berlin is a big city (or so one would think)
however, i have managed to almost double the amount of finnish(speaking) people i know in berlin in the last couple of days.
on monday, when walking home carrying my violin after a concert of my orchestra, a young woman stopped me on the street.
she: "hei (the finnish version of hi)
me: "hei?
she in finnish: "i'm sure i know you from somewhere..
"...??
"did you happen to play violin in this orchestra in this small city X in finland like some 15 years ago?
".. ?? .. actually yes..
"i played there too!
and i could vaguely remember her face. so we chatted a while about how weird it's to talk finnish in the streets of berlin, and maybe we'll go for a beer (or visit a sauna) together sometime. i found it amazing that she could remember me - i used to have a long hair and i always imagined my face had somewhat changed since being teenager, but obviously i'm wrong or she's just really good in recognizing people after years.
***
this morning, leaving my house i was waiting to cross the street. a young man with gorgeous yellow vespa asks for advice.
he: "sorry, sorry, can me tell me where the next gas station is?
"uh, you just walk straight...
he interrupts in finnish: "do you happen to come from finland? you have this accent and i thought...
"yes...
so we chat a while in finnish, i get his card and he and his pal (who obviously didn't understand a word about what was going on) start rolling the vespa towards the gasoline station.
***
both of these accidents made me smile widely, not only because i like talking finnish, but because i just find the odds to even meet someone finnish speaking just like that so small. so it's kind of winning in a everyday lottery.
on monday, when walking home carrying my violin after a concert of my orchestra, a young woman stopped me on the street.
she: "hei (the finnish version of hi)
me: "hei?
she in finnish: "i'm sure i know you from somewhere..
"...??
"did you happen to play violin in this orchestra in this small city X in finland like some 15 years ago?
".. ?? .. actually yes..
"i played there too!
and i could vaguely remember her face. so we chatted a while about how weird it's to talk finnish in the streets of berlin, and maybe we'll go for a beer (or visit a sauna) together sometime. i found it amazing that she could remember me - i used to have a long hair and i always imagined my face had somewhat changed since being teenager, but obviously i'm wrong or she's just really good in recognizing people after years.
***
this morning, leaving my house i was waiting to cross the street. a young man with gorgeous yellow vespa asks for advice.
he: "sorry, sorry, can me tell me where the next gas station is?
"uh, you just walk straight...
he interrupts in finnish: "do you happen to come from finland? you have this accent and i thought...
"yes...
so we chat a while in finnish, i get his card and he and his pal (who obviously didn't understand a word about what was going on) start rolling the vespa towards the gasoline station.
***
both of these accidents made me smile widely, not only because i like talking finnish, but because i just find the odds to even meet someone finnish speaking just like that so small. so it's kind of winning in a everyday lottery.
posted by berlinBat at 10/19/2006 12:21:00 PM
2 Comments:
If you keep your eyes open, you´ll meet a lot more finns in Berlin! It´s getting so far that you can´t be sure anymore if you´re talking finnish that noone will understand. Had there some funny situations... Enjoy your life in Berlin - it´s a great city! Greets from Helsinki
hi jerome! thanks for reading. i'm well aware that there are lots of finns in berlin, there is even an association for finnish students which offers you i.e. a possibility to go to sauna on monthly basis :) i haven't been too keen to keep in contact with them, though, for some reason. go figure..
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