Category: Advent Calendar 2017

Advent calendar Box 6

Mia1 Comment

advent calendar 6Today it’s Independence Day in Finland. 100 years of it. Blue and white lights are being lit on buildings in different parts of the world. Even in Ethiopia. It’s an honour to be remembered by other countries. What Finns love the most is hearing praise. We’re really proud of our nation. No one is perfect though. Like any other country, we’re not saintly. This is not the day to have negative thoughts.

google finland
Google greeting us

There’s a saying in Finland, it’s a jackpot to be born in Finland. You really can say that. For starters, there haven’t been any wars since 1917. Our school system has been praised. We get our basic education for free. We don’t need to pay for our school lunch either. It doesn’t matter what background you come from, you still get an education. High school is only optional. If you don’t want to go, you can study an occupation in vocational school instead.  So if you don’t go to high school, it’s not the end of the world. There are different ways to educate yourself. Education of any kind is very important. You have a better chance to get a job. It depends on what kind of job you’re looking for though.

Finns love their sport. Especially ice hockey. We have won the championship twice, 1995 and 2011. Winter sports, in general, have been successful. We’re also good at other sports. Recent success has been in female floorball and ringette.
Finns are also well known in motorsport. If you want to win, hire a Finn, is a well known saying. Being a small nation with so many champions have amazed other countries. There haven’t been any champions in recent years though. The standard is higher and many other great drivers are coming along from other countries. But I think there will always be Finns in motorsport.

There are so many great things in Finland so it would take forever to write. We have nature and we have the sauna but it’s so much more. Never underestimate a Finn. We might be famous for being introverted and reserved. But when we get going, there’s nothing that stops us. We’re honest and trustworthy. I’m proud to be a Finn. Veterans fought for our independence and for 100 years Finland has been war-free. I’m happy to have been born here and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

light art against castle wall
Turku Castle. Light Art. For Finland 100 years of independence

Hyvää Itsenäisyyspäivää, Suomi!

Glad själständighets dag, Finland!

Happy Independence Day, Finland!

Advent calendar Box 5

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advent calendar 5

All I want for Christmas is more courage and a better 2018. I also want to relocate myself abroad more often. It all depends on money. I would travel more if I could. Everything is so expensive. Even though Finland has a lot of locations I haven’t been to. Abroad is always an interesting place to visit. I would stay in Europe though. I wish I could see New Zealand but I won’t be able to for years. I almost have to win the lottery to go there. Or get a job that pays well but I don’t see that happening either. Not the way things are going anyway.

Sometimes you need to go somewhere to recharge the batteries. A break it’s good for the soul and mind. Unfortunately, some people can’t afford to go anywhere. But going out of the house once in a while is good too. You’re in your house or flat most of the year so even a small breather is good. It doesn’t need to be overnight. It’s nice to come home after you’ve been somewhere else for a while. There is no good excuse why you can’t leave your home. The weather is one of them. There is no bad weather, there are only laziness and bad clothes. It’s funny how some people complain about rain and that they can’t go out. That’s the best part. Walking under your umbrella and wellies on. It’s about attitude and seeing the positive.

I’m really looking forward to Christmas. It will be nice to travel abroad and see other ways to celebrate the holidays. I also get away from home and the city for a while. Even if I’ve been to Riga a lot of times, there will still be something to see. We’re only gonna be there for about 5 hours but that will be enough. That’s better than handle the stress other people will go through. I can enjoy the holiday for real and that will be so refreshing.

Advent calendar Box 4

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advent calendar 4This calendar is not only about Christmas. You can’t colour me in patina to make me write about that all the time. Besides, I will run out of Christmas topics before the end if I do.

This year I’ve been to the movies quite a bit. Some years I probably only go see one or two. It depends on what’s in store. In 2017 I’ve seen 6 movies and one more to come. That’s a personal record. I’ve seen ‘Kong: Skull Island’ (twice), ‘Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2’, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 5’, ‘Paddington 2’, ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ and the latest is ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ In 10 days it’s “Star Wars The last Jedi.

Watching movies has been an escape since I was 9 or 10. The first movie I ever saw was when I was 3 years old. I belonged to a movie club with my mother when I was in primary school where we went to see one movie once a week. It was movies for kids.
I always stay until the end. Most people leave as soon as the movie ends. Some movies have post-credit scenes. Like the Kong movie. You see people online being surprised there have been one. Well, you should have stayed until the end. It’s kind of funny reading people reactions. I don’t know why people are such in a hurry. Movie tickets are not cheap so you might just enjoy it while it last.

People have their snacks and drinks in the movie theatre. Then they have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the movie. I had to do it once when I saw ‘Batman, The dark knight rises’ and I hope I never have to do it again. I dislike missing scenes from movies. That’s one of the reasons why I never have anything to drink at the movies. I don’t even have candy with me that often. When you eat sweets, you get thirsty and then you have to drink. You know what happens when you do. At home, you can pause a movie but at the movies, you can’t.

The problem going to the movies are other people in there. Sometimes there are people who neither can’t be quiet or they keep rustle their candy bags. Luckily there haven’t been any nightmare viewers when I’m been to the movies. The other is commercials. 15 minutes of the same ones you see on TV and then a few movie trailers. I’ve started to arrive at the theatre about 10 minutes before the movie begins. Even that is too early. It’s wrong to pay for a ticket and then waiting for the commercials to end. 10 minutes would be enough. I don’t know why movie theatres do it. Trailers I can do but commercials are too much. Especially when they’re so stupid these days. You just have to accept the way things are. Nothing beats a movie on the big screen. That’s something you can’t get at home.