Kun minä sain lippua Kärpät pelille, olin ikionnellinen. En voinut uskoa, että olin menossa peliin!! KIITOS PALJON LARILLE JA EMILIALLE! Te olette paras ikinä. Se oli mahtava kokemus, ja olen onnekas minä olin siellä jäähallissa.
Toivon, että kaikki on näynyt Aaltosen hienoa maalia. Ensimmäinen maali pelissä, ja viimeinen maali Liigassa tänä vuonna. Voi jes, oli mahtava... En tarvitse selittää SM-Liiga teille, siksi teidän kappale on aika lyhyt.
Olin myöskin siellä Kärpät juhlissa, kun kaikki palelsi ulkona odotamassa Oulun jääkiekkoa pelaajaa. Se oikea näytelmä oli ihan OK, ei niin kiva, mutta sen jälkeen olemme tavanneet muutama pelaaja. Emmi, Martta ja Väinö olivat todella innostunut tavata kaikki pelaaja, mutta minä etsin se Kanadalainen Ben Maxwell. Olin niin hermostunut, että minä sainoin ’Hei! Olen Kanadalainen!’ ihan tyhmästi. Hän kysyi mistä minä olin, ja sanoin ’Vernonista, Okanagan laaksolla,’ ja HÄN TIETÄSI MISSÄ SE OLI!! Minä ymmärrän, että Kanada on iso maa, ja tietenkin Suomalainen ei voi teitää kaikesta paikasta, mutta joskus minä haluan joku tietää mistä olen! Oli aivan mahtava päivä.
<3 KIITOS KÄRPÄT <3
Before I explain the exciting title,
which half of you don’t understand, let me tell you some of the less exciting
things that have happened since the Russia tour...
I wrote the Finnish language exam. These
tests are written across Finland, the same test for everyone. It’s a language
proficiency test. I decided what the heck, I’ll write the medium test (there
are three levels). At first, I was fairly confident in myself, but a week
before the test I thought wait, what was
I thinking?? I’ve been here SEVEN MONTHS. I can’t write the MEDIUM level test.
What am I doing?! I asked if I could switch tests, but I wasn’t optimistic.
And so, I took a train to Kemi to write the middle level test with another
exchange student from America. We both felt terrible after the test, and we
both agreed that our Finnish skills were not even close to the level that was
expected for that test. Yes, okay, it was a dumb idea, but at least we tried! I
put so much effort into that test, and if I pass I will cry tears of joy and
amazement. Seriously though, I failed that test so hard.
On Palm Sunday, I went with Elsa, Onni
and Väinö around the block to, essentially, Trick-or-Treat. We would sing a
song, give the person a decorated willow branch, and they’d hand over candy. It
rained for part of our little adventure, which was no fun, but it was still a
good time.
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| Even the dog dressed up! |
I also visited the Kinnunen’s cabin a
few weekends ago. It is a beautiful place, and I can’t wait to visit in the
summer. Sadly, there was still ice on the river, so we couldn’t go swimming
when we went to the smoke sauna. Instead, we ran around on the ice naked, which
was enjoyable :)
I’ve always enjoyed hockey. It’s one of
the only sports I will watch on TV, and probably the only sport I really get
into. Sadly, I don’t have the skills to actually play the sport, but that’s alright with me.
There is a hockey league in Finland
called the SM-Liiga, or just Liiga. I would say the teams are just
one small step below the NHL, maybe compared to the Western Hockey League back
in Canada. There were 14 teams in the league this year, and each represents a
city in Finland. Oulun Kärpät was the
team that I cheered for the whole season, the most northern team in the Liiga, representing Oulu. The Kärpät team was doing really well, they
were at the leading team the whole season, and made it to the playoffs. The Liiga playoffs are done the same as in
the NHL, best of seven games. They made it through the playoffs all the way to
the gold-medal series, against Tappara,
from Tampere. In this series they won the first game, and then lost the next
three. It was 1-3 in the series when Kärpät
won a home game, to make it 2-3. The next game was in Tampere, which they also
won. Tied in the series, 3-3, and the next game was in Oulu. I was so excited
for Oulu’s team, my team, and I really wanted to get tickets to see the game.
The tickets went on sale the day of the game, at 9.00, and at 9.03 all the
tickets were sold. My friend Emilia, the biggest Kärpät fan I know, was trying to get tickets for her and me to see
the game. That amazing girl stood in line for three hours, and went around Oulu
to try and get tickets. Sadly, we didn’t get any. I was heading back home from
Oulu when I got a call from her. She told me, or more yelled at me, that she
got tickets. At first I thought she meant just one for herself, so I was really
glad she was going to see the game, but still disappointed I couldn’t go. Then
she said ‘Claire, there’s one for you too. Do you want to come?’ The people
around me gave me strange looks as I screamed into my phone and danced around
the street. I WAS GOING TO THE GAME!!
Our tickets were for the ‘standing area’
near the net. Though it was sometimes hard to see what was happening on the
other end, the spots were great. The game was intense. Period one: 0-0.
Period two: 0-0. Period three: 0-0. Both teams were giving their all, but the
goalies were giving it 130%, keeping it tied at nothing the whole game. Over
time started, it was about 7 minutes in, and Tappara made an AMAZING shot that I was sure was going in.
Thankfully Karhunen, our lord savior, is a beast and managed to keep it out of
the net. Then, the next face-off, Aaltonen took the puck up the end and… there
it was: the winning goal.
I’ve lived around bagpipes my whole
life, so I know what the word ‘loud’ means, and I’ll tell you that 100 bagpipes
couldn’t compare to the sound that erupted from that stadium. I admit that I
didn’t actually see the goal happen, we were at the wrong end, but I got the
hint. We screamed our lungs out as our team dived from the benches and
dog-piled on the ice.
It was a beautiful feeling, and I will
remember that day for the rest of my life. I am so incredibly thankful for the
people who got me there. Thank you Lari for getting those tickets, and thank
you so much Emmi for picking me to be your ‘plus one’. I am so honored that you
gave the ticket to me, and I am so grateful. You really made my day, week,
month, and maybe even year. KÄRPÄT ON RAUTAA!!!
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| This photo isn't zoomed at all. We really were that close! |
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| Kiitos Aaltonen <3 |
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| All the drunk Finns gathered in the little market place, where there is a big statue of a police man, who apparently made the perfect chair. |
A few days later there was a celebration
in Oulu for the team...
After the presentation there were some team members
outside signing autographs and taking pictures. I was determined to find one
specific player, Ben Maxwell, from North Vancouver, Canada. I finally found
him, but was really nervous to talk to him. I finally just blurted out to him
“Hey! I’m from Canada!” He was obviously rather excited to talk to someone who
spoke English, and especially someone from Canada. He asked where I was from
and I told him “Vernon, in the Okanagan Valley.” When he said “yeah, I know
Vernon, it’s a nice place” I almost burst into tears. I've gone the whole year
saying that I live in Canada, “near Vancouver,” and most people don’t even know
where that is. The fact that he knew where I was from without having to Google
it warmed my heart. And so, here you go, a photo of probably the only two British
Columbians, and maybe even Canadians, living in Oulu:
