Last week was amazing! It included a few ten kilometer long walks in the snow with my dog Koda. He's such a trooper and regardless of his small size he doesn't seem to get tired at all. Also, I'm addicted to Sportstracker, I really am! Try it if you haven't already, the free version works just fine! It motivates to push harder to achieve better results. To me it's almost like having personal trainer Chris Powell in my pocket.

We now have snow here! Everything is covered in white and looks pretty and inviting! 

Without proper winter gear it would be almost impossible to enjoy the outdoors. I've been extremely thankful for my winter boots, especially. I bought them a few years back, on sale and they've been worth every euro and more! I wish they'd still manufacture them! They're like warm, light, comfortable winter sneakers turned into boots - so functional! 

 

I love my neighborhood: its atmosphere and warm people. On Friday after my dance class I felt really good both physically and mentally. I went to the grocery store and ended up carrying four plastic bags full of groceries back home. I was sweating! Nobody held the door for me, people just rushed by pushing and shoving. It was crowded in the tram, it had been snowing all day and traffic was insane. The trams were packed. Some of my groceries got squashed by people standing next to me. I really didn't feel like letting all this ruin my day. 

I got home, got out and grabbed a shovel. It was rather small but hey, so am I. Besides, at this point it didn't even matter. As I mentioned, it had been snowing all day. Cars on my street, on any street, were covered in snow. First I thought I'd dig someone's car up, but I couldn't make up my mind on which one. If I'd choose one, I'd have to dig them all up, in all sense of fairness. There was an empty parking space, well not completely empty, just covered in snow. Imagine driving home from work after a terrible, long day thinking how on Earth will you find an empty parking space. Instead of having to shovel your way into the square, you could have a grin on your face for the rest of the evening feeling lucky. It took me forty minutes and gave me a warm feeling and a great workout! I was so excited I would've wanted to do some more shoveling today but to my disappointment, due to the drop in temperature, the snow was too hard and icy. All this excitement and I don't even own a car.

The past few weeks have been interesting regarding my dance classes: burn marks and bruises have appeared all over my body not to mention the muscle tension. I've been collecting bruises from each class like it was their loyalty program. I'm so focused I don't even notice them until after class. In both coreographies, hiphop and contemporary dance, there's some kneeling, I don't just fall flat on my face although it might seem like it based on the photo. 

The great thing about my contemporary class is that there's two weeks until the Christmas show and I'm feeling confident! It's a very satisfying feeling. Two more weeks time to practice and at this point it's starting to feel comfortable, my own. What a great job from Katja Putkonen! She's extremely talented and inspiring as a dancer, but most importantly, as a teacher. I feel priveleged as a student. She chose this song called Butterfly, by Rajaton for our coreography:

Today after class I felt like I wanted to bang my head against the wall. I felt somewhat defeated. My group started to rehearse a hip hop dance routine for the dance school's Christmas show. 

It was great to notice I wasn't alone and the only one having trouble with memorizing the steps, a common issue when starting dance lessons after a long break. The teacher was trying to give comfort by reminding us that we still have four weeks until the actual show. It's still frustrating to be unable to practice at home every day and patiently wait for next week's class! All this time goes to waste and could be used more wisely instead, by making progress.

I tend to expect most from myself, a feature that can be very fatal in the process of self-evolving and -growth. It applies to all aspects in life. I should learn to give myself a break, to try to see the positives over the negatives. The moment that defines us is whether or not we attempt to rise after we've been defeated. Occasional failure is a great thing as long as we learn to accept it, learn from it and then move on. 

There were some moments of glory too, I must say! I felt even more at home than before, with the relaxed, bouncing movement that hip hop is. The beat of the music really sank in deep! 

I bought these bubblegum pink Nikes from Footlocker on my trip to New York. I often wonder why is it so that they only make cool sneakers like this for kids?! Adults love bright colors too! I'm lucky to have small feet but unfortunately that's not the case with everyone. 

I was very disappointed with Nike Town in New York. I had high expectations. I had been to the one in London and even that was bigger and had more cool, colorful sneakers to choose from. 

Yesterday I took my new Nikes for a spin! I had my first hiphop dance class in years! It felt really good both physically and mentally. 
I'm extremely picky when it comes to teachers. I've had some bad ones in the past - I want to leave them there. Let's face it, anyone can dance but to teach someone else, a total stranger to dance, that's an entirely different skill. It's challenging and not everyone can master it. A good teacher makes you want to learn more, leaves you craving for that next dance class, even inspires you to work on some moves at home. 
The atmosphere in class should be relaxed and secure, it's okay to make mistakes, we learn from them. A good teacher interacts with students, is encouraging yet knows how to give constructive critique. You should be able to feel comfortable enough to ask questions regarding dance technique etc.. Most likely someone else ponders the same question and feels relieved that you asked. 
Most importantly, you should never feel completely defeated when walking home from class, since that's rarely motivating. 
I'm definitely looking forward for my next class.