Category: Journal
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Swim With The Swans at Löyly Sauna, Helsinki
Löyly Helsinki is a public sauna and restaurant, located on the edge of the sea in the Munkkisaari area, a part of Helsinki that is still in the process of redeveloping itself from an industrial port into an upscale residential and leisure complex. I visited with my wife, Satu, on a Saturday in mid-October –…
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Road-Trip Photo Blog #3: Närpiö–Kaskinen–Kristiinankaupunki
Satu and I, with Boris the Dog, embarked on our third road-trip through Pohjanmaa. This is a photo blog of our trip: Närpiö–Kaskinen–Kristiinankaupunki
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Road-Trip Photo Blog #2: Pohjanmaa, Vaasa Archipelago
Satu and I, accompanied once more by Boris the Dog, enjoyed our first road trip so much, we decided to go out exploring a different part of Pohjanmaa once again. Here is a photo blog of our road trip, the second in this series: Pohjanmaa: Merenkurkun ( (Raippaluoto & Björkö)
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Road-Trip Photo Blog #1: Pohjanmaa, Kokkola-Pietarsaari-Ylistaro
Satu and I, plus Boris the Dog, took a drive to explore parts of Pohjanmaa that we don’t know so well. We made a photo blog of our road trip: Seinäjoki–Kokkola–Pietarsaari–Ylistaro Hopefully, the first is a regular series.
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One Week Holiday in Finland: Putting The Podcast Into Practice
Similar to my summer 2016 post, in summer 2017 I had another opportunity to put what I learned in the podcast into practice. Whenever I have visitors staying with us, I always try to give them the ‘Finland Experience’, and it was no different when my parents came for a one-week holiday. It seemed that…
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Exploring Finland: Putting The Podcast Into Practice
During summer 2016, I had the opportunity to visit the wilds of Eastern Finland, near to the town of Kitee. I was invited to join Satu at her Grandparents’ old home, right on Finland’s border with Russia. During this trip, I found myself saying ‘yeah, I know about this, I covered it in the podcast’,…
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‘Regional Developer Prize 2015’ Award for the Explore Finland Radio Show
On Friday 13th May 2016, I was given an award by Etelä-Pohjanmaan aluekehittäjät ry EPAK (a Regional Development Association in Etelä-Pohjanmaa. This was in recognition of the work I have done with the Explore Finland Radio Show and the Finnish Football Show.
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What on Earth is Mölkky? And how exactly do you say it?
Summer 2015 barely deserves that name, but as August starts and the school holidays draw to a close, of course, the weather takes a turn for the better! This is the perfect opportunity to try out our new garden game, Mölkky. To answer the 2nd question first, it is pronounced Meul-kuu. The first question needs only a little more…
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SJK Update: May 2015
You can find all previous articles about Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho (Seinäjoki FC, SJK) here The season gets underway The league season is now near the 33% stage, so it’s a good time to have a look at how things have played out so far. For SJK it has been an effective, if unspectacular start to the campaign.…
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Apollo FC and Finland’s ‘Pink Revolution’
Season 1 Episode 16 Mikael & Jarl Matti proclaim Finland’s ‘Pink Revolution’ Listen to this podcast episode here Guests: Mikael Muurimäki and Jarl Matti Antilla, Apollo FC players There is something in the air in Seinäjoki. What started as a small idea among a group of friends is blooming into something altogether more touching, caring and beautiful –…
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SJK Update: April 2015
Article number two in the series of articles about Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho (Seinäjoki FC, SJK). You can find all the articles in this series here Cup campaigns Several eyewitness accounts suggest that SJK were unfortunate to exit the Suomen Cup (Finnish FA Cup) to Kuopio Palloseura (KuPS) within weeks of being knocked out of the Liigacup. Popular consensus is…
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Easter in Finland: The Season of the (white) Witch
Easter traditions in Finland Easter in Finalnd involves as much chocolate as my Easters growing up in the UK, but here they work a lot harder for it! My experiences below are based on my observations living in Western Finland, these differ from Eastern Finland. Growing Grass Approximately one week before Easter, the children plant…
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SJK Update: March 2015
This is the first in what I hope will be an ongoing series of articles on happenings at Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho (Seinäjoki FC, or SJK to it’s friends). New players As mentioned in my previous post about the Liigacup, SJK has signed several new players, in the closed season, to strengthen the squad; Mehmet Hetemaj midfield…
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The Finnish Liigacup is Underway
Find my podcast on the history of SJK here The League Cup in Finland is a curious competition. Played as a competitive series of games, it serves as a pre-season competition for the 12 teams in the Veikkausliiga (Finland’s Premier League) but, as it kicks off in mid-February and Finland is mostly under a metre or…
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Softengine, Luritus Choir & Alvar Aalto. In concert.
Many of you outside of Europe may not fully understand the Eurovision Song Contest, not everyone inside Europe takes it that seriously, and the recent balkanisation of European counties has led to countries ‘voting for their neighbours hasn’t helped that, but the viewing figures are huge and many a star has been born at Eurovision. In…
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The Veikkausliiga season gets started…
Well, in a manner of speaking. Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho (SJK) have a had a busy week, that culminated with the (now traditional) match between the first team and the supporters club (Klopit), who hold the honourary position of 12th man at SJK. The match was played in a friendly, light-hearted atmosphere, indoors at the excellent Wallsport…
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What I Learned at #slush14
Although I risk ‘crossing the streams’ with this post – brining my day job into the Explore Finland world – this article is about an event in Finland, so it’s not completely off-topic. Slush is a fast-growing ‘trade show’ in Helsinki for Investors and Companies to meet, talk business and party a little. Below is a post that…
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Brit starts his own radio show in Finland
The Explore Finland Radio Show received it’s first press this morning, with a supportive article in the local paper Seinäjoen Sanomat. You can read the full article here http://www.seinajoensanomat.fi/artikkeli/257465-britti-alkoi-tehda-suomesta-omaa-radio-ohjelmaa
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Christmas 2014, Finnish-style
I don’t know how Christmas is celebrated in your country, but in Finland it is a peaceful, reflective time. People send greetings like “Rentoa ja Rauhallista Joulua ihan kaikille!” (A Relaxing and Peaceful Christmas to everyone!), or “Levollista joulua teille” (A Restful Christmas to you all”). This attitude is reflected throughout the festive period. Also,…
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Magic mushrooms
Well, maybe not ‘magic’ mushrooms, but the way these sprang up almost overnight was quite something to see. There’s a small trail through the woods near our house, a loop of about 400 metres – perfect for early morning walks with Boris. One morning in late-August, we entered the woods and I was struck by the…
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Welcome to Hell
Located just south of Etelä-Pohjanmaa, Helvetinjärvi couldn’t be named less appropriately. It’s name translates as Hell’s Lake and comes from an old story containing a warlock, an argument and cursed fish supplies, naturally! We came to visit on a Saturday in late-September and brought the kids’ cousin Siiri along for a walk through the woods to the…
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Picking Lingonberries
There’s an interesting law in Finland called Everyman’s Rights, which basically allows anyone to pick any flowers, berries, mushrooms etc. that are growing in the wild. You even have free access to angling and ice-fishing in many places. Unlike back in the UK, you have rights even if you’re not the landowner and if you’re…
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