Finnish elections
Never before has elections been so important for me. I went voting today, without knowing a single candidate name or number. But I didn't go there so that someone would get my vote, or for any loftier reason like helping my country. No, I went there to meet other Finns... and I did!The elections were held at Trans Asia hotel. As I entered the election room there were two women sitting behind the table, one Sinhalese and one white. I wasn't sure if the white woman was Finnish so I timidly said "Hello". The Sinhalese woman answered in English, but the white woman said "huomenta" (good morning). I dropped my bag on the floor, lifted my hands in the air and shrieked "Jes, suomalainen!" (Yes, a Finn!). They laughed.
I was so glad to just sit there and talk with them in my own mother tongue. I was already about to leave to work but they urged me to wait for a while (I was their first "customer"). Then a few Finns from the Red Cross came and gave their votes. I joined them and went to the poolside restaurant to have a lunch. There I met a middle-aged woman who was talking all the time. She turned out to be one of those people who love to organize things and get people together. Now I'm invited to Finn's party on Friday to Galle Face Hotel. Excellent! She also insisted that I pop by at their place in Ceylon Towers, since they have sauna and a pool at the top of the building (and yes, it is right on the shore overlooking Indian Ocean). I'll see if I have time to go tomorrow. I'd really love to go to sauna! Finally, she said that as F1 races start, all the Finns get together to blame/cheer Kimi Raikkonen. Sounds like fun, though I'm not that big a Formula 1 fan anymore.
Oh yeah, I did also vote, though it was not the point of this posting. There is something called "election secrecy" (vaalisalaisuus), that I've never really understood. You're not supposed to reveal who you voted for. I do it every time. I like discussing things like that (and some people just got very angry at me). As I mentioned in the beginning, I didn't know any of the 100+ candidates, so I just started browsing. I realized there are even parties I had never heard about before. After some glancing and shallow analysis I decided to give my vote to a guy called Sami Suomalainen (Sami Finn). It was not because of his name, though that also felt like a nice coincidence, considering how "patriotic" I feel at the moment. He's a Green Party candidate who's a Master of Business Administration and an entrepreneur. Sounded like my kind of guy. :)
Umm... did I mention that on 30 March I'm flying out to Vienna to spend 1,5 weeks with Paula in Czech Republic. From there I go for another 1,5 weeks to Finland, in order to see my friends and family. Yep, now it's official! I can't wait.
posted by Tomi Astikainen @ Wednesday, March 07, 2007
7 Comments:
Heh, funny to see how you patriotic you have become. That's something I really didn't wait from you. From anyone else, yes, but not from you Tomi. :D
Great to see you here. I'll catch you in Helsinki or Jyväskylä...
Hehe,
tein pari vaalikonetestiä ja hoksasin, että Sami Suomalaisen arvot ja ajatukset käy hyvin yksiin. Tämä siis muutama viikko sitten Aksun ja Ansin kämpillä. Hyvä, kun siis äänestit munkin puolesta. Pitäis mennä lauantaina Wieniin saakka, mut en taida jaksaa...
Matti, you catch me in Joensuu if you're talking about 14-15 April. Can't wait to see you. As for the patriotism, you kind of start missing your own language and certain cultural traits after a while (especially sauna!). But it's not that much the country I'm missing, but the people.
Paula, I knew you wanted to vote for the same guy. :)
Tassa viela Suomesta suomalaisille:
Etä-äänestämistä ei Suomeen
Etä-äänestäminen ei ole mahdollista Suomessa tulevaisuudessakaan, uutisoi Länsi-Savo -lehti. Lehti kertoo, että oikeusministeriön kannan mukaan vaalisalaisuutta ja vaalivapautta ei pystyttäisi varmistamaan, jos ääniä annettaisiin esimerkiksi Internetin tai matkapuhelimen avulla.
Ongelmia aiheuttaisi muun muassa se, että perheenjäsenet voisivat saada selville toistensa äänet tai ehdolla olevat voisivat maksaa äänestäjille heille annetuista äänistä.
Oikeusministeriön vaalijohtaja Arto Jääskeläinen kertoi lehdelle, että sähköinen äänestäminen valvotuissa oloissa korvaa kuitenkin jatkossa nykyiset vaaliuurnat ja -liput. Sähköistäminen muun muassa nopeuttaa äänestämistä.
Stupid Finns...
Moro!
One thing what I have always wondered is that why you can always find a Finn, where ever you go in this globe. Of course it can be that it happens with everybody where ever their are coming from originally, but it's just amazing sometimes. And especially when they have had some weird ideas to build saunas in the middle of tropical area, where usually is sauna outside without any special heat... :)
But great to welcome you to Helsinki! See you soon then!
-Jani
Minä olen lounastanut kyseisen Suomalaisen kanssa. Eli ei siis huono valinta :)
Koistinen, muistatko sen tyypin, joka tavattiin noin vuosi sitten Oma yritys -messuilla Wanhassa satamassa? Just se.
Jos tympäännyt Prahaan (ei todennäköistä) niin tuu käymään Budapestissa.
Morjens,
Terveisiä sulle ja Paulalle Oulusta re-integraatti trackilta :)
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