Finland's first impression - Vaikutelmia Suomesta

I've already posted two videos on YouTube talking about this blog but also just some of my impressions about Finland! Hope you will like them! :)

Ice Hockey in Finland - A sport that makes Finns become lions...

The national ice hockey team in Finland is "Leijonat"(Lions) and as you can see in the photo below, it obviously has a lion as their logo. Ice hockey is a really big thing in Finland! People get excited when watching a game, Finns are very competitive when talking about ice hockey. If their favorite team wins, be sure that they will celebrate it and be happy all the day long but if they loose and they are big fans of it, they will become sad and disappointed... It's a similar thing to what happens in my country when we watch football as it's the most popular sport and the country stops when the national team plays. I can accept that I felt really excited while watching ice hockey! It's entertaining and makes you feel impacient and full of energy as you never know what can happen, but of course you always feel like you are going to win as in any sport where you enjoy watching and supporting a team in special.

Most of the big towns but also some small ones have their own ice hockey teams. The top professional ice hockey league in Finland is called "Liiga"and here is where the best teams take part. The Liiga is considered one of the most powerful ice hockey leagues in the world. Ice hockey is a team sport where Finland can compete for medals at both World and Olympic championship levels for the quality of their players and teams in general. It is the most popular sport by excellence measure obviosuly by television coverage, sponsorhip and attendance. Ice hockey ocuppy such a prominent place in the sport scene like any other country in Europe, only Canada can compete with Finland in terms of this sport popularity.

Leijonat logo, "Suomi" means Finland in Finnish

My first ice hockey game - Kupari Kiekko from Harjavalta

Liiga Ice Hockey game - Porin Ässät

Me supporting Finland Leijonat

My life in Finland! :D

I used to live in Harjavalta, but I moved to another host family in a coastal town called Luvia which I should accept that has very friendly people.

I go to a school in a near town, Ulvila, it is a really good place to meet new people and the education is just motivational as the teachers are amazing professionals. 

I love going to ice hockey games, it's really excited and it's also something new for me because in Uruguay it doesn't exists. Ice hockey is the most popular sport as well as watching Formula One but the real national sport in Finland is Pesäpallo (nest ball) which is a fast-moving bat-and-ball sport, it's really interesting.

My routine consists on going to school on weekdays, then going to gym or swimming, listening to music and being at home with my new family. On weekends I meet friends, sometimes we have small parties or we just go to a café. I really like watching movies so it would be great to go to the cinema here. I have been in a Thirty Seconds to Mars concert that was so entertaining, I like going to concerts sometimes, it’s fun and a good experience when you see your favorite bands or artists live. 

I’m thinking on starting to make funny videos and posting them on Youtube, it’s just an idea that I’m seriously thinking on making it real. I also go to sauna, it’s a really important thing for Finns, where they can stay for hours and the normal temperature varies between 60-100 degrees celsius or 140-212 degrees fahrenheit, huh! that's a lot! When I came at first, I was impressed by the high temperatures but you just get used to it! I love being here and sharing my experiences with you readers! It makes me feel good and grateful for you being interested in reading it. :)

Center of the city of Pori

Sunset (Auringonlasku) from Kokemäenjoki River

Industrial area

Ice Hockey game 

Center of Helsinki (Finland's capital)

Why Finland?

This is a question that people tend to ask me all the time… Well, I chose Finland mainly because I started learning the language and I got into their culture and I was impressed by many of their traditions as my Finnish teacher , Leena, showed me so many things about the country and the Finnish lifestyle. I’ve always been interested on visiting the Nothern European countries because they were “exotic” to me because of the large differences between my country and the Nordic region. The wildlife and the fact that in most of the places here you are around nature with large virgin forests and animals that can walk in front of you, was an excuse to go out of Uruguay.

This is a photo I took right from my house, the reflection made into the water is amazing.

Satalinnan Sairaala (big old hospital in my town).

The city of Pori, Satakunta

Photo taken while walking in the forest.

A european squirrel (orava) eating a nut in Finland - Photo from Matti Parkkonen

Me

I’m a 18 year old guy from Uruguay and living in Finland as an exchange student with a fantastic host family. I live in a small coastal beautiful town called Luvia in the South West part of Finland. I like meeting new people, sports, traveling and sometimes I cook. I’ll post things about my life experiences, funny things, Finnish traditions, and some interesting facts about different topics. I hope you will like my blog, if you have any question, don’t doubt on asking me!