Finland COVID-19 Update

Well, things have changed a bit since the last time I wrote. Currently our games for this year have been postponed until after the New Year. So, we have 3 weeks until our next competition. Practice, practice, practice. We are recommended to wear masks in public places now as well. Until now, we only wore masks when we got off our bus that we took to away matches. Mask Up. Also, we use hand sanitizer before and after practices. So, we are taking necessary precautions. Now they are more strenuous.

This is thought of mostly as a precautionary measure to hopefully decrease the spread of the Corona Virus and still give us the opportunity to play in January. This did come as a surprise to everyone because it felt so out of the blue. We then realized that this was not a cancelation of our season just a postponement - which calmed my nerves (a bit.) Our practice schedule obviously changed based on the fact that there are not games until January. Coach decided to give us 4 days off because some people needed to recover or were injured. Starting today we have practice for the next 14 days. Following that we will be given 6 days off around Christmas.

We had 4 days off recently but due to the newer closures with COVID we decided not to try and travel anywhere. Spending those 4 days in Pihtipudas without volleyball felt weird, honestly. We had our team Christmas Party/dinner on Saturday. This was supposed to include many of our sponsors but due to the new precautions we are taking it was only the team and coaching staff. The dinner was nice, showed us some more traditional Finnish dishes but, Tina coming in clutch with her garlic potatoes that we ("Americans") love. This drink is the Traditional Finnish Christmas drink - special tweaks from Tina & includes gin. So delicious!

I still have mixed emotions about this whole postponement of games because in the back of my mind I'm thinking "are they going to cancel season after the holiday" or "hopefully we can continue playing once we start again in January." You just never know - especially if the situation worsens. There are so many different scenarios that keep playing over and over in my mind. Those are things that I have no control over, so I should just worry about the day to day - but if you know me, I like to have a plan for at least 2 weeks. Luckily, I have had some other things to hold my attention.

Jaidyn and I have Lego holiday advent calendars; she has Star Wars and I have Harry Potter. Opening the new one each day, gives me something to look forward to that is not a normal everyday occurrence outside of December. In case you were wondering, yes, we make TikTok's of them every day, revealing the new piece and sometimes including the other pieces we previously built. I know TikTok, said I would not do it but... I did. If you are interested in the videos and do not have TikTok, I post most of them to my Instagram stories. I will also update my social media links to include TikTok.

Yesterday was our last day off for a while and I would say that I ended it right. I made an aesthetic stitched canvas of an elephant that I found on Pinterest. I have been wanting to be more "creative" recently and finally took the leap. It turned out so good, for a first timer of course. I think I will be making more of these in the future - a nice way to pass the time and add some decoration to the flat.

I have found some new hobbies outside of volleyball & working out that seem to peek my interests and are just as exciting in a different way. I do still journal everyday - which helps me collect my thoughts and what I have gratitude for. I am already onto my 2nd journal since being over here in Finland. These journals are for me, so I can look back on them in the future - sorry I will not be sharing :) If you are contemplating starting a journal I would recommend starting one, I enjoy it.

I am so excited to get back in the gym today and work. Let's get to work!

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Until next time,

jaelyn