Ice Hockey World Championship

Kicks off in Helsink today and will last for two plus weeks. Last year Finland grabbed the title, this year, in Helsinki, hopefully they will be able to defend their cup. Although I have not watched ice hockey before arriving Finland, but I am thrilled by the dynamic, speed and excitement of the game. Most importantly, there is a very interesting Finnish commentator, Antero... it is so fun to hear him announcing during the match!


http://yle.fi/uutiset/ice_hockey_world_championships_kicking_off/6081649

Half way through!

It has been a challenging 4 months, but having completed 25 credits, just made me feel GREAT despite the hardwork. Now, I am all charged up to go for phase 2, another 16 credits in 2.5 months! This means sacrificins summer holidays, but it also means, I will be 3/4 way through my study requirements... thereafter, I can put full concentration in preparing and implementing my research! Though it seems like impossible to strive for a 2 years completion, but I am still going to aim this as my Mission Impossible! God, please give me strength and motivation to complete this goal!

Packing for first study seminar

Time flies, the long awaited study seminar will finally take place next week. Earlier, the plan was I will stay in a hotel in Helsinki, but some changes happened. We decided to take back our own apartment in Lahti for self-use. As a result, I can live in our own apartment from now on when travelling south. It is still 99km from Helsinki but with the advancement of transportation, the distance only require 54mins train ride which is nothing in relation to the distance. If I will rent a room in Helsinki, it is not so cosy, in addition, the price is expensive even for a simple room... now I have a 64m2 apartment to myself, so, no complains, but filled with excitement and joy. In the next trip, I could even have family along, killing two birds with one stone... holiday + study, ha ha!

Marking exam papers

Time of the year again, with bundles of handwritten exam papers to mark. This can be a painful and time consuming process. In order to be fair to the examinees, I tried to read their badly written handwriting, try to understand where they are coming from, and whether what they explained to some extend is similar to what I am expecting. In some cases, each sentence must be read at least 2 or 3 times to finally determine if the contents are worth any points.... As a result, my own study assignments and seminar preparation is now at halt until all these work obligations are cleared from my plate.

Nature's beauty!

This was amazingly beautiful... a lucky sighting! Blessing of God's grace!

 

Dinner tonight

I love Finnish sausage! We eat this during mid-summer night, when we have the bonfire, but other times, if we are warming up the fireplace, we can also grilled it there. It is not the healthiest food on earth, but hack it, life is about living to eat, and occasional pamper of sinful food is a must to make us live to the fullest :D

May Day, May Day!

It is a quite public holiday at home, but outside, a totally different world of celebration in Finland. Teens get dead drunk overnight on this day. They are not drinking the traditional cider, Sima, but buckets and buckets of beers!

I was out shopping with kids yesterday, there were many people in the store, and whilst queueing, I noticed, EVERY one on the Q, except us, have at least 12 to 24 cans of beers... the one with biggest load, was 2 x 24 cans!

No wonder, there were so many drunken people on the street last night to keep police busy all night!

I have been a teen before, but I wonder what is the thrill to drink so much, and get totally drunken!? I thought it was a torture and never wanted to get myself to that state, so I have been 'sober' my whole life thus far. May be one day in future, before I died, I should get myself drunk and feel how is it like to be a crazy teen... till then, I still treasure my sober mind :D

More: http://yle.fi/uutiset/drunk_teens_keep_police_busy/6077833