12 things that can happen when you are NOT in Finland

1. Guys are openly adjusting their crotches

2. Taxi drivers are spitting several times from the window while they have client sitting in a car

3. Drivers are honking just to let you know that they are behind, on the left side, passing by, driving in the road...

4. People wear colourful clothes

5. People wear sport socks (tennis socks) with dark jeans

6. People complain that there is something wrong in their portion they just got from the waiter

7. Food has chili on it

8. People answer with your question "How are you?" with a question "How are you?"

9. You meet people less than 35 yo who can't speak English

10. You enter night club without queueing

11. You ordered your coffee from the table in a café

12. Your collegue do ot have week numbers in their calendar

Extract from a column telling the life of expat family in Siberia in Russia in a "Kodin kuvalehti"

Do not ask from a Russian what is s/he going to do on a becoming weekend you'll only get an odd eye look. S/he'll answer to you that s/he is going to rest, of course. Resting means some home chores, walking in the park, drinking tea with family and shopping.

Spending spare time here is lacking the neurotic organizing and time perspective is way shorter than we (i.e. Finnish) are used to. For example using week numbers when agreeing meetings make Russians laugh out loud...

Doesn't it sound somewhat familiar to you?

Flow & Helsinki Art Week

Music festival in the middle of the city

Takes place in Helsinki from August 13th to 15th

Practical and very atmospheric. Those are the words how I would describe Flow-festival. It is held almost in the middle of the city. Only 10 minutes walk from my flat, in fact. Therefore it is perfect festival that allows you to enjoy the comfort of enjoying your own warm blankets and pillows. Besides all this fun they had quite strict maximum amount of attendees which makes the festival not being overcrowded. That is especially great for a short guy like me so I actually can see something.

Last summer I had 3-day ticket and that is the plan also this year. My first Flow-experience was magnifique and I had chance to see adorable Grace Jones, Ladyhawke, New Young Pony Club, crying Lily Allen among others. This year there'll be plenty of good artists to wait for; Air, LCD Soundsystem, Villa Nah, Robyn, Junip, Maria Gasolina (This is a must see for Brazilians since they are mainly covering Brazilian songs!!!), Miike Snow, Husky Rescue, Jonsi from Sigur Ros, Yona & Liikkuvat Pilvet

Weeks of installations, concerts, art on the streets

Helsinki Festival takes place in Helsinki in different venues from August 20th to September 5th.

Helsinki Festival is something I have missed so far but maybe this year is my chance even though it seems I will be part of it in Norway. This event provides art in all of its forms from popular culture to high culture whether it contains movement, sound, picture or all together.

Part of Helsinki Festival is The night of the Art which is also infamous because Helsinki gets full of the celebrating people including heaps of teenagers. Not that it is infamous because celebrating itself but people are getting rather wasted and guys have to relieve themselves by peeing in the streets. :)

Circus for Cassi:
Circo Aereo: Ro-pu
6 shows starting from thursday 26/8
A fascinating contemporary circus showcase, making its debut at Helsinki Festival., Les Colporteurs: Le fil sous la neige
10 shows starting from wednesday 25/8
The atmosphere is thick with excitement as the tightrope walkers of this French troupe defy gravity.
Zimmermann & de Perrot: Chouf Ouchouf
Saturday 21/8 - Monday 23/8
This new circus performance invites us to confront our fears, to face up to difference.

Action needed from you!

If you want to get tickets to some of the days for Flow festival let me know ASAP. I will most prob have 3-day ticket. They are soon sold out.

If you want to get tickets to some of the events (concerts, circus, exhibition etc.)for Helsinki Festival let me know ASAP. They are soon sold out. I have 15% discount to some of the events through my employer.

Rays of light

Winter time

Even though there is time during the winter when the hours of the day we are receiving here in Finland is rather limited we get our share of it at least other seasons. We really have four different kind of seasons. There are many differences between them but I am trying to explore them through the type of light.

During the darkest winter time it is sometimes recommended people to eat extra dose of D-vitamin because the biggest organ of human body, skin, produces D-vitamin with the help of sunshine. With such little amount of sunshine people are not receiving enough D-vitamin while being in the offices during the lightest times of the days. Northern parts of Finland the time is called Kaamos and they really do not have much light during December. In Helsinki we do have much much more than them. Difference is big.

Last couple of year there has been trend for alarm clock lights those are imitating natural morning light. Some claim that it is easier to wake up to a dark winter morning with the help of such light. I have thought about getting one those to myself as well even though it could be just another sold device to a guy who was caught by an advertisement.

January and February are usually snowy maybe exception of Helsinki where it could be that not much snow is in the ground unlike it was this year. Bright white snow reflects light so it easily multiplies the amount of light whenever it comes from the sun or moon.

I am not big fun of winter. Since you have summer time when we are having winter so maybe you have chance to spend your holiday in Brazil during the darkest winter months in Finland. Then you could stay nice summer months in Finland. What a perfect solution!

Opera in Finland - by special guest author Jussi Salonen

Opera scene in Finland

The opera scene in Finland is very small. There's only one professional house, the National Opera. I think their new productions are pretty good, recently they have started to use more visiting (foreign) singers and it has definately spiced things up a bit. If you have a valid Finnish student card (I don't know if international student cards are accepted), you can buy floor seat ticket for 10 € on the day of the show for main stage, if there's seats available. The normal ticket prices start from around 28€ for adults (50% off if you're a student), I think. In the main stage, there's subtitles usually in Finnish and English (for operetta performed in Finnish, the subtitles are in Finnish and Swedish).

What is there besides National Opera?

In addition to the National Opera, there's some professional opera activity outside Helsinki. In Tampere, they do one opera every year, and they've had very good soloists, last years production of Verdi's Don Carlo featured Camilla Nylund as Elisabetta and Tommi Hakala as Rodrigo. The tickets though can be pricy (for next years Magic Flute, the normal ticket prices are 65/84/98 €), because they don't get as much public funding as the National Opera. There's regional opera societies also in Vaasa, Kokkola, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Mikkeli and Kuopio.

Savonlinna Opera Festival

In the summer time, there's the infamous Savonlinna Opera Festival, in Savonlinna, in Eastern Finland. Their soloists are pretty high scale and the stage is inside a medieval castle (fortress).

Studying Opera

Outside the professional scene, there's some schools that make student productions. The only opera program in Finland is in the Sibelius Academy where I study at the moment. There's usually one fully staged production with orchestra and one "black box" production (with piano accompaniment) per year. In the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (AMK) in Helsinki, they tend to do one or two operas every year and there's some opera done at least in the music programs of AMK's in Tampere, Oulu, Turku and Kuopio.

Childhood in Finland

Word of warning

Human being is plastic but no one can claim that environment (whether social or physical) does not have its ways to shape our being also in latter parts of our lives. I have my experiences. I only remember some of them. I only want explicitly reflect some of them. That makes this text highly subjective but at least this Finn sincere thinks that these could be the things that molded my peace of "human plastic". Maybe you'll find discrepancies between my Finnish childhood and your Brazilian ones.

Early years

My mother did not take extensively long maternity or care leaves after having me but she returned to the factory she was working. I was then taken to home care that is quite typical alternative for kindergarden to take kids when parents are working. Before school years I was in three different home care places. The idea is that some people, usually mothers, take couple more kids to their home during the days to earn money. I absolutely loved the first one, Tuula-täti. The two other were ok as well. My mother do not have driver's licence and it was either my mother who take me/pick me up from care by bike (whether it was -25 celsius or + 25 celsius) or father by bike. Depending on their work days. My mother had a 2 shift work at factory so of course I was home when either of my parent was home.

When I turned 6, I was about to change home care but I cried, cried because I was not happy with the home cares we visited. I insisted to stay home. This is not definetely common that 6 years old stays home alone in Finland. My sister was then 15 and she came rather early home so basically every second week my mother was home until my sister came back from school and she went to night shift. Other days I spent lot of time at my friend's places who happened to have housewife type of mother, or then I played in our yard. Everything went just fine. It went so fine that my parents decide that even though it started as temporary solution they did not find/force me to home care anymore.

School years

Having step sister, really good friend of mine nowadays, is not always easy when one is young. Oh, that amount of teasing and bullying. :) I guess that is part of normality in every culture whenever there are siblings.

Living in small town where forest and nature is near. We mostly played our plays outside. Climbed up the trees, building things, playing ice hockey, swimming, playing hide & seek, laying down in the grass in late summer evening and watching stars together with friends. I guess our mothers were most parts happy having us outside to keep the noise down inside.

My primary school was small village school where classes were so small that classrooms were combined always kids two birthyear groups. It was fun time. During our Christmas season parties where we get our diplomas I was at acting at least twice Santa Claus in Xmas play. Our school was experimental school so from the grade 4th we got weekly tasks in different subjects (math, social sciences (include religion, geography, biology, history etc), mother language etc.) and only some typical classes were held. We delivered some of our weekly task as a group work or some as a results of independent effort. Sometimes we delivered essays, some times videos and so on. We also had video recorder and editing table there and we loved to do music videos. I was once Prince, oh I wish, I would still have those videos. It would be so much fun.

When the week was ending we checked together or presented our work to the class and teacher. I think for me this system of education work fine and I really really enjoyed primary school.

Teenagehood

Elementary school from 12 to 15 was not so fun anymore. Teenagers and their tiny problems me being one of the teenager. High school however was probably one most enjoyable time. My childhood happened to end at the same time when yearly tradition of Balls were held in Orimattila. My absolute favorite was Salty Dog Rag. In the link the tradition still continues but nine years after when I was part of it. :) I turned eighteen then and the world was open. Also doors to the nightclub opened up. Year after that it was military service before university.

What a nostalgy trip it was to write this!

"You know you've been in Finland too long when..."

YOU KNOW YOU HAVE BEEN IN FINLAND TOO LONG, WHEN……
(source Facebook, Miika's comments added)

1. You rummage through your plastic bag collection to see which ones you should keep to take to the store and which can be sacrificed to garbage

Been there done that, how about you?


2. As you walk past the Parliament Building in Helsinki, and see the statue is titled "Svinhufvud" you no longer read it as "Swinehead"… instead you think "What a good Swedish name!"

No comments.

3. When a stranger on the street smiles at you:
a. you assume he's drunk
b. he is insane
c. he's an American

Unfortunately I usually choose the option b.) when thinking why a people was smiling in the street. Only well reasoned reason in the street for smiling is when talking with someone on the phone.

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

Most brilliant thing in Finland is the cupboard where we can dry our dishes.

5. A friend asks about your holiday plans and you answer, "Oh, I'm going to Europe!" meaning any other Western European country outside Scandinavia.

Yes, when we are talking about Europe, we are not talking Nordic countries. But god bless those foreigners who comes to us and claims that Finland is not part of Europe.

6. You no longer scrunch up or fold your paper money. You always put it in your wallet

Of course, every respectable person have a wallet.

7. You see a student take a front row seat and wonder "Who does he think he is!!??"

I know she/he is nerd!

8. Silence is fun

It is maybe not fun but it can be relaxing.

9. The reason you take the ferry to Stockholm is
a. Duty free vodka
b. Duty free beer
c. To party hard….no need to get off the boat in Stockholm, just turn around and do it again on the way back to Finland

Here we are talking about the boat you have been already. Viking Line!!!

10. Your coffee consumption exceeds 6 cups a day and coffee is too weak if there is less than 10 scoops per pot

You know already Finnish coffee.

11. You pass a grocery store and think "Wow, I had better go in an buy something!"

I wonder where this comes from, somebody explain me!

12. Your native language has seriously deteriorated, now you begin to "eat medicine", "open the television", "close the lights" ´, and tell someone "you needen't to!"
Expressions like "Don't panic" creep into your everyday language.

My native is Finnish. Sorry guys if your beautiful Brazilian Portuguese gets deteriorated.

13. You associate pea soup with Thursdays

Not only pea soup but pea soup pancake combo!

14. Your idea of unforgivable behaviour now includes walking across the street when the light is red and there is no WALK symbol, even though there are no cars in sight

We are law obeying people here.

15. Your notion of streetlife is reduced to the few teenagers hanging out in front of the railway station on Friday nights

Haha, yes, probably true. No Favelas here.

16. Your bad mood becomes your good mood

Hey, this depressing thought, I disagree.

17. Sundays no longer seem dull with all the stores closed, and begin to feel restful instead

They recently changed some laws and more stores are open on Sundays but not all, not all. It was God himself who told rest on Sundays.

18. "No comment" becomes a conversation strategy

Politicians.

19. You finally stop asking your class "Are there any questions?"

We do not ask, we know.

20. The fact that all of the "v's" and the "w's" are together in the phone directory seems right

For us they are same letter and pronounced same way. W is just old fashioned V.

21. Your old habit of being "Fashionably late" is no longer acceptable. You are always on time

Sorry guys.

22. Hugging is reserved for sexual foreplay

Not true, hugging without being foreplay happens even in Porvoo.

23. You begin to understand Jussi Jyylanpaarvi's broadcast of the hockey game

Never heard.

24. You refuse to wear a hat, even in –30 degree weather

My personal problem.

25. You hear loud-talking passengers on the train. You immediately assume:
a. they are drunk
b. they are Swedish-speaking
c. they are American
d. all of the above

How disgraceful it is not give others their silence! :)

26. You give up on trying to find fat-free food and pile on the butter, cream and sugar

I consider we are health conscious.

27. You know how to fix herring in 105 different ways

I hate herring.

28. You eat herring in 105 ways

See above.

29. You no longer look at sports wear as casual wear, but recognize them as semi-formal wear

Hmm..it is always better when there is less clothes to iron. We do not have housemaids.

30. You can now reconstruct the missing letters on a building. For example :MERI…….LITTO OY

31. You have undergone a transformation
a. You accept mustamakkara (Black-blood sausage) as food
b. You accept alcohol as food
c. You accept

You better do!

32. You understand why the Finnish language has no future tense

"Preesens" is handy it can be used for future tense as well.

33. You no longer have to search for the flushing mechanism

What?

34. You no longer see a problem in wearing white socks with loafers

You never did see any problems with your white sport socks in Brazil. Let us keep our socks with loafers. Even our president did that.

35. You no longer correct people who say MAC Donald's

What?

36. You just love Jaffa

Better than Fanta.

37. You've come to expect Sunday morning sidewalk vomit dodging

Not really, but occasionally, if you are lucky you can find vomit in bus and tram stops.

38. You know that "religious holiday" means, "let's get pissed."

True.

39. You enjoy salmiakki

Of course you do, right, Marcelo?

40. You know that "men's public bathroom" is another phrase for sidewalk

If help is needed answer can be close.

41. You know that more than three channels means cable

Currently more than four.

42. You get all Swedish jokes

Swedish are something to laugh about!

43. When you're hungry you can peel a boiled potato like lightning

My mother used to peel the potatoes before boiling and I am so ashamed since I am so clumsy peeling my boiled potatoes. I try to avoid do that in public. And this was true story.

44. You've become lactose intolerant

Many of us are. It makes people farting. Welcome, haha :)

45. You accept that 80 degrees C in a sauna is chilly, but 20 degrees C outside is freaking hot.
Also, you accept -30 outside as a reasonable temperature, but anythuing under 22 indoors is unreasonable...

That's how it is.

46. You give the air hostess your undivided attention when she demonstrates how to fasten, tighten and unbuckle your seatbelt. You eye the person sitting next to you suspiciously when they don't do the same.

No idea. I am already sleeping before take off.

47. You don't waste alcohol. When you spill your drink on the desk and actually contemplate slurping it up anyway

Hmph

48. You stop asking "how are you" when you meet people. It's just plain "hi" or "mmph" or *nod*. Communicating becomes less and less important...

We do say "Mitä kuuluu?" (=how are you?) which is literally "What are you hearing?". Isn't that little ironic here.

49. It doesn't matter what nationality the other person is, they'll understand finnish as long as you talk really loud. If this doesn't help, just talk very slow (but still very, very loud).

Haha, I could see my father or mother talking to foreigners.

50. Upon hearing finnish when abroad, you immediately duck for cover and hope they go away. Whatever you do, you in NO WAY, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE utter a single finnish word (By god, they might want to come and talk to you, as if that was completely acceptable finnish behaviour when not in Finland!)

I am the opposite.

51. You start to believe that pulla is a treat.

Oh yes, it is, especially korvapuusti type of pulla. Can you think of anything better than freshly baked pulla (still warm) and glass of cold milk!

52. When jumping into a lake to sober up and then carry on drinking seems like sound advice!

Oh, summer and summer cottages.

53. You sincerely believe that Fazerin sininen is the best chocolate in the world.

One of the best, if not best. It beats Marabou at least anytime.

54. You find it normal to drink milk with your meals.

My fathers been doing that non-stop 72 years. Unique thing in Finland is that we have big selection of milks and most people drink no-fat milk nowadays.

55. You eat dinner at 6 PM and understand the concept of iltapala.

Overexaggerating. However "early bird catches the worm".

56. You think it’s normal to pay 50% income taxes.

Money is relational concept. Like wealthiness.

57. You understand why people talk about church boats (kirkkovene) all the time.

Or spiders...

58. You answer the phone by saying your name rather than 'hello'.

With the table phone we say our whole name.

59. You understand the question ‘What’s your gallery nick?’

I do but I do not have my own. www.irc-galleria.net

Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing is nothing exactly that Finnish but as a foreigner it is a community which you can find useful in many ways. Couchsurfing is about trade but trade in more general sense. You give and you get, but you may give to someone and you may from get it back someone else at some point of life. Basis of trade here is place to sleep, friendly advice from other person who is curious about other globetrotters, cup of coffee. When I couchsurf the only thing I can expect is a place to sleep, but I have always received much more than that (rides from train station to host’s home, city tours, good advices what to see, what to do, interesting discussions…)

My experience

I have been Couchsurfing member since 2006 when Ildi introduced me to it. First year I did not do anything with it. When I moved to Bratislava 2007 I couchsurfed my first nights at Matus while searching my own flat. Matus is still friend of mine. I met him last time in New Year 2010.

After my first couchsurfing experience I have been couchsurfing myself, once in Graz, Austria, twice in Budapest (the other time I was couchsurfing with Ilka), in Brno, Czech Republic, Chicago, USA and Poprad, Slovakia. Not only I have couchsurfed but I have hosted Brazilian, American, Welsh, New Zealanders, Hungarian, Portuguese and Italian couchsurfer. Not only it is cheap way to travel but one is gaining much more experiences and get way more out of travelling when getting advices from local people. I have been amazed so many times how friendly people are.

The idea is that one makes profile to www.couchsurfing.org that is basically ad in the marketplace. You can modify your ad depending your life situation. Not all the people have possibility to provide place to sleep but they are happy to show city around to someone.

Helsinki Group

In the couchsurfing society there are many different groups relating to interests or locations. One of the group in Helsinki Group. It is volunteer group. They organize meetings once a week at Talo bar that is in Hakaniemi, not far from my place. That one chance to you meet other expats, exchange students, tourists visiting Finland and Finnish people willing to share their time with foreigners. Besides regular meetings they organize happening on special occasions (Midsummer, MayDay etc.).

They have also active (really) forum from where people have found recently free Viking Line tickets to Stockholm and back, help with moving (car and powerfull guys to move the furnitures), models to her artwork. You can decide to either receive messages sent to the forum to your email or not.

Therefore I suggest you to consider if you’d be up to joining Couchsurfing!

You can find me there under the profile name MIIKA

Good luck!