In California there’s unlimited number of ways to be active and fit. The climate is so smooth and nice that almost every day you can do outdoor activities or if you aren’t an outdoor person, you can pump iron in gym or play basketball in a gym. In last couple of weeks, I have searched for activities that interest me. Back in Finland, I have done a lot of different things: played ice hockey, Finnish baseball, boxing, danced, etcetera. We Finns are quite active with our free time and for example my Spanish friends were amazed at how many hobbies I have. “You are never home,” they said, and are partially right. They way we meet our friends in Finland is to be active. We live quite far away from each other and hobbies bring us together. By googling, I found Meetup groups that gather together in San Diego area. It is a wonderful concept that I want to take with me to Finland. You can search any activity you are interested in and the website will find you multiple groups that share the same interest with you. I found a softball group from Meetup and I joined a game last Saturday. It was the most beautiful weather and 20 people gathered at a softball field in Serra Mesa. We were all different kinds of players, from beginners to guys who have hit the ball all of their life, and all warmly welcomed a foreigner. I have never played softball, but I have played Finnish baseball most of my life, so I had a clue what softball is about. The biggest difference is the pitch. In Finland the pitcher stands right next to batsman and pitches the baseball toward the sky upwards. That’s why it was little tricky for me in the beginning to hit toward the ball. But against all odds, I managed to hit the ball! Super happy about that! After the softball practice I joined my roommates for a soccer game in our backyard. We were barefoot and struggled to get the ball between two wooden sticks, that had a piece of lemon top of them. I think the best exercise is the one that makes you happy and that certainly did. Via Meetup I also found a group that does yoga near the ocean in Pacific Beach. I’m excited to find out how the ocean breeze feels while relaxing. (I’m Hanna Laukkanen, a 26-year-old journalist, who moved from Finland to San Diego for an internship in San Diego Community Newspaper Group. In this blog I will compare Finnish and American lifestyles and try to find out a lot more about the Californian way of living. Please send me feedback at [email protected].)