Monthly Archives: August 2015

Wedding Games – in Helsinki

Week 34
Joensuu, Finland

On July 30th I have the honor to witness of an union of two lives, i.e. be a guest of a notable wedding here in Finland.

The ceremony was at the Helsinki Cathedral, and the party was at the Villa Svalvik  which is, surprisingly, a beautiful place with a country side spirit  near Helsinki.

The wedding has such a good energy and spirit. It was really charming. I, honestly, have a wonderful time and I was very happy for the couple.

In this wedding I also discover a couple of games, which I want to share in this post, which I personally found fun.

a) Bingo
In this bingo one should pay attention to the newly-wed couple and its guests. All guests have copy of the bingo-board on their place. In each of the board’s squares reads a sentence related to the wedding, e.g. “the bride disappear”, “someone looks for the bathroom”, ….

So, when the game organizers indicate that the game starts, all guest could play and they should play attention to the wedding. Once one detects an action described on the board, we could cross it. All board were slightly different, as in any bingo. The person who filled a board, for example, scream bingo.  Honestly, in my table, we had fund with this game.

In the photo at the end of this post, you can see a little piece of the board. Simple to do and honestly fun.

b) Guessing your guests
In this game, the newly-wed couple are the main players. The guests are part of the game. Let me explain.

The newly-wed couple should not see its guest for some minutes. To achieve this, they standup and give their backs to the audience. Then the organizers of the game, publish on a screen – that all the guest could see and that newly-wed couple could not see –  a word. Examples of this word are:  “bride’s guests”, “who born in Helsinki”, ….  Once we read the word, all the persons who belong to it stand up, and the rest of the audience remained sited.   After all these is done, then the newly-wed couple turned around and aim to decipher what was the word published based on the people they saw standing. There were points for the bride or the groom according to whom guessed the words first.  Honestly, it was MUCH FUN this game!!!! 🙂

c) Dancing
As always, the best!!!!

The wedding  was  AMAZING,  the dancing specular and I wish all the happiness for the newly marry couple!!!

My place at I&O wedding

My place at I&O wedding

6 sightseeings in Koli

Week 31
Joensuu, Finland

At the moment I have one student visiting us from the Netherlands. Additionally, we have another student visiting the department from Korea. If one lives in Joensuu, I consider important to visit Koli at least once. Then, I propose to our guests to go to Koli last Saturday.

Our party was of five, each one from a different country (Netherlands, Korea, Iran, Finland and Mexico). We were 3 ladies, 2 gentlemen and one of us is visual impair. We had really a blast and we were blessed with the weather.  Here a glimpse of the places we visited:

1. First mandatory stop is Ukko-Koli

If one drives directly from Joensuu to Koli to stop firstly here at Ukko-koli has different advantages:

  • The view there is outstanding and one can start to get familiar with the scenary
  • One finds the a Koli Nature Centre Ukko
  • One can get into the Sokos hotel.

So if someone has the need to eat,  buy a souvenir or go to the restroom all it is possible to do it here, before continue the adventure 🙂

View from Ukko-Koli

View from Ukko-Koli

2. Hiking downhil towards Saama harbor

Next we hiked downhill until reach Saama harbor. During our hike it rained but only a little bit, it did not affect us. After a nice walk, we reached Saama harbor, where we ate salad and meat soup. As always when one eats in the country side, the meals are just tasty.

Saama, place where we ate

Saama harbor, place where we ate

The nice landscape helped us also to recharge.

Saama's view

Saama harbor’s view

3. Koli Village.

After recharged ourselves at the Saama harbor, we went to the Koli village. Often one drives through the village to reach Ukko-koli, but now we purposely stopped and walked through it. Unfortunately, we were late to visit the local museum, but we were able to ask in the tourist information about places to visit in the region. We were told of two new locations I wasn’t aware previously: Pirunkirkko and Rasävaara.

Sculputure in the entrance of one building in Koli Village

Sculputure in the entrance of one building in Koli Village

 

4. Pirunkirkko

We drove to Pirunkirkko. It took us a little bit of time to find it, as we were not 100% sure were it was, but we found the place relatively soon. Once we were in the parking area, everything was well signed. It is a nice walk.

Walking towards the cave, Pirunkirkko

Walking towards the cave, Pirunkirkko

Walking towards the cave, Pirunkirkko

Walking towards the cave, Pirunkirkko

The cave is not long and it has a dead end. It is an interesting cave to explore. Personally, I found it so authentic. We really have  A LOT of fun on this spot.  Some people of our group even found a “rabbit hole” where they tried to escape 🙂

Getting inside the cave

Getting inside the cave

In the cave

Inside the cave

We were really having a lot of fun.

5. Hattusaari

The next stop, based on an advice of Erkki – leader of the EdTech Research group – we went to Hattusaari. We actually aimed to drive to the end of the island, but it is a long one so we stop to enjoy the view at the bridge.

View at Hattusaari

View at Hattusaari

6. Rasävaara

The following stop was Rasävaara, time to go up to the new tower. The view is again magnificent, and now one can see also Ukko-koli from here. It is worth the hike to see the landscape!!!!

Rasävaara's tower

Rasävaara’s tower

Views from the top of the tower:

The lake

The lake

Ukko-Koli

Ukko-Koli

Before heading back to Joensuu, we stopped to meet the construction of the future cottage of Prof. Erkki Sutinen, which will be also the future writing-research retreat of EdTech.

Glimpse of future research retreat spot

Glimpse of future research retreat spot

After this stop, we drove back to Joensuu.

It was a full intensive day at Koli! and I must admit, we had  A LOT OF FUN!!!!!  Thank you to all the participants! 🙂

Below the location of the areas that we visited. The screenshots are taken from http://issuu.com/koli.fi/docs/retkeily_ja_palvelukartta

Location of the visited spots (1/2)

Location of the visited spots (1/2) – Screenshot from issuu.com

 

Location of the visited spots (2/2)

Location of the visited spots (2/2)  – screenshot from issuu.com