| Week 9 |
August 2 - August 8
Week 9's weather has been the best since I got here. That is very
good news. Not only was it nice weather for 2 days in a row but it
got up to 5 days in a row of nice weather. Finland is showing me
something in the last month of my stay.
On Tuesday we started the Madden Olympics. Scott and I were
representing the U.S. and Kimi for Finland. Well, the U.S.A won this
battle and we blew Kimi out of the water. In one game against Scott,
Kimi got up and left after a 35-0 halftime score. So the U.S. won this
battle and is up 1-0. More Madden Olympics later in the entry.
On Wednesday Scott and I didn't actually go to hockey camp, but we
went to a practice facility of a junior hockey team. We were there
with Coach Sepa and we taught the kids how to play American
Football. Some of them already knew how to play or at least some of
the rules. Overall, they had a great time and were enjoying every
minute of it.
Sepa did most of the explaining to them in Finnish and me and Scott
helped out where we could. They started with throwing the football,
then by the end of the day they were playing 5 on 5 flag football. It
was neat to see them pick up the sport so fast. Plus, it was the first
day in Finland that I actually thought it was hot outside. There had
been days where it was warm, but Wednesday was hot. It was good
to be outside and sweating a little bit. There are pictures on the side
and below.
On Thursday, we went to the beach. Coach Sepa started his
vacation this week so we went to the beach with him. We went to a
nice little summer town called Naantali. He said the town is empty in
the winter, but in the summer it is full. Again, almost everyone in
Finland has a summer home. The little town was real nice right on
the water; it had some restaurants, shops, a little harbor, and its
own beach. This place is so nice that the President of Finland has
her summer home right across the water. (She can take a boat over
to Naantali which would be about a 2 minute boat ride. And yes, the
President of Finland is a woman. You can see a very distant picture
of her summer mansion below.) We walked past all the restaurants
and went to the beach; it was another beautiful day. After we were
in the sun for a bit it was time to take a dip in the sea. It was ice
cold. Sepa called it "refreshing," I called it "ice cold." But we still
got in and it was okay once your body got use to it. It was just really
nice to get to a beach and be in the sun.
On Friday, we went to a beach again, but not the same one. Kimi
took us to one of Ruissalo's beaches. Ruissalo is an island right
next to Turku and it is the island which had the Ruisrock music
festival. This beach didn't have a little town with it, but is more of a
public beach where you can park and walk to it. It has beach
volleyball nets too. Friday was nice, but we weren't there too long
because we had a game the next day.
On Saturday, we snuck by the Crocs for the second time by one
point. Read that game review here.
On Sunday, we promised Sepa we would go back to the beach again.
We went to Ruissalo so we could battle in some sand volleyball.
This day was just as nice as the past 4. Now the water was getting
used to the warm weather as well and warmed up a bit, so it wasn't
as bad. Ruissalo's water has a lot of mud and rocks underneath, so
it isn't as nice as the sandy beaches and waters of Florida. But still
not bad. Sepa met up with one of his friends there so we could
battle in sand volleyball. I guess we could add this to the Olympics
as well. Shockingly, the older Finns took down the young Americans
in the first two games. Miscommunication and unorganized serve
receive killed the American squad; however, we would battle back.
After a swim and a little break we went back at it again. This time
the young Americans proved to have learned from their mistakes a
few hours previous and won both games. Everyone was pretty tired,
so we called it a draw. After that Kimi showed up and we bumped
the ball with him a bit as well.
After the beach Kimi took us to his restaurant for some drinks and
some hot wings. In the meantime, Offensive Coordinator Hatsa
called and wanted us to come over for a Barbeque. So Kimi dropped
us off at Hatsa's where him, Rio, and Mikko were waiting on us with
a ton of food. They went to the grocery store after a long day at the
horse racing track and bought tons of food. You know you are never
supposed to go to the grocery store when you are hungry. But they
did. They had cheesy garlic potatoes, pork steak, chicken breast,
bacon mushrooms, garlic bread, another type of steak, sausages
with sauerkraut, and a dessert. Needless to say, the five of us didn't
eat all that food and we were stuffed.
Then we decided to continue the Madden Olympics. In the first
game, I faced Hatsa and he took me down in a massive upset.
(Random team selection with 2 min qtrs.) Then Mikko took down
Scott in another upset. I beat Rio. Then in the biggest upset of the
night Hatsa took out Scott. In that last game, since it was only 2
minute quarters, Hatsa kept the ball the entire 1st half and scored
with only seconds left. By this time we realized the 2 minute qtrs
was not a good idea. Therefore, Finland won the second battle of the
Madden Olympics. Although the U.S. team may protest this round
since the 2 min qtrs was an unfair setting rule. More on Madden
Olympic news in weeks to come....
That pretty much summed up the week. It was a very good week
since the weather heated up and actually felt like summer. We got
to go to the beach 3 times this week... that was huge.
This coming weekend we play the Pori Bears who are now in second
last place. The team has already played them once, but it was the
week before Scott and I got here. After the Pori game there is only
one regular season game left before the semi-final and final games...
Week 9's weather has been the best since I got here. That is very
good news. Not only was it nice weather for 2 days in a row but it
got up to 5 days in a row of nice weather. Finland is showing me
something in the last month of my stay.
On Tuesday we started the Madden Olympics. Scott and I were
representing the U.S. and Kimi for Finland. Well, the U.S.A won this
battle and we blew Kimi out of the water. In one game against Scott,
Kimi got up and left after a 35-0 halftime score. So the U.S. won this
battle and is up 1-0. More Madden Olympics later in the entry.
On Wednesday Scott and I didn't actually go to hockey camp, but we
went to a practice facility of a junior hockey team. We were there
with Coach Sepa and we taught the kids how to play American
Football. Some of them already knew how to play or at least some of
the rules. Overall, they had a great time and were enjoying every
minute of it.
Sepa did most of the explaining to them in Finnish and me and Scott
helped out where we could. They started with throwing the football,
then by the end of the day they were playing 5 on 5 flag football. It
was neat to see them pick up the sport so fast. Plus, it was the first
day in Finland that I actually thought it was hot outside. There had
been days where it was warm, but Wednesday was hot. It was good
to be outside and sweating a little bit. There are pictures on the side
and below.
On Thursday, we went to the beach. Coach Sepa started his
vacation this week so we went to the beach with him. We went to a
nice little summer town called Naantali. He said the town is empty in
the winter, but in the summer it is full. Again, almost everyone in
Finland has a summer home. The little town was real nice right on
the water; it had some restaurants, shops, a little harbor, and its
own beach. This place is so nice that the President of Finland has
her summer home right across the water. (She can take a boat over
to Naantali which would be about a 2 minute boat ride. And yes, the
President of Finland is a woman. You can see a very distant picture
of her summer mansion below.) We walked past all the restaurants
and went to the beach; it was another beautiful day. After we were
in the sun for a bit it was time to take a dip in the sea. It was ice
cold. Sepa called it "refreshing," I called it "ice cold." But we still
got in and it was okay once your body got use to it. It was just really
nice to get to a beach and be in the sun.
On Friday, we went to a beach again, but not the same one. Kimi
took us to one of Ruissalo's beaches. Ruissalo is an island right
next to Turku and it is the island which had the Ruisrock music
festival. This beach didn't have a little town with it, but is more of a
public beach where you can park and walk to it. It has beach
volleyball nets too. Friday was nice, but we weren't there too long
because we had a game the next day.
On Saturday, we snuck by the Crocs for the second time by one
point. Read that game review here.
On Sunday, we promised Sepa we would go back to the beach again.
We went to Ruissalo so we could battle in some sand volleyball.
This day was just as nice as the past 4. Now the water was getting
used to the warm weather as well and warmed up a bit, so it wasn't
as bad. Ruissalo's water has a lot of mud and rocks underneath, so
it isn't as nice as the sandy beaches and waters of Florida. But still
not bad. Sepa met up with one of his friends there so we could
battle in sand volleyball. I guess we could add this to the Olympics
as well. Shockingly, the older Finns took down the young Americans
in the first two games. Miscommunication and unorganized serve
receive killed the American squad; however, we would battle back.
After a swim and a little break we went back at it again. This time
the young Americans proved to have learned from their mistakes a
few hours previous and won both games. Everyone was pretty tired,
so we called it a draw. After that Kimi showed up and we bumped
the ball with him a bit as well.
After the beach Kimi took us to his restaurant for some drinks and
some hot wings. In the meantime, Offensive Coordinator Hatsa
called and wanted us to come over for a Barbeque. So Kimi dropped
us off at Hatsa's where him, Rio, and Mikko were waiting on us with
a ton of food. They went to the grocery store after a long day at the
horse racing track and bought tons of food. You know you are never
supposed to go to the grocery store when you are hungry. But they
did. They had cheesy garlic potatoes, pork steak, chicken breast,
bacon mushrooms, garlic bread, another type of steak, sausages
with sauerkraut, and a dessert. Needless to say, the five of us didn't
eat all that food and we were stuffed.
Then we decided to continue the Madden Olympics. In the first
game, I faced Hatsa and he took me down in a massive upset.
(Random team selection with 2 min qtrs.) Then Mikko took down
Scott in another upset. I beat Rio. Then in the biggest upset of the
night Hatsa took out Scott. In that last game, since it was only 2
minute quarters, Hatsa kept the ball the entire 1st half and scored
with only seconds left. By this time we realized the 2 minute qtrs
was not a good idea. Therefore, Finland won the second battle of the
Madden Olympics. Although the U.S. team may protest this round
since the 2 min qtrs was an unfair setting rule. More on Madden
Olympic news in weeks to come....
That pretty much summed up the week. It was a very good week
since the weather heated up and actually felt like summer. We got
to go to the beach 3 times this week... that was huge.
This coming weekend we play the Pori Bears who are now in second
last place. The team has already played them once, but it was the
week before Scott and I got here. After the Pori game there is only
one regular season game left before the semi-final and final games...
more flag football action
Pictures from the hockey team
Group
picture
picture
We even made them snap the ball.
The beach at
Naantali
Naantali
In Naantali, you can see the tip
of the President's
castle/mansion on the horizon....
okay, its smaller than I thought
it was in the picture. sorry.
of the President's
castle/mansion on the horizon....
okay, its smaller than I thought
it was in the picture. sorry.
Also, in Naantali... this is a
picture of the harbor and a big
church.
picture of the harbor and a big
church.
I finally got to take a picture of
this. In Finland all over the
place are rocks jutting out of the
ground. When you drive
inbetween the city and the
country you will see rocks
jutting off the side of hills just
off the road. Its just something
you don't see too much in the
States.
this. In Finland all over the
place are rocks jutting out of the
ground. When you drive
inbetween the city and the
country you will see rocks
jutting off the side of hills just
off the road. Its just something
you don't see too much in the
States.
They have the stats up for the Wolverines game... we won 70-6 ... but they only have 63 of
our points somehow.... I'll let you know when the stats for the crocs game are up. Trojans
vs. Wolverine stats
our points somehow.... I'll let you know when the stats for the crocs game are up. Trojans
vs. Wolverine stats