Helsinki- part 2

Estonian Flag on our way to Helsinki

Helsinki, is short hydroplane trip across the northern corner of the Baltic sea. Along thr way, we pass a few returning ferry boats and bouys but there is not much else to see-beyond water, sky and high flying birds.  The ride is minimally bumpy and at such a high speed that I am afraid that I might be blown overboard when I step outside for a few minutes. 

Although I spent most of my time teaching in a house in  a 'suburb' on the edge of Helsinki, the similarities and differences between Tallinn and Helsinki are fun to observe.  Perhaps my biggest surprise  is that I can actually understand (read) Finnish...or at least figure out some of the signs here.  Even though my understanding of Estonian is dismal (well, perhaps better than dismal since Estonian is such an impossible language to learn), but what I know helped me bridge to understanding written Finnish.  For a while, as we walked around- my mind kept of asking- 'how can you understand Finnish signs, you don't know any Finnish AT ALL!!!'  I felt as if I were in some type of alternate- but accessible- reality.


Finland, shares a partial historic experience with Estonia. It too was a land desired by many larger powers and empires (Sweden and Russia in particular).  However, it does not share the same 50-years of soviet oppression. Finns seem more secure in who they are, and willing to take risks a bit more easily than their neighbors across the water.  The workshop I led, was interesting but also strange as I got a brief glimpse into the deeper psyche of the participants.  I am still sorting out many of my impressions and reactions.

Food stand in a market 

 Finland itself seems a place of great extremes and much wilderness. It appears very western European on the surface, with a working public transportation system, a variety of immigrant peoples and the concurrent food choices available as well as shared economic, political and health concerns with the rest of the EU. But there are hints of a more ancient and different legacy than the European peoples to their south. I wonder what it is like to spend you life experiencing the light and dark extremes that are typical of this land. (It is not yet summer solstice and the sky is bright until 11pm). Even the food is different, reindeer meat, rice and potato rye-flour buns shaped like primeval shoes.  Workshop participants discuss the herbal benefits of fir tree needle tea and other indigenous plants that were unfamiliar to me.  I want to read the folk tales and myths of this land to better understand how the indigenous people here made sense of their world.  


I was also struck by the Finnish seeming lack of interest in their Estonian neighbors and I ws also a bit disturbed by the somewhat patronizing view workshop participants had of Estonians.  For them, Estonia is a place to party, get cheap beer and perhaps sex. Their views fits with the Estonian view of Finns as 'those people who arrive on the ferry to drink, because alcohol is cheaper in Estonia'.  I wonder how can they be so unaware of the recent Estonian soviet experience, in part because because the Soviet Union also attempted to make the Karelian part of Finland part of the soviet empire.  The short weekend leaves me with many thoughts and impressions that I will be mulling over for a long time. 

Standing in front of the Sibelius Monument

But now we are back, and realizing that our own time in Tallinn is drawing to a close.  I am sad and realize how bad I am at these type of endings. I am not ready to leave, and resist processing my experience here yet. But soon we pack up our little apartment, heave our packs on our back and head out. But not yet.........