Dedication

I am making an appointment to get mine next week.

Now one can understand how the Finns were able to wait in the 44km line for semis at the Russian border. And I thought the lines at the polls of the last US presidential election were bad...

Calvin and Hobbes, 28 Oct 1995

As many of you know, life has been a little less than optimal (some might even say crazy) for me as of late. This made me smile though.

Spats

An evening out with my home girls.

Google Adsense-less?

Ok so one more post today then I seriously need to study for this exam and do some research. Google AdSense ads are popping up everywhere. They are kinda annoying, but for the most part pretty harmless. Their simplicity, at least, can be appreciated. When checking my email the other day, however, the ads google chose to show to me based upon key words that appeared on the email I was reading (in Finnish) were too ridiculous not to share. Normally it does pretty good about picking up on language and giving ads in the language of the page or at least suggesting products that will help you "Learn a foreign language." But come on! I don't think they're gonna find a person who wear's the stylish(?) Moi shoes and stays at Moi cottages who also is ordering Chinese car parts from Hei ignition distributor. Geeze... And there was a lot more to the message conversations than a simple "hi." Err... yeah!

More Finnish GQ

After researching for that last post I got sucked into the GQ website. Yeah, I know I have so much work to do and yada yada yada. Anyway, I found another Finnish focus tucked away in their pages.

In an article entitled "Strong Finnish" GQ highlights architectural genius Eero Saarinen and the new traveling museum that is finally opening to display the depth of his skill. Right now the exhibit is in Helsinki, but it will travel to Oslo, DC and NYC. Those not familiar with his work should take a look here or here. It's very possible you've stood in one of his creations without realizing it.

Helsinki in GQ!!!!

I'm addicted to GQ. I'll admit it. I love the magazine and archive my copies meticulously (for those of you who don't know GQ, short for Gentleman's Quarterly, though it is actually a monthly, is a magazine for men that talks about just about everything a gender-specific magazine would- fitness, style, food, booze, music, books, etc.).You can imagine my surprise then, when I was flipping through my most recent issue and in the travel section highlighting the best winter escapes, tucked between two tropical islands and coming in at number 2, I found none other than my beloved Helsinki.

Why Helsinki? The article says Helsinki has "transformed itself into a design capital and has some of Europe's best shopping, hotels, and restaurants." Among the places reccomended are Klaus K and Ilmatar, of course Chez Dominique, the Finnish design staples Iittala and Marimekko, and (surprsingly) the Old Student House Vanha.

As part of this list, each location's best attraction is hailed under the heading "If you only do one thing...." So what do you think they picked for Helsinki? Or better yet, what would you do if you could only do one thing?

Finns study the Midwest

Perhaps now somebody can better understand some of the things I was talking about when discussing my hometown and life in the midwest prior to Brown and my times in Finland. Päivi Järvinen was featured in [this] article as a member of a group of Finnish teachers who are taking part in a 2 week exchange program with peers in Illinois.

The article is rather disappointing when one looks at it. It completely leaves out the cultural exchange that is to be the product instead exotifing the Finn and Finnish life to an absurd extent. The Finnish place names are sometimes misspelt and the information exaggerated or blatantly wrong. Nonetheless, the fact that such exchanges are taking place is good to hear, and I would be interested in reading the reports that the participants make.

More from the B-day

As promised, here are a few more birthday pics.

More on Finnish drinking

Analys Norden has recently published a piece from Finnish correspondent Markku Heikkilä concerning drinking in Finland, present and future. The article is [here] in Swedish, but I'll post the english text below as I have only been able to find this through subscribing to the daily newsletter. Basically, the article points out that the leading cause of death among Finns 45+ is brain damage as a result of heavy drinking. It also highlights aspets of teen drinking culture few are surprised by. Estonia's cheap booze is cited as the cause for the recent lowering of alcohol taxes, but the nowstable import from Finns traveling to and from Estonia means that the next Parliament will look into significantly raising those taxes.

What does all this mean? It's hard to say. Even raising the alcohol tax won't stop Finns from getting intentionally drunk the average 32 times a year that they already do. It's likely that they will either go for even cheaper booze, like koskenkorva (much stronger than beer) and drink in their homes instead of in the bars and clubs, or else alcohol will become more precious a commodity and it will be reserved for times when one can really get plastered instead of grabbing a pint after work (yes I know, the finns can't count to one, nonetheless). Even if people drink less frequently it doesn't fix the problem of abuse. Of course this is all just my guessing, but I'd say it's legit and tax isn't the answer.

Gonna try to catch up on posting finally this weekend. Here's the article text in English:

Finnish alarm over alcohol deaths

"I only drank 12 bottles of beer on Friday night."
It is not unusual for young Finnish girls of 15 to make comments like that. The most common cause of death for Finns aged 45+ is brain damage as a result of heavy drinking.
On average, Finns get drunk – deliberately – 32 times a year!
Alarm bells have started to ring among politicians involved in welfare issues.

Markku Heikkilä is a journalist and editorial writer for the popular Finnish newspaper Kalevaas well as a regular contributor to AnalysNorden, the Nordic Council of Ministers' monthly web magazine featuring political analyses from all of the Nordic countries. In the most recent edition of AnalysNorden, which is published today, Heikkilä paints a shocking picture of what a major cut in the price of alcohol can lead to, especially for social groups already marginalised in Finland.

"In the grand scheme of things, the Finns are doing altogether fine," Heikkilä says. But, he continues, averages never reveal the whole truth. Last autumn it emerged that 20-30% of kids in Greater Helsinki grow up in families with abuse problems, violence, crime and other forms of neglect. This number has increased rapidly in an extremely short period of time, much to the shock of the general public in Finland.

Even though the causes are not solely linked to extreme alcohol consumption, Heikkilä points out that a mere two years ago Finland was propelled into a huge socio-political experiment: what happens if duty on alcohol is suddenly cut by a third, and duty on spirits by 40%? The answer is literally to be found, according to Heikkilä, on the streets, with increasing numbers of drunks staggering about towns at the weekend.

So why this the experiment? Well, the main reason for the drastic price cuts was that Estonia was about to join the EU and, as a result, import restrictions had to be abolished. In Finland, it was feared that this would lead to huge amounts of cheap spirits from Estonia flooding the country. Import levels are now under control. So now the Finns are drinking alcohol bought in Finland and abroad, Heikkilä notes ironically.

It now looks as if there is a majority in the population and in parliament in favour of increasing duties, and possibly of cutting opening hours in off-licenses. The next general election is in 2007 and any new government is expected to discuss raising the price of alcohol quite considerably.

Alcohol policies in the Nordic Region will be debated during the Nordic Council Session in Copenhagen 30 October – 2 November. Welfare policies in the Nordic countries will also be an important theme during the general debate this year.

Thank you!

 Just wanted to say a quick thanks to everyone who sent along birthday wishes last Thursday.  It really was a magnificent day due to all of those who were thinking of me.  Thank you!  More pics from the day will come soon.

Silvia Night = Whale Killer

Yep, it's true.  The infamous Icelandic star now represents something more than insanity.  Iceland, a member of the International Whaling Commission that has banned hunting of whales renigged on its membership promises by killing a fin whale today, sunday.  (That's fin, not Finn).  The Icelandic people now join Norway as the only countries to hunt whale commecially.

Hahaha- she said swedish.

 

Porn-mongers?

The Nordic council news this month highlighted pornography in the Nordic countries. In [this] article a study claims that no fewer than 99% of Nordic males and 86% of Nordic females (92% of the total Young (adult?) population have been exposed to porn. No fewer than 99%? While I realize the attitude is much more relaxed, many already believe there to be fewer taboos than there actually are. My mind goes immediately to the experience where some German tourists, believing liberal Scandinavia meant you could frolic anywhere clotheless and take pictures of each other making out in ankle-deep water did just that. This article's summation will seemingly only further this misperception. I say this because I believe that the definition of pornogaphy used must have been VERY loose (no pun intended). I can't back this up with facts, but if someone could translate part of the actual report [here], I would greatly appreciate it. Even in a liberal population there are segments who, due to religious values, moral beliefs, or a slew of other factors (fear of getting caught by mom and dad?) would abstain from looking at pornographic material.

Jeps

Sorry nothing has appeared here the last few days. I finally got a new job, have been busy with school, and was having too much fun riding the purple dinosaur.Anyway, some of this is obviously dated but here it is.

• Espoo city council approved extension of the Helsinki Metro beyond Ruohalahti. Costs are expected to be about a half billion euros.
• Death is apparently a field of research at the University of Kuopio. Oh those Savolaiset.
• Progress in the Tikka murder? Even Finnish court proceedings seem more to the point.
• (unrelated, except that I get to take a stab at Swedes) One-third of Swedish doctors unhappy and burnt out. They do live in Sweden after all, so it's not entirely unexpected. (good natured kidding, of course) In all seriousness though, when 1/3 of your doctors have suicidal thoughts, something is obviously up.
• Irish people are twice as trashy as the Finns.