Go, enjoy, and maybe come back….and in our case, we have come back. This is the main point in all histories. In my opinion, that is the life.
During this period in your life, or in some trip, or maybe in some relationship, you must to enjoy as much as you can. Perhaps at first can be difficult, but when you realize, that you are enjoying, maybe is too late.
We have been in Kajaani, and at least, my opinion before coming it wasn’t the typical Erasmus experience, where everyday you are in parties,…
However, it has been a great experience because I have put to the test myself on several occasions and you learn how to manage yourself without others helps.

In these 3 months,I have been living in different places, I was in Lapland, I spent a great moment in Kuhmo where I never imagine that I could feel as good in this small place, in Team Academy Jyvaskyla, and more and more stuffs, nervertheless I if I had to choose one thing, it would be the people that I have met there.
Not only the people who I have spent good time, but also the people who have been 3 months and we did not deal or talk to much. From all of them I got something positive.

When I look backward, I only remember the good feelings and the great moments I spent.
At first, I felt maybe a little bit stressed, because I am a person that I like to be with people around me, talking, playing ….and at the beginning I was almost alone. I mean, in Basque Country 24 hours of the day, 10 I am with my friends. In Finland was not the case.
AND(not BUT, AND like Nic said) this experience I don’t change for nothing in the world, I would recommend this experience to everybody.
In Finland I have meet so much people, but above all I am very pleased to Marisanna, Ollis, Heidi, Nic and Anne Kempainnen (MÁlaga...) I don´t need a lot of words or paragraphs to described them, they are great people, and I hope to see them.
Also people like Juha Matte, Malla, Andreas, Kalle, Juho, Lasse, Satu, Minna, Kuhmo´s guys and more and more and more people remain in my mind.
Thank you very much for our blog followers, that one of them I hope to meet him, I heard good things about him. This blog has been the first step, the following I try to writte down stuff more interesting.

These months I have the opportunity to read some interesting blogs, people that write ideas, other that write his experiences around the world….
I realize the world is changing faster I have never imagine, and there are some much people with great ideas willing to change the world.
Also, I was able to see the value of the persons, and what important they are to get aims. We live in a really big world where we must to forget our pride, and we should speak or ask or share our feelings, ideas….with the people.

I encourage people to make, create, do, things they never imagine, and they realize what amazing things they can get.

This trip has serve to not stay in the same position, I mean, to look ahead and take part of a society that they want to improve “wrong” things; can be in the world, in your city or maybe inside your family. And also create new things thinking in a different way.

Finally, I have been able to see what important THE FAMILY, AND FRIEND are.
Regarding the family and friends, I can only say, that they are amazing treasures that everybody has, so we must be, speak, enjoy, and much more things with them.

Karmelo Vicente

One last post from Mikel

Hello our dear followers of the blog. We have only few days left to end our adventure in Finland and this is the last post that I will write in the blog, at least from Finland.
I must say that you don’t appreciate what you have till you lose it or till you are about to lose it. Until now we have though that our stay in Kajaani was little more than a waste of time and that we could be in another place better than in here, but now that we are about to go and if I look backwards to the last three months I see that is a long way that I have walk myself. I thing that this experience is not going to provide me with heavy words to write down in my curriculum of which people would get surprise while reading them, but I think that It have provide me with another type of knowledge and growing that makes the stay in Kajaani really worth experiencing.

It have been sometimes hard to live in here, I’m not going to lye but I thing that those things that don’t kill us makes us stronger and I thing that in that sense I’m much more stronger now than when I came 3 months back. But I also had great moments here and that is mainly thanks to that people that have been around us and supporting in every moment. Those people that have been doing their best in order to make us feel like at home and have been trying to make us feel comfortable, finding us accommodation, taking us to their homes to dinner or just inviting us to go partying with them. In this sense I would like to thank specially the work of Anne Kempainen, who have been so friendly and nice with us that we cannot thank her enough even if we would try it.

Another person that I would like to mention in this last post is Nic Mephan, our coach during the project and that in some way have been our academicals but also spiritual coach in some way, trying every day to push us to make our best and who many times have achieve to do so. And of course the rest of the people that have been so nice and helpful with us such us Ollis, Marisanna, Heidi…

I must say that have been a pleasure and a privilege for me to find so nice people in here and to spend this time with them.
Hopping all the best for them, and for all the followers of this blog, just thank you for following and supporting us in this time that we have been in Finland and hope that you have enjoyed reading our posts us we have enjoyed writing them.
All the best.

Mikel

Man's search for meaning

This is the last book that I have just finished to read. It’s a book written by a psychologist that have been imprisoned in the Nazi concentration camps during the second World War in so well known places such as Auswich or Mathausen among others in the three years that lasted his imprisonment. As psychologist he writes his story not in the way that we might be used to read for those kind of experiences, but from a psychological point of view and analyzing the different stages that a prisoner goes thru during the imprisonment.

After that first par of the book that can be the easiest part to read, there are other two parts in the book in which the author explains the ne psychological current that he created that is called Logotherapy, and known as the third Viennese school after Freud and another man’s theories whose name I forgot. This two parts can be much harder to read than the first one and even boring some times to someone that is not used to read psychological technicalities, but if you are somehow interested in psychology or in Logoterapy, or just (and this is going to sound maybe too deep) in the meaning of live, it’s an effort that is worth doing it and that its not going to leave cold anyone.

Personally, I recommend this book, but just if you are in the right mind set for doing it. There are moments to make things and this book needs to be read in the right moment to provide as much knowledge as possible, if not it can be really boring and it can feel like a non sense for the reader.

So this last book there are allready 5 books that I have read during my stay in Finland. Not bad for me, having in mind that I'm not a real fan of reading, but I thing that I have taken a very good habit in Finland about reading, so I hope that can continue when I get back home.

Mikel

Our last two weeks we are spending in Kajaani, in a student apartment.

I know, that maybe this kind of apartment are only for Finnish student, however, nowadays there are 9 people living in this apartment, and 7 of them are from Spain, yes, 5 from Galicia, 2 from Basque Country and two from Finland.

I mean, in our student apartment there are three buildings, one is empty, in the other one are the 5 guys from Galicia, and we are with Finnish guys in another building.
The point is that we have been here almost two months and everything was written in Finnish.
When we sign up the contract of the apartment was written in Finnish, was Anne the one who help us to understand the contract terms.
Yesterday, in the bathroom there was a paper was written also in Finnish, so we couldn’t understand what meant. We had to ask our flat mate what it meant.
The “boss” of the apartment speaks English; besides we are 7 people who don’t know anything about Finnish.

We are quite good in the apartment, so I can´t complaining about that. However, I think that if some company or what else be, want internationalize the first think that they should do is not only speak another language, but also reflects in their action in this case, also in the web page….

“Oh, Gran Espíritu, ayúdame a no juzgar a alguien hasta que haya caminado dos semanas en sus mocasines” - Oración de los Indios Sioux

karmelo

We have come back to kajaani, and this two last weeks we are going to spend working as hard as we can to finish our project about Team Academy.

In T.A we have learnt several things, but now it´s time to write down this metodologies and feelings.

Regarding to Kajaani, I have to say that this city belongs to Kainu´s region.
Ancient, this city had a paper company, but like all in this world improves maybe another paper company was open. And because of that Kajaani´s Company was closed.
This happen hurt so much Kainu´s region, but above all Kajaani, as so much workers were dismissed and without work, and what that meant.

I had the opportunity to talk to different guys, and I have asked them, their opinion about Kajaani. Their first answer is:
- “Kajaani??? Ufff…….not so much happening there….and after that I say:
-“ In fact, I´m doing my practical training there”. And their answer very often was:
-“Really? Why? We have better places like Tampere, Kuopio, Jyvaskyla, Helsinki…

During these months, we have been doing a practical training in INTOTALO, located in Kajaani, this place was start up by Ollis, and the main point to start up this business was to give hope to the city.
I realize that in Kajaani, the people is not as open as in Jyvaskyla, but I guess that the fact of close a company where almost all the habitants were working was not very easy to accept, and maybe the time goes by the people can overcome this event and create own businesses.
Intotalo basically is a place where there is a group of people that they go some days in a week and thanks for support of coaches, the aim mainly is that in a future they can achieve their goal, I mean, to create their own business.

Regarding with I am study, I usually ask myself:
“What should we do: to create a “ innovate product” to improve the “rich people” conditions, or however one that can satisfy the most needs’ people?
And finally, have we ever thought how many people are needed in the world? I think, that the main point is that the future should be focus in improving this people’s conditions.
Let’s think!!!

Karmelo Vicente

Sábado, 30/05/09 nos despedimos de dos semanas intensas en Jyvaskyla, las cuales hemos tenido la oportunidad de conocer tanto diferentes personas como ver una nueva metodología de estudios en la que probablemente sea tan revolucionaria que cuando se extienda por el mundo, puede que sea incorporada en muchos centros educativos.

Estas dos semanas me han dado pie a reflexionar sobre la importancia del trabajo en grupo y sobre los grandes beneficios que se pueden obtener con disciplina y un poco de empatia, respeto, humildad, responsabilidad…al fin y al cabo, son cosas intangibles que no requieren de ir a universidad ni de tener grandes cantidades de dinero, o de ser más inteligente que otro, sino que son conceptos que todo el mundo puede lograr da igual su posición social. Solo require un poco de esfuerzo personal; nada más.
Me gusta una definición que dijo en su día Henry Ford, que dice “Reunirse es el principio; mantenerse unidos es progresar; trabajar unidos es triunfar”, frases tan interesantes como estas y muchas más se pueden encontrar en el libro que recomiendo que se llama GRANDEZA PARA CADA DÍA, escrito por Stephen R.Covey.

Por lo que hoy para hacer una reflexión sobre la importancia de la cooperación, me gustaría centrarme en un ejemplo, se trata del F.C Barcelona, los que me conozcan, sabrán lo que siento por este club que ha hecho historia con su triplete.
Estos triunfos no serían nada sin la unidad de un equipo al que se ha mantenido firme durante una temporada y no se ha tratado a uno mejor que a otro.
Es cierto que dentro de la entidad existen jugadores con más peso que otros, como en cualquier empresa, sin embargo todos han sido tratados de un modo uniforme.

Al principio, de la temporada se demostró que grandes jugadores, sin espíritu luchador y con ganas de un beneficio o protagonismo solo individual, no tenían cabida en un bloque en el que sus pilares eran cooperación y superación. Con lo que se podía ir intuyendo de que nadie podría llegar a algo a menos de que cada uno llegase.
Por lo que fue una decisión difícil, echar a dos grandes jugadores, me refiero tanto a Ronaldinho como a Deco.
Pero muchas veces si quieres triunfar tienes que tomar medidas con gran nivel de riesgo, a veces saldrán bien y “chapó”; pero pueden que también salgan mal, y en esos momentos son cuando tienes que levantar la cabeza y “disfrutar de ese sufrimiento”.

Dentro del club, se estableció un código interno, se trata de una ley que rige el vestuario y que regula el comportamiento de los jugadores, de modo que cualquier retraso no justificado o comportamiento inadecuado serían sancionados, un código aplicable a todos y cada uno de los jugadores.
Es cierto que, en el otro extremo de un codigo interno se encuentra la autogestión, donde cada uno es capaz de “controlarse” a si mismo, sin embargo y en mi opinión, por lo menos, al principio de cada actividad que se quiera iniciar o poner en marcha, creo que es necesario establecer unas conductas mínimas para que nadie los sobrepase. Ya que sea cual sea, lo que se quiere iniciar, bien sea un modelo deportivo, una empresa…..existen gentes de diferentes madres y los valores de las personas no están en el mismo lugar, ni son los mismos.

Durante la temporada, ha tenido sus altibajos, y su pequeñísima crisis, pero que se supo recomponer y sacar beneficio y aprender de ese pequeño tropiezo.

Resumiendo la temporada, tengo que decir que ha sido casi perfecta, y que ha sido un equipo elogiado en todo el mundo, y parte de ese éxito se debe a la humildad de un grupo a que no ha bajado la cabeza en ningún momento y no se le ha subido la fama cuando iban bien, ni se han hundido cuando las cosas no iban del todo bien.

El final….. ya lo sabe todo el mundo, por lo que, pienso, que lo importante es el esfuerzo, la cabeza fría cuando se requiera y sobre todo el concepto de unidad como grupo y en cuanto los éxitos…..los éxitos ya vendrán.


Karmelo vicente

More pic about pain days: