Timeless – the spirit of summer

Summer in Oulu has been brilliant!! Many people had told me about it, but I didn´t believe it could be so different. In Finland they really experience the four seasons of the year. At home we don´t see such huge differences.

During Summer I explored and found a different city. Now I can see all the things that were once covered by snow. I know how the buildings look like, where the playgrounds are and everything looks green. The view is lovely, the sun is shining, the trees are green and people are outside all the time. Days are so long! There was a period when there was no darkness at all. Even when the sun set, it was still bright. It´s weird but at the same time nice to have such long days because there is plenty of time to do BBQ´s after work and stay with friends outdoors, since we know it will last only a few weeks.

I´ve been working at the University full time, but the environment is relaxed since the students are on holidays and there are just a few people working.

There is one beach called Nallikari, and every time the temperature rises above 25 degrees, the beach is full of people taking sun and swimming in the sea. The sea is also particular, it is so quiet and there are no waves in the sea.

Usually we go by bike, enjoy the ride and stay at the beach taking the sun and having some food there. Even the mood of the people is different; people are smiley and much more active.
I´m amazed about the sporty spirit of the Finns. They are ready for any sport at any time. If it´s winter they are fully equipped for skiing, ice skating or playing ice hockey; if it´s summer they are ready for jogging, skating, swimming, biking, rowing, playing beach volleyball, etc. It´s so nice to see the city this lively.
I love biking, I enjoy so much the way to downtown.  Even after the party, when we come back with my friends, the ride is fun. I go to the pool by bike before my job and I enjoy the view of the bridge next to the pool. When the sun is shining and reflecting on the blue lake, the view is priceless! It makes me feel so lively and ready to start my day.

There are lakes everywhere; it is a beautiful city during Summer. The only bad thing are the mosquitoes! Suddenly thousands of mosquitoes come and during outdoors evenings we are fighting against them. However, they last less than 2 months; afterwards there are no more insects around.

I enjoyed the summer so much; I really appreciate hot weather as much as the locals. Since we didn´t have any studies during summer, we were able to share a lot of time with friends, especially outdoors.

Last week we went on a road trip to Tromso in Norway. The neighbor country is beautiful; we spent the first night in a cottage in Finland, and the next day we hiked. After that we continued our way to Tromso. Amazing sights, cute reindeers and good company made the trip worth it…