Picture of the apartment in downtown Seinajoki

  

We finally made it to Finland on Sunday morning after 11 hours of flying on 3 different flights,  5 hours of airport layovers and 8 hours of driving.  It was a relief to get to Seinajoki.  I am in the process of getting moved into my apartment, which is in the city center.  I am also sorting out my Finnish working papers, establishing a bank account for my pay, and getting things established in the apartment like internet, etc...  All of our imports have arrived except for our nose tackle from England who is scheduled to arrive sometime this weekend.  We started practicing on Monday and we had two practices today.  There has been some culture shock for me, but my previous travel experiences in Europe have helped to prepare me for this.  My number one rule for what I expect while I am here is to not have any expectations.  That may sound kind of peculiar, but it is my way of approaching a new environment and not letting my mind be governed or biased by what I might find acceptable or pleasing.  I have to admit I was a bit lost in the Finnish grocery market across from my apartment this morning.  I spent nearly 2 hours in there this morning trying to purchase about 12 items on my list.  I was walking in circles and asking the attendants alot of questions.  Hopefully, the next time will be a little quicker.  The people here have been very good to us and helping us to feel welcome.  I have a very nice apartment with all the necessary amenities, and it is within 1 mile of our team cafeteria and less than 2 miles from our stadium/practice field.  Our team is working hard to get ready for our first game next weekend.  This game is a Eurobowl playoff game, so it has quite a bit of significance for us.  We have a scrimmage this weekend against the Finnish National team, which should help us get a better idea of where we stand.  I am doing well with understanding my British players and their accents, but I have had alot of practice at this over the last 20 years.  I haven't started working on my Finnish words and phrases yet, and the task does seem overwhelming.  The language is extremely difficult to learn and the pronunciations of many of the words are very complex to me.  At any rate, I plan on giving it a go and trying to pick up whatever I can while I am here.  The hardest part of the experience thus far has been missing my family and friends.  Fortunately, Estalita and the kids will be here in about 2 weeks.  I am very excited about getting them over here.  As I close for today, thought I would post some pictures from the first few days in Finland.

Team import players from U.S. and UK

Our dome practice facility that is used during the winter months

   View from front door of apartment 

Lights out.