Category Archives: in english
Following the rules when the locals don’t
I witnessed a very interesting event on the public transport a couple of days ago. I was taking the bus on Sunday back to my place in Espoo when the bus driver started an argument with a man of dark complexion since he was having a beer in the bus, which is forbidden.
His answer was quite interesting, as he said "Why can't I do that, if you see plenty of Finns who do?" which regardless of being prohibited actually is the case, especially during weekends or holidays such as Vappu. Even I have done so on a couple of occasions in my student days.
This strengthened my resolve to follow the rules to the T even when some people might not, regardless of whether it is fair or not. It's the easiest way to stay out of trouble.
Belgian Beer Review: Gulden Draak
This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.
A slightly fruity dark ale with a strong flavour and a beautiful chocolate colour. However, I don’t like beers where the taste of alcohol is too obvious, so this was not one of my favourites.
I found it in a bar in Finland while doing a beer tasting.
Wii users answer: Are you doing anything to counter global warming?
Wii users answer: Are you doing anything to counter global warming?
Originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado
I found this in the Everybody Votes Channel of my Wii. What worried me was that over 40% of the respondents aren’t doing something about a very real threat.
Cooking on TV
I guess after all the stereotype is changing, as I saw this guy on MTV3’s morning show and he was speaking flawless Finnish. From his name only I’m assuming he grew up here and has at least one Finnish parent.
Update: His name is Alex Nurmi and seems to be quite a popular guy, judging from his Google egosearch results. And yes, his mom is Finnish, his dad African. We need more examples like him on the media.
Korean Theatre Troupe
Quite an interesting show I found the other day in the middle of Helsinki.
Dancing in the park
Summer can be very pleasant in Finland indeed.
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 ;-).
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.