A sunday in April:
"Yesterday was a good day,
of wandering on sun-kissed city streets,
a man bicycling by, whistling a merry tune,
sun-warmed asphalt and stone walls radiating heat"
A sunday in May, very much similar as above but warmer still, about +20 C and blazing sun. Also a contrasting mood:
"In the metro, a sad sight on this brilliant day - yet, tragically, not an unusual one: two alcoholics, a man and a woman, their features degraded by years (decades?) of alcohol abuse so that they look almost identical, as if they were twins. Ages: impossible to guess. The woman drones on and on about a horse - I get the vague idea that it may be a childhood memory - her words intercepted with frequent expletives."
Quite enjoyable recent developments: my brother and sister-in-law encouraged me to join the list of assistant writers for the University of Helsinki magazine. The people in this list can sign up for journalistic "gigs" - go listen to a seminar or whatever the task might be and write a short news item (of c. 1500 characters) for the magazine. I had my first gig a week ago and enjoyed the experience a lot. My brother gave me a frank review, and it was fun to learn the difference between academic writing and the style of writing required in a publication which popularized science. I've got the next gig this coming week already. Very much looking forward to it! Not only is this enjoyable but it also gives CV merits in freelance writing which I aspire to have.
Starting from next week I'm going to be otherwise busy, however, as I'm beginning the summer university computer science studies which I plan to complete by the end of this summer.
More upsetting news in the country: the rightwing, "immigration-critical" (that's what they call themselves) populist party PS (True Finns) became the third largest party in April's parliamentary elections, with 19% of the votes. This means they will definitely get in the government. Worst of all, their worst racist was appointed head of the parliamentary committee in charge of immigration issues. This guy has opinions like: an individual's human value should depend on how instrumental he/she is to the society. That's practically fascism. I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the news. The only good side in this situation is that the PS don't really have a consistent programme: very typically for populist parties they just promise whatever people want to hear. It's easy to shout out things in the opposition but being in the government is a much more difficult deal.
Ok, a part of the fault lies in the traditional parties' failure to deliver, but I still can't believe 19% of Finns are moronic enough to vote for PS. Not EVERYONE of the party's representatives is a raving racist but a great percentage of the supporters definitely is. And it's another thing I can't believe: why is it so easy to get people to blame the easy targets for their problems? Unemployment? Temp jobs? Economic uncertainty? It MUST be the fault of all those immigrants who come here and steal our jobs!
9 comments:
Maria, as a history enthusiast, I have learnt that immigration has been blamed for society's ills since time immemorial. It always has and always will be the easy target, and as far back as the 16th century in England, immigrants were taking the blame for unemployment, economic problems..you name it. I guess it's just that...immigrants are an easy target. You would think that society might have developed since then, but sad to say, it doesn't seem to work that way.
Love your images of spring pleasures, and good luck with the writing gigs and the computer science studies! Great to be in touch again xx
Sadly, it's true, it's been going on for centuries. But equally sadly, people only hurt themselves by blaming the easy targets: they could be spending the time demanding that those in charge really, truly work to fix things.
Hi Maria,
Delighted to read that you have a magazine writing gig. I know this is something you are going to enjoy immensely.
We just had national elections too, and the idiots here decided to turn the minority PM into a majority PM despite his contempt for parliament and all sorts of dodgy scandals. It's disheartening, but at least I can tell myself federal governments have the least impact on our lives (as opposed to local, or provincial ones).
Enjoy your writing assignments and the new warm weather!
xx
AM
Anne-Marie: you're lucky to have that sort of a system where local governments have a large authority. No such luck here :(
Hans: my language might not be threatened, but if PS get in governmental authority where they are able to put their goals into practice, it's not a Finland I want to live in either. I detest their "vision" of Finnishness.
great sad detail on the alcoholic lookalikes and otherwise absolutely the best advice from your brother and sister-in-law.
I was sorry to read about the latest events on immigration related to the election, and also that Finland is not alone. We will live to see. xo
Maria~ Hope you don't mind me posting here. I didn't want to use Rachel's blog. It's good news about the bees, if they are actually honeybees. I'm sure that you are aware of the crisis here in the States going on for a few years now; deserted hives and dead bees that has scientists and environmentalists scratching their heads. Einstein said our planet could not last more than 5 years max without Honeybees. Luckily, we are seeing a resurgence in the populations here and beekeepers are thrilled to bits as are all the farmers. I found it very endearing when you posted that you were scooping them off your draperies! Something is up with them but I am optimistic that it will all be okay.
As Pooh Bear used to say: "You never can tell with Bees...."
Take Care!
Hi Elizabeth,
Oh, actually I didn't know about that! Do they have any idea about what has been going on there? I do hope things are on the way up for good with the bee populations there though.
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