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Look forward to the trip to Finland and learning how they do exercises differently

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I am very excited to go on this trip, going through a new experience in a new country and going with two good lads will make the trip a more comfortable experience.

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Was a great day, started off getting to know all the other students from Nederlands and Germany! We got a tour of the facility shortly after. There are so many different facilities for different sports! The place is massive. We had lunch then we went sledding on the ice lake which was a lot of fun! The weather is not so cold, actually very fresh. After dinner then I went for a workout in the gym and went back to the room to relax and do some study. All in all a great first full day and excited for what’s to come.

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This was the first activity we did on our first day which was kick sledding. We went kick sledding on an icy lake. This was an unbelievable experience and something I have never done before, also with an amazing view. This was then followed by sledding down a hill.

Later that night we got to know the other students from other countries as we played basketball and volleyball. I have never played volleyball before and I didn’t quite understand the game at the start, but once I got into it I slowly picked up most of the game.

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The first week is done, what we done was a lot of snow sports such as skiing, sledding, snow shoeing through the woods, ice skating and hockey! The experience is nothing I have ever done before and was very entertaining and fun! We also used the sauna and ice lake, that’s was a great experience! We played football match in the big indoor sports arena where I ended up breaking my big toe that has led me to being out of action possibly for the rest of the trip unfortunately but I will do my best to carry on. A few pictures from the first week

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Monday 4th of March was amazing day. We took part in kick sledge which was great fun and a nice way to get to know the other students from the Netherlands 🇳🇱 and Germany 🇩🇪 we continue Monday with taking sledges and going down snow slopes and that actually great fun. I finished monday off with playing basketball and volleyball in the sports hall.

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Tuesday the 5th of March.

We started the day off early at 7am for breakfast in the food hall once we had finished eating we went and got the first taste of skiing cross country style. I personally really enjoyed the opportunity to learn a new sport that I have always wished I would get the chance to but I don't think I spent much time actually skiing more like falling over 90% of the time and like bambi on ice. On Tuesday afternoon we went snowshoeing which was a walk though the woods

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A picture of us snowshoeing in the woods.

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Wednesday the 6th of March

On Wednesday morning we started at 8 taking part in wheelchair sports. We played wheelchair basketball 🏀 which was actually amazing to play and very fun. Wednesday afternoon was skiing again and ice hockey. The ice hockey I definitely didn't enjoy because I was once aging bambi on ice

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Well that’s week one done, and what a week it was, many highs and a few lows. Most of the week was doing a lot of winter sports activities such as kick sledging, cross country skiing, snow shoeing and ice skating (which I couldn’t do due to no skates my size 😢)

We also took part in wheelchair games, one of them being wheelchair basketball. This was really enjoyable and very intriguing to understand how hard it is.

As mentioned there were a few lows this week, for me as I got food poisoning I was very sick on the Thursday night leading into Friday morning. This had me out of action on the Friday which I’m kind of glad as the two lads injured themselves this day so maybe we all could have been injury but overall a great first week.

Let’s see what next week has to offer.

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Monday

We started our day and our final week in Pajulahti in the class looking over the schedule for the week.

After looking over the schedule for the week ahead we went out on the ice lake to do alpine curling. This was great fun and really enjoyable.

Next we moved on to a class learning why Finland is the happiest country in the world (which they were voted this 6 years in a row). After this we did a quiz on Finland.

After lunch we played Finnish baseball and games to try and learn a few Finnish words. Finnish baseball is very like normal baseball but a few of the rules are different for example, instead of someone throwing the ball at you like normal baseball it is thrown up in the air in Finnish baseball.

After this it was dinner time and also free time. Not much was going on in the evening so we stayed in our rooms and went to the gym.

Tuesday

Tuesday morning was wheelchair sports and floor games. I had more fun with the wheelchair sports as we played wheelchair rugby. Seán and I were on the same team and were the only ones on our team to score a point (doing what the Irish do best). Then we played wheelchair basketball which was fun.

After this we met up the Finnish students to plan for the event onThursday. This event was to do winter sports for kids with adapted needs. We did snow shoe games, alpine sledge skiing, ice hockey sledge and curling.

They had planned to go ice staking in the ice hockey hall but due to no stakes my size I couldn’t take part.

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On Monday we were preparing for our day of teaching the kids on Thursday, we met with the Finnish students that we were teaching with and we’re split up into groups. We planned what winter sports games we were going to teach and went out and put practical preparation to work. Tuesday we did much of the same, we also had some down time to play some football and basketball to relax. Wednesday we went to the slopes and did some snowboarding! This was a great experience as I have never went snowboarding before. And when we got back we went to the sauna and jumped into the ice lake which was also a great experience. Then Thursday came along and we were teaching the kids, I found this a lovely experience as the kids were very funny and it felt a privilege to be able to teach them and put a smile on their face. My main task was to teach cross country sledging, snow showing, ice sledging and ice curling. I was the main demonstrator in the as everyone else was very shy in my group, but I was happy to do it.
On Friday, our last day we wen to visit lahti and we started off play the Olympic ski jump centre where we got to climb to the top of the ski jump, it was like noting I have ever seen before. We then went around the city to do some shopping and get a taste for the culture of the city.
Now we are on our way to Helsinki and looking forward to a new adventure
Some pictures from our last week

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Wednesday

The morning start off with preparing for teaching the kids on Thursday. We went through the games and activities we were going to do with the kids. This went very quickly and we all knew what we had to do.

Once we had done this we went for lunch and after this we got on a bus to go alpine skiing or snowboarding in Messilä. I chose to do snowboarding as it was something I have always wanted to try.

Once we got to Messilä we got our snowboarding/ ski equipment and headed out for some practice as a lot of us have never done it before.

I could not get the hang of it at all and spent most of the time falling but overall a great experience to have done. I feel like with more time and maybe lessons I could probably have done it.

We took a short break and we had the opportunity to get food up in the restaurant.

After a few hours we headed back to the bus to go back to Pajulahti. Overall the snowboarding was fun and I would love to try again in the future.

Thursday
This was working with the Finnish students to teach the kids winter sports. At first it was very hard as most of them didn’t understand English but once we demonstrated the activity they got a better understanding. This was a great experience and the kids seemed to enjoy themselves as they were laughing and smiling.

After this we went back to the classroom to get feedback on the session and for overall feedback on the last two weeks.

Then we played kinball and bubble ball. I really enjoyed bubble ball. We also did archery and rock climbing. I couldn’t take part in rock climbing as the climbing shoes were not my size but I really enjoyed the archery. Out of everything this was probably my favourite thing we have done.

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Saturday

Early morning we left Pajulahti to head to Helsinki for our final week. While everyone was going through airport security we were heading to our hotel.

When we arrived at the hotel we dropped off our bags and took a walk around the mall that was close to our hotel. We got a bite to eat and headed back to the hotel.

Once in the room we dropped our bags in the room and headed to the hotel gym for a work out.

We then got dinner and watched a bit of tv before heading to bed.

Sunday (Saint Patrick’s Day)
We got up early and headed for breakfast. The food was much better than Pajulahti. It was food that I could tell what I was actually eating. Once breakfast was over we went for a walk around the mall again to find a local sports bar as there was a football match on. Manchester United vs Liverpool FA Cup quarter final. With me being a Manchester United fan and Sean being a Liverpool fan it was a perfect match to watch. It was a very close game with Manchester United winning the game in extra time.

After watching the game we went and got some food. Then headed back to the room.

As it was St Patrick’s Day we went for a drink in the hotel bar just to feel like we were at home. We then got dinner and headed to bed.

Monday
We had the day off before we went over to Urhea on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. So today we got up had breakfast, before getting a text from Hannah and Erkko one of the lectures over in Urhea asking us we would create a PowerPoint to give to the students all about Ireland and its national sports.

So we set a few hours going up with what we were going to talk about and then we put all this into a PowerPoint. We then looked over it and had it ready for Tuesday morning.

After this we headed to the hotel gym and then for food afterwards. After we watched one of the football game that was on the tv in our room. We then ordered dinner. Once we had finished we went to bed to be ready for tomorrow.

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Early morning we left Pajulahti to head to Helsinki for our final week. While everyone was going through airport security we were heading to our hotel.

When we arrived at the hotel we dropped off our bags and took a walk around the mall that was close to our hotel. We got a bite to eat and headed back to the hotel.

Once in the room we dropped our bags in the room and headed to the hotel gym for a work out.

We then got dinner and watched a bit of tv before heading to bed.

Sunday (Saint Patrick’s Day)

We got up early and headed for breakfast. The food was much better than pajulahti.

We went to an Irish bar in the mall to watch a football match nd play a few games of pool wit a pint of Guinness for st Patrick’s day.

We then got dinner and headed to bed.

Monday

We had the day off before we went over to Urhea on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. So today we got up had breakfast and we would create a PowerPoint to give to the students all about Ireland and its national sports.

So we set a few hours going up with what we were going to talk about and then we put all this into a power point.

After this we headed to the hotel gym and then for food afterwards.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
We were in urhea sitting in class with Finnish students. They were all speaking in Finnish and we diddnt know what was going on really so we were just sat there for the 3 days. Some little games but they were kids games that we played in primary school .

The gym there was great and enjoyed that, very big and state of the art facilities.

Friday we just chilled out a did a workout, looking forward to heading home the next day