Outlandish

Having been born in Finland I am one of the few lucky ones on this planet who has had the best sort of starting blocks for life. Today my country celebrates its 99 th year of complete and unquestionable Independence so I think it’s time to note some basic points about this extraordinary country. The truth is that if I had been born in some other country, whatever other country, my life would have been very much different, and probably not in a positive way. Finland has belonged under great kingdoms and empires but still the Finns have always held on to their own language, own culture, and their own way-of-life. And because of that my country has been able to rise from the ashes of the crumbling Russian Empire, civil war, two World Wars and multiple recessions. It is a big country with a very small population, but still it has been able to keep its independence for this long and will probably continue to do so no matter what the future brings.     Finla...

After a very slow summer things have gotten quite hectic at work, on top of which my colleague is working from another country until the end of October. Most of our communication is done through Watsapp, and since text messages don't have expressions or a tone of voice, sarcasm doesn't always work in text form when you are rushed off your feet anyway. Communication difficulties on top of multiple projects and huge recruiting campaigns (in a language I am not fluent enough in) have caused a lot of stress which has come out as a lot of bickering and arguing. And I don't want to argue with my colleague, we're supposed to get on, which has added another level of stress. I must say, I am rather good at stressing out, so I was in serious need of a break. And as if Tallink was thinking along the same lines they had put boat tickets into a very nice sale last week and I got a Tallinn-Helsinki-Tallinn cruise for 30€. Unheard of! So weekend at home it was. I d...

Women and sport, 2016 edition. This summer has been a real celebration for all sports, so the media coverage has been very large on the subject as well. Recently there has been an increasing amount of talk about whether women’s sport is neglected in a discriminating way in the media and I find this discussion very interesting especially because I do follow all kinds of sports. The moment that inspired me to write this was when I watched a program, where a group  of successful Finnish athletes gather in Florida, hosted by one of world’s best ice-hockey players, Teemu Selänne, to compete in light-minded sport activities and go through their careers one athlete per episode. These athletes were some of the most successful Finns… and all men except for one figure skater, Kiira Korpi. So I wrote this but didn't publish it... until I saw a picture on Facebook: a huge headline screaming how Michael Phelps won silver swimming 200 meters. And a teeny tiny headline somewhere inside...

I've spent so much time at home in Turku this past Spring and Summer that I'm not quite sure any more which country I live in, Estonia or Finland. But now I think it's time to leave the cruise ships in peace for a while and hopefully people will visit me, so I won't need to compare the times for buses and boats because they never really match the way I would want them to. But before I walk to Linnhall and wave my goodbyes to Finland for a while I want to go back to last weekend, which turned into a proper Turku Experience.  All sorts of little happenings and businesses offering things to do pop up around the city of Turku in the summer. Especially around the Aura River at the moment you can find anything from restaurants and river boats to a couple of very Finnish phenomenon; a mini sauna and a hot tub that you heat up with wood in a little stove. This hot tub is special, though, because you can sit in there while floating in the river. We found the idea...

Finnish Summer, the tragicomic phenomenon and a global laughing stock. It is something that we Finns have developed a very black sense of humour for because otherwise we couldn't cope. We "proudly" advertise this special phenomenon in the social media where it has lately gathered quite an audience all the way in China. You always know how it's going to be and still you are every year just as or even more disappointed as last year when it was colder in July than in December and when after nine months of waiting for the sunshine all you get is black clouds that spit on you constantly. And then comes Autumn with a little bit less rain, but rain nonetheless, and the deepening darkness.  BUT! This summer so far has been surprisingly gentle. May and June were very sunny and warm, I even managed to tan so much that after a dozen years I finally got my freckles back! Obviously it rained every now and then but not all day every day. In Tallinn June was even bett...

Finally back in Tallinn after a month of traveling all over the place. Good to be back! I arrived again on the last ship on Wednesday evening and oh how wonderful it was to close the door behind me and see my perfect apartment in front of me just as I left it three weeks before. My couch, my kettle and my bed! I can't even count how many kilometers or hours I spent altogether on buses around the European subcontinent or the places where I slept. Even at my parents' place I sleep in my brother's old room so I didn't feel "at home" sleeping anywhere this past month.  But don't get me wrong, I am not complaining! This has been probably the best June I've ever had, also weather-wise! Instead of going to Turku to home office after my trip to Slovakia I was able to go home and work from there already on the second week of the month. Being able to work from basically anywhere is an absolute necessity to me these days, I don't even understand ...