Once In A Lifetime

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”

 Championships of Fireworks - Hietaniemi Beach

Cruising around Töölö

Burton 13 Premiere - w/ Mikkel Bang

Happy Annanas Mafia in Senaatiintori

Sibelius Puisto 

 Viking Line - Cruising to Talliin

Seurasaari

Suomenlinna

Nuuksio National Park - Espoo

 Domus 3rd Floor Party

Gamla Stan - Stockholm

Gamla Stan - Stockholm

 Sunset in Seurasaari

Korvapuusti first try

Board Expo 2012 - KBR Premiere

Board Expo 2012

 Board Expo 2012

Karl Fazer Factory - Vantaa

On the way to Talliin

 Fuckin' Foreigners Party

Christmas Parade

Happy 22!

Ice hole bath in Lapland

Cross country skiing in Korvala - Lapland

Snowboarding in Pyhä

Ice fishing  in Korvala - Lapland

Viikki ski tracks

Musiikkitalo in Helsinki

Sunset from Lumiparkki

Sunset in Merisatamanranta, walking through the frozen Baltic Sea

Nuuksio National Park

SuperHero Party

Käpylä

Käpylä

Senaatintori

Farewell Party

Lauttasaari

Hermitage - Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Samsung Koffari Slopestyle

JUST LIVE

Why Finland? Why not?

     Once upon a time.. is how normally a fairytale starts. I was wondering, usually fairytales have a happy ending so I'm not going to tell you one. In the last 6 months my life has changed, I have changed. Moving to a different place is a great adventure, where everything smells new and exciting, even a busy road. The best moment? The-middle-period. Life looks exciting, cruising around new places, feeling positive vibes coming from every corner, meeting people that you never expected to meet. That's it, that's when you feel like a bird flying through the infinity. Sometimes you feel you miss home, some of your habits but then your mind realize that your habits are changing and whatever you were used to do now it's only part of your past.
     Prejudice? Your vocabulary doesn't know this word. Actually, your vocabulary is even enriched twice. You are a world citizen, you know many things that you never expected to learn and you feel so rich inside. Life is about sharing, that's what you learned to do. What happens next? Just livin' life. That's the moment when you realize that your life was boring and surrounded by daily routine; suddenly you feel that somehow you are paying more attention to every detail, living every moment of your existence. Dynamism? That concept disappear in your new life, or at least, the way you live your days is not dynamic anymore but more sensitive to all sensations. At a certain point you get used to this, if you don't feel completely happy then you'll certainly find something new to make your living more exciting. Because there are too many stuff that you hadn't chance to discover yet. It's like a never-ending-discovering.
     We are humans, we need a boost to feel fullfilled. Adrenaline, big changes, new impulses, that's all we need to feel happy. Relationships between humans are as much complicated as beautiful, our minds and souls need connection. To be connected we need to get to know each other, open our minds and fill them with the awesomeness coming from others.
     I decided to leave my habits at home when moving to Finland, having the chance to discover how University life works in a different culture. Why Finland? Why not? Stop taking too obvious choices, stop always answering why. I spent the best period of my life in this stunning city called Helsinki, I left many pieces of my heart all around that place. Too many places in my mind, too many people in my heart, too many things I've done I can be proud of, too many experiences I won't forget. Suddenly, as all good things has an end, time ran out and the exchange period expired. As I said before, not every tale has a happy ending. When you are forced to do something that you don't want to, that you are not ready for.. then it's not a happy ending. I just started relishing my new life there, it was a start that turned into an end; I wish I could stay longer, till the time I could be able to decide if it's enough or not. If it's time for another experience or to go back home, but not in that case, where feeling like a bird ripped off own nest.
     Nevertheless, I'm more than happy that I had this chance to enjoy the awesomeness of this magic country. I'm ready to build a new chapter of my life, filling it with new experiences and looking at all familiar things with a different point of view. Life is too short to be unhappy, just live it.

Miss Annetts

Living Lapland

      It was a long time that I haven't been stoked like I'm now. Living in Finland is like a dream coming true, while taking my flight to Helsinki I was really stoked and smiling to everyone, watching through the plane window and thinking about how far I'm going from home, crossing maybe lands where I've never been yet. Helsinki is a great city, modern buildings, capital of design, you have whatever you need, everything works great. But for me Finland is something different, I spent a lot of time in my life watching documentaries about Finland and nordic countries, reading articles and most of all checking photos. My view of Finland is something wild, a place where you can get lost in the middle of nature, in the middle of nowhere. Small towns with their wooden houses where local people live, those locals ready to tell you their story, recount you about their culture. Those incontaminated lands that are something rare nowadays, able to stop you for a moment, catch your attention, let you breathe fresh air, show you what mother nature gave us. That's the Finland I want to discover.
      Lapland, that's a simple word which has a lots of meanings for me. Since I was younger I always dreamed about going up north, doing my hiking trip, discovering the beauties of that planet. There's nothing that I could wish more than watching northern lights, this amazing phenomenon that everyone should see in its life. Furthermore, finally I booked my trip to Lapland and I'm going to explore Korvala and its surroundings even though Im not a real fan of organized trips as they are usually too holiday-style. The main point of the trip is to discover Lappish way of life, local culture, ski around the city, meet huskies and reindeers of the local farms and to watch northern lights. It's going to be something epic, I can feel it.

MissAnnetts

The Land of Snow, Reindeers and Riisipirakka

Dreams always become true. My dream started two months ago, while moving to Finland for an erasmus program as an exchange student. This is the land of love, snow, happiness and good vibes. It really reminds me my hometown in Poland, modern buildings, parks everywhere, in the middle of nature two steps outside the downtown.

A lot of things happened during my staying here. Living here as a student is awesome, so easy to meet new people, erasmus students and finnish people too. The city is full of attractions for everyone, amazing areas there to go for a walk, nice buildings whose admire architecture, good parties of all kinds to attend. One of the first events was the Burton 13 movie premiere, at the new Burton Store in Helsinki where Mikkel Bang has come.

Living in a new city and having a new apartment means a lot of visits from friends all around the world, and why not.. Couch Surfing aswell! First guest was my friend Alice from Trento, who's having her erasmus in Turku now, and then two russian friends! Fresh salmon is a must in Finland, there's no better way to taste it if not going to the Market Square at the South Harbour of Helsinki on a sunny day, served with delicious cranberry souce with potateos and vegetables.

There's always something to do in Helsinki, 24hours per day. Sibeliuspuisto is the park where it's possible to see the Sibelius monument, which is known everywhere around the world. That's a very nice place where to take a walk, close to the seaside with an enjoyable atmosphere during sunny days and sunset time.

I love getting lost in the woods, that's why I love that place. Here you can find parks and little woods everywhere, in the surroundings of the city. I felt in love with Seurasaari with its beautiful wooden cottages and old style houses, you can reach it only by walking and it looks like an old agen village. I can't describe the feelings I have while crossing that places, nature is incredible and there are so many beauties to discover.

Espoo with its Nuuksio National Park made my day, I've been there once.. and what you can see there in autumn time is rad, yellow and red colours everywhere! Nice tracks to cross and breathtaking landscapes of lakes and forest. I'd like to go there again to pick mushrooms or have another great bbq in the wood, it should also be nice go camping there for few days.. maybe in summer time.

Winter is coming and the season of snowboard premiere has already started! First one was, as I said before, Burton 13 movie premiere. Following, Mellow Crew night with their short movie, good vibes, lots of people and nice afterparty, support little crews! A great surprise was the Videograss premiere that I was waiting for ages! Petrus kindly organised the premiere at Adams in Helsinki, the only thing I can say about The Dark Side.. NONSENSE! Really, it was so sick as I expected.

Talking about winter, my first thought is snowboarding! Im really stoked about being here and Im looking forward to go snowboarding again.. as I spent last summer in Rome and I missed L2A. Well, today we had the first snow in Helsinki and that's a great news! Serena Ski is already pushing fake snow on the slopes, now we hope the temperature remains low so that they can open very soon. Next weekend BoardExpo aka positive vibes in the city aka perfect days, nice contests and great afterparties!

Stay tuned!

Annetts