December 2015

2.12-?? Running

Getting back to running; I used to run throughout the whole summer of 2015, but because of studying I had to give up the hobby. Now, after 4 months I have started running again, and it feels better than I remembered. Since I live in the countryside, I have to run a certain circuit every time, but it doesn’t matter because it is the right length for my goals; 4 kilometers. It is important to recognize one’s weaknesses and strengths when it comes to doing sports, because it is easy to strain or over-stress your muscles. Basically, the same principles apply to running as to going to the gym; listen to your body, but do your best. I’m planning to continue running two times a week, or as my schedule allows me to run.

(24.12 Running) During these 3 weeks I have noticed improvements in my stamina: I can run longer periods without completely losing my breath and my legs no more hurt so much. It could also be said that I have learned the correct running technique again. The cold and rainy weather is a bit of a problem as it makes warming up the muscles harder and causes the road to go unpleasantly muddy, but if I continue this hobby, I will preferably be in a good shape during next spring.

19.12 Creative

Today we had our school’s Christmas ceremony at our local church which is located at the center of the town. As a non-religious person, instead of going to the church I attended a project where me and a few other students assembled candles into the shape of a candle into the church park. The candles were provided by the students and teachers of our school, and basic skills of leadership was required of each one of us as we had to guide When it comes to assembling the candles into the shape of a candle, a lot of teamwork had to be done. Many of the candles had already been blown out by the wind or were otherwise faulty and therefore we had to help each other to reignite all of them. Also, in order to achieve a symmetrical shape for the candle, we had to do a lot of planning and communicate in order to know what we were supposed to do.

19.12 Painting

It was my father’s birthday and I decided to paint him an acrylic painting as a gift. I am used to painting on this medium as I do it almost on a weekly basis, so it seemed like an easy solution for me as I forgot to buy him a real gift (whoops). The painting was highly improvised and required no planning because I was able to perfectly visualize the light, dark and colors in my head and transfer them onto the canvas. From this experience I learned that people may actually appreciate the art I produce, and that’s why this was an overall positive experience. My father actually wasn’t even expecting a gift from me so I hope I pleasantly surprised him!

27.12 Painting

Today I tried something different when it comes to painting with the good old acrylics. I used a used cardboard back piece of a notebook as a medium to acquire smooth brush strokes (these are rarely possible on the uneven surface of a canvas) and painted a bright, simplistic and a bit cubistic artwork. This kind of style is new to me as I tend to paint pictures that resemble the art movements of symbolism or photorealism. It made me happy to realize that the worthless piece of gray cardboard that was about to be thrown away was able to become something somewhat nice once more. Speaking of which, everyone should consider if an object could be reused or recycled before throwing them away.

25.7-2.8

25.7 Glider flying starts 

I started an introductory course including three lessons of flying and weather theory. The first half hour of the first day me and my teacher Janne Asikkala discussed factors that affect the behavior of the plane and why knowing how to read the weather is important. I learned the basic rules of when you can fly and where you can fly with a glider plane; e.g. wind buoyancy and cloud placement in the sky. After that, meanwhile we waited for our turn to get towed to the air, we worked in collaboration with other pilots by helping them prepare their planes for flight and moving them to the runway.

Before we got into the air, we made our own safety check and adjusted the parachutes. This is actually a pretty important skill to know in life and I am glad I learned it. During our time in the air I learned how to read the meters on the plane and tried to get adjusted to the different altitude.

28.7 Flying 

This time I got to try steering the plane. The two controls that one has to master are foot pedals that determine direction and the stick that determines the angle of bank for the plane. It was really hard and during the time I got to try steering, I did not manage to learn the correct technique. As the buoyancy was good, we stayed up in the air for over two hours.

2.8 Flying 

This was the last third of the course, and the day included theory, helping others, assembling a plane that had been broken down and flying for the last time. Assembling the plane required physical strength from all participants, but we managed to build it back together. After that we spent one hour in the air and I got to try steering the plane once more. This time I realized that I had improved my technique, although only slightly. However, I knew that I would probably master the technique if I ever continued glider flying as a hobby. Below: A picture taken of my hometown from the air.

Two weeks 13.4-27.4

Plan meeting at café Majurska 19.4  20.5 hours of service, 17 h of Plan
- Planning events of the upcoming year

Plan art exhibition and money collection 25.4 

An exhibition was put up to present the artworks of various Plan volunteers and people from the local art school. The artworks were all portraits of women and children that Plan had helped in the past. Although I hadn’t participated in the making of these artworks, I felt proud about them; we hung them onto the walls of our town theatre where all by passers could see them. They were all really beautiful, colorful and surely represented Plan perfectly, and attracted the attention of people towards our organization. Hopefully we will get more volunteers as a result of this exhibition. In a fun way, our group of volunteers got to engage globally important issues and raise awareness of problems such as Kamalari-enslavement of women in Nepal and children in bad conditions.

After the initiation ceremony of the exhibition we moved to shopping centre Galleria to raise money for Plan. Me and my friend Suvi walked around the area and gave candy to passers by in the name of Plan, and Lappeenranta’s Plan representative Christina Nenonen erected a Plan stand on the hallway of the shopping centre. Since we have been walking around the town and raising money for many times now, it is starting to feel natural to me. It is becoming easier and easier to just walk up to some stranger and talk for a minute about Plan or just about their day. My skill of confronting other people and being social have improved notably, and I believe this skill is of essence also in my IB-studies.

Next two weeks 16.3-30.3

Japan. End of course! 15 hours of creativity

During this course I learned a lot of Japanese culture. For example: the most interesting aspects for me were the Japanese manners and traditions, and I learned to understand other cultures better. It was challenging to to learn even simple words of the language and I believe I did my best.The course was by no means compulsory, and although sometimes my motivation to go to the lessons (as they were always the last lessons of the day) was minimal, I always went there because I wanted to show commitment.

Next two weeks 2.3-16.3

Japan 

Plan   

- Girl Rising –movie
- Poem and improvisation workshop

Next two weeks 16.2-2.3

Japan 16.2
- Writing with the traditional Japanese method

I have definitely developed some new skills and I’ve realized that my learning has happened unusually fast! Today we got to practice writing some words in Japanese. We got to use the traditional method of writing; ink and a brush. The brush was surprisingly hard to handle, and the letters didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped, but despite this I learned how to write my name.

On the next lesson we got to write our names and words that we wanted to learn to write. I chose to write the word ‘demon’ because it’s closely related to my favorite TV-show Supernatural, and Kizuku was a bit amused of my choice. I had improved from the last time, and I think it went pretty well at the end of the day. Kizuku praised my technique even though I felt that I was still a bit clumsy with the brush, at least compared to the Japanese who have been practicing all their lives.

Japan 19.2
- Making origamis

Today Kizuku brought us official origami papers in all colors of the rainbow, and we got to try out some of the easiest origamis. First we all folded cranes (the birds) with the demonstration of the teacher. It was hard to fold the paper so that all the sides were even, but I started to get the idea. We also got to make origami bats, but they didn't turn out so well for me.

Next two weeks 2.2-16.2

Gym thrice a week:  I HAVE 41,5 HOURS OF GYM

This time around I am starting to feel stronger, even during some every day activities such as vacuuming, getting firewood etc. I have also increased weights on many of the gym equipment, and I’ve realized that I have to find my limits and then try to cross them every time, little by little, however without straining myself. I haven’t developed enough, at least not yet, because it is so hard for me to organize time for the exercise and because I live so far away from the town. I am going to solve this problem by getting the driver’s license, from which I will hopefully also get CAS hours.

All of the gym activities are mainly individual, but of course sports and other physical activities unite people and so I’ve occasionally talked to the other people at the gym. It is nice to hear about their sources of motivation, goals and other stories. Last week I had a conversation with a man about fitness TV-series and working out, and it made me happy to have found a person with so many similar opinions.

Japanese culture –course starts 9.2. 

           A course organized by Kizuku Hamashima
Getting to know Japanese customs, traditions, language 75 min lesson thrice a week

This course came as an intriguing opportunity to learn about a country that I have always been interested in; Japan. We have already had three lessons, where we have learned some basic facts and statistics, in addition to greetings and telling our names in Japanese. “Watashi no namae wa Matilda desu” is how I would introduce myself in Japanese. Kizuku does not speak English fluently, so it is sometimes challenging to make out words, or even understand anything what he’s saying, but this is a part of the learning process; the ability to understand non-native English speakers is a good thing to have, and it helps possible future trips to other cultures.

Plan restaurant day 15.2.  I HAVE 11,5 HOURS OF PLAN

- Selling pastries on the International Restaurant day è Profits to Plan

Our sales table was in a local park at the centre of the town, and since it was -10 Celsius there (because it was outside) it was really physically unpleasant to stand there for two hours. But still, I thoroughly enjoyed those two hours, and had the most fun I have ever had while working with Plan! At first when I arrived at our spot, I thought that no-one would be interested in us because of the cold weather, and it would be a struggle to stand there, even for such a good cause. However, as I realized that passers-by were actually interested in our pastries and in the cause we were raising money for, I got excited. There were five of us selling the pastries and our cooperation worked perfectly. Everybody helped each other with everything since there was no division of labor.

The people who stopped to our stand were all really polite and nice human beings. My friend Suvi had the Kamu-suit on, and she attracted positive attention. Children really loved her, and one Shetland sheepdog –puppy adored her because she was so furry, which was cute. Some of the people who bought the pastries gave extra money for us, and one older man gave us a lot of money but wouldn’t buy anything because his wife was expecting him for dinner at home. It was freezing cold at some point, but it didn’t bother me since I could meet new people and have fun with the other volunteers. I believe the others had fun too, because someone suggested we could do something like that again.

Next two weeks 19.1-2.2

Gym two times

Next two weeks 5.1-19.1

Gym
Plan meeting in the café Majurska
- Getting to know new volunteers
- Planning the upcoming year

Plan flea market 16.1.
- Selling old miscellaneous stuff ==> Incomes for plan

Next two weeks 22.12-5.1

Gym for five times