Flying via Helsinki the previous week en route to Stockholm, I spotted the lead news story of the day on the cover of the main English-language newspaper, the Helsinki Times:
I made a mental note for my return journey: Finns know how to party (or at least how to drink). Helsinki did not disappoint.
The next week I flew in from Tallinn on another overcast summer's day, and had better luck with the public bus, which deposited me in the main Rautatientori square. I had booked a simple room near the Botanic Gardens, and later when I used these to describe where I was staying to locals I was met with uniform blank faces, so they seem less prominent as the ones in Sydney, Melbourne, or Canberra, and this partly explains why I didn't actually go in during my 30 hours in Helsinki.
Before I had left Seattle, one of the loose ends I had to tie up was taking over my US work cell phone number, so that I wouldn't have to ask everyone to change my number in their phones. Unfortunately AT&T had thrown a large number of spanners at me in the 24 hours before I left Seattle, with the result that I had not been able to take over my number by the time I left Seattle. I decided to hang on to my work cell phone until I sorted it out, since as soon as I returned the phone, the contract would be cancelled and my number would be lost. During my hour at JFK I had the absolute pleasure of porting my number to Google Voice, which unlike assuming responsibility for it at AT&T took six clicks, ten minutes, and did not require multiple store visits, calls to their back office and to Experian, and emailing of identification. Unfortunately by this time I didn't have access to a mailbox, so I figured I would just drop it into one of our Scandinavian offices en route.
That explains in a roundabout way how I found myself in an elevator in Helsinki's CBD on a Wednesday late morning, boxed iPhone in hand. Exiting the elevator I passed three gentlemen about to take it back down to thr ground floor. Two steps on I saw the large sign announcing that the Helsinki Office was closed for summer vacation from 22 July to 2 August. In a stroke of immensely good fortune, one of the three gentlemen who had by now entered the elevator spotted me stopping dead in front of the door, and instead of hammering the 'close doors' button (or calling security), asked me whether I needed any help. It turned out that Donatello, Leonardo, and Michelangelo (I have given them ninja turtle names since I didn't check whether they were ok with featuring on this blog) were colleagues hard at work,in the office, notwithstanding the summer closure ("someone has to keep the lights on", Donatello joked) and were grabbing some lunch. I explained that I was also a colleague trying to return my phone, and when I politely declined their kind offer to let me in (figuring it would be hard to explain to the receptionist/mailroom colleagues in a note), they invited me to join them for lunch.
Thus began a delightful "insider's guide to Helsinki". Fifty meters into our foodward walk I asked them whether they were all Finnish, and learned that they in fact hailed from Ireland, Turkey, and India, and were based in Helsinki, London, and Berlin. (Not the first time I've had such a conversation with colleagues over the last three years, and their own backgrounds made it easier to explain that I was an Australian who had moved from London to the West Coast of the US late last year.) We ended up sharing not a very fun lunch of middle eastern food, including some delicious lamb dishes.
The afternoon brought rain, which scuppered my plans of taking Leonardo's tip and taking a boat to one of the scenic islands in Helsinki harbour, so instead I used the trusty NYT 36 hours guide to find a coffee shop, where I bought an oversized cinnamon bun (not as good as those from the Nordic Bakery in London, yet big enough to take half of it away afterwards) and read. After the rain had passed I wandered along the waterfront and spotted a visiting Japanese navy boat, a rolling piece of Melbourne, and a slightly controversial sculpture within 30 minutes of one another:
For a moment I confused Finland with Norway and thought this ship had something to do with the 'axis of whaling'
Melbourne all the way down to the color scheme... No myki though
I met Donatello and Leonardo for dinner that night (Michelangelo had flown home), at a great Mexican eatery run by Mexican expats who delighted in Helsinki's compact size ("I ride my bike to get around: it's great!") followed by drinks at the world's best cocktail bar ("A21") - which just happens to be in downtown Helsinki.
Meeting these three new friends made for a *much* more enjoyable stay in Helsinki, not only because they had all sorts of local nous, but also because we had interesting conversations (and no, not about work!) Donatello had spent lots of time living in the US, and explained his take on the cultural differences between Americans and Finns. The US he said is a 'peach' society, in which it is easy to break through the surface i.e. meet other people and strike up a conversation, but rather difficult to get through the pip to reach the core (truly befriend them). Finland by contrast he dubbed a 'coconut' society, in which it is difficult to break through the surface but once you do, it's easy to reach the core (which is soft and creamy). Almost on cue, a group of Finns spotted Donatello and walked over to say hello!
After drinks they turned in, and I decided to seize the opportunity presented by the clear night and went clubbing. After starting in a club where a foam party was in full swing, I made it to another bar full of jolly Japanese and Finnish sailors, well turned out in their uniforms but nevertheless making the most of their night ashore. The place was a bit like Gordon's wine bar in London - an underground warren of different rooms - and I was drawn to one room with quite a crowd listening to some live music. Two Finns in their 30s were pumping out hip hop in Finnish. The first looked as you might expect: shaved head, dark glasses, cocky expression, but the other was transfixing: he was sporting a very impressive 'mullet' hairdo underneath a baseball cap with large 'John Faulkner' glasses (apologies for the Australian references there), a grandmother knit jumper, a sternly serious facial expression, and Gangnam Style dance moves from left to right and back across the front of the stage. Not carrying my iPad I wasn't able to get a photo, recording or Shazaam grab, and I stupidly didn't ask the barmen or bouncers for the duo's stage name/s at the end of their set. Subsequent hours spent on Google searching for "Finnish hip hop duo" have been unsuccessful so far; if any of this rings any bells please let me know! All tips gratefully received. (Two weeks later I thought I heard the chorus bring played in a jeans shop in Cairns but it was in fact Counting Stars by OneRepublic.)
After being outclassed by some sailors on the dance floor I kicked on to a rooftop bar a couple of streets away, which I found purely by following a distant sound of voices and music. I met some more young Finns there and we had some good conversations about Finland's place in the world (I rattled off a pleasingly lost list of Finns I admired, from colleagues to F1 drivers and international lawyers), what made them most proud about their country (the lakes and not the F1 drivers), and Finland's reputed drinking problem which I had read about the previous week (exacerbated in their view by the boats that bring back Finns from Estonia armed with cheap booze.) I then went looking for the fsmed 'Aussie Bar' which has apparently turned into a popular franchise in Finland - only to be disappointed to rock up at closing time
By the end of what was an excellent night, it was past 4am and so I had eaten some of the next day; by the time I woke up and ate brunch I had time for one last short stroll taking in the architecture in Helsinki, before taking the bus back to Vantaa airport and onwards to Hong Kong.
No comments:
Post a Comment