Okay, so maybe I'm a little homesick: a photo essay

Inspired by Katri:

Ulkomaalainen in Need: Finnish (Popular) Culture

When you live in a foreign country, and you're trying to learn the language, you're supposed to watch soap operas, right? The language is simple, the plots are simple, the overwrought drama is simple -- perfect for someone with the vocabulary of a one-year-old, yet with the maturity of someone, well, (slightly) older. I read Finnish tabloids for the same reason. I've actually learned a decent amount of vocabulary from them, as they're easier for me to understand than even Selkouutiset. 

I've been using this whole watching-crap-television-and-reading-tabloids-thing partially as a means by which to attempt immersion. I have found, however, that I cannot survive on a diet of Iltalehti and Uusi päivä alone. I can never seem to fully forgo English, which would be ideal, because there is just so much English language media to consume. Furthermore, I want to consume some of it. You know, so that I don't feel as if I've regressed to being a one-year-old. A one-year-old who is for some reason semi-literate, and is being forced to read everything there is to know about Madonna's presence in Helsinki.

So, I'd like to solicit some suggestions for other Finnish stuff that I might read/watch/listen to, etc. Simplicity is probably best for my current skill level, but limiting myself to simple things is just so tedious. I do know how to use a search engine, but I've failed pretty miserably in finding thing of interest to me. Perhaps if I find out what interests you, it'll help.

I'd like to discover some good Finnish films (old or new, it doesn't matter), as well as blogs, radio programs, and podcasts. Even forums. Books too, although I find that anything more complex than books about princesses is sort of beyond my ken. Oh, and thank you!

Drink, Speak

I'm back from the wilds of small town America, and I'm through (I think) with a short blogging respite.

I returned to Finland last Thursday, determined to begin anew and stop being so fearful; I cannot go on avoiding every single person who looks as though they might speak to me. This may be Finland, and I may be from New England, but, in the end, I've just got to quit being such a pussy.

In that spirit, Rami and I went out to Teerenpeli on Saturday night. The intent was to simply exist in a social setting - not necessarily to initiate conversation with strangers, but to chat amongst ourselves in Finnish. Four gin and tonics, though weak, got me sufficiently drunk so as to make me brave. Rami's uncle showed up at some point, and so we said a few words to him and his wife. It was a social evening after all.

On our way home, we decided it would only make sense to get some disgusting fried food from a grill. As soon as we entered, a Romani man jovially shouted to Rami, "Where did you find that woman?"

"From America," he answered.  The man looked a little surprised.

"Really? She's very beautiful. Does she speak Finnish?"

"A little, yes," I answered. I must have been pretty drunk.

"She does speak it! But does she speak it well?"

"Not well, no," I said.

"She does speak it well!" he said. "Do you have a sister?" he asked, finally addressing me, but in English.

"Well, yes," I admitted.

"How did you meet this beautiful woman?" he asked, again addressing Rami in Finnish.

"On the internet," Rami answered.

"What site? I must go there," he proclaimed in English. Rami and I both began to laugh, but this seemed not to deter the man from asking a second time. "What site?"

"Omegle," Rami said. "Omegle piste com."

"I will go there!" he exclaimed.

I wish him luck. He'll need it once he discovers what Omegle is.

But then, yesterday, a young, completely nonthreatening girl approached me on the street and asked where the library was. We were right next to it. It was as though the lesson from page one of my Finnish textbook had leapt into reality. I pointed, but no words left my mouth. Fortunately, she understood. And then, for no apparent reason, I thanked her.

Conclusion: Drink More.