Right now, and this may or may not change, Finland is not my favorite place to be. I’ve tried to achieve something (many somethings) that generated very positive responses in other countries but never here, and between that and the beyond abysmal healthcare – henceforth known as Burana Care thanks to the inimitable and super…
Category: Adult Cross Culture Kids
Adults who grew up between two cultures and constantly had to switch between their home culture and the culture they were living in, often making compromises between the two. These are our stories, through various lenses.
On the Conundrum of Recognizing Nationalist Rhetoric Before Others Become Aware of It
As the child of a Holocaust survivor (and a war child delivering goods to the ghetto) your mind naturally wanders off in all sorts of directions and goes off on all kinds of tangents, one of them being, what were those times like? Were there any signs and – perhaps more importantly – how would it have affected me and what if anything would I have done? We all want to be the heroes in the stories we dream and live but when it comes to generational guilt and trauma, those wishes and ideals intensify.
Journey Into Freedom: 1932 revisited in 2023
Finland was a playground on which I got to explore different sides of the proverbial coin – in this case life in Helsinki and its surrounding areas – and I was a most welcome guest. After all, who doesn’t like witnessing the process of creativity, especially when it comes to getting swept up in the highs (the lows remain nicely packaged up because they are never witnessed by those not in the know). But somewhere deep inside me I knew that this could not last forever . . .
Fulfilling Other People’s Perception(s) of The Countries You Identify With
. . . most people where we lived seemed to be getting their ideas of what a French person was / should be from the German translations of Enid Blyton’s books, and the occasional show with a French person depicted on TV (ironically, a French actor – Pierre Brice – portrayed their national idol, Winnetou, a fictional character brought to life by Karl May who had never set foot anywhere near the Wild West . . .
Coffee and Warm Apple Pies in Nałeczów
. . . we like to package our evils up neatly labeled good and bad, with the bad being really stupid and ugly and the good practically reflecting the light of the angels like a halo. But it’s not like that. Reality is not like that. Objectively speaking, the people with toxic views can still make engaging things. Their movies are fun, their writing is stimulating and their music carries you away. And their restaurants make great food. But the packaging is deceptive, because the message – although smelling of roses – is toxic.
My Intro to Poland
My relationship with Poland has led me to clearly distinguish between relatives and family. Relatives I’m connected to by blood (due to unfortunate events) whereas my family are the people I choose to have around me and who have chosen me in turn, people I love and am able to trust completely. People who will leave no stone unturned in lifting you up and display no hesitation when it comes to letting you know when you stepped out of line, and then support you all the way through.
Triptych: Three Thoughts On the Current Political Climate III – the minority rep using the Holocaust as a Learning Moment
. . . as though you were just there for a cause. A cause that will serve others far more than it will ever do you any good in any way, shape or form. You are there for a purpose and it’s not to tell your story, but for them to feel good about themselves.
Triptych: Three Thoughts On the Current Political Climate II – The ones who fulfill all your basic needs
I like my villains visibly bad, because it makes it easier to cast them aside. When they are intelligent and well-spoken and if we have discussed ideas earlier and have established some sort of friendly rapport, it makes it that much more enticing to want to dig deeper beneath the surface to try and determine what (could have) made you that way. And if you changed, what was the inciting incident that made you change.
Triptych: Three Thoughts On the Current Political Climate I – The Flip Flopper
That person looked me right in the eye at a chance meeting much later and acted as though nothing had happened and she had never told our boss not to extend my contact.
Divorcing Finland – intro
I once witnessed a Finnish friend literally not hear a word of what I was saying when I switched to Finnish even though I was standing right next to her. Her brain simply didn’t allow for the fact that I was addressing her in Finnish, when we had spoken English all this time and sometimes French when she wanted to practice. It was an interesting experience, and definitely opened my eyes to similar reactions around me.
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