Pihtipudas, Finland

It was just a month and a half ago that I decided to quit a job that I absolutely loved. I taught AP Psychology at Westlake High School and could not have asked for a better job, better co-workers, or better students. It was perfect, and I loved every minute of it.

So why in the world would I ever even think twice about leaving?

Working from 7:00am until 8:00 and 9:00 PM all year long was a little wearing on me, but totally worth it. I actually quit to pursue the thing that I love more than teaching...volleyball. Coaching is okay, but there is nothing like playing, and I was just ready for a change! So I quit my job and had many people wondering what in the world I was doing, but I am at a point in my life where I am ready for a little adventure! ...and so far this has turned out to be far more than just a small move.

Monday August 13, 2012 I borded a plane to fly to Helsinki, Finland. I had heard lots of great things about Finland and that all I had to worry about was the darkness and the cold. Nobody ever told me that I would be living in a remote village as far from human life as possible (haha okay it's not quite that bad, and I actually really like it here). After two days of flying I arrived at the Helsinki airport to be met by my coach and roommate Pertsa and Irena (Who does not speak english well and every time she wants to tell me something it is like playing catch phrase for 20 minutes where she says everything but the word I am trying to guess :)) She is very nice though! We drove for 5 hours from the airport and the entire time everything we passed looked exactly the same and even though it was 10PM it was still just as bright as ever. There are no mountains here in Finland, just forests and lakes! It is very beautiful though! Finally we arrived at "Home"(ish)...Pihtipudas, Finland! Home of the fish taxidermy meuseum, and the Javelin Thrower Statue. Woohoo! :)

We jumped right into training that very next day, and it was so fun! The girls were all so nice, and everyone here speaks English. It was hard and there is a ton of conditioning, but I am absolutely loving it! I will be honest though, I would never live here in Pihtipudas if I weren't playing volleyball. And actually, most people from Finland wont either. There are max 4,000 people who live in Pihtipudas and I am pretty sure I have already met every single one of them :). We train twice a day and usually by the end of the day I am completely exhausted and just crash. The schedule here is very different...we train twice a day on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays (Sometimes there are only 3 of us, ha) and then all of the other days are weights and running. We do get this Sunday off which will be so nice. Friday, after we finished our weights and running Martti, who is our assistant coach, picked Irena and I up and drove us to get massages in a village even smaller than Pihtipudas. It was amazing though, and I will drive to the middle of nowhere ANYTIME for a free massage! 

After our massage Martti took us to this cute little Ice Cream shop where they make the ice cream right in front of you. It is a family that went to Italy and made their own spin on Gelato. It was hands down the best ice cream I have ever had! AND...I had vanilla! I don't know what it is about vanilla ice cream outside of the United States, but it is sooooooo yummy! I would never buy vanilla ice cream back home unless I was making rootbeer floats. 

After free massages, and free ice cream, we met this guy! My new Finnish boyfriend :) ha, kidding...I think he is only 17, but he is very famous here in Finland for his stunt ridding. Apparently he is competing internationally as the #1 ridder from Finland.

It was fun to get out a little bit and not be stuck inside all day. We finished off the day going to Nicolina's apartment for Crepes and Nuttella. Even though it is a very small place I have really enjoyed it so far. Everyone is so nice, and I have great teammates.

 When I walked into the Bank yesterday there was a huge article in the paper about the 2 meter girl. haha I think they like me here which is good because that means they probably wont be deporting me anytime soon! My coach even wore his new BYU gear in all of the press interviews and pictures.

 Saturday started off with running in the morning, and then Jaco, our team statistician picked Nicolina, Irena, and I up for a BBQ at his house. It was way yummy, and it was of course followed with Ice Cream...so no complaints here :) Then he wanted to drive us around to see the local beaches near our town. It took us an entire minute and 15 seconds to cross through all of Pihtipudas. but above are some pictures of what Finland looks like. As far as I can tell the entire country looks EXACTLY the same as these two pictures. Lots of forrest and lots of lake.

On the way home we stopped at the SMarket and got some of the most delicious candy ever. Nicolina showed them to us and they are basically butter caramels like the ones from Ben Franklins with chocolate over them. I am obsessed! Since we got here on Tuesday I have not been able to find a whole lot that I really want to eat. So i haven't eaten that much and know that I need to have energy to play. I was hoping to find some tortillas at the SMarket haha...but no luck! I did however find some frozen pizzas. That I can do! I am a huge pizza fan and am a firm believer that there is no bad kind of pizza. I like them all even frozen pizzas, pizza rolls, deep dish, thin crust, you name it I like it...So hopefully that is the case with my lunch for tomorrow. Nicolina's crepes yesterday were amazing, but there is no way I will ever learn how to make crepes. I am used to my Taco Time and Hokulia everyday.

Living in Finland is a huge adjustment! It is very humbling to go from living in the United States with everything you could ever dream of at your fingertips to living in a small village with dirt roads and the biggest thing to the towns name is a Fish Taxidermy Museum. Living in America is really living the dream life in and of it's self, but I don't miss it. I miss everyone from home, but am loving the adventure I am on, and am loving seeing another culture and a different way of life. I know I will leave here with a greater appreciation for everything I have back home...the amazing people, Stella, Taco Time, Cafe Rio, Hokulia, and so much more. I think one of the biggest things that I will appreciate most is the fact that there is a church or two or three on EVERY corner in Utah. My ward is 86 miles away and there are no buses that go to that town on Sunday mornings. I don't have a car, and the 5 people that live here rarely travel outside of Pihtipudas. The only way to get to church is when we have a Sunday off, to go home with one of my teammates Ooti because she lives in Jyveskyla. I am so grateful to be here and am loving it! I am still alive and enjoying the journey, haha!