My First Parliament Session

Ok, so I'm talking of a meeting of Finnish Expatriate Parliament, held in Manchester over the weekend, not the other one in Westminster...

But, as a Finn living abroad, and as the new head of Finn-Guild, attending my first Finnish Expatriate Parliament session was an important first for me - and a revelation.

Before the meeting of the Central European branch of the Expatriate Parliament (USP), I knew that this non-political, not for profit organisation was set up in 1997 to lobby in the Parliament in Finland for issues concerning Finnish Expats all over the world. I also knew that it was set up by SuomiSeura (Finland Society) and that Finn-Guild has been a member, and has supported this organisation (both financially and in other ways) from the very beginning.

One of the great achievements of the USP is the introduction of dual nationality for Expat Finns. I’ve written about this issue before on this blog, and for those who took part in the (extensive!) conversation here, on my Twitter feed and Facebook pages, I’ve still not filled in the British Passport application. I keep getting cold feet, and the price tag is such that one needs to be absolutely sure of wanting British nationality - but that’s another (long) discussion.

But what I found out over the weekend was that there are still many more issues on the USP table, ranging from better support the many Finnish schools around Europe, postal & internet voting; problems with inheritance, healthcare, pensions, and issuing passports to Expats; and wider access to YLE (Finnish Broadcasting Corporation) programmes abroad. These are just a few of the matters USP tirelessly lobbies for, with the help of Suomi-Seura, Finn-Guild and a veritable army of volunteers from Finnish Schools, and other Finnish Societies around the world.  These volunteers travel from country to country to attend meetings and in between times, report back to their members of the issues discussed and canvass opinions.

Finnish Ambassador Pekka Huhtaniemi
opened the Manchester session of the USP.

It was wonderful to meet all these Finnish volunteers, and to hear how they organise themselves in their countries around Central Europe. One comment which particularly warmed my heart, after I’d made my little speech about my particular society in the UK, was made by a lady from a Finnish School, “I wish we had something like Finn-Guild in our country.” Earlier we’d talked a  lot about information sharing, and at that point I truly felt that during that day at least I’d got my point across about Finn-Guild.

Finn-Guild of course wouldn’t be around without Guild Travel, which also had organised all the travel related arrangements of this meeting. If I had a penny for every time I was thanked about the travel and hotel, I’d be a rich woman. So you can imagine I’m quite a happy (although rather tired…) bunny tonight after a successful meeting.

Links:

Ulkosuomalaisparlamentti

Finn-Guild

Guild Travel

Finn-Guild AGM and Turkish soul food at Green Lanes, North London

My first six weeks as head of Finn-Guild, the Finnish British cultural association have been - to say the least - hectic. This is partly due to my desire to run before I can walk, but also due to the timing our AGM, the biggest event in the Finn-Guild members and volunteers' calendar, which took place yesterday.

The preparations for the event aside, I was quite worried about my speech to the members (I can admit this now). I was appointed to develop the organisation, and this was my first chance to tell the wider membership what my plans were. As it was, my ideas were very well received (phew) and the day itself, as well as the evening before, where I met some newly recruited and 'old' representatives of the regions in the UK and Finland, was excellent.

We had a record crowd - over 70 people gathered in the hall at the Finnish Seamen's Mission in Rotherhithe. Many people commented on the positive and enthusiastic atmosphere that prevailed during the day. Finn-Guild is lucky to be supported by the Finnish Church in various ways, and we were even graced by the presence of The Finnish Ambassador, Mr Pekka and Mrs Liisa Huhtaniemi.

Finnish Ambassdor to the UK, Pekka Huhtaniemi,
making an after-dinner speech.

There were also representatives from Guild Travel, Finnish Expatriate Parliament, many Finnish Saturday Schools in the UK, many members of our Friendship Network, as well as some of the other Scandinavian organisations, and Finland Society from Helsinki.

I had also recruited The Englishman to do a comedy routine on his views of Finland, which got an raucous reception, so all in all the day was a huge success.

Of course, this being a Finnish event, many of us carried on the discussion late into the night in the oldest pub by the River Thames, The Mayflower.

I think there might have been a few sore heads around this morning, because mine certainly was, which is why the Englishman and I decided to go and have the best hungover cure there is: Turkish food at the Green Lanes in London N4.

Son and Daughter-in-Law who know this area well, recommended a new (to us) place called Gökyuzu, and boy was it excellent. Hugely busy, we were lucky to have a table at the back. My brain being a little tired, I asked Son do the ordering. He went for a Mezze and a Charcoal Grill Platter to share. The meal was supposed to be for 2-3 people, but the four of us struggled to eat the grilled lamb and chicken in various forms with cracked wheat, rice and grilled peppers and tomatoes. The flat bread that all the Turkish restaurants excel in at Green Lanes was equally delicious here, and as usual I had too much of it with the Mezze starters, leaving little room for the main meat dish.

The staff at Gökyuzu were incredibly friendly.

Now all I want to do is lie down on the sofa and fall asleep....

New Year, New Challenge!

It's funny how life turns out sometimes.

Just over a year ago, while trying to finance my writing endeavours, I took on a new accountancy job, at a Finnish Expat charity and its commercial arm, Guild Travel. Finn-Guild was meant to be just another client, but at the end of last year I found myself applying for a job to run the Finnish-British charity. I am now delighted to tell you that as of 1st of February I will officially be the new Development Director of Finn-Guild!

It's a not as far-fetched as it seems, however. I have been a Finn-Guild member since the heady loved-up days with the Englishman over thirty years ago. In those days this meant cheap flights to and from the UK, but over the years the charity has helped me in many other ways too. 

There was the time when my grandmother died, I was pregnant, in a state, needing to get to Finland at short notice. One phone call to the Finn-Guild office sorted me out. They got me the flights at a very reasonable price, and even organised a stop-over in Stockholm (unheard of in 1986), free of charge, so that I could travel with my mother. 

When Son and Daughter were small, they both attended the Saturday schools which are supported by Finn-Guild. As we speak they both enjoy dual Finnish/British citizenship, something which the Expatriate Parliament, in which Finn-Guild is one of the influencers, was instrumental in bringing about.

As an almost professional Expatriate myself, I cannot wait to help to develop Finn-Guild and to deepen the co-operation with other Finnish-British organisations.

We have so much to look forward to: next year Finn-Guild will turn 50, and 2015 will also mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great Finnish composer, Jean Sibelius. The year 2017 will see Finland reach 100 years of independence, the celebrations of which we in the Finnish-British community are already planning... 

Wish me luck in this, my new challenge for the New Year!

An Interview with me at Displaced Nation

Just a quick note to say that there's an interview with me about being a Finn and an expat in London plus much more besides on the Displaced Nation site. I've just read the piece and must say I sound pretty crazy...nothing new there, then!?

The post is here, tell me what you think?