Hydrogen and atom

If you're visiting CERN, hydrogen and atom most certainly refer to particles, maybe in the context of energy production. If you're visiting Lappeenranta, hydrogen (vety) and atom (atomi) are known as much bigger particles, loaded with energy.



Vety and atomi are grill delicacies from Lappeenranta. Vety is a meat pie filled with ham and boiled egg, and atomi is a meat pie equipped with either ham or egg.

This is how to make vety:



Have a newly baked meat pie from Kesämäen Leipomo, Kesämäki bakery. Any other meat pie (e.g. the one in the picture) is fake.



Cut the pie into half and heat it up in steam. Microwave oven won't do it.



Insert ham and egg after warming up the meat pie. The egg should be boiled - fried egg would be a sacrilege!



Wrap into paper (not into a napkin but into rustling paper) and eat while warm. Don't spoil with spices.

The hardest part for home-made hydrogens and atoms is the meat pie: Kesämäki bakery is the only producer for those. I was wandering in Stockmann Tapiola, and I knew I'm not gonna find the real thing, but I kind of expected to find something similarish - but no! There were only full corn meat pies and rye meat pies. I'm kind of happy that consumers are nowadays more health oriented, but come on! Who wants to have a healthy meat pie!?!

You'll get the only real hydrogens and atoms at a grill kiosk at Lappeenranta harbour or market place.

Ice hockey for beginners

It's the play-off season in the Finnish ice hockey league. I have no understanding or passion towards ice hockey, but this is what I've learnt: just pick a favorite team and stand by the team in good times and in bad - that's the best way to mingle and bond with the sports people of Finland. But please be warned, ice hockey may just be the topic that reveals the full scale of feelings within always-so-calm-and-neutral Finns. The feelings can be anything between joy and rage. For example, to my experience people get very happy, they even start to laugh, whenever I'm praising SaiPa as the best team in the league.

I hope the list below helps you to get familiar with who's who in the Finnish ice hockey league. And once you're familiar with the teams, you're ready for full scale hockey debate.

• HIFK - The traditional team of Helsinki. People who have lived in Helsinki for generations are fans of HIFK. They have the image of pure, genuine, uncorrupted, rough and no-bullshitting team who raises their own juniors to stars.
• Jokerit - The new, go-getter team of Helsinki. HIFK fans think that the name Jokerit originates from joke. Money talks, so they purchase their players from other teams.
• Espoo Blues - A team name without a history. Some say it reflects Espoo as a city without a history. I preferred the old name of the team: Kiekko-Espoo, Puck-Espoo.

• SaiPa - One of the wonders of the East, Lappeenranta. The best team in the league, as long as you don't get stuck with the details, such as the games they've won, or the goals they've scored or kept.
• KalPa - The best team in the league, even when counting the goals and points. My symphaties are on Kalpa's side, after all, they are a small town team from Kuopio.
• Tappara and Ilves - The two Tampere teams which you can't differentiate from each other. If you're poetic, you can always start a conversation with "kannatetaan Tapparaa ja syödään mustaa makkaraa" - let's stand for Tappara and try some black sausage.
• Kärpät - A skillful team from Oulu. The fans are pure hooligans.

To be honest, the only form of ice hockey I really enjoy is the hockey league salmiakki candies. But if I'm in a position to choose whichever one of the orange candies, I naturally try to pick one with SaiPa logo.