Tag: Finland

Bloganuary: Without sports life would be dull

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What are your favorite sports to watch and play?

Bloganuary 2024

I was always good at sports in school. My favourite was Finnish baseball (pesäpallo). It’s almost like baseball but doesn’t have a pitcher in the middle. I can’t explain it, so go and look at what it is. The other sport I liked was ice skating, but I haven’t done it in 30 years or so. I also did slalom skiing, but the same with that. The last time I did it was in 2011, but my mother got sick in 2012, and we didn’t do it anymore. I still have the gear but don’t know if I will ski again. I started to ski when I was 6 years old. We went to Lapland once a year to ski for a week. We had a cabin that my dad owned with some of his friends. When he sold his part of it, we went to a hotel. We went to Lapland for at least 30 years. It took about 13 hours to drive to the North of Finland. We won’t do it again because it’s tiring and stressful. Those were good times, though.

Now I only watch sports on television. My favourite sport is ice hockey. I’ve been to my local team’s games several times. Sometimes, they show their matches on the free channels, but I mostly listen to the games on the radio because if you want to watch ice hockey, you have to pay for them. Fortunately, it’s free to watch when Finland plays in the world championships and other international tournaments. I only follow the Finnish ice hockey league, so no NHL for me. Unless they show games with Finnish players. Watching ice hockey on site has a unique atmosphere. It feels like you’re with people with the same piece of mind. In Finland, there could be more noise in the ice rink, like in the NHL, but the fans are the only ones keeping the noise here. Without them, the rink would be quiet. But still, the atmosphere is different when you watch it at home. Watching sports on-site isn’t cheap, so all you can do is watch on television. But that’s better than no sport at all.

It is difficult to think what life would be like if there weren’t sports to watch. I also like to watch sports with excitement. I used to watch Formula One, but it has become boring. Consistently, the same teams and the same drivers win. All of my favourite drivers have retired, too. They also don’t show the races for free anymore. It has been like that for at least 10 years. My life used to surround it. I couldn’t do or go anywhere when there was a race weekend. When all of that stopped, I felt a relief. So, in a way, they did me a favour: the TV people and the people who make the rules in F1. I was free of all the restrictions that the sport had on my free time. I still plan my weekends on what sports are being shown on TV, but it doesn’t matter if I miss an event or don’t see it from the start. Watching motorsport like F1, you need to see the beginning because that’s the most exciting part. Some say motorsport is not a sport, but they don’t know how much the drivers do training during the off-season and how much strength they need to make it through the races. Not just anybody can fit into those cars. Unfortunately, with all those technical things those cars have these days, you don’t know who is the best driver.

If the question is, what is more interesting, summer or winter sport? I would say winter sports because there is more to choose from. But I also watch summer sports when Finns are competing. The Summer Olympics in Paris is this summer, so I’ll be watching some of that. Athletics mainly, but maybe something else. As long as it’s Finnish athletes. Supporting your country is the best thing about sports. Perhaps they don’t fight for the medals, but all the emotions that come with it are essential. Without sports, life would be dull. I’m glad I found the love for it. I wasn’t a big fan of sports the way I am today when I was younger. I watched some of it as a child, but that was only because my dad watched it. Now I think I know more about sports than he does. Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I don’t understand sports. A lot of females follow sports and know what it’s all about. It’s like anything in life; studying the subject lets you learn about things. It doesn’t matter what gender or sexuality you are. Sport is for everyone who likes it. You don’t need to understand it, but it helps. I’m tired of hearing some people think girls only watch sports because of the good looks of an athlete. There are those, too, but don’t fall for that stereotype nonsense. You’ll be surprised how much women know about sport. Even more than some men do.

I love watching sports; the only sport I do today is cycling. Everybody needs a hobby they like, and those are mine.

Bloganuary: Not that crazy business idea

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Come up with a crazy business idea.

Bloganuary 2024

I did a serious business plan when I studied entrepreneurship. It isn’t a crazy plan; it could be a serious one. My ideas aren’t crazy. They try to be as realistic as possible. The plan has changed since then. It was 2018. I must have been mad if I thought web design would be one of my services. You can call me a serial offender when it comes to making plans. But you are allowed to change your plans.

The general idea was to do digital graphic design. I would use my own photography and maybe sell them separately as well. My business would be for small and medium-sized companies based in Finland. Especially female entrepreneurs. My clients would also be foreigners living in Finland, so my clients could work with me in English. I can also work in the Swedish language. I’ve had clients when I studied web design, so working with people isn’t new. I liked it when I could work whenever I wanted, and for a while, I kept thinking about starting a graphic design business. I’m not a brave person who can start something like that. I don’t even have work experience in the field, and my portfolio isn’t super good. I thought about getting a part-time job, but I had no luck. I sent an application a few days ago but haven’t heard from them. Maybe that is a lost cause. It’s probably hopeless to get any work experience.

Having a business is a little romanticised. It’s hard work; they say it can take a few years to profit. That’s a bit of a turn-off. I don’t want to wait that long. I need to get money somewhere. It feels like I belong to a group of people who are destined to live on welfare. What worries me the most about having a business is finding paying clients. I don’t even get likes on Instagram. I have to like my own posts. Likes differ from getting a client, but marketing your business isn’t easy. Maybe it’s a crazy business idea of some sort, but it could also be a true one. I hope I can make a decision about what I truly want.

You have so and so many minutes to type

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This post is not valediction of any kind. This is free writing. You usually do it in 10 minutes, but I type what comes to mind. It might take a minute or longer than that. It might not make sense, but it’s fun to do it. One piece of news, though. Finland is now officially a member of Nato. That’s all I’m going to say about that. This is supposed to be a fun post. Not funny. The fun of writing. Or typing. Either way.

I have no timer for this post. It takes so and so minutes. Like it says on the blog title. Spring is coming, but we still have snow here and there. Maybe it’s time to melt. I like spring. It’s better than summer. The sweaty season. Summers would be nice if it wasn’t hot. I will die or wish to in the future if the climate gets hotter. Maybe I’m not on this earth when that time comes. I feel sorry for the people who come after me. Those are the ones we should worry about. Even if we’re dead, we should still care today. Maybe we can’t stop climate change anymore. Sorry, this post shouldn’t be about serious stuff like that. Just mentioned it. Let’s move on, shall we?

Sent an open job application yesterday, so one each month is done. Won’t get a job, but I have done my part. Next week is back to school in Helsinki again. I haven’t done my assignment yet. It’s not an easy one, but I will get it done. I’m there to learn, so it doesn’t matter if I don’t get it. It’s not my favourite assignment. It’s about movie production. The school is on Friday and Saturday. I must go by bus on Saturday, so I hope we’re not going anywhere that day. I might miss that bus to that place. With public transportation, you never know if it will be on time.

More about spring. It’s nice that the snow melts and it isn’t chilly during the day. I can ride my bike to places. Especially when I’m going to the grocery store, and I don’t have to carry the shopping. That is heavy stuff. I don’t need to go to the gym; I carry shopping bags. I could go by car, but the store isn’t far. Walking is good for you. It makes your head clear. But cycling is even better. I don’t care about those terrible road stoppers, a.k.a. electric scooters. Do those companies who own them want people to get lazy? Those who use them can’t even park them right. Driving on the payment where people walk. It was so nice to walk outside when there were none of those anywhere. Winter is nicer because there are no scooters anywhere. Now the pain is back. Paris banned altogether them. Whoever invented those scooters are idiots. People have their friends on them. Sometimes there are three people on those scooters. They are made for one person. It’s not a taxi. No wonder young people get overweight when they don’t walk. I have nothing against those scooters; it’s the people who use them that I can’t stand. Not all are bad, but a lot are. They have no idea about traffic rules. It’s a jungle out there.

I think it’s enough free writing. If people read it or not. That’s the valediction of this post.