Thursday, August 22, 2002

 

Hello from Helsinki!


Or maybe that should be Salut from Suomi! (Suomi means Finland in Finnish). Finland is the country that brought you Saku Koivu, Mika Hakinnen and Jarri Kurri, as well as Finlandia Vodka and Nokia phones (in fact, Helsinki has the most mobile phones per capita of any city in the world).

I arrived yesterday from Saint Petersburg, Russia for a temporary respite from the former East Bloc (and because Helsinki was on my way).

My four days in St Petersburg were very enjoyable. Whereas, Moscow looks like many other European cities, St Pete is a unique place. Nearly all buildings are from the late 19th century (Italian style), although there are a few Soviet era concrete buildings. Whereas Moscow is very advanced in its renovation of old buildings, St Pete is not.

St Pete has many canals, and is known as the Venice of the North.

It is a less wealthy city: There are more Lada's and less BMW's. There are also less police around, so people drive more recklessly. Often you see cars doing U-turns in the middle of the block without warning.

St. Petersburg contains some of the most beautiful palaces and museums anywhere. For example, I visited the Hermitage which is one of the world's great art museums. It is housed in a huge palace (same idea as Louvre).

There are also many formerly grand homes and apartments that have been allowed to rot. I did a walking tour of these buildings, which I found fascinating. In 1917, the state confiscated the luxury homes from the wealthy and gave them to the people for minimal rent. Families were often cramped together in formerly luxurious apartments. Because of the lack of an ownership ethic and a general lack of money, people didn't keep the homes in good repair.

The trend is now reversing. People can buy apartments, so wealthier professionals are buying and renovating. At this point, the same building may have a poor Babushka in one dilapidated apartment and a wealthy professional in a renovated unit next door.

I also had the opportunity to visit the synagogue in St Petersburg. In light of the past prohibitions on the practice of Judaism in the Soviet Union and the discrimination faced by Jews, particularly if they applied to leave the country (e.g. fired from their jobs, denied access to certain jobs, and worse), I felt a feeling of triumph when I walked into the "Choral Synagogue." All those protests by Montreal's Jewish community in front of the Soviet consulate in the 70's and 80's were ultimately for the purpose of allowing Russian Jews to have a synagogue and to have the freedom to practise their religion as they wish . . . and here I was walking freely into a synagogue in the former Soviet Union . . . a special feeling indeed.

The synagogue is presently being renovated (the 3 year project is nearly complete). It is a very impressive building in the style of a mosque or Russian Orthodox Church (i.e., dome on top). They have bilingual Ashkenazi prayer books in Hebrew and Russian.

George W. Bush visited the synagogue a couple of months ago. A handwritten thank you note from him was on display: He has very messy handwriting!

The people in St Pete do not generally speak English (or anything else besides Russian), but at least made an effort to be helpful, unlike the Muscovites.

Finland is a complete contrast from Russia. Finland is clean and orderly and the Finns are very polite and often friendly. Finland was ranked by the UN as the second most liveable country in the world (Norway was #1 and Canada was #3). Let's just say that Russia was somewhere way down the list!

All the signs here are bilingual and they use the same alphabet as we do in English. Unfortunately, the two languages on the signs are Finnish and Swedish (94% of Finns are Finnish speaking and 6% are Swedish speaking) and the words bear little resemblance to anything in English or French. I almost miss the Russian language, because once you decipher the Cyrillic text, many of the Russian words are actually familiar. For example, etage = floor, plage = beach, bistro = bistro, cafe = cafe.

Fortunately, everyone in Helsinki speaks some English.

Everything in Finland looks like it comes from Ikea (the buildings, the furniture, everything!). Even my lunch yesterday looked like it was designed by Ikea: I had a multi-coloured Italian sandwich on a red plate, a bright orange bowl of soup in a white bowl, all on a green tray on a black Ikea table with red Ikea chairs. I didn't know whether to eat my meal or photograph it!

I am staying at a hostel located under the stands of the Olympic Stadium (1952 Summer Games). It's sort of like the hotel at Skydome in Toronto, but a lot less luxurious. Anyhow, last night, there was a "friendly football match" (soccer) in the stadium between Finland and Ireland (the Irish team made it to the round of 16 at the World Cup earlier this summer).

I bought a ticket 4 rows up at midfield from a scalper. It was an exciting match, although I definitely still prefer hockey. When you are at a soccer match in person, you realize all the collisions that the players experience. It's a rough, physical sport. It was also fun to soak in the atmosphere. Contrary to reputation, there were no riots. The spirit between the Irish and Finnish fans was quite friendly. After all, this is Finland. Plus, as I was informed by some Irish guys at the hostel, Irish fans don't riot: It's the Brits who do that!

I sat next to a Swedish speaking Finn named Raymond who (in English) explained the subtleties of the game to me. It was my first European football match and I recommend it if you get the chance.

After the match, I went to a busy bar nearby. I felt like a member of a visible minority: I was one of the few non-blonds in the place!

At one point, a slightly drunk couple in their 50's came to speak to me. They seemed fascinated by the fact that I came from the city where Saku Koivu plays hockey.

The man had a bad scar on the side of his face. The woman explained that the scar was the result of a "reindeer accident." I asked her to repeat herself, and I had heard right. These two people were not entirely coherent, so I decided not to delve further. Anyhow, it appears that in these parts, that song "Grandma got run over by a reindeer" may be based on a true story!

Tomorrow I return to the East Bloc. I'll be taking a ferry boat to Tallinn, Estonia.

Take care.

--Larry

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