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.

I moved to the happiest town of the world

Kauniainen might be the happiest town of the world according to the NY Times and Kauniainen is my new home town. I moved to my apartment in Kauniainen from Espoo three kilometers away so lets see do I see improvement in the quality of life. At least my tax rate will be lowered by 1 %.

Later I will write an update about my experience in the happiest town of the world but first I will need to live here at least few months to know better. I can compare my living experience in Kauniainen to various previous locations where I have lived during the lifetime of this blog which are listed below.

2009 - 2010 Alcalá de Henares, Spain
2010 - 2011 Joensuu, Finland
2011  3 months in Madrid, Spain
2011 - 2012 Ankara, Turkey
2012 - 2013 Kuopio, Finland
2013 - 2015 Łódź, Poland
2015 3 months in Tbilisi, Georgia
2015 - 2016 Kuopio, Finland
2016 - 2018 Barcelona, Spain
2018 - 2019 Kuopio, Finland
2019 - 2020 Espoo, Finland
2020 - Kauniainen Finland

When choosing my living location I have prioritized a location where having a personal car is not needed. Now I am living 3 kilometers from work so I will be going to work by foot or by bicycle. Also train station is nearby so I can reach the center of Helsinki when needed.

Eating out

Due the Coronavirus restaurants have been closed in Finland but they will be reopened 1st of June. Closed restaurants have not been a problem for me as I eat out very rarely in Finland. I realized that I have been eating out much more when living abroad. Abroad I would eat out at least once a week but in Finland I might not eat out even every month.

Keeping up with Spanish

Due the Coronavirus libraries have been closed so instead of reading I have been watching more series. To keep up with Spanish, I decided to watch Spanish drama serie Tiempos de guerra without subtitles and Finnish crime serie Paratiisi where characters speak Finnish, Spanish and English. I also watched documentary The Truth About Franco - Spain's Forgotten Dictatorship which helped me to understand better the history of Spain. One interesting remark about Franco was that the beautiful women were not his weakness as they are often told to be a weakness of men in power.

Two Incentives to get the Corona virus

There could not be any other topic than the Corona virus for a blog post in March. Economy is taking a big hit due the preventive measures against Corona virus. Many people are being laid off. So far not that many news people being fired. In Finland social security compensates pretty well in case of losing your job but for example in southern Europe not that well. As offices are being closed you might have an option to work from home or use your holidays but many have to be afraid off losing their job permanently or temporarily. For people who are in big danger of losing their job have an incentive to get Corona virus because while being on sick leave you are legally much more safe from getting fired. Another incentive to get the Corona virus, is to get sick early before the health care system is overwhelmed. I bet it is easier to get treatment before the number of cases hits the peak.

6 steps to be miserable like a Finn

There is 6-step program to be happy like a Finn. Rachel Hosie followed the program and it made her feel calm, relaxed and happy. Here how the given 6 steps can make you feel uncomfortable and miserable.

1. Sweat in sauna
Sweating naked in a small room with other people. It feels hot and then they throw water on the rocks which adds humidity and makes it feel even hotter, it gets uncomfortable to breathe. Who finds this relaxing and comfortable?

2. Walk in the forest
In the summer you have mosquitos flying around and biting you everywhere. In the winter it is too cold and you cannot even walk in the forest because there is too much snow.

3. Swim in a hole in the ice
Do you enjoy taking cold shower? Why would you enjoy then swimming in ice cold water? Why would you risk on purpose catching a cold?

4. Pick berries
Ok, now I am in the forest but how could I know where is the spot to find the berries. I hope to not get lost when searching for the spot.

5. Enjoy the magical light
It does not get dark during the night in the summer time so it makes sleeping difficult. If you are lucky you can catch few hours of sleep when it is not as bright as in the midday. To see the northern lights in the winter you need to be lucky that the clouds will not block the view. Be ready to be dissapointed with  unfavorable weather.

6. Have space
Nothing around, how boring

Let me know if you found the melancholy and misery or the happiness with the 6-step program

My sports competitions and tournaments

Polish floorball league match ULKS Josefina - MUKS Zielonka

Since starting this blog I have participated various sports competitions/tournaments so I decided to make a list of them. League is played for months and includes many matches. Tournament takes just few days and includes few matches.

• 2009/2010 Spanish national floorball league
• 2009 Football seven league of The University of Alcalá
• 2010 beach volley tournament
• 2010 sports week tournament of various sports in University of Alcalá
• 2010 football tournament of sports day in University of Eastern Finland
• 2010/2011 floorball league of The University of Eastern Finland
• 2012 ice hockey tournament of the universities in Turkey
• 2013 Floorball league of  The University of Eastern Finland
• 2013 Polish first division floorball league
• 2014/2015 Ekstra liga Poland floorball league
• 2015 Floorball tournament in Lodz
• 2016/2017 Football seven Corporate league in Barcelona

Bank offices everywhere

I believe that I have not mentioned how banks have still very dense office density in Spain. Bank offices have been facing also vandalism. For example I had four Caixa bank offices within one kilometer from my apartment. Also I was able to pay a bill for free in a Spanish bank office. In Finland many bank offices have been closed and you will be charged for paying bills in the bank office.

The number of bank offices has decreased almost 50 % in Spain and in Finland between 2009 and 2018. Still in 2018 the density of bank offices was higher in Spain than in Finland in 2009. Still in 2018 there were almost 4 times more bank offices per person in Spain than in Finland. We can come into a conclusion that banks in Spain have bigger cost saving potential than banks in Finland by closing offices providing customer service.

The second chapter was added and the first chapter was edited 4.1.2020

Sources

• https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11141706
• https://cincodias.elpais.com/cincodias/2019/03/22/companias/1553289119_647990.html

My weekly sports schedule

I wrote a blog post about my sports activity on a typical week nine years ago. Then I could dedicate much more time to sports than now but sports remains still important part of my life. I have also now free access to a gym like nine years ago. At the moment my week looks like this.

Monday: free
Tuesday: gym 1h 15min
Wednesday: free
Thursday: gym 1h 15min
Friday: yoga 1h
Saturday: free
Sunday: 1h floorball

Spectators in football and ice hockey in Finland

Helsinki ice hockey arena

Last week I watched live ice hockey match Hifk - Kärpät and live football match Inter - KuPS. Both matches had 8000 - 9000 spectators and were basically sold out. This was a rare exception in Finland that a football league match attracted as many spectators as an ice hockey league match. This happened because KuPS and Inter were fighting for the league title in the last match of the season. Regular ice hockey league match against a big rival is interesting enough to get an ice hockey arena sold out.

I traveled to Turku to support my home city team KuPS. Over one thousand supporters of KuPS traveled to Turku to support their team. Great match with great result as KuPS secured the title of Finnish league.

Visiting team KuPS won the title so the home team supporters left the stadium