Hi Everyone! Sorry it's been so long since my last post. For some reason, I just haven't been in the blogging mood. But now I am!
So I've been doing a ton of fun stuff lately - and I'll tell you all about it later. First, I'd like to write a little about what I've learned about Finnish culture lately.
The Finns have two words for the english word "friend": kaveri and ystävä. There is an important difference between them. Most Finnish people have only one or two ystävää; an ystävä is a very close friend, one who will probably be your friend for life. There is really strong trust between ystävä - you don't ever have to worry that your ystävä will betray you. Kaveri is more like what we Americans think of as "normal" friends. Most often, a university student will have kaveri that are studying the same thing, or involved in the same hobby. It seems quite rare for people to have "all sorts" of kaveri - and indeed, some Finns tell me that this can be both really nice and really miserable. What's interesting to me is how this friendship structure is related to the "shyness" of Finns. Many people say that Finns are hard to get to know - what I think is just that Finns have a higher threshold for a close friendship. There are probably many reasons for this: Finland is small country so people can stay in touch even if they don't live in the same city, people don't move quite as often, high school lasts until students are about 19 rather than 17, etc.
I have met a TON of people since I've been in Finland, and one of the things that's been difficult is that although you meet lots of cool people, you have only known them for a few days or weeks, and so there is not such a strong feeling of trust and closeness. It has really made me value the friendships that I had back in the US that I perhaps take for granted.
But what has really impressed me in the past couple weeks is that I have met a bunch (>5) Finnish people who have treated me so kindly and honestly that I am now forced to think that all this business of Finns "having a higher threshold for friendship" is just a myth. I am constantly amazed by the hospitality and warmth that I've received from people I barely even know.
On a related (somehow?) note, I was reading an article in the NYTimes about how there are more millionaires in the US per capita than ever before, and how the gap between rich and poor is growing. Many of the Finns that have shown me great hospitality are not particularly wealthy. Despite this, I've felt as if I live a life of real luxury here. There are many things here which are REALLY pleasurable and REALLY affordable. The funny thing is that these same things are available in the US! The people here seem to appreciate the simple joys of life much more than I am used to. Example: Yesterday, I spent the morning going on a run (about 10K - my first in a LONG time, don't worry, my knee is ok) with a friend, then we had a simple lunch of fish, potatoes, salad, and homemade pulla (cinnamon buns). After that, I went to the sauna, did some math, and hit the hay early. It was one of the best days of my life. Who needs a yacht? Why should we feel the need to get rich? Why aren't we satisfied with a moderate lifestyle?
Sometimes Finland is very Zen. I bet Finnish poetry is really good.
Ok, so here's the rundown on the major fun events of the past few weeks.
Choral concert: My friend Maria sings in one of the 30+ choirs here in Jyväskylä. Along with a bunch of friends, I went to the concert celebrating the release of their new album. It was FANTASTIC. Now I don't know much about choral music, but they were really professional, and their music gave me goosebumps. They sang mostly in Finnish, and performed a number of songs composed especially for their group.
Afterwards Maria was kind enough to invite me to the after-party, which consisted of lots of food, singing (including a finnish version of "she'll be coming 'round the mountain"), guitar playing, and sauna. Awesome. Also, my finnish teacher was in the choir, so we got to hang a little outside of class. Luckily there is not such a taboo against this as in the US.
I also attended a poetry reading at Vakiopaine, the "bohemian" bar in town - reminded me a bit of Ambrosia. It was pretty cool - almost all in Finnish.
I could really only understand a few words here and there, not enough to understand the meaning. But it was nice anyway. After the readings, we engaged in an orange carving contest. Yes, I am still obsessed with oranges.
Also that night I met some cool people from Mexico and Spain, but promptly offended them. I decided it would be a good time for me to spend about twenty minutes making fun of "new age" spirituality, including jokes about "vortices" and
David Lynch. Not surprisingly, my new friends were going to spend the entire next day at a meditation workshop. I did not anticipate this.
The most bizarre thing I've seen since being in Finland was a concert last week. The band was called "Eläkeläiset", or "The Retirees". They play music in a style called "Humppa", which defies description. My best shot is "polka-punk". It was drums, guitar, accordian, and organ. They also had a table just for their alcohol (which was substantial). Here's the kicker - they played all covers of modern pop music.
How did they come up with this? "Hey guys, let's have a band where we play polka-punk covers of Madonna's 'Like a Virgin', Guns'n'roses 'Sweet Child of Mine', and Weezer's 'Buddy Holly'!...What do you mean you don't think it's going to work?" Anyway, I couldn't decide which was funnier, the band or the fans. People REALLY loved it. I had a great time. Also I had a beer poured all over me by a guy dressed up as the "General of the Humppa Army". That's PUNK ROCK!
As a bonus for reading all of this, here is a photo of a calendar that was sent to all of the residents of my housing complex. The theme of the calendar is environmental living. It is really very funny. There are more photos of the calendar in my
photo stream. Warning: the calendar contains nudity. But it is funny nudity. Not yucky nudity.
