Leaving St. P

August 17, 2006-One More Thing
(photos:Sun worshippers,
Helsinki)

David is a hero. At breakfast this morning some of our group came over to thank him for standing up for us at the Hermitage yesterday. The guide with the group behind us was shouting in Russian for our guide to hurry up and keep things moving. David turned to the offending guide and told her that we couldn’t hear our guide over her shouting. She came back at him saying that he couldn’t understand what she was saying since it was in Russian. He told her that noise was noise. There ensued a debate and she toned it down and behaved.

We just had to get an activity in this morning before going to the airport. Our lecturer on Contemporary Russia was a young professor of political science. He was articulate and knowledgeable. He based his lecture on news he gleaned from the BBC, CNN, the Internet, and local periodicals. That alone is an indication of change. One article was entitled Do You Feel Sorry for the Dollar? The world perception of the U.S. has been tarnished. We are no longer seen as invulnerable after 9/11 and the weakening of the dollar is disconcerting to those countries that linked their economy to ours. People used to hoard dollars in Russia. That is no more. Even with 10% inflation a year they’re developing pride in the ruble. The cost of living keeps rising but they’re thrilled to be able to spend their money freely. Even tickets to see Madonna perform in Moscow sold out. The discrepancy between economic levels causes jealousy between the have-it-alls and the hard workers who have little. Crime has resulted from this inequity. Alcoholism and drugs remain a problem. AA is available in the cities but liquor is sold in post offices. Alcohol is used as their psychologist. With the formation of an open economy came monopolization of businesses. It’s a closed community of a few who control the business world with bribes and corruption. He didn’t say “Russian Mafia” but I was thinking along those lines. This group is called Social Caesars. As a result of the poor economy the birthrate has dropped dramatically. Putin has proposed giving a $9,000 incentive to those who have a second child. It would be deposited in the name of the mother to be used for education, medical needs, or services related to child-care.

He said that Russia is still behind in technology. This adds to its sense of inferiority. It was a world power at one time and wants to return to that position…in a good way. They were thrilled to be host to and part of the recent G-8 and have decided it is better to be a small part of the world than to go it alone.

Helsinki

Our Finn Air plane had a camera that showed the view from the cockpit for take-off. Once we were airborne it shifted to a ground view. It’s a cute toy. On our approach I saw many single family homes. This will be much different than the Russian blocks.

Yves, our tour director for the rest of the trip, met us at the airport. He just flew in from Bangkok where he lives. There’s a story there. He’s half French and half Norwegian. English was the fourth language he learned to speak and it’s flawless. He’s 50ish, blond and wears his hair in a ponytail. This should be interesting. Evidently he comes in only during the summer to conduct tours. He’s gotten used to living in warmth. He and his wife, a Bostonian, moved to Bangkok fourteen years ago. She’s an artist and he dabbles. He teaches, I am not sure what, and does some non-guiding work in the travel industry. He adopted the philosophy of Buddhism and it was reflected in his orientation talk. He asked us to be aware and to be present each day. There’s no opportunity in the past and living in the future produces worry about what might be. He wants us to use our energy positively to achieve harmony in life. He reminded us that we paid for this trip not for guilt trips. By giving us choices he makes us responsible.

Stereotypes

He defined Scandinavia as only Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. The’re more Germanic while the people of Finland are part of the Nordic countries and are from the Urals. The Finnish language is closer to Hungarian and Estonian than European tongues. It sounds like Hungarian but Hungarians cannot understand it. Estonians have a better chance of identifying similar words. Most anyone under sixty years old understands English. They start studying it in 3rd grade. Ninety percent of the people are Lutheran. It will be handy having a retired Lutheran bishop with us. Scandinavia has the highest standard of living in the world and they pay for it. It’s a very expensive place to live but poverty is almost non-existent.

We’re staying at the SAS Radisson Royale a four-star hotel in the heart of the city. It’s furnished in a “Danish” modern style with lots of wood floors and sparse modern lines to the furnishings. Hotels have no air-conditioning here and we can ask at the desk for someone to open our window. We’re across the street from the synagogue and a kosher deli. It’s difficult to get permission to visit synagogues in Scandinavia. Here it may be easier. Yves needs a week to clear us for a visit in Oslo and has to contact an American rabbi to authenticate who we are. Who would have thought that we’d have a half Jewish guide here? Yves mother was a French Jew who was in S. Africa during WWII. Her family was gone when she returned to France. He was raised with no religion at all.

Crime is low except for the pickpockets who come from Romania to work the tourists during the summer. We may not even see any police during our stay. There are an average of eight murders a year in Finland. They’re proud they were the first country to grant women voting rights and they’re the youngest country in Europe. Swedes occupied Finland but as was the custom in this frigid climate wars stopped for the winter and everyone went home. Russia saw an advantage, walked across the ice, and voila, Peter the Great had more territory. Fortunately Russia left it intact when they did pull out.

Yves said that this is the season of melancholy and white nights. Things are starting to die and winter will soon come. He claims that Finns drink as much as most societies but they save it up for Sat. night. The countrymen joke back and forth and stereotypes abound. Finns show their happiness by being silent. Danes are all about food but with a population of five million there are eleven million bikes. That’s how they must stay in shape. Swedes are arrogant. Norwegians are closed-minded and negative. They say “no” first possibly followed by “I agree.” It’s like nodding your head no and saying yes. Icelandic people are rebellious having been settled by a redheaded renegade.

Real Life

He invited us to join the locals in their laid back way of coping with the impending end of sunlight. They are a “hang out” society. Finns and Scandinavians spend hours at cafes with no pressure to leave, pay, or order more. He hoped we’d join in the national sport of people watching. He explained why they could spend idle hours during the workday. They’re starved for sunlight and warmth. No matter the season, when the sun comes out they leave work and go outside. They call themselves “sun lickers.” They sit outside with no sunscreen and burn and peel repeatedly with no thought to skin damage. During the winter they work one extra hour a day to make up for their sloth in summer. Schools spend one day a week outside all year round.

The group walked the streets with Yves to familiarize us with where goods and services were. ATM’s are called OTTO’s here. We walked through a new huge multi-storied mall built above a bus station. Part of the complex was new high-rise condos that were for sale for two-three million dollars. For that money people would live over a bus station.

We went all the way to the waterfront and were told we’d just walked the city. It’s very small. We were turned loose on the way home and stopped at a self-serve restaurant for lunch. David had a large bowl of potato-leek soup, which came with the most delicious bread. I had a large buffalo mozzarella salad, which also came with bread. We both had diet cokes. It cost about $28. We enjoyed using real napkins once more and eating hot soup. We didn’t indulge but the desserts were stunning. There’s little tipping here. It’s catching on as people have more disposable income and can show off their affluence, but socialist roots go deep. Finland was being hassled by the Soviets in 1940. When Hitler offered to help they accepted and he stayed until 1945. By then Finland was a bombed ruin. No one had anything. They adopted socialism where all were equal. There were no restaurants since there was no food. They helped each other and as things improved could not get used to the idea of some citizens “serving” others.

We perceive Finland and the Scandinavian countries as having high taxes. Someone earning the average wage of $50,000 a year in Norway is taxed at 38%. That includes all taxes (VAT as well) and they don’t have to pay for health services, etc. In Finland there are state casinos that pitch in adding to government coffers. They are a service economy with no factories. They send their manufacturing to China so the Chinese can pollute their air. Products are then sold.

The group is happy to be out of Russia although it wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be. There’s a lot of free time on this leg of the trip and several extra tours to sign up for. I’m not sure I realized that when we decided to come. We’ll see how it pans out.

Toby