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.)