Tag Archives: life

in english

What a difference…

2 Comments

When I moved to Finland to study in the summer of 2000, 8.35 Mexican pesos used to buy one euro (the Finnish markka, still legal tender, was already pegged to the euro, and transition to banknotes would happen one and a half years later).  A non-EU student like me needed to show he had 30,000 markka (5,045 euro or 42,000 pesos of August 2000) for his living expenses for the year in order to be granted a residence permit.  I had to sell my car and got some help from my parents to reach that sum, but it seemed a better proposition than continuing studying at a private university where the tuition per half year cost 50,000 pesos (5,990 euro or 35,600 markka of August 2000).  Furthermore, I didn’t need to pay tuition in Finland.

Today’s rate is 19.1 pesos per euro.  Furthermore, a non-EU student now has to demonstrate that he/she has 6,000 euro every year in order to be given a residence permit, so my present-day equivalent would need to get 114,000 pesos every year to be allowed to come to Finland to study (a 271% increase in almost 9 years!).  The Finnish Parliament is also evaluating the possibility of adding tuition fees for non-EU students.

I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t expect many Mexican students coming here anytime soon.  I guess it was a matter of timing.

in english

Corporate vs. personal blogging

You may have noticed that the rate of new posts in this blog has slowed down a little.  Most of it is simply due to the fact that I’m spending a hell of a lot of time working these days (a common joke with my buddy Phil is that we see more of each other during the week than of our wives), so I don’t have that much time to share certain things as when I was studying my masters.

Furthermore, most of the impulses and insights that I have nowadays are related to work, and as you may have noticed I don’t feel comfortable blogging about it externally unless its public, live and water under the bridge (a not-so-uncommon problem).  For that reason I have started a Nokia internal blog where I post my thoughts on services, devices, marketing and industry shifts as I see them happening.  If you also work for the company and would like to read it, tell me and I’ll send you the link).

This doesn’t mean that this blog will whither and die (on the contrary, I plan to give it more attention now that it has finally moved to its own server and I was able to clean all 800-plus entries), but that I’m still trying to evaluate what focus to give it.  Let’s see what it brings, and hope you want to continue reading.

in english

I didn’t understand what’s wrong with exclusive nationalism until I became an immigrant

Mexican education has a very strong nationalist component, and we are taught to view with a certain suspicion foreign influences, which is quite ironic when you consider that everybody came from somewhere else. Phrases like "México lindo y querido" (beautiful & beloved Mexico) or "Como México no hay dos" (there is no other country like Mexico) are commonly heard, and Mexican naturalisation and investment laws are extremely restrictive, which everybody seems to find normal.

When I moved to Finland, after going throught the whole language and acculturisation process, I realised that many of those views held while and where I was born were rather chauvinistic, when I found similar situations in the country where my home is.  Phrases such as "On lottovoitto syntyä Suomeen" (being born in Finland is like winning the lottery) and the sad state of the immigration debate in Finland currently have shown me how wrong the attitudes I encountered when growing up are, since they assume that one group or the other hold a monopoly on truth and are categorically better than the rest.

I'd rather learn the best from everybody I encounter.

in english

Strawberry fields forever

You may be aware that Mexico is not one of the most egalitarian societies on this planet, and socioeconomic differences are very much a part of the social fabric.  I was fortunate enough to grow up in a middle class family in the capital, with access to good schooling and domestic and international travel.

While growing up I think I tried to make the best possible use of these opportunities, but when I reached my teenage years I realised I truly disliked the pseudo-elitist environment I was brought up in, and got rather fed up with those social standards on what to wear, how to act, what kind of music to listen, what car to drive, when to gossip, etcetera.

Fast-forward 10 years.  I had been living in Finland for a few years and moved to Brussels to study my masters degree.  The school was not very big, so for extra-curricular activities and a couple of courses they tended to band together the undergraduate exchange students and the foreign graduate students for what one could call "economies of scale". 

Two of the exchange students were from Mexico, and one of them embodied pretty much everything I disliked of that environment I had left: the feigned (or real) ignorance and lack of curiosity, the social and religious conservatism, the gossiping and the materialism were all there, and I couldn't avoid this person for half a year.

Needless to say, the beginning was quite hard, but it definitely taught me to face my own prejudices and not only deal with it, but actually get along pretty nicely and (most importantly) sincerely.  While we didn't become best friends, I believe we were able to have a good working relationship, which is one of the most valuable lessons learned from my time there.

in english

Seven random facts about the frozen goat

I don't do memes that often, but got this one from Karrioo so decided to pitch in, especially since this is a (mostly) personal blog.  Funnily enough, the last time I answered to one of this it was in Spanish, so here goes:

  1. I've never liked fighting but practised martial arts for many years.  Thankfully I've only had to use that knowledge once.
  2. I'll almost always wear a hat.
  3. When I was a kid, I'd read or play with Lego.
  4. I love eating so much that that's how I learned to cook when I moved on my own, and I'm not half bad.  During my time in Finland I've come up with some Fenno-Mexican fusion recipes 😉
  5. I don't watch that much TV anymore, but will still follow certain sci-fi series, the news or important football matches.
  6. When I had to choose what I wanted to study, I was between political sciences and information systems.  Is my choice that obvious?
  7. I'm almost always listening to music, especially if I'm driving or on my own.

Now, I'm not going to send this forward as most of the people I follow have answered it, but if you feel like it, take it up! 😉

in english

Recap of 2008

Internationally this year has been an interesting one, which has started to turn a little difficult towards the end, as you can see in the international, the Finnish and the Mexican 08 recaps.

Personally it was not any easier, but the end balance of has been very good I'd think. I expanded profesionally and became an expert in areas I didn't know that well at the beginning of the year in a challenging environment, and most of my energy and time went there throughtout the year (which shows in this blog, as I've been more active in Jaiku & Twitter where you need to think less to write a post).

Personally we found a place of our own that we improved for many months, but the results are there. My parents got their first grandchild, as my sister and her husband had a baby girl, whom we've now met and fallen in love with.  Some friends have gotten married, some have lost their loved ones, and we've tried to be there in both cases.

With this in mind, we can hope for the best in the new year, and work hard for it.

How has been your 2008?