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. :)

______________________________________

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 :)

Awesome Post from Awesome People

Today I got a legendary letter from David (I really really can't wait until you come to Finland too!!!) :D

I knew that somewhen these weeks I would receive post from him, because we talked about it, but when it actually arrived today, I was so euphoric! I was expecting to get his band's (Fallen Up) new CD, but the handwritten letter came as a surprise and I can't say for sure which filled me more with joy and still does!! You're best!! *-*

haha, 1 letter, 4 languages used (German, English, Finnish and Latin) xDD
And I love these little extra comments in the corners ;P


And here's 10 reasons why you (and the other band members) are awesome:

- Mirror Split 
- Condemned
- Death of Conscience
- Three Nails
- Elegy
- Erased
- Never Mine
- Track 8
- Circle of Addiction
- To Everyone

There's none among these that I could call a song I don't like. They are all great!
However I especially like "Never Mine" - listened to it once, melody stayed in my ears immediately!
And I've been longing for "Erased" anyways ever since I heard it for the first time.
Same to "Track 8".

I really enjoy listening to the CD - it's epic!
And it makes me think it's a real pity that I couldn't take part in the Release Show >.< ...and that I won't be able to make it to your last concert for this year... but the time will come that I can finally listen to you guys live again!! :D 
Oh, and I love the CD cover and design, but of course you need great packing for great songs!

Thank you so much!!!

Tampere Illuminations

So I was at Tampere Illuminations in Keskusta ;D
There was some programm, so I was expecting it to last long, at least some hours, but somehow they managed to have a fire show, a speech and the fireworks in less than 1 hour xD

Anyways, it was nice!

Have a taste yourself:

...feels like New Year xDD

After that, they  put on the light figures in all the main streets which was like:

I also went to Särkänniemi again, because I knew they were also lighting up the big tower:

At the end, I just walked around a little more:

g

Negative acoustic live @ Särkänniemi

Aaaaand here's the weekly concert report ;P

This week, I went to see Negative!! ^-^

It was a real pain in the ass until I got there, because there was so little time and so much going wrong >.< I got permission to leave work half an hour earlier to catch the bus at 15:00, even though there was a lot to do, because they were holding a rather spontaneous Halloween party for the kids. So, I was standing at the bus station. - The problem: the bus didn't come! Maybe because it was also the first day of snow in southern Finland... In the end, one of my support persons luckily could pick me up and give me a lift home, so I had at least half an hour to change clothes, check my stuff and get ready to go. It was cold, but not as cold as I thought it would be - only around -6° I think. Then, I took the bus to the central place and walked to the park (so relieved when I finally arrived there!)

I'm so glad, because that's one of the bands which I really wanted to see when I came to Finland! And I  did!! :D It was an unplugged show, that's rather seldom, so it's even more special! And they played amazingly!! The gig was held in the Delfinaario of the amusement park, in front of the pool and they knew well how to use the lights to create an unique atmosphere.

The stage:

I went there with a hungarian girl, Imola, who is also volunteering in another part of Finland right now and whom I met at the On-Arrival training in Kokkola already. She came to Tampere to join the concert and took the train back to her project the following day. There was also another spanish volunteer, Ruben, meant to meet us, but somehow in the end, he chose not to come...too bad for him, he missed the greatest show, but as far as I know, there's been some onrganisational problems.
The one unexpected thing was that the audience was actually supposed to sit on the places while watching the concert! :O
There was the pool, the seats that were placed like in a theatre and in between of these, there  the stage, so -no space for standing in front of the stage...but it wasn't that bad, since we caught 2 seats in the first row, pretty much in the middle too ;P
On the websites they said that there are no cameras allowed at the gig, so I didn't take mine along, but I managed to take some pictures with my mobile phone and the quality is as good as a phone's camera can be ;D

They played most of their greatest songs and I was so happy when they also played the 2 covers of Tehosekoitin (Kaukaisimmalle Rannalle) and Pink Floyd (Wish You Were Here), because I believe they are only heard at their acoustic shows and also because one of them is sung in Finnish! I really admire this band and it makes me proud to live in the same city, because they are actually from Tampere! (:

There's this tradition that, at the end of the concert, the band throws some roses into the audience and I actually caught one!!! :D :D :D Well, since it seemed to be a little trouble to get the flowers out of the plastic wrapping, it wasn't a whole rose anymore, but - doesn't matter, got a Negative's rose!! <3

Haha, so far I haven't received a rose from any guy before - I'd have never thought that I'd get my first rose from Antti of Negative! ;P

After the show there was another extra taking place: a dolphin show only for the audience ;D that was a cool surprise xD

When we exited the hall, the big observation tower Näsinneula was also shining bright:

And there will be more lights, because tonight is the start of the Tampere Illuminations and I'm already excited to go to the centre this evening :D They say there will be fireworks too!