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Diary Inari 2009

After a week's vacation in Ruka with a fellow teacher, I left alone to the far north of Finland, Lapland. Goal for me was among others to gain knowledge how young people grow up in the north of Lapland. From my previous visits it became clear that the problems for the young people there are complicated. I stayed in Vasatokka, a conference / youth hotel, 11 km above Inari. Before my departure, I had made arrangements via email about the visits I would make this week to various youth centers and schools. In addition, it was also my intention to have relaxation in this "working vacation". Enjoy some reading.
Saturday, August 1, 2009 Left the hotel at 7:30 am. Bus left at 8:00 am and I arrived in Vasatokka at 5:30 pm. On the way we stopped more than 10 times for reindeer crossing the road. I was amazed; space and tranquility. Lots of trees and water and the area is hilly. Friendly welcome and then set up my log cabin. Here I will stay until Tuesday and then I will get a room in the main building. There is now a group of 20 young people from different countries who are doing a photo/video art course. I have no further contact with this group.
A lot of rest also because my mp3-player doesn't work. I see the positive side of this because now I can't escape or relax with my music. In the evening a special experience: the sun sets at 23.30 (it was very beautiful in the lake) only it remains light. I knew this from hearsay but to experience it is different.
I slept reasonably well and had a good breakfast in the morning and Mika arrived in the course of the afternoon. This is new to me, not having to do anything or being able to do anything. Just enjoying the peace and quiet and nature. Getting to know Lauri and his father. Lauri has worked a lot with young people (also did training here) and is now an outdoor/wilderness instructor (will start work here for the first time tomorrow). His father is a professor(philosophy) at the university in Jyvaskyla and we talked for a while about all kinds of things. I will definitely run into them this week.
I met Mika (manager of the shop here) in the afternoon and discussed everything about the coming week. I'm curious what my program will look like but it seems that I have to take the initiative. Rented a car (there was only a bus, but I better go against the reindeer, they tell me) and borrowed a bike. In the village I bought a present for the baby and for myself and had a drink (one hour to get there and one hour and fifteen minutes to get back, which I will never do again) and some rest and impressions. A cab arrives in which a drunk man is riding, four young people (about 20 years old) arrive by car and my preconception is that they have come to get a beer, but no, they are all having coffee.
Impression: I encountered myself enormously. Making decisions (renting a bus, determining the day of departure). Cycling back was a drama, bike was creaking like nothing else and after every hill I hoped to see the house where I should be, but for the moment nothing. Then suddenly a large reindeer on the road. My appearance (I looked angry and .........) was enough to send him into the woods. Reassuringly, it remains light for 24 hours a day (in case I get lost) besides, it's weird to bike for an hour and fifteen minutes and not encounter anyone or anything. Once in my log cabin, I was very proud of myself for making the trip.
Note: I was very glad that I called Amy in the evening and could talk about it. Just sought support from a (great) distance. In the dining room I can use wireless internet, I am really happy with this.
Monday, August 3 again a beautiful sunny day today (24 degrees).
As agreed, I am on my own today because they are getting two new employees here plus the city council is coming to visit to see the grounds and buildings and have a discussion. Mika is quite nervous and is wearing a shirt for one of the first times in his life. He feels uncomfortable but sometimes you have to do something like that. In the morning we had a quiet breakfast and sent some mails. We also made the decision that I will not go to Kurrika next week. Very nice and interesting place to work but I can only stay one day because school starts that week and it is therefore very busy. In addition, I now have many impressions and it is too much for me. In the evening I get an email from Ville back that he agrees and that we will keep in touch and I am welcome at another time. Today, for the first time, I take a rented bus on the road to the Samée Museum in Inari. The museum is about the local people and I spend almost 3 hours in the museum. Took pictures of the trapping techniques (traps) they have for the different animals. Shopped at the supermarket where really everything is available (pricey) because there is no breakfast tomorrow in Vasatokka. Killed time in the evening with spelpunt.nl and before going to bed (23.30) took pictures of the lake and the setting sun.
Impression: Peace and ............... I didn't know I could do this, I don't even miss my music. Do have TV in my room but rarely turn it on while in the summer cottage with Olli I was regularly watching sports or something else.
Tomorrow the weather will be beautiful again and one of the staff (who has vacation) will come to visit me. It is someone who is passionate about working with young people. I am curious.

Tuesday, August 4 again a beautiful sunny day today (25 degrees).
Yesterday I forgot to mention that for the first time I was bothered by mosquitoes when I was taking pictures at the waterfront. So I put on long pants and sleeves and wrapped them around me.
I'm starting to get used to doing nothing, so I had a quiet breakfast in my hut (yoghurt and a Karelia cake) and then took a long shower. To the main building with my laptop (oh how glad I am that I brought it with me) and first visited the news and then game point. I'm not going to send too many e-mails etc. (besides my diary) otherwise people will get the idea that I have nothing else to do here. Fortunately, I could get coffee because for lunch I had to go to the village. A 22 km drive for a frozen pizza. I wonder how it goes with hospital visits as the nearest hospital is in Rovaniemi 300 km away. When I get around to it I'll start working on questions like that.
In the afternoon I had a conversation of almost 2 hours with Seppo, he works at the town hall in Ivalo and is responsible for youth care. They focus mainly on the prevention policy to get young people ready when they leave here to go to study in other parts of Finland. Tomorrow at 9:30 I have to be at the town hall and I have a full day. I'm really looking forward to it .......... In the evening we went for a beer with Mika and Jari at hotel Inari. We left there at 11 pm and to my surprise we drove in the opposite direction to Vasatokka. The gentlemen were busy talking to each other, that's how I learn to surrender to what's coming. After a few km. we went off the road and rode on for quite a while on a forest path. Eventually we reached the highest point in the area and they let me enjoy a mouthwatering view. I was told about the lake that you could really see all the way to the horizon (18 kilometers long) and wherever you looked it was all beautiful scenery. Twelve hours in my cabin and journal updating. Nice shower, hanging blankets in front of the windows (closing eyes is not enough to get it dark) and alarm clock at 7:00.
Note: I can imagine writing a book, painting or something here. Peace, time to think, no stimuli and talking to myself (yes I keep seeing the positive side of it).
People here are not happy with the hot weather (now 5:15 pm and it is 26 degrees), everyone is puffing and sweating and have bought a new air conditioner. One thinks 22 degrees more than enough, the other 15. They are happy when winter comes.
This is the first time I am in Finland without a sauna. I have not been in the sauna here for 4 days now. This has to do with the fact that I am alone and it is not allowed to go swimming by yourself. I must also say that the need is less now that I am alone. I compensate by taking a 15 minute shower twice a day.

Wednesday, August 5 again a beautiful sunny day today (27 degrees).
Alarm clock at 7 and breakfast at 7.45. At the table with a music teacher from Finland, youth care teacher from Germany and a supervisor from Liechtenstein and had a nice conversation only I did not have much time because at 8.30 am on my way to my first appointment with Seppo (whom I had spoken yesterday) in Ivalo (50 km). I parked my bus at the town hall and continued with Seppo. First to the radio center where many young people come to do all kinds of things with communication. Seppo explained to me in detail what their work and projects are there. Especially the projects "no alcohol" and "youth for youth" appealed to me. More about this later. Then I was shown two PowerPoint presentations that the young people themselves have made. They gave a picture of life as they see it in Ivalo and asked the municipality to guarantee this for the future. One presentation is from the "Lappies" and the other from the "Samées". I found both presentations fascinating and may also take them for educational purposes. Seppo's main point of interest is to give the young people enough baggage when they leave for the bigger cities in Finland around their 18/19 years. I drove around the village and visited several youth centers and then I was offered an extensive lunch together with Asta (one of his employees). Then came 6 young people (between 12 and 19 years) with whom I have spoken extensively. The open nature of the conversation was striking and we asked each other many questions. One of the boys plays in a rock band that won a prize in Finland and now they are participating in a festival in Leeuwarden on October 31. I'm going to see if I can go there with students. The contact went so well that I will go there again tomorrow and Friday. Finally, I gave an interview for the radio, this will be broadcast tomorrow. Back to Vasatokka (on the way I scored another fine and delicious magnetron pizza, I'm starting to feel like a student) and back to work on my Game Point and mail it. I have also decided that I will return to Järvenpää on Saturday (so I can also attend the garden party).
Note: driving a car is a special skill in Lapland. Reindeer along the road and if you think they will move aside when a car is approaching ............you’re wrong, they just stay put or quietly walk up the road. Honking or anything like that is of little use, they have ..... I also miss having a passenger to whom I can say how beautiful the scenery is, because every now and then I look around me in a flash.
Note 2: I notice that I need more people around me, being alone has something to it, but only for a limited period of time I notice. In that respect it is a separate vacation, I am confronted with myself and there is nothing wrong with that.

Thursday, August 6 a little less sun but still 22 degrees.
Sleeping is not really as I am used to, I can slowly feel the springs of the bed in my back. I have an appointment at 11:00 with Ahu and Juho in Ivalo and there are no guests on Vasatokka these days, they are on a survival trip and sleep in nature (I'm probably lucky with my bed) so I have to have breakfast myself. Thought of this beforehand because otherwise it is another 22 km drive. In Ivalo with Ahu and Juho first had coffee (under 18 years the coffee is €1,- older €1,50) and then talked extensively. Juho is 18 years old and is in the last class of secondary school (VWO). He plays in two rock bands and wants to become a professional musician. He plays in the band that won the festival. Ahu is his 18-year-old girlfriend who is also studying in Ivalo and wants to become a child psychiatrist. So both of them will be leaving for a bigger place in a year. First I talked extensively with three young people and then with two. Then they showed me around the village. We were shown around the schools we entered and once again I saw how hospitable they are. At two schools I was able to speak extensively with the director. Together with Juho we had dinner in the same restaurant as yesterday and we had a great conversation. It clicks tremendously between Ahu, Juho (they are dating for three years) and me. These are the conversations I came for. On the way back I visited a husky farm. I was shocked by how skinny the 41 dogs looked. Most of them you could pet and were very sweet. In Ruka I also visited a farm (200 dogs) and I don't know if it had to do with the breed but they were a lot heavier. The woman told me that the dogs really have a good life now, they’re happy and get active when it is 40 degrees colder. She also told how it is with dogs that are leaders of a group that pulls the sled. Not every dog that has the qualities also wants to walk in front, they prefer to walk in the middle. Enough about others (is easier to write about, I notice). With me a lot is happening as well, more and more I am thrown back on myself. A short sketch: Large building (see www.vasatokka.fi ) is empty, the staff is there until 22.00, houses are empty except for 1 (oh yes, I can stay here all week, I forgot to say), for wireless internet I sit in the hallway with a beautiful view of the lake, Sprite zero and .................... I don't cycle to the village for a beer anymore, because I'm going .............. for the return trip. I miss contact with someone I know........ and then I get to know myself better. Before I was sometimes dependent on others and being alone could make me insecure. Now I find that I am much less dependent but need other people to live with. I miss the sociability and all that goes with it. I stop now to write about this 1st. because it would otherwise become too personal 2nd. because I would otherwise become too emotional and crying out to a reindeer is not something.
Note: The feeling that people are thinking of me when they read my diary strengthens me enormously. Jan Anne also gets my diary because we have a good relationship and are very involved with each other. Amy, Sven and Yoran because they know me well and we mean a lot to each other.

Friday, August 7 fine weather sun 24 degrees.
Last night I had a really bad night with sleeping, my stomach was killing me. I ate too many different kinds of bread rolls as a warm meal. Stomach acid was my bedfellow. In the morning I had my own breakfast and by 10:00 I was in Ivalo at the radio station. I made a copy of the presentation I spoke about and I am very happy with this. Will definitely use it in Järvenpää and Harderwijk. Visit ended at 12.30 and I did not feel like going to Vasatokka. First I pampered myself in the same restaurant as the last, only now much more extensive food and I had planned to be an afternoon tourist (kind of holidaymaker). First went to a high lookout at the top in a cool hat for myself and bought nice pictures. Halfway down (20% drop) by car I got out and took pictures again. I was shocked when I heard something behind me and in my mind I saw my beautiful rented bus rolling independently through Finland. So I got behind the wheel again (I do miss someone to react to) and headed for the next attraction. That was a restaurant 10 km away where I bought beautiful cards and two calendars for the pictures on them. Then I went shopping (the famous m....p...) and decided not to lie down otherwise it will be a drama again tonight. Tidied up the cabin like a rocket and prepared everything for my trip to Järvenpää. I can leave the bus I rented at the place where the bus to Rovaniemi leaves at 7.15 so I can relax a bit. Bus until 12.30 and then with the train. At 21.35 I hope to arrive at Sari and Kim's and I can still enjoy the garden party (how I look forward to that).
Note: Missing someone to vent to. The whole week I have had to share all my emotions, nice or not so nice, with myself. This has been the very hardest part of this week for me. Many, many benefits of being alone once in a while, in addition, spicy and the way I look at it now, I choose not to be alone so long anymore. So actually also a learning week.

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