Had I not gone to Finland to study, I would have ended up in Hamburg. After all this time, I finally had the opportunity to visit the city. It was interesting to have a glimpse about how different would my life now be For starters, I wouln’t speak Finnish nor be married with my wife, but would probably have much better German language skills. I would have probably adapted to German culture instead. Those details would have made a rather different me (or maybe not).
In short, you build your life every day, so try to make it the best it can be.
That's truly what this post is about, because, as my family back in Mexico would say, I truly landed in a soft sport when I came here, met my wife and after some time was pretty much adopted into her family. I cannot be grateful enough for that, since through them, my friends and of course my wife I came to know, love and integrate here in Finland. With them I've shared my successes and they celebrate them as much as my blood family does. They have even asked me to enter their family records which of course is an honour.
This is probably what makes it a little confusing, because for those that know me I am "one of them" but certain sectors of the general public tend to see me with suspicion. I'm not going to change that, so I should stop caring and move on. 😉
I was on the bus to work this morning, and a comment my wife had made once suddenly clicked. She said sometime during the weekend that she's starting to get wrinkles (which I don't believe for a moment, but anyway) and that they're the kind of wrinkles you get on the corner of your mouth when you've been smiling too much.
During my commute, I noticed how people really don't smile. Not only that, but their mouths have been arched downwards for so long that it is their natural state, which makes them look even sadder. The act of smiling on its own can make you feel better, and it definitely makes you look better.
So, even if at a specific moment you don't feel like it, remember to smile every once in a while.
A couple of days back, I took a taxi from the office to a congress. The ride was short and it was slightly over 10 EUR. I was chatting with the cabbie in Finnish when it was time to pay. When I gave him my company credit card (and this is when it gets interesting) the guy asks if my name is the one in the card and if I could show him an ID.
I did and after he filled all details in the receipt that was the end of it, but it was rather surprising, since it was the first time in 7 years a cabbie asks for it and the amount was rather small. Why would he do that?
Obi's line, also mirrored in the song "There's nothing as it seems" by Pearl Jam, would very well describe something that happened to me on the way to Tokyo.
I saw a big group of Japanese senior citizens boarding the plane and immediately started thinking about writing a post about the pending Japanese demographic timebomb (and the fact that it's obvious these guys grew up cherishing the American way of life judging by how they dress). Fortunately I didn't, as their guide sat next to me. A very nice Japanese lady, who is married to a Chinese and lives in Shanghai, she explained to me that these people, all over 70, just came back from an athletics meet in Italy, where they won a few medals in for example the 10,000 metres race against peers from all over the world. They most probably are in better condition than me.
I have occasionally wondered if the subtitle of this blog is just too pretentious. Then I am reminded of the accuracy of it by things like those that have happened to me in the last two weeks: we visited a Canadian of Vietnamese origin and his Scottish-Norwegian girlfriend in Norway, I missed an appointment for a couple of beers with a Kiwi friend visiting Finland and just had dinner with a Turkish friend (who was living in the US until very recently) and his wife. The books I read, the media I consume are not necessarily produced where I live or where I'm from. Furthermore, for me and many others, these situations and these backgrounds are completely normal.
