Feel Good Camp, organized by Vincit Funsquads and Sportsquads in April 2024, was a camp dedicated to Vincitizens and their families. The main goal was to bring Vincitizens together and to invest in their well-being and our communities. And the camp was a resounding success! What follows is the personal experience of one attendee:
It’s not quite the final frontier like in Star Trek, but it’s close enough. For a couple of days I wondered what I had signed myself up for. I'm more of a homebody than an athlete, and it seemed like the two days were packed with sports activities. I chose archery for Saturday, thinking it wouldn't be so physical that I'd be sore the next day.
Adding to the excitement was the fact that when I chose my room, I saw a familiar face from Oulu in one of the cabins. Then I found out the entire cabin was filled with people from Oulu. Behind "enemy lines" without a clue. At least Tuula seemed very nice when we met, so what could go wrong if everyone in the cabin was just as friendly?
On Saturday morning I played it safe and got to Hakaniemi early to make sure I wouldn't miss the bus. As a former bus driver, I of course exchanged greetings with our driver. Fueled by my morning ADHD medication, I chatted the whole way to Eerikkilä – probably to the mild annoyance of my fellow travelers.
Once we arrived, the day started in the best possible way: meeting my roommates and having lunch. The food was excellent. After that, I found a nice grassy spot, laid down, took off my shoes, and enjoyed the shade. I almost broke a sweat watching others exercise around me. It wasn't long before it was time for archery. Unfortunately, I found out that after just five minutes under the scorching sun in 30 degrees Celsius, I couldn't participate any more than sitting in the shade. So, I watched while others shot arrows and I made new friends with the local flies.
After archery, I got the cabin key with my new friend Anna. It was a nice cabin, though it had a lot of windows which made it quite warm in the sunny weather. Luckily we didn't spend much time there. I would have loved to stay longer to get to know people better.
Gradually, the other new roommates arrived – and I tried to learn everyone's names (I'm really bad at remembering names). Before everyone headed to the sauna, we toasted my 50th birthday, which had been the previous weekend. But I had to skip the celebration because I had accidentally punctured my eardrum. My roommates sang me a birthday song, then went to the sauna while I tried to take a nap.
When they came back, we went to dinner and the food was amazing. I could have kept eating the fish because it had a fantastic sauce, and the cheesecake for dessert was to die for. After eating, we moved to the downstairs pub where some people were watching ice hockey, others were chatting, and one table was playing Trivial Pursuit. Meeting the people behind the Slack nicknames was the best part. You don't think of people as "real" until you meet them. The day was full of stimuli for my ADHD brain, so I had to head to bed – but sleep was a bit hard to come by in this unfamiliar place.
When I woke up in the morning, the others had already had breakfast and headed off to their activities. I decided to pack my things and head to breakfast myself. I didn't realize that breakfast ended at 10:30 and lunch started at 11:00, so while the sporty ones were eating, my Feel Good Camp continued with me lying on the grass and crocheting an eco-friendly vegetable bag until it was time to leave. It was a nice experience – though I did feel a bit guilty for being more of a homebody than an athlete.
I want to give a special thanks to my roommates. I became a wannabe Oulu person.
Best regards, Susan
