Padel in Finland

I heard about padel for the first when I went to Spain in 2009 and also played it few times. First padel court was built to Helsinki in 2004. Now padel seems to become a mainstream sport in Finland as my colleagues are talking about it, it is mentioned in TV programs and you see marketing about it. According to Yle the popularity of padel exploded in Finland during the Covid times. Sports arenas which previously were focused to Tennis and badminton have constructed recently padel courts. There are now in total 250 padel courts in Finland and more are being planned according to the Finnish padel association. I have also padel courts about 200 meters away from my home.

Podcast about Spanish speakers in Finnish football league

I started a podcast where I am interviewing Spanish speaking people in Finnish footbal league Veikkausliiga. The feedback has been encouraging from the first episodes and it is pushing me to make more episodes. The first episode hit just 1 000 views which is unexpectedly many views. This season there are 20 Spanish speaking players + few coaches and other staff members so there is plenty of people to be interviewed. I am writing subtitles in Finnish to make the videos understandable also for Finnish viewers. 

Cycling again

 

My Kona Dew

Bicycle has been usually my preferred method of transporation in Finland. In Poland I was cycling to work around the year and the snow did not stop me either. Since leaving Poland I have not had a good functioning bike so I decided to buy a brand new bicycle. I was considering an ebike but due the short commute to work, I opted for a regular one. Cycling 3 kilometers to work has been much more enjoyable than using the public transporation. Eventhough now during the pandemia I have been going to work seldom. I had already forgotten how practical and useful a bike is.

Cities visited in Spain

I lived in Spain in three time periods. Therefore I have visited many cities in Spain and also posted posts about them. Below I have listed the cities and linked the related blog posts. The zone of Galicia is still totally unknown territory to me as I have not visited any city over there.

Alcalá de henares

Antequera

Badalona

Barcelona

Cáceres

Castelldefels

Cerdanyola de valles

El Escorial

Fuengirola

Gibraltar

Gijón

Girona

Guadalajara

Madrid

Malaga

Marbella

Mijas

Oviedo

Peñafiel

Reus

Salou

Segovia

Sevilla

Tarragona

Toledo

Valencia

Valladolid

Vitoria-Gasteiz

Zarautz

Top posts 2019 - 2020

New year in Espoo 2019

Last year I skipped writing the top posts of the year so here I am listing the top posts from two previous years.

1. How to be miserable like a Finn

2. Historic football match that I witnessed in the stadium

3. My caffeine free life

4. Interesting book about parenting

5. Living costs in Spain

Top posts from previous years 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010

5 unpleasent Incidents I suffered abroad

I have lived abroad in 6 different rental apartments and suffered some unfortunate incidents, though none of them felt so bad that I was hoping to be back in Finland.

Below I listed the incidents, I have faced

1. Water pipe broke and the apartment was flooding

2. Cockroaches disturbing the peace at home. Getting rid of them was challenging

3. Contsructtion workers in the neighbor made a hole to my living room wall

4. Electricity cuts few times but just for few hours

5. Mold getting formed to the walls

Here some common incidents what I have been able to avoid

1. Getting robbed

2. Getting scammed when renting a flat. I have always been able recover at least 50 % of  the debosit.

3. Bringing bed bugs home

4. Extremely high electricity bill. Many people who are not aware of the costs of heating/cooling in Spain get surprised for the cost.

5. Flatmates who are impossiple to live with

Golf

This summer I decided to complete the green card to start playing golf. I played just one round of 8-hole course with +16 and managed to complete two holes with par. One hole was not playable due the flooding. Before I have practiced swings in the range and putting in mini-golf courses.

Lessons from druglords

During the past year I have read three books of druglords (El Chapo & Pablo Escobar) and watched TV-series Narcos and El Chapo. I learned that despite being able to get a lot of money they have lost something while chasing for the millions.

The druglords can buy anything they want but they are not free. By getting rich they have lost one of the biggest factors of happiness which is freedom. In the same time they didn't lose just their own freedom but also their family members lost the freedom. They have to hide from the officials who want to capture them and have extreme security measures to keep them safe from the enemies who want to take them down.

Similar way also big celebrities have lost the freedom as they cannot blend in the crowds anonymously. They have to hide from the disturbing fans and have security guards around to be safe.

Because of the fame big celebreties and drug lords have more dificulties to reach the second level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. They cannot enjoy a casual walk in a public place, a dinner in a nice restaurant without special arrangements or some other public activities. 

Reading list 2020

This year my reading list is shorter than last year. I am borrowing the books I read from the library and this year due the coronavirus there has been some limitations to borrow books.

Below the books listed in alphabetical order

Auvinen, Tero - Urheiluseurojen sisäpiirissä: tarinat tunteen takana
Garcia Marquez, Gabriel - Uutinen ihmisryöstöstä
Hogan, Andrew - Wanted El Chapo
Hulmi, Juha - Lihastohtori 2
King, Stephen - Kirjoittamisesta
Kuitunen, Mikko - Mahtava moka: uskalla, opi ja menesty
Manson, Mark - The subtle art of not giving a fuck
Saari, Oskari - Alkemisti: Petteri Nykyn tarina
Strauss, Neil - The Dirt: Törkytehdas
Vallejo, Virginia - Rakastin Pabloa, vihasin Escobaria
Wickström, Mika - Shefki Kuqi: Kosovon härkä

Benefits of caffeine free life

I saw few videos about quitting coffee for 30 days and benefits of caffeine free life which inspired me to write this post. I have never been consuming much caffeine. I don't start my morning with a cup of coffee or boost myself with energy drinks to feel energized. I have consumed just few cups of coffee and energy drinks in my life so I was never a caffiene addict. Especially in Finland I am a rare case because Finnish people are known to be consuming the most coffee per capita in the world. I found an extensive list of benefits with caffeine free life and I believe that the most obvious benefits in my life have been the quality of sleep which I have measured with Firstbeat analysis and not suffering from headaches. Also not having cavities in my teeth and not being anxious have been benefits for me for not drinking coffee. Aswell the famous money saving tip "don't buy the latte" has helped me to save some money.

Many people say that they need a cup of coffee to wake up. Waking up is not difficult for me and I don't press the snooze when the alarm rings. When I have slept well I feel energized the whole day but sometimes when I haven't slept well, I might feel suddenly extremely tired during the day and feel like that I need to take a nap. I believe that coffee drinkers take then a cup of coffee but I don't take that option. If taking a nap around lunch time is possible, I take one if not, I do some physical activity like take a walk, sometimes I just have to struggle through being tired sitting still and focus staying awake which can be very dificult in a tedious lecture.