What I’ll miss about Finland ...

Finland flag by abFlags.com

(An edited version of this post was published in the Helsinki Times on July 7, 2011).

 

I’ve now less than two weeks left as a resident of Finland and I am starting to take my leave from people and places that have become so familiar over the last four years.

Of course, I am very excited at the prospect of moving back home and being with my family. But I know that there are lots of things I will miss from this country where I have now lived for around a twelfth of my life.

• Top of the list - people. My friends and colleagues, many now are both. Folk from the Helsinki Social club and the Finn-Brit Players. I’ve added more than 150 Facebook friends since I moved here and I hope that many of them will stay in touch after I leave.
• Next, Helsinki. I’m not a natural city dweller, but this is the easiest city I can imagine to live in. Extremely cosmopolitan, small enough to feel homely, large enough to have a wide variety of choices of things to do. A largely undiscovered gem, I recommend everybody visit for a long weekend. Though maybe not between November and April unless you really like snow, ice and cold! But right now, it is spectacular. For much of last summer, it was warmer than home.
• Stuff that works. That means pretty much everything here. Public transport, whether buses, trains, metro, ferries runs pretty much on time regardless of the weather. We had more snow last winter than any while I’ve lived here, but I saw no real disruption. I can send an SMS to order a taxi and it will normally be waiting outside my door by the time I have walked downstairs. And the machinery of the state is well oiled and works well, as long as you follow the correct process.
• Food – I don’t mean just the great meals we’ve had in more than 50 restaurants, my reviews are still open on www.eat.fi. But some of the other treats – Fazer chocolate, great rye breads, salmiakki and salmiakki kossu, fabulous fresh strawberries, cherries and peas from street stalls in the summer, pea soup on Thursdays; I could go on, but it’s making me hungry just to write about them. Oh, and don’t forget mämmi at Easter, I think I am one of the few foreigners that likes it.
• The nature – there is so much of it here, it seems, even in the city. From the majestic silver birch, the national tree, to feeding red squirrels at Seurasaari or picking wild mushrooms, I have enjoyed, as most Finns do, the chance to be “in the nature.”
• Vantaa airport – which now ranks as my favourite to fly from. Easy to get in and out of and only 30 minutes from home once we’re wheels down. And the amazing experience of landing half an hour before midnight in summer still in total daylight.

I am sure that over the coming months, more will occur to me, but this seems to be a good start. But are there things I won’t miss? Two come to mind.

The first has been spending so much time away from my family. Of course, we’ve had some great times together in Helsinki. But having to say goodbye to them on a Sunday night to fly back to Helsinki has been the hardest thing to do. I’ve missed being there for four years of my daughters’ lives. 

My youngest is now an adult and leaves home in September for university. I’ve joked that we have had more conversations on Facebook than we would have done if we had been living together, but I don’t really think either of us believes it. And my eldest will be married in the same month; though she left home around the same time that I did, I have missed her just as much. I’ve not seen my parents and sister as much as if I had I been living in the UK.

But the hardest has been being apart from my wife. She has been at the heart of my life for almost half of it and we’ll celebrate 21 years of marriage in September. And now we have to learn how to live together again, for the first time as a couple with no kids at home!

And the second thing I won’t miss? The cost of booze. I no longer flinch at being asked to pay more than 6€ for less than a pint of beer. I consider a bottle of wine that costs less than 30€ in a restaurant to be good value. I shall enjoy getting back to going to wine tastings with the Naked Grape and getting change from a fiver for a pint.

I am developing strategies to cope with the things I will miss from Finland. I will reconnect with my old friends in the UK and keep in touch with everyone else through Facebook.  I will visit Helsinki when I can, at least for Vappu. I will try to be patient with the services back home, even though they won’t work quite as well, and reflect that it is, in part, because I am paying less in tax for them. I will import what Finnish delicacies I can. I have two silver birches in my garden and, as we live in the beautiful Hampshire countryside, I will get out into it more often. And I will revisit this blog, to remind me of all of the wonderful new experiences I have had.

So, I continue to prepare to say farewell to Finland on June 17. Because I really don’t think it is goodbye.

Final guests ...

This weekend, my sister-in-law and her husband joined my wife and I for our last sightseeing weekend in Helsinki.

After picking them up from the airport on Friday evening, we walked for drinks to Kappeli on Esplanadi.

On Saturday, we visited the Kauppatori market square and then had sushi in the Wanhan Kauppahalli for lunch. We visited the Russian orthodox and Lutheran cathedrals and then to Stockmann for a little shopping, after which we relaxed on the Koff beer tram, as you can see from the photo. After coffee and cake at Cafe Fazer and a little more rest, we finished the day with dinner at Luomo, our neighbourhood Michelin 1* restaurant, with a 7 course degustation menu.

Sunday began with brunch at the newly re-opened Cafe Engel, then to Seurasaari to feed the squirrels, home for a nap before taking the tram to Sea Horse for the fastest dinner ever, followed by an evening playing Rock Band!

Today concluded the visit, with some more shopping followed by lunch at Lappi, with elk, reindeer and cloudberries all featuring on the menu. Licorice ice cream at Cafe Fazer completed the gourmet experience and we are now back at the apartment, my guests are packing for the airport.

And so, my four year assignment as unofficial tour guide for Helsinki draws to a close. It has been great fun and I am sure we will be back for further visits in the future. Though it won't feel quite the same when I am a tourist too!

Ihanaa leijonat, ihanaa ...

For the last 24 hours, I have been living in the capital city of a country that has just won a world championship.  On Sunday night, Finland played Sweden in the final of the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships in Bratislava. Regular readers will know that I am not a sports fan, but it has been fascinating to observe.

Ice Hockey is to Finns what soccer is to the Brits, the most popular sport. And Sweden is the old adversary for the Finns, despite that 6% of its population are native Swedish speakers. As Finland was part of Sweden for several hundred years, before they were sold out to Russia, the Finns have a gentle enmity towards their old colonial power and near neighbour. It's not strong enough to prevent them taking more than a passing interest in what goes on in Sweden; the royal wedding there last year had much of the population here gripped.

But when it comes to sport, then a match against Sweden is viewed in much the same way as an England - Germany fixture in soccer would be back home. So on Sunday night, the prospect of competing with them for the World Championships was a delicious mix of anticipation and anxiety.

Ahead of the 9pm start time, most of the bars were filling up with fans in their blue and white shirts, getting into the appropriate spirit. And the game did not disappoint. The first goal went to Sweden in the first twenty minute period. The equaliser came during the second. But it was the final period of the match that saw the real drama. Finland quickly scored two more goals within the first four minutes and then did not give up. The final score was 6-1 to Finland, with the last coming within minutes of the final klaxon.

The city went wild. As the Helsingin Sanomat reported, "By 1 a.m. on Monday morning, both the Esplanades in downtown Helsinki were packed with jubilant hockey fans, such that the earlier rally of cars hooting their horns and with flags waving from the windows was no longer possible." Many of those cars drove home down my street and I can attest to their enthusiasm. Whoever told me that Finnish men don't show their emotions has never seen them after winning a world championship!

This evening, the team flew back from Bratislava on a Finnair flight (of course). A website that I regularly use to track the progress of my incoming visitors, flightradar24.com, was so inundated with hits from Finland that it reported that it was running a temporarily downgraded "high load" version; apparently the picture at one stage looked as though there was only one flight in the air, that of the returning Finnish lions.

Tonight, they made an appearance downtown to receive the adulation of their fans. Regular readers will know that I show the image from a webcam on my blog - this was the image at 21:00 this evening, showing the market square (Kauppatori) packed with people. If anything, it looks busier than at the recent Vappu celebrations.

Since I got home at 21:00, there has also been a steady stream of fans walking home down my street, many cheering "ihanaa leijonat, ihanaa"; roughly "wonderful lions" or "love lions". You can hear the official song featuring this lyric on YouTube. The noise has only dwindled away as I write this, more than two hours later. Helsingin Sanomat estimated that around 50,000 people would turn out this evening, which would not surprise me. That's around 5% of the population of the capital area.

The surprise of the game, though, was the award of the Tournament MVP trophy, decided before the final, to the Swedish goalie Viktor Fasth. He had only let in six goals in six matches, so earned the directorate's vote for the trophy. And then let in six goals all in the same match, the final. Ah well!

A blind date ...

Now, just in case my wife should get worried, this wasn't that kind of a date. I am in Vienna on business this week and last night, our local host took us for a meal with a difference.

We were told we were going to a restaurant for dinner in the dark. When we got to the venue, it was explained that this wasn't going to be a candlelit supper, but one completely in the dark, as a way of experiencing life without one of our most important senses. And as part of the experience, we knew only that there would be four courses and that we could choose meat, fish or vegetarian for our main course.

There were 16 of us in the party and we were ushered through a curtain to a holding area in two groups. I joined the second group and, once through the curtain, our waiter Mahendra instructed us to take the hand or shoulder of the person in front and then walked us 30 paces or so to our table, in pitch darkness. We had already been told to turn off our phones, so that the light from the screens would not be any help to us, so when he told us to stop, turn to our right and find our seats, we had to do so completely by feel.

We sat, having worked out that we were on the opposite side of a single, long table from the first group, who were already seated and whose voices helped us to orientate.

First, our waiters (Kristijan on the other side of the table) took our drinks orders. I opted for a beer. "Would you like a glass with that?" was answered in the negative, as I was sure that was a recipe for a damp lap at least.

After drinks were served came our appetiser. Our waiters handed us the plates and we placed them on the table in front of us. By this stage I had already felt on the table and found two forks to my left, two knives and a soup spoon on top of my napkin to the right and a dessert spoon and fork above. There was also a pen and a sheet of paper, more of which later. The starter, as I felt carefully, was a small salad, with two bowls of dip and a couple of pieces of bread. Using knife and fork in the dark was difficult, though the bread and dips were easier. I managed to finish the course with relatively clean fingers and felt proud of passing the first test. We all commented on how rich the flavours of the food seemed.

Next, the soup course. You can imagine that when our waiters told us to be careful and that the soup was hot, the idea of being handed the bowl was challenging. Fortunately, the soup bowl was also on another plate and so it arrived on the table without a spill. A pleasant minestrone, I did find that when blowing on a spoonful to cool it down, I could hear some falling back into the bowl as I blew too hard.

Between the soup and main course, we were given three objects to guess what they were. One was a model of a cobra, the second an elephant and the third, I am sure, a camel. Examining them, I found myself really noticing the texture and temperature, as well as just the shape.

Then the main course arrived. I felt a wooden skewer running through the meat and then felt saute potatoes. It was easy enough to eat the meat straight from skewer - after all, who was going to comment on my table manners? But there was a vegetable mix which was rather wet to the touch and so needed the fork. And my hands needed a wash in the finger bowl we had by now found on the table.

After clearing the plates, our waiters invited to follow their voices to join them at the bar, where they offered us a glass of grappa or Jaegermeister. I have never been known to turn down grappa and so inched my way towards them.

We were then told to find out seats again. By now, a little more confident, we worked as a team to do so. Dessert followed, apfelstrudel and vanilla ice cream (the bowl felt cold to the touch, so easy to work out what that was). One more wash of the fingers and we were asked how many for coffee. We couldn't raise our hands, so worked out that we need to call out "one", "two", "three" and so on. I was number six and we were served in the order that we called. A small plate, with a black coffee, pot of cream, packets of sugar and a glass of water. That was easy.

After another sensory exercise, which involved sniffing the contents of three screw-top containers (star anise, cloves and tea) we found our way to the exit and were shown what had been on our plates. All fine!

We also finally got to meet our waiters, both of whom were blind and so no more disadvantaged in the darkened room that they were in daylight. Mahendra, my waiter, had been in Vienna for 20 years - he came as a student, met a girl, fell in love ... well, you can guess the rest! We had a good chat; when I told him I worked for Nokia he told me how he used our products - he is a particular fan of Nokia Maps and uses the pedestrian navigation with voice guidance to help him find his way around the city.

We also got to compare notes, literally. We had been asked to write a message, do a drawing, write down the names of the objects, etc. The good news is that my handwriting is no worse when done in the dark than it is in full daylight. But that isn't saying too much.

For the group, it was a great way to experience the world of the 10% or so of the world's 40 million blind people who have no light perception at all. Or to put it another way, around the same number of people as the adult population of Finland. A good reason why those of us in the industry need to think about the accessibility of our products. It certainly opened my eyes.

Colonel in Chief ...

I have been ruminating on the culinary contributions of two Colonels over the last few days, both men of history but from opposite sides of the Atlantic.

The first will be known to most in the western world, Colonel Sanders. He was the entrepreneur who, at the age of 65 was faced with the failure of his restaurant due to new interstate taking business away. He went looking for franchisees and the business became Kentucky Fried Chicken (now KFC), which he sold in 1964 for USD 2 million. So, his culinary contribution is a secret blend of 11 herbs and spices and a business which now feeds millions of people every day. Oh, and though he started in the US military, his title was an honorary one, bestowed by the governor of Kentucky in 1950.

The second Colonel is a little more obscure, at least to those outside of Finland and Sweden. Johan August Sandels died almost 60 years before Harland Sanders was born, yet his legacy also lives on to this day.

A Swedish soldier and politician, Colonel Sandels led the Swedish troops to victory over the Russians in the Finnish war of 1808-9 (when Finland was still part of Sweden). His exploits were recorded by Finnish national poet JL Runerberg and, according to Wikipedia, "Runeberg's poem tells a story of Sandels having a feast while the enemy mounts a premature attack. Sandels continues his meal and is accused of cowardice, after which he raises and rides to the battle, drives back the enemy and is praised by his men." It reminds me a little of the story of Sir Francis Drake finishing his game of bowls before attacking the Spanish Armada. 140 years after his death, the Finnish brewery Olvi started brewing Sandels, which has become my favourite mass market Finnish beer. On the back of the cans are inspiring tales of his courage.

So, which one should be the Colonel in Chief? Well, for me, it would have to be the real war hero who inspired a beer. But it would be interesting to enjoy both of the Colonels' products together. But I've not yet seen a KFC yet in Helsinki!

Fame and fortune ...

Well, perhaps fortunate is the more accurate word, but makes for a less appealing headline.  Last Saturday I was fortunate to be part of the group of performers in a staged reading of a new play, as I reported in December, playing Man in Jakob Holder's "The Open Circuit", directed by the playwright himself and presented by the Finn-Brit players.

It was my first serious role, playing the rather unaware partner of a woman facing traumatic changes in her life, forced to decide whose side he was on. My wife was among the audience, a rather larger crowd than we were expecting, and was kind enought to say that she could tell the difference between the real me and my on-stage persona. Though clearly I was not convincing enough in telling my much younger leading lady that I loved her to cause any marital disharmony.

The play was also my first rehearsed reading. It's a little more than just reading the play as a group, as we were in costume, with props and using a staged area to perform before an audience. But we were still relying on scripts, as we had only four rehearsals before the big night. So, we had time to explore our characters, something we don't do in pantomime, to really get into the roles but without the stress of learning all the lines.

All in all, I think we did well. It was a fortunate distraction for me too, as this is normally the busiest time of our working year, leading up to a global trade show and associated announcements in Barcelona. I could not have committed to the rehearsals for the spring production of "Waiting for Godot", though I am looking forward to seeing my friends here in it. But this was a great way to whet my appetitite and a great idea to bring to our TOADS group back home. I'm hoping to be part of the next staged reading, Harold Pinter's "The Birthday Party", in March.

Oh, and the fame? Tonight I was hosting the monthly pub quiz organized by IESAF at Molly Malone's. One of the participants walked over and said "Hi, I saw you in the play on Saturday. You were really good." Modest though I am, I have to admit I enjoyed the moment. Famous in Helsinki? Well, it's a start.

What's in a name?

Image from Helsinki Times

This weekend's issue of the Helsinki Times, the weekly English language newspaper here, reports on the most common surnames in use in Finland.

The most popular overall is Korhonen, though more men have the surname Virtanen. One of the rarest, according to the paper, is Sirjala, with only 11 people currently using it.

The report also shows a trend consistent with other countries, with around a quarter of women keeping their name after marriage in 2009, three times the number in 1986. Almost 7% took a hyphenated name, though their children are not permitted, under Finnish law, to continue the hyphenation. In 3 out of 200 marriages, the husband gave up his surname and took his wife's. I had a former colleague in the UK who insisted her future spouse did the same, for though his surname rhymed with "strike" when spoken, written down it was Prick, not a name which looks good with either Mr. or Mrs. before it, I suppose.

It is possible to change your surname in Finland, though apparently not as easily as in the UK, where a "deed of change of name" or "deed poll" can be used and choices are unrestricted. In Finland, it seems, there are more restrictions. You can reclaim a name used in your own family within the last five generations, or you can choose a new one, but in that case it may not already be in use in Finland. A colleague chose her surname, Merestö, and I believe, is the only one using it. Finally, and particularly for the 10-20 foreigners a month who apply to change a name that is difficult to spell or pronounce, the Association of Finnish Culture & Identity has a list of"free" names whih can be applied for.

So, having already adopted the Finnish first name of Markku, I wonder what my options would be if I chose a Finn-ished last name?

Christmas was a cracker ...

Today was my first day back at work, after 12 days back home in the UK and a great series of social events.

We started on December 23 with my birthday party, one with a zero at the end, though there were plenty of friends and family on hand to help me through the trauma. I was also lucky to receive over a dozen bottles of assorted booze as presents, so I shall continue to enjoy the memories through 2011.

Christmas Day was spent at home with my parents, sister, wife and both daughters, future son-in-law and elder daughter's aunt. Despite the domestic flood before the holidays, we managed to have a lovely day, with the empty Veuve Clicquot bottles to prove it.

A couple of days later, Stephanie and I visited a former colleague and long standing friend, who cooked sous-vide, which I think could become my next experimental cooking style when I return to the UK.

We then travelled to my wife's sister's home for wonderful food and an evening of ever-so-slightly competitive games, the classic charades and also Lyric.

Finally, New Year's Eve was spent with friends from our village. I made piparkakut ("pepper crackers" or gingerbread, pictured) and served it with Glögi: we also made canapes of smoked reindeer. 


All in all, it was a great holiday and it was really tough to come back to Helsinki, though it was good to see my colleagues at work today. But an early night is definitely now required!

Treading the boards again...

Today I attended my first auditions for a serious acting role. Of course, I have auditioned before for our village pantomimes and spring shows, but those are rather more light hearted. It was a more daunting process than I had expected; after performing for a panel of three experts, I now know a little more about how the X-Factor contestants must feel. I was also pondering on the differences between auditions and job interviews, since my contract at work expires in June next year. The latter combine describing your vision for a role with examples from past experience and achievements. Auditions are totally in the moment, with no ability to say "I got wonderful notices for my last role".

The happy news is that I now have a part in a rehearsed play reading, which I hope will be a good introduction to straight drama without the intense stress of memorising an entire script. We will have rehearsals in January and then perform once at the end of that month and then once more in February. The play is "Open Circuit", the latest work from Jakob Holder, an award-winning young playwright who will also be directing us, giving a wonderful chance to get a real insight into the characters from the person who created them. I will be playing MAN, so I shan't need any of my pantomime dame costume or props, either.

More details to follow, once we get confirmation on the dates. But for now, I have my bedtime reading set for the next few weeks!

Visitations ...

A few weeks back, my wife, together with our daughters and their other halves, came over for a weekend. We ate well; on Friday it was the tasting menu at Farang and on Saturday evening, menu 13 at Luomo, our neighbourhood restaurant which recently won its first Michelin star.

To balance out the gastronomic indulgence, we shopped on Saturday and on Sunday, visited the squirrels at Seuurasaari and grilled some sausages at the firepit there. Then, before departing for the airport, lunch in the apartment with take out from my local pizza place, including the classic "kebab pizza", an artery hardening combination of pizza with doner kebabe meat and fixings!

This weekend, my youngest daughter is with me, the first time she has flown on her own, so a bit of an adventure! She arrived late on Friday, then Saturday was packed with a stroll around the market at Kauppatori and the Kauppahalli, Glögi at Kappeli, lunch and hot chocolate at Gran Delicato, more shopping in Kamppi, then dinner at Il Siciliano and a movie at the Bristol. Sunday was brunch at Primula, then a stroll around the shops before putting up the Christmas decorations in the apartment.

I have one more group of visitors planned before Christmas, my eldest daughter and her fiance, with her future in-laws. I hope we'll be able to plan a suitably entertaining time for them, too!

Two tips from Amsterdam ...

This week started in Amsterdam, a work trip for the Symbian Exchange & Exposition. Though it was a busy few days, we managed to get a little time off and so I wanted to share a couple of things.

First was this beer, a most excellent one for those like me with a palate conditioned for English ales. And two cost only around 7 Euros, about half the cost of drinking in Helsinki. Heaven knows why the locals and tourists feel the need to seek other indulgences during their evenings!

The second tip was the Tapas bar we tried for dinner, Tapas Catala, reviewed here on tripadvisor. We stumbled on it by accident and had a surprisingly pleasant and good value supper, this time accompanied by an Amstel.

And, at the risk of ruining the headline of this post, my third tip is to visit Amsterdam itself. I've been a couple of times, but only on business. Perhaps this would be a good candidate for our weekend away with friends next year.

Oh, and I came home with a couple of new friends too, two of the large Symbian ducks (non-robotic variety). Packing them in my suitcase was somewhat amusing! My thanks to our friends at Symbian for these, mine is now sitting on my desk in Finland, looking out of the window wistfully towards the Baltic Sea.

28 years later ...

My youngest daughter is in the process of applying for a university place next Autumn and last wekend was the second visit I accompanied her on, to the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK. It was a nostalgic trip for me, as I graduated from UEA in 1982 and this was my first trip back to the university since then.

After a horrendous journey involving a delayed flight, the M25 and South Mimms motorway services, we arrived in Norwich around half past midnight, which gave little opportunity for anything other than sleep. I had booked us into the Maids Head Hotel. When I had been a student in Norwich, it had been the most expensive place to stay and I vowed I would come back one day and try it. You can see it in the phot, on the left of which is the former Samson & Hercules nightclub, venue for many student parties when I was studying. It appears now to have been redeveloped into apartments.

The following day, we planned a brief walk around the city centre, before driving to the UEA campus. After a rather more expensive than expected visit to Tombland Jewellers, we headed towards the market and then through some of the backstreets. The market still has an impressive range of stalls and seeing the names of the pubs around the centre felt like being reminded of old friends!

We then headed out to the university, aiming to get a tour of the accommodation and see some of the campus first. After parking and walking onto campus, the first familiar sight was the Square, still the hub of social activity on campus, a student band was playing (very well) as we arrived. The grin that this view triggered didn't leave me for the rest of the afternoon!

After a quck look round the LCR (large common room) we were taken to see a couple of student rooms. Waveney Terrace, where I spent my final year, was demolished to build newer blocks recently and my first year home off-campus at Fifer's Lane, former officer's quarters for RAF Norwich, has also been demolished, now replaced by a housing estate. But the rooms in Nelson Court seemed fine, with en-suite facilities. How times have changed! We also visited rooms in Norfolk Terrace, a very 60's looking block which is now, apparently, Grade II listed! When I had been there, they had been the most desirable blocks, with views over the broad. You can see Norfolk Terrace on the right of this shot.

We then moved on to the Queen's Building in the School of Allied Health Professions within the Faculty of Health, none of which existed as part of the university when I was there. My daughter's desired subject is Speech & Language Therapy. UEA runs this as a three year course, whereas most other universities are delivering it in four years, so it was interesting to hear more about the differences. Suffice to say, the professional qualification at the end is the same and their experience is that around 80% of graduates find work within six months of completing their degrees, which is encouraging.

After a good grounding on the course, we went in search of a bite to eat. What was the Refectory in my day is now Zest, we had a good value and tasty lunch, rather more healthily prepared than in the 1980s. And then, our final stop before leaving was the Union Bar, where my baby bought her Dad a pint of Greene King IPA, a reassuring constant from my time, though the bar itself looked very different!

All in all, it was a great day. I can't believe it has been more than thirty years since I went up to UEA as a fresh faced undergraduate. But it was, and here is my student ID photo from the time, showing not just a fresher face, but rather more hair. So now, fingers crossed that my budding student gets the grades she wants and makes the right choice, for her, of where to study. But after last weekend's visit, if she chooses UEA, it will be fun to go and visit her there. Though for her sake, not too often!

Ersatz Oktoberfest ...

Tonight I enjoyed an impromptu evening out, thanks to friends and the Helsinki Social Club.

The latter organisation had manage to arrange vouchers for free beer and pretzels at Rymy-Eetu, a German bar in Helsinki. My friends had managed to get some of the vouchers and texted me just as I was leaving work. Half an hour later I was stein in hand, with the only slight disappointment being that rather than a litre of a delightful German brew, it was Koff, a very ordinary Finnish lager. But without doubt, worth every penny (or Euro cent) that I had paid for it. And the pretzel, soft, salt crusted and still warm from the oven, helped soak up just a little of the beer.

After around half an hour, the oompah band began to play. It was the first time I had seen seven Finnish men in lederhosen and, though they were entertaining, I wouldn't recommend that they give up their day jobs.

I sought escape in the men's bathroom, but even there I was not safe. Instead of piped music, a loop tape was playing useful phrases in German, then their Finnish counterparts. So, "ein bier bitte" is "yksy olut, kiittos". Though I have not done so well in my language studies here, that one, at least, I knew in both languages!

The photo, by the way, was taken on my new Nokia N8. I've been using it for a couple of weeks now, it's the best phone I've used so far and we just started shipping them today. Just in case I needed another reason to celebrate over a beer!

How to lose a loyal customer ...

Over the last month or so, we have had two separate incidents which have made us think hard about why we choose to do business with particular firms. Both cases caused considerable upset at the time to me and my family, but with different responses they have led to rather different outcomes for the companies concerned.

The first was at the start of our family holiday, probably the last we will take for some time with our daughters, as they respectively prepare to get married and go off to university next year. We organised this through James Villas, a company we have used several times before. We arrived at our villa in Umbria to collect the keys and were given an unexpected demand for 500 Euros as a cash deposit, which we knew we did not have to pay as James Villas had already charged us a non-refundable breakage charge.

The owner was very difficult to deal with, claiming to speak no English, so we spent two hours on the phone to the local rep and her boss and trying to get anyone from James Villas in the UK to resolve the issue. We finally got access only after the domestic partner of the local rep spoke to the villa owner. Apparently the local James Villas reps knew that the owner was (in their words) "a mental case" but continued to put their customers at risk by placing them in the villa.

The second was my daughter's recent eighteenth birthday party. We organised this in a local village hall and contracted with The Naked Grape, our local wine merchants, to run a cash bar for the evening. We've used Naked Grape for around 8 years, since we first moved here and, as with James Villas, have regularly recommended them to friends. Sadly, we arrived at the hall for the start of the party to find no bar had been set up.

In the case of the holiday, I wrote to their founder and chairman, James Needham, whom their website claims is "still at the helm" of the business. We got a badly written letter two weeks later, from a junior person, not really accepting any failure on their part and offering vouchers for £200 against a future holiday. So, an offer that costs them nothing if we never use them again and represents less than 2.5% of the cost of the holiday. When I pointed this out to them in further correspondence, their customer relations supervisor replied "in this instance I am unable to offer any further gesture or recompense. I am sorry if you remain dissatisfied and we are unable to restore your faith in James Villa Holidays". So am I, though I am prepared to offer them a gesture. I shall never use them again, nor recommend them to anyone I care about. Reader, beware.

By contrast, The Naked Grape's response was immediate and effective. Despite having been working themselves all day at the Alresford Show, they came to the hall, setup a bar and did not charge us a penny for the drinks consumed. Such customer service is rare and deserves recognition. Mark and Simon have worked hard to build up their business, now with shops in Alresford and Four Marks. They don't stock anything which they haven't tasted and specialise in good value wines from small producers and family estates. Before this incident, I regularly recommended them to friends and am very happy to continue to do so.

It seems that James Villas think they are big enough that they don't really have to take customer complaints terribly seriously. But in today's world, where I can get great deals online and quickly research reputations, they really ought to think differently. At least for one customer, they have made a big mistake. If you are reading this, Mr. Needham, you can take me off your mailing list.

Tonsorial timewarp ...

Today was haircut day. This is my first weekend back in Helsinki after two weeks of holiday with the family in Italy and likely to be my only chance for a few weeks to attend to the barnet, as next weekend I shall be back in the UK for my daughter's eighteenth birthday.

In Helsinki, I have my haircut at Salon Nadem, at Kolmas Linja 1 in Helsinki. A colleague recommended Nadem when I first moved here and I have been going ever since. Originally from Tunisia, he married a Finnish girl and has built up a busy little business in the Hakaniemi area of the city, which is also home to a wide range of "ethnic" shops. For the Asian community, these shops offer a range of spices, vegetables and Halal meats which allow them to keep culinary contact with their roots. For the Brit, they offer such rare treats as Bird's Custard Powder and tins of corned beef, not easily sourced from the regular supermarkets. But I digress.

I am usually greeted on entering Nadem's place with "hei, English guy!" I don't book an appointment, so though occasionally there is no-one waiting, more often, I'll need to sit and wait while he finishes up a couple of previous customers.

The clientele is very diverse, from English speaking foreigners like me, through ranks of other nationalities as well as native Finns. Listening to him chat in a mix of English, Finnish, Arabic and French (Tunisia was a French protectorate from 1881).

I also enjoy my time in the chair. Having never been a fan of fancy hair salons, I enjoy the simplicity of his set up. From the moment the cape is fastened around my neck, I am transported back to my childhood and memories of schoolboy haircuts. The earliest I can recall was in the barber's shop at the railway station in my home town of Bognor Regis. I would sit on the board resting across the arms of the barber's seat, in order to get me to a height to prevent back pain for the tonsorialist, then while he was fixing the cape, my Mum would give the instruction "a Boston please and not too much off the crown".

Sadly, I can find no Internet reference to this particular style, though the modifier was designed to avoid my double-crowned hair from sticking up, which would now be considered quite stylish.

Today's cut tends to be rather faster (there being rather less to remove) and rather simpler; number 3 clippers at the side to keep the hair shorter. My reasoning being that it is harder to see the grey when the hair is seen end-on. And, compared to the hairstyling of other family members, rather less expensive at €15.

But after it all, I am reminded of the old chestnut about "what's the difference between a good haircut and a bad one?" Surely you know the answer? "About two weeks."

Hockey on horseback ...

Last Sunday was Father's Day and I was back home in the UK to see my family, including having lunch with Dad, Mum and my sister. We met in Midhurst, a small market town in the West Sussex countryside and had a very pleasant lunch at Seven Fish.

After lunch, at Dad's suggestion, we went to watch a polo match at nearby Cowdray Park. It was a first for Stephanie and me, though Mum and Dad had been many years before. Dad noted that the last time he was there, it was possible to get closer to the action (curse those modern health and safety rules). He recalled that he had been close enough to hear the Duke of Edinburgh, then a keen player himself, swearing.

We were able to drive in and park close by the edge of the playing field; I reversed the Land Rover in to the space so that I was able to open the tailgate and provide seating with a windbreak for two of us! But the weather was kind; a bright sunny day with a few fluffy clouds and little wind, so it was perfect for watching the action.

We were there to watch the Midhurst Town Cup, played between "Silver Spring 1870" and "Salkeld". Each team has four players, there are also two mounted umpires on the field. Here you see one of the players executing a back pass. As my regular readers will know, sport and me are not best friends, so I think it best that I forego any further attempt to explain the game, but instead I refer you to the Hurlingham Polo Association web site has a great explanation of the rules and regulations of polo.

However, one element which may be familiar even to those with only a passing knowledge of the game is the half time audience participation. A pitch invasion is then positively encouraged, unlike football in which such behaviour is somewhat frowned upon. This is for the stamping down of the divots - the pieces of turf kicked up by the ponies' hooves. Those who have seen the film "Pretty Woman" will remember the announcer's advice to "avoid the steaming divot"! The last picture shows my mum and sister indulging in this public spirited activity.

But, dear reader, I do realise that you may be thinking that this is all very interesting, but what does it have to do with Finland? After all, the blog is supposed to have a Finnish flavour. Well, as we wandered around the few stalls selling merchandise, we came across Hoads of Horsham, there selling wonderful outdoor bean bags and hammocks made by Fatboy. A Finnish company. And how we spotted them in the first place was because of their (Finnish) Marimekko design parasols. So, that's alright then!

A working weekend ...

This has been my desk for the last two evenings, as I am running the lighting for the first four shows of the Finn-Brit Players' production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the Q-Teatteri in Töölö. It's the story on which the 1988 film Dangerous Liasons was based and our talented director and cast have created a very watchable performance.

It's my second time on the lighting desk, back at the same theatre, so it feels very familiar. In the picture you see the ADB Tango 48 control desk, which is hooked up to the various lights within the theatre. During the rigging process, the levels for each light for each change, together with the transition time, from zero seconds for a fast blackout to seven seconds for bringing the house lights up or down, are set and then programmed into the desk's memory. Altogether, there are more than seventy changes during the play.

During the show, it is theoretically straightforward to move to the next scene by press the red button, outlined in yellow tape on the picture. On top of the deck are my notes, which tell me when during the action to make the next change. And most of the time it works, though sometimes pressing the button doesn't actually seem to work. It doesn't happen often, but just enough to keep me at a high level of tension throughout the 3 hours that the show runs (including an interval).

However, the cast and director are being kind and have only made gentle suggestions on how I could improve things, there has been no shouting so far! It has been great to be involved with this production, though it has fired my desire to get back on stage; I have not done so since I moved to Finland three years ago. Perhaps I will try my hand at the next auditions.

Taking a break ...

My apologies for my rather poor performance in updating the blog recently, things have been rather busy over the last few weeks. However, last weekend saw our annual city break with friends Graham, Barbara, Jim and Linda and our destination this year was Barcelona, capital of the Catalan region of Spain.

I have been visiting Barcelona each February for the past five years, to participate in the Mobile World Congress, one of the biggest trade shows in our industry. So, for me, the city felt more like a workplace than a leisure destination. Fortunately, this weekend reset that feeling and I am now a convert to the many delights of this city.

It's going to be hard to do justice to the weekend without writing loads, so in the interest of brevity, I will list our main activities with links for those of you who may also want to visit.

Friday - I arrived in time for breakfast, only 12 hours after Blue1 were supposed to get me there (the letter of complaint is next on the to do list after this post). We took the red route on the Bus Turistic to get our bearings. Tapas and Sangria for lunch in the Bari Gotic, then to the Sagrada Familia and Casa Mila (two of the most famous Antoni Gaudi designed landmarks in the city). Dinner in a harbourside restaurant at the port.

Saturday - up and off for the blue route. Stopped off at Parc Guell for more Gaudi design, then the Blue Tram and funicular railway up to Tibidabo. Walked back down to the bus and home for a rest before dinner at Les Quinze Nits, great food at very good prices (though you need to queue for around half an hour to get in).

Sunday - walked down the Ramblas in the rain, great Tapas and Cava for lunch at El Xampanyet, exploring Port Vell and then back to meet up with ex Round Table buddy Ian, who was in town before heading off on a cruise. Dinner at Les Quinze Nits again, was just as good.

Monday - walked to the funicular railway up to Montjuic, then took the cable car to the castle at the top. Back for a very long and excellent lunch at El Xalet (where I had a dinner with my former Motorola team in 2005) next to the Olympic diving pools on the side of Montjuic. Walked back down the hill taking in the Olympic stadium, Poble Espanyol and through the Fira de Montjuic without all of the paraphernalia of Mobile World Congress.

Tuesday - a stroll around the city before lunch at Tapa Tapa at maremagnum, overlooking the sea. Back to the hotel, then off to the airport and home.

All in all, despite the worst efforts of Blue1, a great weekend with great friends. I can't wait for next year's!

Splendid China ...

I have just returned from a longer than expected trip to China and Hong Kong. The trip has given me material for a few blog posts, so this first one will cover my trip to Shenzhen, for meetings of the Mobile Manufacturers Forum (MMF) as I am the chair of their Communications Working Group.

We travelled to Shenzhen from Hong Kong by bus, crossing Shenzhen Bay and seeing hundreds of these rafts, apparently a pearl farm. After crossing the bay, we crossed through Chinese immigration and were soon at our home for the next few days, the Intercontinental, inexplicably a Spanish themed hotel in China. The sight of the porters, dressed as gauchos complete with pink long socks and cowboy homes, seemed rather incongruous.

Our hosts in Shenzhen were one of the MMF member companies, TCT mobile, a joint venture between Alcatel and TCL, who are based in Shenzhen. After our work was concluded, they kindly organised a visit to Splendid China, a "folk culture village", or theme park, showcasing the different regions and cultures of that vast country.

Unfortunately, rain prevented us from walking around the park, but we got to enjoy the show, which featured a range of dancing and singing acts. After the show we enjoyed the second of the two Chinese meals on our trip, which were quite different from those I've experience in the UK or USA.

The scale of Shenzhen was staggering. A population around twice the total of Finland and with massive manufacturing facilities. One employer has a factory complex with a workforce of around 300,000 people; more than half the population of Helsinki, with dormitories, cafeterias, shops; in fact everything that an average town would have on one campus.

It was a fascinating trip, but by the time we were due to return to Hong Kong, we were already aware of the Icelandic volcano and that our flights back, mainly to Europe, might be a little disrupted.

My travelcard ...

February 14 is Valentine's Day. Of course, I realise that as reminders go, this is pretty dreadful as it is now March 11. If you had forgotten to send a card to your beloved, or admired, it is now woefully late.

No, I mention this fact, because, ever since I joined the telecommunications industry, Valentine's Day has usually fallen during Mobile World Congress, probably the biggest tradeshow for our industry.

Of course, it used to be called GSM World Congress and happened in Cannes, then the name evolved to 3GSM World Congress to reflect changes in technology and now, avoiding any partisan suggestions from the name, we have Mobile World Congress, or MWC to the cognoscente. And for the last few years it has been held in Barcelona.

But such detail is not essential for this tale. All you really need to know is that, for the last few years, I have not been at home to swap Valentine's cards or affections on the day. My darling wife has made a point of sneaking a card into my luggage before I travelled and I looked forward to finding and opening it on the day. But this year, unusually, I was not at home before MWC and so instead she mailed it to my apartment.

For my part, I had arranged for a card to be delivered through Moonpig (thoroughly recommended) as well as roses and chocolates from Marks & Spencer (also recommended). But when I called home that evening, my beloved was somewhat distressed to hear that her card had not arrived in time for me to take it with me. Of course, I don't need a card to know that she loves me (though I recommend to male readers they they don't try the same line if they forget to send such tokens to their beloved). But, we both assumed that the card had been lost in the post and thought no more about it.

So, I was a little surprised to find this card on my doormat this evening when I got home from work. I guessed at once from the colour of the envelope that it was the missing Valentine's greeting. But what I hadn't expected was the inked stamp above the address (parts of which I have masked for reasons of privacy). It says "MISSENT TO THAILAND".

My wife trained as a teacher and has, at least to my eyes, clear and atttractive handwriting. But someone, presumably in the Royal Mail sorting office in Southampton where the card was franked on February 8, decided that my card was intended for Thailand, rather than Finland.

Though I am rather jealous that the card had a rather more exotic journey than I did in February, I would not want to be the postal worker now facing the wrath of my Mrs!