The Road Goes Ever On

Today is the day. Once more I choose the Road. But before I take the train to Moscow I leave a note here for myself and for anyone who might come reading this site.

Here is a poem by one of best Finnish poets. By no means do I think it's the best one in his repertoire but it just happens to express the feeling I got when walking on an vast open field (lakeus) in Kauhajoki on the eve of my departure. It is a poem about the tranquillity of Finnish summer evening,about growing older and about following the road to an unknown dwelling. And in my opinion it also successfully emphasises the beauty of Finnish language.

Nocturne

Ruislinnun laulu korvissani,
tähkäpäiden päällä täysi kuu;
kesä-yön on onni omanani,
kaskisavuun laaksot verhoutuu.
En mä iloitse, en sure, huokaa;
mutta metsän tummuus mulle tuokaa,
puunto pilven, johon päivä hukkuu,
siinto vaaran tuulisen, mi nukkuu,
tuoksut vanamon ja varjot veen;
niistä sydämeni laulun teen.

Sulle laulan neiti, kesäheinä,
sydämeni suuri hiljaisuus,
uskontoni, soipa säveleinä,
tammenlehvä-seppel vehryt, uus.
En mä enää aja virvatulta,
onpa kädessäni onnen kulta;
pienentyy mun ympär' elon piiri;
aika seisoo, nukkuu tuuliviiri;
edessäni hämäräinen tie
tuntemattomahan tupaan vie.

    - Eino Leino, 1903

There's only a moment

The wind of change is blowing straight into my face and it's difficult to say right now whether I like this expected yet unexpected breeze or not. But one thing is sure: since I wrote that semi-political outburst of mine a lot has happened.

One of the most notable events was the visit of my American comrade. Along with many other things his company made me re-evaluate my habitat i.e. Helsinki and Finland in general or, as we together concluded, to see things from outside the box. And indeed when I was returning home from Katajanokka harbour (with my ears full of Oregon music and my spirit rather down) the face of my home city seemed friendlier than ever before.

Tomorrow there's a celebration in my family due to my father getting his degree in Information Technology. So, one more well-educated person in our family!.. which brings me to my own B.A. degree: according to our university's intranet I've finally made it and will be receiving my diploma on Tuesday - same day I'm boarding the train bound for Moscow.

Yesterday, just before I left for Kauhajoki, I shook a hand of a friend thus confirming our deal of him becoming my subtenant and starting to move in immediately. This means that even if I'm staying in Helsinki for a short while before the departure - I'll be staying more as a guest (in my own home) than an actual dweller. The good side of the matter is that I'm more or less ready for the departure (packed my stuff already, yes!) and excited to leave and that the last moments I'll spend in Finland should be dedicated solely for enjoying myself with friends: the eve of my departure I'll be spending, hopefully, with my very best friends. So even if I'm feeling slightly melancholic right now I have nothing but pleasant things ahead!

And one more thing - usually before going into the world outside our Nordic Shire I spend some time with my parents in my native home (like now) and thus I get the feeling that the Road always begins from here - from this house's doorstep. There are several good farewell songs in the world but this one I'm going to share with you has no match (techinically it's not a farewell song but for me it is). Here you have both the translation and a link to the original version of that song:

There's only a moment

Everything in this storming world is a mirage
There is only this moment - you should hold on to it.
There is only a moment between the past and the present
And that moment is called life.

Everlasting peace would scarcely please one's heart,
Everlasting peace is meant only for the grey pyramids.
But for a shooting star that is falling and burning
There is only a moment, this one blinding moment.

Let this world run through the centuries,
But the ways of this world are not always my ways.
What do I hold dear, with what do I risk in this world?
With only a moment - with only this moment.

There's happiness and sorrow on the path of life,
But there nothing more but a moment - you should hold on to it.
There is only a moment between the past and the present
And that moment is called life.

Yours in high spirits,

- Stefan

PS. Here's link to the aforementioned song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ-hnn1UASQ

Consistency! Going cheap. Anyone?

My preliminary plan for this blog was to stay out of politics for as long as I can. I’m sorry to say that this decision didn’t last for long. So, with all due respect, here we go:

Lately the world around me seems to change extremely rapidly. And for the first time I feel that I’m not really keeping track of where it’s going. This might be due to the fact that for the first time I do not really care to keep track. Let me give you a more informative example:

Only a few weeks ago a relatively minor Nationalist party became the third most largest party in Finland. Similar phenomenon has happened in many other European countries so far and immediately I found solace in the fact that in free market representative democracy with its insignificant games and larks within its bureaucratic system (what many folly people call the legislative power) things seldom change drastically. And so far nothing has changed. Not in the system it hasn’t. And at this point in time it seems that nothing will change.

But a certain change can unambiguously be seen in the people around me: many a people have now, as they themselves so modestly put it, very critical approach towards immigration. Most of them suggest that migrating to Finland should become more restricted. I was surprised (to say the least!) to find one of these people in my most inner circle of friends.

In due course of this passed week and a half (since I got back from St. Petersburg) I’ve been three times congratulated due to my “excellent knowledge of Finnish”. Usually I wouldn’t even mind this well wishing ‘cause I’m already accustomed to these congratulations (for some odd reason Finns seem to think that a person with a non-Finnish or non-Swedish surname must be an immigrant with a modest knowledge of Finnish at best). I’m used to face them every once in a while but never quite so often.

After doing rather small amount of research and hearing rather large amount of opinions from those fellows who’s job it is to take first hand care of this immigration business (in the Ministry for Foreign affairs of Finland) I’ve come to the conclusion that permanent migration to Finland is already limited to say the least. And even if anyone would like to alter the current status quo he’d have to demand an immediate separation of Finland from both the Schengen treaty and the European Union. Who’s for? Hmm… surprisingly quiet I dare say.

After twiddling these thoughts for a week now in my head I’ve done also an other conclusion: I’m glad to leave Finland behind. It seems to get along fine with or without me so it might as well subsist without. Any people that treat me as an outsider just because I have divergent surname or because I speak a language they don’t, do not interest me. Therefore I’m heading towards those people that, by my own experience, treat me differently. Therefore I’m going to Russia.

Unfortunately there are still three more weeks to go before I can take the train to Moscow. But fortunately I’ll have reunion of old friends soon in my home town and an American comrade of mine is visiting me soon enough. So luckily I have something to go by whilst here, in the ever condensing monotony of Finland.

Stefan

PS. I’ve done it. Well, sort of. My very first step on this road of wonder. This road I’ve chosen to follow for the next year or so: I’ve packed some books and all my notes from these last three years into a cardboard box. The space where all my work and all my efforts now fit seems rather compact. And all it consists of is no more than paper and ink. I find this bit sad.