Life Lately: We Are The Champions!!!

Helsinki skyline 
May is almost over…

Is it just me, or is life getting more hectic by the minute? Do you ever feel like you just want everything to stop for a while? Yes, I know, this is how I always feel this time of the year. I just need a holiday. A proper, long and relaxing break from work. Unfortunately, it is still a few weeks off…

However, it’s almost June. You know what that means, right?

SUMMER!!!

Yes, the season of sunshine and balmy, white nights is finally here. June is also my birthday month, and of course we’re going to celebrate that.

Talking about celebrating…

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD!!!!

I’m talking about ice hockey, of course. The Finnish team beat Canada 3-1 and won the Ice Hockey World Championship on Sunday evening. 

Yes, of course I watched the game. My German husband also watched the game. And cheered. If that isn’t a sign that he has been thoroughly ‘finlandized’, I don’t know what is…

We’re a nation obsessed with ice hockey. It’s practically a national religion. Seriously, you cannot live in (or even visit) Finland without getting sucked into that particular vortex.

And winning the World Championship means that life as we know it will be put on hold until the final match (and all the matches leading up to it) have been analysed and reanalysed indefinitely. That will take at least a few weeks. Or till Midsummer. That’s when the nation goes on holiday and collectively switches off till August.

But in the meantime…

So, how do you celebrate winning the Ice Hockey World Championship? Well, a long-standing tradition dictates that immediately after the game (even though it was after midnight), die-hard fans get out onto the streets, proceed to climb all over the statue at the Esplanadi  park, take off (most of) their clothes and jump into the fountain. There’s a lot of singing and dancing and drinking, too. And this goes on till morning, or till the last man (or woman) standing passes out.

No, I’m not joking. But don’t just take my word for it: take a look at this video

we are the champions  
And then there was of course a huge party the following day as 50 000 people gathered in a park to get a glimpse of the winning team. There was music by top artists, and even the President of the Republic made an appearance to congratulate the team.

Again, I’m not joking. I took the picture above on my way home from work on Monday evening as I was walking to the train. And did I mention that half of the students in my evening course skipped class? I guess I just have to accept that I can’t compete with the entire hockey team… 

full moon

How’s May been for you? Are you looking forward to June?

Tiina

Linking up with:

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6 Comments

  1. Arlene
    30 May 2019 / 1:36 am

    Hi Congrats on winning the World Championship in ice hockey!! My son in law played ice hockey in high school and college and also coached kids on local teams and high school teams. He loved it. Yes, June and summer is almost here! Yay!! I love summer. We are having bad weather here (tornedo warnings and heavy rain storms). But we are lucky to not have the weather the mid west is getting – storms that have left devastating floods. I guess it’s time to switch my winter clothes out for my spring/summer ones. I waited til now because we had been getting some days that were too cold for short sleeves. Again, congrats on the win!! Arlene from NJ

    • Tiina
      Author
      7 June 2019 / 2:53 pm

      We take ice hockey very seriously. And I mean really, really seriously. Especially if it’s a match between Finland and Sweden, that’s a total bloodbath…
      Yes, summer is here! Now I can start complaining about too hot weather…

  2. 31 May 2019 / 6:01 am

    Oh wow it certainly looks like a huge celebration! I once went to an olympics celebration in Brisbane, it was massive! Can’t remember the year though but it coincided with lunch break in the city and the parade brought everyone out their offices as the athletes came by.

    Hope that you are having a great week 🙂

    http://awayfromtheblue.blogspot.com

    • Tiina
      Author
      7 June 2019 / 2:55 pm

      The Monday evening celebration was tame, compered to the more spontaneous celebration immediately after the finals on Sunday night (seriously, some people carried on till morning…). People here tend to get a bit carried away with these sort of things.

  3. Flora
    31 May 2019 / 8:24 pm

    It’s a great communal feeling that lasts for days. I remember when Iceland did so well in the World Cup (football) and not even winning it was a magic atmosphere.

    • Tiina
      Author
      7 June 2019 / 2:57 pm

      Oh, trust me, this one will last a lot longer than just days. The first few days were just crazy, though.

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