Finland 2 - Kangasniemi 2

a toilet, a small kitchen where organic waste is separately collected and a friendly recreational area, ... nothing really exceptional for the ecologically and socially conscious... except that all photos were made in the state high school of Kangasniemi.

-

please share your thoughts - here are mines.

-

toilets are as basic to urban life as electricity or running water. you have it and you have it well equipped and clean. i don't own an office, but if i had, i had its toilet kept as clean as the one in my family house. because it is just the way things operate.

at the same time however, and i know it's a shame to admit, but most public toilets in my country are the ones people tend to avoid. they are dirty and neglected. and i don't really understand.

the same applies to collecting organic waste.

just until recently, organic waste was just mixed into communal waste, paper got mixed with metals and glass...

whereas our family follows the easy steps of composting organic and collecting separately.

i wonder when people will follow the obvious and stray from the unsustainable...

thoughts...thoughts...

Finland 2 - Kangasniemi

Kangasniemi is a small village of about 6,000 inhabitants near the 62 northern parallel. in the photo above the choir approaches the large wooden church.

the leaders of the church community invited our choir to sing there and we gladly accepted the invitation.

architecture uses wood for acoustic insulation.

many of the members of the choir complained that at times they heard nothing but their own voice. there were moments in the performance when i heard nothing of the choir as if the voice of the 30+ women just disappeared into thin air. it was a frightening experience.

this is the inside of the church.

we are in a middle of the rehearsal.

a typical Finnish dinner consisting of boiled potatoes, rye bread, fresh salad and chopped meat with sauce. the drink on the upper left corner is a non-acidic, yogurt-like, thick substance.

the most important feature of the landscape was a relaxing conformity of pines and birches. when compared to the complexity of the many types of herbs and tree-types found anywhere in hungary, this uniformity may seem boring, but nevertheless it has a definite soothing athmosphere.

it has a certain natural sweet, almost innocent touch to it - but one can only imagine how cruel this landscape can be on the inhabitants in the harsh of wintertime.

Finland 1 - Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital of Finland. We landed there on 11 May and spent an hour sightseeing. We gathered our first impressions about Finnish architecture, landscape and people there.

At 5-6 pm, people were all jogging, runnig, hiking or biking. They resembled nothing like the exhausted and nervous Hungarian people running errands between multiple jobs in the evening or lazy teenagers wasting their time.

I know, it was just a glimpse.

But the relaxed air about the people was more than obvious here.

This is a combined restroom-baby diaper changing room situated right next to a playground. I don't know about the US, but this sight is a rarity to us, Hungarians, because apart from a few examples, we usually don't have such a comfort at home.

Self-service cafes. People enjoyed the early May weather with 20 degrees centigrade as if it was high summer.

this post

might be just the last one about my front teeth.

today i had my final check up.

-

my dentist opened up the soft gums and examined the state of the titanium implants. he was impressed and told me that there were quite much bone-growth around the implants. this is a good sign, my body took the implants in and *quote* you are so young.

i am over 40, so i guess his words mean that my body reacts well and repairs itself easily.

-

another miracle that my dentist blames on my guardian angel or on god itself that my upper canine (eye-tooth, tooth number 3 on the upper left), that was shocked and moving due to the accident in October, and could have easily been removed just by pulling by hand, is now as firm as any other healthy tooth.

-

i had the mid-section of the implant installed and the whole procedure is supposed to be over early June.

-

photos about my journey to Finnland are coming soon.

from the 47' to the 62'

dear all,

between 11 and 15 May our choir is having a good time in Finland.

on Wednesday we fly to Helsinki, the capital of Finland, but after a short sight seeing tour we are heading Forssa, where we are put up with Finnish families. on Thursday we are heading Kangasniemi to visit the local church and give a concert there.

the next day we are going back to Forssa, have a day for recreation and perform the second time there, in a local church. we fly back to Hungary early Sunday.

Kangasniemi is by far the furthest northern destination of my life. it lies along the 62th north parallel, whereas my hometown (that is, where i live) on the 47'.

one of the pieces we are going to sing is over here: it is not us singing, but a famous Hungarian children's choir. this piece was written to be sung this fast and the kids are doing a really-really great job.

these days i'm busy arranging things before i leave and also i'm revising a translation i've just finished.

i feel tired and not everything's quite allright.

i'm looking forward to the trip.