Lahti Ski Museum & Go Pelicans!

Yesterday I met up with some of my exchange student friends living in and around Lahti and we went to the Ski Museum and to a Pelicans game.
We met in the town square at noon and then ate at Mama Maria's (an Italian restaurant across the street) before walking to Urheilukeskus where the ski jumps are.

 Our original plan was to see the Ski Museum and then at the end go up to the top of the ski jumps. We did get to go through the Ski Museum, but we couldn't go to the top of the ski jumps because they are only open in the summertime to go up them (other than for an actual competition come wintertime).

 Me and Valentina (from Chile) are quite the skiing pair. haha There isn't any snow here yet, but there is speculation that we may get some next week. Not the kind of snow that would stay long, but the layer that dusts the ground and melts by afternoon.

 The ski museum is very nice with lots of different priceless skiing collectables. There are also different simulators including one for downhill skiing, two different shooting ones (for biathlon), and of course, one for ski jumping.

 There were all sorts of different awards which span back over a hundred years. Yes, there was even a horn trophy.

 In one of the rooms there were about twenty drawers full of different medals for skiing. I was really surprised to see such a collection of medals there, because it is a pretty small museum.

 I had a bit of a laugh yesterday thinking of how if my mom was there she would have said "this is the closest you will come to getting your own olympic medal," knowing how we always joke about my becoming an Olympian. Well, you never know. There were all sorts of different Olympic medals so it was special getting to be that close to such an honor as that. But I have to say, if I won an Olympic medal, I probably wouldn't have the strength to donate it to a museum...but then again, what good would it do being locked in a safe?

 There were many real outfits worn by ski jumpers in past competitions. Some of the skis they have are so long, and some of the ski jumpers were so tall too.

 It's interesting to see how the outfits changed throughout the years. The techniques for ski jumping changed too from crossed skis to making a v-shape, and of course the material of the skis advanced with time as well.

 They have actually found skis from the prehistoric times. It has always been an easy and quicker way for getting around a cold snowy place. There were some really old 20th century skis in a different part of the museum which I kind of liked because you just could strap any shoe to them and go. Maybe not as safe, but much more quick and convenient.

The amount of Olympic mementos they had there was astounding. And yes, very exciting for someone who is a huge fan of the Winter Olympics.

 We even got to design our own snowboards! Haha. (Picture: In the back (left) Ailey (the Scottish-American), and me. Front; (right) Tess (Australia) and (left) Valentina (Chile).

 After going to the ski museum, we then walked to ISKU Areena which is next to Urheilukeskus and met up with Georgia. Then the five of us went to watch the Pelicans take on Helsinki Jokerit. The games against the Helsinki teams are always the best, because all of the fans come up from Helsinki and they are some of the top teams too.

 This picture was great until I was looking back at it and realized I forgot to hide my legs. Hockey goalies wear a lot of padding which is for their protection, but it also makes them bigger so that they can block the goal more too.

 For this game, we were in the hardcore Pelicans fan zone of the arena. The entire game we were listening to the different Finnish chants and singing. We couldn't really understand what was being said, but it was funny listening to mainly all guys singing "lalalala" etc. They really get into the hockey game. There was also plenty of clapping, jumping, and drumming too. Go Pelicans!

 The Pelicans were attacking a lot, but ended up going down a point in the second quarter. They continued to hold Jokerit off further, and then in the third and final period they finally put one in the net to tie up the game. The time ran out and five minutes of overtime came and went too. Now it was time for a shootout. The first shot went in for Pelicans then Jokerit missed. Next shot was a score for Jokerit, nothing for Pelicans. Then both teams scored on the third man to tie things up again. Usually you only need three shooters, but we had to go to a fourth one. Then Pelicans went first and scored...

 And Jokerit shot and the goal was blocked. Pelicans won! The stadium exploded! Everyone was so happy that the Pelicans had won, the celebration was even bigger then when we tied up the game (and the people jumped down into other rows with excitement). It was so nice that we won and a perfect way to end such a wonderful Saturday.