Part II Leirikari Cottage Weekend

The weather on saturday was very beautiful. Our program starts at 1 pm, so Ralf and I decided to explore the surounding of Leirikari.

As I mentioned it before, there were a lot of trees around us. But there were also some amazing bonfire places

And don't forget the beautiful river:

Our Tutors had prepared a some Olypmpic Games. I don't know how somebody of them even can even think about doing some sports after a heavy day including lots of hangovers and spie outs, but it was quite funny.

The mission was to succesfully complete six stations of tasks and jobs as a group of about five people.

My groups first task was to finde some parts of a great wooden puzzle. Luckily they have chosen me as their group leader, so i had to lead them through the forest and find the parts.

The second task was about throwing a "wellie"(Gummistiefel) through your open legs.

The third task was one of the most difficult parts. You had to look down on this wodden stick and turn around 10 times, and then you had to shoot the ball and score a goal. After some turns,  everyone felt insure about to walk two simple steps and hit the football :)  very funny task!

Later on that day, we all played some baseball, before it was time for the Quiz about Finland, and a Fashion Show

Part I: Leirikari Cottage Weekend

Welcome to the Leirikari Cottage Weekend(28-30.09.2012).

To summarize:  

Sauna,Games,Drinks,BBQ,Sauna,Games,Drinks,BBQ,Sauna,  did I ever mentioned Sauna, Games, Drinks and BBQ?...

I have no idea what happend this weekend!

For some of the students, it was a very typical weekend. Dark-Light,Dark-Light,Dark-Light(Monday)
Let's say, i ll guess that they won't be able to remember too much of the weekend except the dark nights, the day of arrival and the day of returning.

Luckily I survived the Leirikari Cottage Weekend and I am able to tell you at least a few funny and interesting things about the weekend.

The Cottage consist of three houses,  main(party)house, small(silent house)[for the boring non partyanimal-people, who need some sleep or wanted to relax], and the Sauna house, which was open 24/7.

We startet on Friday in the afternoon.

Destination: Leirikari,  about 40 km away from Rovaniemi,  in the middle of nowhere, where everything is quiet and silent,  except some students, disturbing the silence with *farts, *rülps*, *beer opening*, *yelling*,*hitting cans*,*again more yelling*, *censored * etc.

Our exchange-student-tutors have organized this trip for us. They also made some program content between the partying time:

As a ordinary-german student, who stands for Punctuality, typicall German Orderness and stick to the rules, I had to confess that some other german exchange students and I weren't able to be silent at 5 am. It was about 6. 30 am in the morning, when one of the tutors turned of the music and finnish(ed) our party, but let's get to this point later.

I will skip the Welcome and the Time together, because it was just about introducing yourself to the others exchangestudents, who should already know each other

(if not, I would say you are not going to take place in society's life ).

In this picture, you can see the Sauna house of Leirikari Cottage. We have spent there a lot of time. It is one of the best ways, to have some serious talks about all that men stuff :) 

As you already know(if not read my blog ),  silence in a communication isn't a rude thing,  it is welcomed and can be seen as a part of the conversation here in Finland. So I know, why there are so many Sauna-Times in Finland.The following picture expresses this idea behind a finnish sauna in one of the best ways:

It all makes sense, we went in there for both ways,  drunk and not drunk

It was a huge sauna, where almost about ten persons could fit in. By the way, thanks for the nice talks!

On Friday evening, there was also a thing about "Identity". There were some sayings on a wall, and our job was to fix out and guess, who of our tutors belongs to which point.

One for example has ever stripped for money...So I think he did a good/or at least an acceptable job.

The day goes on with some drinkin card games. It was a international challenge, a group of french and finnish people against some exchange students from Germany and Austria. I don't know why, but in every mind, Germany is known for its excellent beer ( sry Belgians,  your beer is good, but not good enough to compete the german) and the ability to drink a lot.

Actually it was a very funny and excited game. We all had a lot of drinks, and some nice conversations about the each country and their stereotypes.
The rest of friday evening was just a great party!

So that was the Friday of the Cottage Weekend. At the end of friday, or let s say saturday, we were surounded  by trees. Trees...everywhere just trees.
Better to get some sleep.

THX for the GUEST-post

First I would like to say thanks to Ralf, who was the Guest-Author of the last post! Thank you for your visit, Rovaniemi misses you,  it was a great  time, we had a lot of fun, and don't worry, I will bring some Salmiakki  to Germany,  so the waiting for it will be short.

@Sauna-Time

Salmiakki is a very typical finnish product. If you didn't know it already, or if you haven't taste it already,  stay decent, You will drink it when I am back in Germany on the 21 th of December!

I am going to the North Cape, europe's most northern point, on the weekend, so my Blog posts will be on Monday Evening. I also write my first Examinations in JAVA on Friday, the 12th of October, so don't expect too many new posts this week,  but get prepared for the next posts!

So stay curious and have a nice time! And please do more support to Vfb and kick them in their ass,  otherwise I will fly personally from Finland to Stuttgartista and support em!

Visit from Germany, Impressions of Rovaniemi

My Name is Ralf and I am staying for seven days at Laules Place. I guess that the most reader of this blog know who I am. I prefer now to write in german. So if you want to read further in English, go to Google translator, because Google is your friend ;-). (www.giyf.com).[or just ask Lau]

Also nachdem ich am Dienstagabend um ca. 22 Uhr Ortszeit in Rovaniemi auf dem Flughafen angekommen bin, ist in etwa so als hätte Mühlacker einen Flughafen ;-) hab ich den Laule und sein Tutor (Vesa) auch gleich entdeckt.

Arrival in Rovaniemi ( Lau & Vesa )

Mein Gepäck leider nicht, auf Nachfrage hin wurde bekannt, dass mein Gepäck sich immer noch in Paris befand. Also Gepäck Nachverfolgung und kostenfreie Lieferung zu Laule`s Adresse (Kuntotie 5, 96400 Rovaniemi) in Auftrag gegeben. Das Gepäck war dann am nächsten Tag um 18 Uhr da, wobei zuerst 9 Uhr versprochen worden war… . 

Naja Hauptsache die 10 Kilogramm, welche ich Laule in meinem 23 kg schweren Koffer mitgenommen hatten waren nun da ;-) xD. Ein Kuchen von seiner Mama (war sehr sehr gut) sowie Bremsbeläge und ein Fahrradhelm, aber ganz wichtig schwäbische Maultaschen waren auch dabei.

Die zweite Nacht war dann auch gleich viel bequemer, mein Dank gilt hier Stephan fürs Ausleihen seines Aerobeds (Super Sache). Die Wohnungen in den Wohnanlagen sind folgendermaßen aufgebaut, Flur, Bad, Küche und 3 einzelne Zimmer, nur Schlafen in diesem Zimmer nicht nur eine Person sondern jeweils zwei und teilen sich einen Schreibtisch. Zum Glück passte das Aerobed tagsüber unter das andere Bett sonst hätte man dort nicht mehr umfallen können. Für diesen Zustand ist die DAS(Wohnungsgesllschaft)verantwortlich.

Zu viele Austausch Studenten dieses Jahr.

Die Stadt Rovaniemi eine sehr flache Stadt mit sehr viel Wasser, Seen und einem großen Fluß, über welchen zwei Brücken führen, die alte sowie die neue Brücke. Von Laules Wohnung zu einer University of Applied Sciences (kurz RAMK) sind es ca. sieben Kilometer, welche man entweder mit dem Bus, einmal umsteigen an der Kirche oder zu Fuß/ mit dem Fahrrad zurücklegen kann.

Da die Busfahrerei doch recht umständlich ist haben sich fast alle Studenten Fahrräder zugelegt. Bei diesen Fortbewegungsmitteln handelt es sich jedoch um doch recht alte rostige Göbbel

 [A.d.R: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTYMqVe-MMM ]

, welche zum Teil nicht mehr ganz Straßenverkehrstauglich sind.

Mit dem blauen Eurobike welches mir der Nachbar (Nacho aus Argentinien) von Claudio freundlicher Weise ausgeliehen hat (Gracias) hatte ich dann an der ersten Senkung ein erschreckendes Erlebnis, ich musste anhalten aber beide Bremsen waren nur noch optisch vorhanden und hatten keine Verzögerungswirkung. Nach einem gewagten Ausweichmanöver plus Fußbremse (also Fuß auf den Boden) setzte ich die Fahrt damit nur noch sehr  vorsichtig fort. Nachdem Einkaufen beim Lidl für das Leirikari Cottage Weekend hatte das Fahrrad zusätzlich zu mir noch weitere 35 kg zu tragen. (siehe Foto oben, nebenbei bemerkt das Bier auf dem Gepäckträger hat ca.45 Euro gekostet). Dank breiter Wege und vorrausschauender Fahrweise benötigte ich an diesem Tag keine Bremsen mehr.

Hochprozentiger Alkohol kann in Finnland nur in bestimmten Getränkeläden erworben werden. Die Preise für Alkohol sind dort mindestens doppelt so hoch wie in Deutschland üblich.

Was einem als deutschem Bürger direkt auffällt ist, das die Finnen wirklich nahezu überall Spielautomaten (u.a. einarmige Banditen) aufgestellt haben. Selbst im Lidl stand nach der Kasse ein Spielautomat an welchem sich auch eine Kundin aufhielt. In einem Einkaufszentrum stehen dann gleich mehrere. Einige der Automaten akzeptieren wohl auch Bank oder Kreditkarten.

 Zum weiteren Verständnis der Finnen in diesem Punkt muss man wohl das Buch „Die Spinnen die Finnen“ lesen.

[A.d.R. :von Dieter Herrmann Schmitz ;  ich habs gelesen und es war sehr lustig geschrieben ]

Am Donnerstagabend stand dann noch der Besuch der hauseigenen Sauna auf dem Programm, jedes Gebäude in Kuntotie hat im Keller eine eigene Sauna. Danach sind wir mit den Fahrrädern in die Innenstadt geradelt und haben zwei Kneipen besucht, im Hemmingways spendierte mir Claudio für günstige 4,70 einen Salmiakki Schnaps (das Zeug trink ich nieeeee wieder [A.d.R. od doch Ralf, das wirst du, spätestens an Weihnachten füll ich dich damit ab hehe :D ]) und danach sind wir noch eine weitere Kneipe, in welcher wir einen Schnaps namens Fisu, auch um die 4 Euro, probierten, welcher einem ebenfalls das Gesicht verzerrte. Unglaublich wie die das trinken können. Ach ja Bierpreise für 0,3L beginnen bei 5,30 in den Kneipen. Also man wird schnell viel Geld los. Das Bild unterhalb zeigt den Schnaps.

Salmiakki[A.d.R. Ich bring das Zeug mit nach Deutschland über Weihnachten, also trainiert mal fleißig!]

Als nächstes steht das Cottage Weekend in Leirikari an, zu welchem ich freudlicherweise als Besucher von Claudio auch mitdarf an. Die Austausch Studenten haben dort mit ihren Tutor ein Cottage ( Ein großes Holzhaus mit Sauna) gemietet, aber darüber werdet ihr im nächsten Post noch etwas erfahren!

Ich darf nichts darüber verraten, aber Lau wird euch schon bald mit Informationen überfüllen.

Am Montag stand dann noch der Besuch beim Santa Claus am Polarkreis an :) Leider sind direkt bei Santa keine Bilder erlaubt.

Am Dienstag morgen geht dann auch mein Rückflug über Helsinki, Paris nach Stuttgart.

Grüße aus Finnland, freue mich aber auch wieder auf das warme Deutschland

Ralf

IT-studying..and how to become a nerd

The University of Applied Sciences in Rovaniemi has some quite excellent laboratories:
One of those Laboratories is called the "pLAB". Normally it is only allowed for IT-Students, who are participating in some IT-Projects.
In the pLab, they have about 20 workingstations with big screens and pcs, it is very comfortable to work their,  just silence, some IT-programming-Nerds around you and you can focus on your studies quite good.

taking over the lecture :) maybe I should become an IT-Tutor instead of Maths-Tutor? :)

There is also a dodged Snow-Mobile in front of 3D cinema wall, where they can simulate some special engines and surroundings.
Some couches, a huge beamer and an old Nintendo Game Cube are representing the realxing Area of the pLAB.
On my first Week, I was walking through the University with open-eyes, and in front of one of the great screens, which represent the Virtual Demonstrations of their Engines,Projects etc. I got into a nice conversation with one of the heads of the pLAB.
After a few minutes, I just filled out a paper, and got an 24/7 access card to the pLAB.

after a few mins/hours of studying, it s good to have some humor :)

My IT-lectures are getting more and more interesting, and I think I ll schould better start learning and programming for my first exam on the 12th of October. It will be the first of two exams about Object-Oriented-Programming in Java.

OOPJ: compilating some simple JAVA code, but still some errors left :(

The lecturer of OOPJ(Object-Oriented-Programming-JAVA) has an interesting way of teaching how to learn programming in JAVA. Lots of theories, lots of complicated powerpoint slides, using very complicated examples to make sure, that noone understands anything, and then give some strange tasks to solve.
It's sad but true that not all the students can cope with this kind of lectures/methods of learning.

studying level ASIAN

Some of them aren't as much motivated and interested in the lectures. I could make every week two pictures of this student, every lecture he falls asleep. Maybe he has a much more interesting nightlife?...

The other students are spending the most time in their personal laptops/pcs by checking out what s up on 9GAG or on Facebook.

This week, I also had some visit from Germany, but my friend Ralf will tell you about it more on the next post.  So stay decent and tuned!

Best Regards!

Artic Circle & Santa Claus

After the hard event day on friday, and the regeneration day on saturday,  it was time to go to the Arctic Circle and visit Santa Claus.

The official Office of Santa Claus is located at the Artic Circle in Rovaniemi.

The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth.

The Arctic Circle marks the southern extremity of the polay day ( 24h sunlight day, often referred to as the midnight sun ) and the polar night ( 24h sunless night ) .

Karen(UK),Anna,Sebi(Germany), Nacho(Argentinia) and Me :)

The Arctic Circle is translated in many languages there,  i also found the german one!

It was a very nice day to take some good pictures! The Artic Circle is part of the Santa Claus Village, and it is located about 8 km away from Rovaniemi, near to the Rovaniemi Airport.

You should calculate about 45 min traveling with the bike, but it is worth.

There is a really heavy climate change after the arctic circle :)

Yeah it s hot at the Arctic Circle

Now it was time to do some fun about the cold behind the arctic circle :)

this is evolution :)

the beer is gettin more cold behind the circle :)

Nacho always wanted to be SUPERMAN!

After we had finished our fun,  we went for a visit to say Hello to Santa Claus.

...COMING SOON...

Part II Kuskaisaijet & Onella

After our exchange-students-team has successfully passed six stations of interesting,funny and exotic tasks, it started raining. 

So everyone was happy to find a place in local pub and get dry :)

To impress the rest of the jury, we had to do our teamspirit dance a last time , so here s the evidence :)

*hmm there s a error about the video, i ll fix it later!

The after-show-Party started then in the biggest Club of Rovaniemi called "Onella".
It contains about 5 floors, including smoking rooms, karaoke bar, chill out area, and 2 other dancefloors.

Me(Germany) and "Toto"(France)

It s always a good point to meet some girls, who can help you to improve your language skills...

At 3am, it was the best idea to check out the karaoke-bar. Sebi, Holger and I just rocked the "shy" fins in the club and woke em up with a well know song called "Mambo No. 5 " from Lou Bega

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZNYwNuANrs)

Sebi ( prominent support, he has a Band called "Lula & Sebi ",  Me and Holger, all from Germany