Yvonne Marie Arceneaux
April 2, 2014My unofficially official predictions for the MLB season
April 2, 2014
From afar, they all look like American kids. Most of ‘em are tall, pale and slender with light blonde (almost downright yellow) hair. A few are a bit darker than the others, but none would be dark enough to be considered tanned.
Take a few steps closer and look a little more alertly. These kids act American, too. The young ladies love to joke around amongst one another. When given free time, they enjoy shopping for shoes, clothes and the other common items teenagers enjoy.
But while everything may look typical to the naked eye, as soon as one of these young ladies says a word, it becomes quite obvious that our eyes have deceived us: These young ladies aren’t American. They are, in fact, from a land that is far, far away.
They are the Finland Biddy Basketball team – a group of players that are spending the week in south Louisiana at the Biddy International Tournament in south Lafourche Parish.
The girls are part of two teams from the European country to make the 5,200-mile trek across the Atlantic Ocean and into Cajun country. The players, ages 11-12, traveled with their coaches and a group of a few parents. They were broken into two teams – Finland Blue and Finland White.
The entire experience has been eye-opening for the foreigners, who are experiencing Louisiana for the first time. They claim the week has been a combination of both culture shock and love at first sight.
“We are having a nice time here,” said Finland Blue player Emerita Mashaire. “We got here Wednesday, and we’re having a lot of fun since we’ve been here. It’s so much different than home. But we like it. It’s been fun so far.”
“The players are enjoying themselves,” Finland Blue coach Teemu Ketola added. “For a lot of them, it’s their first time in America. So they’re nervous a little bit. But we’re being shown so many things, and the girls will remember this forever.”
The entire Finnish brigade is being treated to the full Louisiana experience during their trip. The teams were picked up at New Orleans International Airport on Wednesday afternoon and were driven to south Lafourche Parish by volunteers from around the area.
From there, the ladies were taken to their host families for the week – a group of parents in the South Lafourche Biddy organization who agreed to have a few new children at their homes for the week.
While with their host families, the foreign players are experiencing Louisiana and America, enjoying lots of the luxuries that we take for granted in the states.
“We were listing the names of all of the fast food restaurants in the area, and when we said Taco Bell, the entire team pretty much said that was what they wanted to eat,” South Lafourche Biddy board member Nick Hebert said. “It’s just funny, because that’s a place that we think of as something we can get every day. They don’t have that there, but apparently some kind of way, they had heard about it, and that’s what they wanted to eat.”
But while the Finnish folks devour some American fast food, they haven’t quite taken as much of a liking to Cajun cuisine.
The Europeans players said that they were taken to a Cajun restaurant and asked to try gumbo for the first time. The results were mixed. The players weren’t fans, but the coach was.
“It was OK,” Finland Blue player Emilia Anttila said while Mashaire smiled and then made a face that would indicate that the dish wasn’t appetizing to the team.
Jambalaya garnered the same response for the young ladies, many of whom touted that they didn’t (and wouldn’t) try the dish. The Finnish players shared their idea of a good, tasty meal.
“Mashed potatoes,” Mashaire said. “With meatballs. That’s something that I’d say we have quite frequently at home.”
But Ketola said he doesn’t know what his players are tasting, because he’s a big fan of the Louisiana food that he’s tasted. The coach said he was impressed with Louisiana’s seafood, most notably our area’s selection of fish.
“We have fish in Finland, of course, but here, you have a different species,” Ketola said. “I’ve tasted the shrimp and crab and it’s all quite good to me. I am looking forward to having much more of it in the coming days.”
One thing the foreigners are also adjusting to is the weather. The high temperature in Helsinki, Finland on March 29 was 33 degrees Fahrenheit. It was in the mid-60s in Louisiana.
When told that our weather is actually unusually cooler than it normally is this time of the year, the Finnish players were shocked.
“You’re kidding me,” Anttila said with a laugh. “It’s so hot here.”
“Back home, it stays really cold,” Mashaire added. “To us, this is really hot. We would not like summer time very much here if it gets much warmer than this.”
But even though things may be so much different on this side of the globe, there is always some common ground to unite all humans – the beauty of the week for both guests and hosts.
The players tout that they are making friendships with their American hosts – bonds they hope will remain in place after they return home.
“Of course,” Mashaire said when asked if she wanted to keep in touch with her new friends. “They are such good people.”
Those bonds are easy to make, because the kids are interested in many of the same things as our local teens.
Musically, Mashaire said she’s a “Belieber” – a term given to loyal fans of world famous musician Justin Bieber – an American favorite, as well.
“I’m also a big fan of Isac Elliot,” she said. “You probably won’t know him. He’s a Finnish artist.”
A google search confirmed that Elliot is indeed a star in Finland. The 13-year-old musician is wildly popular among youngsters in the country.
Anttila said she is a Belieber, as well.
In terms of sports, most Finnish players said that Kobe Bryant was their favorite player. The response was popular among the entire Finland Blue team, which gathered around to eavesdrop on the interview.
“I absolutely love Kobe,” Anttila said. “He’s easily my best.”
All of those commonalities make for a great experience – a time that these young ladies will remember their whole lives.
Sure, home may be more than 5,000 miles away for these Finland natives. But south Louisiana no longer feels foreign to the young players. That’s because they have everything that makes up a home – friends and new family.
“We love it here, and we’re very grateful to our new friends,” Mashaire said. “We will always remember this time. We will always remember these people.”
At press-time, Finland Blue still had a chance to take home the 2014 Biddy International Tournament Title. The team opened the event with two-straight wins, victories over Thibodaux and Jefferson Parish Recreation District – East.
They turned around and carried that momentum into Sunday, scoring a victory over JPRD-West.
Finland White lost their opening game of the event and is competing in the consolation bracket.
When not competing against local teams, the Fins are fan favorites. Local fans are treating them like the home team, even though they are the team farthest away.
“We have a second home,” Anttila said. “These people have treated us like we have been here our whole lives.”
Once a Cajun, always a Cajun. Forty Finland natives now know just that.
How’d they get the money?
Traveling to America with a two-dozen youngsters isn’t cheap.
But Finland Biddy Basketball does it each and every year.
How?
The Finnish raise money for their trip by selling an annual magazine that details the team and also has stories about other topics around their league. From there, a lot of the proceeds are raised, but much is still left to be done.
From there, the team relies on its “incredibly supportive” parents, who invest in their children and fund the trip.
“This is quite expensive,” Ketola said. “It’s not for just anybody. But we have people who are able to afford it, so we’re able to keep coming each year to give this experience to our girls.”
Finland is one of the countries in Europe enjoying nice economic times. The country has an unemployment rate that hovers around 9 percent, and they have a rich, diverse job market that caters to people in a lot of different industries.
As for the differences between American basketball and the hoops played overseas? Ketola said European basketball is slower paced and more based on the fundamentals of the game.
In America, the coach said players are bigger, faster and stronger.
“Everything happens faster here,” Ketola said. “You have to think faster because if not, they are stealing the ball and running the other way. It’s a more physical game here – more contact. We have to take some time to adjust to that.”
What’d they enjoy doing here?
While in Louisiana, the Fins were treated to food, an alligator tour and a ton of other Louisiana treats.
But their absolute favorite thing to do in the United States is simple: They love to shop.
Every Finnish player asked said that touring Louisiana’s malls has been the highlight of their trip. The reason for this is two-fold.
For starters, some of the players live in small towns in Finland where shopping centers are scarce.
But the second reason is the prices. Players tout that luxury items like Nike shoes and clothing are far more expensive abroad than they are here.
Some of the foreigners intentionally arrived in America with empty luggage so that they could stuff it full during their stay with American-bought items.
“Everything is so much cheaper here,” Mashaire said. “We love that. Shoes, socks, shorts and everything that we’re buying – if we bought it at home, it would cost so much more money.”
The players traveled to both Southland Mall in Houma and Lakeside Mall in New Orleans during their stay. The most popular items purchased were pretty easy to predict. They were Nike shoes (Kevin Durant shoes were most popular) and other common basketball gear.
“The shoes that you have here for 80 dollars, 100 dollars or a little more might cost double where we’re from,” Ketola said. “So when we’re here, we very much enjoy staying busy and getting things we can take back home.”
