Hockey hockey hockey hockey hockey all the time

This weekend was largely about hockey, secondarily about studying, and finally about spending time with Marco and Stefanie, as previously mentioned. Here's a pic of us at the Abi Bar, the second bar we found in our exploration of Kallio.

The other pics are from the Chelsae bar where I watched the devestating game on Sunday. That was rather depressing, but silver is still not bad... but Sweden? I still say they lost on purpose to Slovakia. Gah... Anyway, as you can see, Gromit was kind enough to aid my studying during the downtime. Enjoy!

Certifiably Finnish?

It was -10C tonight (14 F) and I forgot my hat at home, yet I still chose to walk home from the pub instead of taking a taxi or figuring out the bus schedule. Does this make me more finnish, or just crazy?

Anyway, it was a great night with Marco and Stefanie, pic coming soon.

Bicycle Demolition Derby?

This sign is around the corner from my flat.

You see, in Finland people are so hardcore they don't need cars to crash into each other and prove their manhood. They do it on bikes. Just like that other famous animal (below), Finns go at it head to head on their bikes at amazing speeds, all in order to keep other males out of their breeding territory and demonstrate to the females that they are really buff. Thankfully we are lucky enough to get a sign to warn us where such things might happen.

Suomi 4, Venäjä 0

Finland managed to hold the Russians at bay once again (such historical trends! see: Winter War) Friday night in ice hockey, winning by a huge margin of 4-0. I watched the game in "The Auzzie Bar,"which, surprisingly, really is run by a bunch of Aussies who don't speak Finnish. The British and Irish pubs here are all the work of Finns, but this place truely is an Auzzie pub. Anyway, as you can imagine it was a wild fun time watching the nervous game.

The final will be on Sunday at 15.00 Finland time. Though I have a big exam Monday, I have no choice but to support the blue and white, and head to the pub once again on behalf of the Finnish Lions. I'll try and get some pics this time.

Hyvä suomi!

Finnish hockey, practice for exam

For those of you who haven't heard yet, last night the Finnish Lions (Suomen leijonat) knocked team USA out of the Olympic tournament by a score of 4-3. The game began at 18.30 but i had class until 20.00, so I unfortunately missed the start. My Dutch friend Siem from the same class was also eager to watch, so we made our way to a sports bar as soon as the class let out. Of course the first bar was packed, so we continued on, looking for a bar that at least had a little space. We ended up at the Student's Bar in Vanha where we watched the game with a big crowed of Finns and had a couple beers. Watching hockey in Finland is like watching soccer in England. Fans are rabid. It's a great experience though, and one of the best times to see a Finn not being the stereotypically shy person.

I had to make it an early night, however, because today my first exam in Finland was scheduled!! The course wass Finnish foreign policy, I've mentioned that professor before. The exam was scheduled for noon. I arrived a few minutes early, as is customary. The professor had not yet arrived. We weren't sure if the "academic quarter" giving 15 mins to change classes applied on exam days or not, but we assumed it must, so we waited 15 minutes. Then 30. 45...50... one of the other students finally decided to go get the building caretaker and ask him to call the professor. He got ahold of the professor and after an hour waiting the guy said the professor was cancelling the exam and would email us more info. So, it turns out my first exam in finland was a non-existent one. I can handle that, I suppose....

Vanhanen on Harry Potter, Finnish NATO membership

An oldie but goodie: PM Matti Vanhanen in a speech on 20 Dec 2004:

Natoon pyrkiminen taitaa olla kannattajiensa keskuudessa kuin Harry Potter -kirjojen Voldemort. Hallitus on Potterinsa lukenut, mutta ei hae sieltä oppejaan. Nato-jäsenyys ei edellytä samaa vaikenemista kuin puhuttaessa - tiedätte kai kenestä. Tästäkin asiasta pitää keskustella oikealla nimellä.

Loosely translated:

NATO membership is discussed among the supporters like Valdemort in the Harry Potter books. The government has read (Harry) Potter, but don't take doctrines from it. NATO membership doesn't need the same kind of reservations like when you are speaking about "You know who." We have to talk about this too by it's right name."

Trust in Finnish society

Another aspect of Finnish culture that amazes me day in and day out is the amount of trust that the society has for its members. Not only are the Finns a trustworthy people, they're a trusting people. Unlike many societies, Finns don't automatcially expect the worst from people. That is not to say that they are naïve in any way, shape or form. They are far from that. But while not allowing themselves to be played the fool, Finnish people geniunely seem to find the good in most people (old prejudices die hard).

One place where this fact is very apparent in everyday life for me in Helsinki is in the city transport system, HKL. Public transport is something of an enigma to most people living in the states, save for perhaps New York or Boston. I have seen many different methods throughout my travels, yet the one here in Helsinki never ceases to amaze me. Why's that, you might ask? Helsinki is a rather small city, and it's not like they are moving hoards and oodles of people in and out of the city. That much is true, but that is not what impresses me. Whenever I have headed towards the platform in New York, Paris, or Berlin, I always have to make a stop at the gate on the way down to swipe my card or insert my token, after which I am able to pass through the gate. Here in Helsinki there are no gates. When climbing onto the tram you can enter through any door and simply take your seat. No checks for travel pass, waiting in line for the driver, etc. It seems that here it is quite simply assumed that if you are using the transport you have paid for it.

Now, as I said, the Finns aren't shmucks and they realize that there are those that would look to capitalize on the system (Finland isn't THAT much of a welfare state). In order to head this off there is the threat that a ticket inspector might someday pop onto the tram or approach you on the platform to request your travel card. If caught, a hefty 66€ fine will be imposed. I have been in Helsinki now over 5 weeks, and I have seen the inspectors twice, two days apart, at exactly the same time of day at exactly the same metro stop. How much deterrent can this really be, when this is the case? There was a small clip in today's 100 that I was reading on the way to the library which talked about the revenues generated from imposing these fines. To me the figure was quite low- I would expect many more people to try their luck free riding. Rational choice theory taught me all too well about that particular phenomenon. Yet, at least in this arena, Finland seems to exist beyond the rational world.

Today's lesson

The best part about living in a foreign country is that every day you learn something new. Like today, for example. Today I learned that while open even on Sunday until 9 in the evening, on Satuday grocery stores close at 6. Yeah, even the little mini-mart type places that are the only thing open at Saturday are closed at 6. The only thing open seems to be the R-kioski's and the bars. That's Finnish prioritization for you.

And speaking of the grocery stores. In Finland the K Market line comes in 4 sizes. The size of the store determines the number of K's a store gets. K is a mini-shop. KK is a corner type shop. KKK is a supermarket, and KKKK is a citymarket. The KKK Supermarket has always hit me as ironically funny, for obvious reasons.

Vanhojen tanssit

The second tradition this week for Finnish high schoolers is a celebration by the 2nd year students in honor of the fact that they are now the oldest in the school. The festvities are called Vanhojen tanssit and they were held all over Finland today. Unlike yesterday's trashed Abit, this is a very formal and special ceremony. When I was here before I was lucky enough to take part in the dancing. A course was organized in January, and ended when the performance happened. In this course we are taught various traditional dances from all over the world. Then, on this special day, guys get dressed in their tuxedos and girls put on their best dress (many girls make a dress just for the occasion, as was the case with one of my partners). Multiple performances are held, showing for parents, the school, and anyone who cares to watch. Today I went to the Helsinki regional show with my awesome Belgian friend Anise (who was also an exchange student during high school and has now come back!). There were about 8 high schools combined I'd say, which means a lot of people were dancing in a tight space. I thought it might just be a little bit easier to show you what these dances are all about, so please enjoy these videos I took today!

The dance in this video is one that I also performed all those years ago. The first time i heard the music we were dancing to I couldn't stop laughing. The people around me had no idea why, until I explained to them that it was the same music that the ice cream truck plays in the US.

Birdie for Finnish Night

Last night (pre hiccup mania) was another of the ESN international student nights, this time in a new location with a Finland-karaeoke theme (i can't figure out how to spell that word...). As you can see from the pics, I had a great time and met more awesome people.

Eefa, the awesome girl from Holland, and me-- Kippis!

Maria, from England. Yes, I love just listening to her talk.


Yeah, we all had waaaaayyyy too many glasses in front of us, but the happy hour was ending, so we had to stock up... I'll let you guess how many were mine...

I can't stop hiccuping

and it is driving me crazy!!!!!!!

To all my Columbus, Ohio friends, family, and other readers

My good friend Kev just alerted me to the fact that today you are enjoying, shall we say "tropical" temperatures. In fact, the high today is 65F (18C).
That's a full 51 degrees F (28C) warmer than my weather today, where we had a beautiful 14F (-10C)- beautiful because it was so sunny, though not warm. I just have one thing to say- ENJOY IT WHILE YOU CAN!!! Saturday you're back below freezing!! I will feel as much sympathy as you have felt for me... muahahha (i love you mother:))

In other, less hostile news, I got the most AMAZING valentine from my friends in Paris, Jess and KJ. It was good looking, good smelling, and had the lipstick print from the most lucious lips in the world. Getting this today was by far the highlight for me, and it set the mood for the whole day. I miss you gals so much, and can't wait to see you when you come visit in the spring!!!!!!!!

Now it's back to watching Sweden get pounded by Russia in hockey. Yes, I am smiling broadly.

Penkkarit

Today and tomorrow represent two important days in the life of Finnish high schoolers. These are two traditions that I was lucky enough to take part in during my last stay in Finland.

Today is the last day of school for those that will write the ylioppilaskirjoitukset, which is surprisingly easier to say in finnish than "matriculation examination" is to say in english (though the english way has more rhythm). In celebration of this, the students go crazy, dressing up in wild costumes, getting more than a little drunk, and having a ceremony at the school. At this ceremony an "effigy" of the school is lit on fire and burnt for all to see, some teachers are made fun of, and then the Abit (graduating seniors) are carried as their names are annouced and loaded into the back of a truck. The truck then cruises about the town with them cheering and throwing candy at those they pass. The party of course continues all day, and those that haven't hit the floor hit up the bars that night. As you can imagine, the next day is a "day of rest" for many of them;)

A google search will turn up lots more crazy images if you want to see different towns celebrations of the festival throughout the years. I even saw one school that had it together enough to theme their penkkarit "cowboys and indians."

This means that the 2nd year students are now the oldest in the school, and tomorrow they will have their ceremony celebrating this.

Advertising in Finland: Lindex

A couple of weeks ago while standing at the stop to catch the tram I received quite a jolt when I looked over to my right. Lindex, a women's clothing store with shops in at least Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Germany had begun a new ad campaign. While most of the ad is (naturally) in Finnish, the tag line is in English, and the picture is universal. While I am not offended by the ads as is the general concern, I have to say it surprised me if for no other reason than that after dragging myself out of bed and drearily walking the 25 meters to the stop I didn't exactly expect to glance up from my toes and see this ad glancing back at me. In the US this would never fly. Various special interest groups would keep the advertisement from ever seeing the light of day. But, in a manner confusing to me, 100 (the daily free public paper) published an article highlighting the fact that there was no controversy (so why is it news?). It seems that in Sweden the ads were removed from certain locations, however the President of Lindex-Finland was quoted in the ad as saying there isn't anything offensive about the ad (to women or otherwise) and the transport authority says they have received no complaints over them.

I myself was much to chicken to take a picture for fear of getting caught and thought of as a pervert.... but here's the ad, pic by Kimmo W., borrowed from Phil's site. Here's a little more from Phil (x2).

News Clippings - 15 Feb 2006

• Finland to send special liason to Beijing after increased direct flights between Finland and China have caused concern for a jump in illegal immigration and human trafficking.

• Conan meets Tarja Halonen (President of Finland), offers chocolates
• Finnish police investigating publishing of the controversial cartoons on a Finnish group's website
• Bird flu now in northern Europe, touching borders with Germany, Sweden, Denmark
• Curling actually has rules and a goal. And here i thought it was just ice skating with rocks. (Ok, so maybe that's not news to you, but it sure was to me.)
  

Royal Caribbean Orders Mamoth Ship from Finland

The cruise company sailing from the US has just ordered a 43% larger vessel than the previous record breaker. Just goes to show-- there is more to Finnish industry than just Nokia and forestry machines.

Taken from the Aker Yards Website:

Royal Caribbean orders a giant cruise vessel from Aker Yards
06-February-06

---

Royal Caribbean International orders a new generation cruise vessel from Aker Yards. The contract price being approximately EUR 900 million, this is the most valuable ship ever ordered in the history of commercial shipbuilding.

The 220,000 GRT ship, a prototype developed under Project Genesis, will be delivered from Aker Yards, Finland in autumn 2009. The order means 5,800 man years of work for the yard. The contract includes an option for a similar vessel.

"After developing so many generations of cruise ships together over the 35 years of our partnership with RCCL we are excited about jumping so far out in front of cruise-ship design with this highly innovative and exciting new ship" says Yrjö Julin, President responsible for Aker Yards Cruise & Ferries business area. "Working together we will create an unparalleled experience for the next generation of cruisers."

"It is exhilarating to take such a giant step into the future", said Royal Caribbean Chairman and CEO Richard Fain. "Project Genesis truly is a remarkable ship. Its bold design, daring innovation and technological advancements will delight our existing customers and help us draw in new ones". He also said Royal Caribbean to be fortunate to have such gifted collaborators as Aker Yards.

Taking a huge leap of 43 per cent in size from the new record breaking "Freedom of the Seas" to be delivered for Royal Caribbean from Aker Yards in April, the new giant of the cruise market will be 360 meters long, 47 meters wide, 65 m high above waterline and accommodate 5,400 passengers.

The previous deliveries from Aker Yards to Royal Caribbean include eleven newbuildings, and there are three more in the present orderbook, the world´s largest cruise vessels in the Freedom class, to be delivered in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Consisting of 18 newbuildings, the total value of the order book of Aker Yards in Finland is some 4.3 billion euro after this contract.

The contract is subject to final confirmation of buyers financing.

A side view of the vessel can be found in our imagebank www.akerfinnyards.com , Newsroom / Image bank / Cruise vessels

For further information, please contact:

Aker Yards ASA
Tore Langballe, SVP Communications and IR, tel. +47 90 777 841

Uniforms in Finland

One thing that I notice almost every day when I enter the classroom (always on time, whether or not my fellow students observe the "academic quarter" that passes before the lesson actually gets underway) is when the building's caretaker comes into to perform one of her many responsibilities. She effortletlessly boots up the computer, turns on the projector, and makes sure the classroom is completely ready so that when the professor walks in s/he can go right into teaching. This is a setup I think many US professors would love to have. These building caretakers are in most buildings I have ever been taught in here in Finland, as well as many other types of buildings. The thing that really gets me about them, though, isn't their renaissance- woman- specialist efficency...it's their uniform. And it's not just the building caretaker (as pictured here)-- it seems like every profession in Finland has a special uniform. It's true, in the US doctors and nurses wear scrubs, lawyers wear suits, etc. But here it seems to me that things go much further... Blue collar workers dressed uniformly in their (appropriately) blue carhart-like overalls with green (as opposed to orange) reflective vests. Students have special uniform overalls depending on the faculty (though they only wear them on party days). Eh I know it's not much, but I'm quite fond of uniforms as a mark of solidarity, so I still smile whenever I see them. And we all know what a Finnish smile looks like....

Back to basics

Alrighty. It's time to take a break from neofunctionalism for today and keep up with my responsibilities. I realized that while there are a lot of rants here about my daily happenings, everyone might not have a context to put it in. So, very briefly, originally I am from Columbus, Ohio, but I go to school up in New England (in Providence, RI) where I study International Relations. Currently I'm studying abroad in Finland at the University of Helsinki. I also have a fairly strong background in Neurosciences/Psychology/Cognitive Sciences, as my focus was there many years before switching mostly to IR. Specifically within the field of IR I am interested in the European Union and other European studies. Accordingly, these things might pop up here now and then. That's it in a nutshell. I should probably put at least some of that in the "About me," and perhaps I will some day.

The other thing I think I have been neglecting is highlighting the differences between my experiences here versus the familiar things in the US. While this may subtly come through in some of my posting, I think there are many real differences that can be mentioned and appreciated. It's slightly difficult for me at this point, having lived in the country already previously for a year. And while each culture's differences occasionally floor you and leave you gasping for breath, generally my MO is to smile and move on, not dwelling so much on how I'm different from those around me but trying to integrate myself a little more. Nonetheless, there are things that stand out in mind, and I will try to highlight those especially over the next few days, and then as novel comparisons can be made. Hopefully this will culminate in that post about sauna I promised a while back;)

Until then, hang out tight- summer will be here before you know it. But not before my ski holiday in April!

Sundays in Finland

Even more so than I dread Sunday in the US, in Finland the problem is much worse. My dislike of Sunday is completely a phenomenon of my own divising. Once Friday rolls around I get into this mindset that, although I have mountains of work to do, I can breath a little easier because I have two days without classes to get everything read, written, and studied. Next thing I know Sunday has arrived and I have done absolutely nothing. So Sunday I get to try to enjoy the last moments of the weeekend while working furiously to get everything I should've done already finished.

In Finland, at least thus far, I haven't really had much rush work to get done. And since I don't have classes Friday right now, I have the whole day Friday to get work done and be productive while the library is still open normal hours. Sunday rolls around, and instead of having too much to do, there's NOTHING to do! Everything is closed except for the corner market food shops, the city is empty, and there are much fewer special events (i.e. classical concerts, movie showings, and general things of cultural relevance that happen in a city of this size in the US).

Today especially I have been going stir crazy since classes Thursday were cancelled last week (prof. had some problem). Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights I spent out with friends, last night I decided I needed to rest, and now today there aren't many (any) options to chose from. As much as I enjoy the Finnish winter, I can't wait for summer to come and breath some life into this city!

Mistäpäin syöt banaania?

This has absolutely nothing to do with Finland, Finnish, or my travels but I just came across this really funny article about eating bananas and now I am curious, so I want to hear what you have to say while I run to the store and get some bananas to experiment.

Apparently monkies eat bananas the opposite way than people generally do. And the argument in that article and a few other places I've seen (yes, i've been researching this) says that this way is much easier and saves trouble peeling off those stringy things that stick to the sides of the banana. So while I go out and fetch some bananas I'd like to hear about your banana eating technique. And hey, next time you eat a banana why not get a little creative and try eating it the other way around... ;)

Oh, and speaking of bananas, IT'S PEANUTBUTTER JELLY TIME PEANUTBUTTER JELLY TIME!

Järkiperäinen

I've just sat the last five minutes alone in my room repeating the word "Järkiperäinen" over and over again to myself, trying to get the proper pronounciation down. Järkiperäinen is the Finnish word for rational. I can only think of the irony if someone is able to hear me through my door.... not such a rational thing to do!

Finnish jokes

Instead of studying Finnish this afternoon as I should have (...... i needed a day off.....) I compiled these favorites of mine of Finnish jokes, some familiar, some off the net (apologize for the profanity, but quite a bit of the "clean" finnish humor involves language puns and such that wouldn't make sense in English...) Enjoy!

(more than a few clipped from here)

A Swede arrives at a Finn’s house with a litre bottle of vodka. The Finn silently lets him into the dining room where the Swede sits at the table with the bottle.
Not a word is spoken.
The Finn goes off and returns with two vodka glasses. The Swede fills the two glasses with the vodka, and they begin to drink.
Not a word is spoken.
After much silence and a half-empty bottle, the Swede ventures a comment: “Good vodka, this, heh?”.
At this, the Finn slaps the Swede across the face and shouts:
“Did you come here to talk or to drink?”


"The cleaning lady left a note lying on a table
at the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
It said: "Please close the window when you leave.
You never can tell if it might rain in the night."

-"Pekka, can you see that forest over there?" "Na, the trees is in the way.."
-Pekka was out driving. Suddenly the road turned, but Pekka did not. Pekka ended up on a hospital. The doctor said: "But Pekka, you must learn how to turn." Week later, Pekka was out on the road driving again. Pekka turned, but the road sure hell did not!
-How many finns does it take to change a lightbulb? 5. 1 to hold the bulb, and 4 to drink vodka till the room starts spinning
A Swede was in a pub in Finland and a regular customer asked him: "I'll give you $200 if you let me smach ten beer bottles on your head." The Swede thought for a while and finally agreed... The Finn smashed nine bottles and stoppped. "Why stopping", said the Swede? "I'm not a complete idiot, then I would have to pay you."

Esko Aho and Paavo Väyrynen were talking about the speeches they had given during their election campaign. "What did you say?" asked Aho. "Nothing." "I know that, but what words did you use?"

Finnish flat tyre

Antero is driving down the road when 'boom' he gets a flat tyre. "Saatana" he says, and after discovering he doesn't have a jack, he decides to walk down the road and try to borrow one from someone.

As he's walking, he's thinking "Damn, they probably won't have one." He walks a little further, and the growing suspicion increases... "I BET they don't have one". He walks further... "DAMN IT, I'm sure they won't have one, and if they did they wouldn't lend it to me anyway."

Finally he reaches a cottage, picks up a rock and hurls it through the window, shouting "KEEP YOUR BLOODY JACK!!"

How can you tell the difference between a Finnish introvert and a Finnish extrovert?

When he's talking to you a Finnish introvert looks at his feet. A Finnish extrovert looks at yours!

Finnish weather explained

+15°C / 59°F
This is as warm as it gets in Finland, so we'll start here.
People in Spain wears winter-coats and gloves.
The Finns are out in the sun, getting a tan.

+10°C / 50°F
The French are trying in vain to start their central heating.
The Finns plant flowers in their gardens.

+5°C / 41°F
Italian cars won't start.
The Finns are cruising in cabriolets.

0°C / 32°F
Distilled water freezes.
The water in the Vanda river (in Finland) gets a little thicker.

-5°C / 23°F
People in California almost freeze to death.
The Finns have their final barbecue before winter.

-10°C / 14°F
The Brits start the heat in their houses.
The Finns start using long sleeves.

-20°C / -4°F
The Aussies flee from Mallorca.
The Finns end their Midsummer celebrations. Autumn is here.

-30°C / -22°F
People in Greece die from the cold and disappear from the face of the earth.
The Finns start drying their laundry indoors.

-40°C / -40°F
Paris start cracking in the cold.
The Finns stand in line at the "grilli-kioski".

-50°C / -58°F
Polar bears start evacuating the North Pole.
The Finnish army postpones their winter survival training awaiting real winter weather.

-60°C / -76°F
Korvatunturi (the home for Santa Claus) freezes.
The Finns rent a movie and stay indoors.

-70°C / -94°F
The false Santa moves south.
The Finns get frustrated since they can't store their Kossu (Koskenkorva vodka) outdoors.
The Finnish army goes out on winter survival training.

-183°C / -297.4°F
Microbes in food don't survive.
The Finnish cows complain that the farmers' hands are cold.

-273°C / -459.4°F
All atom-based movent halts.
The Finns start saying "Perkele, it's cold outside today."

-300°C / -508°F
Hell freezes over.
Finland wins the Eurovision Song Contest.

You Know You've Been In Finland Too Long, When...

You meticulously manage your plastic bag collection.

You don't think twice about putting wet dishes in the cupboard to dry.

Silence is fun.

Your coffee consumption exceeds 8 cups a day.

You pass a grocery store and think: "Wow, it's open!"

Your native language has seriously deteriorated. Now you "eat medicine", "open the television", and "close the lights off".

You associate pea soup with Thursday.

Your notion of street life is reduced to hanging out in front of the railway station on Friday nights.

After a presentation, you finally stop asking "Are there any questions?"

Hugging is reserved for sexual foreplay.

You no longer look at a track suit as casual wear, but consider it acceptable for formal occasions. Neither do you see a problem wearing white socks with loafers.

You accept alcohol as food.

You no longer eat mashed potatoes - you eat smashed potatoes.

You understand why the Finnish language has no future tense.

You know that "one" beer means "let's get pissed."

When a stranger smiles at you, you assume he is drunk, insane, or American.

You've become lactose intolerant.

You know how to prepare herring 105 different ways.

Danish political cartoons

I can't really live in Scandinavia and not make some reference to the current hysteria surrounding the political cartoons published in a private Danish newpaper. But rather than any commentary on it (there's heaps out there if you want it, I can direct you to a few good places if you like), I am just going to link to these two sites. These are two sites of optimism, offering a great precendent.

http://www.sorrynorwaydenmark.com/

http://www.anotherdenmark.org/letter#en

Presenting the Finnish Parliament

Yesterday was the day for presenting my group's presentation on the functions, organization, and responsibilities of the Finnish Parliament (Suomen Eduskunta). I'm not sure why, but I was unusually relaxed as I gave this presentation. I'm not generally nervous about presenting to a class or a group (when I know the material I'm presenting anyway...), but this time I was uncannily relaxed as I gave what could've quickly turned into a really boring presentation. I ended up talking for about 15-20 minutes instead of the 10 I was supposed to, but that was because people were engaged and asking questions and such, so no harm there. Afterwards some of my classmates even came up to me to compliment me on my talk, something that hasn't happened before but that I was quite flattered by. The slide here shows some of the schematics I used in the project, and gives you an idea of the "exciting" topics I had to cover. My favorite part of the presentation was where I was supposed to go into a comparison between the Finnish case and that of my home country. After briefly trying to explain a little bit about a bicameral legislature and the compromises necessary between the houses, I flipped to a slide with screen caps from the School House Rock "I'm just a bill" song and gave them the web address telling them that if they were really interested, this was a better way to learn about it. In the end, probably the best presentation I feel I've given. Now to do it in Finnish.... In a couple weeks I am going back to visit the Rotary club that hosted me as an exchange student, and so there I will be presenting some remarks (hopefully not an all out presentation, just an update on my life, where I'm living in the states, and what I'm doing there) and these will have to be in Finnish. Something tells me this might not be as successful... hah!

Ahvenanmaa (Åland Islands) to leave the EU?

Leaving the EU because they say you can`t sell snuff to cruise passengers? It just may happen, and an autonomous part of Finland may be the culprit.

Åland travel site


From the EUobserver:

Finnish island Aaland threatens to leave the EU

07.02.2006 - 17:52 CET | By Teresa Küchler

Aaland, a small semi-autonomous Finnish island, has threatened to leave the EU unless Brussels allows its case on the tax-free sale of snuff to be heard at the European Court of Justice.

The commission has asked that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) declares Finland in breach of EU regulations for letting Aaland uphold sales of a kind of tobacco - forbidden in the EU - on ferries to and from the island.

Meeting with communication commissioner Margot Wallstrom on Monday (6 February), Britt Lundberg of Aaland's government argued that if the island is not allowed to plead its own case before the ECJ, public opinion in Aaland about the EU will turn negative.

In the long run, Aalanders, who this year have seen a number of bans from Brussels, such as a recent hunting ban, may consider leaving the EU.

Ms Lundberg explained that Aaland could not support a European treaty without even having a say in matters concerning the island's own interior politics.

Aaland became a part of Finland in 1921, but kept self-governance over internal matters like education, culture, healthcare, post and police matters, while foreign policy, customs and monetary matters are handled from Helsinki.

When Finland joined the EU in 1996, Aaland agreed to join on condition that it could keep some of its crucial laws, such as keeping Swedish as the only official language, and having complete demilitarisation of the island.

Another matter of importance to Aaland was that the waters surrounding the island remain their own - not EU waters - allowing for tax-free sales for passenger ferries from neighbouring countries.

Swedish snuff creating the furore
The ferry-sale of Swedish style tobacco called "snus", a brown moist powder that users shape into a wad and stick under their upper lip, is a major source of income for the island, although technically illegal.

An EU ban on moist snuff applies to the whole bloc except Sweden, which has claimed that the use of snus is part of the Swedish traditional heritage.

Swedish-speaking Aaland declared that the cultural and historical bond to Sweden should make the island state eligible for the same exception to the rule.

Finnish users, therefore, have to take ferries to Aaland and Sweden to fill up on personal stocks. Finland has announced, however, that it will side with the commission on the matter.

You say tomato I say tomato
Finnish state secretary for EU affairs Antti Peltomaaki told this website that the matter boils down to matters of interpretation of the accession treaties and other EU laws.

"Aaland wanted snus to be classified as a grocery, like in Sweden. But Finland has decided that for health reasons, the EU ban should be supported."

As to the fact that no representative from Aaland has been called to Luxembourg and the ECJ to be heard in the snus case, Mr Peltmaaki said that the law did not give any room for manoeuvre.

"If the court in Luxembourg let us send an Aalander to the oral hearing to fight its own battle, we would, but it is not the way the procedure regulations are," he said, adding that all the files had been open to the Aalandish government throughout the whole case.

Another island state for secession?
Under the current EU treaties, there are no rules on how and if a country can leave the union.

The rules simply say that "this treaty has been entered for an unlimited time".

Theoretically, Aaland could very well leave the EU by tearing up the accession treaty and "negotiating it in reverse", but such a 'secession treaty' would have to be agreed upon by the other member states - including Finland.

To date, the only similar example is when Greenland went from being a full member of the EU as part of the Danish commonwealth to becoming a part of the Overseas Lands and Territories (OLT) grouping in 1985.

Once is never enough

This weekend I had to go back to Iisalmi again. Not had to in someone was making me, but in the sense that last weekend was not enough for me to really get to spend a fair amount of time reuniting with everyone I left behind indefinately 3,5 years ago. Maybe the view of the city to the left can help explain my attachment to the place. I took this from my backyard.

I had a lot more time this weekend. I took the evening train Thursday, and came back on the morning train today.

Friday we went to Sonkajärvi, home of the World Championship Wife Carrying Competition (page in English). I wasn't there to carry my wife though. We went snowmobiling. Temperatures were well below 0: -17F, -27C and less. Needless to say, it wasn't the longest of snow treks, but it was my first time driving a snowmobile, and it was pretty amazing. So what if my nose was pale white by the time we were done and my toes and thumbs were still stinging 7 hours later?

Friday night me and the host bros decided to hit up the town after sauna and a few beers at a friend's, and that we did. A little too much in my case, as I found out the next morning. But that night, nonetheless, I had a great time back at Kojootti. This time I ran into a different crowd of people from high school. As chance would have it one of my better friends from when I was here was there that night. I had heard that he is living in Helsinki these days, and planned on hitting him up later this week, so seeing him there was pleasantly random.

Saturday I woke up a bit "disenfranchised," but I was a trooper anyway and headed off to see family #3, family K. Here I had 2 younger host sisters. When I was here last time the youngest was only 9 or 10, and when I walked in the door and she came to give me a hug I didn't even recognize her! During those years, it's amazing how much just a few years can mean. I spoke with them for a while and had coffee (which made me feel immensely better) and decided I would come to spend the weekend with them in 3 weeks. After returning from their place and having a midday meal, we had a bit of time before the evening was slated to begin. Me and Tepu (my younger host sister from family P) took this time to play a game of scrabble. By some miraculous stroke of fortune I won!! I took a picture of the board, my first Finnish scrabble experience. We played again the next day and I was thoroughly whompped, but I enjoyed my bubble before it burst. (2 notes- Jessica- see that word far on the left going vertically? Silmät korvat ja vasta taputa..... ;) -if you're playing scrabble in english and you have 3 a's and a j you're pretty much done for. Luckily there are Finnish words such as "ajaa" to drive. If you have another "j" you can make one of my favorite Finnish words, "ajaja" (see left in the photo, pronounced ah-ya-ya), driver.

After scrabble we met up with some other peeps from high school at a cottage in a nearby village. more sauna and drinks, as well as lots of finnish talking since I am in Finland after all. It's easy to forget when I'm around young people who have grown up with English tv and globalization and who can't wait to try their english. The first few weeks I was happy to let them speak english as I was too scared to try out my finnish except with my closest friends, but lately it's been getting progressively more fennocentric (eli, much more finnish talking). Saturday was a pretty normal night. I was sitting with my friend Annina waiting on some other people to arrive when I saw this guy dancing and had to try to sneak a video. It isn't very clear, but you get snap shots. He basically just put his arms at a 90 degree angle and moved his hips about 2 inches left, then right. It was great. Sadly, it's pretty average dancing for a drunken Finn. If you listen really closely you'll get to hear those ever developing Finnish skills o'mine as I tell annina "I can't see anything." It turned out clearer on screen than on the camera though.

Sunday I did a little more visiting, went to my host bro's hockey game, and generally relaxed. That evening was once again a sauna night, this time me and my host dad were the only ones to go. He likes his sauna a little hotter than I like mine generally (200F), but I still held my own and was in longer. It's not a competition, but I still like pretending I'm more Finn because I can outlast many in the sauna.

Today it was back to reality, and things are going to get even more real as I have a presentation Wednesday about the Finnish parliament. I haven't started.... Wish me luck!!

Where have you gone, my friends?

So I was going through my pictures to put some on to my jump drive and take to show my friends and families in Iisalmi when I return tomorrow, and I started to realize how much I really miss all of my friends back home. I got really happy looking through all of the pictures, and remembering all of the good times we've had. But they're not here right now.... everyone's scattered throughout the world.... So this post is for you guys. I miss you tons, and can't wait for the welcome back party crainess in the fall!!!!! (I know not everyone is in the pics, but there are just so many people it's impossible to all be in the same place at the same time.... but you know who you are!

Puhelinautomaatti suomalaisella kadulla

As the title said, "Payphone on a Finnish street."