Monday, February 27, 2006
I honestly don't know what was the bigger deal yesterday, the Finnish hockey team playing for the gold medal against Sweden, or the fact for about 15 minutes our living room had direct sunlight shine into it. It was the first time that has happened and it could be a sign of things to come. Most importantly, Spring. I even had to turn the blinds so the sun wouldn't shine in my face. I felt kind of bad doing it, but it's only February, give me a couple of more months and I will probably write something to the effect of "I can't stand all this damn sunshine". Well, I hope I get to write something like that.
The game was an event. I got to the sports bar an hour early and it was packed. 2pm on a Sunday for a 3pm game. There was not a seat to be found and so we went to a more out of the way bar and got there in the nick of time too because soon after the game began it was full. And the game was great, except for the first 10 seconds of the third period when Sweden scored and basically won. It's hard to be Finnish. The people all knew that the game was over even though there was still 19.50 left to play. I have a feeling that a lot of grown men were crying yesterday, and then they were probably fighting and then probably sleeping on the street.
Tomorrow I am going to the swimming hall and the sauna. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday are the men's days. It should be an interesting trip. I just hope I am allowed to wear my bathing suit in the pool. Apparently it is a no-no.
The game was an event. I got to the sports bar an hour early and it was packed. 2pm on a Sunday for a 3pm game. There was not a seat to be found and so we went to a more out of the way bar and got there in the nick of time too because soon after the game began it was full. And the game was great, except for the first 10 seconds of the third period when Sweden scored and basically won. It's hard to be Finnish. The people all knew that the game was over even though there was still 19.50 left to play. I have a feeling that a lot of grown men were crying yesterday, and then they were probably fighting and then probably sleeping on the street.
Tomorrow I am going to the swimming hall and the sauna. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday are the men's days. It should be an interesting trip. I just hope I am allowed to wear my bathing suit in the pool. Apparently it is a no-no.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
I saw my first football match in a bar today. FC Barcelona beat Chelsea FC in a UEFA Champions League match. The place was so crowded because of the earlier televised game, FInland v. USA in the quarterfinals of the Olympics and the line to get in was long, like 45 minutes long. And the worst part is that my neighbor, Gilad and his buddies weren't even there. But still, the vibe in the bar was great, with at least 10 Spanish and many English which gave a lot of fire to an otherwise quiet Finnish crowd. Although there was a point in the night when the Finns went crazy, because with the last stone in the 10th end, the Finnish curling team advanced to the semi-finals after defeating England.
Normally my sports bar trips are American football, usually college and / or basketball. But this was 2 sports I have never publicly watched and one sport where I felt guilty for rooting for the Finns when my home country was losing. All in all it was a good night. Finland plays Russia next in hockey and that game is going to be insane. There is a slight rivalry between the Finns and the Russians and nothing brings it out more than ice hockey. Of course if the Lions (Finnish mascot) win they may very well play Sweden for the gold and this entire country, hell the entire North of Europe will be absolutely crazy.
That's your local sports update. And as far as the Joensuu basketball team is concerned, they are in first place and I have promised to go to J-town for the playoffs. Thank you and good night.
Normally my sports bar trips are American football, usually college and / or basketball. But this was 2 sports I have never publicly watched and one sport where I felt guilty for rooting for the Finns when my home country was losing. All in all it was a good night. Finland plays Russia next in hockey and that game is going to be insane. There is a slight rivalry between the Finns and the Russians and nothing brings it out more than ice hockey. Of course if the Lions (Finnish mascot) win they may very well play Sweden for the gold and this entire country, hell the entire North of Europe will be absolutely crazy.
That's your local sports update. And as far as the Joensuu basketball team is concerned, they are in first place and I have promised to go to J-town for the playoffs. Thank you and good night.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
I recognize that I have not been writing too much in this here thing and I think I've finally figured out why. If you take a look at my previous entries from the month of March you will see that that month was one of the worst months of the year, at least in Joensuu, which is 500km NE of Helsinki. Which means that the month of March in Joensuu is the month of February in Helsinki and it sucks big time.
The sun has not come out for any length of time in weeks. Sure it's lighter and lighter, but it's all shades of grey. And the grey melts from the sky onto the streets because the snow that hits the ground turns grey and makes walking on the sidewalk like walking on the beach, except without the sun and bikinis. Also because the temperature is hovering around freezing it means that the snow from the roofs of the buildings melts and drops 30ft onto the ground and so they have to block off a lot of the sidewalk so that people don't die. And then the snow melts and the temperature drops and it all turns to ice. On some streets there is no more sidewalk, just elevated sheets of ice that are ridiculously slippery. And don't walk too close to the street because the cars and busses will shower you with dirty snow water.
Oh yeah, and we're broke. I mean completely broke. To put it in perspective, I'm going bald. Sure not yet, but it's definitely thinning on top. You may have heard this one before, but tough, you read it again here and now. So for a guy like me who is losing it on top it is very necessary to keep the top trim and fit and looking good otherwise it gets long, and really thin. But a haircut is 20 a pop and whereas when gainfully employed I was hitting the barber every 3 weeks - it's only a half hour after all - I am now waiting and waiting and getting used to the idea of wearing hats for long periods of time. I wish I had a flobie. But I wouldn't be able to afford one.
However, things are not all bad. For the first time yesterday I went to the gym and did not feel the need to throw up because I was physically exhausted. So I got that going for me.
But really, this time of year just stinks here in Finland. Please come and see for yourself.
The sun has not come out for any length of time in weeks. Sure it's lighter and lighter, but it's all shades of grey. And the grey melts from the sky onto the streets because the snow that hits the ground turns grey and makes walking on the sidewalk like walking on the beach, except without the sun and bikinis. Also because the temperature is hovering around freezing it means that the snow from the roofs of the buildings melts and drops 30ft onto the ground and so they have to block off a lot of the sidewalk so that people don't die. And then the snow melts and the temperature drops and it all turns to ice. On some streets there is no more sidewalk, just elevated sheets of ice that are ridiculously slippery. And don't walk too close to the street because the cars and busses will shower you with dirty snow water.
Oh yeah, and we're broke. I mean completely broke. To put it in perspective, I'm going bald. Sure not yet, but it's definitely thinning on top. You may have heard this one before, but tough, you read it again here and now. So for a guy like me who is losing it on top it is very necessary to keep the top trim and fit and looking good otherwise it gets long, and really thin. But a haircut is 20 a pop and whereas when gainfully employed I was hitting the barber every 3 weeks - it's only a half hour after all - I am now waiting and waiting and getting used to the idea of wearing hats for long periods of time. I wish I had a flobie. But I wouldn't be able to afford one.
However, things are not all bad. For the first time yesterday I went to the gym and did not feel the need to throw up because I was physically exhausted. So I got that going for me.
But really, this time of year just stinks here in Finland. Please come and see for yourself.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Today I saw something that I have never scene before. I saw an escalator attack. Seems a teenage girl forgot to tie her shoelaces well enough and the escalator ate it and knocked her to one knee and wouldn't let go. And people were traveling on the escalator behind her. Eventually she was able to get herself out, but the crazy thing was how calm she was. It's like this has happened to her before. She just gave a look like 'got me'. I've been traveling up and down escalators since I can remember and I have never scene this happen to anyone before and so if it had been me, I probably would have been yelling and screaming. Actually, come to think of it, I have never imagined myself in that particular situaion and have no idea how I would react.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
I thought I would put my procrastination to good use. Here are some pictures of the house. The last batch is the house filled with people. This batch is an empty house. And not so clean, but you can't expect me to clean while procrastinating. That's not procrastinating. That's cleaning.
Karoliina and I submitted a synopsis and charater description for our story "Devil in Helsinki". It was a Log-line, descriptions of our main characters: their backstory and their interplay with one another and a one-page synopsis. We're both pretty happy with it and are really excited about getting some feedback, any feedback, let alone money.
So now I have been working on the second draft to the treatment. I completed the first draft, about 15 pages, in November and the story has changed a lot since then. So now I am revising the original and incorporating the changes we have made. I have one more page to write and then I will be finished with Act 1 and can move on to Act 2. But I'm at the one point in Act 1 where I don't know exactly how to describe it. I can't quite see it and so I am now taking a little break. And here are the results:
Karoliina and I submitted a synopsis and charater description for our story "Devil in Helsinki". It was a Log-line, descriptions of our main characters: their backstory and their interplay with one another and a one-page synopsis. We're both pretty happy with it and are really excited about getting some feedback, any feedback, let alone money.
So now I have been working on the second draft to the treatment. I completed the first draft, about 15 pages, in November and the story has changed a lot since then. So now I am revising the original and incorporating the changes we have made. I have one more page to write and then I will be finished with Act 1 and can move on to Act 2. But I'm at the one point in Act 1 where I don't know exactly how to describe it. I can't quite see it and so I am now taking a little break. And here are the results:
