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!