no cameras allowed

unfortunately, i was unable to bring my camera into the fights 'cause i didn't have a press pass...other people "snuck" their cameras in, but mine isn't exactly one i can hide in my pocket. i copied a few pictures off of shurdog.com & will post them up later so you can put faces to names.

i arrived a little late & got there just in time for the 2nd fight, but since i was looking for my seat, i basically missed that one as well. the venue was very small, but bigger than the roseland. it reminded me most of the gym in pendleton. the finn crowd was much quieter than american crowds (you could hear the corners instructing their fighters anywhere in the house). there were a couple in the crowd that would yell loudly (& i think rather derogatorily) & every now & then, the whole crowd would erupt w/ simultaneous clapping and/or foot stomping - normally near the end of the round and/or fight. joni won (don't know how; that was the 2nd fight i missed) - he's an mma coach @ the gym, but it must be the beginners class, 'cause i'm still not sure who he is; outi stopped her opponent in the 2nd round by ground & pound; niko lost by guillotine choke; & lucio won via rear naked choke.

apparently, there was an exhibition/smoker event @ another gym earlier in the day where 3 more guys from "my" gym won their first mma matches. samppa won by armbar; petsku w/ guillotine choke, & the other kid whose name i don't know yet by armbar. both samppa & petsku were warned for kicking too hard & petsku got a yellow card for knocking his opponent down w/ an overhand right (he was fighting w/ broken ribs as well).

i went out to eat w/ a group of people afterwards including petsku & outi (she arrived later) & a few "new" people. at first we were going to go this place called "memphis", but they were no longer serving food; so we went to chico's. chico's: american food separated out by region. i was asked where i was from, so i just pointed it out on the map (generally, there were no state lines on the map).

after we were done eating, we went over to the club "fever" for the official fight festival 25 after party. we were there until closing (basically 4am). fever is half dance club, half "chill out" bar - there's even a blackjack table in the back. since it was so crowded, i opted to leave my camera in my bag & check it w/ my coat (i didn't want someone banging into it, spilling alcohol on it, etc.). so, i didn't get any pictures there either. i spent most of the time hanging out w/ outi's friends laura & maikku. i met samppa's girlfriend & talked w/ her for a little bit. maikku, laura, & i also spent a while visiting w/ the kickboxing team from germany (one of whom promised me he'd get me a fight in germany...we'll see). i talked w/ petsku for a while as well. he wanted to know how easy it was to get professional fights in the states 'cause there aren't many opportunities in finland. he has given himself until he's 25 (he's 20) to become a pro fighter before he quits training & fighting to "work" for a living.

by the time i said goodbye to everyone (after we were kicked out of the bar) & got down to the bus stop, the last bus out to my area had been & gone. since i wasn't tired (yet), i didn't feel like paying cab fare all the way out to my place, & i knew the metro stations would open in about 2 hrs., i decided to wander around helsinki to see if i could find a couple of fabric stores i had passed before, but couldn't remember where. i was able to find one, but not the one that i was really hoping i'd find. the streets were basically empty; there were only a few drunk stragglers coming out of bars and/or going into kabab/pizza "restaurants" (there are a ton of these around town, basically helsinki's version of fast food - besides mcdonald's). taxi cabs were driving all over looking for fares. several stopped by me as i was walking, but moved on when i kept walking; except one that followed me until i turned down a different street away from him (hello? did i wave you down? am i waiting at a taxi stop (like a bus stop, but for taxis)? no, i'm thinking i don't want a taxi). interestingly enough, this is the only time i have been "harrassed" since coming here. one guy asked me if i smoked marijuana, then asked if i was going home, & if he could come w/ me...another guy yelled out of his car (i don't know if he was a taxi or not): "hey baby, where ya going? c'mon baby."...& another guy called me "baby" as he was walking by me; when i didn't respond, he grabbed my arm & said "do you need help, baby?" to which i replied "no" rather emphatically. he didn't like how i responded, but whatever. he called me "baby" & grabbed my arm; i'm not going to be polite. that's it. i'm used to getting a lot worse (& more frequent) in the states in the middle of the day.....none of them were finns either.

around 5:30, i was getting tired of walking down the same streets over & over again (to get to other streets) & not finding what i wanted. i arrived at the kamppi metro station & looked to see if it was open. it was & i went inside, but the metro wasn't running for another 45min. so, i sat down to read my magazine. a guy walking past me to the buses asked if i knew where he could get a pass to espoo. i told him to just buy a ticket from the driver. he said he knew that (? - so then why'd you ask?); he sat by me &, for some reason, felt inclined to tell me his life story growing up w/o a father in botswana & south africa (he was very excited to hear i was from the states where "barack obama is trying to make some changes" - he said "barack obama" w/ a kind of mild awe). it wasn't that his story was boring, but being up for nearly 24 hrs. was catching up w/ me & i was falling asleep. i cut him short (not soon enough, 'cause i'm sure i could have caught an earlier train) & went down to the metro.

i slept for a few hours & then went to see the kalevalan exhibit @ ateneum. again, no cameras are allowed. :( it's a shame, too. not just because i can't share w/ you some of the art in the exhibit, but the architecture of the building itself. it's very palatial w/ grand staircases, ornate designs, etc....and mazelike. it'll be too difficult to go into much detail of the exhibit, which took up 3 floors (i was there for @ least 2 hrs.). the first part of it was newly commissioned works both visual & musical. the kalevala was divided into 5 parts & each artist chose their favorite section from which to draw their themes. 5 visual artists (mostly painters) & 5 composers were commissioned. ateneum offers "audio tours" (you rent a set of headphones & a cylindrical "remote", which also has volume control, from the info booth. whenever there's an audio accompinant to a piece of art (usually background on the piece), there's a "receiver" mounted on the wall. you point your "remote" @ the "receiver" & you're listening to the selection. for the kalevalan exhibit, most of the "receivers" were the new compositions. the first one i listened to was so long that i was done looking at the all the stuff on the first floor & moved on to the other sections & there was only one more "receiver" after that. beyond the new works, the exhibit was mainly sectioned off by theme, generally characters of the kalevala, except for the illustration medium. there was also a little activity room w/ a couple of bean bags & a table & chairs & on the wall were "spells" that visitors wrote (mostly children) in the same style as the sorcerors in the kalevala. another small room was devoted to extra-kalevala material: other translations, writings on the kalevala, history of its inception, etc. "on display" in parts of the exhibit was a coffee table book about the art of the kalevala that i was going to see if it was available in the gift shop. however, when i went to go in, i was stopped 'cause they were closing in 15 min.....stupid.