Great Feelings and endless views.

Its been a long time since I have blogged, written, caught up, whatever you want to call this, but I am here now ready to sit down and punch this out for whoever out there is reading and or viewing. Since my last entry the girls and I have moved upstairs to a bigger and brighter apartment. There are two bedrooms, a huge living room and equally as big a kitchen. The place in one word "dwarfs" the other apartment. Our view is really nice on sunny clear days and the sunsets we can usually see to the horizon.

Our setter Outi wanted to take us to a bright red tower a little outside of town one clear day. We drove up to this red and white painted tower on a hill that looked out over Kangasala and if it was really clear,which it was, all the way to Tampere. It was one of those buildings you only see in a place like Finland. Heights have never been an easy feat for me so climbing the wooden steps up to the top was dizzying and sometimes I felt I was holding my breath. Once at the top I stayed away from the edge even though it looked very sturdy and safe. The view was breath taking, everything was covered in snow and the sky was bright blue with a few whispy clouds here and there. That day we could in fact see the smoke from the factories in Tampere. I snapped a few pictures of the tower and the landscape and then we decided to head out. Luckily the weather wasn't so cold enabling us to stay for more then a couple minutes to take in the sites.

Last saturday we had our last home game against Pieksamaki. They are a pretty good team and are in the middle of the league. After my disappointment of the last match I had played I was ready to give it my all and not look back. Which is exactly what I did. We ended up winning in 4 sets and I was awarded player of the match! Felt good to finally be myself again and to show people in the league that I can be someone to watch out for. I feel like the last team I was on there was so much pressure to be perfect that I forgot how to play like me on the court. This team allows me to relax a bit and just play. I felt like I was totally committed to that match, I was in it, ready for anything. Plus I had my teammates out there supporting myself and each other. We all came together to win that match, out there was a team to be reckoned with. This league doesn't respect this team, therefor we have nothing to lose and everything to gain in each match. I honestly like being the underdog, no one expects us to do well so when we do, people start to second guess who we really can be, putting more pressure on themselves instead of us. Bottom line, it was a good win for us and a good win for the moral of the community. Three more league matches to go and then we have a long 3 and a half weeks off until qualifications.

This week has been extremely frigid and cold. The weather has gone from warm to ridiculously cold in about a day. Its been rough going outside at all. Walking to the bus stop which is 100 meters away is hard enough. Hopefully this week will be the only week that it is this cold. Its supposed to be Spring right? But I for one know that being this high up North, Spring doesn't really arrive until mid April. Heres to hoping for better weather and no more snow.

We had Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off after the last home match. Thursday night there was a dance at the school we play at for the seniors in high school, therefore leaving us no time to practice that night. Instead we all met up at the gym we are allowed to work out at and did an aerobics class. This woman kicked our butts! During the squats and lunges section I thought I was going to collapse because my legs were shaking so much. Needless to say, going to the gym out here and taking a class is just as hard or harder then going to the gym and taking a class at the Spectrum in MB. The only difference was the language. Luckily for the three Americans in the class, myself included, she opted to speak English and Finnish. She had great English so it all worked out for the best. Being who I am, I took a spot in the front with Outi. My Mom always said to sit in the front of the class as to get the most out of each session, thanks Mom! Friday Outi took us to another high tower that looked over the city of Tampere. On a clear day (the day we went luckily) you can see for miles. The cafe at the base of the tower sold these unbelievably delicious poppy seed donuts coated in sugar. After eating one of those, I was on an immense sugar high deciding after the elevator was not working for us, to run up the tower stairs. Bad idea. I was winded and also in need of some water. We snapped a bunch of really great pictures and then descended the tower to the mini pineapple (aka Outi's car) and drove home.

That Saturday night the girls and I went to a club in Tampere to celebrate the win and also to get in our own personal work outs on the dance floor. One of our teammates Triin came over before for some drinks and to play Quarters. I found out quickly that I was pretty bad at the game since I hadn't played since College...but lets be honest, when was I ever any good at that game? Mm never. We headed out to Tampere via bus ride around 10:30pm. We were told to go to this club called Tivoli and not to worry it was only a couple minutes walk off the main street. What I haven't told you was that night it was the coldest night I have ever experienced, in my life. We practically ran to the club only to realize there was a line that seemed to be getting nowhere fast. Reluctantly we got in line and proceeded to wait it out. One butt grab from a passer by, breathing in cigarette smoke, and some "VIP" walk ins later we were at the front of the line staring down at the door man. He checked our IDs and smiled seeing we were all from California, questioning us, asking if we liked Finland. We were all at our breaking points since all of us had ice blocks for feet and tears were starting to well up in my eyes (yes, it was that cold, -30 degrees celsius to be exact). Once we got in, checked our coats, and met up with the rest of the group of rowdiness we got to dancing. After being there once, I think that is enough for me. Tivoli reminded me to much of clubs in Hollywood, which I almost never go to because of all the egos that show up. Plus I'm no fashionista and definitely do not rock the latest brands so I leave the Hollywood style clubs and bars to the people who actually give a crap about that kind of stuff. I'll stick to the local bars where "everybody knows your name" and fun dance spots which allow you to wear shoes that don't ruin your feet and ankles by the end of the night (even tho I enjoy wearing those types of shoes on occasion). In conclusion, I would rather not go there again, it was a one time thing for me, glad I did it, over it, moving on.

We played a match this past Friday against the second place team HPK. Their coach is a highly mechanical, extremely stressed out, hyper active German coach. I believe some people come to their matches to watch him blow up about a call that was as clear as day and to yell at his team when they aren't doing exactly what he wants them to do. His quiet conserved "assistant" coach sits there on the bench and goes along with his tirades which makes me wonder, if he were to contest him at all, would the vein in the head coaches giant forehead pop? Anyway, enough about their insane coach, because he must be doing something right, they are winning. Would you say that instilling fear in his players "doing something right"? Eh, whatever, I have had my fair share of crazed coaches, he doesn't scare me, all his yelling and red faced anger does is make me smile and know that whatever we are doing on the court is working. Back to the actual game, we lost in three sets, bummer. However we were able to give them a run for their money and their coach most likely crap himself in the last set. The score was 27-29, enough said. It was a fight and I am proud of my team for how well we hung in there.  Its going to be a fight to the end and I'm ready to give it all I've got, it doesn't end until that final whistle blows.

TV match on monday, final league match on wednesday and then we are off for quite a bit until qualifications. I hope I can stay on top of this blog deal and get messages out every week, just been a little more busy then when I was in the middle of nowhere. Until then, take care all!

New Town, New Team, New Adventures

After a week and a half of being here in Kangasala, the two other Americans and I moved upstairs to a bigger apartment, have spent the better part of this week getting settled in to the new digs (however I am still sleeping on a mattress on the floor...hopefully a bed will be arriving soon) and continuing to explore the town and city near by. The weather has been more than bearable in the past couple weeks with temperatures dropping to about -2 degrees celcius at most. Practices have been pretty good however, the mentality here is different then my last team. The trainings are a little less strict and discipline can be lacking at times. I try to keep the mentality that I had with my last team, believing that someone is trying to take my spot giving myself motivation to work hard at every practice and eventually in every game. Its not that I "have" to think that way in order to work hard but it doesn't hurt. I believe the coach here has faith in me and trusts me to do the right thing. I just hope that I can deliver this weekend. I have been thinking a lot lately about how I need to just release the timid Whitney within. To let go of the immense pressure I put on myself whenever we begin to play, to let go of the fear of being yanked out of a game, letting go of the mistakes I make during a match because no matter what happens there will be a few. When I feel like I am needed on a team, I tend to play and lead better, so heres to hoping for the best, cheers!
This past weekend I went out for the second time since I have been in Finland (amazing I know!). However before we could have our fun night out, we had to endure a 3 hour long practice that afternoon, awesome. Once that practice was over, we were able to relax, make some food, get our make up on and get our butts to the city for some much needed and earned fun. Becca (roommate and fellow South Bay local), Erica (teammate), Kahwika (on the Tampere mens team hailing from Hawaii), and Dustin (another fellow Californian also playing on a team out here) went to a bar called Ale for some "cheap" beers ("its 9 dollar beer night", if you know where this quote is from you'r a champ!) and then on over to a club called Kuuba for some off the wall dancing. Unfortunately our other roommate Lauren was so tired that she passed out around 7:30pm and said she was done for the night,  hopefully next time. I am pretty sure the Americans and one Finish girl took over the club that night. At one point we developed a rally circle and jumped around for a solid minute yelling into the middle of the circle. Bottom line, we all had a really great time, and everyone went home with busted ear drums and a little sway to their step.
Sunday, Becca and I went to the Sauna down the back street from us on the lake to sweat off the night. The idea was to get really hot in the sauna first and then jog down to the lake, hop in and then jog on back to the sauna. We did this twice since we were not used to the traditional 4-10 times... The first time we went in up to our knees and the second up to our chins. Screaming the entire time as we dipped our soar bodies into the lake, taking relief and de-numbing our skin in the sauna after. It was truly amazing to see some people swimming laps in the water. I guess there comes a point when you just can't feel how cold it really is. My goal is to let go of the railing and tread water for at least 10 seconds before I go home. It starts to hurt after a while being that cold. Becca and I left the sauna house feeling refreshed, hang over free, and ready for a nap. That night all the roomies and a teammate went to the American Diner in Tampere. Best day after partying food ever! To finnish the meal we all ordered pancakes with ice cream, however these pancakes were small, thick, buttery, and dusted with powdered sugar.....perfect. Great end to a great weekend.
Our new place is starting to look more and more like people actually live in it. Club members arrived with our washing machine, a couch, two big rugs, and the hopes of another bed. So spirits are high in la casa de california natives. Tonight we have video and then practice, I am excited and pumped to rip it up tomorrow at the game and show the people who didn't believe in me that I can play well. Wish us luck :)

PS The pictures are of the sauna place and the church in Kangasala built in 1800. Enjoy!

"Lap pool"