Machol Romania is Born!

Well, here I am, writing about Machol Romania. Honestly, I don’t even know where to start.

We arrived before the appointed time, at ten in the morning, and were worried that we’d have to wait in the lobby till we could check in. It turned out that it wasn’t so. The organisers were already there, and they were very nice to welcome us with bread and brandy. I checked in and loitered around, helping the organisers when I could. We were waiting for the rest of the people to arrive. As they started pouring in, the organisers were really too busy to stay with the instructors during lunch, so I ended up keeping them company. I had known Oren, from Machol Ungaria, but I didn’t know anything about Eran. It was really nice having lunch with them (I use that phrase, though actually I didn’t eat myself), since this close encounter allowed be to get to know them both better. They both gave me a positive impression, and I was looking forward to the sessions with them.

In the evening, we had the opening party. I was surprised to people from so many countries (Bulgaria, Great Britain, Holland, Hungary, Israel, Serbia, Turkey). We had a menorah put up, and we all placed our blessings for the machol inside. It was a very nice moment. Here’s a video of the first day:

The next day, we started the dance sessions. They were awesome. Both the songs and the dances, the instructors and the young instructors, everything was very nice. We were split up into three groups: beginner, advanced, and seniors. Most of the participants were in the advanced group, so we used the largest hall, which was actually the hotel’s restaurant, after having cleared out the tables. We barely fit even there. It was awesome. This second day, we had the baby party. Honestly, at first I thought this was a stupid idea, but in the end, it turned out really well. Here are the highlights:

The third day, once again, we had dance sessions. I think this was the day we had a debka session, and it was awesome! Thank you Lena for the great dance you’ve taught us! In the evening, we had a very nice Kabalat Shabbat, followed by an amazing Shabbat meal. I was really impressed by Eran’s sefardi-style kiddush, and even though we didn’t have music, we would sing and dance along, well into the night. It was a very memorable Shabbat experience, and I’m sorry for not praising it in the feedback (hope someone from amongst the organisers is reading this post). Here are the highlights:

The next day, we went to Brasov and Bran, and it was a lot of fun… or so I think. Honestly, I was sleeping the whole time. I got wasted the night before, and was resting up, as well as working on a project I had due the day right after machol ended. This was the last night, in which we had the Yom Haatzmaut party. It was a huge success, and surprisingly, a lot of people stayed up, dancing till morning. At seven, we went to eat breakfast, and it was very funny, since the rest of the gang had already gone to sleep, so it was only Dana, Eliza, Erwin and myself, all four of us almost collapsing due to lack of sleep.

Then, we had to make our bags and go home, and everyone was “I’m so sad it’s over!” And it’s true, we really were. It was a really amazing experience overall. The place was good, the food was good, the people were good, the instructors were good, the atmosphere was good, everything. I do have a few complaints, but those are of a technical nature: the internet connection was miserable, and at one point the whole system crashed, and we couldn’t enter our rooms, since they were using magnetic cards instead of old school mechanical locks. But those are small details, compared to the real fun I had there. I also think that everyone else agrees with me. Congratulations to the organisers for making the very first Machol Romania such a huge success! Looking forward to next year!

Next time, Kiddy Bleh...!

Friend Fact:

You know about those annoying Friend Facts on Facebook? Well, I've decided to add some facts about me at the end of every post. This way you'll get to know me better. It's easier than dedicating a post to what kind of ice cream I like or who my favourite bass player is. However, don't get startled if these facts turn out to be a bit weird (read "anime-related"). Today's fact? I've added the "Jewish" tag, and this is the first post to wear it. Will I update the past ones to have it? I don't know. Probably not. Why? I'm just lazy! :P

Machol Romania

I'll be off to the first edition of Machol Romania tonight. I was actually hoping to post something today, but was busy packing and shit. I hope I'll finish it there, and post it when I get back, or maybe even sooner. Next time, Clash of the Giant CG Monsters... in Pseudo-3D. Look forward to it!

Breaking the Card - Rumbling Aftershocks

Check out my first MtG article, on Gameflux. For those of you who don't know, Gameflux is the site for the MtG community of Cluj. If there are any MtG players out there who are reading this and are in Cluj and haven't joined yet, please do so!

Negative Marketing

I something something interesting on my way back to the dorm today. It was a white van, with a huge green logo on it. It belonged to some kind of energy usage optimisation company. I don't remember exactly, their slogan was something similar to "Energy costs money. We save both." The funny thing is, the car's engine was running, with no driver in sight. Now isn't that a waste? Talk about bad publicity...

PS: As a side note, this is the true 100th post. Due an error in the post numbering system, it appears that drafts were also counted when I published the last "100th post" post. So yeah, here it is! By the way, Happy New Year everyone!!!

Resurrection

I LIVE!!! Though it's been over a year since I've last posted on my blog (I guess the three-day resurrection lag is not such a big deal after all), the time has come to take up the pend once again and entertain you all with my thoughts, sometimes witty sometimes nostalgic, about life, the universe, and... well... everything, I guess.

PS: Even my hard-earned audience avoids this HTTP address by now, so I'll really have to get the advertisements going if I'm willing to win them back.

Snowfall

Well, here I am, talking about the weather. You remember me telling you how upset I was that the first snow wasn't what it was supposed to be, here in Finland, right? Well, it seems the weather got upset, so it decided to snow just perfectly, to prove that I'm wrong.

Before (this is the photo of the street, as seen from our balcony, after the first snow):

After (this is the same scenery, after the second snowfall):

It's amazing, isn't it? There are some swings and other kiddy stuff in the yard. Look what it all turned to:

It's simply beautiful. Too bad there wasn't anyone to play with, so I decided to take a walk, and take a few more photos of the surroundings. I was so joyful, that I stopped in the middle of the street for some shots (yes, the couple of lights heading my way, is a car).

I later made way towards the city centre, passing through my beloved forest. You remember that, right? Well, not surprisingly, it turned into this:

I remember a funny thing: one of the guys here, from Spain, said he'd never seen snow, because he lives in the south. In my opinion this is stupid. I understand if you don't see snow, because you don't have it in your country, but when you do, and in over 20 years of your life you don't travel to the places in your country where it does snow, that's just wrong. I guess he never saw the Christmas tree in its natural habitat:

Even the little ponds near the road thought it would be nice to freeze over:

It has kept snowing ever since, little by little. It still looks like this, and I'm pretty sure there will be more. This is so cool. This is what winter is supposed to be like. Thank you, Finland. Next time, Slut Machines!

That's a Cruise

As thrilled as I was at the sight of the first real snow we had earlier this week, I simply couldn't write about that, considering the amazing time I had on the cruise these last two days. So, here I go, talking about spending time on a boat. Be warned, this is an image-heavy post.

We were looking forward to this trip. After all, it was our first pre-Christmas cruise ever. Hell, it was our first cruise ever. We were really excited. We took the buses from the university, and they took us to Turku, where we were supposed to board one of Silja Lines's cruiseferries, on route Turku-Mariehamn-Stockholm.


There were sooooooo many people there! It was very crowded, and we had to wait quite a while till they let us aboard. Once they did, the fun started. I actually expected the ship to be different. I expected it to be longer, and have less decks, when it turned out to be the opposite of just that. You could traverse the length of the ship in a short stroll, but it had 13 decks! THIRTEEN FUCKING DECKS!!! Turns out, it is one of the largest cruiseferries in the world. I present you, the MS Silja Europa.


It even has its own Wikipedia entry. How cool is that?! I looked it up after I got home. Turns out, this ship had some troubles along the way, since it's maiden voyage on 14 March 1993. However, that doesn't change the fact that it's cool. Check out the ship map:


THIRTEEN FUCKING DECKS!!! Decks 3 and 4 are for cars. Deck 5 is for passengers's cabins. Deck 6 is the theatre and conference deck. Deck 7 is the tax free market and other shops. Deck 8 is full of restaurants, cafés and clubs. Decks 9, 10, and 11 are for passengers's cabins (again, since it can hold over 3000 passengers). Deck 12 is the sundeck, complete with swimming pool and sauna. Deck 13 is for VIPs only. I believe decks 1 and 2 are engineering and stuff. It's really really cool! It has everything, for everyone. From geeks to playboys, from kids to the elderly:

But up till now, I have only told you impersonal things. It's time to give you my personal experiences. Here is the three of us, waiting for the ship to depart; behind us, Turku harbour:

The first night was wild. Party, party, party! There was a setback, though. You weren't allowed to drink the beverages you bought in the tax free shop on board. Everyone was doing it, though. Everyone except us. And when I say us, I mean students. You see, there is this stupid thing, that if you bought a student ticket, you weren't allowed to buy alcohol until the second day of the trip. This was a precaution, to ensure that students buy the more expensive alcoholic drinks from the bar. It was so annoying. At 21 years of age, I was not allowed to buy alcohol, and was forced to resort to cheap tricks, such as asking the adults to buy it for us. Which didn't work, cause we only found assholes, who wouldn't buy us any alcohol. Fuck them! So, we ended up doing some karaoke instead. All those hours playing Rock Band really paid off!


After the party, we went to sleep, awaiting the wonders the following day would bring...


The next day, we woke up, and went to the café, enjoying a light breakfast, the ocean moving behind us.

After the breakfast, we went up to the sundeck, to take some photos, knowing that this time, we would actually be able to see something, thanks to it being midday. We got there, took some shots, fooled around, took some more shots...

I even managed to get a cool shot of the bridge (from the exterior, that's true, but it's still the bridge!)

And now, I'll leave you with some of the wondrous sights that can be seen from the MS Silja Europa's sundeck, on it's voyage from Stockholm to Turku. Next time, Snowfall. Enjoy!

Last Trip to Tampere

Hey everyone! It did snow here, and it's wonderful, however, I'm going to write about my (last) trip to Tampere, because it's overdue.

My stay here in Finland is almost over, so I decided to make a final trip to Tampere before going home. Valkeakoski is a really nice place, but it is still a small town, and some things are missing. When you need one of those things, you go to Tampere.


The bus leaves you off right in the city centre, which is great. I've always found it interesting how you have industrious areas right in the middle of the city here. It's because they used to build mills on the rivers and use that for power in the old days. Now the mills are replaced with factories, the river is still there, and the town is larger around it. What you get is these kind of sites right in the city:


I've finally found a hobby game store, after spending nearly three months in Finland. The trick is, don't search for "hobby shop", cause you'll get places that sell power tools and whatnot. I am always grateful to the Wizards of the Coast site, for having that store locator.

The city is beautiful. Especially now that it's decorated for the holidays. It is then that I noticed, after finishing my shoppings at the hobby game store, the little characters made from the lights hanging between the buildings.


Yes, you guessed it, it's the Moomins. I remembered that there was a Moomin Museum in Tampere, and I soon went to search for it. It was an easy thing, being guided by the signs and all:


And this is the museum:


For those of you who don't know, the Moomins are fictional characters (aren't they just cute?), the creations of Tove Jansson, a Finnish/Swedish writer. I remember growing up on the Moomin cartoons (I also believe I have a comic book somewhere), and it is only now that I've visited the museum and revisited the Moomins in my head, that I realised how much they influenced my upbringing. I'm not going to write about them too much here. Read about them yourself, on Wikipedia. Here is the entrance, and on the right they have a souvenir store (full of Hello Kitty merchandise, though I have no idea why...).


For me it was a wonderful experience. Seeing the original art and all those figures was simply amazing. It almost drove me to tears. No, really... It was a very nostalgic moment. Anyone who loves Moomin as much as I do has to see this. I actually intend to buy the Moomin books, refresh my memory about them. They belong in the category of those books that can be read both as a child and as an adult (like the ones mentioned in an earlier post). How nostalgic...

(does anyone else think the original art is a bit creepy?)

I'll leave you now, for in a few hours I'll be leaving for Turku, and from their to Stockholm. It's the last outing I'll be making during my Finnish stay. Tune in next time, for Snowfall or That's a Cruise...

First Snow

Yesterday, we had our first snowall here in Valkeakoski. It was pathetic. The flakes were so small and limp that at first we thought it was raining. It snowed for only a few minutes and, needless to say, no snow remained afterwards. I was expecting to take a photo of the first snowfall and post it here, but it very unspectacular (and from the photos you can't even tell that it was snowing). I was very disappointed.

Menthos. The Freshmaker.

I usually have nothing against smokers. It's their life, they are free to waste it as they please. As long as they don't blow in my direction. I wrote in an earlier post about how most locals here in Finland prohibit smoking, and the clubs that do have a smoking area have it well isolated from the non-smoking one. I wish that were the case in Romania. It isn't, so whatever. Back home I have to resume to kindly asking smokers to hold their cigarettes in the hand that's farther away from me.

Like I said, usually I have nothing against smokers, but today I really got angry at them. It's starting to get cold here in Finland. There was no snow yet (at least not in Valkeakoski), but by the time we went to school (at around 10 a.m.), there was so much frost on the ground, that you could have sworn it had snowed the night before. The air was so fresh, that you didn't even mind the cold. As sleepy as I was, as soon as I stepped outside, I felt invigorated.

As soon as I get to school, a momentary hatred for smokers bust out of me. The school has two buildings, and in both of them smoking is prohibited. The walkway that connects the two buildings is the only place arranged for smokers on campus grounds. As we made our way from one building to the other, a fetid smell killed off a lot of the small hairs in my nostrils. There were no smokers there, but the smell left behind so utterly destroy the sweet scent of the cold morning freshness that it was simply outrageous.

I know, you could blame the smokers for smoking, or the administrators for making the only connection between the two buildings the only place where they can smoke, or a dozen other groups of people. I know it is not really anybody's fault, but it left me with such a vile feeling, that I simply had to rant about it.

Ideas

I'm pretty sure everyone of you goes through periods when you have something to do, but feel just too lazy to do it? Well, I'm having one of those periods now. I just returned from Helsinki and would have a lot to write about, but I just don't feel like it. I still need to write about something, otherwise this blog is going to die, like it did last year. So I'm here to talk about something that could get seriously affected by this laziness: ideas.

Actually, by the end of the post, I'll be asking for your advice on this one. I know that many people have ideas, and quite a lot of them could prove to be revolutionary, however, few people have the initiative to put them into practice, and a lot less to finish what they have started. I know that I've been through this, and probably you as well. I had a lot of ideas concerning stories, and, actually, most of them made it into writing. I know that my stories are somewhat clichéd, and I'm not the best amateur writer around, but I enjoy writing them, and if I can get something through to a person, and he will end up making the right choice about something because of it, I will have been worth it. Most of my stories, however, never got finished. Not because I don't like writing them (or because I have a writer's block), but because I like doing other things more. Yes, the laziness I talked about earlier hits me. When I do get to finish, I end up with good stories, like Full Stop., sadly, not many of my works got to that point. I sometimes find no motivation in it. And thus, here I am asking you about my dilemma...

Recently, I've been doped with a lot romance, as you could tell from the anime reviews I've made. Subsequently, a nice idea for a romantic story popped into my head. One of the biggest problems with my ideas is that the images I get in my head, are just that, images. When I started writing Full Stop., I had the image of Ayami running through the rain, getting to the house, and meeting the man who looked a lot younger than he actually was.Everything after that, was blank... Originally, it was supposed to be a romantic story, then a horror story, and finally it ended up being the philosophical something it is now (by the way, if you haven't read the story and are interested, please feel free to contact me). The same is true for my unfinished stories and is also true for my yet to be story. The scenes and concepts I have in mind, are beautiful (though this might be something totally subjective), however, I still have absolutely no idea about delivering those images and thoughts.

Should I just start on it like that, and end up not finishing it, like most of the others? Or should I just wait till the image stabilises in my head, and then write the whole thing down? Please, give me you're ideas concerning this problem I'm having. I'd appreciate it. Also, feel free to comment regarding your own similar experiences. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would be interested in hearing them. I promise to give you a post on what happened in Helsinki and more, soon enough.

The Night Before The Voyage

I'm on a highway to hel(sinki that is). I'll be leaving in just over an hour from now, and I probably won't be able to access the Internet this weekend and neither Monday or Tuesday, probably. I spent this night watching some anime, and in between, the Nostalgia Critic (I did this while I was waiting for the anime episodes to stream). I'll talk about these two things in my post.

First off, I really like the Nostalgia Critic. He's funny and he really makes a point with his videos, even though I sometimes disagree with him. I was watching his review of The Wizard, and it really got me thinking. How could they get away with such a thing back then? Like he said, it's much more fun to play video games than to watch a movie about people playing video games. Indeed, such a movie would be stupid, they wouldn't make things like this nowada-... hmm... I just remembered Duel Masters and Yu-Gi-Oh! (*shiver shiver*) Talk about pathetic... Also, that movie had commercial written all over it. I'm thinking, the nowadays equivalent of the sequence when they presented Super Mario Bros. 3 would be having someone play Duke Nukem Forever (actually... that would be pretty mind-blowing). But nowadays we have E3 for that. Anyway... I don't remember seeing this movie when I was little (of course not, we didn't even have Nintendo here, we all had those Chinese-made rip-off consoles), but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have found it interesting, not even back then... which is something I cannot say about Mortal Kombat, which I just loved (I was always more of a Mortal Kombat fan than a Street Fighter fan, since I had a PC), and still think is a cool movie (disagreeing with the Nostalgia Critic yet again).

Ok, now that that's out of the way, let's get onto the more important thing I want to talk about. The anime I watched, which happenes to be ef - a tale of memories. This is a romantic anime, and it is by far one of the most beautiful anime I've ever seen. I have nothing but praise for this one. Seriously, I find no words to express how great it is. I honestly regret having the need to stream it and not watching it some time before in higher quality. Before I go on, for all of you romantics, artists and dreamers out there, this is a must see.

Now that I've finished with the introduction, let's talk about the anime a little. Like all great romantic anime, this one is also the adaptation of an adult visual novel (which is a euphemism for eroge, short for "erotic game") entitled ef - a fairy tale of the two. The list could go on forever, starting with Air and ending with Higurashi no Naku Koro ni... ok, maybe that's not really a romantic story, but you get the idea. It is no surprise that I mentioned Air, since it's the first thing that came into my mind while I was watching ef - a tale of memories. Actually, it was the second, the very first thing that came into my mind was INSERT FAVOURITE MAKOTO SHINKAI ANIME TITLE HERE. And no wonder, since it was none other than Makoto Shinkai who made the opening of the game. And his influence is felt throughout the anime. I'm going to talk about the visuals later on. Now, let's just get back to the story... ... ... Ok, that's it! I'm not telling you anything about the story. Why? Because it's just too damn good to spoil any of it. Suffice to say, it involves boys and girls (yes, more of them, but not at the same time, not really, only in parallel stories) and their relationships. Like someone says (right here in this anime I'm reviewing): "There is no such thing as friendship between a boy and a girl", and thus you understand where I'm getting. Of course you do, I said it off the bat that this was a romance anime, didn't I? But that's not enough to express what I'm talking about. This anime is about LOVE!!! I mean it! The strong feelings it conveys are overwhelming, but I'll get back to that (as well as the visuals, later). Let me finish with the story... ... ... besides the fact that it is hypnotizing, every moment fills you more and more, and just when you've thought you're about to overflow (remember Mamimi ;) ) they give you more and more. Top that with a breath-taking ending, and there you have it. Now as far as the stories go, they don't entwine as much as I would have liked them too (like the magnificent work in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni), but that doesn't make them stand out individually. Also, I believe they wouldn't have had the same effect, had they been separated (unlike in Diamond Dust Drops, for example). So much for the story... I'm not telling any more, honest... go watch it!

Now, onto the other parts, after all, a story alone doesn't make a good anime. And there is more to this anime than the story, I assure you. I stood up talking about the visuals, so I'll get to it now. Like I said before, they have the mark of Makoto Shinkai on them. Though they lack the play of lights and shadows, the thing which I adore most in the works of Makoto Shinkai, they do compensate with those other trademark shots (empty scenes, even though the characters are talking; landscapes in which the tiny characters seem to disappear; scenes in which only parts of the characters are shown with their faces awkwardly being off screen). Coupled with these visuals are powerful artistic images: crayon drawings of the characters, monocoloured frames (for example, the screen going red for a moment when someone skips a heartbeat), the scenes gradually losing colour and a lot more that I simply can't describe. On top of the stunning visuals and the powerful images comes the spine-chilling music. It is more than appropriate, it is fantastic. The tune isn't exactly catchy, but it gets carved into your heart. It gave me goosebumps when I heard it, and whenever I recall it, it still makes me shiver (pretty much like the opening of Kana ~Little Sister~). Now, all these create a heart-stopping atmosphere that is indescribable. I really don't know what to compare it with. It is tragic and beautiful, painful and lovely, burning and soothing...

Now, about the themes. It does have some fantastic elements, but it's far from being Air. It's more down to earth, and I guess I can relate to it more. It talks about love (naturally), dreams, choice, memory, silence, colours and everything in between. On top of that, it has a guy looking like a young Kaji (from Neon Genesis Evangelion), giving one of the kids advice, although not in a melon patch.

Once again, for all of you romantics, artists and dreamers out there, this is a must see. That's all I have to say about that.

Because 5 Is Better Than 1

Well, I experienced my first Magic: the Gathering prerelease today (actually yesterday, since it's 1:29 AM right now). It was an exhilarating experience. Let me tell you all about it.

Let me start with my journey to Tampere. I was down in front of the store by 7:44 AM, 26 minutes before opening. I spent the time listening to music and wondering if they'll open on schedule. They did. I bought myself a couple of sandwiches and a bottle water for the road. I was in the bus stop by 8:06 AM, 14 minutes before the arrival of the bus. Again, I waited listening to music. Now comes the fun part. At 8:18 AM, a strange bus appears. It was green on the sides, and I didn't recognise the company. So I was wondering if that's the one I should take. While I was wondering, it passed by me. Here in Finland, you have to wave for the bus to stop, even thought if clearly you are waiting for it in the station. After it passed, I thought to myself: "What if this was the bus I was supposed to get on and I missed it?" I had the jinkies for the next 4 minutes, till I recognised the ExpressBus coming. I waved, and... surprise! the guy just showed me to back up, and passed me. I was shocked! I realised that I wasn't standing at the correct stop. Now I was really sure that I had missed my bus, till the Valkeakoski Liikenne bus came, not a minute later, I waved, it stopped, I got on, and was on my way to Tampere. After having reached Tampere, it was an adventure finding the right bus to take me to Hervanta, where the university campus is, and once I got there, the hassle to finding the place where the tournament was held. However, when I saw all those people gathering, I just followed them, and I got there, eventually.

I was surprised to see so many people. There were more than fifty participants. It was all so exciting. Enough with the introductions, let's get down to the tournament.

Shards of Alara is a set which story-wise revolves around a plane, Alara, which for some reason got torn apart into five shard-planes. The proportions of the five colours of mana differ from plane to plane, which resulted in the divergent evolution of these planes. Mechanics-wise, this means that each plane is represented exclusively by one of the colours, and it's adjacent "ally" colours. Brings back memories of Invasion. However, unlike Invasion, here each shard-plane has it's very distinct feel. Bant, the white-centred shard, has many small creatures that buff each other up. Esper, the blue-centred shard, has coloured artifacts and each creature is an artifact creature, with many effects that affect or care about your artifacts (I realise I just used the word "artifact" three times in that sentence). Grixis, the black-centred shard, is all about undead, reanimation and creature kill. Jund, the red-centred shard, is all about small goblins and big dragons (so typical), with mechanics which involve feeding the small to the big to make them even bigger. Naya, the green-centred shard, is all about big creatures (with power 5 or greater) and small mana-producers or synergy creatures that buff your gargantuans even more.

After opening the tournament pack and the three boosters, I came down to two options. Either playing an Esper deck or a Naya deck. After drawing Spearbreaker Behemoth, a 5/5 indestructible for 7 mana, and also some pretty good biggies (5/5 vigilance, haste for 6 mana; and 5/4 vanilla for 3 mana), as well as a very good mana base (one tap-land, one obelisk and two panoramas), not to mention that crazy Titanic Ultimatum (a sorcery which for 7 mana gives all your creatures +5/+5, trample, first strike and lifelink until end of turn), I just couldn't resist playing the Naya deck. The Timmy in me was crying out from the bottom of his lungs. He got the best of me. I ended up losing my first two matches because of it. After that, I switched to the Esper deck. I didn't have any real solid card in that deck, but all the small cards worked very well together. My mana curve was highest in the 2 and 3 cost range. I also had a ton of removal, ranging from 2-mana, to 4-mana, as well as some powerful card-drawing. I won the following three matches, and lost in the sixth round to a solid Grixis deck (and an experienced player).

Overall, I had a great time, and can't wait to play in next week's, release tournament.

Intervention

A couple of days back, I witnessed a strange event. On my way to school, I have to pass an important road (it's the one you drive on as you come from Tampere towards Valkeakoski city centre). I call it an important road, because it's a lot wider than the ones you saw in earlier photos (the ones that go through the "T: Add {G} to your mana pool."). I don't know about roads in other countries, but compared to Romania, the roads here are extremely wide. This one had just one lane for each way, and a whole lot of space on both sides (to pull over, I guess).

So, now that I've set the scene, this is what happened. There were some logs on the side of the road, in this "pull over" section. Now, when I say logs, don't get me wrong, they weren't sequoia trunks, in fact, I hardly noticed them. Then, comes this bus, which suddenly stops, the driver gets out, pushes the logs off the road, gets back on, and drives away.

The fact is, there was plenty of space for the bus to pass, the logs weren't even on the actual road, so to say. I was shocked. I didn't know how to catalogue this event. Should I say it was considerate? Responsible? Freaky? You decide...

Karhu

Today was Sergiu's birthday (actually, it was yesterday, since it's 2:06 AM right now). It was pretty spontaneous, so we went down to the store, bought a pack of Karhu beer and celebrated.

Even Steiger joins the party.

Sight-Seeing Through Valkeakoski

After yesterday's blunder, when we decided to go shopping and found all the stores closed (even though they were open two Sundays ago, when we arrived... odd), we agreed to go on a little outing today and do the shopping while we were at it. After all, there were some special offers at Lidl, which we couldn't pass (pair of salami pizza at 5 euros). So, I've decided to show you some photos I took on the way. Let's go sight-seeing through Valkeakoski!

This is what the road looks like, from the dorm to the centre of Valkeakoski:

It looks pretty much like something out of Lord of the Rings. On the sides of the road, all you see is:

Now, when you get to the centre of the city, there is this nice fountain, and next to it, three pyramid-like structures, which I believe represent the Egyptian pyramids, though I have no idea what the connection is with Finland, in general, and with Valkeakoski, in particular. Anyway, it's there, and of course you can't overcome the urge to climb it and take a snapshot:

On our way back, we admired the peculiar architectural design of Finnish homes. They tend to blend in with the environment. Here are some photos, you'll understand what I mean:

It pretty much reminds me of this:

About 10-15 minutes from the city centre, there is Lidl, the place where we get our stuff. Blessed be Lidl, except on Sundays, when it's closed, then I curse it:

We ended up buying too much stuff, so I followed my brother's example and kidnapped a cart:

Also, there are some weird statues here in Valkeakoski, like this... something, which I have no idea what it represents, and this other very communist-looking worker with a pick:

Also, Finnish people have a great sense of humour:

This sign says it all, though I can't really find the humour in that, only after relating it to something I saw on the net:

As a sidenote, in the whole time during our way to the city centre and back, 22 good-looking girls passed us on bicycles. I think you have to be really special here in Finland not to look good. I just love this place!