again, but actually the first thought that came to my mind was "I'm glad I'll go back to Finland again soon...that the volunteering time is not over yet". In the beginning I was very ashamed and also a little afraid of these words crossing my mind. I cherish my parents, my siblings, my other relatives and my Austrian friends a lot, so it didn't feel right to be sad about spending time with them. I guess this was what they call a cutural shock. Giving it another thought I came to realize that it's not about the people I'm holding dear, but about the surroundings, which didn't really make it better, because after all it's my homeland and even though I've always been feeling that I'm living on the edge of civilization, it still has it's own charm and it would be a lie to claim that I didn't like my life in Austria. (there were just some things missing that I found in Finland).

Anyways, my mood soon became better and I was really joyous. I know there are a lot of people that really missed me a lot and whose biggest fear still is that I might choose to stay in Scandinavia for the rest of my life. In the midst of everything I just tried my best to seize every moment of these 2 weeks until it was time to leave again. I met a lot of people and had a lot of fun. Later I also found out that the other 2 Austrians that also had their project in Finland cancelled their stay, so it seems I'm the only one left here ;). One of the best moments was when I went to a bar. There were many friends of mine, but only one knew that I'd be coming to join them too. So when I was unexpectedly standing in front of them, I met quite a number of giant eyes staring at me in disbelief until comprehension slowly sank in and I was welcomed by a mass of hugs and questions xDD Two of them also told me that they're going to spend their easter holidays in Helsinki and I can't wait to see them here again.

Time rushed by and suddenly I needed to say farewell for a second time.
This time I was travelling with 2 other Austrian friends that are going to study in Jyväskylä for some months. We were spending one night in Munich with their parents and on the following day we entered the plane.
It's so great to know that there are some friends of mine also in Finland now and I'm already looking forward to seeing them again :D

When I arrived at my host family's house in Tampere, I think I had another little cultural shock, or maybe it was just the moment before reorganizing myself to the different surroundings once more.
Anyhow, there's no time to waste too much time on thinking about useless thoughts. I've got a lot of plans for the upcoming year.

"For last year's words belong to last year's language and next years words await another voice." 

- T.S. Eliot


- I've received invitations to go to Tallinn (Estonia) by both my host mommy and some volunteer friends. At the moment, all of them are focusing on the same dates in January, so I hope we might be able to go all together :D

- For christmas I also got some tickets for the cruise to Stockholm (Sweden) by a finnish friend. :D

- Moreover I was offered to join a skiing trip to Lapland with the volunteers around Jyväskylä, but now I need to check if these dates are crossing those of the Stockholm-cruise.

- My Austrian student friends are also looking forward to organizing a trip to Norway that I can be part of :D

- And then of course there's a lot of concerts coming up, as well as countless festivals starting around June!

...and much more to come.

Oh, and I was hoping to see "Black Veil Brides" in April in Helsinki, but the online ticket shop already said that there are only a few tickets left and whenever I tried to buy one, it didn't work. So when I came back to Finland and we had a short stop in the capital, I went to the official ticket store and was able to actually catch the last ticket available!!! *o*

Like Never Before

Matt (Drums), Mikey (Guitar) & Me :)

I'm back in Austria for 2 weeks again and it's the strangest feeling to come home after 3 months of living in Finland. The landscape is different, mountains everywhere, there's no city life around, but that's not the point - what's changed is me, I feel like there's something missing. (Must be the lack of concerts here ;D) When I left the plane at Munich airport, I was really glad that I'll be returning to Finland soon, even though I was looking forward very much to seeing my family and friends again and also walking on homeland. I guess that's what Päivi warned me of when she said to take care for I will not be the same as before.
Maybe I just need a little time to get used to it again and after all, I've got some plans for these 2 weeks too.

--

Just before departing from Helsinki, I was at a concert of

"Baby Jane" 

and 

"The 69 Eyes" 

I went there with Rodrigo, a friend that I hadn't seen since 2,5 months and despite of the fact that he was almost an hour late, I enjoyed myself like I haven't done in ages! The 69 Eyes were great, but I was even more happy because of Baby Jane. I hadn't heard of them before, but they were a real surprise! - Everyone who doesn't know them yet:

What was probably really special was that they didn't only bring up a great show, but just looking at them I could feel how much they were enjoying it, how much they love making music. And this feeling was contagious to the audience as well! Also after the concert, they were all friendly, not hiding themselves in the backstage area, allowing photos and talks, giving autographs....and when I came near, Mikey even spoke up to me and said that he remembered me from the show *-*
I hope they'll have more concerts coming up soon!

(more photos to come as soon as I can use my own computer again)

It's almost the end of the year and I think this band was my best discovery of 2012! I just love their music <3
When I came home, my little brother and his friends welcomed me with Jägermeister and he showed me his new audio equipment, so the first thing I did this morning was to put my new CD from the concert in there and turn up the volume! lml

...maybe I should go to Sweden sometime soon too :D

Thank You!! ...for 1.000 Pageviews ^.~ / Sauna & Ice-Swimming

Today I'd like to say "Thank you" to all of my readers - you're best!
It's been 3 months now every since I came to Finland and opened this blog and I'm so proud that this week we could reach 1.000 (!!) pageviews!

Please keep it up! I'm looking forward to these next months already.

________________________

So, yesterday I was at Rauhaniemi (northern Tampere) with my workmates to enjoy sauna and  ice-swimming.

I felt so crazy! Honestly, this has at least a little hint of insanity and masochism xD

...but anyways, it's a great opportunity that everyone should try and definitely an unique experience!

After changing in the dressing room, we had to walk outside in the snow at -10/-15°C already to the sauna and then again to get to the lake. It was sure freezing and in the end a question of courage whether we decide to take a swim or not! 

I went to the lake 3 times, always "sauna - lake - sauna - lake - sauna..." and so did Despoina and Sini, only Andi chose not to come...and Päivi couldn't make it to the sauna, because some unexpected changes in her time schedule appeared.

When attempting to swim in the ice-cold water for the first time, my body instinctively tried to curl up and I knew that I had to get out as long as I was still able to climb the stairs...crazy!

As freezing as it was outside, it was really hot inside! I stayed only for a little time on the top row of the sauna, it wasn't like I felt extremely hot, but it became somehow difficult to breathe, so I moved one step down later. 

Besides, the usually reserved Finns seem to become unusually talkative during sauna too, it was quite interesting talking to them and learning new things about Finland.

After all of that, I felt active and exhausted at the same time, because of the adrenaline and the effort of taking the challenges.

Then, we went to Andi's place, had some Finnish meal with Greek salad and then played Monopoly (Helsinki Version). It didn't become too late though, since we were all rather tired and apparently decided to go home. 

Still, it was a great evening, so thank you to everyone that participated. :)

Since I didn't take any pictures yesterday, I went to the beach again today and took some nice ones. It was a really breathtaking view, but see for yourselves:

This is Näsijärvi :)

A Lot To Tell

Dear reader,

I'm really sorry for not updating for so long - however, I finally found time and motivation to do so! :)

___


Snow has finally come to Tampere too these last days and it's growing colder every day. They say on Monday we'll already have -18°C - should I rather be scared or look forward to it? ;P


At work, everything's still going well. I've been intrusted to take responsibility for the childrens' christmas calendar, together with Despoina. So she's doing clay figures and I've been working the whole 2 last weeks on making a puzzle with all the kids and teachers drawn on it, Middle Ages style. I have to confess, it was a lot more work than I believed it would be, but I had fun doing it and I'm happy with how it turned out to be:

It was also quite a challenge to prevent the kids from seeing it as soon as I started colouring it, since it should be a surprise.


So there's 20 days left until I'm flying back home and thinking about it, I'm missing my friends and family more than ever >.< I'm really looking forward to meeting all of them again, but people here in Finland don't need to worry that I might not be coming back after Christmas, for I'm also already thinking how much I will miss my time here after June!


Yet, before going home, there's still almost a month to make some great memories and another thing I'm looking forward to is watching "Hobitti"!! :D
I've always been regretting that I was just a little too young when "Lord of the Rings" conquered the cinemas, but this time, I'll definitely won't miss the chance! *o*


Today, I'm also having "Pikkujoulu", something like a Pre-Christmas-Party with my workmates - we're going  to Sauna, ice-swimming and then food, drinks and whatever else we might come up with ;D
Right now, it's -10°C outside and it's snowing non-stop...thinking that on top of that I'm going to enter an ice cold lake in some hours already sends me shivers down my spine, but you never know how it is until you try - YAY!!! ...I feel crazy though xD


Oh, and look what else I have found - I've been waiting for this picture to come online:

Hihi, can you see me? xD