Sähly

for a team event, we have been playing floorball (sähly in finnish) on thursday afternoons. it's sort of like hockey, only it's not on ice and you use a wiffle ball instead of a puck. oh, and you can't check.

it's a lot of fun. we have had good participation, and everyone plays hard. i'm terrible with the ball, but i think i'm the only one who gets regular cardiovascular exercise, so by the end of the game when everyone else is panting i'm the only one who can still run around comfortably, which means i can play defense somewhat effectively.

Finns think Midnight Madness is crazy

Yesterday at lunch we were discussing sports, and I informed everyone that the college basketball season is starting soon. Then I mentioned that Midnight Madness, held at midnight on the first day the teams are allowed to practice together, is next Friday. I explained that at many schools the fans can come watch and it's usually a time to hear from the coach and see the new players and so on. This did not go over well. There were protests:

"That's what the games are for!"

"On a Friday night? No one has anything better to do?"

"You just watch them run laps and try to shoot the ball in the hoop?"

I tried to explain how it was half practice, half performance and how the coaches and players goof around and interact with the students in a different way, but I was not able to convince anyone of its value.

The best remark came later on, when one of the Pakistani guys was telling us about an interaction he had with a woman last week. He was telling us that she was anti-American because of our current foreign policy, and how he had told her that he thought that though the American government was horrific and made most people of the world unsafe, most Americans didn't really agree with the government's actions and therefore it was fun to visit the US, and how she had replied with "oh yeah? then where were these people when he was being elected?" At this point one of the Finns jumped in to say disgustedly "they were watching their sports teams practice."

Autumn in Helsinki

Some more church photos:



And the park around a beautiful cemetery:






Also, I see these signs a lot. Apparently Finns hate Scottie dogs.