The Kindness of Strangers

Today I tried to get to the Myyrmäki Church today and only partially succeeded, but along the way had a few interesting interactions with Finns (and a South African)....


Sally and I walked to the train station and both got a cinnamon roll and a warm drink at the Eliel cafe.  When we had finished, I left her there to find out about tickets and take the M-Train to the northern part of Vantaa (the neighbor city to the north of Helsinki).  I felt that my regional pass which I use to go to school in Otaneimi and can scan to get to the airport in Vantaa should cover this mode of transportation but did not want to be wrong, particularly with the Finnish fee of 80 euros for traveling without a valid pass.  I started to go into the ticket office, but it was busy and I felt like local trains must have a different system than long distance trains.  Looking for another info booth, I found some machines that were labeled as ticket sales.  Unfortunately, the machines had text in Finnish, could be switched to Swedish, but did not have an english option.  There was a boy (looked around 15) at a machine next to me and I asked him if he could help me.  He seemed a little uncomfortable, but said he would help me once he had finished his purchase.  I waited and then told him my story: going to Myyrmäki on the M-train, have a regional metro pass, would like to buy a ticket but only if necessary.  He walked me over to his group of friends so I relayed my question to another 15 year old boy, then a girl around their age and another boy.  I figured out quite quickly that they did not know the answer to my query but did not want to just run away from them because of their kindness.  Eventually, the first boy said he didn't think my bus pass would work so he would buy a ticket just to be safe.  When he struggled to find a word, he would say "sorry, my english sucks" which clearly demonstrated how American television has taught young Finns how to speak american-english.


Next I returned to the ticket selling room, pushed a button, got a number, and waited for awhile.  Once I got up to the desk, I met a very helpful person who scanned my bus ticket.  She told me my pass was sufficient and let me know where and when to catch the train.


I found the M-Train walking out in the amazing sunshine (I'm wishing for a light jacket these days!), found a seat and started knitting some mittens with the yarn I bought quite a while ago at the market square.  As the train started moving, the lady sitting across from me was clearly quite interested in what I was doing (I had just gotten to the thumb hole so what I was doing undoubtably looked a little strange).  She said something ot me in Finnish so I had to explain that I was sorry but did not speak Finnish.  She asked what I was knitting, asked if I was working on the thumb, and said they looked like they will be quite warm.  After a little while she asked if I was from england.  When I let her know that I was an American she said I didn't talk very much which was why she guessed I was from England, not the states.  We talked about me and school, cross country skiing, the snow melting, how lovely the summer should be, her son's schooling, and the changing funding of Finnish universities.  As an economist, she was particularly concerned with the choice to have a third of the funding be from private companies.


When I arrived at my train stop, I walked out and saw the church right away.  Once I found a door that was open I entered and looked for a person who appeared to be in charge.  Unfortunately, he must not speak english.  This man, who I believe was the pastor of the church, saw me and only responded in paragraphs and paragraphs of Finnish.  I tried to use sign language to ask if I could take photographs of the church.  He still spoke in Finnish.  A girl around my age walked by and I asked her if she could speak english.  She then acted as a translator and let me know that a musical performance was being recorded in the church and they had it reserved until 8pm.  I said kittos and headed out of the church.  


Walking around the church and snapping pictures I was a man with a double baby carriage.  He said to me "you are taking pictures of the church?"  I told him I was taking pictures of the church and was an architecture student.  He asked where I was studying and if I lived nearby.  This guy did live in the area - he was born in South Africa (which explained his accent), lived in London for 5 years where he met the mother is his children, and has now lived in Helsinki for 5 years.  I asked him if his first winter in Finland was really challenging.  He said that before moving to Finland he had visited Lapland so, in his opinion, Helsinki is like the Africa of Finland.  As I walked away from him and said "it was nice to meet you, have a good day" he asked me if I was alone.  I told him that I was and kept walking.  Next he asked if he could have my number.  I told him "No, sorry, have a nice day" and kept walking and then taking photographs of the exterior of the structure.  I found it quite amusing that the first time a guy who was not one of my classmates asked for my number was a South African during my semester in Finland.


After some wandering and shopping on the Esplanade, I came home and made some tacos.  It seems the cheese I bought was not what I intended, but otherwise the food was tasty.  Now I need to work on my studio design but all I want to do is knit!