You Wanted to Make it,I Made it and They Ate it

By my own choice I have remained pretty m much aloof from the British crowd of Expats living in Helsinki and greater Finland.I have always chosen to venture alone,preferring to find my own way whether it be from awkward situations that arise in all our lives from time to time or just plain desire to explore new regions,people and situations.Some have said it stems from being stubborn others from being anti-social.Well everyone is entitled to their own way of perceiving and viewing others.I however know within my heart that hanging around with a load my home countrymen was causing me many self doubts as to living abroad.

The Finland British Expat crowd

There are a few restaurants/pubs in the center of Helsinki,Pub Angleterre,Molly Malone’s,Parnell’s and several other venues of which I no longer frequent or keep up to date with.They were good at the time years ago in 1989,when I was a new comer to Finland.The hang up and what ultimately drove me from their establishments was a die hard crowd of what I can only call,”Wingers”A night out as a crowd would begin full of British merriment and buffoonery however as some would inevitably become intoxicated talk would shift to critism of Finland and life as it was in those days.I endured the regular meetings for some 6 months and then found that I too was becoming pessimistic about life in Finland and what I had given up from my home country,

Adapting to Finnish Life

The day came when I just grew tired of listening to the same complaints and criticism of those around me.My otherwise positive attitude towards life was deteriorating rapidly and with it the rise in alcohol consumption followed.The usual Friday meet-up began to become tedious and an outing I no longer looked forward to.It was at this point that I made a conscious decision to cease meeting up.I chose instead to associate more with the local Finnish People in my own local area of Helsinki.Loneliness ensued but within a relatively short period of time I had made a new circle of acquaintances all of which were Finnish.Today I look back in amazement as I hear that many of my former British Expatriate friends have since left Finland and returned to the UK.It can be said that if you really wish for a change then you need to break the circle of ever repeating events.

21 years and a Re-Union with a British Expatriate

As you will be aware I have just returned from Iiris the visually disabled eye clinic after a two week Psycho-Social course.What are the chances and this is the strange thing about life..that upon arrival several weeks ago there was another British person on the same course as myself.Even stranger is the fact that he to originates from the Midlands,Wolverhampton to be exact and I come from Birmingham.Well you need only imagine the thanks I gave to the clouds looming over our very heads.

The ensuing debate was fast and intense,funny and at the same time reviving.If there is such a thing as a life saver here it was placed right before our very noses.We both could reflect on the same idiosyncrasies and talk knowing the other understood what the other was cracking a joke about.In all it was the start of a new two week adventure.      

As two British blokes we were assigned two interpreters,the odd thing about this was that when sat in a group discussion with psychologist and other clients like ourselves there were two interpreters talking English,which when you are all sat in close proximity caused countless problems .I should have been listening to my interpreter,Sean to his interpreter,however that turned out to to be so easy as we were both as British listening and could hear clearly what the other interpreter was saying.For myself and Sean all concentration was lost

The Cooking Skills Assessment

Sean had his appointment on a Tuesday and what he basically decided to make and cook was a Home Made Pizza.It turned out that all the ingredients were not there so he got some practical training using a knife filleting fish.I was next in for the cooking class a day or two later and was told that Sean wished to make a pizza and that it would be a good idea to make this.In a period lasting two hours I successfully put together the  ingredients and made a pizza.A good one if I do say so!.After the course we placed all that we had made in to a fridge and were told that we could eat it any time we wished later in the evening.

Surprise,surprise later when me and Sean got hungry we went to retrieve the pizza and found upon opening the fridge that it had disappeared.Sean said after,”I wanted to make it,You made it and they ate it”

Still it was fun making it but cooking skills are not really my interest at this moment in time

I know Iiris tried there best tyo be of help and as I said previously I have no criticism of the staff.I do belive the course could have been more structured and targeted to our individual needs

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Tagged as: Blind, British, British Expat Finland, Essayist, Finland, Finnish People, Helsinki, Living Abroad, Moving Abroad, Visually Impaired