Photos From Last Week

The St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, Vaasa. October 16, 2013.
Photo by Teisuka. – Православная церковь Св. Николая
Чудотворца, Вааса. 16 октября 2013. Фото: Теисука.

Last Wednesday, I visited Vaasa again. It was a nice, sunny day. I had a catechumenate session, and after that I attended the evening service (Russian: вечерня) in the St. Nicholas Orthodox Church. I also met my dear friend and we hung around the city. I took many pictures. See, I guess "I like to walk with my camera" too (oops, I stole someone's slogan... Sorry, Nika. Xa-xa). (￣ー￣)

On Thursday, it snowed for the first time in Finland this autumn. Well, the snow has melted away already in my area, but a few days ago the landscape was beautiful for a while. I hope we will get more snow soon.

A few words about my new job. I really love my job at the museum. It is very versatile and inspiring. Each day is different. History has been one of my passions since I was a teenager. During the last two weeks, I have read a lot of Finnish history (tons of history! haha). I thought I knew it all already, but nope... I really do not! It would be arrogant and foolish of me to think so. The more I read, the more humble I feel. I understand how little I know. There are so many stories, so many people, so many unknown details... We can never learn everything. History is an endless source of information.

"Say it briefly." This is a good principle. So I'll stop here. See the photos with captions. (Click them to see them bigger.) A picture is worth a thousand words. Blessings to all.
（＾—＾）

Teisuka

The first snow in Vaasa, October 17, 2013. The St. Nicholas
Orthodox Church. Photo by Gilmore.

The first snow in my hometown, October 17, 2013. In this
picture you can see one of the buildings from my current
workplace, the museum. It is build in 1924, designed by
Alvar Aalto. Photo by Teisuka.

 Suomen Vapaudenpatsas (English: Finland's Statue of Liberty) in
Vaasa, designed by Yrjö Liipola, unveiled in 1938. Fourteen meters
high statue related to the Finnish Civil War in 1918. Photo by Teisuka.

 A close-up of the statue: a victorious White soldier and a dying
White soldier. In Finland, "the Reds" (communists) lost the civil
war. During the war, the White Army and the Red Guards both
perpetrated acts of terror. Photo by Teisuka.

 Yesterday one man brought this object to the museum and asked what
it was. No one knew. It is old (probably from the 19th century) and quite
heavy (7,3 kg). Is it a clapper? A plummet? A part of an old cannon...
or something else? If anybody knows, please tell me. Thank you. ^^
(The matchbox in the picture is used for scale.) Photo by Teisuka.

Beautiful Sky, Good People and the Longed-for Person

(Click the pictures to see them bigger.)

The evenings here are quiet. Yesterday evening, I took some pictures from my balcony, because the setting Sun and the clouds were so dramatic and beautiful. It brought to my mind a certain person, someone I'm missing...

Temperature in my area is 10 °C (50 ºF) right now. The local news reported, "Today might be the last warm day". Possibly, we'll get the first snow next weekend. Good for me, since I love snow and winter.

One more thing I want to tell. I was surprised and glad when I coincidentally found my YouTube comment from Komsomolskaya Pravda website, translated into Russian language! Komsomolskaya Pravda (Комсомольская правда) is the biggest daily newspaper in Russia, founded in 1925. You see the article here (I wrote my comment with the nickname teiska123).

This article tells about the very popular Russian video titled Good people / Мир не без добрых людей... The video got thousands and thousands of comments from all over the world. Pravda published "the brightest comments" («самые яркие комментарии») in their newspaper, a total of eleven comments.

Here is my original comment and the Russian translation by Pravda (Александра Лябина / Alexandra Lyabina):

"Very beautiful and touching video. Glad to see there are good people in this world. Thank you, Russia! From Finland with love."

«Очень красивое и трогательное видео. Рада видеть, что есть и хорошие люди в этом мире. Спасибо, Россия! Из Финляндии с любовью.»

I also add here the above-mentioned video. I hope you have time to check it out. It is very touching and positive video that proves not everyone is a bad person in this world. Let's all try to be good people, right? （＾—＾） A wonderful week to all my friends!

Blessings,

Teisuka

"Ruska" – During Autumn Foliage

In the city center.

In Finland, this time of the year is called "ruska". Ruska is an interesting word in the sense that it does not have an equivalent in the English language or any other language I'm aware of. Anyway, "ruska" means roughly the same thing as autumn foliage or fall foliage/fall colors.

According to the encyclopedia, autumn foliage is a phenomenon that affects the normally green leaves of many deciduous trees and shrubs by which they take on various shades of red, yellow, purple, and brown during a few weeks in the autumn season. This beautiful phenomenon is well-known in many countries, including Canada, the United States, Finland, Scandinavia, Northern and Western Europe, north of the Alps, Russia, and Eastern Asia including much of northern and eastern China, Japan, etc.

Yesterday, I took some pictures to show you Finnish ruska. I hung around in my hometown in Western Finland, especially in the parks and other green areas. So here you can see some photos from my town. It was a sunny day. The temperature was about 12 °C.

My latest news (just to inform my friends): Last Wednesday, I visited Vaasa again. At first, we had catechumenate session (church history and Bible teaching). After that, I attended the evening service (Russian: вечерня) in the St. Nicholas Orthodox Church. Next Monday, I will start a new job at the local museum.

That's it in brief. Happy autumn to all! （＾—＾）

Teisuka

(Click the pictures to see them bigger.)

The view from my balcony.

Red leaves.

My favorite swimming place (the river).

"Ruska."

 

 Promenade.

Trees in autumn foliage.

The old water tower behind the trees.

The view from the promenade.

The school and the river.

The church named Lakeuden Risti. The bell tower is 65 meters high.