Finncon 2010

[ellenkushner]

Finland, here we come!!! I have just accepted an invitation to be Guest of Honor at Finncon in July 2010. (I suspect I owe this honor in large part to my wonderful Thomas the Rhymer Finnish translator, Johanna Vainikainen-Uusitalo . . . and also to a good word from past GoH Cheryl Morgan?) It will be held in Jyväskylä, which is a big University town - but we'll start in Helsinki, to do some interviews, I'm told. Hoo boy.

We are just delighted that we'll now get the chance to see a bit of that part of the world. I wonder how much else we can squeeze in?? My first thought was, "Oh, boy! Folklore! Sami! Joikking! Karelia!" But now I realize we'll be close to St Petersburg. And even Latvia & Estonia. Any suggestions?

Comments

[kate-schaefer.livejournal.com]

That sounds totally cool. I have never been to that part of the world and have no practical suggestions for touring. I do have a suggestion for surviving Finncon, based on stories told by a Finncon guest of honor from some years back: make sure you are scheduled to get some sleep. Be firm with the organizers that you don't want to see the midnight sun followed by the two AM sun followed by the five AM sun.

Of course, if the same people are putting it on now as then, they're all older and probably want to get some sleep during the bright night themselves.

[handworn.livejournal.com]

I visited Tallinn and St. Petersburg on weekend trips while in Moscow in '94.

Tallinn is charming (even somewhat Riverside-like in its ancient obscurity, at least as I've envisioned it) and the people were friendly. The drunken Estonian soccer players we hooked up with in a white-plastered basement tavern took us on a tour of the center, and I especially remember the centuries-old cross set in the cobblestoned square on the spot where, they related, a poor woman was run over by a rich and powerful man several hundred years ago. They made a point of remembering it ever afterwards.

Of St. Petersburg, the Venice of the North, I can only say this: I've been to Paris and San Francisco and Florence and New Orleans, and Saint Pete could give any of them a run for their money as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

(Just don't drink the water. Unless they've eliminated that microorganism in the intervening 15 years.)

Have fun!

[klingonguy.livejournal.com]

This sounds wonderful. Hmmm... I wonder if I can use this as a further excuse to visit Finland?

[desayunoencama.livejournal.com]

Mazel tov!
I wonder if Snowflake stil has cheap flights between Spain and Scandinavia...

[kylecassidy.livejournal.com]

congrats! we must meet up before then.

[silme.livejournal.com]

I have a number of friends in Helsinki, some who probably will be at that con and are SCA folks. Do you know the lady who runs the big Darkover con in DC yearly? She lives in Helsinki now. Her Finnish husband attends cons in Europe as well.

I've been to Helsinki in late June. I went to bed at 1am one night and awoke at 7am; I never saw any darkness. :)

The national museum in Helsinki is wonderful.

Tallinn, Estonia, is about a 2.5-hour ferry ride from Helsinki and it's well worth it. The Old Town is gorgeous. Olde Hansa truly is a medieval-style restaurant worth visiting; it's nothing like 'Medieval Tymes' back in the US. (Actually, the woman mentioned above consults with them to help them maintain authenticity. And they're in a lovely 15th-century building as well. Even the plates, goblets etc. are based on period archaeological finds in the city. http://www.oldehansa.ee/)

[kukkaseksi.livejournal.com]

Ah!

Well, if you will be there, then so will I! It's only a 2 hour drive from where I am in Kuopio.

You will actually be quite close to Karelia. Most tourists to Finland go as far as Helsinki and stop; but I really encourage them to branch out a little. This is a beautiful beautiful country. And Karelia is, in my not very humble opinion, the most beautiful of the lot. (And really, speaking from experience, just about everyone here under the age of 40 speaks English, even if they are shy about it.)

You can even, if you so desire, travel to a tiny little village deep in the heart of Karelia, and eat at a traditional Karelian guest house that is situated behind the tree where the shaman Juhana Kainulainen sang his spells to Elias Lönnrot. (And if you are feeling really adventurous, you can walk deeper into the woods along a path and find sacrificial stones. Not to mention, oh my good heavens, the FOOD they serve there!)

Or you can go and see opera in a 500 year old stone castle in Savonlinna (http://www.operafestival.fi/In_English/Front_Page.iw3).

(I would not, however, make a trip to Lapland in July. The mosquitoes are not to believed. I am not actually kidding. Not.to.be.believed. That's a trip better made in the winter.)

Well anyhow, I could rattle on! But really, there are many many beautiful things to see here.

[lutin.livejournal.com]

When in the not-winter is it good to visit Lapland? I'm going to be a student in Denmark soon, and it should be easy to go anywhere at anytime for 7-10 days during my two year stay.

[kukkaseksi.livejournal.com]

Autumn is absolutely breathtaking - the color of the changing trees and the tundra is glorious. I've never seen anything like it. (And the mosquitoes are gone by late September, a definite bonus!)

[lutin.livejournal.com]

Exciting! I'm starting CogSci graduate school in Denmark this fall, so I should totally be within visiting distance when you go :D

[anghara.livejournal.com]

{{{ENVY}}}! That is wild!

St Petersburg sounds like a TOTALLY cool side trip.

[kasakitis.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's really neat, congratulations! Would be great if you could nip over to Sweden as well when you're in the neighbourhood... :)

[jodi-davis.livejournal.com]

Gotland is wonderful - we rented a little apartment in Visby (13 century walled city) no cars allowed inside, swans on the Baltic - so lovely!

[kathmuse.livejournal.com]

When you're in Helsinki, you're also a(long) ferry ride away from Stockholm.

Also, there is a Moominvalley in Tampere:

http://inter9.tampere.fi/muumilaakso/index.php?lang=en

[cathschaffstump.livejournal.com]

I spent about a week in St. Petersburg in 2006.

Everyone will tell you that the must see is the Hermitage. They're probably right, although be prepared for crowds.

You can also just enjoy the atmosphere of the architecture and the parks.

Great side trips are Peterhoff and Catherine the Great's place (which I am partial to.)

Helpful hints:

1. Crime in Russia is high. If you are an obvious foreigner alone in the subways, prepare to be harassed. It is best not to be an obvious foreigner. If you can, join a tour. If you can't, dress in dark clothes, frown a lot, and stay quiet.

2. You usually need a visa to enter Russia. I'm not sure how that would work for a day trip.

3. Take the time to learn the Cyrillic alphabet. Once you know it, you can sound out place locations and find your way around more readily.

4. St. P is built on a swamp, and you will be there in July, so take bug repellent. If you stay in the town, your hotel may not have screens, and you'll want it.

I have a good friend from St. P who is teaching me Russian. If you decide to go, and you have some questions, I can put you in touch.

Catherine

[rojomojo.livejournal.com]

Damn, you two need a porter. carry bags, be strong silent type. applicants accepted?

hey, i tried. congrats!

rojo

[wild-patience.livejournal.com]

"Finland, Finland, Finland,
That's the country for me!
Pony trekking or camping
Or just watching TV."

Sorry, too much Spamalot. ("Here in Finland, boy and girl, they can find romance in traditional Scandinavian way." Or girl and girl.)

[avendya.livejournal.com]

I would highly suggest St. Petersburg, with the caveat that you probably don't want to rent an apartment there (stay in a nice hotel, if you do; it's worth it for the filtered water). However, Peterhof and the Hermitage would be worth the trip from the States, let alone from Helsinki. If you're only there for one day, I'd definitely go with the Hermitage - one of the world's best collections of art (at one point, I was getting tired and sat down on the nearest bench. I then looked around at the paintings in the room, and there were probably a half dozen painting by Rembrandt) and it's a spectacular building.

(You do need a visa, as noted above, and it helps to have a Latin-to-Cyrillic cheat sheet if you need to transliterate on the fly. The crime problem noted below is real - it's the only place, out of some 20-odd countries, where my father has been robbed - but take sensible precautions, and make sure you have non-1-800 numbers to cancel a credit card. We didn't, and had a nightmarish time trying to get one of the cards cancelled.)

If you'd like some photos of the city, I have some uploaded here (http://pics.livejournal.com/avendya/gallery/000228ba?page=3&.view=grid) (starting mid-way through that page). (The green / fjord / waterfall / glacier pictures are from Norway but everything else is from St. Petersburg. Let me know if you can't view them; Scrapbook can be finicky. I've added you to my friends-list so you should be able to see them. Should being the key word.)

[jennyblackford.livejournal.com]

Finland! That is *so* cool!

Tervetuloa Suomi!

[mantichore.livejournal.com]

No idea what it's like in the summer, but I used to attend the March Kemi comics convention, a 100 miles from the polar circle, and have extremely fond memories of it, the snow (and sometimes the overnight swing to spring!), the icebreaker ship, Finnish cooking and salmiakki kossu (which I was delighted to drink again at the Finnish room party in Glasgow 2005), and Finns in general. And I love Helsinki, too. Some great turn of the century (the XIXth-to-XXth one) architecture, and the shadow of Gallen-Kallela over it (I visited his home/museum at Espoo).

I seem to remember a Johanna Uusitalo from the Kemi festival, I wonder if she's the same one as your translator.

[(Anonymous)]

You are heartily welcome to our corner of the world, Ellen! The Finncon is in Jyväskylä and there's the Jyväskylä Summer Festival going on same time - there's going to be lots of music and theater all over the town.

Probably you'll be coming and leaving via Helsinki - there'll be lots of time for sightseeing. Gallen-Kallela's home is a must-see of course! I'm not certain if you need a visa for a day trip to St. Petersburg... there are cruises from Helsinki to St. Petersburg and also to Tallinn. The old Tallin is well worth seeing, it's cheap and fastest ships take only two hours.

Dear Mantichore, since I have never been to Kemi comics festival (alas!) you must be thinking about Johanna Sinisalo, the award-winning author of "Troll - a love story" (or "Not Before Sundown" in England). She's also written a lot of comics. She's an old friend of mine and met Ellen when she got the Tiptree! :-)

Johanna Vainikainen-Uusitalo

[mantichore.livejournal.com]

I don't think I'm confusing with Johanna Sinisalo, whose book is called Jamais avant le coucher du soleil in France: I'm pretty sure I knew a Finnish lady called Usitalo — maybe there was only one "u". And she did serve as a translator. She might have been (it was close to ten years ago, now!) involved in the Tampere film festival, as well. But then again, I suppose there's a fair number of Usitalos in Finland! ^_______^

[mantichore.livejournal.com]

Rita. I think I remember her first name as being Rita. Or Riita. Rita Usitalo.

[(Anonymous)]

Ah. Riitta Uusitalo *) is wonderful, funny and nice artist who draws comics, among other things. She lives in Jyväskylä, quite near the convention place... We're not related, but I own one serigraph by her.

*)We Finns are quite fond of our double letters. Changing them often changes the meaning totally:
Riitta -woman's name
riita -quarrel (noun)
rita -an old word, something you use to catch fish with

And Uusitalo is a family name that means simply "a new house". Casanova in Italian ;-)

Johanna Vainikainen-Uusitalo

[mantichore.livejournal.com]

Aah, so my memory is only halfway gone. Thanks. And sorry for not repeating the letters in my final hypothesis, but I had to choose one way of writing the name. I did mention I hesitated between Rita or Riita.

And I thought talo meant palace. Of course, every home is a palace...

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Oh, good! I love learning about new languages. I won't do any studying, but I'll pick up as much as I can on the fly.

[mantichore.livejournal.com]

Of course, the problem is that Finnish is a rather isolated language — though, learning smatterings of Japanese at the time, I was stunned to discover both languages had strong links — and there's only so many occasions outside Finland where you can say ravintola for restaurant, palomestari for captain of the firemen or even Hyvää päivää/huomenta/yöta for hello. Still, it's a lovely language for declamation. There's a piece of music by Rautavaara on the Kalevala, where some of the text is being recited, and it gives me a thrill every time.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

I had to pronounce a certain amount of Finnish for my 2 radio shows on Kalevala (& joikking) - my assistant called the Finnish embassy - hope it worked! You can hear them both on
http://www.wgbh.org/pages/pri/spirit/alphabetical.html
(search FINLAND)

[(Anonymous)]

Ellen, those two shows are excellent. I was very, very pleasantly surprised when I first heard them - and have listened them several times. And your pronunciation is not too much off either! :-)

[(Anonymous)]

Oh - that comment was mine.

This might interest you - two Finns, Tero Ykspetäjä and Jukka Halme, were guest bloggers at Jeff VanderMeer's blog:

http://www.jeffvandermeer.com/2008/11/06/top-five-reasons-why-finnish-is-cooler-than-english/

Johanna Vainikainen-Uusitalo