From Helsinki, with wireless

I am finally armed with a very nice ensemble of technology to keep me happy, after some initial problems of getting connected.

Thanks to Helsinki's information age library services, yesterday I borrowed a cable modem kit for accessing broadbad at home but it turned out the capitalist, robbing letting agents have somehow disabled the cable connection in the flat, unless I give them 20 euros per WEEK that is! What a joke. Consequently I spent this morning at the local library which is wireless-enabled and free to use. Oh, incidentally all of the above counts as fieldwork, a very hands-on experience of how to get online in Helsinki.

After trialling the 3G connection supported by Viljo's (my brother and personal ICT support, pictured in my flat) Nokia last night at a scant 312 kbps it was obvious that a mobile solution needed to provide more bandwidth than that. Hence the shiny new mobile USB modem (pictured above). The Sony Vaio (thanks, MDDA!) tells me that the connection is running at just over 3 mbps right now!?! To complete my new kit, I procured a new Fujifilm wide angle pocket camera yesterday....



To finish off this first fieldwork post, a couple of words about arriving here, my new neighbourhood etc... After arriving in Helsinki on Sunday (Finnish Mothers' Day) and spending the day (unsurprisingly) celebrating the occasion with my mum, grandma, sister-in-law (the other Jenni Viitanen!) and naturally the latest arrival in our family, Aaro Viitanen (pictured below with his mum Jenni and the new grandmother, Helena).
On arrival the weather was very nice indeed, pretty much what I'd expected. I was pleased as having acclimatised to the recent unseasonally warm weather in Manchester I decided not to bring any coats with me to Helsinki. A decision I came to regret 24 hours later. It is worth bearing in mind that a quarter of the country lies north of the Arctic Circle, and whilst in theory we could right now be walking down Esplanadi in our shorts & t-shirts, we are actually facing temperatures dipping below freezing tonight. Hindsight is such an annoying perspective!

I received keys to my new pad at noon yesterday and couldn't wait to see the place that would be my home for the next 7 weeks, not the least because I was freezing having been out and about in my summery knitwear, the warmest thing I brought with me! My new neighbourhood is called Kallio [a "rock"], referring to the fact that the area literally stands on this massive piece of rock which is visible here & there in the streetscape, too.

Kallio is a very relaxed, down to earth area with a bit of a reputation for being popular with students and other bohemian types, just north-east of the city centre. If I was bothered to walk into the city I'd be there in 20 mins by foot, but the metro takes me there in just 4. Due to its working class roots, Kallio is often seen as a socialist stronghold. Amusingly my "local", which is literally on the ground floor of this block of flats on the corner of Kolmas Linja and Castreninkatu is called Ravintola "Toveri" [Restaurant "Comrade"] (pictured, N.B. the Finnish flag for added humour). After my arrival the Finnish flags could be seen everywhere first of all due to Mothers Day, and secondly, 12 May is marked as the day to commemorate J.V Snellman - an important dude in the Finnish national history - and officially named "suomalaisuuden paiva" [the "Day of Finnishness"]. I thought they were celebrating my arrival!

I shall need a couple of stiff drinks inside me before I dare enter Restaurant Comrade, it has a tad too local feel about it, the same can be said of the numerous Thai massage parlours around Kallio... I counted 5 today on my way to the library, two of them pictured below.

Adding to that, my nearest supermarket is called "Eestin herkut" - "the delicacies of Estonia"; I am thrilled about my temporary neighbourhood, I never knew Helsinki had turned so cosmopolitan since I left 8 years ago, and yet it is so, well, re-assuringly Finnish!