"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving” Albert Einstein





The American way of transportation and the Finnish way of transportation are very different. The Finnish bike everywhere, whereas Americans go everywhere by car.  I really miss my car back home.  It is a honda passport and his name is torito bravo. (brave little bull in spainish) I gave him to Melanie (my little sister) to take care of while im gone.  Hopefully he will be in one piece when I get back... Just kidding, I know she is taking good care of it.

 
    The team gave me a bike and I really like it. People of all ages are riding around town. There are bike paths everywhere. Everything is really close and the rides are never far.   Im starting to know my way around, but I am still getting lost in this new place, but overall it is really easy to get everywhere.  I have been exploring the area on my bike. It is really refreshing and  I feel like a little kid again.  

 

  Another popular form of transportation is motor bikes or mopeds. In Finland you can get your license to drive one of these motor bikes when you are 15, but you can not get your license to drive a car until you are 18.   These motor bikes are awesome and can be driven on the bike path or the road. I really want one!  At practice one of the girls took me on a ride and said she will let me drive it. :) 

  Overall, I think the drivers are really safe here but, the rules of the road are a lot different.  There are no stop signs, it is illegal to turn right on red and no one beeps here.  If you go pick someone up at their house, you are just supposed to wait in your car until they come out; not beep or if you see someone on the street you know, you are just supposed to wave. Beeping here is almost a sign of disrespect .

  I have to say the traffic is never bad and no one speeds here. I have not seen one police car on the road.  In Finland, the police do not give speeding tickets, they have these boxes with radar dectors in them all over the place; if you are going too fast the box will take your picture and you will get a ticket in the mail.

 I have not driven here yet but today Max took me out on the street for a driving lesson. He taught me how to drive a standard car.  I did well shifting the gears and only stalled once.  I drove a standard car once in a mall parking lot last summer in Boston, but I never made it out of the lot. I think I got the feel quicker this time because of my previous lesson.  Now I am on the street. Its baby steps, but I have had two very good driving instructors and I think I will be a pro and on the main roads soon enough! 

 I feel like I am learning so much everyday.  We had this past weekend off and now it is back to training to get ready for our game on Saturday! Hejda