5 Good Things This Week with one extra

I felt really down the first bit of the week. There was a lot of school work to be done, I was stressing about money, and it's still gross weather. But, in the second half of the week I managed to get my school work done, and even handed some stuff in early, figured out the money situation, and it was sorta sunny on Saturday! As Dory says, ”just keep swimming”.

1. I went skating twice and it was loads of fun!

The ice rink I go to every week! Have I mentioned that it's underground?

2. I found a music festival in Finland I can actually go to before I head back to Toronto for the summer! Sauna Open Air got cancelled this year and I was bummed about it cause it's apparently a great festival and it's right in Tampere. I didn't think I was gonna go to any here this summer since everything was after I left for Toronto, and none had great lineup, but this new one seems pretty great! Skid Row, W.A.S.P., Shining, Reckless Love (which will be hilarious to see at the same festival as Shining), Santa Cruz, Egokills, as well as a few others are all on the lineup. It should be pretty fun! If you wanna check out the festival, go here

3. I got a concrete budget down to get me till June once I can start working again. My dad was surprisingly very relaxed and helpful about the whole thing, which is not how he usually is when I have to talk to him about money

4. I got a package from my mum! It was being held in Customs since the beginning on February (I think it was because Mum sent it through her company). To get stuff from Customs you have to prove your identity, and since the customer service office in Helsinki is closed down now, the only way to do that is through your phone contract or your bank account. Well, I don't have a Finnish phone contract because I'm a foreigner and I just got a Finnish bank account and I won't have web banking for 3 months, and you need web banking login information for the identity confirmation. I thought that I wasn't going to be able to get the package and my mum spent $70 Canadian dollars to send me something nice and it was going to get sent back but, I got it in the end after I sent an email asking about it and getting a reply straight away! She sent me some cute rainboots, socks, and cookies!

I love getting mail!

A tiny bit too big but I love them so much! Now I won't wreck my other boots in the wetness!

5. I had a really nice movie night on Friday with my flatmate and another friend. Since the Olympics my friends and I have been meaning to watch the documentary about the ice hockey player Teemu Selänne (if you don't know him, he is a really big deal here; like the Finnish version of Wayne Gretzky). Friday was Kalevala Day aka Finnish Culture Day so we thought it was a good excuse to watch a film about a Finnish hockey player! We all snuggled up on my bed with junk food and wine and watched it, as well as The Mighty Ducks. The movie about Teemu was great and we had such a nice time!

It's a really good film, especially if you know how famous this guy is. Check it out. *image from Google Images*

6. I walked almost 7km yesterday. I wanted to see what kind of shape the path that goes from my flat to school was in since I want to skate on it once the gravel is cleaned. I really enjoyed myself and my leg didn't hurt till I was basically at the end of my walk (I have a messed up left knee/leg/hip which can make walking for extended periods a bit of a pain). It might be a bit difficult on skates, but I think I went the wrong way at one point and next week I'll try a different way that has less hills. 

Diverted a bit off the sidewalk to walk in the forest a bit. This is right beside the highway. 

The path took me to my favourite church, Messukylän vanha kirkko

Next week will be some more skating, pancakes (Tuesday is pancake day!), possibly ice swimming, and a hockey game on Saturday (Ilves vs. Blues)!

Don't forget to follow me on Tumblr and Instagram!

One Monthiversary

Hello! As of today I have officially been back in Finland for a whole month! It's been a month of nostalgia and new discoveries. I remember everyday how freaking lucky I am to have been able to come back here to study and, in a way, start a new chapter of my life.

We've finally been seeing some proper autumn weather here in Tampere, after about 3 gorgeous weeks of sun and cold in the morning but then being hot by afternoon temperatures. Now we've got chilly temperatures and it's been rather moist (ugh, what a horrible word). But it's making for some lovely picture taking weather and I'm loving it!

School has been going swimmingly. I have Finnish language class 4 days a week and while it's basically all the same stuff that I learned for the half year that I took Finnish at HYU, it's a really good course and my teacher is adorable, unlike the ice queen that was my last Finnish teacher. I only have class for my actual Masters program one day a week, but boy do we have a lot of work! I've got one 5 minute independent presentation next Wednesday, for which I've gotta read a whole book which I should be doing right now since Im less than 30 pages in and have got about 200 pages to read. Then I've got a group presentation for next week and then another group presentation for November. Also add in the fact that I need to start thinking about thesis ideas and do any other work he sends our way in the mean time. But I do really love my program and it's EXACTLY what I wanted.

While Im procrastinating actually doing important work, I wander around Tampere. Like yesterday, my friend and I (Hi, Fede!!) went to Messukylän vanha kirkko (but I honestly think it just gets called kivikirkko. Which makes sense since it is a stone church). It's the oldest church, and building, in Tampere. It was built in the 16th century to replace a 15th century wooden church dedicated to St. Michael. I pass it every time I take the bus to school/the city center and I've been dying to go check it out and snap a few photos. Unfortunately, we couldn't get inside, which is very unfortunate because I later saw pictures of the inside and HELLO GORGEOUS. But it's a really beautiful church from the outside and really unique compared to other buildings in Tampere and Finland. It also made me really sad I didn't see any Stave churches while I was in Norway in 2011.

All photos were taken by me, lilacviking at Messukylän vanha kirkko in Tampere, Finland on September 20, 2013

I'm hopefully gonna go to one of the lakes close to my apartment soon and then to my favourite cemetery AND Im in Helsinki in less than 2 weeks. More adventures and pictures to come!!

Remember to follow me on Tumblr under the same name, lilacviking!