Home Thoughts From Abroad

I am still stranded in Helsinki, with little sense of when I will be able to return home. I have run the gamut of emotions, from anger, to frustration, gallows humor to resignedness. I am now philosophical about my position. Most of all I am missing my family.

Being marooned [I have been here for ten days] has left me ultimately philosophical. It has been, in one sense, a bittersweet experience. Bitter -because it has been personally, financially and professionally hugely disruptive Sweet -because I have had the support of friends, old and new, so far away from home, which has burnished my already quietly dulling faith in human nature.

I came to Finland to facilitate events for high profile clients, intending to be here for three days. I traveled light, as is my pattern, and was preparing to leave courtesy of British Airways last Thursday. By Wednesday, news of the volcanic eruption in Iceland was filtering through, and as cancellation after cancellation led to a flurry of rescheduling activity, it dawned on me that I was due for an unscheduled weekend in Finland.

It has always been my approach to make the most of things, and having been welcomed into a beautiful and warm Finnish home, for great company, music and a leisurely delicious breakfast, I was able to see some of the beautiful coastline, sample some great food, see live music, and meet new friends, whom I would otherwise not have met.
The fascination with ‘that damned volcano’, and the feverish activity to reschedule, further rearrange, postpone and ultimately cancel a series of Ukrainian Parliamentary delegations who were due to join me in UK for the next two weeks, have kept me busy. And I have to admit to moments in which I started to despair of ever getting away from Helsinki.

I have spent a lot of time and activity exploring how to get off Finland, physically and on to the UK mainland. It has taken on the precision and attention to detailed questions of a military campaign. Will I make a flight? Can we track air traffic across Europe live by RADAR, [yes we can] Can we approach UK by sea to Sweden and then overland to the Channel Ports? When I received an SMS from home saying that ‘British Navy to be deployed to Channel to repatriate citizens stranded overseas’ I assumed that it was a telegram delayed since the 1950s. But such is life. I may begin to dig the tunnel link to Estonia myself, with a tea-spoon. One friend has already suggested that the British Navy will commence rescue FLIGHTS, to which I look forward with great anticipation.

I am at times frustrated, depressed and feel unable to control my own destiny. This is something we have grown unused to in some sections of society. But this has also been a fascinating intercultural experience,-- beyond the norm- and often great fun in unexpected ways. I have, thanks to the support of my friends, lived like a citizen of Helsinki. I go to the office everyday. I take the bus and the tram, I have been to the movies, to see a band, done my laundry, bought groceries, found a local bar, and discovered a favorite brand of beer.

In this respect it has been an extraordinary and rare intercultural experience. It is not over yet. If I do not fly tomorrow, I have a likely odyssey by sea and land through Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Belgium, before I try to reach landfall at UK maybe by the weekend. A road-trip no less! Who knows what challenges await.

And of course, I am better off than many. I am not ill. I have not missed a wedding or baptism or funeral. I am amongst friends, old and new. The experience is making me re-evaluate our dependence on aviation, and consider the need for investment in other forms of travel and communication. It has made me grow to love Finnish hospitality, to see the perspective of the role of work in our lives. but above all, to realize how much I miss my beautiful family and home , when I am over the sea.

As Frank Sinatra memorably sang.. “It’s nice to go traveling, but it’s so much nicer, yes it’s so much nicer to come home. “
So this weeks blog is dedicated to, Mark, Jari, Mervi, Marjo, Kata, Eino, Petra, Johanna, Taina, Mikko, and Tuija who have made my enforced sojourn in Finland a richer experience. But a heartfelt and unending gratitude is due to Annina, Maria and Joose, who have given up their homes and their time and energy to make my life more than bearable.

Here’s to the next leg!!!Until I’m “homeward winging, ‘cross the foam” Kiitos!

So What, Says Who? Who Cares? In this instance the many hundreds of thousands stranded away from home.