"Working 9 to 5" or "Whenever, wherever"?

shotton paper
Originally uploaded by harrymoon.

One of the best things I have experienced in the Netherlands is the concept of a four-day week. As I write this I am having my day off like on any Friday. I have been hanging around the house, listened to Amy Winehouse and Jill Scott, watched Finding Neverland, eaten crackers and started getting myself into a weekend mood. I earn only 80 % of the full pay but I get by. I value the free time much more. I must even say that on Fridays I don't mind if I need to check my emails or make a phone call. It is still my free day.

I read last week from the Dutch daily nrc.next an article by a recently graduated young woman who criticised her peers for not doing their share for the national economy by slacking with only a 80 % work week. She was saying that these people in their late-20s are used to too good and do not understand their responsibilities, also considering their own pensions. And of course she mentioned both China and India.

Come on. I don't know if she was trying to get herself a job in a Conservative think tank or what but her concept of work efficiency dates back to Henry Ford. I keep surprising myself by meeting constantly people who measure the efficiency of work based on the ways you work, not based on what you deliver. I presume the updated Fordism defines an efficient worker in the following manner:

- never late in the morning

- spends most of his or her time typing with the computer or speaking on the phone

- staples and copies

- does not bother other people with communication not directly linked to work

- does not complain or criticise

Pfff....

Forgiveness is a miraculous thing

barleywind
Originally uploaded by Cinelogs.

The weather has been awful in Amsterdam for the last week. On some days it rains from the morning until the evening. And when I say rain, I do not mean a few drops here and there. I mean like a shower with the massage option on full volume.

Saturday was one of those days. We were sitting in a cafe on Haarlemmerdijk, sipping our lattes, with a group of friends. As the weather did not seem to improve, we decided to spend the afternoon in the cinema. We knew before hand that Ken Loach's Cannes-winning The Wind That Shakes The Barley would be no feelgood clip but hey, it was a rainy day any way.

After five minutes into the film I pushed my M&Ms into my pocket. It felt so incredibly inappropriate to eat in this film. I even felt bad for drinking.

Loach tells a story of two brothers who join the IRA in the 1920s to fight for the independence of Ireland. His calm and realistic approach is quite extraordinary. The Wind That Shakes The Barley is not a film about heroes fighting against the baddies from England. Of course the English soldiers torture and humiliate the Irish but not in the film - nor in my mind - does it justify the reactionary killings. Loach shows people committing horrible crimes out of conviction and confusion.

I started thinking of my grandparents when seeing what war does to good young men. And coming from a country that went through civil war during the same era I found myself thinking how people forgive and go on living. How do you live next to someone who raped your sister or killed your son? How do you build peace together?

I cried through the film. When leaving the cinema the rain had stopped. Rather than hating the world I felt exhausted. The Wind That Shakes The Barley was an experience I encounter very seldom. When art touches me also physically, I feel that I have come across something done by a genius.

Witty writing

Watching Newsnight. Was a bit thrown away by the over British approach on the world so - well, could have maybe picked better - ended to the website of the brilliant London-based think tank Demos and their blog, Greenhouse. I also updated my blog links. From the Demos website I found a funny test linked to my all-time favourite TV show, West Wing. Had to do it for two reasons:
1. Every minute spent on a test is a minute well spent.
2. Everything linked to West Wing is a worth checking.
Well, the test was about which character of the series are you. Here is my result.



The idealistic speechwriter is well-liked by just about everyone. He's known for his excellent writing, sense of humor, and tendency to be clutzy. Although being younger than the rest of the staff, he's often treated as so, much to his dismay.

:: Which West Wing character are you? ::

Goofy in spandex

Superman
Originally uploaded by David Babylon.

"I don't know how to love him.
What to do, how to move him.
I've been changed, yes really changed.
In these past few days, when I've seen myself,
I seem like someone else.
I don't know how to take this.
I don't see why he moves me.
He's a man. He's just a man."

This week the theme of this blog is lyrics. Maria Magdalena's song in Jesus Christ Superstar could be used to draw the main lines of yesterday's cinema experience. Bryan Singer's new Superman Returns revolves mainly around the complicated relationship of Superman and Lois Lane. I reacted like all boys in these situations: yuck, give me more flying, more saving people, more things falling apart!

Superman Returns brought the feelings caused by Narnia back to the surface. I am not sure whether I am oversensitive but when I hear phrases such as "the father becomes the son, the son becomes the father", "people of the Earth are lost without you showing the light", "does the world need a saviour" and when I see a man flying on and on again in a crucifix position, I smell a Christian plot.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against faith (although a fellow blogger a while ago said that I am a typical person without any guidance in his life). I just find it disturbing when these tones are smuggled in. As a silly drunk would shout during a thunderstorm: BRING IT ON!

Although the film was beautiful and Kevin Spacey thrillingly bad, I must say that Spiderman is still sooo much cooler than Superman. Superman is a empty nerd, not only as Clark Kent.

And final comment with my journalist hat on: Clark, please, if you pretend to be a journalist, do some writing every now and then. Being a journalist does not consist only of walking around with a folder in your hand and looking goofy.

Not Ready To Make Nice

Dixie Chicks
Originally uploaded by mbigelow2.

"I'm not ready to make nice
I'm not ready to back down
I'm still mad as hell and
I don't have time to go round and round and round
It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
'Cause I'm mad as hell
Can't bring myself to do what it is you think I should"

The war in Lebanon continues and continues. It is reaching the point in media coverage where the phrases 'another' and 'yet again' start appearing in coverages of casualties. No one seems to know how to solve this. And once again we see - tragically so - how the so-called international community is powerless without the consent of one single country.

The war came close today during my lunch. I met a friend of mine whose parents hear the warning sirens every day. She said that she is trying to block the issue every now and then but without success. She calls her parents and they start calming her down.
I won't even pretend that I know how it feels when your family is being bombed. Or how it feels when people ask you to forget it for a moment. Or how it feels when your neighbours stop talking to you when they feel that you represent the wrong side. The Beirut Letters shows a glimpse of how scared people react.

The quote in the beginning is not from a news conference today but from the song Not Ready To Make Nice that has been in my head for the last days. The Bush-critical country band Dixie Chicks kicks ass. They are dozen times more convincing than most of the "angry women" - like the Canadian girl singing about anger and irony (without actually understanding the meaning of the word). Dixie Chicks manage to break conventional views on what is country.

The current political situation makes one wonder whether these Texan girls are right. That there are things that time does not heal. On both sides of the conflict the seeds of hatred have been successfully planted for decades to come.

Moment of pride

060306JSivonen_07miekkariHKI-16
Originally uploaded by Kepa ry.

Sunday. Slight weakness after a wedding. Did the Hustle and Dancing Queen until four in the morning. At this day and age it starts to have its price.

A friend of mine sent me a link to a video that everyone should see. Have a look.

At the wedding in our table we had a discussion on the kind of people who end up getting into politics nowadays. And more clearly, which ones don't. As my dinner date pointed out, our system will be in a deepening crisis if more and more intelligent and risk-taking people would decide to stay out of public involvement.

In that respect it was a pleasure to open today's Helsingin Sanomat, the biggest Finnish daily. There was a big article on the week of our Minister for Foreign Affairs. As Finland is holding the EU presidency, Erkki Tuomioja (pic) is the voice of the European Union in the Lebanon-Israel crisis.

The excellent article showed once again the high intellect and morale of Tuomioja. I would go as far as saying that he is the best Finland has to offer in cabinet-level politics. I feel safe when he is presenting us in the crisis. He is the best possible combination of pacifism and intellect who does not fall into simplifications.

An example of the opposite was commented brilliantly in The Independent on Friday:

"It is a grave mistake, Mr Blair argued, to see the situation in Lebanon as an isolated phenomenon. Hizbollah, he claimed, are motivated by the same ideology as those who are killing British soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to our Prime Minister, they form "an arc of extremism" linking them with those that blew up commuter trains in London and Madrid and that flew planes into the twin towers in New York almost five years ago.

How convenient it would be for Mr Blair if we all acquiesced in this theory of a global, unified terrorist conspiracy. It would mean that no foreign policy adventure, however extreme, could be criticised; no attack on British troops abroad, no botched intervention, could be blamed on the Prime Minister's judgement. For what would not be legitimate in the face of a powerful, relentless campaign waged by "terrorists" against our very existence? Indeed the worse the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan, or the Middle East became, the more it would vindicate Mr Blair's position.

The problem with this view of the world is that it betrays a wilful ignorance of the specific circumstances of the real world. Hizbollah was formed as a resistance movement to the Israeli invasion of the southern Lebanon. The Taliban are parochial fanatics with no apparent goals beyond the re-conquest of Afghanistan. Iraq is in the midst of a vicious sectarian civil war. The argument that all this can be bracketed into a phenomenon called "global extremism" is an insult to out intelligence."

This example shows that Britain is still a superpower of critical journalism.

Watch Out

Danger of death
Originally uploaded by dipfan.

Done London, next stop Helsinki. This summer is high season on weddings – I have five of them. And just for the sake of clarity: no, none of them are my own. So have to crush some bones tomorrow when going for the bouquet.

One thing that struck me once again in London was the amount of warnings. I was advised to watch out for pickpockets, traits of nuts in candies, extra chili in the curry, the gap and falling down the escalator; asked to smoke only in designated areas, avoid rudeness towards airport staff or being drunk at the security control; take into consideration that the coffee is extremely hot, reminded to hold onto my bag and to make sure that I have my personal belongings with me what leaving the cart, told not to feed the pigeons and refrain from making loud noises, slamming doors or playing loud music when leaving the pub. The most extreme was a security guard of a lunch restaurant instructing (more like ordering to be honest) me and my friend to hang our bags to the ”security hooks” under the table. This was in a lunchroom created into a crypt of a church.

The British capital is turning into a gigantic ”You cannot say that I did not warn you” disclaimer. Stranger Danger and a great risk of injury are words of the day.

This makes me think of Francis Fukuyama’s book called Trust. As he points out, greater social cohesion (sense of belonging to a group might a common language translation) and sense of safety is wise from also from the point of economics. In a system where people think the best of their peers, you need less and less systems for catching the crooks. Just to give an easy example: if the basic assumption is that a customer will pay his bill and will not run away from the terrace after finishing his cafe latte, you do not have to be charging people after their every drink and instead of that you can do it once in the end based on the customer’s request. This leaves a lot more time for attentive service.

A test for all my visitors: You are in a cafe all alone and you have a big bag with you. I mean seriously big. The extra large latte is doing its trick and you're having an urgent Riverdance moment. Not fun, at all. Will you drag all your stuff to the small toilet booth or ask someone in the cafe to watch for your bag?

If you answered yes, what kind of person would you ask? A customer or a waiter? People in a group or someone alone? A man or a woman? Comments are welcome.

Stinky, stuffy, overpacked but still..

London Tube 3
Originally uploaded by Phillip.H.

That was a soft landing from holidays. I was at the office only for one day to sort out emails (and study the new email programme) and then it was already due time to fly to London to open an exhibition on theoneminutes at the ICA. I used the opportunity to stay in London for a few days and meet people we work with.

I now understand why nearly half of the people in the Tube have iPods. I guess if you work 10-13 hours per day, travel daily 2 hours on the Tube from and to work and struggle economically, you would long for moments when you can leave all that shit behind and just put Bangles on your headphones and forget all the noises.

As I walked to the ICA on the first day, I had to cross Trafalgar Square. Must say, that place should be seen by everyone who longs for mass tourism to their city or country. Zillions of pooing pigeons chased by kids made at least me decide not to buy Hitchcock's Birds that was on sale.

It is superexciting to observe people on the Tube. A clear majority of the people look extremely tired. Compared to Amsterdam a lot more people have bags under their eyes. As a working colleague who I met today said:"You can survive with 4 days of work? I envy you so much . I have problems surviving with five."

But even when all this is taken into consideration, I would still love to live in this city at one point of my life. At least in Soho I am seduced by the notion that Caucasian as a default Caucasian has been broken ages ago. Or that I am writing this email in a jazz bar with live music. Or that curry is a local dish. Huge cities like London are able to create this feeling that everything is possible here. As an American novelist Sherman Alexie writes in Ten Little Indians:"

"If human beings possessed endless possibilities, then cities contained exponential hopes."

Only by going

On the Execution Rock
Originally uploaded by amsterboy.

"Do you think the Internet makes the world smaller", a friend of mine asked while we were returning to our apartment after a night in Ohrid, Macedonia. "Yes - and then strongly NO", I answered. My two weeks of holidays in Bulgaria and Macedonia can be used as evidence.

I could glance through dozens and dozens of sites about the wonders of Macedonia and about the catastrophic earthquake of Skopje in 1963 but that would never live up to the experience of hearing from my friend's parents how their house shook for over twenty seconds and how they slept weeks in a tent. In the same way I had read several articles about the changing labour market of Bulgaria but it could never compete with our taxi driver in Sofia who turned to us and said:"I am 53 years old. I am an intelligent taxi driver with three degrees. There is nothing for me in this country."

It is really difficult to define what I thought of these two countries before travelling. I could maybe mention terms such as conflict, war, EU accession and yoghurt. After meeting people and travelling across the countries I would say untouched nature, fresh salads and garlic, glorious history, religion and kind and humble people. I am not claiming that I know what these countries are about but I know much more about the challenges of Macedonia to create a common identity among the Macedonians and the Albanians. I was also amazed by the way urbanisation can be seen in these countries: the untouched mountains and forests and the grannies of the small villages collides with the chaotic traffic and with the lack of urban planning vision of the capitals. I guess my two souvernirs can be used well as evidence of my way of seeing these countries: two photographs of smiling grannies and a bottle of mastika (Macedonian ouzo) donated by my friend's father.

I want to go back. At the same time I realise clearly how fortunate I am to be able to travel freely and visit friends all across the continent.

Clever quote of the day (which is in no way connected but I still need to share it):

"Another retrogressive aspect of the modesty movement is its disconcerting message that women are responsible for men's behaviour. The notion of dressing modestly comes at least partly from the idea that men can't control themselves; by telling women that they have to dress a certain way to quell men's desires, modesty advocates are sending a clear message that the onus is on us to control men's sexual - and possibly violent - actions."
- Jessica Valenti:"Chastity is chic" in todays Guardian.

Could not agree with her more.

Things that make you mmmmm

Ohrid beach
Originally uploaded by Dime01.

This is a short post from Ohrid in Macedonia. I just need to share few wonderful things:

1. Swimming in lakes - during this holiday both in Finland and Macedonia.
2. Shopska salad - cucumber, tomato, onion, olives, white cheese (sort of feta), vinegar, olive oil. It rocks when the ingredients are good.
3. One month holiday - 2 weeks in never enough for forgetting work.
4. Good friends - a friend of mine proved once again that a bus trip of five and a half hours is a blast in a good company.
5. Istanbul - I cannot wait to get there in a month. In the mean time I am preparing myself by reading Orhan Pamuk's short story collection Istanbul.

More later. Now time for food.

Being wrong is at times a nice feeling

Google Map Europe
Originally uploaded by Kushtrim Xhakli.

I don't know whether it is the holiday mood or what but this morning's glance to the newspapers gave me a sense of hope. It is a brilliant thing to realise that my remark yesterday about lack of will to intervene is at least slightly misplaced.

The biggest reason for joy was Bush's and Merkel's press conference yesterday. The leaders criticised Russia with clear words. Bush advised Putin to leave the scaremongering and said that it is Russia's own benefit that they would share the same values - such as freedom of the press - as the United States and Germany. Merkel said that a wide range of opinions supports the stability of a country. Although I know that the US is not the number 1 country in the world when it comes to press freedom, I would still congratulate Bush for his courage this time.

The other piece of news that made me extremely happy were the latest comments of my former professor, Commissioner Olli Rehn. I have always seen Rehn as a man with clear values and courage to act and therefore being highly approachable and also excellent to deal with delicate issues such as the EU enlargement. Rehn is one of the best lecturers I had during my studies. He was also very attentive and made an impression when he asked last year in a conference how my thesis was proceeding and even remembered the subject. This was when he was already a member of the European Commission.

In the article Rehn commented on the future of the enlargement negotiations. In addition to many brilliant remarks, he said one of the wisest sentences I have heard from a European politician for a while. At the same time when he is extremely strict on the membership criteria, he is still a firm believer on the idea of enlargement. Rehn said:"There is no point in drawing the border of the European Union with a wide marker when we just got rid of the Iron Curtain."

Speaking of enlargement, I will be travelling during the next two weeks to two of the candidate countries. I am having my holidays with a dear Finnish friend of mine in Bulgaria and Macedonia. I must admit that I have no idea what to expect.

Don't Speak

freedom of speech
Originally uploaded by chicawhappa.

This post is not about the hit of No Doubt. I just read from the Dutch higher education portal ScienceGuide that the Chair of the Dutch National Union of Students LSVb was put in jail for a few days and she was not allowed to enter Russia. The reason is that she is part of the Mission to Minsk campaign which criticises strongly the Belarusian government.

After that I read from the Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat that Putin has said that he is not going to listen to lecturing about democracy in the upcoming G8 Summit in Russia. He has blaimed the critics for colonialism. "If you look at newspapers hundred years back you can see how at that time colonial powers justified their politics in Africa and Asia. They talked about their civilising role, the duty of the white man. If you now change the word civilisation to democracy, you can find the same logic and and you are able to read the same things from newspapers. There are differences between countries and forgetting that is dangerous", Putin said.

Although he was not speaking about this concrete case, I find it being extreme cowardism if the EU - boasting normally with its "European values of human rights, freedom of speech and tolerance" - is not going to say a word. But the most awful thing is that I am not too optimistic.

It is not that difficult

old friends
Originally uploaded by Cream Couture.

I am sitting in a bus on my way to Helsinki when writing this. I am returning from a visit to my oldest friend and his wife and their superb kids. They live in a smaller city outside Helsinki in a beautiful house with a garden. We had dinner, talked about the state of the world (really, we did) and observed a hedgehog crossing the yard. We could hear only the birds, an occasional car and neighbour's loud children.

As I got on the bus I opened my laptop to write one short work text. I decided to play one of my favourite songs in life, Baz Luhrmann’s Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen). I listen to this song at least twice a month because its instructions for life just rock. Somehow, after being on holiday for a week and meeting my family and all, the following part of the lyrics totally hit me. Yes, this is what it is all about.

”Get to know your parents. You never know when they will be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They are the best link to your past and most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go. But with the precious few, you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle. Cos the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.”

Doing a good job

IMG_0301
Originally uploaded by schisamo.

Discussion between an Austrian (A) and a Finn (F) in a local train:

F:"So how was the presidency in Austria?"
A:"Well, it was really seen as part of the cabinet promoting their own thing. And because the cabinet is not very popular, the presidency was more like what-ever."
F:"Oh, for us it is seen as a national project. Everyone is SOO proud. It's like back to the good old times of the nation state."

And the point was proven in two minutes. A drunken guy started promoting the country to our group loudly.

"Where are you people from? Welcome to Finland!"

Let me represent you

Meeting with Grad Students in Second Life
Originally uploaded by Pathfinder Linden.

Hyvinkää is not such a bad place after all. I just returned from the Young Active Citizenships Conference which was part of the official programme of the Finnish EU presidency. I was asked to facilitate a youth training and present theoneminutesjr programme.

The venue – Rantasipi hotel in the middle of a forest - was brilliant. I find it a bold and correct move to organise a meeting such as this (bringing together youth organisations, policy makers and administrators) far away from the centre of Helsinki. This decision can be praised for two reasons:

1. A small city such as Hyvinkää is so proud of having an EU meeting. The locals were totally amazed by the exotic foreigners in the bars.

2. People stick together and do not get separated.

There was a lot of frustration in the air during the meeting. Several youth representatives felt that they were being patronised and that the goals of the meeting were not clear. At the same time some of the people coming from local and national level experienced a certain level of resentment towards the people from the European youth lobby organisations and with their carefully thought agendas. I saw some youth delegates raising their eyebrows when a youth lobbyist was all excited about structured dialogue with the Commission. This setting posed the risk that all youth participants would have left the meeting with some frustration – although for completely opposite reasons.

The question of youth representation is always problematic. At the same time I recognise the need for European youth platforms but I also find it artificial to think that the chair of a European platform organisation could play the role of The Voice Of European Youth. I am not saying that he/she would be doing this. I think it is actually something that several politicians and administrators would often fancy, i.e. having one clear partner to talk to. When they get contradictory messages from the youth delegates, it gets tricky.

In the closing session we discussed the conclusions of this meeting. The topic of the meeting was active citizenships, stressing the need to recognise also the social, cultural and economic citizenships. Due to the composition of youth in the meeting the political citizenship was highly overemphasised. There was a surprisingly strong lobby for more funding for European platforms and action proposals for increasing the voting rates. This is not to blame the people in the meeting but it is only an example of the complexity of listening to youth. Everyone seemed to recognise the need to give more visibility to the idea of several citizenships but when we got into discussion on the actions, more than 90 % of the proposals were about voting and increasing memberships in traditional youth organisations.

One of the key problems in youth representation is the relationship between power and responsibility. A lot of the people in the meeting were calling for more power but at the same time there was no accountability considering the proposals put forward. As one of the facilitators pointed out, there were a lot of complaints by youth representatives that they were not being heard and it was usually the loudest people of the meeting (who got several amendments through) putting this complaint across.

Tricky, ain't it?

Timber?

Politiek Café
Originally uploaded by Nic Name.

We´re living exciting times in the Netherlands. Yesterday evening the government discussed about the Ayaan Hirsi Ali issue until three in the morning. Today one of the parties in the cabinet coalition (D66) has announced that they will support the vote of no confidence to Minister of Intergration Rita Verdonk.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is Dutch (again). Her lawyer proved that the name Ali is in her family and therefore she was not lying because the Somali habit of using last names differs from the Dutch concept of names. In her letter attached to the minister´s letter to the parliament Ayaan Hirsi Ali apologised for misleading the minister.

If Verdonk gets a vote of no confidence, that would probably mean that the Dutch government is dissolved. As pointed out clearly by the leader of the Social Democrats yesterday, this is not only about Verdonk, it is the Prime Minister who has to carry a substantial amount of the responsibility of this incident.

The big discussion is now about the implications of this turnaround when it comes to the other asylum seeker decisions.

I have been learning a lot of Dutch words lately. Here are a few:
Turkije (Turkey), partij (party), slagroom (whipped cream), vlak (area), kunstenaar (artist), keuze/kiezen (choice, choose), talentontwikkeling (talent development), te hulpen (to help), twijfel (doubt), onderwerp (enterprise), bedoeling (meaning), achtergrond (background), samenleving (society).

Beauty of Friesland

Nynke Laverman at the Uitmarkt
Originally uploaded by elite_dead.

I have often stated - even to the level of arrogance - that the Netherlands is no music country. I must take some of my words back. Or at least admit that in the Northern part they do make beautiful music.

The reason for this praise is the woman in the picture: Nynke Laverman. She is just absolutely superb. I saw her live a few months back and have been talking about her ever since. But now I bought her new album and have been listening to it on repeat for days.
She is a fascinating combination of things: beautiful and charismatic woman (presumably) with a classical background, singing fado music in Frisian. Frisian is a regional language of Friesland. It is in many ways close to Dutch but not understandable for most Dutch people. Frisian fits well for fado as it lacks the spitting-inwards sounds of Dutch.

I think I am going to market Nynke Laverman when I go to Finland for summer holidays.

p.s. I am one of those people who have constantly a song playing in their head. For days it has been Tom Jones' Breakin' Up Is Hard To Do.
p.p.s. I have totally neglected my project to learn Dutch. The new words I have learned during the last weeks are:
difference between maken (to make) and doen (to do); tussen (between); elkaar (together); difference between mijn vriend (my partner) and vriend van mij (a friend of mine); als (as, when, like, if); waar kom je vandaan (where do you come from); simpel (stupid)

Experiencing diversity

city-info guys
Originally uploaded by azem.

Sometimes I just love the Finns. My former employer, monthly supplement of Helsingin Sanomat, has started an excellent programme with the local radio station. Citysherpas are different sorts of people who volunteer to show tourists around Helsinki. The sherpas range from music enthusiasts to pensioneers. And I even noticed that one of my friends (Nuppu) is among them. I find this project absolutely brilliant.

Another example of experiencing diversity: my employer has a new website.

No Fear

The Sticker Door
Originally uploaded by yahtzeen.

This is an article I submitted for a essay competition of the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant and which was published in their Saturday issue two weeks ago. The competition was part of a British Council event that I attended.

Sorry for the delay of putting it here.

An interesting thing happened in the Dutch translation. My friend (who happened to be a woman) who is mentioned in the article transformed into my girlfriend during the editing. It´s like on MTV: Pimp My Friend.

---

No Fear

My friend falls into silence as we sit down in the tram. She arrived from Finland an hour earlier. As we pass the Dam square she turns to me.

"People look so….how should I put it…different here." I recognise the reaction from sixteen months back. The move from Helsinki - a city with only 2,1 % of immigrants - to the centre of Amsterdam was a gigantic leap towards a multicultural society.

My friend and I are not alone with this amazement. Many of us experience confusion as the number of people who stand out from the crowd in European cities continues to grow. We are in constant negotiation as we position ourselves according to differences in ethnicity, religion and clothing to name a few. Confusion is experienced both among the majority and the minorities.

Without proper conciliation this transformation leads into dangerous political implications. An increasing number of Europeans feel that the growing diversity questions their lifestyles. A fear of falling changes multiculturalism from happy hugs in Benetton ads into a threat. As a result, more and more people volunteer to trade liberal goals of personal responsibility for tighter government protection. Populist political rhetoric speeds this up by encouraging us to reach for the eject button. “Please make this stop.”

I believe that this development threatens the essential idea of a metropolis. The biggest risk to European cities is posed by control, not immigration. It goes without saying that a spontaneous and slightly disorganised city is a challenging atmosphere to live in. I would still claim that in the end it is better for us all. The public sphere should not be a domain where actions need the approval of a security guard - even if this liberalism means that we need to accept occasional disruption and turmoil.

This is not a call for chaos but for a modern city that allows several ways of being local. I prefer a town where a bar terrace takes over the street on a warm evening or where I may bump into a friend at the market. I like seeing bikes locked or stickers glued to peculiar places. I wish to live in a city where I may need to change my cycling route because of a demonstration and where the bus driver is allowed to wear a headscarf or a piercing. Amsterdam is still flexible enough for a significant amount of personal liberation.

The more of us feel that our lifestyles are welcomed; the stronger is our will to take care of the public sphere. The current lobby for uniformity and stability works against the very idea of personal freedom and playfulness.

Our biggest challenge is creating public domains that are free from representational minority and majority roles. Immigration is an easy scapegoat when most problems are really due to socio-economic differences. It is extremely easy but irresponsible to point the finger at the people who have the most adjusting to do. We can do better than that.

Tommi Laitio

In Europe

Standing on Africa
Originally uploaded by amsterboy.

Attitudes that have always bothered me in Europe are cynicism and besserwisserism. I am personally far from being free from these. It is often the case that the only way to seem intelligent in the Old World is to abandon all optimism and fall into doom and gloom.

I have witnessed this a few times during the last weeks. I attended lately a workshop on social diversity in cities and especially on Amsterdam. The sense of despair was very evident. But if you would have phrased things differently, Amsterdam would have offered a lot of reason for optimism. The murder of Theo van Gogh has not only polarised Dutch politics but it has created a sense of urgency to seek for solutions. Same could be said about the NO referenda. Even though they slowed the integration, there is now a lot more discussion on Europe.

I attended yesterday in Vienna a lecture of Professor Tony Judt. He is Professor of European Studies and History at New York University and just published a well-received book on Europe called Postwar. The topic of his lecture was Europe in the American Mirror.

Judt’s main argument was that the greatest difference between the US and Europe is the 20th century experience. The European social model was built by old men born in the late 1800s with the goal to prevent a new war. According to Judt’s the lack of this war experience and massive casualties makes it impossible for Americans to understand that the European social model cannot be evaluated only on economic terms.

He also argued strongly against the common conception of globalisation. As Judt brilliantly pointed out, the shared assumptions on the future in 1900 were the following:
1. War in Europe is not possible both on economic and political terms. A democratic society would not tolerate such casualties.
2. The following century will be the century of Germany in Europe.
3. Globalisation (then industrialism and booming telecommunication) is transforming our lifestyles and makes borders near to meaningless.

Judt asked – rightly so – whether there are huge differences compared to the current views on future.

I started thinking after the lecture what is the generation experience of my peers and me. The European project is less and less founded on the notion of peace. I know very well that there has been a war in our continent in 1990s but still I cannot grasp on the notion of peace. It is extremely abstract to me.

I would like to be optimistic on the ways the ERASMUS exchange programme and grown freedom of mobility have made us see further, across the borders of nation states. I would really like to believe that at least part of the generation have a strong belief in a new way of living together.

For me the most eye-opening experience has been working with people from the Balkans, Romania, Ukraine, Moldova and Turkey. After witnessing the difficulties on our external borders I cannot see any sustainable arguments against further enlargement. Tony Judt said brilliantly that in order to engage into the American Dream fully one needs to leave the current life behind and move to the US where as the European Dream is something that comes to you. This is something to be proud of. I often find it remarkable how so many Finns have already forgotten what it felt like to join ”Europe” in 1995.

p.s. On my way home I completed Philip Roth’s latest novel called Everyman. The author voted as the greatest American writer alive by The New York Times reveals the fear of getting old and sick. The main character who has always been healthy and vigorous is suddenly in a situation where his body tells him clearly that it is time slow down. Roth reminds me in many ways of Ian McEwan in his straight-forward and detailed writing. I read the book at the right time – in the middle of the busiest month this year, on planes and hotel rooms.