Syksyn varit - Autumn colours

Syksyn varit ovat keltainen, oranssi, puninen ja ruskea...

As well as enjoying the autumnal colours, we also found a Functionalist modernist building at Vierumäkki - built in the late 20's and used as a hospital during the war its is now part of the Sports Institute there.  You might also notice (in the other pictures) that the forest tracks have lights - that's because these double as ski-trails in the (dark) winter months. Just add snow...

Arvosteluasteikko - Grades

Here's a nice picture to calm you down from the thought of exams...

It will come as no surprise to anyone if I say I don't really like exams. I mean who does? Equally I have never really thought I was any good at languages, as a stunning CSE grade 2 at French backs up. (For those of you who are to young, or as old as me but not from UK, a CSE grade 1 was equivalent to a C grade 'O' Level (a pass) back in the days before GCSEs... so a 2 is not very good).  And when it comes to Finnish language tests my only previous experience (in London a few years ago) was less than a happy one.

So I am now the proud owner of a todistus (certificate) showing I achieved Grade 4 at Level 1 'Finnish for Foreigners' and completed 52 lesson modules worth 4 ECTS credits, at Helsingin Seudun Kesäyliopisto ... err, hang on, was that a Grade 4?

It did take me at least 30 loooong seconds to realize that the Finnish grade system goes from 0 (fail) to 5 (excellent) so a 4 is kiitettävä or very good; Wow! And as the papers were given out in order, I must have got the third highest mark out of our twenty odd group of ulkomaalaiset. 

Then we got our papers back and saw my actual mark was 92%... flippin' heck, what do you need for excellent!?

Still, only one down and three more to go before Christmas, and I had done half of this before, but maybe I'm not so bad at languages after all. Minä sanon 'ehkä...'!

A bad day for Finland

Finnish flags on a better day...

This morning I, like most other citizens and visitors of this small country, looked out their windows to see the Finnish flag hanging forlornly at half-mast from a nearby flag pole. And in Finland that means in front of almost every state and municipal building, most housing blocks and offices and many individual homes.

The events of yesterday were terrible, and all the more shocking for Finland after the similar events of last November. I won't repeat the details, but see YLE (in english) for the state broadcaster's reporting of the incident. There has been an understandable range of reaction to this: shock; a desire to blame; questioning the role of police and government; calls to tighten gun laws and security.

There has also been concern on how this event reflects on Finland: prime-time national TV news noting that the story had been carried around the world as a major news item. And of course the media both here and abroad has latched onto the YouTube connection (although to be honest I would almost be surprised if someone of his age didn't express himself on YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, or the plethora of other similar online spaces).  As has been reported widely,  Finland has a very high private gun ownership of over 1.6 million weapons for only 5.2 million inhabitants: the 3rd highest in the world.  While many of these are for hunting which has a strong and long tradition here (the validity of which I will leave to others to debate) the first question to ask is 'why does anyone need to keep a hand gun at home?' as the only vaugely reasonable use for this type of weapon is for target shooting in a firing range. It seems like this is something the government is likely to want to change (although it has been pointed out this was said last year too), the next question is what else will the authorities (national and municipal) actually do in reaction to this?

I for one hope it won't lead to a fences, control and surveillance mentality in Finnish schools, something that I have encountered time and again as an architect working on British schools and education buildings.  Although the safety of the students and staff must be a priority, one has to question the effectiveness of these types of measures, apart from the psychological one of 'Look we're doing something'.  If you have a metal detector and you find a gun or a knife you need guards to deal with it. Are they armed too? And as this case shows, what about petrol bombs? Ceramic blades and guns? Fences and be cut or scaled by the determined.  Security gates bypassed.  As well as shutting out the community (again psychologically if not literally), making these institutions look like prisons surely also sends a damaging negative message, 'its dangerous here'. 

I don't think it will happen though - maybe unlike the UK - the emphasis here (this is the Nordic model remember) seems to be on trying to tackle the root cause (by social and community welfare support), and for government to try to look for long term solutions rather than short-term (even cosmetic) ones. We'll see.

To add to the gloomy tone of the day yesterday it was revealed that:

• Finland no longer tops the list of least corrupt countries, dropping to no.5 after last year's election funding scandal. The UK is ranked 16th also down 4 places.
  
• Most people (including the 50% of staff) believe that fraud in the Kela (the social security system) is common.
  
• The head of the Finnish armed forces has argued that the anti-cluster-bomb treaty will weaken Finland's defences and cost too much. 
  

So there it is. We probably drove past Kauhajoki on our visit to Seinäjoki in the summer, which makes this more 'local' than you might think for us.  The previous posts on this blog may have focused on the beautiful woods and lakes, the great architecture, the traditions and culture; but there is a darker side here (as with anywhere, truth be told):  There are high depression, alcoholism and violence rates; there are bad buildings/architecture (particularly in 7o's/80's suburbs) as well as the good; there is a perceptible resistance to the idea of outsiders, foreigners and other cultures in parts of Finnish society (which varies from an undertone to outright racism in some cases, but is often unrecognized); and there are some bad people. 

But I came here with my eyes open: Finland still has much to offer, and much to be proud of, for it's citizens and visitors alike; let's hope the damage to the nation's psyche is not too deep, and the right actions are taken for the future.

See also: 

Finland asks 'what is wrong with us?' (Guardian)

So much for the peace and quiet of the countryside (finnstuff blog)

[edited 25.09 17:45]

Architectural tours

To 'celebrate' my first day at work I thought I'll post some of the images from two architectural tours we did during my days of freedom. These tours were organised by Rakennustaiteenmuseo.

Both of the buildings are very different in nature - one is a new build residential building complex carrying the names of Svingi and Stanssi, the other is a 1957 Helsinki University building Porthania by architect Aarne Ervi (worked in Aalto's office at one point in his career) that has seen major renovation works - both are in the centre of Helsinki (Katajanokka and Kaisaniemi/Kluuvi), and both projects have something in common; Works have been done by the same architects - Arkkitehdit NRT Oy.

 

Svingi & Stanssi tour in wet Helsinki on 27 August 2008 (see the big ship behind the 'cheesy' gateway to the site)

    

Some elements of the Porthania renovations tour on 17 September 2008 included architect Aarne Ervi's staircase and suspended auditorium roof structure, but not his great roof lights (for cost saving reasons I guess) - the great view from the Helsinki University owned flats (for visiting lecturers - interested?) stayed untouched... I would not mind living there either...

Wa-Lah!

via swissmiss and coudal

I feel like an 'Instant Architect' now... just got a phone call and have a job... starting tomorrow!

Wish me luck in the jungle of Finnish building regs and in this case perhaps also with the Russian regulations and customs! ;D 

Metsän poika tahdon olla, sankar jylhän kuusiston

Suomi artifacts like puukko and kuksa

The birthday of my other half is now a distant memory, but his path towards a true 'metsän poika' (= son of the forest) has started... After receiving 'kuksa' (= handmade wooden cup carved out of birch burl) from Hiri (otherwise known as Hiiri) the other half has slowly build up his wilderness essentials from Suomi t-shirt to 'puukko' (= woodcrafted belt-knife which is used as a tool... not a weapon). The other half is now ready to continue wilderness hikes such as the Herajärvi kierros (= Lake Herajärvi hiking tour) in Koli which we did counter clockwise from Pirunkirkko (= Devil's church) to Ryläys mid August.

View from Ukko-Koli viewing place over the lake Pielinen 

On the other hand the other half might 'utilize' his other birthday present/s more. They were the famous Finnish Reino-slippers... Autumn is here and perhaps the Reinos are more comfortable than dragging 30kg 'rinkka' (= rucksack) along the ridges of Koli... Not yet though - oh no no... Next weekend is the trip to Vierumäki 'mökki' and Reinos can stay behind... The other half can once more sing the song of Aleksis Kivi: Terve, metsä, terve, vuori - Terve, metsän ruhtinas - Täs on poikas, uljas, nuori (39 in his case!) - Esiin käy hän, voimaa täys - Kuin tuima tunturin tuuli ... Metsän poika tahdon olla, sankar jylhän kuusiston... lal lal laaaaaa... Happy b-day sweetie - put your Reinos on and take it easy!

Reinos from the Ainot ja Reinot -collection

P.S. I will write about the Heräjärvi experience soon...

Sunnuntai paisti (redux)

sometimes it's not stressful to have a lot on your plate...

Well we got my Sunday roast this time (the full works: roast beef with red wine and mustard gravy, yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and parsnips, cauliflower, sprouts and carrots with white sauce) for my birthday weekend after all. Not that I really needed it after Ravintola Kuurna last night (which I recommend to anyone in Helsinki by the way) ...but anyway. 

'This seems very complicated food' said Hiiri. 'Not really' I thought. 'But what am I going to eat next Sunday if your not here to cook?' asked Hiiri.  Next weekend Konna and I are off to Vieromakki mökki for Bore's birthday, so no strange British cooking for her next week.

I also have my level 1 Finnish exam on Tuesday. Already. So I should be revising the local cases (inesiivi, illatiivi, ellatiivi, adessiivi, allatiivi, ablatiivi), verb types, vowel harmony and consonant gradation (hard to soft: eg. kukka - kukat; katu - kadulla; kenka - kengat; etc) and about twenty other things. Instead I'm going to this award winning film. Well I do need to balance out going to see this one (organised by SAFA-hesari) on Friday after all.

In John Buchan's footsteps

Maybe they know something?

Kaksituhataa kahdeksan minus tuhat yhdeksänsataa kuusikymmentäyhdeksän on yhtä kuin?

Reflections: One in a million

From Finland summer 08 vol 2

This was Pyhäjarvi (holy lake) near Kesälahti one day this summer when we were at the mökki: I remember it was very calm and peaceful sitting on the wooden landing stage, watching the clouds reflected in the glassy water.  I took some video too but it doesn't really capture the feeling of being there.

I would like to be somewhere like this today...

For Dad - "Still singing in our hearts"

Huovutus - II

Time passes slowly in the North which has pushed me into (almost) mass production of 'huopa' products ;)

 

 

 

Top images feature making of the 'huopapallot' tai 'huopapallerot' (= felt balls). This can easily be done in the washing machine in a few minutes... you just need to have wool & stockings. The images in the middle show the process of making felt rings. This is much more time consuming than you might think. A ring will take a good hour to make, but hey - I have time! And the images at the bottom feature a purse & scarf... They are actually pretty cool things (which are in use already - the temperature was +5 c this morning so it's good to keep myself & my money warm) and they didn't take that long to make. The purse is hand made so again it was more time consuming than the scarf which was done in the washing machine (standard cycle of 60 deg.) and take all the hard work away from you! ... Again for the scarf you need stockings where to 'insert' the rolled sheet which holds your creation... Did you get it? 

'Suomen villa' was used for the purse, rings & balls. 'Hahtuva' (=wool type of yarn... which is actually not yarn, so breaks easily, but is good for felting) from Estonia was used for the black scarf. 'Hahtuva' ja 'villa' both come in various colours, but it seems that some colours such as orange & cyan are more difficult to turn into felt. Standard non coloured wool like 'musta' ja 'valkoinen' (= b&w) require less rubbing, rolling, mechanical action & are easier to work with.

Who wants to come for a 'huovutus-kurssi'?

P.S. Sorry for the stripy table cloth...

Have you tried switching it off and on again?

I've just come home from 'the course' to discover SiteMeter has broken due to the botched upgrade/downgrade over the weekend, so has not recorded any visits to the blog for today. Not quite in the same league of screw up as the Apple iPhone/iPod 2.0 software and MobileMe, but still... 

What really bothers me is that I'm bothered about it at all... why was I even checking SiteMeter now anyway? Am I getting obsessed with finding out who is looking at the blog (or at least guessing from the logs)? And finding it funny how Google sends people searching for 'Mölky', 'Seinijoki Town Hall', and 'Sataa sataa ropisee pilipilipom, pilipilipom' to the blog? Is this sane behavior? And is it 1984?

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PS: You (oh imaginary reader) should read Mike Walsh's last post on cars/pedestrians in middle Finland by the way. Having been to Seinijoki myself I can confirm his observations - and even worse coming from London!

In a stew

Not quick enough, from Around Helsinki

Perjantaina me menimme Korkeasaarin kissojen yön.  Sää oli kylmä...

I am in a bit of a quandary*. I feel I should try to write more in Finnish to push my meagre Suomi language skills along - but if I do (on the blog at least) then two things will happen:

1. All the English speakers will wonder what on earth I am talking about (assuming it's untranslated); or should I say non-Finnish speakers, as it seems the vast majority speak better English than I'll ever manage with Finnish;
2. All the Finnish speakers will die of boredom from such exciting posts as Eilen minä menin kauppassa ja ostin... (Yesterday I went to the shops and I bought...)

I know I could always keep a separate Finnish journal, but blogging is more fun.  Of course the big assumption here is that anything I have previously written in English is interesting in the first place.

I was supposed to cook a 'traditional British sunday roast' today for Hiiri and Konna. I ended up cooking a stew instead, because ignoring a sense of foreboding I went to the local K-market, on Hiiri's insistence they did lots of cuts of meat their and of course they had nothing resembling a joint of beef, pork, lamb or a whole uncooked, un-marinated chicken that I could use. Quelle surpise. My fault for not considering that Hiiri has never had a British roast so wouldn't really know what I was after. Anyway, apparently there is a specialist butcher in Hakenemi, so next weekend...

Hmm, that ended up a 'I went to the shops and didn't buy...' post.  What was I saying about blogging the mundane?

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*Konna: no, no, no. I'm not in a big hole in the ground where stone is dug up from.

September's architecture corner

Viikin Kirkko: From Viikki church and school

We cycled* out to Viikki today and had a look at award winning Viikinkirkko (Viikki Church) and the nearby Viikki(?) School which looks like a classic street & finger plan. Not the best weather for building photography, but pictures on Picasa (and the uusi kuvia/new pictures thingy over there somewhere anyway---> 

For the benefit of the architecturally minded amongst you, I'll try to post a bit more info on each building later when I've done some research. Actually the whole Viikki ecological development area is quite interesting, so maybe more on that too.  So watch this space. 

Which reminds me, a couple of weeks ago we did a day long cycle trip, ending up in Kotka (before you all start measuring the distances I'll point out we didn't start in Helsinki!) where we saw the ramping wedge of the Merikeskus Vellamo (Maritime Centre) by architect Ilmari Lahdelma. I know someone is about to mention Yokahama Ferry Terminal about now, so I'll save you the trouble. It's actually a pretty stunning building (although the exhibitions reputedly still need developing) and I know the form, barcode type colour bands and printed glass panels will push a lot of buttons for several of my ex-colleagues.  

From Kotka Merikeskus Vellamo

Here are some more pictures, another grey day I'm afraid. Funnily enough it also features in the latest ARK magazine, which is the Finnish architectural review, which dropped through our letter box this morning as I was doing this post.

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*Yes that means that our bikes made it here in one piece, and not only that, I have finally had my broken suspension forks replaced (although I chickened out of fitting them myself in the end) - well its only a year since they seized during our cycling tour of the Turku archipelago ringastie route... Hmmm, Turku, isn't that in Finland...?

[text corrections 14/09]

0607

0607 exhibition: From Around Helsinki

This should have really gone under the Architecture Corner post so I'm engineering the post date so it does: On Friday (when entry is free) we finally went to see the 0607 exhibition at the Suomen Rakennustaiteen Museo (MFA) to see the biennial review of Finnish architecture. Having seen the last one too (no awards for guessing 0405), and visited a few of the buildings from both (WeeGee, Viikin Kirkko, Korkesaari turni, Haansarine row houses, Katajanokka apartments, Kamppi, etc) what strikes me is the general high quality of finish and workmanship to match the consistent high level of design; something that seems to only happen in exception projects in UK. Konna is seeing Evira and Sandels culture house as part of the 0607 tours this week.

We of course bought the 0607 catalogue/book, and also a new publication from MFA called 'Finnish Architecture 1900-2000' which is a good addition to our now rather limited library, although together made a 50€ dent in our currently limited funds.  I would recommend the later to anyone who wants to know about more than just Aalto's contribution to the country's built environment, and sets the scene nicely for the current works in the former. You can order both online at MFA.

And the winner will be...

'Doors (yes, doors)': Westminster Academy, AHMM.

Seeing the headline 'Elbow shoulders aside competition..' and so had won this year's (UK) Mercury music prize reminded me of two things: 1. To get their latest album 'The Seldom Seen Kid' (I like their earlier ones but missed this when it came out), and; 2. to check what was happening in the architectural world's (well UK anyway) equivalent, the RIBA Stirling Prize.

Yes I know this was announced back in July and so has been all over the architectural press, but we have been doing one or two other things in the meantime which may have distracted us from the UK architecture scene. Looking at this year's shortlist, apart from thinking Zaha must be hoping 'third time lucky', for the first time in years there are actually several buildings (okay only two out of the six) that I have actually visited, so can have a proper opinion on. One is the Royal Festival Hall, which has had a well deserved and tasteful spruce up (well a lot more than that I know), but the other is my favorite for the prize (and William Hill's at 3/1 apparently) the Naim Dangoor Centre - better know as Westminster Academy -  by architect Alford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM).  [CRW ex-colleagues please now wave out the window at them for me].  

'Global' & 'Strata': Westminster Academy, AHMM

I have to say I think this is a fabulous building, but we also have to remember it is not a template for all schools/academies to follow as it is designed around the particular philosophy and pedagogy of that academy.  Having had the chance to visit (in the name of research in my previous life) it would have my vote. Probably. Unless I found one of the other buildings was better when I visited it....

But what do I know, I'm no Lauren Laverne. Let me know what you think by voting using the thingy in the sidebar before 11 October. 

No, I'm no Kevin McCloud either....

Poetry and Mushrooms in the Bomb Shelters?

a little fellow in it's youth

It is time for the 'metsä' (=forest) to show its magic here in the North and produce the most magnificient little inhabitants called 'sieni' or 'sienet' for plural. Mid August it seemed that perhaps this magic is not going to happen this year, but oh no - after the fairly wet few weeks - they are popping up like 'sienet sateella'! (Refer to Emmdee's previous blog post on the words 'sataa vettä', in case you are now scratching your skull in desperation what the writer means by this bizarre word 'sade' (definitely not the now perhaps so infamous singer Sade)... Not making your life any easier I will also start singing: 'Sataa sataa ropisee pilipilipom, pilipilipom...') I will not continue this entertaining rhyme (yes, I might be a little hyper after too many cups of tea this morning...), but go on to the main point: And the point is what is happening as we speak - the mushrooms are popping up in the forrest like mushrooms in the rain!

According to the 'Hesarin Kuukausiliite' (= the monthly edition of Helsingin Sanomat, similar to say Guardian's Saturday supplement, but obviouly better as it is Finnish!) 'syyskuu' -Sept 2008, p. 65-68, the mushrooming season is at its best, and the joy of finding a mushroom is topped up with he fantastic (FINNISH) names of the mushrooms. You have to be a poet to figure out new Finnish names for the new species found. The name given should reflect the charasteristics and the family the particular mushroom belongs to... Sounds easy, but how would you translate say a pig skin poison puffball (= siannahkamyrkkytuhkelo) or a soft slipper toadstool (= pehmyttossumadonlakki)? They sound ridiculous and the names are way too long for anyone to remember... But Finns seem to spend awfully long time in figuring things like mushroom names out (is it the cliché of the long winter again?) Poetry or not, I could spare the British readers and not write the next part, but knowing me - would I really consider your feelings this far (the quick answer is no, I would not). So, the early parts of the very colourful 'Hesari' article reveals the lack of imagination in the minds of Brits and therefore negatively expresses the fact that the British mushroom naming and literature is in inevitable chaos! Apparently even the most common mushrooms in Britain are without English names and carry only their Latin names... Shame on you! This is now a well known fact in Finland as everything in 'Hesari' is true!

I'll give you a living example from our back garden if you may. The example is 'Amanita'. Hope some of your alarm bells are ringing as most of these mushrooms are poisonous - and they know it and show it - you should too (know it I mean... )! According to Wikipedia the genus Amanita contains about 600-1000 species (Wikipedia is very specific here!) of agarics including some of the most toxic known mushrooms found worldwide - in Finland around 20 species can be found. This genus is responsible for approximately 95% of the fatalities resulting from mushroom poisoning, with the death cap accounting for about 50% on its own. The most potent toxin present in these mushrooms is alpha-amanitin. Despite the deathly qualities these little fellows posses they look amazing. I photographed one of the four 'punakärpässieni' (= red fly mushroom, direct translation of mine... = fly agaric is the boring English name) in our back garden the other day. This fellow was only day and a half old when pictured... now a weekk later already showing many signs of ageing - colour changes, drooping and loosing the white spots. This mushroom is probably the first mushroom all Finnish kids get to know and recognise well - it is good then to know that the history books don't know any situations where someone would have been killed by eating 'punakärpässieni' in Finland... but already the Vikings knew about the hallucinogenic qualities of this mushroom (I won't go into that)... One more thing about Finish clarity and English chaos theory is that in Finland all 'amanitas' have a name 'kärpässieni' at the end of say 'puna' (= red) or 'valko' (=white) and are therefore easily recognised as part of one family... What do the Brits call these mushrooms? ... Fly agaric, destroying angel, purple death cap - Please give me a break... a little bit too dramatic, don't you think?

Maybe enought about the mushroom world, but you might still wonder how the bomb shelters link at all to these innocent little creatures like the mushroom in my picture (so I will continue a bit further). Well, mushrooms are known to be porous and therefore they should not be picked near busy roads or say power plants - you all know that, right?... How about the event some 30 years ago in Russia? Yes, the terrible accident at the Tsernobyl (Chernobyl) nuclear power plant in 1986. According to WHO's estimate approximately 9000, or according to Greenpeace 93000, and according to some Russian activist almost a million Russian people died. The Finns were unlucky that night too having wind conditions blowing towards North (= Finland) from Russia (saying that though, lucky in the sense that most people were inside that time of the day) and therefore there are still some traces of radioactivity (Cesium 137, which has a half-life of 30 years) in Finland's soil - and where else than in mushrooms (especially in the worst effected areas). A standard becqurel level in human body is approximately 100-200, someone who might eat heck of a lot of mushrooms & fish might have say 500-700 becqurels in their system... Apparently one should get concerned around 60000 becqurel findings which would raise the risk for cancer by a minute bit... Still Finns build a bomb shelter in all new highrised buildings in the coutry and I know where to head to in case the siren starts its deadly howling. I am glad though that the kids in the schools don't have to have the monthly siren tests like in the eightees... or do they? - I don't know as I have lived in England for the past 12 years. Oh well, life is safe - would be safe for the mushrooms too if they grew in the bomb shelters.

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PS. Thank you Pika for your 'keltavahvero' =  'kanttarellikastike' perunoilla (Chanterelle sauce & potatoes) yesterday... I'm proud to say the Finns have two names for this mushroom!

Te teette tee

Any verbs in there? Pipes: from Favourites

I'm just back from an evening of verbs. Not any old verbs; Type I, II & III verbs (plus a couple of those lovely irregulars for fun). The teacher is saving Types IV & V for a treat later it seems. Along with those 13 suffix cases for nouns and pronouns probably. And consonant gradation. At least we did vowel harmony already. And this is the easy bit...

Other fun things:

• There is no word for 'please'
  
• 'No' acts like a verb... en, et, hän ei, se ei, emme, ette, he eivät, ne eivät
  
• You don't say half past the hour but half to the hour, thus pauli kaksi (lit: half two) is actually 1:30 - a recipe to be an hour late/early to that important meeting!
  
• In Finnish you can make a 25-letter palindromic word: SOLUTOMAATTIMITTAAMOTULOS (which means the result from a measurement laboratory for tomatoes, although technically it is a compound of four words). There is also the equally long SAIPPUAKUPPINIPPUKAUPPIAS which means soap cup trader. The longest English single word palindrome is 11 letters, and that's a stretch.
  
• There are no separate words for 'he' and 'she', hän means both.

I could go on, but much more interesting is this article on Finnish poetry in context of history and language.

Oh the title? Te teette tee - You [plural or polite form] make tea.
A phrase like that almost makes it all worth it. 

Race for the Finnish

Not quite a Ferrari... from Favourites.

Hei, miten menee?

Hyvin, kiitos. Entä sinulle?

Ei hulumpaa...

Well that was an exciting race.  I think.  The problem is that as we don't have MTV3 Max (a pay channel) to watch the races live we have to nip round to Konna's dad to watch it... on RTL.  In German.  Oh well.  But at least we avoided the manic Finnish commentator, Matti Kullonen*, getting hysterical (sorry more hysterical than usual) when the Brit passed the Finn and the Finn crashed. Apart from shady web TV streams there doesn't seem like an easy way to get a live english commentary here, so I just have to watch, wonder and read about it later.

Anyway, what I was really going to talk about is minun suomen kielen kurssi (my Finnish language course).  I've started at level 1 of Finnish for Foreigners at the Helsingin Seudun Kesäyliopisto and am hoping to get to level 4 by Christmas.  At 90€ (£70) per course/level it's not exactly cheap, but amazingly I qualified for a 50% discount/bursary opintoseteli thing (or first two free depending how you look at it) - and this was only discovered because Konna went to the toilet when I was registering, and noticed a sign in Finnish only that said this support was available on request... 

No, se on maanantai, tiistai ja keskiviiko illalla...

So, it's on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday evenings, from 17:30 until 21:15 and so far I've had three lessons, and although I covered all the topics before (so far), I sure glad I'm not coming to it completely green (like at least one of my classmates...).  

Not only is it taught suomeksi (in Finnish, think about that for a minute) but the course goes much quicker than the one I did at Westminster; which was taught in English. For instance we are already dealing with Genitive and Imperfect forms (eg. sade + vesi -> sataa vettä: literally 'rains water') which we took about twelve lessons to get to in the UK.  And there is a reason for this: it is a Finnish Grammar course.  This, it seems, is how Finnish is taught here, which means picking up vocabulary and conversation skills is a somewhat secondary consideration (although the teacher does make us talk quite a lot and checks we know new words as we come across them). Also three hours in the evening (we do get a 45 min break) is pretty full on if you have been working all day, plus kottitehtävä (homework) to do each day - so there are some advantages to being 'between jobs'. Can't wait for the exams either.

The group is quite mixed: there are britti (3), intialainen (3), virolainen (Estonian) (2), puolalainen (Poles) (2), amerikkalainen, somali, filipiiniläinen, sveitsiläinen (Swiss), portugalilainen, saxalainen saksalainen (German), etc, and a pretty even mix of ages and gender. Interestingly (maybe unsurprisingly) most speak good English already, which gives us all a fall back in case of total confusion (which I suspect may happen increasingly), but I have yet to find out how many are working for Nokia...

Nähdään!

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*Matti Kullonen is Finland's answer to Murray Walker, (although unfortunately that doesn't include being retired) and is notorious for similar levels of ridiculous hyperbole and frequent foot-in-mouth tendencies.... here are some clips of his best work.