Tag Archives: finland

in english

Nowhere’s perfect, neither am I

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So, after a year in Belgium, I came back to Finland.  I started noticing certain things about the place that I had already gotten used to and don't really like, such as the amount of drunken teenagers on weekends, the fact that public transportatio, although good, is rather sparse (which is fine in summer, but in winter is no laughing matter) or the relative scepticism of most public officials.  This all reminded me of when I arrived in Brussels, as I was not used to the dirt and the beggars in the streets.  Don't get me talking about Mexico City, which is sadly renowned for its insecurity and pollution.

However, I remembered that it all depends on how much you make out of things yourself, and whether the pros outweigh the cons.  There's always two sides of a story, and there is always something good that can be found.  In Brussels it's multiculturality, in Helsinki it is nature and safety, in Mexico City its vibrance and cultural life, to give just a few strong points.

It's all a matter of making do with what is there, what you have and be determined to have a good time wherever you are.

en español

Lo que empieza bien, acaba bien


Suomen suurlähetystö

Originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado

Algunos de ustedes probablemente leyeron que estaba un poco preocupado. No había porqué. Ya tengo mis papeles, y ya sólo me falta defender mi tesis para graduarme de la maestría y regresar a mi chamba a Finlandia.

Estaba tan, pero tan estresado, que se me aflojó todo el cuerpo cuando me dijeron que ya no había bronca. Total, que sólo se trata de tener sus papeles en orden y mucha, mucha paciencia de por medio.

in english

Finnish Juhannus

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Lake Scenery

Originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado

The Midsummer celebrations in Finland are one of the highlights of the year when living in that country. If possible, people will go to their summer cottage, where they spend the time playing, eating, fixing a couple of things and going to sauna.

Given that here in Belgium they don’t seem to celebrate it very much, I’m really missing it. One doesn’t start to know about Finland until spending the midsummer long weekend with the Finns in a small house in the woods, maybe next to a lake, in the middle of nowhere. Probably there’s no better sauna than the one at the summer cottage, probably the smell of the woods is what relaxes you, probably it is because you spend a relaxing time with friends and/or family. Regardless it is one of the quintessential things that makes Finland the way it is, and I’ve realised how much the place has changed me now that it is not celebrated where I am.

Hyvää Juhannusta!

in english

Sateluco forever

In Mexico City, there is a special brand of people, who work in the city, but live outside the limits of the Federal District.  If they don’t work in the
area, which after all is one of the largest industrial zones in Latin
America, they live their early mornings and late evenings listening to
the radio in their car while being stuck in the Periférico, the local
12-lane ring road, jokingly referred to as the largest parking lot in
the world.

Being a suburban boy means that, when growing up, crossing the city limits towards el D.F. was a day-long excursion, whereas going to the south was more like being in another city.  When coming back, being greeted by “las torres de Satélite” was comforting, as you knew you where in a familiar place.

Where I grew up, you would meet people at the mall (Plaza Satélite, the first one and still one of the largest in the country) for a cup of coffee to catch up with life.  Now that they all work, you assume they’ll be there after 7.  Funnily enough, this area of the city until recently didn’t have a very strong identity like Coyoacán and la Roma, being relatively new (developed since the 1950’s, but with large-scale urbanisation until the 1970’s).  That is a status that an organisation called “Satelín Torres” wants to revert, trying to give a memory to this part of the city.

Although considered by the rest to be a cultural wasteland, where people sleep, shop, eat and generally aspire to the middle class ideal and if they are interested to go to a museum or a concert they’ll cross to el D.F., it has spawned a number of rock groups.  Café Tacuba is of course the most renowned, but many other bands of the current indie movement come from this part of the city.

I started thinking about all this as I realised that it is my destiny to be a suburban guy, as I’ve lived in Espoo, suburb of Helsinki, for most of my time in Finland and that’s where I’m headed when I move back.  Furthermore, it feels really familiar, as instead of el Periférico they have Länsiväylä and instead of Plaza Satélite and Mundo E they have Iso Omena and Tapiola.

The time in Brussels has been an anomaly, more than the rule.

in english

FIFA date wrap-up

Mexico 0-1 Paraguay

Painful last-minute defeat at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City for el Tri.  The national team is usually next-to-invincible at the mythical venue of two World Cup finals.  Paraguay avenged losing to Mexico in Monterrey a couple of months back, and played their typical catenaccio style.  According to the press, the Mexican midfield quickly ran out of ideas, so they didn't create a lot of chances.  That the main starters didn't play this game didn't help, either.  The next match for Mexico will be this weekend at the CONCACAF Gold Cup against Cuba.

 

Finland 2-0 Belgium

The sinivalkoiset beat the Diables Rouges / Rode Duivels at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki.  Both teams were trying to bounce back from a series of disappointing results, and Finland showed the goods.  The Finnish press were especially worried since stars Hyypiä and Litmanen were missing, but newcomers such as the Eremenko brothers showed their worth.  In Belgium, on the other hand, they are disappointed at the weakness of a team that has lost 5 straight matches.

in english

Handling uncertainty

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I hadn't noticed how flexible I tend to be regarding uncertainty, and how much of that is due to my upbringing.  Don't get me wrong: I don't like knowing whether my plans will work either, but I don't let it worry me, since I'm too busy doing those things I can actually do.

Maybe it has to do with growing up in a society where not everything is provided "as is", and you have to learn to improvise as you go.  The problem with Mexicans is that they (we) tend to improvise too much, while others are much more inflexible.

Makes things interesting, that's for sure.

in english

FIFA date wrap-up

Finland 0-2 Serbia

Horrible game by the sinivalkoiset.  Serbia deservedly won at the Finnair stadium.  Finland's midfield couldn't create any meaningful plays and resorted to that old trick of desperate teams: the long ball.  When your best hope of winning a Euro 2008 qualifier is an out of form 36-year old (regardless of whether his name is Jari Litmanen) you know you're in real trouble.

Belgium 1-2 Portugal

The third defeat in a row for the diables rouges means they are also out of contention for a spot at next summer's tournament.  Belgium visits Helsinki next Wednesday, where both teams will be thinking about the road to South Africa already as they have nothing to fight for.

Mexico 4-0 Iran

The Mexicans, playing without some of their key Europe-based players, beat comfortably an also incomplete Persian team at San Luis Potosí.  This match, in preparation for the CONCACAF Gold Cup and the Copa América, also served as the presentation with el Tri of Uruguayan-Mexican striker Nery Castillo with the team, putting an end to speculation that he could play for Greece (where he plays) or Uruguay (where he grew up) instead.

in english

I can’t believe it…

But I'm watching the Eurovision semifinals from Helsinki.  And I'm actually quite moved by the small clips between performances.

Hard Rock Hallelujah!

Update: 2 of my favourites didn't go through to the finals: Andorra & Belgium…  the annoying acts of Belarus & Slovenia went through instead.  However, 2 that did go though that I liked were Georgia & Serbia.  Now let's see what do the finals have in store, as there are some contestants like Germany that seem to have some interesting stuff.

in english

These days, keeping in touch is not so hard

I was reading Batz's Journal, where she comments her views on leaving Barcelona after being there two years, and going away from those friendships she has formed during her time there.

I started thinking that in fact these days it's not so difficult to keep in touch with those you care about.  With e-mail, messenger, skype, blogging and of course text messaging and voice telephony you can still keep in touch.  These days video conferencing is not so difficult either, as many chatting programs have integrated it.

Around a year ago, I was in a very particular situation.  My parents were living in Brazil, my sister in Mexico, my fiancée in Japan and I was in Finland, so there was a minimum of 8,000 km between one member of the family and the next.  Keeping in mind the time differences, these utilities were a godsend, and now that I'm in Belgium I use them to keep in touch, as my friends and family are scattered all over the place.

This is much better than the situation in the Middle Ages, or even 30 years ago.  In that sense I'm glad I was born at a time when this is possible.