Parmvoo

Reading deadline

2026-03-28T12:24:00.000+02:00

I started writing down the titles of the books I read about 10 years ago. Since then I have read 121 books. The most of the books I have borrowed from library and I have noticed that the loan time gives me a good deadline to finish the books. For example best seller books have a loan time of two weeks which pushes me to read more and finish the book faster in two weeks as regular loan time is one month. I bought the first book of an author whose blog I have been reading many years. It took me over two years to finish the book and in the meantime I read over 20 books from library. The same author published his second book when I had not yet finished the first book. I managed to borrow the second book from library and finished reading the second book before the first book. Good real life examples how deadlines make me read more.

KuPS making history

2026-02-28T08:21:00.000+02:00

KuPS is the best Finnish football team at the moment. They have won two Finnish Championships in row and made history by being the first Finnish team qualifying from the Conference group stage which meant winter outdoor match in - 14 degrees in February. The club had a great season also financially by earning over 5 million prize money from UEFA and 3 million from transfer fees. As a KuPS supporter I have been delighted for the wins and looking forward for a bright future as stadium project is also moving forward in Kuopio. KuPS has still plenty of work to grow their fan base and attract more spectators. This season also Bodo/Glimt has proved that a club from small town from north can compete against big clubs by qualifying to top 16 in Champions league.

Housing market crisis in Finland

2026-01-23T20:14:00.001+02:00

Housing prices have been going down and not many new houses are built. I wrote a blog post 2,5 years ago if it would make sense for me to buy a home instead of renting. The conclusion was that it didn't make sense financially and now after housing prices have gone down, the decision to not buy has been a good one. Today I checked that the same size apartment in the same address is available for 250k so the price has lowered 50k. Now monthly down payments for a 250k mortgage of 30 years with 2,8 interest rate would be 1 032 EUR. Adding the monthly maintaining costs it would mean paying every month 1 268 EUR. That is slightly above my rent so buying would make more sense now. People are wondering will the prices of homes keep on going lower, better. Or if you believe the prices will start going up, it's a good time to buy now.

Coaching volleyball

2025-12-27T11:28:00.002+02:00

I have been coaching beginner level juniors aged 13 - 16 in volleyball two times a week for an year. It has been a pleasure to see players developing and some of the them have been already drafted to competing teams. I feel a bit sad when good players advance to competing team cause then they're not anymore part of my coaching squad.

I have seen articles how all levels of players should be given a chance to train. Often I have noticed that players with low level don't seem to have motivation to practice or making their best effort in the practice. The level of the players' motivation also impacts my motivation to coach so I understand the difficulty of finding good coaches for players with low level of skills. If player doesn't seem to listen, follow your instructions, attends training session seldom etc. You start to wonder why couldn't they give the spot for someone else who is more enthuastic. For example in my volleyball club we're lacking coaches so we cannot offer a spot for all the interested players.

Looking forward for the next semester of training and I'm thinking about coaching a competing team.

Interactive wall for games with ball

2025-11-22T19:30:00.000+02:00

Multiball in Superpark Turku

Finally I had a chance to play Multiball what I had been looking forward to play almost an year. The set up in Turku was only for tennis with slanted floor. The space was also quite small so based on what I had seen the game could offer much more with more space and with additional sports equipment.

I enjoyed playing but some available games were very difficult as the game ended in under 30 seconds. Also the calibration was slightly off because the projector had moved and moved even more during the time I stayed in the location. My observation was that kids prefered more trampolines of the location than Multiball. The interactive wall was fun but it cannot beat playing tennis against opponent with similar skill level.

You can live in an old prison in Finland

2025-10-27T18:43:00.001+02:00

The main building

Yard

Last weekend I visited an old prison of Kakola in Turku. The old prison has been transformed to apartments and hotel rooms. You can find in the area a spa, escape room adventure, restaurant and other services. The funicular which is famous for not working takes you to the top of the hill where the old prison is located. Also in Helsinki you can find a prison that has been transformed to a hotel if you're interested in staying in a prison.

You cannot find such unique look and thick walls in modern buildings.

Reading list 2025

2025-09-22T17:57:00.001+03:00

Here 20 books listed which I have read since the last list. I have highlighted 5 books which stood out the most

Browning, Christopher - Aivan tavallisia rivimiehiä

Coyle, Daniel - The culture code: The secrets of highly successful groups

Gladwell, Malcolm - Daavid ja Goljat

Gladwell, Malcolm - Pommittajat: matka toisen maailman sodan pisimpään yöhön

Gladwell, Malcolm - Revenge of the tipping point

Gladwell, Malcolm - Sinisilmäiset: miksi luotamme toisiin silloinkin kuin ei pitäisi

Haidt, Jonathan - Ahdistunut sukupolvi: Kuinka älypuhelimiin perustuva lapsuus on aiheuttanut mielenterveyden häiriöiden epidemian

Harari, Yuval Noah - Nexus - tietoverkkojen lyhyt historia

Juntunen, Esa - Vaurastu viisaasti: rahataidot haltuun

Kantola, Anu – Huipputuloiset

Kuusela, Hanna – Syytös

Martela, Frank - Älä etsi onnea

Orava, Sakari - Elämäni urheilukirurgina

Oksanen, Sofi – Puhdistus

Peterson, Jordan - 12 uutta elämänohjetta

Saahko, Lotta-Sofía - Kahvia ja karjalanpiirakoita

Saahko, Lotta-Sofia - Papan kanssa kahvilla

Shua Dusapin, Elisa - Pachinko-kuulat

Tahkokallio, Keijo - Kuka kasvattaisi lapsesi?

Torkki, Juhana - Järkevää onni: stoalainen tie mielen rauhaan

Football phenomenon Gilla

2025-08-04T18:41:00.004+03:00

Gilla playing in Laaksolahti

FC Gilla is formed by popular Finnish social media influencers (Roni Back, Roope Rannisto, Jalmafi etc.). The team includes also popular music artists (JVG, Ege Zulu, Hugo etc.) and former top division football players (Ilari Mettälä, Duarte Tammilehto, Teemu Penninkangas etc.) from Finland. FC Gilla is the most followed Finnish football team in social media, beating also the top division (Veikkausliiga) teams of Finland. Gilla has 69k followers in Instagram and 42k followers in YouTube vs. HJK the biggest club in Finland 47k followers in Instagram and 15k followers in YouTube. The team has won promotion every season and the fourth promotion in row to the 5th level (kolmonen) will be likely achieved.

The team has gained popularity fast and I decided also to go see their match live. The 6th highest level (Nelonen) football match in Laaksolahti Espoo attracted about 1 000 spectators. Gilla ultras a group of about ten young boys with chants and drums were also present. Matches of Gilla are still free entry so traditional football teams in Finland are still doing better with attracting paying spectators to the stands.

Gilla has to find new players if they want to climb towards top divisions. The retired top division players and other players with large following have their limitations. The question is are the current players ready to start training football seriously and if they drop out will the club supporters still support Gilla if their favorite players are not playing in the team anymore. One option is to make a reserve team where influencers with large following could play in a suitable level for them but would that decrease the following of the more competitive main team too much. The owners must be thinking what to do.

Summer album

2025-07-26T13:30:00.002+03:00

Here 5 snapshots from my summer

Oittaa beach

Art in Kuopio

Artistic basketball field in Helsinki

Wooden Rollercoaster of Linnanmäki

Art in the center of Iisalmi

Arcade games in Helsinki

2025-06-22T18:15:00.001+03:00

Dancing game

Driving simulator

I went to the shopping center Itis to try out the games in new arcade games center. The center piece was the rally simulator with suspensions. The driving experience was cool and suspensions definitely gave a more immersive experience. There was also a dancing game like Stepmania but an upgraded version with great light effects and the playing required moving your whole body. The third game worth mentioning was a shooting game where guns had recoil. There were also other games which were fun.

Football pinball

2025-05-23T21:52:00.004+03:00

Football merged to pinball in SuperPark Turku

When I was young I liked playing Psycho pinball with PC so it was a joy to discover an interactive game where football is merged to pinball. In football pinball you collect points by kicking the ball to the targets during one minute. You use actually your own feet to kick the ball and not your fingers to push the buttons like in arcade pinball. The game was fun and skills acquired from playing football were useful. It was fun to compete against my brother and see who is able to collect more points. Though I noticed that the targets were too sensitive and you often got points even though you didn't hit the target. The idea is very good and with some further development it would be even more fun. I have some ideas how the football pinball could be improved.

I have also tried a football version of billiard which was also fun but not as fun as football pinball. In the future I hope to be able to try a Finnish invention: activity mat called Dribla, which you play by dribbling a football.

Mentality in Spain and Finland

2025-04-02T19:43:00.001+03:00

I listened a podcast clip of Jordi Wild where he interviews journalist David Jiménez. They discuss how Spanish people are very envious and do not admire or appreciate successful people. They say that in the Spanish culture it is better to stay mediocre than succeed. For me this sounded the same how Finnish mentality is often portrayed in Finland.

Then Jiménez continued how being entrepreneur has been made very difficult in Spain. Bureaucracy makes starting a company difficult and starting a company can take months. In general Spanish people don't appreciate entrepreneurship according to Jiménez. My understanding is that starting a company in Finland is fast and can be done in one week. Especially Slush has brought a lot of positive things for Finnish start up companies.

As an example for how bad public sector works in Spain, Jiménez gives an example how he had to wait inline when booking a train ticket of Renfe on their mobile app. The waiting time of 27 minutes with an mobile app is something unheard of. In March Yle published an article about the attractiveness of public sector as an employer. Many young people are aiming for public sector jobs in Spain because it is more stable, better paid and has better work life balance than private sector.

Pickleball in Finland

2025-03-02T16:17:00.001+02:00

Playing in Kera

I like playing sports involving a ball. Some time ago I discovered pickleball and two courts available in Kera sports complex in Espoo. I'm very familiar with the ball used in pickleball as it is similar to the ball with holes as in floorball. Also having some background playing with rackets it was easy to have good one to one match with my brother. I preferred pickleball over padel which I tried for the first time in Spain. I would like to try playing pickleball also 2 vs 2.

The sports complex of Kera is going to be demolished this summer so lets see if there will be courts dedicated to pickleball after that. The calendar of the pickleball courts were quite empty so pickleball has not yet become popular in Finland. My understanding is that pickleball has been growing fast in USA.

Interactive sports games

2025-02-15T21:53:00.001+02:00

Sutu in Tahto sports museum

I have visited activity parks called SuperCorner Tahko, Duudsonit Activity park Espoo, Tahto sports museum and Hoplop Tripla. I have had chance to try out different kind of interactive sports games. I have tried iWall, SlamIt, cycloBEAT, runBEAT, tapWall, ValoClimb, ValoJump, KickIt, Lappset Sutu interactive ball wall, Superball and SuperTouch. Then there are plenty of more interactive sports games what I would like to try. My favorite have been kicking the ball to an interactive wall. Also Supertouch is a fun competition of pushing the light buttons as fast as you can. The ones that I have liked the least are runBEAT and SlamIt. Interactive ice hockey doesn't work equally well as football because the puck doesn't bounce back from the wall like football does. runBEAT is after all just running but still more fun than just running on a basic treadmill.

2000 day streak achieved in Duolingo

2025-01-05T21:54:00.002+02:00

My screenshot

My earlier over 1000 day streak got destroyed by accident but I decided to start a new one and reached today 2000 day streak. I had already finished all the Spanish lessons at one point but developers of Duolingo added a lot more Spanish lessons which I have been going through. Duolingo has gamified language learning very well as I try to keep my position in the diamond league and take advantage of double or triple points by completing lessons. As I have spoken a lot Spanish in real life for me listening and story lessons are the easiest. The lessons where I have to write full sentences can cause me frustration as I might make spelling mistakes or use different expressions. Though those are good lessons to correct my mistakes and improve my grammar. I'm planning to keep on going with Duolingo and hopefully I will write my next update when I have completed the Spanish lessons.

Learning the local language

2024-12-08T16:11:00.002+02:00

Helsingin Sanomat has published two essays (Language discrimination drives away foreign professionals from Finland and Elite is handicapped by speaking English) within two months how highly educated foreigners are struggling to learn Finnish and to integrate to Finland. I have personal experience working abroad speaking the local language in Spain and not speaking the local language in Poland. I think that knowing the local language is the key for adaptation to any society. I have witnessed how foreigners can adapt to a new country by getting to know other foreigners who speak the same non local language. Also friendships are formed with locals if they speak that foreign language. Then a foreigner might even feel that learning the local language is not necessary.

On the other hand if you oblige the locals to speak a foreign language with the foreigners then locals are handicapped depending on their level of fluency in the foreign language. Is it fair to make 10 locals speak foreign language to accommodate one foreigner to the group? Or would it be fair for the foreigner to learn the local language in order to join the group of 10 locals? Either way language learning effort is needed.

If you end up moving to a foreign country and learn the local language you are still likely going to be seen as a foreigner because of the accent in your speech.

Early winter

2024-11-26T18:35:00.001+02:00

24th of November in Kauniainen

Last April I wrote how winter never seemed to end. This year the winter arrived early on November and the landscape was fully covered with snow but two days later the snow is gone. I had a reunion with a Spanish exchange student friend from Ankara. 12 years had passed since we said good bye in Turkey. She came for a holiday to Finland and was lucky to witness the landscape fully covered with snow.

How to recognize a Finnish backyard

2024-11-01T12:28:00.003+02:00

Market place of Kauniainen as a backyard

There are two classical pieces what you see especially in the backyards of old apartment buildings and row houses in Finland. One of them is a rack for whipping rugs and other is a drying rack for clothes. These are not completely forgotten in the new buildings but they are not always part of the backyard. I believe these pieces are not used much nowadays but you can still spot the rusty metallic structures in the backyards. The space could be used for something else or be made more esthetic by removing the old rusty racks.

Nature destinations in the capital area of Finland

2024-10-20T16:22:00.004+03:00

During the summer and Autumn I have visited four nature destinations inside the capital area. In Finland you can find nature reserves inside the urban areas which are worth visiting for tourists and locals. All the destinations listed below can be easily reached by public transportation.

Autumn view from Kasavuori

Kasavuori is a nature reserve in Kauniainen. The name means mountain in English but in fact it is just a hill 66 meters above the sea level. In the highest spot you can find a view over the highway leading to Turku. The forest is mostly pines and spruces but you can find also trees with leaves.

The Glims river

By the river of Glims there is a path following the river surrounded by trees all the way to an old house museum with some farm animals. The 3 kilometers long path starts from the recently renovated old mansion of Träskända.

The view spot in the central park of Espoo

Espoon keskuspuisto - The central park of Espoo is the biggest area to be explored out of these four destinations. You can find areas with trees with leaves, swamps, areas with pines and spruces. Especially I like exploring the area by following the small paths.

The wooden path in Laajalahti

Villa Elfvik is an old mansion surrounded by a forest where you can find cafeteria and exhibition about Finnish nature. The mansion is inside the nature Reserve of Laajalahti which is by the sea. The area is especially interesting for bird spotting and you can find a bird tower on the shore to look over the bay.

My previous suggestion to visit in the capital of Finland: Roihuvuori

Reading list 2024

2024-09-02T12:25:00.000+03:00

Below listed the 23 books that I have read since publishing my previous list. I have highlighted 5 books which stood out the most in my opinion.

Bregman, Rutger - Humankind: A hopeful history

Casanova, Giacomo - Elämäni tarina 7 - 8

Diaz, Hernan - Luotto

Epstein, David - Range how generalists triumph in specialized world

Foster Wallace, David - Tennisesseet

Herrera, Yuri - Kartellin trubaduuri

Ibrahimović, Zlatan - Adrenaliini: ennenkuulemattomat tarinani

Itkonen, Juha - Ihmettä kaikki

Itkonen, Juha - Teoriani perheestä

Kahneman, Daniel - Noise: A flaw in human judgement

Kwik, Jim - Rajoittamaton: päivitä aivosi, opi nopeammin

Manson, Mark - Kaikki menee päin helvettiä: nurinkurinen kirja toivosta

Manson, Mark - Will

Mykkänen, Erkka - Sellainen mies

Pilecki, Witold - Vapaaehtoisena Auschwitziin: vastarintaliikkeen solouttautujan uskomaton tarina

Pulkkinen, Riikka - Raja

Pöppönen, Hannu - Nippu pesoja ja muita kertomuksia Argentiinasta

Saahko, Lotta-Sofia - Koti kulttuurien välissä

Siltala, Juha - Keskiluokan nousu, lasku ja pelot

Torkki, Juhana - Dion prusalainen onnellisuudesta

Torkki, Juhana - Plutarkhos mielen tyyneydestä

Vahvanen, Pekka - Kone kaikkivaltias: Kuinka digitalisaatio tuhoaa kaiken meille arvokkaan

Ypi, Lea - Vapaa: kuinka kasvoin aikuiseksi maailman luhistuessa

The previous list from 2023

The king's oak and The great field

2024-08-09T14:42:00.001+03:00

Street view from Kuninkaantammi

I have visited recently two new neighbourhoods in the capital area of Finland. the one in Helsinki is called Kuninkaantammi in English The King's oak. and in Espoo Suurpelto in English The great field. Both neighbourhoods have been criticized for being isolated because there is no short distance train or metro connection, lack of parking space, lack of services nearby and empty plots which are still under development. The positive sides are schools and day care centres for families. Moving inside the both neighbourhoods is designed for walking or cycling. I liked a lot the overall look and atmosphere of Kunikaantammi, the round shapes, green areas and the architecture gives vibes from the medieval cities. As Suurpelto is more like typical square blocks with modern buildings. Though Suurpelto is attractive for English speakers because there is an international school where studies are in English. You can also find one of the three Angry Birds playgrounds in Suurpelto.

The most expensive house of Kauniainen

2024-07-16T19:59:00.003+03:00

Listed house

My home city Kauniainen is known as a city where wealthy people live in Finland. I moved here 4 years ago. In Kauniainen you can find many very nice and expensive private houses but also regular apartment buildings. Recently I spotted that probably the most expensive house of Kauniainen is on sale for 5,7 million euros. The house is built 2021 and the only house in Kauniainen with a private beach by a small lake. The price of the house is not actually very high if you compare to other western countries but for a house in Finland it is very expensive.

Lunch or beer

2024-06-29T10:37:00.007+03:00

In Finland having a lunch buffet during the workweek is common practice. Emploeyrs are allowed to give a lunch benefit of 13,5 euros per workday for their employees which often determines the price of the lunch. The lunch price also includes also a drink but if you want to have a beer with your lunch which is not common in Finland you have to pay for the beer almost 10 euros. For example celebrity cook Kape Aihinen has critized the buffet culture because serving lunch doesn't bring much income to his restaurants. He explained that main reason for him to serve the lunch is to be able to offer work for his employees also during the day and keep them that way more satisfied. Aihinen mentioned also that a great sommelier is very valuable for a restaurant. My conclusion is that lunch is cheap and beer is expensive for the consumer. Which makes selling alcohol profitable business and selling lunch very low margin profit business.

J Balvin in Helsinki

2024-05-17T19:37:00.000+03:00

Encore

Colombian Reggeaton artist J Balvin held a concert in Ice hockey arena of Helsinki and drew a crowd of 5200 people. J Balvin started the concert with his hit song "Mi Gente" and the people sitting on the benches stood up and started to dance like the people on the floor in front the stage. The people danced through the whole concert. The atmosphere flattened when the end was approaching and J Balvin was asking people to request their fevourite songs. Also the reporter of Helsingin Sanomat made the same remark. There wasn't a clear answer from the crowd and I was wondering does he usually get a clear response from the crowd. The atmosphere went up again for the encore ending with song "In Da Ghetto". Four years ago Maluma held also a concert in Helsinki and attracted about same size crowd. The big reggeaton artists cannot yet attract as big crowds as the popular Finnish artists who have sold out 30 000 people stadium concerts.