ameba

Hmph.. I see it's been again over 2 months since my last post

I really hate this place.. this pimple in the ass-end of nowhere, where I have to live because the school happens to be here. I can't fathom why they can't have the school in some bigger town.. like Tampere or Helsinki. It gets truly boring at nights here, and all you can do is either go to the only bar in town and drink away what little money you have or stay at home and browse the Net..

I'm really glad I'm leaving tomorrow for Helsinki to spend some time with my dearest and celebrate the 1st of May. I guess it's still called "labour day" in english calendars here, but it's become more a celebration for students and young people.. sort of the only annual carnival here in Finland. Most people have a rough party the night before, drinking bubbly and blowing balloons. The 1st of May is usually spent going to town, some students even enjoy the "traditional" breakfast of herring sandwiches that are supposed to help your hangover. People go to have walks in parks or the marketplace and every street corner is packed with bands playing and people selling cheap carnival crap and helium balloons. We're going to have a 1st of May lunch with our in-laws and some of their relatives. It's usually quite fun and someone else pays for the food

Also, next saturday, I'm going to be knighted. (Well, sort of, anyway.. It's not an official title like the Knights of the Realm in UK and I can't start going around calling myself "Sir" on anything...) I've been a member of the Finnish branch of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem Knights Hospitallers (OSJ) for some time and now they are going to hold a festive investiture in which me and another member are going to be granted the rank of a Knight. There was another big investiture in Denmark the last summer, but we couldn't attend there, so now we have our own. I think it's going to be quite nice anyway, even if it's not as big an accoasion as the one last summer. We do have some honored guests attending, the Nordic prior from Denmark and Grand Commander from Malta.

I know it can be disputed whether the OSJ is an "official" order, since there are many rivaling orders of Saint John.. and OSJ is mainly a charity association rather than a "real" knightly order, but I think we have at least as good a claim to being true successors of the original hospitaller knights of Malta as any of the other branches. Since Napoleon exiled the knights from Malta, they went to many different locations and many kept the order alive at their own location, thus creating several "branches" of the original order, each of which nowadays often claim to be the only true successors of the original Knights Hospitallers... But anyway, it's a festive occasion and a good excuse to wear formal white tie jacket and to have a pretty medallion hung in your neck to be worn with much pomp and circumstance.

I wish a happy upcoming weekend to you all, and a joyous 1st of May celebration if it is your custom.