Finland August Post 4 - The weekend before the program began

(Top: Cimo House from the outside - picture by Alistair Anderson)
(Second: Sight seeing: a pier in Helsinki - picture by Jelena Jorgaevic )

After landing in Helsinki on a Staurday at the end of July, I passed out on my bed. Together, two flights and in between waits, made for a long travel period. Before, I passed out, I was whisked from the airport. There I met Andrina, one of the organisers of the FCP and then, Mari, another organiser at the actual residence; Cimo House, where I would stay for most of the month.

Later that evening, we all met one another downstairs in the clubroom. I'm not sure why but I instigated a massive ice breaker where, in a cliched fashion, I suggested everyone say who they were and who they wrote for. We would probably do the same thing come the Monday morning.

It actually went quite well. A few people were still arriving late on the Saturday or on the Sunday but FCPers keep themselves busy. I am pretty sure we had already tasted some Koff beer on that Saturday night.

Taisa from Brazil had suggested on facebook a few days before that we attend a Norway peace march on the Sunday. The march followed the gun and bomb attacks in Norway which occurred a week or so before I went to Finland.

On Sunday, we wandered around the city. Bobby from the United States who arrived on the Friday, had already been for a few walks but he showed us what he thought he was interesting. I wanted to "get lost" in the city for the day before the march, which I did. A highlight was the orthodox church, where people were getting married. Around 80% of Finns belong to the Lutheran church but some 1,1% of Finns are Christian Orthodox. Most Finns are not churchgoers and about 20% of them do not have a religion or have not submitted statistics on their religion. Finland also has Jewish, Muslim and other religious minorities.

A search on Wikipedia, brought up this interesting fact, with respect to Jewish people:

"There are about 1,300 Jews in Finland, 800 of whom live in Helsinki and most of the remainder live in Turku."

"During World War II, Finnish authorities refused to deliver Jews to the Nazis, and the country's Jewish community survived the war virtually intact."

I found it interesting to see the wedding which was full of decoarations.

By three pm or so, we went to the march for Norway. Many people there were calling it a protest but, in that case, it was the most peaceful protest I have ever been to.

It was led by an Indian singer-turned-politician called something Singh. I was chatting with a bunch of Finnish people there and it seemed only I could spell and pronounce his surname properly. I have lived in South Africa, alongside hundreds of thousands of Indian people so it makes sense. It did throw me back a bit nevertheless. I did not expect to see a horde of blonde people following an Indian man around. Although, Helsinki is somewhat multi-ethnic and cultural. It is not as mixed as some other cities but it is to a noticeable extent. People shoudl not expect it to be much more mixed; Finland only has 5-million people living in it, it has harsh winters, and it's far from Africa and parts of Asia.