Blue, Red and nearly Black...

... that's basically the state of my body right now... and further it's, as everybody should know, the degree of difficulty of slopes in a ski-resort.

This morning S., E. and I came back from Levi, which is the most important winter sport resort of Finland. Recently there was also the downhill and slalom world cup taking place. We had rented a cottage a little bit outside of the center of Levi, but close enough to walk.

The whole trip started on the 12th of January, the day, when S. and E. came back from Spain. I picked them up from the Airport, we went home to Kannelmäki and re-packed our stuff and went to Prisma to buy some food. We decided to bring some non-perishable things like bread, pasta and especially beer from Helsinki, as we expected them to be extremely expensive so high up north. We had to hurry a bit, as we had to catch in Pasila the night train to Rovaniemi. It left at 22.30 in the evening and was going 12 hours. We were spending the time with eating, drinking, talking and a little bit of sleeping, which was actually pretty comfortable, even tho we were three people in the small compartment.

In Rovaniemi we had to change from the train to the bus, which was taking us the last 170km to Levi. There we had, as we didn't know where and when the free Ski-Bus was leaving, to walk to the cottage. This however, wasn't that bad, as we anyways had to pass a supermarket, where we received the key for our small house. The rest of the way was a little bit of a pain. It was cold, the bags were heavy and we didn't know how far the cottage was away. It is weird, how much longer the way feels, when you don't know where you are going. I realized this, when we walked back from the cottage to explore the village. The way seemed so much shorter, as we didn't had our backpacks with us anymore and as we knew the way.

Levi itself is pretty small. I reckon we also came exactly after the realy busy high season, after everybody was there already for the Christmas holidays. The village was totally deserted after the sun went down, which was around 15.30. The shops were open and so we walked into all the rental shops to get price lists, to choose the best offers for us. The evening we spent, cooking pasta and having a sauna. It was so relaxing and really good, as it was warming us up a little bit.

The next day started as early as 8 o'clock. We had breakfast, prepared sandwiches and packed our stuff, we thought we would need during the day. Then we went to InterSport to rent Skiing and Snowboarding equipment. E. went for Skis, as he had skiing experience already for a couple of years and S. and I rented snowboards, as it is so much cooler than skiing :-P

S. didn't had any experience of snowboarding whatsoever and I had been standing on a snowboard one time before for about 4 hours inside of a skiing-hall. So we decided to start off with a blue slope in order to get (again) a feeling for the board. It went well... the first 50 meters until we came to a pretty steep and tight part of the slope. We fell several times on a 20 meter long hill, but we didn't give up and somehow made it to the bottom. Then came the next surprise... an even steeper and longer hill. Also here we fell several times, but didn't lose our motivation. All the people passing us were able to go down the hill without falling, so we had to be able, too.

We then finally made it to Gondoli, one of the lifts and went to the hill-top, where we had, thanks to the good weather on the first day, an amazing view over the surrounding. From there we found a pretty easy blue slope, where we decided to get the hang of snowboarding. E. however went down some red and black slopes several times, while S. and I tried to go down the hill once. Soon it went better and better for me and I was really having a lot of fun. I went down the blue slope over and over again and wasn't "scared" anymore.

The evening we were cooking again and spent some time in the sauna and infront of the TV. We were all so tired of the trip and the whole day of wintersport, that we decided to not go out. We actually spent the whole three days on the slopes. E. on the most difficult ones of the resort and S. and I on the easier ones. However on the third day, when the blue slope got boring for me I went for the red slope.

When going up with the lift I got really scared. The slope looked so much steeper from the top than it did from the valley. Also the people were going so much faster than it looked from the bottom. My legs were shaking and I thought I would go down the hill more sliding on my butt, than standing on the board. Anyways, I took a deep breath, went for it and... of course fell after the first ten meters. However after some attempts I was going... slowly, but steady. I went several times up and every time I went down I became more confident and better. After the lunch break E. took me to other red slopes as he said, they would be better for me to practice.


I lost my inspiration already for a couple of days. I am sitting in front of this entry and don't know anymore what to write... therefore I am going to publish it now and will write about Levi maybe later or maybe not. Anyways... it was a really good time in Levi, I am back in Helsinki and feel good here, I've been out already two times here, I will go to my first Swedish class today and after that I will go out again. It is really nice to be back, but somehow it is different, as so many people left already. I really miss them and hope to get to know new people soon.

~M~

Back home... for 4 days!

Now, to not create a extremely long post, I decided to split up everything I did during the last weeks. It's easier for me, as I can update my blog in different stages and it's easier for you to read and follow through! Also it feels better for me, as I am filling my blog a bit and get some more posts per month ;-)

On the 30th of December A. and I went with a really early flight from Helsinki to Düsseldorf to spend New Years with my parents. They picked us up from Düsseldorf Airport and we drove directly to Siegen, were my grandma is living. She was brought a couple of months ago into a retirement home, as docters found her incapable of living alone anymore. It was the first time for ages that I saw her and it was really good. She is still energetic and was so happy to see us all. Her enthusiasm is really inspiring and it is incredible to see that a person in the age of 94 can still be like that. She was unwrapping the presents we brought and was obviously touched by our visit.

It was good to be home then later. Aachen is still my hometown and it is always nice to be again in the house you grew up in, to see the surroundings changing, to see how time changes everything. A. and I went to the city during these days a couple of times and every time i saw something new and something changed and this made me realize how long I've been away for.

New Years Eve we spent with my parents at home. I haven't done this since I was 14 and this made it even more special. I also made my brother stay home and celebrate with us, which made me really happy. It is amazing how the spatial distance between siblings can bring them closer together. I realized this the first time, when my brother went to the USA when I was 13 and now I feel it again, since I am away all the time. The separation makes you understand each other better and let you enjoy the few time you have together instead of fighting over nothing like when you were small.
After the amazing dinner (thanks to my mum) we went out to celebrate the new year on the street. After shooting some rockets and nearly getting killed ;-) by one mislead rocket we, my brother, A. and me, went to the city to go to a new years party. The line-up however was so long and not moving at all, so that we decided after 15 minutes queuing and not moving a bit, to grab some cocktails. We sat there until 3.30 a.m. until the bar closed and then decided, since the line up at the club was still not moving, to go home.

The next day was a hangover day and we visited my other grandma, who is suffering from dementia and therefore also living in a retirement home.

The 2nd of January 2010 (god, it's really weird ... I am all the time typing 20010 :-D) we started packing our stuff and preparing for Paris, where we went the next day. This also included going to the city again and grabbing one more time a coffee at Starbucks and more important printing my desired T-Shirt with a striped Mini in the front. I love it !!!

Anyways, the next morning meant getting up early and leaving to the train station to go to Paris. It snowed loads (for this region of Germany) during the night and so we were more sliding than driving to the station.

It was a great time in Germany. It was good to be back again, even tho I love to be "on the road". But it is always good to know that there is a place on earth where somebody is always welcoming you and where your roots are... Thanks mum, dad and F.

~M~

A real Finnish Christmas

Now, finally I’m writing again. It’s because I haven’t been writing for a long time and also because some people… well, basically my brother and my father were complaining that they wanted to read about my Christmas time in Finland as I have just been four days in Germany and hence not enough time to tell every detail.

Christmas was very nice and somehow different from home. A. and I went to her parents on the 21st of December, as my Uni was over and both my Spanish flat mates had already left. It was pretty weird to bring them to the airport and say “see you later” for one month. After this time, these five months, together in Helsinki we already got used to each other. Anyways, A. and I went so early to Ekenäs, as A. had to work on the 22nd in the morning. During this time I was wrapping the Christmas presents and was just relaxing, as I haven’t done it at all during the three weeks before. All the assignments and exams were putting a huge workload onto me and left me with few time for social activities.

On the 23rd I was invited by A’s brother to a pre-Christmas sauna. It is, as I realized, tradition to gather with friends and family round Christmas to have a sauna and a couple of beers in Finland. It was really relaxing again and for me it was the first time that I could roll in the snow after having a sauna. It had been snowing quite a lot before and the snow was about 30cm high. As during the day the snow had been melting a bit, the surface turned to a thin layer of ice when the temperatures dropped again in the evening. I realized this when I came home from the sauna, felt my back itching and checked it in the mirror. The icy snow had scratched my skin and my whole back was cut open.

Then, the 24th A. and I slept a little bit longer and then went to church at 2 o’clock. A. was wrapping the last presents and her mum was preparing the last bit of Christmas food. And, wow, it was really a lot of food and really good food. She created a buffet in the kitchen, where, when you took from everything just a little portion, your plate was overloaded. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G !!! One of A’s brothers came along and joined us. Then we went to another of A’s brother’s house, where more people from the family gathered to celebrate Christmas. First we were watching N., A’s small niece unwrapping presents and also eating and drinking again. Then we were giving and getting presents to and from each other. As the family is so big and it would be too difficult and expensive to buy a present for everybody it was decided before Christmas that everybody would just buy one universal gift. The gifts then were numbered and everybody drew a card from a card game, which referred to one of the presents. It was really great, because nobody knew who would get his present and nobody knew from whom the present came. Anyways, my present was a digital frame, which was, for me, the best present to get.

The 25th A. and I went to meet up with her friends, as it was tradition for the last years. We were in a tiny flat and were sitting around the table and eating and drinking. Of course, as it was Christmas also here we were giving and getting presents. This was even more fun, as everybody had to buy a funny gift which was not more expensive than 1€ or 2€. We were then so to say gambling for our presents and once somebody had a present we could also steal it from each other. Sounds complicated in theory, is easy in practice. If somebody wants to know the rules exactly, I’ll be there… it’s great fun. The dinner and present-giving-game was then followed by a decent night-out in Ettan or better in the Rock Club Number 1, the only Club of Ekenäs. What else ?! Ah ja… on the way back home A. was falling into the snow… :-D

The 26th was again with the family. Having “linner” and drinking coffee and cognac. Basically we were then the following days just hanging around and enjoying the time off. Were walking around the town of Ekenäs, wrapping the last presents for my family, having sauna, watching TV and then finally packing our stuff to go to Aachen and Paris, the two world cities ;-)

It was a really nice Christmas time and I wanna thank you all, who were so welcoming for your hospitality. I had a great time and was enjoying the good food, drinks and company!

~M~