Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Hyvää ruokahalua (bon appetite)!

I promised myself that I would dedicate a blog post to memorable foods I tried or saw in Finland. Of course, there are many dishes and tastes, so I've limited the list to five:

1.
From what I've seen, pulla is the staple pastry of Finland. It's a sweet bread with cardamon spice, and baked in various shapes. I've seen pulla sold in every bakery that I've been to, in grocery stores, at the university and in train stations.



(Best served warm and eaten with coffee, pulla is a joy for the sweet tooth.)
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2. Salmiakki. Wow, where to begin. This salty liquorice, popular in the Nordic Countries, is eaten as candy, and as flavoring in cakes, ice cream and alcoholic beverages. On Wikipedia, someone warns that it is "an acquired taste and people not familiar with ammonium chloride might find the taste physically overwhelming and unlikeable."

http://blog.14days.ne.jp/carina/salmiakki.jpg

http://www.itusozluk.com/image/salmiakki_70404.jpg

Most international students tried it for the first time by mistake. One friend got salmiakki on her vanilla ice cream, thinking that it was a dark chocolate topping. "The taste was an absolute shock," she commented on my post about salmiakki. "Until then I had no idea such a flavour existed!!!" Another friend bought carrot cake with what she thought were pieces of chocolate on top. She was not happy. In response to the post, my Finnish friend Henri joked: "Salmiakki is "an acquired taste, not for pansies." -Henripedia".

I discovered salty licorice for the first time this summer, when I thought I was buying a pack of mints. It was the weirdest taste I've ever encountered. Despite my facial expressions, everyone in my class tried it, and everybody disliked it except for one girl. Actually, she loved it.

If you'd like to try Salmiakki, let me know and I'll try to send you some. It's everywhere here.
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3. I filmed some international students' responses to Mämmi, a traditional Finnish Easter dessert three weeks ago (view it here). Mämmi is a thick porridge made from water, rye flour and powdered rye malt. It is baked, stored in the fridge and served with sugar and cream. It was a Germanic invention, and remains a very typical desert in Finland.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lj6l6pgumN1qg1kw2.png

(Mämmi comes in second to Salmiakki for strange tastes.)

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4. I haven't actually tried Leipäjuusto (bread cheese), but I've noticed it at every grocery store I've been to. Leipäjuusto is also known as Finnish squeaky cheese, and it is fresh cheese made from cow's milk, and traditionally from cow's beestings. The texture is firm, slippery and rubbery.

http://noonionplease.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/leipajuusto24.jpg

Before I knew what it was, I thought it was mozzarella cheese that I could heat up and eat with olive oil and salt. Actually, I heard it's eaten as a desert or with coffee. I'd really like to try it!*

*Update: I just tried it. It definitely squeaks as you chew it. I don't like the flavor at all. It's like salty milk. But I'm not much of a milk drinker. Anyway...
  • More information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leip%C3%A4juusto
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5. One bite into Riisipiirakka (Karelian pasties), and I'm in heaven.

Karjalanpiirakka

Riisipiirakka has a hard crust made of rye and wheat, and it is filled with a rice porridge filling. The dish comes from Karelia, which is situated between Russia and Finland. It is best served hot and with a topping of blended boiled eggs and salted butter.
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We eat food for survival. We eat food for pleasure. We share and pass down recipes with attached culture, history and stories. I hope you enjoyed reading about some of the foods I found interesting in Finland!

Note: Cultural significance and pleasurable experiences shouldn't steal the limelight from hunger, the number one risk to health. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, 925 million people in the world are hungry. You can find out more about hunger on the World Food Programme's website: http://www.wfp.org/.

If you're in Eugene, consider helping out Food for Lane County: http://www.foodforlanecounty.org/en/.

translating what's inside

I've spent the past two days in almost a constant state of conversation. Speaking, listening, responding, nodding, associating experiences, choosing silence, arguing, laughing... I was most interested in learning about role playing games, Bangladesh and protest culture in different countries. Our discussions flowed through the cafeteria, over coffee, on walks home and into my room. S, Z and I got into our deep and analytical talks, always with good humor, leaving me light and refreshed. This night, we parted two hours past midnight.

How can we explain this therapeutic feeling gotten from conversations with other people? Maybe it has to do simply with human connection, stress-release and self-improvement. Does our sometimes aching desire for expressing thoughts to others reveal dependency and insecurity?



(Paper crane by Albert; photo by Pablo)

In any case, I really appreciate the safe spaces we can share thoughts and opinions in. I appreciate the people I feel comfortable sharing them with.

No more thinking for now. Time for sleep. Then, I have a lot of studying to do.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

The sky is falling!

My studies were interrupted by a loud fire alarm about 15 minutes ago. I thought about staying inside, as the last two warnings were false, but finally I left my room and walked toward the front door.

Firemen came, checked out the situation, stopped the alarm, and told us something in Finnish that we didn't understand. A friend said someone had burned food in the oven. Federiko was not happy. He was in the middle of watching Top Gun. "And when I watch Top Gun, I cannot be interrupted," he said. Anton (from Canada) was listening to music through earphones, and didn't hear the alarm. He read about it on the Lapinkaari facebook page.

Suddenly, someone announced that it was snowing. I looked outside, opened the door and felt a surge through my body -- it was finally snowing!* I walked outdoors and felt like I walked into a giant toy snowball with soft pieces of cotton falling from the sky. It was a serene and wispy scene.

The weather probably won't let the snow stick this week, but it was a nice preview for the heart of winter. It topped off an evening with a group of friends, listening to festive music, eating christmas cookies and drinking the German version of glögi (with wine). For dinner I had some mac and cheese that Maiko sent me.

Here is an awesome documentary that we saw during the seminar on Friday: Steam of Life.

It captures natural, emotional conversations and stories from Finnish men in the sauna. It is about loneliness, companionship and social pressures. The doc captures a lot of great stuff, including a man using a telephone booth as a sauna, another man using a car, a group of elderly men sitting side by side in the sauna, a father pouring water on his three children, and landscapes in Finland; the finale is just beautiful.

I have an exam for New Lits tomorrow, so I'll study a bit more and then get some sleep.

Yay!

*Update: five minutes after I posted this, my friend Henri informed me that what I saw was sleet, and not snow, "since it's not crystals, but wet, melted blobs kinda like a slushie rainstorm," he wrote.

Tick tock

Viki's birthday was a lot of fun. I forgot how fun bowling (cosmic bowling) was.

Today Finland saw sun.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Survived another week!

This is weird. The temperature is rising. And we might have to wait until after Christmas for snow.

Today I went to a Finnish documentary seminar from 9 in the morning until 4. It was awesome!

In one hour, we're going bowling for Viki's birthday. Nap time...

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Conversations over Glögi and gingerbread cookies

I woke up with a pretty bad headache, so I went to a cafe to learn Finnish and have a cup of hot chocolate. Exams are coming up, and I have a lot to study.

This evening I went to a pre-Christmas party with other journalism students (plus Ana, majoring in political science; and Zhenia, majoring in English philology) at a Finnish student Viki's house. Viki and her roommate (also Viki) live in a cozy apartment near campus with sliding doors that separate rooms.

The girls served gingerbread cookies, pastries with plum jam, chocolate and glögi. Albert, from Catalonia brought a traditional Catalonian desert that tasted like rice porridge. I'll have to ask him for the name of it and the recipe. Everything tasted sweet and wonderful, and the warm glögi was awesome.

Everyone was surprised to hear that I was from Hawaii. "What do you speak there?" I was asked by two girls. And: "Is it always warm?"

The international students started discussing why we chose Finland. I said that there were a lot of reasons: UTA was reasonably priced and had a journalism program, and I wanted to experience the advanced social welfare system in the Nordic region. But really I had heard about friends' experiences in Spain, Italy, Germany, France, China, Chile and other popular destinations for American students, but I never heard anything about Finland, or much about Scandinavian. Finland seemed exotic and strange, and I wanted to bring back stories to America.

Conversations finally led to politics. One of the Finnish students said that the political climate is changing in Finland, and a right-wing, nationalist party called "Basic Finns" or "True Finns" has gained traction. They are now the third largest party in the Finnish parliament. In Spain, the right-wing victory has also upset a lot of liberal, left-leaning students I've met. Anyway, I'm not an expert on politics and economics, so I didn't and won't really get into that.

I learned that only four percent of the Finnish students who apply to the journalism program at the University of Tampere get accepted. That's 40 out of 1,000 applicants. The university chooses students based on grades and a very rigorous standard exam. There are vocational schools that last three years. There is less competition to get into these schools, and your personality is weighed with your grades. "But once you're in, you're in," Viki said. Her friend applied to be a dentist for five years before she was accepted. "So what if you don't get it?" I asked. "You work," Viki responded, in a matter-of-fact tone.

Every time I learned something new, I was oohing and ahing. The Finns on the other hand showed a calmness and subtle interest.

Something of note: In English, our intonation rises when we ask a question. In Finnish, the intonation lowers. Sometimes Finnish speech can seem monotone compared with Spanish and Chinese and English.

I had a great evening with friends from Spain, England and Russia, and with the journalism students that I met.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Why did I decide to stay here for a year? "Just 'cause."

I am overwhelmingly satisfied right now. This international dorm of students is full of surprises, cultural clashes, flavorful conversations and weird smells from the kitchen. We are living without one dominant system of social norms and ques. People have different ideas about formalities and respect, gender roles, economics, politics, etc. We're free (to a certain degree, as there are still similarities that carry across borders) of the societal conventions that we take for granted in our home countries. And that's pretty cool.

This night, Yoon Seok and Uno came over to prepare Bulgogi, a typical Korean dish, with rice, hot sauce and lettuce. I met these boys during the survival Finnish course this summer, and have strong admiration and affection for them.



(Yoon Seok, left; Uno "Grandson," right)

Here is a recipe for bulgogi: http://savorysweetlife.com/2009/07/marinade-this-bulgogi-recipe-korean-barbequed-beef/

Here is a video of one cook's process: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3yKLl3q7xk

Dan, Jorge, Samuel, Zhenia, Shizuka, Massimo and I thought the food was delicious. We talked about the places we have been to in the last three months (including France, Poland, Russia, Austria, Spain, Germany, England and Norway). Half of us are leaving when the semester ends. Jorge, a good friend from California, asked me why I decided to stay a year instead of a semester. I didn't have a direct answer. So he asked, smiling, "Just 'cause?" I smiled back.

I've always thought a yearlong exchange would be more meaningful in understanding a culture and developing relationships. But, like our perceptions on age and time, we derive meaning, come to understanding, and connect with people at different paces and in different ways. Some people need one year, some people need two, and some people need five years to feel comfortable and part of a culture.

I'm happy to be in Finland for a year, but I can't say that my experience will be more meaningful or deep than someone who is here for a semester. I'm happy to hear about my friends' experiences here, and to continue on this journey of happiness, consciousness and figuring out ways to improve the human condition.



(Today's Finnish Culture and Society Lecture focused on environmental topics.)



(mansikka-juustokakku "cheese cake")

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Many paths lead to discovery



In Finnish class, we moved onto the chapter: Eksistentiaalilause (Existential clause).

English speakers use "there is" and "there are" to acknowledge existence. Other languages don't do this.

For example, here are two sentence constructions in Finnish:

"Pöydällä on kuppi" (On the table is a cup)
"Kuppi on pöydällä" (The cup is on the table)

The alternative English construction would be:

"There is a cup on the table."

When Zhenia asked whether Finns had an equivalent of "there is," our professor said yes, but that it's strange to use. "Why should there be the word 'there' in the beginning of a sentence," he asked, with a smirk. "It is unnecessary. It is a waste of energy." He asked whether Russian used the existential clause. Zhenia said no, and he replied "Oh, I should learn that." After a pause, he said, "Splaciba," which means thank you in Russian.

Awesome. I thought languages were concrete and that there was not much room for discussion. But every language has its own peculiarities and strengths and weaknesses. I thought learning a language meant learning an isolated set of rules and vocabulary that people once created and agreed on. I now realize that a language is not only a tool, but it is a window into a culture. Even generalizations about Finnish people as quiet, polite and reserved can be connected with the language.

We also discussed ordinal numbers and numerals. Try saying this:

Tuhatyhdeksänsataayhdeksänkymmentäseitsemän

Now type it in google translate and see how well you did.

(It means one thousand, nine hundred and ninety seven.)

Here is more information on Finnish numberals:

This evening Doc Lounge is showing "The Kingdom of Survival," with interviewees including Noam Chomsky, Dr. Mark Mirabello, Ramsey Kanaan and Joe Bageant. After, there is a journalism pre-christmas party and then an afterparty. I'm on the verge of getting sick, so we'll see if I'll last tonight.

P.S.

I thought of titling this post "There are many paths to discovery," but finally decided to spice it up. Is it possible that we can get stuck and numb in the routine of language that our sentences become so boring and formulaic and never change?

Monday, November 21, 2011

Things are getting Finnished

I'm currently studying in the reading room, a facility open to students 24/7. Thought I'd share something I learned in Finnish...

Tämä lääke on pahaa = This medicine is bad.

The root word of pahaa is paha. The partitive case is used because lääke (medicine) is an uncountable noun.

(Note: Our professor said that the medicine may be good in that it is effective, but with a bad taste.)

Finnish can seem overwhelming and complicated, but it's fun to learn.

Also, I keep accidentally adding an extra n to finish.

Two songs:

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Winter is here to stay for a while

We went to see Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris at midday today. It was a real feel-good movie, with a bit of fantasy, nostalgia, romantic images of Paris, and philosophical questions about living in the past and appreciating the present.



(Midnight in Paris grossed $55,550,618 in the United States, IMDb)

After the movie, we went to the Happy Christmas Parade, featuring Santa Clause and other organizations. Everyone was wearing thick coats, and I realized that I won't survive the winter unless I get one myself.

Here are photos from the weekend. I uploaded them while listening to Sydney Bechet and eating fruit.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Back in action, and sleepy (uninen)

Ay, so many great people, conversations and laughter have filled the last two days.

Friday night was awesome. Some friends and I went to a bar in the city center. It didn't have enough tables, but it had a special atmosphere created by Finnish people and Finnish music. (In the past, we have gone to O'Connells and Cafe Europa, fairly international places.) There was a clear majority of middle aged men. They stood with drinks, dressed for the occasion. The dance floor was ruled by one couple, dancing like parents who had drank too much alcohol at their kid's graduation party.

We went to Cafe Europa at 11 p.m., and hung out there until 3. At one point, Diego mentioned that Shizuka, Zhenia and I looked like sisters. :)



(We drank hot chocolate, forgetting how quickly the rain and temperature were dropping outside.)

Today I went to the university for some lunch, studied at a cafe near Aitoleipa, and then came home. The evening was just perfect. I'm finally setting goals for the rest of my stay in Finland (having a basic conversation without using English as a crutch; learning a Finnish song; dedicating a blog post to Finnish food...). It's been three months, but until now I've been going through a whirlwind of emotions and impressions and conclusions. I feel excited to open up to and learn more about this culture.

Right now it's 3:30 a.m. and the temperature outside is -5 degrees Celsius. During the day it's about 1-4 degrees. Oh, come on snow!

Friday, November 18, 2011

Extending the Days, Listening, Discussing, Going

This evening I attended a documentary viewing and discussion on the theme: "Does Israel care about what the world says?" Mr. Gideon Gital produced the documentary "UM - SHMUM Seven Hours to Death" based on the Lebanon War in 2006. The panel was attended by French General Alain Pellegrini, former UNIFIL Commander, and international journalists Odeh Bisharat, Mats Gezelius and Jonathan Steele.

The discussion showed me how much more I need to learn about Israel, its history and its layers.

Yesterday I saw three short contemporary Indian films: Three of Us (fiction, 2008), Vitthal (fiction, 2009) and Wagah (documentary, 2009). The first centers around an Indian family of three. Actually, I didn't really understand this movie's message. I would love to speak to someone who does, as I couldn't find any information online. The second film focuses on a 12-year-old boy, Vitthal, whose grandfather has died. Vitthal is forced to have his hair shaved off, as part of the Hindu customs for respecting the dead. He hates this, is teased at school, and feels alone at home. The third documentary takes place in Wagah, the border crossing between India and Pakistan. The changing of the guards and border closing has attracted thousands of spectators, curious about "the other side." Children are the main interviewees of this documentary.

ALSO, last night Shizuka came into my room with a little envelope. A few days ago, she told me that she had something to show me. "It's useless though," she said. I asked if it was a hug. No. A chicken?

Shizuka sat on my bed and started taking out different pieces of origami, each one associated with a joke or word or event we shared. I wasn't having a good day on Saturday, and she decided to make a piece of origami to cheer me up. One origami developed into this:



Carrots, because we love eating carrots. Zhenia taught us to eat it in a very special way. Squirrel, because this word is hard for Shizuka to pronounce, and it is so cute when she tries! Hevonen (horse in Finnish) because it is one of the first words we learned in Heikki's Elementary Finnish course. I wondered when we were ever going to use this word. We ended up seeing a hevonen at least once a week since then. Lehmä (cow) because it's a funny word. Chicken, because, well, this is way too deep of a joke to start on.

Zhenia described Shizuka best when she likened her to a sunset. A beautiful moment; you can stare at her for a long time. A comfortable sight and often unpredictable. Shizu has a subtle profoundness; a sharp attention to detail; an open, active, eager mind; a relaxed touch. Really, a lovely person.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Kunda Dixit Discusses Nepalese Civil War, Peace Journalism

Yesterday Nepali Times' Editor Kunda Dixit came to the University of Tampere to talk about the civil war in Nepal and the current peace process.

Dixit has realized that we need a new paradigm of journalism, a peace journalism and not war journalism.

Educated at Columbia University in New York City, Dixit was taught to be a spectator, and not to get emotionally involved. After graduation, he ended up in a lot of war zones, including Sri Lanka and the Philippines. But he grew tired of reporting on "other peoples' wars," and went back home to Nepal.

"You have to use your profession to be a part of the solution."

The Nepalese Civil War started around the same time Dixit returned. He and other journalists tried to stop it. "But we failed," he lamented. The media covers wars in battles. They talk about the bravery of fighters. War has been reduced to numbers. Violence is glamorized. Dixit found that he needed to forget all the rules he learned in journalism school, and that he needed to create new ones.

"War is regarded as not normal; peace is regarded as normal. But the seeds of war are sown in peace," Dixit said. It's the injustices, the anger, the emotional tension that are suppressed and unanswered for too long. So Dixit tried to cover the war from a different angle. "We forgot about the civilians," he said. These were the innocents, often the women, parents and children -- the people who went unnoticed.

In 2005, Dixit chose photography to shock people. He used the top 179 photographs sent in by journalists, photographers and amateurs to author a book. In 2006, there was a ceasefire and pro-democracy uprising in Nepal. People asked why the book was relevant anymore. But war doesn't end in a day, Dixit said. "The legacy of war continues."

15,000 people were killed, 1,800 disappeared, 120,000 wounded. Thousands were displaced.

The book Dixit authored, "A People War: Images of the Nepal Conflict 1996-2006," focused on the ordinary people who were neglected from the media. He didn't include images that were too gory, but didn't leave out pictures of conflict, as he saw a fine line between "turning people off and sanitizing the war."

The book was a hit, and the producer suggested they take it on the road. They set up exhibitions and showed pictures in 50 districts, reaching around 500,000 viewers. Dixit was surprised by the turnout. When they expected 1,000 people, 5,000 came. Guerilla fighters and soldiers walked in together and looked at the images. Children would enter laughing, and after seeing a few images, they would start whispering to each other. People would stare at a particular image for minutes, as if they could relate to or remember something. "More than the quantity, it's the depth and intensity of feeling," Dixit said. He donated many books to communities and universities.

At these exhibitions, guest books sat on desks, with a long line of people following. They wrote poetry, letters, memories, songs and phrases. People poured out memories and emotions. Dixit authored a second book, called "Never Again," including quotes from the guest book. On the back cover read (translated into English): "After the war comes the tears."

Dixit said that the media still play an important role in a post-war society. "For us, the war has not ended," he claimed. "We have to regard the war as going on, and bring out the truth in what happened, especially the injustices."

Frames of War is a documentary (it's uploaded on Youtube) based on Dixit's exhibition tour and first book: "A People War." The reaction was stunning. At the end of the film, there was no feet shuffling, no coughing, no whispering. Complete silence. Dixit found that documentary is a very powerful tool because "while you are watching a documentary or video, it completely immerses you." He continued, "Photos may stay forever, but video has direct, immediate impact."

Dixit's third book, "People After War: Nepalis Live with Legacy of Conflict," featured the people in the photographs of his first book five years after.

Below is a photo of a young girl fighting in the Nepalese Civil War, published in "A People War":



(Source: http://mikeely.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/un_betweentwostones.jpg)

Below is a picture of the same girl with her father and brother, published in Dixit's last book of the trilogy.



(Source: http://www.printsasiaimages.com/104350742/1104300420094UW8tG53.jpg)

Dixit later found out that the girl was a guerilla fighter and her brother was a soldier. They had fought during the same battles, and actually shot at each other. "The war was not just a civil war," Dixit said, "but it was a sibling war."

While battles have ended and soldiers have returned home, the legacy of war continues. Guns, repressed emotions, displaced fighters, inequality and injustice, and movies glorifying the war are traces of the violent past. Dixit provided a nice overview of the Nepalese Civil War, discussed the media's responsibility during wartime, and presented a new concept of journalism and reporting: a peace journalism rather than war journalism.

Here is another article Dixit writes about media's public service role.

One last quote that stuck out in Dixit's lecture was: "I think the rules of journalism are impossible to stop the war." It's true that we go to college to sharpen our critical thinking skills and broaden our perspectives as we take classes and interact with other people and their ideas and cultures and thoughts. But sometimes we get so caught up in rules, facts, formulas, conventions, and other people's passions and visions of the world. We see problems and systematic failures; conventional, boring solutions; or ask simple questions like "Why can't we just have peace?" How about we try to scrap the outdated formula, stop asking the same questions, look at ourselves from another planet and another time, and try something else?

For a Moment

As I was studying Finnish, I went to my window and pushed away the curtains. I opened the blinds, and could see the artificial orange light from the lampposts pouring into the darkness. There was a large rabbit sitting on the other side of the road. I stumbled around my room to find my camera, and when I returned to the window, the rabbit was gone.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Walking under blue skies

Zhenia came back from a weekend in Stockholm, Sweden!



On top of this, the sun came out this morning! It had been so long, and I forgot how great it made me feel. I wonder if this will help me appreciate sunny skies more...



(Taken right outside of our apartment complex. We live next to an energy plant.)



(On the walk to the university)



(Tampere-talo is right across the street from the University of Tampere. It is the largest Congress and Concert Center in Scandanavia.)



(Monday morning coffee)

I have a fair amount of reading (New Lits, Intro to N.A. Studies) and studying (Finnish, Finnish Culture & Society, Intro to Web Publishing) to do this week.

A boy I met in Tallinn was asked "You're constantly meeting people, half you won't ever see again. What's the point?"



(Friends like these are worth a series of hellos and goodbyes.)

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In Finnish class, we learned the verb onkia (to fish with an angle).

Minä ongin (I fish with an angle)
Sinä ongit (You fish with an angle)
Hän onkii (He/She/It
fishes with an angle)
Me ongimme (We fish with an angle)
Te ongitte (You all fish with an angle)
He onkivat (They fish with an angle)

My teacher (Heikki) said that no native English speaker he has met has understood the term "angling." It's basically just fishing without a rod. "It's really boring," my classmate told me. "You have to drink a lot of alcohol while you wait." Apparently angling is allowed under the "Everyman's Right." I asked Heikki if he has ever done onkia. "Of course," he said, "I'm a Finn." After a brief pause, he asked, "You mean, you've never done this?"

No... But I want to. Kind of.

Further reading on angling in Finland:

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Exchange students taste a traditional Finnish desert



Response from a Finnish student:
  • "Heh. Not even most of the 'normal' Finns like that either. It's mostly older people's treat ... though mämmi is more Easter related dish, you should be able to buy it year around atleast from bigger stores."
Further reading:
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People say we're living in an international student bubble. My dad says that to get a real Finnish experience, I need to move out and live with Finns. (I actually tried this, but the housing organization said it wouldn't be possible.) This way of thinking, the: "You need to do this, this and this to get a "real," wholesome, cultural experience," sounds a bit narrow minded, implying that the alternative way will give people fake, superficial cultural experiences. I guess many people don't actually believe this, but the rhetoric makes it so. In personal experience, I've learned a lot about other cultures, my own culture and dynamics between cultures from interaction with so many international students. And that's not it. It would be nice to have Finnish friends, to live with Finnish people, but this isn't the only way to get to know Finnish culture. Moreover, forcing relationships based on race or nationality seems awkward and disrespectful. If a friendship happens, great! If it doesn't, fine too.

Anyway, this video was the first that I edited in Finland. I filmed it on my point and shoot camera, and edited it on Youtube Video Editor. I was expecting it to be simple documentation, along with the thousands of photos I take and don't publish. But spur of the moment, I decided to make something of it. On the one hand I feel nostalgic for multimedia production, and on the other I see how a break will open my mind and take me away from this technical, repetitive, rule-following trap that I often fell into.

The reason I didn't edit the video with Final Cut Pro or iMovie is because I'm working on a very old laptop computer. Even iMovie would be a hassle. Youtube Movie Editor was so basic and so simple. I was able to trim and put together a few clips in under an hour.

I found a post in my old blog about my thoughts on multimedia production, and decided update it:

may 9, 2011:

"sequences. tight, medium, wide. tight, medium, wide. don’t panic. get the job done. get a lot of video, but get video relevant to your story. don’t ask yes or no questions to kids. is there anything else you’d like to add? no shaky video unless it’s justified. SEQUENCES. be sympathetic, but don’t get involved. listen. organize your files. be creative, but don’t let that get in the way of someone else’s story. that’s not a rule. there are no written rules. then who cares? your audience, your employer, your future self. i don’t know. do work that makes you happy and proud. no matter what you do. and remember the god damned sequences."

nov 13, 2011:

what kind of message do you want to share? why will people find this interesting? is there a larger question involved? people have short attention spans. it's easy to get caught up in the larger question, but remember the storyline. remember audio. remember to carefully include and play with the threads that make up a seamless story. can you justify your edits? are you satisfied with the way you have portrayed people and situations? is it more important for you to: leave footage unaltered and realistic, or alter the footage to make it more realistic? talk to people, share your honest thoughts, and they will respond similarly. be true to yourself and be appreciative of the ones who are helping you. they do not owe you anything. at the end of the day, what were the things and who were the ones you most enjoyed? concentrate on them, and recognize, without too much weight, everything else. tomorrow is a new day, at least that is an idea that has been pushed into our minds.

Beautiful lights



(I am so grateful to have met you.)

Song: California, by Joni Mitchell

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Let's get out of here, girl!

Vicky and I decided to drop everything tonight and go to a pub. It wasn't so crowded and a band was playing. We had a wonderful time, catching up, replaying scenes from the week, making jokes. Finally, we walked back to Lapinkaari, arm in arm, laughing hysterically under the vast, black sky in the quiet of the night.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Empty cold air

It was 0 degrees celsius when I woke up. I had a strong urge to go for a jog, so I did.



(I get cold just looking at this picture.)

I started off at a slow pace, the sharp air piercing my lungs. The main road turned into a trail along the lake, whose water was thick and calm. I ran past large, deep green spruce trees, until my endurance exhausted.

Finally, I came to the dock, and stood staring out into the blurry landscape.



The morning jog gave me the warmth and endorphins to last through the chilly, foggy day.

Is this turning into a photo blog? Super cool natural transition into multimedia :P

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Just Screens Apart

My dad and brother were sitting in Empire Buffet, a Chinese restaurant in Eugene, when they decided to call me on skype.

It was so fun to talk with them!

Halfway through the conversation, my dad said the people in front of them were turning around a smiling, and that he was motioning them over to say hi to me. Then he said he was thinking about asking the waitress if she wanted to see his daughter in Finland. My brother groaned. I laughed, and begged him not to do that.

Sometimes happiness comes from everything making sense or the realization that nothing has to make sense. This was one of those times.



(They insisted I take this picture. Now do you see why I am the way I am? :P)

P.S. I was featured on the UO Study Abroad Facebook page! Here is the text, and here are some pictures.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Waiting for the Snow

Man, I am moo-oody in Finland. Excited, bored, enthusiastic, lazy, passionate, indifferent; happy one hour, sad the next. In a foreign country, everything can go so right and everything can go so wrong. New emotions are revealed in uncomfortable situations. Or under bad weather conditions.

Today I arrived at the university to several police cars, security guards, and people in business suits standing around and talking on their cell phones. The University of Tampere, the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs/Europe Information had arranged a seminar on the future of Europe, welcoming Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, German Federal Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schäuble and Minister of Finance Jutta Urpilainen. I wasn't able to attend the one-hour event, but if I get more information, I'll post it.*

At lunch, Shizuka and Alisa (Armenian international student from Russia, with thick, wavy black hair and sharp features; a friend who can always make me feel confident, cared for and calm) were beaming from Salsa. They go to the gym at least once a week for dance lessons. Sometimes it's Zumba, sometimes "Latino mix" and sometimes "Armybic." The girls' excitement made my gloomy attitude disappear. I remembered what dancing meant for my mother: independence and movement; and for my father: socialization and relaxation. Alisa said that the dancing instructor wanted them to loosen up and enjoy: "It's not physics or mathematics," he said. Awesome.

I had pasta and tuna fish for dinner again. I really need to stop with the tuna. Maybe I'll start with sandwiches again? I was disappointed to see so little fish in the grocery stores. In Norway I had bomb salmon, but it was three euros a pack. Livin' aint cheap in Scandanavia. But it sure is quiet! Sorry to switch the topic once more in one paragraph, but MAN -- this afternoon I was walking down Hammenkatu, the main street, with lots of shops and people and cars, and I didn't hear one driver honk his or her horn. Not one! I'm sure it has happened, but I am waiting to witness it.

Winter is coming, which means winter break is coming! My friend from Hardegsen, Germany invited me to spend the Christmas holiday with her family. She also said I could stay with her in Heidelberg, where she studies. My other friend Vicky (the girl I went to Estonia with) invited me to spend a few nights at her apartment in Chemnitz. I would also plan to visit Berlin and Prague. Actually, I just found out my great-grandfather is from Czech. More on that later...

Going to sleep now. I need to wake up early tomorrow and get a head-start on the month.

Blogging is actually becoming kind of therapeutic.



(Monday morning grays)

*Here is the video recording of the seminar.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Endless, and Sometimes Aimless Words

Heated discussions have fueled and exhausted my energy today.

It's what comes from statements like: "Art is not a giant wall painted blue; Capitalism is bad; and Americans are hypocrites."

But if there is something I will never tire of repeating for the rest of my life, it's that people and groups and things don't always fit into convenient categories. The media, politicians and other advocates illustrate the world in such a clear way with grids and labels, pointing out who is good and who is bad, what is right and what is wrong. Talking about "us" and "them" and why some people and some art are better than others. As if it's that simple and objective. Well, maybe I should stop here because as Anton put it:

"Everything is subjective and relative, and we can't say anything about anything."

Or as Cat Stevens sang:

"There's a million ways to go. You know that there are."

Or as Shizuka once concluded:

"Whatever." In Japan, it's not so common to argue in public, she added.

Well, I often wonder if it is better to avoid sensitive subjects with friends or speak your mind, always? My friend Federiko says you should be yourself, and say what you feel, all the time, no matter the consequence. I've often chosen calm air in friendships to arguing my personal opinion. But lately I find myself in not one or the other side. Just making decisions based on the circumstance and my logic and emotion at that time.

And on the topic of friends, I found it interesting when Alisa said she was thinking about why we have friends. Why do we really need them? Isn't it bad to depend on others for happiness or security? Is it possible to laugh or enjoy something alone? My group of friends in Tampere often recognize how we influence and inspire and encourage one another. I begin to realize that our identities and beliefs reflect and mix with the things around us, and that they change based on the time and the place. Zhenia said that the feeling in Tampere now is "cold and indifferent." This is how I feel now too. (Probably this will change in a month.)

In Eugene, I loved my time alone. I didn't feel lonely walking around the city. Here, I do feel lonely even in a crowded street. I appreciate all the conversations I have with people, all the hugs I receive, all the bits of blue sky the clouds reveal. Every bit of happiness I find, I gladly drown my sorrow in.

At the end of our long, loud discussion in the university cafeteria, my friend noted that we hadn't made any conclusions.



I actually don't feel close to any concrete conclusions.

Last quote of an extended thought:

"The Uncertainty Principle. It proves we can’t ever really know… what’s going on. So it shouldn’t bother you. Not being able to figure anything out. Although you will be responsible for this on the mid-term." -Larry Gopnik, "A Serious Man"

All Saint's Day, a "devout and quiet celebration"

Yesterday, Tomas and I decided to spend a few hours studying at the university library. There's this "reading room" open 24/7, and on All Saints Day, it was basically the only thing open.

Along the way, we stopped at Passion Bar for some coffee. What a gorgeous place: clean, fresh, lots of space, a few posters on the wall, dark reds and dim lights. A guy, probably in his mid-30s, went up to Tomas and asked where he was from. "I'm from Spain," Tomas said, in his close to perfect English accent. Tomas studies philology, so he has a good handle on languages. After a bit of chit chat, the guy asked me, "Please can I sit with you both? I'm just really lonely and my husband's coming in a few minutes, but until then I would really like to talk to people." I gave him a half friendly smile, half empathetic smile, and said sure.

Jussi, as we learned, is from a town outside of Tampere. He has been to every state in the US except for Hawaii. He started traveling with his family when he was nine, and has since traveled to many countries in Asia and Europe. He would like to visit Cambodia next. He got married on 6/7/2011, and described his husband and him as "short, skinny, malnourished, blonde haired dudes." At some point, I was compelled to say "Helsinki," and he said, "No, please. It's not "HelSInki;" it's "HELsinki. Finnish words have the stress on the first syllable." Finally, Tomas and I had to leave. Jussi asked us to stay longer, but Tomas said that we really have to go.

And we went.

After a few hours, I remembered that Shizuka told me about a movie playing at the theater at 8. I couldn't remember which one, but I was so bummed out by the artificially quiet, hard surfaced "reading room," that I would do just about anything to cheer myself up. Little did I know that it would be "The Adventures of Tintin," my favorite graphic novel as a kid. I was so excited that I spent 10.50 euros (still makes me cringe) for a ticket.

The movie was average. There was a lot of action and predictable dialogue. There were totally awesome scenes though, and the graphics were cute. I loved experiencing Tintin and Captain Haddok talk and move! The movie ended slowly, and I grew restless. I was with maybe 50 people in the theater, and I felt alone. So I went home, hung out with my neighbors until 2:30 a.m. and then went to sleep.













(Anton spreads nutella on some bread, using Federiko's body as a table.)

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Escaping death in a dream

I had a very strange dream a few days ago. I can't describe the specifics, but I'll try to explain what I remember.

I was with a few friends. Suddenly, we were all attached to eggs. They were like spirit animals or something. We were waiting for the eggs to hatch, and caring for them like children. Their health was our health, and their birth was to represent our birth.

Out of nowhere, my egg was run over by a car. I remember having the feeling of "It's all over." I was dying at the same time as I was gaining consciousness of dreaming. I was upset that my life was ending yet again in my dream. But something hit me, and it hit me in my dream: I realized my body was still physically there. I was not attached to the egg as I thought. I thought when the egg died, I died. But I was alive. I let out a heavy, long breath and woke up.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Saunassa, among other things

Something happened this summer. I was so happy that I cried.

Since then, it's been happening quite often. I don't cry with sounds and streams of tears, but there are a few drops, and mostly its this intense internal feeling that leaves me beaming and antsy.

(BTW - Since I have to read the Magna Carta for Intro to North American Studies tomorrow morning, I'm going to keep this blog post brief.)

(Sorry about the interruption. It's how my brain operates!)

Why was today greater than others? I went to school like always, spent two hours in Finnish class like always, where I mostly thought about food, Hawaii and how much more I need to study Finnish. I had lunch like always, with two amazing friends (Shizuka, a last-year student from Japan, studying History, with a memory like a sponge, a subtle sense of humor and a soft touch; Zhenia, from Russia, a young linguistic student with knack for color coordination and picking up on people's defining characteristics). I replied to some e-mails, wrote some postcards, came back home, and took a nap. When I woke up, I ran into Federiko in the hallway, and he told me he was cooking on the first floor. Pasta, like always. I grabbed tuna, tomatoes, onions, olive oil and blue cheese from my room, and went upstairs. Dinner was awesome. I love simple recipes and talks over the table. Later entered Shizuka and Zhenia, and we ate raw carrots like horses.

Now I'm in my room. As I said, I have to read for a class tomorrow. I'm also thinking about joining Intro to Web Publishing.

Before I go, though, I should mention a few updates from the previous blog. I met up with two Finnish students yesterday about a possible excursion into the forest. The origin of this seemingly random meeting is a class called Finnish Society and Culture. Two weeks ago, we had a lecture on trees and forests in Finland. It was one of my favorite topics this semester, and brought me back to discussions with the ILAP team and trips into the forest with Miles (references that will be understood by my science reporting crew). After class, I asked the lecturer if anyone would be willing to lead a group of exchange students into the forest. He said that some last-year students could use this opportunity to earn credit points. So I gave him my e-mail.

I met with two students yesterday, and I'm really excited about this project. The girls have started to create a powerpoint presentation to introduce the excursion. We will continue to discuss the content and organization of the excursion over November. In December will be the first trip. Next year, we'll have a bigger trip.

Second point: I saw Le Havre. It didn't leave such a big impression on me. It was just... average. I enjoyed the cinematography; I liked the awkward dialogue; I liked the music. But the story was so blah for me. And it just danced lightly around the issue of immigration. Don't get me started on the portrayal of gender roles and cigarette smoking! The movie left me desiring France so badly though...

Third point: I spent 20 minutes in the sauna yesterday. It was girl's day, but nobody really pays attention anymore. So Zhenia and I were sitting in the sauna with Nick from England. It was so hot and steamy, and Nick kept throwing water onto the coals. Every time he did it, I put my hands over my face because it burned. After five minutes, none of us could talk. It would be a waste of energy. Our nostrils were very warm and our throats were dry. Zhenia and I left to rinse off, and then came back in. The last cold shower after the sauna is so great. Then we sit on benches and talk about our day and other "things of the life." Our faces are red, and we're so relaxed.

Lastly: At lunch yesterday I met a guy from France. He said that people in France love going to the cinema (not the movie theater because I'm so cosmopolitan now), and they go on an average of at least once per month. A few extra euros get added to the ticket price, which goes to directors. The Ministry of Culture in France is very serious about investing money in French culture (cinema, museums, architecture, art, music, etc.) Fifty one percent of songs on the radio have to be in French, he said. Producers focus on the good parts of France to promote tourism and spread French culture. "You really should go to France," he said eventually. "I would like to," I replied, "but I heard it's hard to get around without speaking French. Plus I'm American..." He shook his head and said that French people don't hate American's like we think. They may be rude, but deep down, they are jealous of Americans. They don't want to speak English because they are jealous of America's supremacy and cultural influence. This hit me like a ton of bricks.

I would like to go to France; I would like to watch more movies; I would like to work on documentaries; I would like to try new cheeses; I would like to send out all this mail; I would like to be more diligent in learning Finnish. I would like to scream loudly from the window of a car on a road trip to a distant town (Thinking about you, Michelle).

Today has just been a good day. Nothing more. If I were having a bad day, this blog post would have a totally different tone.

Hyvää yötä! I guess this post wasn't as brief as I expected.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Moving Pictures

Success! I turned in my essay at 11:59 p.m., one minute before the deadline. (Just had to work until the very end, right?)



(This is what happens when you're stuck with books in a cave for too long.)

So, the big question comes up. What am I going to do now? Yesterday after classes, I saw "Conan O'Brien Can't Stop" (2011) at DocLounge. It was awesome! To be honest, I didn't even know who Conan (or "Coco") was before the whole hullabaloo with NBC. This documentary focuses on his side of the story -- the individual, emotional and the showman. It follows the guy on his "Legally Prohibited from being Funny on Television Tour." Through the observational filming technique of the documentarian, we see Conan as if we were there, watching him think and act and respond. It's really satisfying and raw.

Today I'm going to meet up with some students from the Forestry department. We'd like to organize a field trip into the forest. It would be a good way to learn about trees, paths, and other nature we often pass and overlook. It's going to make me feel nostalgic for science reporting...

Later on a group of Lapinkaarians are going to see "Le Havre" (2011).

But first, I'm going to the university to have lunch. It's the best way to spend 2.50 euros on a gloomy day.