Work life in downtown Helsinki

I realize that I haven't posted to my blog in several weeks.  It is not writer's block which is ailing me, it's now a lack of free time.  Life has just become very busy again, and that is a good thing.  I started a new job at an Internet media start up in downtown Helsinki and I am very psyched about working there.  However, I have neglected this blog long enough so I hope you enjoy this entry.

My new job is located near the Kammpi and Punavuori neighborhoods in downtown Helsinki, which is very close to the city center.  I live in Espoo and luckily my commute is no longer than a 15 minute minute bus ride, 5 minute car ride and about a 5 minute walk.  It definitely beats my previous commutes in the San Francisco Bay Area which were roughly 1 hour or longer.  Working downtown is nice because I am engulfed in all the cultural and historical surroundings of the city.  Just steps outside of my office building are multiple restaurants, boutique shops, hair salons, art & design shops, and various other services.  This is a very bohemian and somewhat eclectic part of the city.  Helsinki has never been known as a "hot bed" of culture, but I sense things are changing and the city is slowly becoming more trendy and international.

What mystifies me the most are the amount and selection of restaurants in downtown Helsinki.  Finland doesn't have a reputation as a foodie city and Finnish food itself is less than exciting.   When I leave my building and meander a few steps outside I am surrounded by Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Nepalese, Turkish, Mexican, Italian and countless other ethnic varieties of food.  The choices seem to keep growing everyday as I discover more and more places.  The main issue in Helsinki has always been the scarcity of good/fresh ingredients for ethnic foods.  Also, I think the Finns taste in food was never really geared towards exotic ethnic foods.  Historically this has been a meat, fish and potatoes country.  The only spices Finns seemed to know are salt and pepper.  I am particularly excited about the two new Mexican restaurants that have popped up downtown.  In my previous visits to Finland I had never discovered a true Mexican restaurant and most of them are considered Tex-Mex (think Chevy's style without beans, fresh salsa or Margaritas).  These new places are truly Mexican and have fresh ingredients, and feature Mexican chefs.  Immigration to Finland has been occurring a greater pace now and perhaps that is why so many ethnic restaurants seem to be popping up on every street corner.

Now that the Winter thaw is slowing fading away and the Spring sun is making it's appearance, I look forward to taking lunch strolls along the old streets of Helsinki.  Within 5 minutes I can be at the center of the city and within 10 minutes I can be at Finland's most famous street, The Esplanadi.  The Esplanadi is a long street that features a picturesque park, and is a great place to hang out in the summer sun.  Just a few more minutes away I can be at the famous harbor that features a daily open air market.  Helsinki is a fairly compact city and one can navigate it fairly easily on foot alone.  I look forward to more adventures out and about in the Capital city as the Spring sun slowly turns into Summer's endless white nights.

Henry Rollins storms through Helsinki

Last Wednesday night I attended a spoken word performance by an American super artist Henry Rollins.   I would be surprised if you haven't heard of Henry.  He has to be one of the hardest working men in the arts world.  He is a singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian, publisher, actor and radio DJ.  Those are quite some credentials, and it seems that he never slows down.   Perhaps that is the issue with Henry, he has been performing in one fashion or another for the last 30 years nonstop.  He claims he is not a "workaholic", but I beg to differ.  I think work keeps him sane and suppresses some earlier pain in his life.  Henry is legendary in the punk rock world for his work in Black Flag in the 80s, but in my world it has been his spoken word performance that I find the most captivating.

I had once seen Henry perform spoken word way back in 1993 at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco, California.  However, last night almost 20 years later I had the treat of seeing Henry perform for the Finnish audience in Helsinki.  It was quite surreal to be perhaps the only American in the audience of 700 or so Finns.  Henry started his show by saying a few pleasant words about Finland and it's unique geographical location in Europe and how he played several music shows in Finland when he was younger.  He showed total respect for his Finnish audience this evening.  He then proceeded to go on an angry rant about the "circus act" that is the Republican primary election currently going on in the United States.  Later, he went on for about 20 minutes on American gluttony and the Costco shopping experience.  Other topics including his stint with a National Geographic travel show which took him to India to eat rats with the locals, and how he got a tourist visa to visit North Korea.  In North Korea he visited the mausoleum that displays the body of the so called "great leader" Kim Il Sung.  In North Korea he ate the same food everyday while being escorted around by his Korean guides.  Henry seems to have a lust for life and really enjoys visiting places off the beaten track that Americans haven't really had a chance to explore (Cuba, North Korea, Sudan, etc.)  He seems to want to give "forbidden" locations a chance to see what really lies behind the iron doors.  Rollins explained to the crowd that it doesn't matter what country you visit and what kind of political regime they have, people are people with thoughts and feelings just like you and me.  Henry also spoke about how he really tries to personally answer each and every email or letter that he receives from his fans.  He claims that he doesn't have an assistant to help him and that he takes everyone of them seriously.  If that claim is true, that is definitely a rarity in the celebrity/artist world.

In classic Rollin's fashion, he got pissed off in the beginning of the show when his microphone kept cutting on and off.  He proceeded to taunt the sound mix guy, to which the crowd got quite a kick out of.  Finally, after another 30 minutes passed, someone handed Henry a fresh microphone,  he cheered up and the crowd clapped.  He is definitely not one to hide his feelings and thoughts about anything; he appears to be as honest as one gets.  This attitude is quite refreshing when viewed by the Finns who are sometimes known to suppress their feelings.  I was quite surprised how well received the show was in Finland.  Especially in light of the fact the he is rattling off non-stop in English for 3 hours straight at break neck speed.  I wonder how much of his show was "lost in translation" to the Finnish crowd.  Finland's command of the English language is very impressive to say the least and English is spoken and heard just about anywhere in Southern Finland.  All in all, it was another great spoken word performance from one of the industry's hardest working man.