Quite an interesting show I found the other day in the middle of Helsinki.
All posts by chivacongelado
Dancing in the park
Summer can be very pleasant in Finland indeed.
Viva la hueva
Algunos de ustedes, queridos lectores, tal vez se acuerden de aquella canción de "Viva la Gente" que fue especialmente famosa en los años ochenta. En un momento de extremado cansancio (y humor muy simple, cabe señalar), le aplicamos un tratamiento que les sonará conocido a aquellos fans de La Guerra de las Galaxias que se hayan encontrado con las famosísimas Pants Wars. El resultado abajo:
"Viva la hueva
la hay donde quiera que vas.
Viva la hueva
que es lo que nos gusta más.
Con más hueva
a favor de hueva
en cada pueblo y nación
habría menos hueva difícil
y más hueva con corazón.
Habría menos hueva difícil
y más hueva con corazón…"
In Finland we have a lot to learn from the Canadians
When I was a high school student in Mexico, some of our classes had to do with the different characteristics of our North American neighbours, so I had some understanding on Canadian multiculturalism. However, I was pleasantly suprised in my visit to Vancouver when I basically didn’t feel like a foreigner there, as they’re very much used to people of varied appearance and culture, and their approach tends to be curious and inquisitive rather than hostile or uneasy.
There were three instances where their approach to multiculturalism showed through.
- The first one was on TV, where you had an Islamic preacher in one channel and a Christian in the next, both speaking English.
- Then they had a report in the CBC about their transmissions of the Stanley Cup, a quintessentially Canadian sports event… in Punjabi. I wondered if the Finnish Hockey World Cup games would ever be broadcast in Somali or, God spare me ;-), Russian.
- Finally, there was the Terry Fox Memorial at BC Place. What struck me was not only the story behind it, but the fact that their advertising includes the face of a girl of slightly Asian features. Given that Finnishness seems to be rooted in ethnicity that was a very refreshing, and at the same time sad detail, as I thought that in the end it would be easier for people like me to be Canadian than Finnish even though I’ve never even lived there. Somebody has to be the pioneer, though ;-).
Vain yksi joukosta
Kun olin Seattlessa pari viikkoa sitten eräässä tapahtumassa, siellä oli muutamia suomalaisia, jotka tapasin lähtölennoilla. He olivat hyvin ystävällisiä ja näimme Yhdysvalloissa useita kertoja. Oli todella hauskaa että pystyin vaan hengailla sekä heidän että meksikolaisten kanssa, joita oli myös muutamia.
On tosi mukavaa kun voin olla vain yksi joukosta.
Support the people, not the policies
I was leaving Seattle when I found this gentleman. He had recently come back from a tour of duty in Baghdad and I was so curious I just had to talk with him and get his impressions.
He said that war is hell, but he had to fulfill his duty which doesn’t surprise me. As much as I disagree with the reasons why they are there, I hope that both the soldiers and the people of Iraq can weather the current situation.
I was quite touched since he’s the first person I’ve ever met that is involved in a war, and talking to him he seemed pretty normal guy. I couldn’t help but wonder what would I do if I ever were in a similar situation.
Space Needle
Last week I spent a few days in Seattle for business, and was fortunate enough to visit the Space Needle, landmark of the city.
The view from up there is nothing short of spectacular, even though the food falls slightly short.
Tips for minimising culture shock
I was about to write an entry about how to minimise the effects of culture shock, but found out that Wikipedia already has a pretty competent article about it.
One thing that I can add, however, is to avoid the usage of the word "exotic", even in your thinking, as it assumes that your frame of reference, point of view, or "reality" is the only "true" one, therefore making the establishment of empathy and further understanding more difficult.
McDonald’s localisation
And I keep on joking that Tex-Mex is to Mexican food like this is to Finnish food…