Olen Suomalainen?

There has been a video going around on the internet where a group of singers remake an old Finnish song called Olen Suomalainen (I am Finnish). It is a classic song known by pretty much everyone. No harm in that, right? Except the people in the video and the people singing the song are all Finnish citizens, but with roots all over the world. From Peru to India, Finnish citizens of differing colors, races and history are displayed. It is such a nice thought, much like the Coca Cola Super Bowl commercial America The Beautiful I commented on a few weeks back. In that post, my intention was not to bash out on Americans as, sadly, racisms is as evident in Finland as it is in the states. However, I now realise it is easier to point out the weakness of others than the weakness of oneself. It is not always easy to be proud of ones origin and descent.

You can have a look at the video below.

The sad part is, watching the video, as ever touching it was, I already knew what was waiting. Some people would love the concept for showing that Finland looks different today than 50 years ago. What was seen as Finnish half a century ago, may have changed. On the other hand, others would hate the video. When I read the comments about the Coca Cola commercial, I was filled with a rage and frustration so intense, I hardly got any sleep. This time, however, the story is quite different. I feel tired, exhausted even. I feel pity. I almost feel indifferent. Wow, that's when I realize something is wrong.

We must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men. - Boondock Saints

Edmund Burke said "all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing". So back to basics. The ever so brief feeling of indifference is trashed, thrown in the corner like an old rag.

I can honestly say I'm Finnish, no question about it. I was born in Finland, as were my parents and their parents before them and their parents before them. Proud to be I might add. Finland has had great publicity during the last year with headlines such as If you want the American dream, go to Finland or What Finland can teach America about education. Naturally, there is a down side to the story and not everything is wonderful in Finland, but I'd say it's a pretty great place to live (if you don't consider the 6 months of winter). Simple as that, I'm Finnish and proud of it. One comment to the video above was the following

Kuinka vaikea on ymmärtää, että kansallisuus ja kansalaisuus ovat eri asia? - Slumnigga

Translating into: How hard is it to understand that nationality and citizenship are two different things? I think about this for a while and realise I agree. I am going to use the Finnish definition of these words (based on legislation), as the English definition of citizenship and nationality may differ a little from country to country. Citizenship (kansalaisuus) means a member of a state with all the rights and duties it entails. For example, with a Finnish citizenship you have the right to work, vote and live in Finland. On the other hand, nationality (kansallisuus) refers to the national identity or ethnicity. So if I was to move to Germany, I might get a German citizenship but I would still be very much Finnish. This is quite clear and so I agree with Slumnigga.

When all is purple, there is no black or white. Holi festival in India. (photo by Callum Lynch)

Citizenship and nationality are two different things, fact, but does it mean that one rules out the other? I am a Swedish speaking Finn, however, I am also Finnish. My native language of Swedish does not make me any less Finnish. Can it be that people that move to Finland may actually identify themselves also as Finnish, even if perhaps not the same way that Slumnigga would like? Will immigrants not adopt some traditions? Will they not learn the language? Will they not identify with the people living here? Cultural diversity, is it really such a tragedy? Is our culture not strong enough to be able to take it if a few ethnically different individuals say that, they too, are Finnish?

The lyrics of the song also calls for controversy, as a guy called Kai so kindly points out. On täällä elämä raskasta työta, translating into "the life here is hard work" which obviously is funny as we all know NO immigrants do ANY work. The only thing they do is collect income support from social services. They (meaning these god damned immigrants) live like social bums, collecting tax money earned by hard working Finnish citizens. Bastards. They think they can just come here and do nothing? Get everything for free? Sure, some people do. That is the down side of a well-functioning social safety net. However, "some people" are not immigrants. They are as much Finns as they are other nationalities. Not only Somalians take advantage of the system, but also the earnest and honorable Finns do this.

My Indian friend Rathan. Bastard lives in Finland collecting all income support known to man.
OR then he is a smart guy that studied at a Finnish university, currently working on India related projects,
bringing Finland some of that much needed tax income.

It is very dangerous to identify a person through ethnicity. To put people in boxes depending on their skin color, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or any other number of so called ethnic traits. Statements such as "I hate Russians" or "all Asians look alike" will not make you sound very smart. As Tommy Lee Jones put it

Ethnic stereotypes are boring and stressful and sometimes criminal. It's just not a good way to think. It's non-thinking. It's stupid and destructive. - Tommy Lee Jones

You can't hate Russians. There are 140 million of them, you cannot tell me that you hate them all, can you? I must say, I despise some of the things that are happening in Russia, but still, if I would actually say that I hate Russians, it would mean that my world would be 140 million poorer on people that could be my friends. That's a pretty hard cutdown. Not to mention all the people I would have to unfriend on Facebook, good lord. I can also not say that all Asians look alike. You know why? Because they don't. They look as alike as do whites. I can't say I hate muslims, for it is not religion that defines people, or people that define religion. The actions of some cannot be pinned to a religion, religion alone does not make decisions. People do.

I hate Russians. Especially this Russian guy called Maxim.
While I'm at it, I might also just hate the Norwegians. Like this girl called Jeanette.
That would be why my shirt says I <3 U ;)

They say Finns are honest and hardworking people, but I will let you in on a secret. It's not true. Not all Finns are hardworking, not all Finns are honest. Not all Finns stab their wife and drink vodka all day long. Not all Finns love the sauna. Not all Finns can stand winter. Not all Finns lack rhythm. Not all Finns own a Nokia and love to go fishing at their summer cottage. Sure, some people do, but not everyone. Ethnic stereotypes are boring and stressful and sometimes criminal. Do you really want to let stereotypes determine what you think of someone? Are you really ready to let go of all that control?

I guess what I'm trying to say are these two very simple things

#1 Don't be indifferent.
Being indifferent to evil is just as bad as being evil. We need to care about the people around us, also the people we do not know and have no obligations too, because it is all of our obligation to care and to not be indifferent.

Below a video of Johannes who is caught out in the cold without a jacket. Would you help him?

And how about the next one based on a true story. Eila is old and sick, wondering around town aimlessly. She is found dead. Frozen to death. Would you help Eila?

Indifference makes all the difference. Don't act. React.

#2 Prejudice is so 1997
Who would you be if you were only the sum of stereotypes? If you don't wish to be defined solely by ethnic stereotypes or by what music you listen to, think about that the next time you see a turban and think terrorist.

He look crazy to you? Well, he's crazy enough to figure out black holes. Stephen Hawking

I have noticed that even people who claim everything is predetermined and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road. - Stephen Hawking

And a bonus one, just because I can

#3 Love the haters
Love beats hate every time. Smiling will get you further than shouting. So smile, god dammit, just smile!

#FuckCoke

There are some things that I just can't wrap my head around, or actually I guess there are a lot of things I can't wrap my head around, but some things are particularly challenging. One of these particularly challenging things is hate. Hate is unbelievably unnecessary and frankly quite boring. Life is so much more fun when you're laughing.

Super Bowl was a few days ago and yet again the world kept its breath as the biggest companies spent a few million on a 30 second ad. Coca Cola decided to make a statement with a new version of the anthem America The Beautiful. If you haven't yet seen the commercial, go ahead and take a look below.

I wouldn't do cart wheels over the commercial, but it's a decent one. Meanwhile, Coca Cola tweets, quote

The only thing more beautiful than this country are the people who live here

Nice thought, Coca Cola, I'll give you that. You may not be my favorite company in the world, well frankly, which multinational company is? But this commercial is nice. Might even make me go get a coke. Zero of course, I'm on a diet after all. Never ever in my mind could I have imagined the outrage this commercial could produce. Never ever in my mind could I have imagined the amount of hate it would awaken. A friend of mine shared this hideous article that made my eyes bleed and my heart stop. I know not even half of you will actually click the link, so I'll save you the trouble and shamelessly borrow some of the material in it. For example, Tristin here decided to offend about 20 % of the American population, if you believe CIA's statistics that 79.96 % of Americans are white. Minus of coarse the 1.7 % that is Jewish. Although, I do not know how many are terrorists, CIA did not list that group of people in their statistics.

Naturally, Mexicans are not American. They are Mexican. Also, I am not certain what "American" means. Is it the same thing as American? Anyone? Well if you thought Tristin's choice of words were a little over the top, you are going to love Beth. She seems to think that American is actually a language.

Way to go Beth. Really showed off your intelligence there. Especially as America does not have any official language. Also, one of the languages in the commercial was actually that of native Americans. Continuing, Robert here actually believes that America The Beautiful is the national anthem (even though it is the unofficial national anthem, last time I checked the national anthem was still the Star-Spangled Banner).

Oh, and Super Bowl didn't make that commercial honey. Coca Cola did.

So we have stupid, stupider and, lord have mercy, stupidest. I hope you realize that America is a blend of people that immigrated from various places. There are not many Native Americans. That is, as Coca Cola would put it, what makes America beautiful. After reading the list of offensive language and clear hatred toward anyone who isn't white and speak American, I started going through some more posts of people outraged by the commercial. I know I shouldn't, but it's like a drug. My hands start shaking of anger, my pulse races, I find myself cursing to the computer screen. Did I mention this is totally healthy and normal behavior? I found a ton of outrageous comments about Coca Cola promoting Islam (in what way is Islam bad) and the commercial being offensive (to whom may I ask) and other motivating stuff. I got so frustrated, I even hit the Like button. Because of you haters I now Like Coca Cola.

Even some politicians (republicans) thought the commercial was not appropriate and naturally tweeted about it. Todd Starnes, host of Fox News expressed his love for the commercial by tweeting

Todd "I only speak English" Starnes.

I only speak English

Well Todd Starnes, I speak Swedish. I speak Finnish. I speak English. I can get by in German. I even know a little bit of Khmer. How. Is. This. A. Bad. Thing. I can communicate in your language while you cannot communicate in mine. Well good for you, you do realize this does not improve my idea of you at all.

#ToddStarnesOnlySpeaksEnglish

As a Swedish speaking Finn (about 6 percent of Finns have Swedish as their native language and Swedish is one of two official languages in Finland) I have gotten my fair share of hateful comments, much like the ones about speaking English in America. It hurts. It also hurts when a Finn asks me if I cheer for Sweden in an ice hockey game (mind you, cheering for Sweden would be the most unpatriotic thing you could ever do). You show your ignorance asking that question. I am Finnish, after all. The hate towards Swedish speaking Finns is strange. It roots in misunderstandings, misinterpretations and lack of knowledge of Finnish history. We have a lot to thank Sweden for. We were a part of Sweden for over 600 years, there was no Finland then. Instead of accepting our past it seems some are trying to fight it. Instead of sharing a laugh with our neighbor, we hate them and make fun of them. Where is the hate coming from? And frankly, given the choice, I still think most Finns would choose being a part of Sweden over being a part of Russia any day.

#WhereIsTheHateComingFrom

Well, back to Coca Cola. Did I already mention that besides Mexicans, terrorists, Jews and niggers, the commercial also showed a gay couple ice skating with their daughter. It was the first gay couple to be seen in a Super Bowl commercial I might add. What an outrage, just offensive really, considering the woman who wrote the anthem was most likely gay herself. Oh the irony. However, Coca Cola is not the only company to take a stand. I read an article on much the same topic in the Daily Finance that tells the story of some of these companies. For example, The Gap made a beautiful ad with a Sikh man. Unfortunately, people thought it would be a good idea to write hurtful comments on the ad.

Picture Robert Gerhadt

Obviously, comments such as Make Bombs and Bin Laden are utterly ridiculous and only shows you know nothing about Sikhs. I have not yet met a single Sikh who made bombs, and I've met a few. Also, I believe Bin Laden was a Muslim, not a Sikh (no offense toward Muslims intended). Now because of the outrage and the comments, The Gap chose to change their Twitter cover to the ad. Cheerios made a commercial with a family of three. A black man. A white woman. Outrage. YouTube had to disable the commentaries for the video as it got so many spiteful comments. You can watch the commercial below. Can't say I blame them, this commercial is ridiculously offensive!

#MakeAStatement

I realize my Liking Coca Cola also has a dark side to it, for Coca Cola is the number one sponsor of the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Fuck

No matter what direction I turn, there is hate. For some reason Russia has decided to hate homosexuals. The public is asking Coca Cola to take a stand with the Winter Olympics, to tell the Russians to get their shit together. Well I agree, only Coca Cola just made a stand and look were it landed them. I won't even get in to the Olympics, that's a whole new post in itself. I even saw a picture of Putin without a shirt that, allegedly, was in a hotel room. I must not smile, but that really is hilarious.

Google takes a stand. The Rainbow Olympics.

I will not bash companies or people any more than I already have, but a serious question remains: Where does the hate come from? I cannot wrap my head around why people hate Muslims, Jews, Christians, Non-believers, blacks, whites, Hispanics, homosexuals or any other "type" of people. Do you not see that we are all the same? We all breath with our lungs, speak with our mouth, see with our eyes, touch with our hands, feel with our senses, love with our hearts. We all have a religion, may it be to believe in a god with a monkey head or to believe in no god at all. We all have a home, may it be the dirt under our feet or a gold castle. We all have our origins, may they be growing up and living in the same small town or traveling from one place to the other. We all have dreams, may they be to climb the highest mountain or to build a home for a family. We are all the same. Look past the shell and you will see it.

We are all just people trying to get by our daily life. Getting up in the morning, going to work, going to school, working on the street to make enough for food. Show each other respect. Learn tolerance. If you dislike something, fine. But don't bash out about it. Why hate when you can love. Why cry when you can laugh. Why not just live and let live. Give others the benefit of a doubt. Give them the respect that they deserve as human beings. Don't be afraid, but learn. Don't talk behind a back, but talk to a face. Don't be a jerk.

Oh, I almost forgot. Thank You America for your prayers. Thankfully she is no longer the president. Oh, and she is married. To a man. If it makes you feel any better.

#Tolerance

Ghost Town Calcutta

I didn’t know a lot about Calcutta when arriving there, but I had heard a lot of bad things about it. Words like “intense”, “dirty” and “nothing there to see” sounded oddly familiar. So then why go? A good friend of mine from college was from Calcutta and he convinced me it’s a great city and it was also my exit point from India for continued journeys through Malaysia and Singapore. As a result, when I finally felt well enough to travel after my ultra-horrible sickness in Varanasi, we packed our bags and took the 15-hour overnight train to Calcutta.

Tired, but happy, travelers after a fabulous overnight transit.

When we got off the train we were prepared for a brutal attack from countless rickshaw drivers, but there were none. After a few minutes of walking, we found the ferry to the city and got our 5 or so rupee tickets (that were thrown on the ground after inspection) and boarded the ferry. I now knew I would like this city. Perhaps because of my continuous love affair with big bodies of water or perhaps because the city looked oddly modern from a far. But wait a minute; Calcutta is supposed to be a dirty city filled with history, isn’t it?

After the ferry ride, we learned rickshaws are hard to find and took the more luxurious and expensive alternative of a yellow cab. He kindly drove us to Sudder Street, the backpacker area in Calcutta, and after checking a few hostels we settled with a 350 rupee room that we quickly renamed “Jail”.

"Jail" had rigorous rules, bars on the windows and various writing on the walls. Extremely charming.

Once settled in, we knew we would have to do some heavy touristing, as we only had a couple of days in Calcutta. First on our list was Victoria Memorial, pretty but forgettable. I think travel buddy Matt and I both enjoyed the clean and green premises more then we did the white marble.

Can you spot the white marble in the back? There it is!

Next was a temple dedicated to the goddess Kali. This was my first Kali temple and it turned out to be pretty interesting. A priest at the temple showed us around, even though we told him we wouldn’t give any donations (we knew it was coming though). He told us about the goats that are sacrificed at the temple, a few unlucky ones waiting for their turn and traces of blood from the even more unlucky ones on the temple floor. We asked the priest why Kali is always portrayed with her tongue sticking out. He told us she is apologizing to her husband Shiva for accidentally stepping on him while she is dancing.

Apology accepted, Kali!

We were also asked to “cleanse our hands” before entering the temple with some yellow sticky water from the Ganga. Great. Most temples in India are “Hindi only” and white fellows like myself are usually not allowed inside (especially as I am a white WOMAN). This one, however, was a welcome exception. Inside the main chamber we found a rather disturbing statue of Kali with three orange eyes staring us down and as we left, people were grabbing our ankles. I was glad to be out of there, these types of things can be very intense and I was even happier to see a more upbeat side of the religion; kids were playing in a big swimming pool with water from the Ganga. 

After leaving the temple, we went around a corner and cleaned our hands with our remaining drinking water and headed for lunch. The plan was to get to a Lonely Planet recommended Bengali restaurant. Easier said then done. Finding a specific temple/restaurant/hostel or whatever you are looking for can be quite difficult in India, but fortunately Kali had blessed us with some good luck and we actually found exactly what we were looking for. Ordering food can be equally tricky when menus are not available in English and the waiter doesn't know any English. Thankfully, our waiter brought us some plates with food that we could simply choose from. The result was giant shrimp and some fish and a big bowl of rise, naturally scooped in our hungry tourist mouths with our right hand.

The first time I got a plate of food in front of me without utensils to go with it and didn't hesitate was in Varanasi, by Calcutta I was a hand-eating pro!

After two short days in Calcutta, I had come to enjoy the city more than I would have ever thought possible, but my visa was running out and we had to move on. So we headed for the international airport in Calcutta, expecting a busy airport of a 14 million people city. I am from a town of about 60 000 people. The airport in my town is busier then this one.

Good bye ghost town Calcutta of 14 million people, good bye India!

And that's it. My time in India was sadly up, but without hesitation we set foot on the plane that would take us to new destinations and new adventures!

Holy Cow!

There are a few (read a lot) of things that are holy in India. One of these things is a cow. Another is the river Ganges. In Varanasi you will find both. Varanasi is one of the seven sacred cities in India and this is where people wish to go to die and get cremated on one of the burning ghats. If not cremated, the other alternative is to get thrown in the Ganges when you die. This option is only for children, pregnant women, sadhus (holy men) and lepers. The corpses are taken to the middle of the river where they are sunk using stones as weight, becoming fish food. When we arrived in Varanasi we walked down to the river and made our way towards the main burning ghat. It didn’t take us long to spot a dead body in the river. I am not telling you this to shock you (which I realize it might do), but I want to try to explain the controversy I experienced while in Varanasi. And please excuse me if any of these facts are wrong, it is a subject that is not always easy to get your head around.

Shaving your head is part of the ritual when visiting Varanasi and the Ganges (photo by Matt Wicks)

The reason these people are not cremated is that their souls are already regarded pure; hence no need for cremation. A nice thought, but how does it work in practice? Seeing this shook me up and I had a hard time to accept it.  It seems as such a brutal thing to do, but then it is a natural part of the culture and it doesn’t seem to bother any one else, so why should it bother me? In Finland it seems as death scares most people and we try to lengthen our life using various medicinal methods. However, in India I get the feeling that death is seen as a natural part of life (which naturally it is) and it is accepted more than feared. In Varanasi, death is as evident as lunch. Corpses are carried around town, making their way to the burning ghats, where the bodies are dipped in the Ganges and put on a closely calculated amount of wood (sandal wood being the most expensive alternative). The fire is started with an ever-burning flame. We counted around seven cremations going on at the same time, new bodies constantly arriving. The fires are managed by untouchables, the lowest cast in India (note: the cast system is no longer in use, but still evident in some parts of the society), and the bodies burn for several hours.

Controversy # 1: the last part of your journey is being cremated in this sacred place, but this process is managed by people that upper casts will not even look at or touch (hence the name) when they are alive.

Varanasi is not only abouth spirituality and death, there is also a lot of life there!

The cremation does not bother me, even though it is out in the open and the air is filled with smoke from the burning bodies. It seems as a natural way to go, burning to ashes under the blue sky. What does strike me as odd is that in this holy place, cows are walking around, goats are eating the flowers around the burning bodies and there is a fly covered dead dog lying on the ground that no one seems to be bothered about.

Controversy # 2: being a sacred place, I would never have thought that there would be stray dogs and goats walking around or that there would be so much trash lying around (of which I guess a lot is just parts of cloth from the burning bodies).

Back to the river Ganges. People from all around the country come here to bathe in the river, as this washes away their sins. Walking down the river, or taking any of the countless boats that offer rides up and down the river, you will see people praying and bathing in the water, doing their laundry and even drinking the water. Obviously the river is not clean, we saw a stray dog pull out a dead goat one evening and there is trash all over the river. Is it the belief of the river being pure or is it the lack for alternative bathing/laundry places that gives people the will to get in this water?

Man praying in the river (photo by Matt Wicks)

Controversy # 3: being a holy river were sins are washed away, you might think that at least the river would be litter free, but not even the Ganges has been spared from the littering.

Laundry day (photo by Matt Wicks)

Moving on to the cows. There are more cows in Varanasi then I’ve seen anywhere else in India. For you to understand why this is worth mentioning, let me explain how the city is laid out. There is a main road that runs sideways the river, but between the main road and the river is countless of narrow allies. These allies are filled with small shops, restaurants, people and cows. Walking in these allies was one of the most exciting and exhausting things I’ve ever done in my entire life. Motorbikes keep driving past, only missing you by inches, making it impossible to retain a steady pace. It’s hot, sweaty and trashy, but it’s also intriguing. Cows going through piles of trash, looking for something edible (this often being a peace of newspaper or a plastic bag), children playing and running around, beautiful sari wearing women, stray dogs (dead or alive), there is constantly something to look at in Varanasi.

Cows making their way to the ghats (photo by Matt Wicks)

 

 Controversy # 4: holy cow, not to be eaten, but OK to let them eat trash. For a country that loves animals, where they are used for work and for making a living, it strikes me as odd how ill treated many of the animals are (goats cramped in the luggage compartment of a bus, cows eating trash, stray dogs being kicked around). In my mind, this equation just doesn’t add up.

 

There is so much more to wonder and ponder about in this town, but I think I’ll leave it at this before I get too carried away. But one more thing, before I let you get back to your facebooking, e-mailing or whatever you where doing. In my last post I told you Varanasi was one of the most sickening stops on my travels in India. This is not because of the litter, the polluted air, the sweat, the heat, the death, the dirt, the out of control traffic, the cows, the dogs, the goats, the motorbikes, the river or any of the other countless features of Varanasi that will truly test you. It may not sound like it, but Varanasi was one of my favorite places in India and I would like to go back there and preferably stay for longer. The problem was I got sick. Again. We spent about seven days in Varanasi, of which I spent about five in bed. Walking out the door, it didn’t take me more then a few minutes to be ready for another nap. I was drained, tired and hungry. Another trip to the doctor, some more medicine and a few days of rest and I was feeling a lot better. But despite the sickness, despite the controversies, despite all the things that will drive you to the boarder of insanity in India, it has taken up a place of its own in my little heart. As we took the night train from Varanasi (at last after I got well enough to be able to leave the room without the threat of fainting), I was about to spend my last couple of days in India. And they would turn out to better then what I expected. About 12 hours of a train ride away, the last city on my India tour, turned out to be one of my favorite stops, despite my prejudice towards it.

Exhausted and happy traveler (photo by Matt Wicks)