Emotional last CHAFF Meeting at Pailin

I have been given a few tickets by the City of Oulu (in celebration of Oulu days) for an English Language Guided Tour of Oulu, on this Saturday 1st September (tour starts at 10:00 hours) and Sunday 2nd September (tour starts at 14:00 hours).

The Saturday tickets cost € 5, while the Sunday tickets are FREE.

Saturday 1st September starting at 10.00 am OULU RIVER SIGHTSEEING TOUR
Departure: City Hall (Kirkkokatu 2)
A bus tour along the Oulu River. The first stop will be at Jurvakainen Art Gallery in Muhos where there will be a presentation about the current exhibition. Coffee will be served. On the way back, there will be a brief stop at the Markkuu Allotment Garden.
Duration: 4 hours. Tickets 5€.

Sunday 2nd September starting at 2.00 pm A GUIDED SIGHTSEEING TOUR IN OULU
Departure: City Hall, Kirkkokatu 2
This English-language tour takes you to the river, seaside, marshlands and woods. You will visit the old and new monumental centres of Oulu, the sites of culture and technology. During the tour you will hear stories about tar merchants, ship builders, sea farers and salmon fishers during the history of Oulu.
Duration 2 hours.

Please contact me as soon as possible to reserve your seats - first come, first serve.


June, Pupe and Pailin, with the Oulu Fat Policeman.

This Saturday, which is the celebration of the 20th birthday of the Fat Policeman in the Oulu market Place, coincides with the Thai Festival also in Oulu Market Place. There will be traditional Thai dances, Thai Music and several other events of Thai Culture organised by the Northern Finland Thai Association. The Thai Ambassador from Helsinki, the Thai Tourism Board representative from Stockholm and the Thai Monk from Helsinki will also be taking part

Last Sunday was the last CHAFF Meeting to be held at the Pailin Restaurant. It was a most memorable and emotional event.

Attendance: Zhang (Tingting) Xiting (China), Asha Matthan-Rogers (England), Tero Raiskio (Finland), Oskari Keränen (Finland), Pentti Paakki (Finland), Matti Moisa (Finland), Ari Ronkainen (Finland),Ilari Sohlo (Finland), Johanna Koivunen (Finland), Ildikó Hämós (Hungary), Robbie (Ireland), Jacob Matthan (India), Isaac Sundarajan (India / USA), Festo Badi (Sudan), Pornpailin Weber (Thailand), Unnop Khungrai (Thailand), Rachaya Ronkainen (Thailand), June Koskela (Thailand), Hilmi Oral (Turkey), Kamutaza Tembo (Zambia).

Apologies from: Barbel Fink (Austria), Bill Zhang (China), Sisko Paakki (Finland), Yrjö Mikkonen (Finland), Anna-Liisa Hirvenoja (Finland), Gisela Tauriainen (Germany), Kanchan Gupta (India), Kiran Kumar (India), Prasadh (India), Shahnaz Mikkonen (Iran), Gina Forsman (Philipines).

I had to rush home to drop off grandaughter Asha and to say goodbye to our daughter, Susanna, and her family, as they were driving down to Tampere to fly on to their home in England. When I got there, Annikki pointed out some sad info from the Sunday Kaleva, that one of CHAFF's most loved participants had lost his 94 year old father.

When I got back to the CHAFF Meeting I found Pentti Paakki at the meeting and I shared the news the loss of his father with all our CHAFF friends.


Ilari and Ildikó.


Rachaya and Ari.

I also welcomed several newly weds to the meeting - Ildiko and Ilari were back from their honeymoon which had taken them to Central America (Costa Rica, etc.), Johanna and Robbie were back from their short local honeymoon, Rachaya and Ari were still celebrating their wedding of last week, and I was also able to announce that Kamu had married Naomi in Zambia earlier this year and they were back in Oulu.


Pentti and Sisko Paakki.

Pentti gave a very emotional talk (translated to English by Matti) about his father and was very sad that he was leaving Oulu to settle in Sipoo in South Finland. I spoke to his wife Sisko, who has already moved to their new home. Pentti talked at length about how many new friends he had made since he met me by chance about 5 years ago in the Oulu Market Hall. We all will miss both Pentti and Sisko, but the retirement of Sisko from her job at the Haukipudas Health Centre, the passing away of Pentti's father and the fact that most of their children and grandchildren live in south Finland has prompted this move.

I did explain the reasons that I would not be able to run the Sunday afternoon meetings as home pressures had built up in the care of my mother-in-law. The general opinion at the meeting was that CHAFF should be continued and Ildikó has expressed that she will look into how and when the meetings can be revived to suit the tastes of the large number of participants who use this forum to do something with their lives in Oulu.

I will continue to update this CHAFF Blog whenever there are events of note which interest us foreigners resident in Oulu. There will be CHAFF Stand at the event on 8th September to welcome new students to the University of Oulu. Look out for details which will appear here in the next few days.

However, all my other blogs will be active so you can remain tuned to our lives through them.

So it is Au Revoir from Annikki and Jacob!

Flea market and meeting on 8th July

Last week was a quiet meeting but we had a couple of visitors from India.







I saw Ilari and Ildi off at the station in Oulu last Sunday night. They were on their way to their wedding in Hungary.



Ilari's mom and dad were there to send them on their way.



Ildiko and Ilari were married yesterday (Friday) in Budapest. The wedding was well attended, but unfortunately, Annikki and I could not go due to circumstances beyond our control.

Many CHAFF Participants were present - Kerstin, Andreana, Benjamin, Gisela, Barbel, Mona.

Barbel organised a small gift from CHAFF Participants and other friends of Ildi and Ilari where some of us wrote a page each about a Recipe for a Happy Wedded Life, which Barbel is putting together as a small book.

I am sure each and every one of you at CHAFF wish them a wonderful life of wedded bliss.

The National Bahá'í Summer School had well over 200 participants. I had a chance to meet the key speaker, Mr. Ian Semple (Great Britain - "Mankind at the threshold of maturity".

He is such an illuminating personality and is one of the cornerstones of the Bahá'í Movement. He told me he had visited Finland once before, way back in 1961.

The entire summer school was beautifully and most professionally organised. Kudos to the organisers.

I met several participants at the Oulu Walking Street Rotuari International Music Festival on last Monday afternoon where several CHAFF Participants performed and were greatly appreciated.

The Pohjois-Suomen Thai Seura ry, (the Thai Association for Northern Finland) has been officially founded. Annikki and I are their first 10 year (Life) members. A large number of members have joined already (one year membership costs only € 10). They are organising Thai Language Classes, Thai Fruit and Vegetable Carving Classes, Thai Dance Classes, Thai Cooking Classes and English Classes for Thais.

They are organising a Thai Cultural event as part of Oulu days on 1st September at the Oulu Market Place. The Thai Consul and the Thai Monk from the Buddhist Temple in Helsinki will attend. The Thai Tourism Board representatives from Stockholm will also be present.

The Association has been designing their web pages and they are really great as Secretary Rachaya is a competent web page designer. The web pages are in Thai, Finnish and English.

The Sunday Flea Market outside the Pailin Restaurant, Kenttätie 9, this week will have great stuff, as an almost new sofa set at a throw-away price. The Open Air Summer Flea Market will be between 12 noon and 16:00 hours. Bring your friends along, and if you have stuff to sell, please feel free to do so as there is no table charge!

The CHAFF Meeting will take place on Sunday as usual between 14:00 and 16:00 hours at the same location.

Most people are away for summer, so we will be just a few of us, but you are welcome.

News you can use

The last CHAFF meeting on Sunday was rather crowded.

We had Dilip and Reshu Joshi drop in to say goodbye as they are returning to India. They paid great compliments to CHAFF for having made their last weeks here meaningful. They are really looking forward to coming back to Finland and especially Oulu.

Ashesh Kumar, the CEO of the GMP facility in Medipolis returned from India and attended. Mika, our Thai food connoisseur was there before he pushed off for his afternoon round of golf. Kevin from China came along with Anoop Sharma from Nepal and another Nepalese student.

Jude, a Sri Lankan, who has a reputation in Oulu for going out of his way to help people made his first attendance at the meeting. Another new attendee was Oulu long timer Barbel Fink. Olga Soranova, our linguist from Russia, who speaks Russian, Finnish, English, Polish, Spanish and Norwegian brought along a Visiting Professor from Russia who speaks a Finno-Ugric language. We also welcomed Rachaya from Thailand and her husband Ari Ronkainen, who have just recently moved from Helsinki to Oulu. Ari is an expert on cars and a really wonderful personality. Rachaya is a dynamo for activity and has helped to get the new Pohjois-Suomen Thai Seura Association off the ground as they held their first meeting to found this organisation right after the CHAFF Meeting.

June and her daughter Pupe, Ann and her husband Petri and children, Eero and his wife, Nitaya, were also on hand for both meetings. Of course our host and hostess, Unnop and Pailin, were very busy and involved with everything, including serving up some delicious food.

The Flea Market had its share of happy visitors and I was the lucky seller of quite few bargains! The Sunday Flea Market this week will be between 12 noon and 1600 hours. The CHAFF Meeting will be again between 14:00 hours and 16:00 hours, so drop in if you can, and meet a broad spectrum of really lovely people.

Yrjö Mikkonen has informed me that the National Bahá'í Summer School (in English) at Kaakkurin koulu, Pesätie 15, will be held between 29 June to 5 July 2007. Anyone is free to attend and the accommodation (if one wants to stay) and refreshments and food are at very reasonable prices. The discussion theme of the week is "Mankind at the threshold of maturity." Guest speaker, Mr. Ian Semple (Great Britain), former member (1963-2005) of the Universal House of Justice, the Supreme Administrative Body of the Bahá'í Faith. You can see the whole programme on this web page.

There is also another theme for the week where John Jason, a teacher of English from Joensuu presents his topic "Covenant". Although the topic sound dry, it is interesting - if one is interested how vast this subject is. John can make "dry" issues really interesting. It deals with the question of succession of religions, protection of religion, bond with God and man etc.

There is a Special Program with the visit of Naantali Theatre to perform "Mona." This is a drama basing of factual happenings in Shiraz after the Islamic Revolution. Khomeini rises to power in 1979. The organized qaders of Shiah Muslims start the waves of religious terrorism. Their objective is to eradicate all religious dissidents in the country by all usable methods. The biggest religious minority, the Bahá'ís, becomes the specific target of deliberately brutal and cruel persecution...Mona is the story of the fate of her family during the turbulent years of the 1980ies in Iran. The play will be performed on Sat. 30 June at 7.30 pm. Tickets: 10 €/adults; 6 €/students, school children and youth between 7-16 years.

Have a great week.

Blooming Midsummer Rose

(Cross posted on my Jacob's Blog.)

We have something in our garden that is called the Midsummer Rose, which starts to bloom on Midsummer Day, plus or minus a couple of days. Midsummer Day, as usual, the 21st of June, was last Thursday.



I was watching the rose bushed very carefully and although there were several buds just ready to open, there were NO blooms visible.

Today, Saturday the 23rd is when we are celebrating Midsummer Day. It is the fashion in Finland to celebrate it over the closest weekend after the 21st of June.

I went around the garden in the morning and did not see any rose in bloom.

Later in the afternoon, Annikki and I were lazing in the garden arguing about the amount of Vitamin D were were each generating while exposing ourselves to the sun, when I told her that I had not yet seen a Midsummer Rose.





She excitedly took me to the bottom of the garden, where, hidden by a lot of rose bush leaves was a solitary rose in full bloom. Nature had not failed - it was just my lack of trust in nature!

The fusion festival at Vaala was an event planned for today.

Vaala is located about 90 km from Oulu driving south east. It is at the top of the Oulu järvi (Lake) and is a very small town.





One of our regular CHAFF Participants, a Finn, Jarmo Suomela, and his friend from Thailand, Siam, have bought a restaurant, Ravintola Janoinen Hauki, in Vaala town centre. It serves pizzas, fast foods, Thai food and Finnish food, and is also a popular bar and Karaoke Centre in the evenings.

When Jarmo suggested he organise a Midsummer Market for Midsummer Day, the Thai Community in Oulu responded positively.

They went there to set up a morning of Thai culture and selling some great art work, Thai food, clothes from Thailand, trinkets from Thailand, and to perform a whole set of Thai cultural programmes of song and dance.

As it is just an hour from Oulu, I decided to pay a quick visit just to show our support for Jarmo's venture.





I arrived at 10 am and the crowd was just starting to arrive.

I had a cup of tea on the house, bought and ate three spring rolls and had a plate of delicious Salmon Soup, the most traditional of Finnish Midsummer offerings. I watched the two little girls, Kwan (7) and Pupe (14) do a great Thai dance.

Just as the Thai ladies were preparing to do their number, I had to leave as I had to get back to Oulu to help Annikki get her mother out of bed for the daily routine.

I can certainly recommend this restaurant in Vaala.

I heard later that the festival was a success. Maybe this will become a traditional event in Vaala in the years ahead.

Can anyone give me an authorative account on how the human body accepts Vitamin D, especially the difference between darkies, like me, and light skinned people, as Annikki.

May resolve a major health discussion conflict! :-)

Summer Flea Market continues

The last two weeks saw the establishment of the Flea Market alongside the CHAFF get-togethers. The interest is growing as more and more people are turning up with stuff to sell.

Household items - dirt cheap!

Last week saw a 13 year old youngster selling off his entire Lego collection - 6.5 kg of it. The offer came from overseas! It was sold for € 40!


6.5 kg of Lego looks like this!


After disposing his Lego collection, Sodium was
thrilled to get a basketball - brand new, for Euro 1!

This week the Flea market will be between 12 noon and 17:00 hours on Sunday at Kenttätie 9, Kasarmi Area, outside the Pailin Restaurant. Those who want to sell can make their own table presentation. There is no table charge or commission for using the Flea Market. It is a great service provided by the Pailin Restaurant.

This week's CHAFF Meeting will be as usual between 14:00 hours and 16:00 hours at the same venue as above.

Dangerous situation of VIOLATION

(Cross-posted on all my MAJOR BLOGS.)

A few weeks ago, I received an email from my good young friend, Soda, that he had TAGGED me and the email had a line implying that if I did not join this TAGGED network, my friendship with him would be in question!

Is Soda your friend?

Please respond or Soda may think you said no :(

When I get emails which border on being emotional blackmailed, I usually investigate a little deeper. When I went through the process of joining the TAGGED network, and it came to a particular stage, whoosh, I closed the link.

The process of registration was asking me to reveal, to TAGGED, my email password.

This is a sure recipe for your entire security on the Internet and your personal computer to be fully compromised. Once you part with your password to such an organisation, the robot can enter your personal email INBOX, your ARCHIVES, your ADDRESS BOOK and data mine all your sensitive information, which could even be your credit card details.

I sent a reply to SODA:

Hi Soda,

Tagged is asking for my Password when filling in details - which I cannot give. Be careful about this site!

Jacob

I few days later I had a similar request from a Cathedralite friend.

I replied him this:

Dear Adil,

Tagged is asking for passwords.

Quite dangerous.

Use LinkedIn, much better. Do you want to be in that Contact Manager?

Regards

Jacob

To which he replied:

I merely answered one tag message, filled a form in and I now see that this thing has gone to my entire address book ! Quite horrified. Any idea how I can undue this Tag business? Sorry, I truly didnt mean to Tag everyone, except the guy who tagged me! Help !!

Adil

He was in panic and I replied to him:

That was why they asked for your email address AND Password.

Dangerous situation.

Don't know how you get out of it except by directly communicating with them.

Stay away from anything that asks for YOUR password to register - you are in for some tough times!

Regards

Jacob

Since then I have had similar request from many friends who had compromised their system. Then came this from the Cathedralite daughter of another Cathedralite friend:

Hi,

Thanks for this mail - its really weird as I didnt tag anyone. Will check my system for a virus.

Thanks for letting me know,

Kind regards,

Dimple

Remember, this is not a virus, but a violation of your secrecy which you permitted by giving your password when you were emotionally blackmailed. Take action NOW before you are compromised on some other front.

My suggestion is that you bombard them with questions and demand restitution for compromising your email secrecy!

These are the CONTACT details for TAGGED:

CONTACT

Email support@tagged.com with site related questions or complications.

Company Information: info@tagged.com
Business Partnerships: business@tagged.com
All Other Inquiries: inquiry@tagged.com

web Address: http://corp.tagged.com/

Tagged Inc
P.O. Box 193152
San Francisco, CA 94119-3152

Do not violate Rule 1 of the Internet- never give YOUR PASSWORD to ANYONE!

Be warned or die

(Cross-posted on all my major blogs.)

One of my alumni friends sent me this post which I think is very important.


Coke cans stacked in a warehouse.
Not all warehouses are so clean and tidy!

Leptospirosis -- VERY IMPORTANT PLEASE READ

This incident happened recently in North Texas.

A woman went boating one Sunday, taking with her some cans of coke which she put into the refrigerator of the boat. On Monday she was taken to the hospital and placed in the Intensive Care Unit. She died on Wednesday.

The autopsy concluded she died of Leptospirosis. This was traced to the can of coke she drank from, not using a glass. Tests showed that the can was infected by dried rat urine and hence the disease Leptospirosis.

Rat urine contains toxic and dangerous substances. It is highly recommended to thoroughly wash the upper part of Soda cans before drinking out of them. The cans are typically stocked in warehouses and transported straight to the shops without being cleaned.

A study at NYCU showed that the tops of soda cans are more contaminated than public toilets (i.e).. full of germs and bacteria. So wash them with water before putting them to the mouth to avoid any kind of fatal accident.

Same goes for the envelopes, do not lick it.

I do not know how many times I have drunk directly from cans. I have been lucky but may not be next time.

In an article which appeared in an English online paper Milton Keynes Citizen dated 22nd May 2007Rat infestations on the increase this was stated:

Among the 70 diseases that rats are known to carry are cholera, typhus, bubonic plague and leptospirosis, a bacterial illness spread by their urine contaminating water or food.

Leptospirosis is also known to infect anglers who can come in contact with rats' urine when fishing on the riverbank.

Council environmental health officer Simon Teesdale warned that bird feeding is one of the top causes for attracting rats to residential properties.

I am not an angler, so I need not worry about that. Annikki is planning on feeding the beautiful birds that visit our garden. We will now follow rules that will endure that no rats come to eat at the same bird house.



My thanks to my good friend 55er Bunny Rao of the Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai, for sending me this message. He may have saved many a life, including mine, with this one.

Part 2: Why do I do the things I do?

(Cross-posted on all my major blogs.)

The reaction to the first part of this blog title was so overwhelming that I thought I would share another of my very simplistic theories with you.

This blog entry covers the subject of physical and mental endurance.


Beautiful Rauma.

Two scooters belonging to my friends had to be delivered to Rauma, a lovely small town in south Finland. In the normal course I would have just booked them in a truck service and sent them on.

Not having done a long distance drive since 2003, when I drove 1300 km to Helsinki and back the same day, I wondered whether I could repeat part of this by driving to Rauma and back the same day - a total distance of 1100 km up and down.

When I told Annikki my plan, she said I was crazy. She tried to talk me out of this foolhardy mission. But my mental make-up was such that I knew I had to do this trip.



I loaded the scooters onto the trailer. Just as I was tying them down as firmly as I could, my Zambian friend, Kamutaza Tembo, turned up. He did the job of tying both the scooters down as tight as he could.

It looked as if we had done a good job.

Friday was a busy day. We had been invited to dinner by Indu and Asheesh, an Indian couple newly settled in Oulu. Their 4-year old son, Karthik, is a real whiz kid. I get on famously with him.

Indu and Asheesh decided we would dine at the Indian Cuisine, the new Indian Restaurant in Oulu. The owner, Michelle, was there to look after us. She produced an absolutely great meal. For the first time in the last 10 years we had tandoori chicken which tasted as much as tandoori chicken from Moti Mahal on Chandini Chowk in New Delhi.

After this meal, eaten slowly and enjoyed till the last mouthful, Indu and Asheesh suggested we visit their new home. Indu has done a wonderful job with this flat, bright and airy and really home-like. We chatted and finished with ice cream. I had to drag Annikki away, as I planned to leave at sunrise, about 3:30 am.

When we got home, I go a shock.

Annikki said she would also accompany me on this long journey! Although grateful to have her company, I was wondering how she would last this journey, as I had no intention of stopping halfway!

She has not done such an arduous journey in the last 15 years.

I had a shower and hit the sack. I was tired when I went to bed, but I was up, fresh as a daisy, at 3:30 am. As it was raining I decided to wait till it got a bit brighter. I let Annikki sleep while I got all the paperwork for the trip ready. Just as I was going to fill the petrol at 4 am, I told her that she should be ready in about half an hour.

As soon as I hit the first bump on the road, I realised that the scooters would give me trouble en route. After filling the petrol, I thought of a great idea and put the spare tyre between the two scooters, wedging it in tight. I then re-tightened all the ropes. When I tested it driving home, I was sure that for the most part there would be no damage en route.

I was home by 4:30 and we were able to get on the road by 4:45.

We took a route which is non-traditional. Although driving slowly because of the load in the trailer, we made good time. We stopped at a petrol station for a cup of tea. I stopped another 3 times to ensure the ropes were tightened. By 12 noon we were in Rauma.

After unloading the scooters, we dropped in to see our friends, Padma and Mika. It was Mika's birthday so we had a piece of cake and some great Indian tea. We had to refuse the meal that Padma had cooked for us as Annikki and I had eaten crisps all the journey down to Rauma.



Kannan is moving to a new flat at the end of the month. We went to see his nice new apartment. Then we drove to a lovely restaurant, HR-Kala in Olkiluoto, which specialises in Fish.

The lunch, two pieces of beautifully smoked salmon, a large fish cutlet and sliced gravey salmon served with freshly cut vegetables was superb.



HR stands for the name of the fisherman, Hannu. He has two boats, a 5 metre and a 10 metre one. He fishes in the waters of Olkiluoto and sells his fish at the Rauma market. He and his wife run this great fish restaurant.





We had this delicious early dinner. By 4 pm we set on our way back, Kannan taking the trouble to put us on the highweay.

We took another route, the main road between Rauma and Oulu, but we discovered it was a ghastly mistake.

This route is lined with camera speed checkers. I am not averse to camera speed checkers, but in the Swedish-speaking section in Finland, the Police have deliberately placed the cameras in a way to catch offenders by creating them.

The cameras are set up in one speed zone (say 100 kmph). Then, all of a sudden, one hits a speed limit change sign (say to 80 kmph) and even before one has the chance to reduce one's speed to the new speed, less than 50 metres away, they have placed the camera.

In other parts of Finland the cameras are at least 200 metres after a speed change sign.

Keeping the cameras so close to the speed change sign, has one hitting the brakes, causing the cars behind you to focus on why you are braking, and then they too realise they are being forced to brake to reduce the speed dramatically to avoid being caught for speeding.

This is catastrophic and causes a great deal of mental anguish while driving.

The whole object of this exercise is to trick drivers into a mistake and then they get caught for speeding.

It was close to 11:30 at night that we were on the last stretch home. I had been driving well within the speed limit, but as the last 5 minutes were ahead of us and we were on a motorway, I told Annikki we would be home in 5 minutes and I speeded up.

Just as we were pulling of the highway I saw the Police car behind me. I pulled up, knowing my mistake instantly.

With a trailer one is limited top a speed of 80 kmph. I had been at 110 kmph. I knew I was going to be fined. The Policemen were courteous and sympathetic, but I got my dose of the correct medicine!

Because if this slight deviation from the routine we got home just before midnight.

The entire day for me was from 3:30 am till midnight: 20+ hours approximately, in which I had driven 1155 km. The real pick-me-ups on the way had been three extra strong cups of tea, two lie-downs of about 5 minutes each to rest the eyes and limbs, and a couple of stops to fill petrol and stretch my legs.

After a quick sauna, I hit the sack at a quarter past midnight and I was asleep in less than a minute. I slept like a lamb till 9 am, five hours longer than normal, but on waking up I felt on top of the world.

The moral of this story is quite simple.

Test your endurance capacity regularly as you grow older. It is important that you know where your body stands. Any weak links will be shown up immediately when stressed to the limit. Then, you can work to correct the problems.

My weak link is that when driving for a long spell, I get an ache at the knees. Stopping and walking around for a couple of minutes eases this ache completely for the next couple of hours.

I must find out the reason for this. That was the only problem I had during this 1155 km 20 hour drive day. Mental agility and reactions were as perfect as when I used to drive like this in my younger days.

Annikki also lasted through this trip without any problems. We mid-60ers can claim to be in a reasonably sound condition as our bodies have spoken!

Censorship in Oulu by 65 Degrees North?

(Cross-posted on my Jacob'sBlog.)

I was approached by a teacher (Mr. Eric Mwai from Kenya) from the Oulu International School with a strange request.

Eric had written an article about the inauguration of 3 schools in Oulu who will cater to "the English speaking, Anglophile Finns and Foreigners community in Oulu", under the broad label of "International".

Eric submitted it to the Oulu City run online web site, 65 Degrees North. (You can read here our coverage of the event on the web.)

65 Degrees North published "his submission". To his horror, Eric found that the version printed had little resemblance to what he had submitted.

Eric wrote to the Editor asking him/her that the edited version should be removed from the web site. It was removed.

Eric found he had not saved a copy of the 65 Degrees North edited version. He asked me if there was any way I could find him a copy.

Snapshot from the Internet of the "edited version"
of the article submitted by Eric Mwai.

Although I am a complete computer idiot, there a couple of things that I do know. "Hey Presto" - within a minute I had sent him the text of the "edited version"! (See above for a screen image from the internet of the page! Click on the picture to see a larger image.)

When I read through the two versions, I was astounded with the liberties the Editor of 65 Degrees North had taken with Eric's submission.

Either the Editor has a personal agenda in running 65 Degrees North or the Editor feels all powerful in rewriting articles by authors based on his/her interpretation of events!

In order for you to judge the situation, I am including the two versions below, the one in BOLD ITALICS, being the Editor's version of Eric's article which is interspersed with Eric's original submission. [Spelling mistakes and punctuation errors in the 65 Degrees North version (a sign of bead editing) have been corrected by me!]

Oulu International School Celebrates New Finnish Links
Written by Erik Mwai
Monday, 21 May 2007

Oulu International School, Oulun Lyseo Upper Secondary School IB Diploma programme and Leinonpuisto school have started their co-existence in the newly built and renovated campus at Kasarmintie 4 in Myllytulli suburb.

Oulu International School, Oulun Lyseo IB and Leinnonpuisto schools have begun a co-operation initiative and celebrated in an inauguration ceremony this week attended by a senior Finnish politician.

The three schools held their inauguration ceremony in colourful celebration on 4th May 2007 officiated by the former minister of defence, former UN Special envoy for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Croatia and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and presidential candidate in 1994 and 2000 Ms Elizabeth Rehn. The choice of Ms. Rehn as the guest of honour can be explained through her extensive experience in international affairs and her minority status as a Swedish speaker in Finland. What cannot be easily explained was the chosen theme of Finnish Kalevala epic for the ceremony.

The newly co-operating schools are now housed in a renovated campus at Kasarmintie 4 in the Oulu suburb of Myllytulli. The opening ceremony was attended by Elizabeth Rehn, the former Finnish Defence Minister who came second in the 1994 Presidential Election, standing for the Swedish People's Party. 'The choice of Elisabth Rehn as the guest of honour can be explained through her extensive experience in international affairs and her minority status as a Swedish speaker in Finland,' claimed one of the teachers.

Kalevala epic poems are very national in many ways. They have been used through generations to unite and inspire Finnish nationalism and identity. The epic poems role in Finnish national identity in magical, like sampo! So then, why would Oulu International school staff members agree to this very Finnish theme? Is it not alienating the non-Finns or is it "doing as Romans do while in Rome?"

The theme of the opening ceremony was the Finnish Kalevala. 'Kalevala epic poems are very national in many ways. They have been used through generations to unite and inspire Finnish nationalism and identity,'said one of the teachers. He admitted it might seem 'alienating' to 'Non-Finns' but apparently there was a good reason for the choice.

'Though Kalevala is a Finnish; creation myths and epics are similar around the world,' Also, 'those who choose to leave their countries accept that they become representatives of their country of origin and students of the ways of the country that hosts them. Therefore, knowing Kalevala epic poems would do no harm to international students!'

These are important questions for Oulu International School, Oulu City and Finland in general. Oulu City Innovation strategy 2007-2013 includes an internationalism and aims and attracting non-Finns to come and do business in Oulu. In order to attract the international investors and experts, structures like an International school are necessary. Internationalism is vital for Oulu as a city and the school plays an important role in making it possible. On the national level, discussions are held every now and then on how foreigners are received in Finland, how they adapt if they do and what roles are they expected to adopt.

According to a school press release, the co-operating schools have a vital role to play in Oulu City Council's strategy of attracting more international people. However, the school emphasised that 'Oulu International School wishes to be part of the community and not an isolated school for foreigners. Cooperating with other schools like Lyseo Lukio, Leinnonpuisto, pre-schools, Myllytulli Comprehensive School and other institutions makes it possible to be, and feel like part on the community.'

There are three ways foreigners can live in country that they were not born in. One, assimilate and try to act and behave like their hosts as much as possible, two, integrate meaning that they maintain their cultural practices but try to co-operate and interact with the hosts as smoothly as possible and three, isolate themselves as much as possible from the locals. These three methods are not entirely dependent on the foreigners but they can be triggered, supported or encouraged by the hosts however, in most cases most of the responsibility lies on the individual.

So then, was the Kalevala theme aimed at assimilating or isolating the international students? Definitely not! Though Kalevala is Finnish, creation myths and epics are similar around the world. The students made the point throughout their presentations. Secondly, those who choose to leave their countries accept that they become representatives of their country of origins and learners of the ways of the country that hosts them. Therefore, knowing Kalevala epic poems would do no harm to international students. On the contrary, they can compare it with epics from other countries of their interest.

Oulu International School wishes to be part of the community and not an isolated school for foreigners. Cooperating with other schools like Oulun Lyseo Upper Secondary, Leinonpuisto, pre-schools, Myllytulli comprehensive School and other institutions makes it possible to be, and feel like part on the community. The school should be one of the venues and avenues that foreigners and other minorities meet the Finns and begin to build bridges. If someone watching the students presentations asks what is Kalevala, that makes a good start.

According to the school, the new co-operation can allow foreigners and other minorities meet the Finns and begin to build bridges.'One of the teachers felt that the Kalevala themed ceremony might seem strange but knowing about the Finnish epic would certainly be a good way for foreigners to come together with Finns.

Ask yourself:

1. Is there any relation between the article authored by Eric Mwai and the one put up (and subsequently removed) on the web site 65 Degreees North by the Editor of this site?


2. What was the purpose behind this mutilation?

65 Degrees North has no space restriction, so that could not be the "Motive"!

If 65 Degrees North intends to run its Editorial Policy based on what is the "Hidden Agenda of the City of Oulu" mainly "Positive Image Creation" or of the Editor of the Web Site, it would be better that the journal does not ask independent-minded authors to write for it!


©Photographer: Eijas Sallinen/Kaleva

As you know, Annikki and I stand for "Free Speech" and are willing to stand up in Public and shout for it.

Maybe the Editor of 65 Degrees North can answer us about this "censorship policy" being adopted by the City of Oulu Web Journal run with "tax-payers (read as Eric's, Annikki's and my) money"!

We will certainly publish any reply (most probably SILENCE) - UNEDITED!

A genuine "Finnish" misunderstanding by me

(Cross-posted on my major blogs.

When I was told by Ville Suomi that we would have two visitors from the Palam Rural Centre in India, I believed that they were from New Delhi, assuming Palam to be related to the Palam Airport.



However, when I went to the chappal making demo on Tuesday noon, I saw a humble "moochi" sitting on the floor making a sandal using his traditional skills.

Daniel Jesudasan, and his boss Benjamin Sundarkumar, are from Tirupur in Tamilnadu.

The real name of the organisation should be Paalam. Paalam mean "bridge" in both Tamil and Malayalam.

Tirupur is the major textile centre of India producing undergarments and t-Shirts by the millions and these can be found in even the most exclusive of shops around the world.

Daniel is a humble cobbler, having learnt the profession from his uncle over 30 years ago. In the period since, he estimated that he has made over 50000 sandals plus a variety of different products as leather bags, key ring holders, and many other leather products. His wife and his children have also been part of his professional activity.


Range of fragrant soaps "literally" lovingly hand-packaged in beautiful hand-made paper cartons from the Paalam Rural Centre.

Benjamin Sundarkumar is the Secretary of the Paalam Rural Centre, which is a cooperative of around 130 families, who are working to create an honest and good life for themselves and their children. They are producing leather products and also about 30 different fragrant soaps at their facility. They now intend to diversify into liquid soaps and shampoos.

Over the last 30 years the cooperative, started by a Swedish pastor, has taken legs of its own and has become part of the Fair Trade worldwide programme. (After Oulu, Daniel and Benjamin were on their way to Sweden so see this 80 year old pastor, now living in retirement in Stockholm.)


Kati Hjerp of Juuttiputiikki introduces the visitors from India.

In an evening programme at the WALDA Youth Centre, Benjamin said that the prices they received from the Fair Trade programme was certainly "fair" and had helped the cooperative to develop itself. The small profit had been wisely invested in improving the livelihood of the families that form the cooperative.

Impressive was the Primary School which was equipped with computers and which they hope, with further improvement in profits and help from a few friends, that they can develop into a High School.


Daniel and Benjamin at the Tropical Botanical Greenhouse.

On Thursday, I took the two of them for a tour of the city of Oulu, showing them the Oulu University Central Hospital, the Medipolis area, the Technopolis area, the University of Oulu including the fascinating Botanical Gardens and the Zoological Museum, and then a trip to the Oulu Nallikari Beach including a visit to our friends at the Children's Park.


The first ground bloom flowers in Kampitie.


View of the Kampitie garden.


View of the Kampitie garden.


View of the Kampitie garden.


Annikki's new experiment this year - peat bricks as a border.

After this I took them home to meet Annikki and view the Kampitie garden, which today is a splendour bathed in much colour.

We had a delicious Indian meal at the Indian Cuisine Restaurant. Then, I dropped them off at Juuttiputiikki, where Daniel was once again going to demonstrate his artisan skills to a much larger audience than on Tuesday.

During our conversations, many serious thoughts struck me.

Firstly, with the children of the now cooperative members being educated presently in modern facilities, it is most likely that the artisan skills of Daniel and his friends will not be passed on to the next generation to follow. It is, therefore, imperative to develop their cooperative in a manner that does not drive these educated children away from their roots and homes as they are forced to seek employment in the metropolitan cities.

Secondly, I felt that as water is a scarce resource in Tirupur, when making their liquid soaps for export, it would be far wiser for them to export the liquid soapconcentrates, and market these concentrates in the Fair Trade outlets, just as Juuttiputiikki is doing of products from many other producers of liquid soaps and shampoos.

Thirdly, the cooperative should cooperate with Universities and other organisations to ensure that the water scarcity which plagues their region is solved using modern scientific methods. Otherwise the entire region, which today depends on fast depleting groundwater, will be led to total ruination!

And finally, the manufacturing facilities are truly primitive, but yet they produce a great range of products suitable for the elite of the western world. Here, I am caught in a dilemma as to what to say. If I say that the facilities should be modernised, it will take away the glamour of the humble way of life of these people. But if they do not modernise, their competivity will be lost and they could grind to a halt in the not too distant future.

The primitivity is what impresses me, YET depresses me. To think that India, with its explosion on the world economy, still has such manufacturing primitivity is extremely hard for me to accept.

Having spent many years with Annikki in villages around Karnataka - I know this is a reality. Maybe someone will help me clarify my thinking!

Why do I do the things I do?

(Cross-posted on all my major blogs.)

Recently there was a programme on an American internet radio station about how humans were less developed than animals. Examples cited included the fact that all the animals moved to higher ground before the tsunami struck. Several other examples were given and it reinforced my view that animals are infinitely superior in all respects to human beings as far as knowing themselves and their environment.

The programme also highlighted how much we have to learn from animals. For instance, when the super-fast train was being built in Japan, there was a sonic boom when the train emerged from a tunnel at the high speed. This was solved by watching how a kingfisher enters the water with its specially formed beak and it moves effortlessly from one medium into another! The front of the train was designed to be like the beak of a kingfisher.

I have been a strong believer in the philosophy that my body tells me exactly what I should eat or drink. As a result I have never been a pill popper AND I have not been seriously ill for many a decade. In my 23+ years in Finland I never missed a day at work.

People find it hard to believe my very simplistic theories. Usually, when I draw their attention to facts when they are published later, they forget that I had told them the reasons well before scientific evidence had proven something.

I must go back in time when I was a heavy smoker, consuming nothing less than 80 Charminars a day, drinking several bottles of beer and finishing the day with a bottle of rum. This was also a time when I drank about a dozen cups of coffee per day!

Even with this I had never been drunk. I lived and worked hard, usually a grueling 20 hour day.

I also had an unbelievable memory where I could recall facts instantly. My ability to scan a letter and pick out errors was uncanny. My secretaries were astounded by how I glanced down a sheet and faster than they came in they were out of my office with a pageful of corrections on the sheet.

Then, one day I walked into my office in Bangalore and could not find an important paper, I realised my memory was failing. My body immediately told me to lay off alcohol.

Within 24 hours I had given up not only alcohol, but also coffee and cigarettes, as the consumption of one to the other was interlinked.

People were astounded how I had such enormous will power - but it was not me doing the choosing, but my body.

It has taken close to 25 years to rebuild the small portion of my brain that was damaged. Although it was a small partr, it was quite a considerable portion.

My alma mater web sites and my blogging were part of a long term programme which helped me rebuild my damaged brain.

When I quit all the "harmful" parts of my intake, I went on to consuming water for several months. Then my body told me to take to tea.

From then onwards I have been consuming anywhere between 5 to 8 cups of tea per day. The effect on my entire body as well as my brain has been so invigorating. If I told anyone that my tea intake was being controlled by my "intuitive" need, I would be laughed out of the room.

Today, when I read this article on BBC Tea 'healthier' drink than water, I knew my body was the one which had been right all the while.

I quote a couple of passages from this article:

Drinking three or more cups of tea a day is as good for you as drinking plenty of water and may even have extra health benefits, say researchers.....

....Experts believe flavonoids are the key ingredient in tea that promote health.....

....These polyphenol antioxidants are found in many foods and plants, including tea leaves, and have been shown to help prevent cell damage....

...Other health benefits seen included protection against tooth plaque and potentially tooth decay, plus bone strengthening.....

Besides tea, I also consume about 5 to 7 litres of water per day, as my body demands that.

It is my contention that tea not only prevents cell damage, but it helps restore damaged cells, although that is a painfully slow process and needs much outside stimuli to repair the cells to its original form. Maybe this will be discovered in 10 years!

That is how my brain cells have been regenerated!

So I say, learn to listen to your body!

Mother of Mine

(Cross-posted on Jacob's Blog. Copyright of photographs is acknowledged.)

It has probably been over 10 years since Annikki and me have visited a cinema theatre to see a movie. Yesterday afternoon, we went to the STUDIO in the Youth Centre to see a Finnish / Swedish movie called "Mother of Mine".

During World War II, more than 70,000 Finnish children were evacuated to neutral Sweden to avoid the conflict. "Mother of Mine," is the award-winning movie by Director Klaus Haro.

The story tackles that painful history in the story of 9-year-old boy, Eero, a child who increasingly feels abandoned by his biological Finnish mother and yet not attached to his Swedish foster mother. When he returns to Finland, his confusion intensifies and it lasts through his entire adult life till he understands what really happened when he goes to attend the funeral of his foster mother.

The movie is heart rending. To someone like Annikki who lived through those times in Finland, it was particularly difficult to believe that this really happened, as she knows her mother would never have sent them anywhere!

The movie is in Swedish and Finnish, with English subtitles. There were several mistakes in the sub-titles, but that did not detract from the powerful impact of the movie itself. The acting was superb and the photography simply exquisite.


Eero help his Finnish mother.


Eero with Hjalmar, his Swedish foster father.


Eero with Signe, his Swedish foster mother.

Topi Majaniemi starred as Eero and gave an outstanding performance. Marjaana Maijala acted Eero's Mother with Maria Lundqvist as Signe, the Swedish foster mother who looked after Eero in Sweden. Michael Nyquist acted as Hjalmar, the Swedish foster father.

What was especially sad was that all 45 seats were reserved making the organisers cut off the number of people who could attend. More than half the people failed to turn up, depriving many of seeing this movie - which was for free!

All those from CHAFF who took tickets did turn up, however, although many more could have benefited from seeing this powerful movie!

No CHAFF Meeting this week on Sinday

We will not be having a regular CHAFF meeting this week as many CHAFF Participants are busy this Saturday as many NGOs (Amnesty, SINNI, Red Cross, Oulu Setlementti, etc.) showcase their work in the City Centre in something called "Mahdollisuuksien Tori 2007".

It starts at 11 am and will last all day.

(I am surprised that this programme page has been made available only in the Finnish language! Correct me if I am wrong.)

I will be attending the absolutely great Finnish Movie (with English sub-titles) that I had circulated info about in my last CHAFF up-date.

I think all the 45 seats have been distributed.

There are only three left with me, which will be given on a first come, first serve basis at the location on Saturday.

I will be at the STUDIO by 12.45 pm.

Maybe after the movie we can have a coffee/tea together!

A cold day, Thai spirit and warm feelings

Yesterday, the Oulu Thai Community, had their version of Mother's Day.

Many braved the cold weather to attend, but it was nowhere near the attendance there was last year on a clear sunny day.



The Buddhist Monk started the days proceedings early with communion with his flock. At noon visitors arrived to partake in a great Thai buffet as well as see the dancing and music as performed by Thai children, young boys and girls. Several CHAFF participants were present.






What is the importance of such celebrations. Some people frown at all this dancing and prancing, saying it is not meant for them.

It is my humble opinion that they are wrong and this sort of festival performs several important functions.





In a foreign country, the youngsters from oher countries tend to lose their links to their traditional customs and culture as they "integrate" with the host country. It is quite impossible for every parent to instill on their own the best cultural values to their children in isolation, as the pressures of the host society, which is everywhere, overshadow all else.

A festival such as this acts in different ways. The youngsters who come forward to perform, learn some of their culture from what they learn from their peers. Although they may not understand the meanings of the hand movements as they perform a dance, once they learn a movement, they later can understand its significance.

By learning the songs that they sing, they learn some of the traditional values contained in them, rather than those values that they find in the pop television from their parents country that they may watch.

Additionally, they learn about the foods that they can eat in their country and learn much of the rich traditions of this at such festivals.

And if they are lucky to have an artist displaying his/her work, then they get a bonus to see their culture in its true glory.

So do not prejudge a festival based on the superficial, but look a little deeper and see how much good was achieved by holding of such festivals.

We are lucky to have so many talented Thais in our midst, and especially those interested to instill some of the important values to their children.

Thank you dear Thai people for allowing us to take part in your festival yesterday.