Coming up: a two-year escape to Brussels...

Oh man, only three blog entries this year! It's not like I haven't had anything to write about, the opposite actually; big and small escapes making it hard to find any time for blogging. 

Dolphin as seen in Naples beach, Florida. Oh, such a great thing to swim close to free dolphins playing wildly in the ocean.

I wanted to write about Myanmar before the big tourist groups enter the country or my recent trip to Washington and Florida;

Painting old chairs for kitchen.

I wanted to expand the content of my blog to interior design issues with the decoration boom I'm having in my new apartment;

The craziness of the amazing Shibuya crossing in Tokyo. What a wonderful and curious city!

I wanted to go through my thoughts about my encounter with the Japanese society; 

Andy Warhol exhibition in Sara Hildén art museum in Tampere was worth seeing -  especially for the photo I took of my parents with the Mao painting...

and I wanted to recommend cultural activities in Helsinki and elsewhere. 

Well, I wasn't able to follow my own guideline in blogging: keep it simple and short. If it's not simple and short, it's inexistent... 

Only two champagne glasses got broken during the housewarming party.

Less than a year ago, I bought this wonderful place in Käpylä (at least this is something I have written about) and in April we had a nice housewarming party with my flatmate. Now, six months later, I'm packing my stuff once again and embracing my new status as a landlady and Brussels resident :)

Enjoying the beginning of the hot summer in Café Esplanadi, Helsinki.

Brussels is calling. For the third time in my life, I'm moving to Brussels. As a consequence, October has been a month of goodbyes and little farewell parties. And today, on the day of departure, I need to wipe some tears.

The idea of leaving Helsinki after a gorgeous summer was a bit of a heartache but as the autumn is growing grey, the idea of being once again in the centre of Europe and living a bit of a cosmopolite life is increasingly appealing. Brussels may not be the coolest city in Europe - for sure, it is not - but it has some good qualities that I will enjoy greatly (hopefully, I will manage to write about them later). And those major disadvantages, like poor public transportation and awful biking opportunities, well, I guess I just need to learn to live with them. 

Autumn is now getting colder and darker, but I managed to enjoy some sunny autumn days in the forest - now, good to go...

Moving, especially moving to another country, can be an excellent place for making other changes in life as well. I'm thinking of new hobbies (argentine tango, painting, salsa?), more time for reading good novels and non-fiction (I still have that Piketty unread), and completely vegan diet (with some mussels, obviously). However, I also hope that I will find a good ashtanga yoga shala in Brussels. Yoga has truly been beneficial for my inner peace, clear mind and good physical health, therefore I would love to keep on practicing with good teachers. 

Getting my yoga mat from our yoga shala here was quite sad. It's been such an important place for me for the past two years. But what I have also recently realized is that I can be happy anywhere if I choose to do so.

Frog buddha in Florida... Don't take life too seriously, I think he says.

Brooklyn in Helsinki and one stop pub crawl

Just the previous day, I had complained that life is boring in Helsinki in the sense that you never encounter strangers the way that you would abroad or as a tourist in general. Obviously, one reason is that our everyday life is much more organised; we follow routines and we have put limits to our behaviour. For instance, I wouldn't join a group of 15 Americans for a pub crawl and then be locked out of my hostel (as I did in Barcelona, 2003), chat the night through with a cute bar tender with few other customers to serve (as in Catania, 2008), spend a fantastic day, including herbal sauna and a buddha statue park, with a middle-aged Kiwi (as in Vientiane, 2011), or accept an offer for a motorcycle trip from a handsome young guy sitting next to me in a café (in San Francisco, 2008). At home, we tend to be more reserved and this rarely gives room for adventures or improvised discussions. We try to avoid unnecessary talk with strangers and don't leave our comfort zone. It's a pity!

 Photos of Brooklyn Café from the Facebook page of Brooklyn Café.

Maybe it was the café, the very cute and cosy Brooklyn Café in Viiskulma, that made me act like in a real New York place. The owners of the café are sisters from Brooklyn and the cute waiters speak only a few words of Finnish, so it's not hard to imagine being in New York instead of Helsinki.

Having installed with my iPad in front of another iPad user (see, it really is like a hip place in Brooklyn), I soon engaged in a nice chat with this young man. He was writing his second novel, the first one, he showed me, was on sale in the café. He had written most of it in the corner table. Indeed, this café offers very nice atmosphere for hipster-like experiences in art and creative life. I would definitely write my novel there. But I don't need such an excuse to hang around there because it is probably my favourite café in my neighbourhood in any case and their great filter coffee is one of these wonderful little things making Saturday mornings a bit more glamorous.

                                                              Photo from the Facebook page of Brooklyn Café.

The conversation with the young author, and some tips for reading he gave me (and certainly I'll try to read his book "Nyt" as well), made me really happy and disproved my idea of the impossibility of an encounter in this city. It seems to be more about my own attitude, so in the future I'll try to be more open and act more like a tourist with a curious mind.

Actually, the touristy behaviour continued in the evening as we decided to do a Kallio pub crawl with my friends. After a hearty dinner at Ravintola Pelmenit, the great Kaurismäki-like Ukranian restaurant in Kallio, we headed to Pikku-Vallila. It is a super cute little bar with only a few tables in a pretty wooden house in a calm and residential wood house area of Helsinki, the so-called wood-Vallila. 

With one irritating guy at the next table (and then later, at our table) buying rounds of shots for the whole bar, our objective of a pub crawl somewhat shrank as we stayed in Pikku-Vallila until the wee hours. The cute and friendly bar tender made toasts for art and creativity and at the end, when he was pushing us out of the door, I said to him: "Thanks, it was a really nice evening", as if we had just had a house party in his living room. 

The photo is from this photo blog.

I should definitely go more often to Kallio-side of the city. Though I love my own beautiful neighbourhood, it is slightly bourgeois and boring in Eira and Punavuori. The funny bohemian atmosphere of Pikku-Vallila and the eccentric or purely weird people there are hard to find in my neighbourhood pub.

Helsinki in August - August in Helsinki

August is definitely the best time to visit Helsinki and it competes well with Berlin, Copenhagen or other trendy cities as a travel destination. Helsinki has been full of art, design, music and performances during the last couple of weeks (hence, no blog posts about my trip in Africa). To be honest, the city offers perhaps even too many cultural activities in August. The quality of the Helsinki Festival (17.8.–2.9.2012) programme is always very high and I can guarantee that what ever you choose, you will be satisfied. 

I started the festival with a concert of Madeleine Peyroux, a former street singer from New York. She has a great raspy voice and makes wonderful versions of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen songs as well as her own songs. She started the Huvila tent concert with Cohen's 'Dance me to the End of Love' (see below); coincidentally, Leonard Cohen started his own concert (a couple of weeks later) with the same song. Peyroux made fun of her own choice of sad and melancholic songs but I couldn't think of anything more suitable as the autumn approaches us and the evenings are getting darker. Wonderful concert.

The very cool and relaxed Art Goes Kapakka (art goes to a pub) happening brings live music and other forms of art in various pubs and restaurants in Helsinki. During ten days and ten nights, there were more than 300 events (free of charge) in Helsinki. I heard some sentimental indie folk by Selja Sini and Finnish klezmer by Narinkka. Considering the overwhelming cultural supply in August, I just wish that this event took place later in the autumn when the parks are too cold to accommodate (culture-) thirsty hipsters.

                                   

As with Taiteiden yö (the night of the arts), the AGK is a great way to bring art to all people regardless of the ability to pay. The city seems to be full of people – young and old alike – eager to enjoy art in all forms. During the night of arts, I first listened to some Ugandan music, then followed the amazing Domino chain going through the streets of Helsinki (see below) and finally listened to beautiful Argentine tango songs in my neighbourhood library. The idea of the night is that culture and people meet in unexpected places in unexpected ways. It works: the atmosphere in the city was really nice – I hope it could continue this way in the winter time as well.

                             

All the Domino photos by Helsinki Festival (Facebook).

Certainly, the idea of the domino chain was very simple. However, the way it brought excited people together was really cool. Thousands of people had congregated in the streets to follow the chain of blocks falling down. I could hardly see the blocks when the 'chain tumble' passed me, but I got emotional (in a somewhat hilarious way) by the idea how art can create such a sense of community. Bravo!

 People following the Domino in Senaatintori.

 The final part of the Domino.

One of the highlights of the festival was the magnificent Monteverdi concert in St. John's Church. Rinaldo Alessandrini (also in the video below) conducted the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and choir in a brilliant version of Monteverdi's Vespri della Beata Vergine from the early 17th century. I got goose pumps and tears in my eyes immediately when I heard the powerful first notes. There is a feeling of perfection in Monteverdi's music – almost as if he had received the notes straight from God. 

This music makes me believe in gods.

One great thing about the Helsinki Festival is that they introduce a lot of good artists to people who don't follow the happenings in the art world so closely. I found out about this cool young Belgian singer Selah Sue that has sold tens of thousands of albums in Belgium and France. She was indeed very talented and I'm sure we'll hear more about her in the future. She had a great voice and an original style (see below), a mix of funk, soul and rap in the footsteps of Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and other great female voices of the recent years.

                                      

In addition to these, I enjoyed classical music in the Helsinki Music Centre with Gewandhausorchester Leipzig conducted by Riccardo Chailly. They started with Mendelsshon's Violin concerto e-minor 64 (Nikolaj Znaider playing the violin), again unforgettable first notes (another version by Isaac Stern below) and obviously there was the sound of history and great tradition in the air as the orchestra in question was once conducted by Mendelsshon himself.

                                      

                                      

Last one of my concert experiences was a piano concert by Pierre-Aimard Laurent (below in the photo) visualised simultaneously by a British artist Normal Perryman (see video above on his "live kinetic painting"). While it was difficult in the beginning to follow both the music and the images reflected on the screen (done on the overhead projector with colourful paints), I then understood how the two forms of art complemented each other. A fabulous experience once again. 

Both photos from Helsinki Festival website.

After these overwhelmingly powerful cultural experiences, I can't help thinking of economy. In the middle of an economic crisis and budget cuts, I am extremely sorry that governments don't seem to understand the value of culture to the well-being of people and the beauty of life. More culture – less wars, unhappiness and anxiety.

It is easy to oppose subsidies to opera or theatres when jobs are at risk, but I can’t think of a more woeful society than a society without a wealthy variety of culture. It’s the end of our civilization if only profitable forms of culture can exist (Angry Birds and other video games?). It will make the selection in our libraries very poor if only best-sellers can be written (Da Vinci Code and Paasilinna?). Somehow, I wish no democracy in culture, if it means that I must read and watch what the majority is reading and watching.

Summer weather complaints

 Kompassi café in Eiranranta.

I guess there is no such thing as a summer without people complaining about the weather. 

Maybe it's because I spent last summer in the cold and rainy Brussels that I have now enjoyed the summer in Helsinki greatly. I've been quite surprised by my friends and family complaining about the weather - it's Finland after all. 

Actually, today was the first day I had to use an umbrella on my way to work. At home I realised how nice it was that it was raining heavily; hearing the rain drops against the roof and no hurry to go out.  There was no need for justifications to stay inside with a beer and a good book. 

It was a good moment to go through my summer photos. As a result, here are some pictures of the sunny Helsinki to stress my point. 

A little boat trip (4 EUR) to the island of Harakka just a few hundred meters off Kaivopuisto park. On the other side of the island, a view of the great wild sea surprised me and I forgot I was so close to the city.

                                         Island of Harakka seen from the Kaivopuisto coast.

On my way to work, I always try to enjoy the nice mornings. Peony flowers in Tähtitorininmäki.

Café Köket and the Esplanade 8 am.

One Friday after work, I did a little trip ex tempore to Suomenlinna fortress (Unesco world heritage site, a 15 min boat trip off the Kauppatori). Afterwards it was amazing that I had also worked that day. Never underestimate the power of escaping routines.

Mattolaituri where people come to wash their rugs (how do people do this in other countries?). Next to the trendy Mattolaituri terrace bar. 

Youngsters of Helsinki come to hang around on the grass between the new Music House and Kiasma museum. I'm one of them.

Market stuff at Kauppatori.

On Wednesday I will start my holidays in Africa so I guess my Finnish summer is close to its end, August in Finland is already the beginning of the autumn as the evenings are getting darker in an amazingly fast pace. New ways to escape routines need to be invented then!

Katajanokka and Kruununhaka, on my way to work.

Summer goodies

On Tuesday, I withdrew 60 Euros from my bank account and decided to do a test on how long I could live with this amount of money. Well, so it happened that three days into the test, I had 2,40 Euros left. I discovered that it is very difficult to turn down all the summer goodies around the city. For example, on my way to work, I can hardly walk through the Kauppatori market square (see below) without sitting down for a coffee or buying some sweet strawberries... It's an excellent spot for people watching as well and definitely increases my life satisfaction!

Wednesday:

Morning coffee + macaron at Café Köket 4,00 EUR

(Already on my first test morning, my attempt to save money didn't work out. This is one of my favourite places at the moment, also because I can ask for a real cup instead of a paper cup for my coffee.)

Lunch: veggie lasagna at the cantine 5,50 EUR

A glass of wine at Kokomo 6,70 EUR

(Another glass of wine offered later at the terrace of Grotesk, a wonderful terrace I just discovered, they had excellent riesling and awful / nostalgic music hits from the 1990s.)

Thursday:

Lunch: home made sandwich 0,00 EUR

(Bravo!)

An interesting exhibition on the history of Finnish design at Hakasalmen huvila (or Hakasalmi villa) 0,00 EUR

(There's culture available also for penniless people!)

Smoothie at mbar 5,00 EUR

Friday:

Morning coffee + cinnamon bun at the market 3,80 EUR

(See below. I couldn't resist it on a such sunny and beautiful morning. It took me more than an hour to get to work as I wanted to capture the blue sky and the calm sea with my camera. So I went around Ullanlinna and Kruununhaka enjoying the summer and pretending I was a tourist in no hurry.)

                         

Lunch: veggie paddies at the cantine 5,50 EUR

Postal services 17,80 EUR

(Unexpected expenses without which I could have survived a day or two more...)

Gin Long Drink ("lonkero") at Vuorimiehen puistikko terrace 5,00 EUR

(See below. A nice place in my neighbourhood. Although my perfect reading moment was distracted by some drunk people who emerge always with the sun...)

Ice cream at Helsingin Jäätelötehdas at Eiran ranta 3,80 EUR

And then of course, I bought new hiking boots at Halti for 159 EUR... So, the test wasn't a success but as my budget is quite tight with the Africa trip coming, I will need to learn to cut down the expenses (it means more home made sandwiches for lunch but no less morning coffees at the market square!) By the way, having little money seems to be pretty ecological as the overall consumption has to go down. On the other hand, it might mean buying less organic / other environmental-friendly products that are more expensive and opting for cheaper t-shirts made in China etc. It's a difficult question, I think I have to ponder on this a bit more and withdraw another 60 Euros and see what's going to happen to my consumption habits.

                             

Just a quick note to say: sun

Forget what I wrote one month ago. Summer's in town and I've rarely been as content as now with my surroundings. I think I'm developing some kind of a crush with Helsinki. Suddenly, the city is green and people are filling the terraces and the streets (recorded during the past 48 hours: parks full of picnics, guys playing football / baseball / pétanque / frisbee, people swing dancing outside, summer collection 2012, Finnish ice cream not that bad after all, me in 100 tourist photos while sitting in Senaatintori for a lunch). Have all the cute Finns spend their winter in Thailand and only now have returned to the city? I don't understand, but this city has a double identity and I'm as bipolar as this place. I'm already missing the future past summer...

This kind of swing dancing (at least from far away it looked pretty great) was taking place in front of the National Opera today.

Actually, of all the places I've lived in or the other twenty or so capitals I've visited, I think I really prefer Helsinki (well, after Paris of course). There's so many cool things going on here, in two weeks time there has been a huge eco-design or Recycle Factory event, a flee market of the size of the whole city (called "the cleaning day") and the restaurant day when anybody can set up a pop-up restaurant in their home or elsewhere (I ate North African food in an art gallery, served by a Finnish ex-top model, and got my dessert from some Hungarian immigrants in the main esplanade of the city).

The cleaning day flee market in Fredan tori. I got a flower pot for one Euro.

P.S. This song and video is just great! I think I have to do some bachata classes in addition to my salsa classes to get those moves as well... Summer song definitely!

Spring nostalgia

Considering how much I miss certain places, moments or feelings, you could think I'm talking about Paris in the 60s, having drinks with Jane Birkin and discovering free love. This is not the case, it's just that in the spring time an indiscernible feeling of nostalgia emerges. I miss.

For some reason, I've been missing Boston especially lot lately: reading the Sunday New York Times in my favourite coffee shop with a wholewheat cranberry pecan scone. I don't fully understand why I miss the place, but I guess it has something to do with freedom and the endless number of opportunities that I seemed to have ahead of me at that moment. It's funny how in only two years time, I feel like I have limited my options quite drastically already - or other people have done it for me.

Last week I was in Brussels. I have a love-hate relationship with that city. The arrival is always chaotic and comes with a bitter smell of pee in the metro and train stations. In the centre, I look around and see poverty, homeless people, drug addicts and it feels like somebody could hurt me at any moment. I look down and stop smiling. It's a developing country next to the EU district and my 4-star hotel, maybe that is why the surroundings catch my attention so strongly. But there is something unidentifiably attracting in this city that I've also been missing in Helsinki.

It's not (only) the tasty beers or cute guys in Belga, the bar - together with Campari oranges - that I first discovered and fell in love with in the summer 2003. Those days the bar was full of guys wearing Lacoste T-shirts, then the ultimate brand for hip university students. However, it wasn't the Lacoste T-shirts that I had been missing (you hardly see them any more) but the possibility of meeting strangers and doing things ex tempore.

People in Brussels (just like the PhD researchers in Florence) are temporary residents, coming and going, interested in meeting new people and extending their social networks throughout the city or Europe. In Helsinki, people have the same friends they had in kindergarden, or at least for the last 5 to 10 years. The groups are tight, but it also means that it can be hard to dive in if you're a newcomer. One thing in Helsinki that has surprised me maybe the most is that groups don't mix: you seldom bring a new friend along for a dinner with other friends. Dinners and meetings need to be planned weeks ahead and few acts or invitations are improvised; it makes life a little less exciting.

In Brussels I met with a devoted Finnish scout and we went to a vernissage to which he happened to have an invitation. After a few glasses of champagne and discussions on contemporary art, I had agreed upon going to Burundi to represent the Finnish scouts in an African jamboree.

I miss it already.

Snow or La donna è mobile

Today, perfect weather for a Sunday walk and yesterday I even went running (exclamation point). Hah, just a day before I had written here about the impossibility of running in the snowy streets. But guess what, it was pretty great and I finally signed up for the half marathon as well. So, at least temporarily, I've won my snow and winter angst (maybe because in three days I'll be in the sun!). This is positive as my current running capacity seems to be 9 km...

Above: My neighbourhood, Eira.

Above: Uunisaari, just off the seaside boulevard, and connected by a little bridge during the winter.

The sea was amazingly beautiful in the pale winter light, so I decided to put here some photos of the snow and ice. (Again acting for the Finnish tourism industry...)

Snow angst gone for the moment but I'm note here yet:

Let it snow!

First of all, happy New Year 2012! Let us face it with tolerance and adventurous mind and without prejudices.
Secondly, let's start complaining...

So far it has been a very grey winter and it hasn't snowed at all in Helsinki. People were unhappy. I, on the other hand, considered the +4 °C temperature perfect, especially because I could still use my autumn coat (of the style that, I only now discovered, was basically the symbol of bourgeoisie in France).

It started snowing today. Big white flakes outside of my office window, but I didn't feel at all excited. Immediately, there were responses on Facebook: "Snow :)" or "S-N-O-W" and maybe three exclamation points.

I expected that my Italian leather shoes would be destroyed and I would need to walk in a weird position in order to avoid slipping or to veer around the melted snow. When outside, I didn't dare to use the umbrella. First, because it didn't seem to snow that much or that wet. And second, because I didn't know the appropriate umbrella convention any more: was it OK to use umbrella in the snow or would I look like someone who doesn't enjoy the first snow and spoils other people's excitement? Normally, I don't care that much about what strangers think of me but somehow umbrella use is one of my weak points. The social custom in the streets seemed divided but I made my own decision, the next time I'll be using an umbrella!

I went to buy new running shoes. I doubt now that I will use them soon if the weather continues like this. However, I was inspired by my sister's decision to run a half marathon in May. Even though the lower early bird fee didn't apply any longer (of course I had missed it by a day), I was also considering of finally doing it. I should mention that this has been my plan ever since the summer 2006 when I started practising in Paris under the dictation of my professor. I bought my Asics then...

God dammit, someone wrote on Facebook about going to run in the snow with the Arctic jogging shoes. I had seen those in the sport shop just before. They have iron spikes! It can't be normal to want to run that much that you start wearing iron spikes in your shoes. Haven't these people heard of port wine, candle light and a good book??

Anyway, I got my new pair of Asics (not the Arctic ones, obviously) and went to Musiikkitalo, the new Music house of Helsinki, to get the free tickets they distribute in the beginning of the month to a chamber music concert (it's not that I don't want to pay, but this is the only occasion they play chamber music). Through the wet snow and wind. And god dammit, there were no more tickets even if this was the first day of the distribution and I had thought this would be a nice thing to do with a guy I like. They had run out of tickets already at noon. Little old ladies being pretty active, huh? Yes, the girl replied.

I went to Ruohonjuuri, the eco-fair trade shop, to get some comfort food. Mascara running down on my cheeks, I was offered a free bite of hemp tofu. I was at the same time trying to blow my nose (another annoying side-effect of this weather, though: "Boogers are a sign that your nose is working the way it should". Great!) and listening how to use tofu in a dessert (I completely missed the recipe as I was trying to look civilized with my combined mascara, sweat and booger problem, but it should be on www.soya.fi). I bought some hemp tofu and run for the bus in this stupid "oh, falling down, oups, missing the bus" -way. I got it and wondered if I looked cute like I would be looking in a Hollywood film under the same circumstances (at home I discovered that I had seen better days and mascara definitely looked better on my eye lashes).

I got home and was a bit disappointed that there were no more Facebook status updates on snow, it would have been useful for this blog entry. The snow does seem like a minor thing now that I'm inside and drinking the leftovers of the New Year's Eve prosecco (you see the excellent flow in the writing; it's the prosecchino!).

Anyway, a third point should be made. Even though I hate to disappoint my family who laugh of the idea that I regard myself as a quite positive person, I understood a couple of days ago that year 2011 had been pretty excellent and there's no way I can complain about my life in Helsinki. Most things in my life had fallen in right spots after all; the magic was to not yield to the temptation of existentialist analysis and the allure of cynicism (hey, maybe we all have something to learn from the presidential candidate Paavo Väyrynen!). So, I think I'll just lay on the sofa now, have some port wine, put on some candles and read a good book (alternatively watch an episode of the West Wing with my pet (soft toy) rat laying on my chest).

From Brussels to Eira

Plans change. Mine for sure did! Instead of trying to learn some Flemish in Antwerp, as indicated in my last entry, I have now quit the academia for the time being and I'm living in Helsinki. Surprise, surprise!

New life, new city. Returning back to Finland after 4 and half years was bizarre but Helsinki turned out to be really fantastic - except for the outrageously priced espressos. I'm actually pretty excited about the place that seems to have changed quite a lot during the last couple of years. Moreover, I live in the most beautiful neighbourhood of the city, Eira, in the South by the sea. It is known for its foreign consulates and the Swedish-speaking elite though my friend keeps on mentioning about "the two doctors in Eira", the other one being the infamous True Finn MP Dr. Halla-aho who has shocked with his racist commentaries. (However, his dissertation was about historical nominal morphology of old church Slavonic, so does it really count?)

Yesterday I watched the obligatory reference for Eira, Aki Kaurismäki's wonderfully ironic film Calamari Union from 1985. In the film, fifteen guys named Frank and one called Pekka try to find their way from Kallio to Eira. The mental distance between Kallio, known for its social problems at the time (and still today, though it's more bohemian bourgeois nowadays), and Eira, described as the heavenly part of the city, is depicted in a great way. The taxi driver comments: "I don't drive as far as Eira". Finally, most of the guys die on this long way, some deviate from the route because of other reasons and two of them start rowing to Estonia instead. My mental and actual trip from Brussels to Eira was somewhat easier.

The first scene of the film is brilliant:

P.S. I figured out that I should update this blog before I forgot my password...