Category Archives: in english

in english

Hudson hotel review

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Hudson Hotel lobby bar

In my recent trip to New York City I stayed at the Hudson in 58th street, as the location fit my needs to the T. The experience, however, was not that pleasant even if the staff were really attentive: basically, that architect (renowned Philippe Starck) should have been fired as the place is absolutely not user-friendly even if it is designed to be chic.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not against good design (after all, I live in Finland, cradle of Alvar Aalto where the touch of the Nordic movement can be seen almost everywhere) but in my book good design has to be both aesthetically pleasing and functional.

On arrival (at midnight and completely jetlagged) I couldn’t find the hotel as there is no sign with its name at the entrance, only a “hole” with two lamps made to look like torches on its side.  Going inside there are no signs, so I had to guess that the check-in was to be performed in the big desk that looked more like a bar.  On reaching my room, I realised it was not small by NY standards but positively tiny as there was only space for the bed and my luggage didn’t even fit, and noisy to boot.  I asked for a change due to the airplane-grade noise coming from one of the machines outside and got to a less noisy location, where I realised that the sound insulation was terrible anyway and I could hear pretty much everything (and I mean everything) coming from my neighbouring rooms and walkways.

With that I fell asleep, but my surprises continued in the morning when I realised that my legs were too long to be able to sit in the loo (and I’m only 183 cm./6 ft. tall!). That was too much for me and I asked for an upgrade or a change of hotel.  Later that week I found out that the lobby bar is a favourite location with the hipsters of the city, which means there is a lot of noise every weekend before you escape to your room.  The hotel does have a couple of very nice bars, even if beers are 9 bucks a pop.

  • + Location, staff, chic factor (for those who care)
  • – Design user-friendliness, noise, room sizes
  • Recommended for: teenagers and young adults.
  • Not recommended for: business travellers, families
  • Would I stay there again? Only for the right price as now I know what is the catch.
in english

Mother’s Day

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In Finland, mothers are celebrated on the second Sunday of May.  In Mexico, the date is fixed on May 10th.  Therefore, yesterday was the first in  long time when I could celebrate at the same time with my mom and my in-laws.

Other than that, traditions are relatively similar.  Family lunch and maybe some gifts or cards for the päivänsankari / homenajeada.

in english

Learn to give presentations

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One situation I encounter time and again is people who have great insight but cannot communicate it forward as they haven’t learned to give a presentation.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I’m an expert nor that it is easy to do.  However, the ability to give presentations is an absolutely fundamental skill regardless of your profession, and is something that I feel is not stressed enough in Finnish education (I remember one of my teachers in Belgium used to complain about that after having seen many Finnish exchange students), to the detriment of business here (I am yet to count how many times I’ve heard that “We have great ideas but don’t know how to sell them“).

I haven’t tried them (most of what I know about speaking in public I learned in Models United Nations as a teenager), but I understand a good way to improve in this area is to try Toastmasters.  They even have a Helsinki chapter.

in english

Maybe people are getting used to “the different”?

Last week something interesting happened.  I was walking to the store and in quick succession two unrelated strangers spoke to me in Finnish, like any other person, asking questions about the neighbourhood or directions.

Why is this significant?  Because I don’t have the stereotypical Finnish complexion nor facial features and dress in a very particular way (jeans, black jacket and texano cowboy hat this time), so more often than not people will address me in English or refrain to do so.

As said in the title, maybe people around here are getting used to “the different”, as they have in other places like Brussels or Stockholm.

in english

Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day

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That’s September 16th.  I assume it’s celebrated in the United States for two reasons:

  1. It was a victory over the French and we all know how some sectors of the American public love to hate the French
  2. General Ignacio Zaragoza, who led the Mexican troops at that battle, was born in what is now Texas when it was still part of Mexico, so its background resounds with Mexican-Americans.

Although it is certainly celebrated in some parts of Mexico, the whole brouhaha they make north of the border as “Mexican heritage day” is as alien to most Mexicans as hard-shelled tacos.