perjantai 25. marraskuuta 2011

Wonders

Today was a magical day.

It started with some very bad news about a serious accident just a stone's throw away from the EU-buildings. Sometimes I wonder what impact fate has, if people who heard about or witnessed the accident now drive and walk more carefully, preveting an even greater accident from happening or preventing the death of a person who will change the world. Nobody lives or dies without a cause. This was a reminder that life is fragile and that nothing should be taken for granted. Suddenly I felt very grateful and special for having survived 25 years on the face of this earth.

At work we had rice porridge and glögi (a Finnish version of mulled wine, a Christmas drink) for lunch. In the dim candle light I felt it. Christmas was coming. And you know what else? I was getting soaked up with my own thoughts.

After work I went to a cafe to spend a while writing my diary before meeting with my flatmate. In the end she couldn't come, which was actually very good. Sitting there in the corner of a busy cafe, watching people, having brief eye contact with bypassers, I reached another level of consciousness. My thoughts started flying and during the more than three hours I sat there, I wrote pages and pages about life, attitudes, personality, perception, subjective and objective truths and myself.

I found out that even after all these years, I actually don't have any idea who I am deep down.

What a liberating feeling to understand once again how dependent I am of everything, how vague my personality actually is and how my life is the sum of thousands of lucky coincidences.

I have been fortunate enought to meet people here in Brussels who have stimulated my intellect immensely, even just with their presence. Now that I gave myself time to stop for a while, all supressed thoughs conquered my mind. I have the tendency to become very philosofical sometimes, so the process of elaborating my thoughts into actual ideas and understandings was more than thrilling. The waiter at the cafe invited me a second coffee, maybe thinking I was a writer who had been inspired by the place. Later I walked in the Christmas lit Sablon area without really touching the ground or seeing anything.

Having returned to reality, the song What A Difference A Day Made was on my mind. Enjoy this time. It can be magical in its own special way if you let it.

perjantai 11. marraskuuta 2011

The European Job

Confidentiality is a tricky business. Practically everything I see at work is restricted, limited or confidential, so I'm not entitled to say much about work. Suddenly I feel like 007... But, my duty as a friend and an entertainer on A Life Through New Eyes Online is to open the curtains a little to the magic wonderland of the European Union.

The part of the world that is ruled from Brussels

I am doing my internship at the Finnish representation to the European Union. Our job there is to protect Finland's interests and to report back about what is happening on the international scene. In practise, I am usually seen at the European Council, where all the 27 member states have national representatives. It is a massive forum where views are exchanged and a unified voice of Europe is formed. It is one of EU's three main institutions. The Commission is the executive body. It is the official representative of the EU, present at all our meetings at the Council. The Parliament is the only institution where the members are directly elected through national elections. In the parliament they don't represent the countries but rather the different political parties. The parliament is the legislative brach of the EU. Believe me, this picture has cleared up tremendously while being here.

The Justus Lipsius building, the home of the European Council

My job in specific is to attend the meetings of the Political and Security Committee and different working groups, mainly the Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management and the Political-Military Group. Security issues, that's why everything is so confidential. We discuss past, present and potential crises in basically the entire world, focusing on countries where the EU is active, like Kosovo, Georgia, Afghanistan, Sahel, Libya, the Middle-East... What you read about in the news, that will be on our agenda.

The work is very hectic and if truly engaged, the hours of a day are not enough for everything. The pace can be exhausting and the days can be long. Still, it's very thrilling. The first days I was just shining with happiness when I was sitting as the only representative in the Finnish seat (sidenote, we don't have flags to indicate nationality. We have signs, ours saying "Suomi, Finland").

This is the big scene. This is the heart of Europe. This is the place where our decisions affect the lives of thousands of people around the world. What a power rush. More than anything, this is an even more valuable experience than I could have thought. Before I had a very vague conception of what this big "machine" did. Now, besides from knowing how things are done, I also understand better why they are done the way they are. I know who people are (Catherine Ashton is a person I refer to regularly nowdays). No matter what I will work with in the future, this acquired knowledge will serve me well.

All in all, I am very happy with my job. A valuable experience combined with living in Brussels, no complaints here. This is the reason why I am here. It doesn't matter that I have graduated. I had this opportunity and I took it. I was actually following my heart instead of the loud-voiced logic. How refreshing! Might do that again!

Swedish-speaking Finns

As the Finnish language question is not internationally as well known as the Belgian or the Canadian one, I'll shed some light on that for my dear non-Finnish readers. This short personal approach is very superficial but for the interested one's there's a great deal of passionate text to be found on the subject.

Finland has two official languages, Finnish and Swedish. The Finland Swedish originates from the time when Finland still was a part of Sweden. Swedish was the official language used by nobles and officials, but the majority of the people spoke Finnish. In 1809 the modern day Finland became an autonomous part of the Russian Empire but the status of Swedish remained the same. When Finland gained its independence in 1917, Finnish had become the leading language. Today 5-6 % of the Finns on the mainland are Swedish speaking, living mainly in the southern and eastern coastal areas of Finland and in the Finnish archipelago.


The yellow indicates the Swedish-speaking area of Finland
 
The Finnish Swedish is bacally the same as Swedish Swedish, the main difference being the pronounciation. Here in Brussels I was walking with a Finnish friend in a very touristy restaurant street speaking Swedish. The waiters approached us and spoke Finnish to us, which was quite surprising actually. Well, what you should know is that I don't have a Finnish accent. I speak a different language.

Finnish and Swedish names differ greatly from eachother. My name is strictly Finnish, so people are quite often surprised that I also speak Swedish. Vice versa, people with Swedish names are often automatically assumed to speak Swedish. This is not always the case and it can even contribute to small scale self-questioning, especially considering that many of these people would have had the chance to learn Swedish if their parents would have decided so.

Having grown up in a city with 0,5 % Swedish-speakers, I have been fortunate to be able to go to a Swedish school. It has mainly contributed to building my identity. I have come to know a culture surprisingly different from the traditional Finnish one. I have been perceived as interesting and different just because I speak fluent Swedish. I have spent a summer in Norway when I was young and felt independent and strong, because I could communicate easily with the locals. Finnish employers highly value knowledge of Swedish language, because it is very useful but only a few people really have it.

Both languages are mandatory subjects in school but when Swedish-speakers communicate with the Finnish-speakers, either Finnish or English is used. Swedish has a very strong position in the Finnish society, which causes sometimes great frustration and even violent outbursts in the Finnish-speaking population. A good example is the following. Dick Harrison, a Swedish professor in history, wrote an article describing the the hateful approach to the Swedish language in Finland that had surprised him. After publishing the article, he received numerous emails stating that a Swedish person should not mix himself in a Finnish internal issue, especially considering that Sweden is only trying to invade Finland; that the Swedish have been depriving the rights of the true and original population of Finland since the beginning; and that Swedish is a small and unimportant language that it is unnecessary to study. The internet was filled with hateful speech about Harrison, who could not believe what was happening. His life was being threatened for truthfully describing the situation in Finland.

The idea that "true Finns only speak Finnish" is rooted in many and it is virtually impossible to have an objective public debate on the matter. Finland will not be divided into two but with parts of Finland where virtually no Finnish is spoken, the Swedish language is not going anywhere. Nor is the Finnish hostility towards the Swedish langage. A never-ending story.

lauantai 5. marraskuuta 2011

The War Zone

The flu finally got me. Almost everybody here at home have been sick and at work too so it was my turn. Having eventually learned from past mistakes, I stayed home yesterday and tonight aswell. Sigh. Not skipping salsa tomorrow, though. Anyway, I thought you'd be interested in lerning a bit about the language struggle here in Belgium.

Belgium is geographically divided into two main language regions. French is spoken in Wallonia and Dutch (Flemish) is spoken in Flanders. German is also an official language but it doesn't cause great concern. Brussels as a third region is officially bilingual.


The language issue seems to be a sensitive topic for many and some claim it to be the main source for all political problems in Belgium. Both languages are mandatory in school but apparently the French-speakers have some motivation problems with learning Dutch. It's a no-no to speak French in Flanders. Brussels is situated in Flanders but it's inhabited by mainly French-speakers. Only 7 % of the population in Brussels is Dutch-speaking. French is spoken everywhere. Dutch can be heard here and there, just like English, Arabic, Portuguese, even Finnish. Dutch is a West Germanic language. I manage to understand some bits and peaces, so in theory learning it shouldn't be too hard, though it reminds me of the highly impacting series called Matroesjka's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matroesjka's).

In practise almost everything is in both Dutch and French here in Brussels. Still, it can annoy people. Before in the Brussels metro you could hear music from the European charts. The problem was that there were many songs in French in the list. The complaints flooded in and the music was changed. Now there is 70% English, 15% Italian and 15% Spanish music played. (After 9 p.m., it's only classical music in the air). Tough line but the people aren't complaining.

Belgium has gotten the dubious record as the country with longest time without a government. Today 510 days and counting (follow the count-up at http://lerecorddumonde.be). The previous record was made by Iraq with 289 days. This has turned out not to be a huge problem, as many services and a great deal of political power is handled on a regional level.

When I have tried to ask people about the political situation, the general comments have been that it's too complicated for a foreigner to understand this, that there is no real solution and that things are going well in any case so I shouldn't worry. The wounds run deep on both sides and just the memories are most likely enough to keep these two regions apart for a few generations or so. A problem is also that Flanders is more prosperous and some see it subsidizing Wallonia, which wasn't always the case. A sizeable minority especially in Flanders has voted for parties that support splitting the country in two. The fate of Brussels would probably be one of the biggest issues.

For some reason, here people have had no problems understanding that I speak Swedish and yet I don't feel Swedish. I'm a proud Finn, no matter what language I speak. It's the same here. Everybody are Belgians, united by the monarchy, Tintin and French fries (that actually originate from Belgium). Apparently the country is close to finally forming a government again. Still, this is only a temporary solution - once again. Will there be peace? Probably not.

tiistai 1. marraskuuta 2011

Aftermath

Greeting from a country on hold. Today Belgium celebrates All Saints Day, tomorrow All Souls Day, so the streets and the offices are empty. We at the representation follow the Finnish calendar so we stay put at the office, in my case mainly communicating with Finnish colleagues and preparing for the coming week.

Life is getting as settled as it can. My new home is with a Finnish-Cameroonian family in the nice municipality of Woluwe St. Pierre. The family has 3 kids between 3 months  and 9 years of age. In addition, the house is the home of an au pair and an intern at the European Commission, both Finnish girls. It's a busy house with somebody always at home and three languages constantly in use. I was personally extremely happy to have found a place for the resting 2 months. The people are nice, the public transport works well and I have my own space and privacy. What I especially enjoy is that the father plays his guitar and sings blues every now and then. Blues can make me very dreamy, so I'm sometimes in a wonderful state of mind.

The episode with Mhamed didn't get an ending. On Thursday, when we were supposed to meet, I started calling him after waiting for half an hour. He was on his way. Next call, he was with a friend. Next call, he was in the nearby metro station. Next call, he was in a completely different part of town. At that point Mhamed was super drunk already and I was quite certain that all the cash he had had with him, was gone. After 2h of waiting for him, I went home.

I left Mhamed a very serious voice mail, saying I would call him on Friday and that I would come where ever he was. I called him from the office with another intern listening as well, in case I misinterpret something. After a long, confusing and frustrating conversation I had an address and directions that made sense. After the call the intern who was with me commented that Mhamed is a total nutcase. Well... yes. My hopes weren't really high up but I went to this place. I called him that I'm downstairs, he said he was coming down. 15 min later I called him again but I didn't understand much of what he's trying to say anymore. The third call got through but the only thing I heard was loud Moroccan music. After that he didn't answer me anymore.

Now I'm done. He still has my money and there is a fat chance that I'll ever get it. I sent Mhamed an email with easy instructions how he could still leave me the money and that I don't want to have problems with him. I doubt this has any effect but curiously new, almost bitchy, sides of me are emerging (for the record, bitchy is a word that is hopefully seldom associated with me). Anyhow, revenge is sweet. I have Mhamed's passwords to his email and to Facebook, I have a photo of him, a color printer and some knowledge about where he usually goes. So, if I don't hear anything from him, I'll go on a personal crusade and blacken his reputation or at least what's left of it. Exploring new sides of myself. It's a bit scary, though, if I can actually do something consciously evil. We'll see.

No matter what the outcome, I would most likely do everything all over again. This has been so interesting, so obscure, so "educational" to me that as an experience it's valuable. The only thing is that I could strangle Mhamed with my bare hands for all the hours I've been standing outside waiting for him, first waiting countless hours for Mhamed to come and open the door to my home (the record was 3h), then waiting for him to come to a meeting that he himself proposed. I strongly dislike people being late for no excuse. That's the Finn in me talking.

In any case, from now on I'll move on to happier things. I've been noticing a worrysome change of tone in my speech, almost a kind of negativity. It's time to get rid of that and get the old Hanna back. Hello world, I'm all yours!