Dance Princess.

Australia is treating me well - so well that  just might get spoiled if it keeps on going like this! I now got everything arranged: timetable for my uni courses done, all the everyday practicalities sorted out, my new perfect apartment found and, most importantly, the local dance scene checked out! Today I was already thinking if I should change my flights so I could stay even a little bit longer. How can I be worried of leaving a place where I just arrived a week ago?

I must say that the local dancers have the best way of welcoming new ones to the crowd. Seriously, people were lining for me on Saturday's dance party! This is how teachers must feel in the festivals when there is no chance for breaks or hardly even time to get a zip of water! Just to make sure, this is not complaining, I absolutely loved it. I've never felt so - what could be a good word for it - popular in the dance floor. It was like being a dance princess jumping from one prince's arms to another's. Surely its mostly because I'm the new girl so everyone wants to give me a try (and soon I'm going to be old news) but I have to admit that it made a nice boost to my dancing confidence. And that's not all: everybody are always saying something nice after the dance, like "it was really lovely"or "you're such a great dancer" or "that was awesome!". Something much better than the cold Finnish thanks you usually get.

Sunday was a great fun too. There was a Zouk event in Portside from 12 till 6 pm that gathered many dancers during the day. It was a warm and sunny day - a little bit too warm for dancing outside - but it didn't stop me dancing the whole time through. It was a funny feeling having Kadu and Larissa popping by since I've mostly been admiring them from youtube videos. Like suddenly running into a celebrity on the street. There were also quite many photographers taking pictures so here's finally some illustration for the blog:

There would have been another Zouk party later that evening but I was too exhausted even to think about it. What a perfect weekend it was.

P.S. I'm going for a short trip to New Zealand tomorrow so don't worry if you don't hear from me here for a while. I'll just be mountain hiking, downhill biking, sea kayaking and, you know, those kind of things.

Hello Brissy!

Here I am: in Brisbane! Good bye the horrible cold weather in Helsinki and hello the nice warm Australian summer days. Well, my first days weren't really that glorious as I imagined. I didn't spend my days on the beach nor partied with students, no; I spent my days house hunting, that is, browsing different adds with my iPad hoping to find the perfect place. I never thought I would come to Australia and feel so stressed! But you know what did the change? You got it right: dancing.

Before I got here I was emailing with Larissa if I could take any of their Zouk classes when I get here and she permitted me to come to their advanced class to see how I go. So Thursday night I headed down the Valley with my heart going wild. What if I'm so much worse than everyone else? What if they laugh me out of there? So I step in and there is this huge crowd of dancers. I got kind of a festival feeling; you know those big classes where you know no one and hardly can see the teachers - that kind of feeling! I shouldn't have asked around how long people had been dancing Zouk; I lacked five or more years to their experience. Great way to put some more pressure on myself! What we did in the class was quite challenging figure, something really different to F&A's figures. How did I do then? Well, I was invited to Kadu's master class on Monday so I guess I passed the test! I came home with a big smile that night.

I'm lucky to have friends in Brisbane with who I can stay before I find my own place and who introduce me to the locals. I got to know to one Zouk dancer who knew just what is happening in the dance scene. Every other Friday night they are having these Zouk nights in Rio Rhytmics in West End so that's where we headed last night. And bam, I'm back to the festivals. Room full of great dancers you never danced with not knowing where to start! Like a small kid in a candy shop! Before I noticed I was already in the dance floor not able to leave it. After couple of great dances I grabbed Kadu from the DJ booth really looking forward to dance with him again after a long time (last time was in Amsterdam one year ago and I still remember my big smile after our dance). He is a great dancer, no doubt about that. I was looking for Larissa too but couldn't find her.

I don't know if I made a weird first impression of myself in the party though. There was three girls having their birthday, which means birthday dance of course, and I thought taking part as a leader. Well, apparently girls don't lead around here! One guy even asked me later on when asking me for a dance if I danced with guys at all or if it was just girls! I sure made my appearance.

Anyway, the party was just great. People are so nice here and you wouldn't be sitting alone next to the dance floor for a long time. Even though there were lots of people same leaders came to ask me for a dance again, which always makes me feel like they must have liked dancing with me. There was one leader with who I especially liked dancing with; great connection from the beginning. When I was going home I thought: this festival is going to last for the next six months! How awesome is that?!

Well, I'd better get ready for tonight's party! Oh, and tomorrow there's going to be Zouk all day long, from noon till dawn. I sure picked the right place to come!

Bye.

It hit me couple of days ago: I'm actually leaving. Leaving my life as it is. Leaving already today.

What I dislike is doing things for the last time; it makes me heavy-hearted. That's why I try avoid thinking of it as much as I can. Not thinking about leaving worked quite well until two days ago. This time, however, I didn't feel sad but quite the opposite. Knowing that my life will never be the same again made me observe it more closely. This is my life, I noted. This is my life - and I love it. My life looks beautiful! My life makes a glowing smile to my face. Having farewell lunch with my girl friends, last day at work, hearing have-a-safe-trip-wishes again and again, hugging my lovely friends goodbye, dancing with everybody in my farewell party - everything gives such a warm feeling. This is a place where I'm glad to come back; even though my life won't be the same as I leave it now.

When I thought what would be the best way of spending my last night in Finland the answer was obvious: dancing. So I rented a dance studio, invited my friends and danced. And it certainly was the perfect last night in Finland. Warm and lovely feeling in the dance floor, spurt of adrenalin during the choreo performance, crazy fun after party in night club; what more could I ask? I was so happy to see so many people there having fun with me.

Now I'm off. The other side of the world is waiting for me.