Tag Archives: culture

in english

Finnish dance halls

Dancing Humppa

One of the most interesting features of Finnish dance halls besides the age group, the music mix of tango, ballads, humppa and rock & roll and the fact that a few of the men seem to need too much courage of the liquid variety is that there are signs like this one here that also give the sexes turns to ask for a dancing partner, so that if the first line is on women look for men, the second men look for women and the third signals the “free-for all”.

At least dancing is something I more or less know how to do, and I already have a good partner ;-).

in english

Recommended movie: Aavan meren tällä puolen / Kid Svensk / That Special Summer

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Kid Svensk – Trailer Suomi (Finsk) Version
Watched this film last night and really liked it for two reasons:

  1. Its portrayal of the immigrant integration challenge: the mother, a low-skilled Finnish immigrant to Gothenburg in Sweden in the 1980's, doesn't speak any Swedish and cannot understand her surroundings, and
  2. The tackling of the situations a kid growing with two languages and cultures can face: supporting her parents in the local community and being harassed for her background.

I found the movie especially poignant given the current immigration debate in Finland.  Not too long ago, Finns were leaving the country, facing similar issues in other lands to the ones found by newcomers here.

in english

Nortec Collective in Stockholm

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A few weeks ago we were fortunate enough to visit Stockholm, to finally see Nortec Collective live.  Nedless to say, we jumped around like crazy and enjoyed the gig immensely, especially since instead of Banda samples they actually had live musicians backing them up (who played an encore of their own).  We even ended up backstage with them after the gig, and naturally welcomed them to come to the Helsinki Festival whenever they could.

It was a very welcome pause, and it was nice to see that Stockholm still looks the same.  An interesting note was that everybody spoke to me in Swedish (even though I had a tejana on most of the time), while that seldom happens in Finland with or without funny hats.

in english

Mexican Culture Week in Helsinki

Finally the Mexican Embassy here truly put a programme together for Independence Day, and there was a whole week of activities last week related to Mexico and Mexican culture.  They did have the traditional reception for the Mexican community here, but there was also a piano concert, exhibitions of folk dress and art, workshops on Mexican dance, architecture and the experience of Mexicans in Finland, and they even brought a famous Mexican chef here!

There was some interesting cultural exchanges during the period, as the video below of local student choir Ylioppilaslaulajat shows:

I even ended up singing at some point, LOL… 😉  Kudos to the Mexican Embassy, and I hope they organise these kind of events again.
in english

Did Texas ever leave Mexico?


Fiesta in San Antonio

Originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado

Yes, of course it did. The structure of the city is typically American, built around the car, and of course the American and Texan flags fly everywhere you look. Furthermore, you will find that Texans are very, very proud of their heritage and to be respected, of course.

However, in a recent visit to San Antonio I was surprised by the huge Mexican influence in the place, as can be seen in the photo to the right and in these other two. I was also rather impressed by the Spanish-language proficency of people not of Hispanic descent, and the amount of Hispanics in the city was quite large. I was wondering if it was always like this given its geographic location or if this is a recent change.

in english

Mexican wedding receptions


Norteña

Originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado

One of those things that I was not used to anymore was how Mexican wedding receptions are organised. The wedding ceremony itself can be religious or not (usually you have both, as there is complete separation of Church and State in the country) but as almost everywhere else you have the reception.

In Finland, the reception is a very orderly affair, with a programme that will include the toast and the banquet, performances by a band and maybe even the guests, speeches and finally some dancing. In Mexico, it is quite orderly as well, but you don’t notice it so much. You will first have the toast and the banquet, then the first waltz and finally a lot of dancing (6 hours of it).

To keep the audience entertained, depending on the music being played the band will use props that will also be distributed to the audience, so for example they’ll have balloons when having samba, cowboy hats for music from northern Mexico, hats, shirts, etc. Furthermore, they’ll bring in certain members of the audience to dance on the stage with their respective attire, which becomes very funny with songs like YMCA.

I’m not saying one is better than the other, they’re just different.

in english

Lucha Libre in Mexico City

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I have been to different sporting events, but lucha libre in Mexico City is more than that. The masks, the chanting and the elaborate tricks show a lot about Mexican culture, if you care to dig a little.

It also helps that it’s a lot of fun to watch live: not only for the performers, but especially for the audience.

Update: I followed my own advice and dug a little about the cultural impact of lucha libre. I found this video (unfortunately only in Spanish) of a documentary on lucha libre.  I bumped into another interesting clip explaining lucha libre in an article reviewing a recent performance in London. However, you might get an idea by watching this very amusing music video:

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