Wrap-up.

Uuups... I did it again.

Like in Argentina, also this time the last moments of my trip as well as the time after home coming took all my attention and thoughts away from the blog. In order not to repeat my all mistakes, I wanted to still wrapup the summer even though I've home for 1 and half months and most probably nobody else but my mom still check this blog:)

So, after leaving Boston we headed to New York. The week in NYC was great and expensive. We got to be tourists with Hanna for couple of days, then Anna joined us. During the weekend we went partying and saw my old college buddy Juho as well as Sol who was on his way to Israel (Of that, you may read more from here.) Hanna & Anna left on Sunday and then I spent the last couple of days with Juho and his friends and family. All in all, New York was great, full of culture and experiences. And people as well:D

As this is meant to be the wrapup, I'll try not to be as wordly as usual. I just want to thank every single person that I met and was involved with this summer. Of course, all the other Finns that I had a pleasure to travel with as well as our Canadian buddies, hosts and Hart House who all made us feel like home. And of course all the other great people I got to meet. You are so many, that naming all of you would take ages and naming only few of you wouldn't be fair. So therefore, I'll just thank one. Thanks Hanna to keeping together with me despite of all my travelling and being away:D

Reminiscing the summer on this wet and windy October night makes me quite sentimental and I really do not say that how should I close the diaries for this journey. Therefore, I shall share with you a column that I wrote for the magazine of Helsinki International Week that was held at HSE last week. I hope this works as the thank you and byebye for this summer and acts also as the first welcome for the Canadians coming to Finland in 2009. So, thank you, bye bye and welcome. Let's stay in touch

- Joel


Export Finland.

Traditionally Finns have been very worried about their image abroad. ”What do the others think about us and our country?”, we wonder. Start a conversation with a Finn and I'll guarantee that within three minutes, they'll ask what do you think or know about their country. I guess it runs in the blood. Only thing we are more concerned about is that the image we send abroad is positive. Therefore every spring the letters section of local newspapers are filled with worried letters (or in Finnish case, SMS's) about how the dog droppings lying around will give the tourists a filthy and bad image of Finland. This phenomenon has grown into somewhat of a national trauma that is discussed in the papers and bars of the country.

Due to this trauma, the Finns tend to always send out their best starting lineup in order to amaze the others. Respected captain and center of this team is of course the hi-tech industry of Finland. Symbolized by Nokia, which mobile phones have connected the people and made even the Finns talk. A little. As a right wing acts the famous Finnish architecture and design, a.k.a. Alvar Aalto wearing Marimekko. Naturally at the left side, we have the outstanding Finnish welfare system that makes citizens equal from babies to pensioners. In the defending positions, we do have on the right side the Finnish defense force that grows boys to men and kept us independent during the harsh cold winter of the Winter War. Left side is guarded by the trusted pulp and paper industry, that providesour excellent school system with the materials to make every Finn literate. And a university student, if possible. As the goalie acts the never-ending list of Finnish sport heroes from skijumpers to rallydrivers. This starting lineup of course resembles our beloved ice hockey team (also played in Sweden and Canada) and the game against the rest of world is played on the ice of a lake of Santa Claus's summer cottage in Lapland. For the winners (read Finland), there is a warm sauna and cold beer waiting. Not exarrating a bit, this is the image we Finns want to send out to our fellow nations.

This trauma has bothered me on a very personal level. Not once or twice I have been told to ”Represent my country” and ”Act as the Finnish ambassador”. Having the expectations of a whole nation on my shoulders, I've start wondering how could I contribute and make others admire Finland and Finns. Of course, I could rant and rave about all the things mentioned above to every foreigner I am ever to meet. I could brag off with my brand new Nokia phone, admire the beautiful shape of Aalto vase that is found in every Finnish home and reminisce about the sweet 4 to 1 victory over Sweden in the 1995 Ice Hockey World Championships.

However, actions do speak louder than words. Realizing this have left me quite unarmed. Being an average Finn, what can I do? My language skills might astonish an average American, but as the conversation is most probably carried out in his native language, I would be the one ashamed. On the other hand, my beer and vodka chugging skills could make some impression, but instead of being looked upon I would most probably be looked down. So, here I've been wondering for 20 something years that how on earth I could make the rest of the Earth understand that Finns just are simply the best.

During my stay in Canada last summer I finally found out how it is possible. I want to share this tip with you fellow Finns struggling with this issue and prove to you suspecting visitors that we just are as cool as our winters. We were spending a laid back weekend at a farm outside of Toronto. At the farm, they had nice pond with sauna next to it. A real, authentic Finnish sauna with wood-burning oven made by a group of Finns back in the 1950's. The holy sanctuary of Finnish quiteness and peace. The place where we all can fit at the same time and where you feel as natural as... well, being naked. And there it was, my chance to shine as a FINN! I was about to warm up the sauna. I chopped up the logs in nanoseconds, cleaned up the fireplace by a flick of a wrist and carefully constructed a pile of sticks and wood inside of it. Then came the part that made me and rest of the Finns stand on the highest podium above all the others. I lighted the woods inside the sauna stove with a single match! Bow! It was no biggie given the hundreds of sauna stoves I've lighted up, but the people were absolutely amazed! To be modest of course. So, there it is: the key to Finnish greatness lies in a single match. I now I dare you to show something cooler than that.

Go ahead, be our guest.


ps. For the ones reading this far. I am going back to Argentina in a month, so most probably I'll do the wrapup for it two years after leaving the first time. To read more about that, go to argentiina.blogspot.com :D

Boston reporting.

Yep, it happened. Like I wrote already after the Owen Sound trip, I've been superbusy for the whole month of August. The month has included a long-weekend during which our group rented cars and did some roadtripping and a comeback to the Hart House Farm. It also included the last days of work at Advantage Group as well as arrival of Hanna to Canada and my last days in Toronto for this summer.

Since last Thursday, we've been on the road with Hanna. From Thursday to Saturday, we spent our time at the Niagara Falls, admiring the natures wonder and standing in awe of the touristy attractions they have come up for the 30 something million yearly visitors. The night between Saturday and Sunday as well best part of Sunday was spent abroad on Greyhound. Leaving from Niagara Falls, ON and with changes of bus in Buffalo, NY and Albany, NY and stops in Rochester, NY and Syracuse, NY we finally arrived to Boston, MA on Sunday afternoon. Henna, who somebody might remember from my Argentina exchange, is working here at the moment and we've enjoying her hospitality for the past couple of nights. Even though there would be more to see in Boston than Harvard (which actually is in Cambridge and took half of our day today), we'll back on the road tomorrow morning. Our final destination is New York, where I'll be spending a week before flying back to Finland on August 28th. As you might guess, I certainly will be keeping myself busy in good ol' NYC and the radiosilence here will continue for a while. However, I promise to do a proper recap and thank you's of the summer at the beginning of September.

However to keep you my dear and beloved readers entertained, I'll provide you a link that will tell more about our summer. The Finnish embassy in Ottawa hosted us for an afternoon during our roadtrip and has now published an article about our exchange. In order to read it, click here.. In case it does not work go here: http://www.finland.ca/en/ and roll down a little. There you'll find the article in Finnish as well. That's all for now. Write to you soon!

Pablo Francisco is old news.

Maanantai-aamua Suomeen vaan. Olin perjantaina katsomassa Toronton Yonge-Dundas Squarella standuppia osana Just For Laughs - festivaalin ilmaisosioita. Ensimmäisen tunnin aikana esiintyi useampi kanadalainen komiikko, joista ei itse tunnistanut ketään. Yksi taisi olla töissä myös MTV Canadalla ja toinen Much Musicilla (edesmenneen Jyrki, anyone?). Tämän jälkeen vuorossa oli Kanadan varmaan tämän hetken suosituin ja kuuluisin koomikko Russell Peters ystävineen. Peters on etniseltä taustaltaan intialainen ja kotoisin Missisaugasta Toronton vierestä. Mies on viimeisen muutaman vuoden aikana breikannut vähän isommin standupin maailmassa ja keikkaileekin nykyään ympäri maailman. Vieraina hänellä oli mukana losilainen Jo Koy ja kaksikko nimeltään Doowoops(?), joka oli vähän kuin Tenacious D, mutta ei sitten kumminkaan. Erityisesti Russell on tunnettu siitä että hän repii kaikista etnisistä ryhmistä huumoria tasapuolisesti, tosin tietty eniten intialaisista. Russelilta olen kuullut jotain sketsejä aiemmin, mutta Jo Koy oli täysin uusi tuttavuus. Molemmat olivat hulvattoman hauskoja ja Koy vielä erityisen energinen lavalla. Toronto, kuten on aiemmin tullut mainittua, on hyvin monikulttuurinen ja myös juttujen teemat pyörivät tämän ympärillä. Vaikka teema oli sama, olivat tarinat aivan hulvattomia ja usein huomattavan monitasoisempia kuin otsikossa mainitun Franciscon imitaatiorutiinit jotka on nähty jo muutama vuosi sitten...

Jokainen on varmaan joskus elämässään kokenut sen kun kaveri yrittää epäonnistuneesti selittää hauskaa juttua jonka kuuli standupillassa, vai? Senpä takia en lähdekään kyseiselle tuhoon tuomitulle tielle vaan jaan muutaman pätkän edellämainituilta koomikoilta. Näppärimmät varmaan löytävät lisää jos tykkäävät Petersin ja Koyn materiaalista:D

I went to see some Canadian comedians as a part of Just For Laughs festival on Friday. Biggest name of the bunch was of course Russell Peters and his friends. Peters was awesome, as well as Jo Koy who was throwing a set as well. Instead of trying to explain their jokes I am sharing few good ones with you in the form of videos! And as for the headline, it refers to a comedian that was a fresch face with fresh jokes couple of years ago, but will still throw five soldouts gigs in Finland this year...

Russell Peters talks about how the mixing of different races is inevitable

Russell Peters: Beating your kids

Jay Ko @ Jamie Foxx's Laffapalooza Vol. 4:

Hauskaa viikonalkua! Enjoy the week!

Owen Sound Road Trip

Last weekend we spent in the area of Owen Sound, that is the hometown of our Canadian friend Alan. Owen Sound is about 3 hours drice to northwest from Toronto and is located next to Georgian Bay that is part of Lake Huron. Our plan was quite much as follows: Leave from Toronto on Friday evening after work. Arrive to Owen Sound, accommodate to Alan's parents. Get back to Toronto on Sunday evening. In between, take it easy and enjoy life.

And that is what we quite much did. On Friday, we were at Owen Sound around midnight and quickly visited Alan's friends' party before heading to bed. On Saturday morning, sun was shining and sky was clear of clouds. We started the day with a quick dip in the clear waters of Georgian Bay and great breakfast. Around midday, we headed out to the wild. Our destination was the natural reserve in Bruce Point and its hiking routes and cliffs. After hour and half of driving and 45 minute hike in the natural reserve, we finally arrived to the waterfront. And what a view we had! Clear sky, crystal clear water and bunch of other tourists:D

The waters in Georgian Bay are expectionally clear, because the bottom of the lake is all rock without any sediments that would make it muddy. Even though it is part of the muddier Lake Huron, Georgian Bay has kept its waters clear. My guess is that the Bay has been formed as a part of melting glaciers in the end of Ice Age and it has been joined to Lake Huron much later on. At the tip of the Bruce Point is an area full of cliffs and rocky beaches. The sights are quite impossible to describe, but if you take a peak to my Flickr photos you'll get an idea what it is like.

So, there we spent our afternoon diving around in the clear waters, climbing the rocks, visiting the grotto cave that was under the cliff and even doing some cliffjumping. Even though it was strictly forbidden by park rules and some drunken dudes have managed to kill themselves while jumping of the cliff, most of the people did it anyways. I myself settled for pathetic one meter cliffs, but Alan and Kasper shooted off from 8 meter cliff to the water. I have one picture of Kasper jumping in my pictures. However, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I can share another jump made from the very same cliff. In the following clip, Alan's friends brother does a backflip from the same cliff that Alan and Kasper shooted off.

Cool, ain't it? Also the water of the lake was bit cool so we had to take off at some point and hike back to our car. Rest of the day was spent grilling and chilling, and finally everyone of us was so tired that we never made it to the two bars of Owen Sound as we had planned.

On Sunday, the day started similarly to Saturday. After noon, half of us took of to Sauble beach that claimed to be the best beach in Toronto (I was part of this group) and others went to see an art gallery of Group of 7 that is a famous group of artist from Ontario. After seeing that, they joined the rest of the gang at the beach. Masa and Anna had to leave early around four o'clock as Masa, working at TicketMaster, had won two tickets to the VIP section of the Police concert. Anna had won the draw among us and was to be accompany Masa to rock and clock (aka kellottaa) with Masa and Police. Also Alan and Ilona left with the same car. Us rest, took our time both on the beach and on the road, arriving to T.O. around 22.00. The weekend had done its job and every single us was tired but happy. The relaxing weekend is now behind and hectic life in Toronto ahead. Tomorrow some of us (including myself) are going to party bigtime and fancy, as Emily's brother Mitch is throwing a party at Club V, a neat place with a strict DC. According to Facebook, around 2000 people are invited, so the party should be huge despite it is Tuesday. But, more about that later on.

As our whole stay in Canada has been very busy and actionpacked so far, it seems to be it to the very end. We have something planned for every single weekdend and something going also every other night. I will try to look for some time to sum up my experiences and tell about things I haven't said a thing so far (for example, work). However, be warned, as happened in Argentina, I will be even more busier as the end of the trip comes nearer and won't dedicate as much time for sharing my experiences. I still hope you wil stay tuned at least to the end of August, maybe even longer. For now, write to you all later!

Toronton parhaat 1: Ruoka

Joskus ennen lähtöäni Torontoon kyhäilin jonkinmoista "Asiat joita eniten odotan tältä kesältä"-listaa. Tarkoitus oli julkaista se blogissakin, mutta lista jäi vähän puolittaiseksi kaiken muun kiireen ohella. Tämän postin kertoo nyt yhdestä niistä jutuista joita odotin.

Torontohan on suurkaupunki ja ennenkaikkea monikulttuurinen sellainen. Erään tiedon mukaan Torontossa olisi edustettuna 144 eri kansallisuutta, joka meinaa karkeasti arvioiden yli 3/4 kaikista maailman valtioista/kansallisuuksista. Kaupungista löytyy iso Chinatown, Little Italy, Pikku-Portugali, Koreatown, kreikkalainen kaupunginosa sekä jopa vanha irlantilaisten kaupunginosa Cabbagetown noin muutamia mainitakseni. Nämä kaikki ovat siis vielä ydinkeskustan alueella, lähiöistä puhumattakaan. Tälläinen monimuotoisuus tietty näkyy ja kuuluu turuilla ja toreilla. Ja itseni kaltaiselle ruokafanaatikolle, se ennen kaikkea maistuu:D

Eli, monipuolinen ja monimuotoinen ruoka ympäri maailman oli yksi asia jota odotin innolla. Vanhoista suosikeistani kiinalainen (asummehan Chinatownin nurkalla) on jotain aivan muuta kuin Suomen esanssitäytteiset setit. Annokset ovat poikkeuksetta isoja ja edes hienoimmissa ravintoiloissa melko halpoja (10 eurolla syö pääruoan kuin pääruoan). Myös takeaway toimii. Monessa lähteessä on kehuttu että sen minkä Toronton Chinatown häviää koossa Nykin ja Friscon vastaaville, voittaa sen ruoan maussa. Toronton tarjontaa maistettuani, onkin vaikea kuvitella että kiinalaisesta saisi enää paljon parempaa.

Toisena vahvana on sushi. Riisipalloista ja kalanpaloista on tullut osa ruokavalioani vasta melko hiljattain (viimeisen parin vuoden aikana), mutta makuun päästyäni kulutus on lisääntynyt tasaisessa tahdissa. Ja kun Toronto on pullollaan laadukkaita, mutta ainakin Suomen mittapuulla halpoja rafloja, on se kulutus nyt kääntymässä huomattavaan nousuun. Eilenkin hain juoksulenkin jälkeen 16 palan sushin misokeiton kanssa kämpille ja maksoin siitä vajaat 10 euroa.

Vaikka muutama posti sitten valittelinkin syödyn leivän määrää erityisesti lounailla, söin tänään erinomaisen illallisen joka perustui vahvasti leivälle. Menimme Jarnon, Masan, Annan, Heinin sekä Heinin täällä vierailevien porukoiden kanssa syömään etiopialaista ruokaa. Jarno ja Anna olivat syöneet paikassa aiemmin Kasperin kanssa ja Masa on syönyt etiopialaista safkaa Afrikassa, mutta itselleni kyseinen keittiö oli täysin uusi tuttavuus. Leipä oli olennaisessa osassa sen takia, että kaikki ruoka syötiin leivällä. Mitään ruokailuvälineitä ei ollut, vaan suurilla tarjottimilla tuotu vihannes/nauta/lammas/kanaruoka taiteltiin pienen leivänpalan sisään ja syötiin. Tietty tämä kaikki piti tapahtua yhdellä, yllättäen oikealla, kädellä. Vasenkätisenä hiukan alkuun protestoin kyseistä tapaa vastaan. Perinteisestihän tapa liittyy siihen että alueilla missä vesivessoja ei ole, on oikea käsi ruokailua varten ja vasen sitten ihan muihin puuhiin. Tämä tietty tuntuu typerältä Torontossa missä kädet saa pestyä ennen ruokailua. Tarjoilija kertoi kumminkin että kyse on ruoan kunnioittamisesta. Eli kuten ihmisiä kätellään oikealla kädellä, niin myös ruokaa pitäisi. Päätin siis tarttua haasteeseen ja pistää pöperöä poskeen tuolla turhan yliarvostetulla kädellä. Vaikka rullani eivät ehkä olleet niin nättejä kuin muilla, selvisin ruokailusta siististi enkä todellakaan jäänyt nälkäiseksi. Onnistuin jopa syöttämään pari palaa Masalle ilman suurempia sotkuja. Tässä selvenettäköön, että Masa ei ole enää syöttöiässä tai mitään muuta, vaan kyseessä on etiopialainen tapa. Jos ystävä tarjoaa sinulle ruokaa, on se otettava vastaan toisen syöttämänä ja tarjoamisesta kieltäytyminen on hyvin epäkohteliasta. Koska tilaamamme 10 ruokalajia oli jaettu kahdelle tarjottimelle ja satuin istumaan sopivasti niiden välissä, päädyin sitten tunkemaan muutaman palan leipää Masan suuhun ja ottamaan vastaavasti pari palaa vastaan. Vaikka tässä nyt ei etiopialaisia ollakaan, niin pitäähän sitä talossa käyttäytyä talon tavoin. Kokonaisuutena ruokailu oli hyvä kokemus, ruoka oli erinomaista ja sitä riitti kaikille. Varmaa onkin että menemme etiopialaiseen syömään vielä uudemman kerran.

Edellämainittujen lisäksi on tullut syötyä myös kreikkalaista, etelä-amerikkalaista, meksikolaista, italialaista, portugalilaista, intialaista sekä pohjois-amerikkalaista ruokaa. Onpa jopa yksi kosher-hodari tullut safkattua Jaysin pelissä. Perheen kanssa kävimme syömässä myös CN Towerin 360-ravintolassa. Vaikka korkeimmalla merenpinnasta nautitun ruoan (+2000 metriä merenpinnasta) ykkössijaa pitää edelleen Argentiinan San Martin De Los Cobresissa syöty lounas ( kts. Noroesten roadtrip ) lunasti tämä illalinen paikkansa korkeimmalla ihmisen rakentamalla paikalla nautitun ruoan listalla. Ainakin niin kauan kun CN Tower pitää paikkansa maailman korkeimpana rakennuksena, ei tätä listaa tarvitse lähteä muuttelemaan. Maisemien lisäksi myös ruoka oli hyvää, vaikkakin ehkä hiukan tyyristä. Kiitos isä:D

Lista must eat paikoista loppukesälle on aika loputon, mutta ainakin muutama thaimaalainen, malesialainen, nepalilainen sekä jamaikalainen paikka pitäisi käydä testaamassa. Torontossa on menossa tällä hetkellä myös Summerlicious , jonka puitteissa kaupungin 130 parasta ravintolaa tarjoavat 15 ja 20 dollarin lounasmenuita sekä 25 tai 35 taalan illallisia. Menun sisältyy luonnollisesti alku-,pää- sekä jälkiruoka. Olen käynyt pari lounasta jo töiden ohella tarkistamassa ja nämä molemmat melko sattumanvaraisesti valitut mestat ovat olleet erinomaisia. Promo valitettavasti päättyy ensi perjantaina, joten luulen että tulevan viikon aikana otan parikin tunnin lounaria ja nautin hyvästä ruoasta sen lounasleivän sijaan.

Ihan ongelmaton ei Torontonkaan ruokakulttuuri ole. Ontarion osavaltiossa alkoholin nauttiminen julkisilla paikoilla on kiellettyä, eli teoriassa puistossa toteutetusta viini/shamppanja-piknikistä voi rapsahtaa jopa 500 dollarin sakot. Toinen ongelman aihe on kadulla kärryistä myytävälle ruoalle asetetut tiukat normit. Käytännössä vain hodarit täyttävät vaatimukset esikypsennetyistä ruokavalmisteista ja näin ollen jokaikinen ruokakoju keskustassa tarjoaa sitä samaa nakkia leivällä. Tähän on nyt mahdollisesti tulossa muutos, sillä keskustelun alla on normien höllääminen. Torontolaiset itse odottavat tätä uudistusta ilmeisen innolla, sillä näin kaupungin monipuolinen kulttuuri saataisiin näkyvämmin esille myös katuruoan tarjonnassa ja tietty lounasruokailijoilla olisi muitakin helppoja vaihtoehtoja kuin hot dogit. Street meat on varmasti hyvin pohjois-amerikkalainen juttu, mutta Toronto on kumminkin niin paljon muutakin. Ja kuten eräs lehtikin sen ilmaisi: Jos Toronto haluaa olla Kanadan vastine New Yorkille myös katuruoassa, olisi hodarikioskien rinnalle saatava kaikkea mahdollista ruokaa Kiinan ja Kanadan väliltä.

More photos online!

Yup. Finally. I've added photos from our first days in Toronto, road trip (excluding Hart House Farm as my camera was malfunctioning) and couple of photos from our midsummer. Go see them at Flickr. Apparently because of my technical handicap, the photos are from oldest to newest. Hope you do not mind:D

For the Finnish speakers, Heini's blog at http://www.heinipauliina.spaces.live.com tells nicely about our quest here in Canada as well. See that as well!

Weekend full of action.

It's Tuesday and my first day of work this week. On Sunday, 1st of July, it was time for celebration as Canada turned 140 years as counted from establishment of Canada as a self-governing country. For us workers, it meant that Monday yesterday was off and we really had the time to celebrate both Canada's day as well as nice summer days.

For me, the weekend was full of program. As my parents and brothers have been visiting the city since last Tuesday, I also got some time to hang out with them. As for touristic attractions, we went to see the Casa Loma , gorgeous house built in the early 1900's. The building that was an interesting mix of European style tudor or villa and the "latest technology" of the beginning of 20th century. There was special medieval/renaissance theme going on in the house and besides tourists it was packed with semiprofessional actors how had dressed up like and behaved to be a person from the past centuries.

Besides Casa Loma, we got ourselves finally to the night life of Toronto. On Friday, we went to see two local student pubs, Madison and Brunswick, located near our residence. As speaking of these establishment, the word "pub" is quite misleading as both places are quite well-sized and offer different option for spending your night. Especially Madison, that was located in a Victorian-era house, was quite impressive with its multifloor bars, pool tables, darts, piano lounge and four terraces. On the other hand, Brunny wasn't as fancy but beat Madison in prices 10 to nothing. Certainly we will be visiting these places again.

On Saturday, we took a little trip to the suburbia. Emily was throwing a party with her brother at their parents house and we were invited as well. Despite of our efforts we arrived quite late to the scene. And what a scene it was! Pool, bbq, jacuzzi, dj and drunken happy people! As soon as we got there a friendly drinking game match of Flip Cup between Finland and Canada was on and from there the party just got started. We all got ourselves quite well under the influence and partied long to the night. There was actually another party going on in a house couple of blocks down the street. At that party, the Finnish way of drinking vodka straight and out of bottle made some impression, at least judging by the crowd watching us drink:D

Better half of the Sunday was spent commuting back from Islington and recovering ourselves. As there was TO Jazz Festival going on during the weekend, most of us enjoyed a free show of urban dance group called Baby Boyz. After that, me and my brother Jarkko headed down to BMO Stadium with my collegue Mashkur and his buddy. The FIFA U20 World Cup is held in Canada this year and Mash had some extra tickets to the Toronto opener, Canada vs. Chile. 21,000 seat stadium was sold out and the atmosphere at the stadium rose to levels that the games of baseball and Canadian football season openers that I have seen here so far could not compete with. It was a great evening of soccer, even though the Canadian team got knocked out by Chile. Needless to say that in Toronto, having people from 144 countries of the world, the soccer is quite popular and the games fun to watch. My plan is to see couple of more games in next few weeks, including also the semifinals where I wish to be able to cheer for Latin American team that is the reigning champion of U20 WC. I guess the smartest readers have already guessed which team that is...

On Monday, we headed down to Toronto Islands. Formed by three big and few smaller ones, the islands are the perfect spot for lazy afternoon. There are few houses, no cars and lots of attractions for day visitors to spend their time on. We managed to spend our day laying on the beach, but the nature, atmosphere and various of the island made it sure that we will returning there in the coming weekends. Just to mention few, the islands offer bbq places, tennis courts, frisbee golf course and a bowls court (Big up Bowls Finland) as well as rentable bikes, couple of beaches and a maze. But I'll tell you more about it as I've explored also other places than the sandy beaches.

I've had some problems with my camera (as well as time) lately, and haven't been able to upload any photos. However, now everything should be in order and I promise to share loads of photos and couple of stories in the very near future. Until that, I wish everybody a sunny summer!