Taisa from Brazil was keen on joining a protest on the first Sunday of our trip. Many journalists like to experience topical news so they were keen to join a peace march.
Finns and some tourists and immigrants marched against violence, in solidarity with Norway. This was following the attack by the terrorist or whatever he is; Brevik. The group like many groups in Finland was full of people with light blonde hair. However, as said not everyone was Finnish. This was the day I saw the first Indian person I would see in Finland. It was amusing to me because Taisa's friends, who were part of some sort of youth organisation wrote his name down for me but could not pronounce Singh properly.
Mr Singh was a reality or pop star. He seemed quite popular but I am not convinced he many interesting or inspiring things to say. Perhaps Finnish leader Tarja Halonen agreed with me and saw no need to visit the protest for peace. There were some Finns with signs saying, what now, Tarja. However, what did they expect, this was a march for peace. I am sure there have been a few in solidarity with Norway. Not being an expert on Scandinavian politics, I think this march went well. People did notice it; it was televised. I have heard that Halonen also visited Norway soon after the attack. I do not think that any conduct of any party around the attack has strained Finnish-Norwegian relations.
After marching to parliament and saying some slogans aloud, many in English, we marched to a park. This was fitting for this naturally beautiful country that is full of so many parks. At the park, there was one band and people were chilling. There was a language centre where people could practise speaking various languages with each other. The group in the march was composed of many young people and maybe they are more open to foreigners and their languages. However, I am not sure if the language lab was part of the march or a common occurrence in Finland.
Overall, it was an enjoyable Sunday afternoon.
No comments:
Post a Comment