One thing that makes coming back here more pleasant is the weather. During the time I spent in Finland, a new record of warm temperatures was made. Last december was the warmest ever recorded, and the files go 160 years back, so there was no snow, just rain and darkness.

It's funny how something this trivial can really trigger a deeper awareness of the power of climate change. I mean, everybody knows that the development has already started and that there have been floods, hurricanes, mass extinction and what not. But to really see it with your own eyes, not just in the newspapers... Frightening.

Well I'm better now, because I took the aeroplane to UK where the weather is really lovely, kind of like Helsinki in April.

The warm wind smells like spring. That makes me more lively and energetic. Maybe even happy, perhaps. (Supposing that this is the normal British weather. It could be that I'm worshipping the false god of an abnormal English December.)

P.s. The newspapers in Finland have already been writing about how nice it is that Finland will become more efficient in agriculture now that our new weather conditions allow better crops. How brilliant is that?!

I'm back in the UK!

It's peculiar how nice it is to be here again. I had a really good time in Helsinki but still I feel almost like home here in Rochester, among the Chavs. Good god. Maybe I'm loosing my identity as a finn, becoming a cosmopolitan. Or maybe an europolitan, because I haven't had the chance to get to know people from outside of Europe.

Speaking about nationalities, how do you other europeans (or other finns for that matter) actually illustrate your nationality? Does it relate to your nature or the urban environment? Do you have a feeling of being a part of an age old continuum of culture? Finnish culture is so young and somewhat artificial (finnish identity was created by a group wealthy swedish-speaking men in the later half of the 19th century), that the illustration of Being a Finn is deeply related to our nature, both natural environments and the agriculture. E.g. if you go to a forest in Finland to get some wood for the fireplace you may experience a sensation of "being a finn", especially if it's snowing.

I had a conversation about this with my friend, and we came to a conclusion that maybe this strong feeling about nature should not be labeled as a feeling of nationality, but maybe humanity instead. So this is why I'm asking you other europeans to reveal a little something about your supposed feelings on your nationalities.