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Day ...
Dear Granny,
Today I've come to Haparanda. I was told that it was a town
but I'm not sure if any Haparandians exist. So far I've met one.
His name is Alexey but I'm not sure if he is Swedish. I suppose
he is Finnish.
Day ...
Dear Granny,
This morning I suddenly met a lot of people. I thought that they
were Swedish but they proved to be Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians.
We were told about the history of the town. It seems to me that it hasn't
started yet but for sure it will... in November after the Ikea's opening.
PS. We had our first breakfast, lunch and dinner here. Our Chief Lars is
just perfect. He is a good joker. He gave us chicken and said it was elk
just like in the forest. Good joke. The only problem is that 7 o'clock is
too early.
Day ...
Dear Granny,
This day was great!!! First of all I've understood why there aren't any Swedes
in Haparanda. It is just because this town is populated with a special northern
nation called Torne valley people. They seem to be relatives of Sámi, Finns,
Swedes, Chileans and somebody else. Actually I didn't get the point. This evening
we had a very nice game called brännball. Bränn means burn in Swedish. I think
it was invented by Haparanda's firemen, who have nothing to do because the
Finnish firemen take care of fires in Haparanda.
Day ...
Dear Granny,
Wow! Now I know what I'm doing here! Some gentleman has come all the way
from Stockholm specially for this purpose. Well, he is from Stockholm but
was born in Greece. These Swedes are really interesting. This evening we
met one more Swede. He was from Chile. Hm-m-m... interesting Swedes.
Day ...
Dear Granny,
One more Swede has come to Haparanda populated almost only by Russians,
Belarusians and Ukrainians. This Swede was really nice. Everybody enjoyed
his lecture but there is one more interesting thing about him. He is from
Chile as well. Interesting Swedes. We also found some oxen in Sweden, they
at least didn't portray themselves as Swedes.
Day ...
Dear Granny,
These Swedes continue surprising us: they know more about Crimea Tartars
and Setu people than Tartars and Setu people themselves. And one more
interesting point - L-O-R-R-R-D-I !!!
Day ...Dear Granny,
Exciting! Thanks to Mr. Hedlund we have understood that there is nothing
impossible. Particularly when you have such a nice friend with 4
legs and a big heart.
Anyway, this letter won't be long because I'm full of fish. We were
fishing, we saw fish, we ate fish, we talked about fish... And there
was a beautiful view of nature on the background. Nice Swedish people
were there as well (although they had Finnish names...)
Day ...
Dear Granny,
Finally I've decided what I want to be when I grow up. I will be a
politician at Haparanda City Hall. They say politicians don't get much
money here and everything is transparent but the guys that work there
are so nice!!!
PS. Poor Swedes. There is nothing left in Katalog shop! What will they
wear in winter?
Day ...
Dear Granny,
Morning breakfast as usual at 7.30. Uhhh... I wonder I am at the lecture.
Wow! Somebody is sleeping. A new Swedish face. Mrs. Eva Petersen from
the European Parliament came to meet us. Gender, trafficking, transportation,
are very important issues. Really soon all of us will get an international
driving licence. In the afternoon I understood that there is an independant
media, freedom of speech and things like that. Another thing that I understood
was that the Swedish Institute is waiting for us. Super! But the tastiest
event of today is a birthday party of one pretty young lady. Here name is Ukraine
She is 15 years old. What a wonderful evening!
Day ...
Dear Granny,
Today is a new day. One man from the Stockholm Institute came to tell us
multiculturalism, multiculturalism, multiculturalism, multiculturalism...
rules forever!!! 11 o'clock was a very exciting moment. We got our grant
of 3000 SEK. I think Katalog will be the most profitable supermarket in
Sweden. After a very tasty lunch and with all the money it was very
difficult to make yourself go to the lecture. But human rights is really
interesting and vital issue especially if to look at it from the point
of view of government, media, citizens and observers. The "fishka" of the
day was of course a national evening for Finland and Sweden together.
Niam-niam... After all that I kept pronouncing strange sounds kwa-kwa-kwa
and nöf-nöf-nöf for a long time. |
