Helsinki 1997: The Beginning of “Normalcy”
From the archives: It turns out that I was blogging long before anyone had ever heard the term “blog.” Twenty years ago I worked in Helsinki, Finland for a summer with the Finnish National Agency for Education to fund my studies as an exchange student in Estonia. While living overseas I created an online travelogue to keep my family and friends apprised of my experiences. My life has changed a lot the two decades since. This reprise is providing me with a glimpse at who I was back then and the excuse to learn more about more recent developments in my temporary home, even if some of the opinions that I expressed back then may make me a little bit uncomfortable today. It is interesting to see how people grow and change.
June 9-15, 1997
This week was the first week that I began to truly feel like I was settling into the routine of life here in Helsinki. Nothing absolutely spectacular hit me, but I think that is actually something of a good thing every once in a while. It means that I am starting to feel at home. I’m not there yet, but it’s definitely a good start.
10 June 1997
Tuesday
That felt good. After two weeks of not seeing anyone outside of this family and previously made friends, I finally got to meet new people and have conversations that had nothing to do with little children. A much needed respite.
CIMO, the organization that arranged my stay here, met at Ale Pub, a nice bar just off of Rautatie. I met some people from Britain, Australia, Germany and Canada, I bumped into one American and had a short introduction to an Estonian…I am happy to have broken out of an unpleasant rut.
11 June 1997
Wednesday
I can’t believe this.I just found my first Estonian station on the radio and am listening to my first real Estonian music in almost a year. It is fun to sit here and try to understand what they are saying. Conversations I can follow fairly well, and the news a little bit, but song lyrics are still in that domain of “what, huh?”
I spent most of today catching up on email and resting. I tried to lay out for a suntan, but the rapidly shifting sun and the tall trees prevented me from finding a clear spot for a long enough period of time. A short walk late this afternoon down to Jollas boat harbor. It is a nice place with several high quality, high class apartments, a small gravel jetty running out fifty meters and maybe ten to twenty motor boats. It is always wonderful to just sit and watch the boats going in and out, especially the sail boats,one one of the most beautiful things mankind ever created.
I went with Nina to Netta’s apartment for a birthday dinner. Netta’s birthday was a week ago tomorrow, This was the first time that we have had to get together since then.
12 June 1997
Thursday
Why does it seem like my best days are always Thursdays? Everything just seems to go right. Last night the kids were at their dad’s house so I did not have to stay with them today. Therefore, I went downtown and enjoyed the 47th annual Helsinki Day. There were several shows, special markets and a performance by one of the most famous songwriter/musician in Finland. Of course I had never heard of him. I bumped into Nina at the show. It felt good to just run into someone I knew. It truly is becoming a smaller place.
The evening was ended by a CIMO sports and sauna night. It was my first ever attempt at Finnish baseball. It is very much a similar game, but different in enough ways to throw my reflexes completely off. The bases are different, the catcher is the pitcher and you cannot strike out. There is enough there that the baseball instincts came through. I enjoyed the game, but will forever hate the gloves.
Following our baseball endeavor we ventured to the sauna. I never actually made it inside the sauna but had a wonderful time sitting and talking. A Canadian guy and I decided tonight the reason behind the “Ugly American” stereotype. In essence, every country has the same percentage of stupid, ignorant, moronic people. It is simply that there are more Americans than most other countries and because of the country’s prominence in world affairs, we tend to have a higher profile and therefore be more noticed when we send our ignorants abroad. Perhaps we should give people I.Q. tests before presenting them with passports. It couldn’t hurt our international image any.
