Jun 2, 2013

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My son went to the amusement park with his godmother. I went to Kiasma museum of contemporary art. It had many good exhibitions of finish video art and photography. I felt that pictures in the films where very Finnish. 
Maria was walking with a donkey in Eija-Liisa Ahtialans film Marian Ilmestys, the Annunciation, 2010. It was spring, with ugly grayness and a couple of snow piles a long the road. While watching it, I realised that it made me think of my springs of youth. I also grasped that my son will never have the same feeling about the long waited spring in Finland as I have. He will have English spring memories.

I sometimes feel like a stranger in Helsinki. I got a small culture shock first weeks here. People where dressed in ugly clothes here. There is still a cultural difference in every country about what is beautiful to wear. I was in Swedish or American mode still. People in the street seemed rude in their silence and I did not get any service at the stores. Culture shock in your own country is something that is difficult to admit and to talk about without someone getting insulted.
First time I felt really good about Finland was while eating a Finnish strawberry, how sweet it was. I feel also more blessed by everyday Finnishness than before. People also seem to get more beautiful with the summer sun. 
This beautiful and very meaningful piece ENEMMÄN/VÄHEMMÄN more/less 2013 by Marja Kanervo, sums it up. 

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