We went for a car tour of Helsinki today. It’s a very pleasant place. The streets are wide, clean and well-maintained. Outside of the centre of town, the city gradually merges with nature. Large stands of old growth forest are interspersed with the suburbs, and buildings are constructed around nature instead of on top of it. Frequently there are large outcroppings of granite and towering pine trees scattered throughout residential and commercial neighborhoods. Large lakes and rivers break up the landscape. The outskirts of the city look like Muskoka cottage country.

We visited the expensive neighborhood of Westend, and walked along the side of the lake for a while. Then we hopped in the car to seek out Jakomäki and Kontula, which are supposed to be the “rough” part of town. Not surprisingly, they were clean, orderly and nicely forested, like the rest of Helsinki. We were hoping to see some gangland slayings, but there were none happening. Apparently new immigrants settle into these areas because of the low cost of living. I’d have to say that new immigrants should feel lucky to find themselves in such beautiful surroundings, especially compared to the slums they inhabit in Hamilton and Toronto. Jakomäki and Kontula are easily much nicer looking places than Garfield Avenue in Hamilton.

After our tour, we went to Arttu’s parents’ house for dinner. We had some traditional Finnish foods, like reindeer, cooked in a cream sauce on mashed potatoes with lingonberry sauce. We had fresh salad and Finnish rye bread with cheese on the side. It was quite delicious. For dessert, we had a bread-cheese dish with cloudberry sauce and a blueberry pie with whipped cream. So far all the warnings about Finnish food have been false alarms. However, I’ve yet to have blood sausage, which Jen is determined to feed me…

July 29, 9:04pm

I’m on my way. It feels a bit strange, like it isn’t happening. It’s only a two week trip, yet it feels a bit surreal. Yet, my bags are checked, and here I am at Gate 31 in Terminal 3 of Pearson International. The flight leaves in an hour. It’s Air Transat, kind of a no-frills airline, but I figure as long as it gets me to Gatwick, I’ll be fine. It’s only a 6 hour flight.

I think maybe my feeling of disconnection is due to the fact that I’ve had very little buildup to this trip. I didn’t do endless preparation like I did for Thailand. I basically just threw stuff in a bag and left.

That’s not to say I’m not looking forward to the trip. I’m excited to be going. In fact I’m pretty hyped. I think there will be many adventures ahead.

My stomach is full. Dad felt he should contribute to my survival in the two countries renowned for their poor food by taking me for a Chinese dinner in Mississauga en route to the airport. Thanks Dad! I think I’ll make it at least 12 hours on this meal before missing food with flavor again!

July 30, 1:45am

I’m here! I landed in Tampere at around 9:30, about 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Previously I had been pronouncing Tampere as tam-PEER, but I had forgotten that Finns are exact about language like they are about other things that have rules. So, Tampere has no silent letters. It’s tam-PEER-uh with a roll on the “R”. The airport at Tampere is cute. It’s hard to describe it in any other way. It’s like the entire thing was purchased from IKEA. Everything is a little smaller than you might expect, but tidy, unadorned yet somehow cozy too. Tampere is about 150km from Helsinki, so Arttu and Jen came to pick me up.

The trip was not easy. I think Air Transat had to specially order the miniature seats they packed onto the Airbus 310 that brought us from Toronto to London. I had to battle the big Nigerian sitting next to me for space on the armrest, and legroom too. The small English Literature student from McGill sitting next to me found it cramped too. She was twisted into all kinds of weird positions trying to get comfortable during the flight. Eventually I managed to get a few minutes of sleep by folding out the tray table and resting my elbows on it, and my head in my hands. I had hoped to write some journal entries, but if I put my laptop on the tray table, there wasn’t enough space for me to put my hands on the keyboard. The computer was pressed too close to my body. Typing was impossible. I had to operate the touchpad with my thumbs because there was no room to use my fingers. It was almost comical, if it wasn’t so painful.

Finally upon arrival at Gatwick Airport I was able to stand up. What a relief! I cleared British customs, then found the National Express bus ticket counter and bought myself a ticket to Stansted for 24.50 pounds sterling. Little did I know it would turn out to be a four hour trip. My ticket said I’d arrive there at 2:15, but because of traffic we didn’t arrive until 3:40. It was ok though. That was enough time for me to jump through all the hoops Ryanair wanted me to jump through to get my “overweight” baggage onboard. Ryanair only allows 15kg of luggage, which is pretty skimpy. My suitcase was 20.8kg. For that they would charge me an extra 27 pounds sterling. RIght. I moved a bunch of stuff to my carryon luggage, but was still 3kg over the limit. I had to stand in another huge line to pay 13.50 pounds sterling for that extra weight. The flight to Tampere was uneventful. The seats were small again, but I was on the aisle this time so there was less difficulty squeezing in.

So now I’m here! It was totally worth the journey. It’s so great to hang out with Jen again. I got a brief impression of Helsinki through the windows of the car on our drive in, and it seems like a lively and fascinating place. I’m looking forward to exploring. I’ll keep you posted.

Oh… and a note to myself: in the future, don’t try to save a couple of hundred dollars on discount airfares for long trips. I’m somewhat grownup now and can afford to avoid the aggravation.

I’m heading into the home stretch towards my trip to Europe. I can’t believe I’m leaving on Friday night! I haven’t considered packing yet, although I should probably give that some thought. Right now I’m kind of caught up on all of the things that need to get done before going–reality-type stuff like bill payments and banking.

I’m feeling mildly guilty about leaving customers while I’m away, but on the other hand, it’s summer, and people have to expect certain disruptions. The guilt is definitely manageable. I’ve set up webmail on the new server so I can check my messages from wherever. I’ll also bring my VOIP phone with me, so I can have a Hamilton phone number in Finland. That will be weird.

Lately I’ve been worried about the state of the world. It’s probably the first time ever that I’ve felt that things are not going to be okay, despite all of the horrible things that have been happening lately. This was brought on by the police shooting of that Brazilian guy in England. The only thing he was guilty of was running from the police, and for that he caught 7 bullets. It’s not his murder alone that bothers me, but the fact that this is the type of fear-laden society that is emerging. The hard and ignorant talk emerging from the mouths of our world “leaders” is frightening and depressing. Tony Blair, whom I had previously considered a reasonable man, says trying to understand the reasons for terrorism only justifies it, and he won’t do that. What is wrong with understanding? Or is he afraid to understand, because he doesn’t want to discover where the blame really lies? He dismissed the killing of thousands of innocent Iraqi and Afghan civilians during the invasions of those countries, saying he was “deeply sorry for those deaths.” He continued to say terrorists aren’t sorry for the deaths they cause, so the Iraqi deaths are acceptable, while losses to terrorism are not. What? There’s some deeply disturbed logic at play there. Tony Blair might not think the invasion of Iraq has anything to do with terrorism attacks, but I’m willing to bet these numbers make extremists mad.

To add to things, Canadian Chief of Defence Staff, Rick Hillier basically paraphrased the speech given by Spottswoode in Team America: World Police, talking about the only reason terrorists hate the west is because they detest freedom and democracy. What?! At least the Spottswoode speech was meant to be a joke. Hillier was serious, and he’s in charge of our military. If anything’s going to cause a terrorist attack in Canada, it’s mentally stunted views like Hillier’s.

Anyway, I won’t dwell on it. I find myself getting angrier and angrier whenever I watch the news. Maybe ignorance is bliss.

I just got back from the cottage at Magnetewan. It was another great weekend with the guys. Mike drove Nick and I up there on Saturday morning, and we spent a lot of time relaxing, drinking beer and eating. I took some photos, but nothing really incredible. It was my third weekend up there, and I think I’ve already photographed most of what was worth photographing. There was a really cute family of ducks. The light was dim, so it was difficult to photograph them, since they were in constant motion. I had fun feeding them though. The babies can really move, especially when racing for some food.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this song lately. I think it’s as true today as it was in the 1960’s, 1860’s, 1760’s, 1260’s… will we ever learn?

UNIVERSAL SOLDIER
Buffy Sainte-Marie
© Caleb Music-ASCAP

“I wrote Universal Soldier in the basement of The Purple Onion coffee house in Toronto in the early sixties. It’s about individual responsibility for war and how the old feudal thinking kills us all. Donovan had a hit with it in 1965.”

- Buffy Sainte Marie

He’s five feet two and he’s six feet four
He fights with missiles and with spears
He’s all of 31 and he’s only 17
He’s been a soldier for a thousand years

He’s a Catholic, a Hindu, an athiest, a Jain,
a Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew
and he knows he shouldn’t kill
and he knows he always will
kill you for me my friend and me for you

And he’s fighting for Canada,
he’s fighting for France,
he’s fighting for the USA,
and he’s fighting for the Russians
and he’s fighting for Japan,
and he thinks we’ll put an end to war this way

And he’s fighting for Democracy
and fighting for the Reds
He says it’s for the peace of all
He’s the one who must decide
who’s to live and who’s to die
and he never sees the writing on the walls

But without him how would Hitler have
condemned him at Dachau
Without him Caesar would have stood alone
He’s the one who gives his body
as a weapon to a war
and without him all this killing can’t go on

He’s the universal soldier and he
really is to blame
His orders come from far away no more
They come from him, and you, and me
and brothers can’t you see
this is not the way we put an end to war.