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Finally a proper attack

Hey guys... It's been such a waste being in a beautiful country with such a diverse nature and lovely people, whilst the rest of the world hears only the bad news. I felt so dumb because I had not seen any of that. Well, now I finally experienced what a proper LTTE attack feels like. Seriously, this is not even in the news yet. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

That place was Philippe's house and the time was Cricket World Cup Final between Australia and Sri Lanka. Australia was bashing Lanka's ass in their inning and as soon as Sri Lanka started batting the electricity went off. Someone was joking it might be an LTTE attack. I went out and saw the sky light up every now and then, and heard distant crackling. By this time I started to think that it might actually be the case.

Then someone said that there are fire crackers at the sky. I could easily recognize those as anti-aircraft fire, 'cos I've been shooting one of those machine guns with illuminated bullets. At that point we all decided to go downstairs. There was shooting quite close by and some of us were a bit hysterical and nearly hyperventilating. I tried to comfort them. I didn't feel pretty much anything... I just waited. Anyhow, just in case I sent a message to a few of my closest people, just to tell I'm alright. At that time everything was silent.

Right now, the power came back on. Peace!

posted by Tomi Astikainen @ Sunday, April 29, 2007 0 comments

Support a worthy cause

I'm one of those cynical people who never donate money to anything. Now I made an exception and donated 50 EUR, because I know exactly where the money goes; enabling 80 children to get a basic education in a remote area that is threatened by the civilization.

I want to challenge all of you to donate the same amount and contact one company/rich relative to donate at least 50 EUR for one of the coolest social projects I've ever seen. My friend Jara is putting a great physical and mental effort in working as part of the team building a school up in the Himalaya's so the local kids wouldn't have to walk three days to the nearest school. This is an amazing project where Jara and his friends are literally risking their lives to have a positive impact in these children's future.

Go to www.surya.cz and spread the word!

If you managed to read this you are probably richer than ca 6000000000 others on this planet. 50 bucks is not much to ask! My monthly salary is about 230 EUR, and still I could afford this.

Just go to your bank (or online bank) and donate:

Name: Civic Association Surya

Address: Jecna 1433/9, Prague 2, 120 00, Czech Republic

IBAN: CZ 36 0300 0000 0002 0803 6504

Swift (BIC): CEKOCZPP

Thanks for fighting a good fight with me! Please post a comment here when you have made the donation. I want to know that someone still cares.

posted by Tomi Astikainen @ Tuesday, April 24, 2007 0 comments

Back... home?

Now my three-week Euro Trip is history and I'm safely back in Sri Lanka. Many people have been asking me "So, tell me about it." or "How was it?". I haven't been able to provide a comprehensive answer so far, so I reckoned maybe writing it out might help. So, here are my feelings in my typical non-chronological order:

Friends
The best thing about the whole thing was to meet my friends and once again realize how much they love me. It was a bit disturbing first to be amidst so many important people without knowing to whom to talk to. Actually, I was quite blocked and didn't know what to say and to whom. Then I just had to pick a few individuals to spend more time with... and it paid off. I felt that the deposits once made to the emotional bank account (thanks Covey!) had just gained interest and the friendship was still there, stronger than ever.

Home
When I was in Sri Lanka, I missed back home. When I was in Czech Republic with Paula, I couldn't help feeling like a tourist ('cos that's what I was), though she was there. When I was in Helsinki, I felt like I had never left the home. When I was in Lappeenranta, I just felt empty... as if time had stopped. That city was for long "my dream home", but now it was just... boring. In Joensuu, I missed back somewhere... without knowing if it was Helsinki or Sri Lanka. When I was in the plane, I knew I was going back home...

Family
Apart from being with Paula and my friends, one of the coolest parts of the vacation was to hang out with my mom. I know it sounds weird, especially when I had to see a bit of an extra effort to go and meet her in another city some 250 km away, but she was so cool. I can see now that it's from her where my emotional side comes from. Of course dad is emotional too, but only when he's drunk (unbearable at that point, otherwise a great lad to be with). But mom was just superb: she has really started a new chapter in her life. We had so much fun joking around with her and talking seriously almost simultaneously. Respect!

As for my siblings and their families, I have a bit mixed feelings. It was cool to see Joni (my nephew; Eija's son) growing up. He was no longer the momma's boy he used to be, though they still have a close-knit family unit with Pasi and his kids. I really liked the atmosphere there and it's pity I could only stay one night. When I went to my bro's place first on Sunday (when the kids were time to be home, and not at school) my dad hurried to go, so we only spent half an hour there. On one hand it was weird how they didn't show much emotions of seeing me again, but on one hand I just wanted to stay. Nevertheless, we had to go. When I came back a couple of days later and stayed for the night, there wasn't really time to socialize with my god-child Milla and the rest of them. In the morning they had left to school and work. I felt empty. I didn't even have a chance to say good-bye to them. I don't know if it's the North Karelian mentality or what, but I found it really hard connecting with them again... Anywho, I love them all and can't wait to be back to really see the kids growing up and spend quality time with my bro again.

Society
Everything in Europe is just so perfect. Everything works: The public transportation goes by the schedule (even throughout the night in some places), the streets and air are clean, people move about in order, and everything is just so structured and logical. I hate it! I really missed the imperfect society of Sri Lanka where many things are flawed but people still go on without worrying too much. Europe is somehow too cold (and I'm not only talking about the weather) for me. What can I say... it's good to be back. I wonder how I feel when I actually have to go leave this country. Well, I'll be back for sure.

Oh yeah, have to mention it here: I love sauna!!! I was in that extremely hot room nearly every night. I love it, I love it, I love it!

Nature
Another troubling side of Finland was that it was so quiet; there was no life! When I looked at the country from the airplane window on my arrival I thought it looks really pretty but as if raped by the winter. They say that spring is a great season because everything comes to life again, but at least for me it was still dead. Here in Sri Lanka you can here the sounds of life (both human and nature) that are so diverse. When you really listen you can easily pick up 50 sounds at a time. It gives me shivers just to think about the solitude and silence that surrounds Finland.

Entrepreneurship
I went to see the new office of Osasto (Department), an entrepreneurial community in Helsinki. Most likely we'll start Unleash Talent INC Finland there next spring. Costs are low and the support is very close. It just might be that it will soon be too small for our "loud culture". Especially, when my business partner is now decided. Petsa, my former mentor and and long-time friend, is joining me in that endeavor. I could have not asked for a better partner. He's intelligent, he can question things and he can be really crazy when needed. :)

First 1,5 weeks
Like I said, it's not chronological. I left the first 1,5 weeks last because it already feels so far away and it was like a whole another experience. In retrospect, Vienna didn't give me as much as Brno and Prague. Of course I liked it there, but to be honest, it's exactly one of those too organized European cities. I missed the chaos. However, I just fell in love with Czech Republic again. I've been there just briefly like nine years ago, but it was real good: especially the tasty food and beer really knocked me out. I have to say that Paula is living in a very nice environment, though her job might not be exactly what she dreams of.

In total it was a good experience to have amidst the work abroad. Now I will have more perspective and curiosity to examine the oddities in Sri Lankan environment. :) Thanks for everyone who made that trip possible and unforgettable!

posted by Tomi Astikainen @ Monday, April 23, 2007 0 comments

EuroTrip

Just a quick "hello" from Brno, Czech Republic... Late Friday evening I managed to find my way to our hotel in Vienna, Austria. It was an eventful trip from Colombo. Here is what happened in a nutshell:

On Thursday 11 PM I left home and headed for the Katunayake airport in Colombo. My flight was 2:45 AM. As I arrived to the airport it struck me: my flight was canceled! I rushed to the Emirates office that was located at the back of a maze in the first floor. They told me that all night flights from and to Colombo are canceled due to the LTTE attack last Monday.

Damn it! In the paper it had just said that the airport was closed for two hours on Monday morning. There I was, clueless of what to do, tired and just waiting to get to Europe. They proposed me a couple of flights that would be in Vienna on Saturday, but I said it's not an option. Finally, I managed to touch their heart as I said "It's my girlfriend's graduation day and I'm supposed to be waiting her at our hotel in Vienna". They gave me a room from the Taj Airport Garden hotel. As soon as I got there, they called me up and said that I would fly 10:05 in the morning! Yey!

In the morning I went back to the airport with a few other unlucky souls who had faced the same situation. We were waiting in the check-in line as all the power went off from the airport. Great! Could it be any better? Soon they got the electricity back but the line was moving really slowly.

It was already 9:45 as I got to the counter. The dude behind the counter had to run in different rooms to get my tickets and whatever it was that he was fetching. Finally 9:57 he gave me my tickets. I asked where is gate 10. He replied with a question: "Have you filled in the embarkation card?" I told him I really don't have time for this stupid bureaucracy right now. After all, my flight was due in eight minutes.

Then he did the most unexpected thing. He took me to the counter where the forms are, fetched a pen from somewhere, filled in the card for me and showed me for the next counter. Excellent service! On the next counter the service was back to normal...

The woman behind the desk seemed to have all the time in the world as she was flipping through the pages of my passport. I asked her politely to hurry up. I had six minutes for the plane to leave. She said I should have come earlier. Can you believe it? Come earlier? I flipped... I asked if 12:15 last night was not early enough! She was also confused because she couldn't find the arrival stamp from my passport. She must have thought I was an ordinary tourist. I showed her the stamp saying "July 2006", and I was off to the gate 10.

The plane took off late of course and I managed to be on it. Phew...

In the plane I discussed with a Sri Lankan guy who lives in Kenya (over 30 years now), owns a radio station and is married to a Kenyan Indian woman... I was just wondering how they can possibly follow cricket in that family, without strangling each other.

Skyline of Dubai was something I've never seen before: Endless vistas of sand are suddenly spotted with occasional patches of green fields. Coming closer to the city, the suburbs look like straight out of Sim City Arab Edition 2.0, whilst the massive skyscrapers emerge in the distance. I definitely have to visit that place one day.

Now I didn't have time for anything else but rushing to my connection flight to Frankfurt. That must have been the most pleasant flight in my life: Maybe the best chicken I've ever had in my life, 40 odd movies to choose from and most comfortable seats ever. Emirates really knows how to please the customers... as long as they just get on the plane. :)

Just to complicate things more the flight from Frankfurt to Vienna was late. After all that had happened it didn't bug me at all. I took a cab from Vienna airport to our hotel. It was a 20-minute ride and cost me my month's rent! :-()

Time in Vienna with Paula was really nice: just strolling around the city, visiting a couple of museums, enjoying each other's company and... sneezing. As Jani would put it: "I'm allergic to trees having sex", i.e. pollen.

And yes, of course I experienced many shocking European things already: dogs on a leash, functioning public transportation, ample amount of litter bins here and there, absence of cows, drinkable tap water, no horns tooting, people always coming right at me (walking on the wrong side), fresh air in the city center, damn cold weather (10-20 degrees) etc. I honestly don't know if I like more of this organized society or the beautiful chaos "back home".

Now I'm killing time at Paula's place. They have a really nice AIESEC community here also. I better go out now and see what's in the city... I'll report to you later. See ya!

posted by Tomi Astikainen @ Tuesday, April 03, 2007 1 comments