Koira tuli taloon! - Dog in the house!

Perjantaina haimme Mihan Pirttihirmun Porvoon Mihalasta Porin "varakotiin". Annoimme hänelle kutsumanimen Hertta (Heart, Hjärta) ettei olisi ihan liian hirmuinen nimi karvaisella vauvalla... Hertta on syntynyt 17.4.2009.

Hakupäivä oli kasvattajan Saimi Niemisen nimipäivä, joten Saimi ja Ahti tarjosivat meille ihanaa mustikkapiirakkaa. Kahvittelun lomassa keskustelimme koiraan liityvistä asioista ja muutenkin rupattelimme. Koirat juoksivat pihalla, joten kun lähdimme matkaan, Hertta oli sopivasti väsähtänyt ja rauhoittui autossa heti ja kävi nukkumaan. Unta riitti aina Tampereen ohi ja pidimme yhden tauon ennen kuin jatkoimme matkaa Poriin. Kun käännyimme Kullaalta mutkittelevalle Harjunpääntielle Hertta voi pahoin, mutta muuten matka sujui rauhallisissa merkeissä.

Pentu on todella rohkea ja reipas, ja on hyvin sopeutunut uuteen kotiin. Hampaita pitää tosin kokeilla vähän kaikkeen, mutta muuten tavat ovat jo aika hyvin hallussa. Panta menee kaulaan ilman kummempia mutinoita ja pissat jäävät melkein aina jo ulos. Toki pari pientä vahinkoa on tullut sisällekin, mutta todella hienosti Hertta menee ulos ja hoitaa hommat nopeasti. Yöt hän nukkuu omassa pesässään makkarin lattialla, Auran ja Riikan kanssa samassa huoneessa. Päivisin leikin ja levon ajat vaihtelevat ja välillä pentu yltyy tosi riehakkaaksi! Onneksi yöt ovat rauhallisia.


Dog in the house!

On Friday we went to pick up our puppy Hertta. She was born April 17, 2009. Hertta is a Finnish female name coming from "heart" in English, "hjärta" in Swedish, but is not literally meaning heart, the organ - it does mean heart, the suit in card deck, and is the base word for sweet or cute in Finnish.

She was running around on the big yard with other dogs at the breeders. She was really tired when getting to the car, and slept for most of the journey to Riikka's parents place. As babies often do, Heart became car sick on the final small roads.

The puppy is really brave and feels comfortable with her new home. She is testing her teeth on almost everything, but otherwise behaves really well. During the day Heart is playing in and out of the house - sometimes quite wildly. The nights she sleeps on her small nest on Riikka's and Aura's room. Luckily she is a good sleeper.

ミセス Magazine, July issue

For those of you who read Japanese: ミセス Magazine published a 34 pages special section about Finland in their July issue. It covers wide range of topics like landscape and living, famous composers, architects and designers, design and shopping in Helsinki. It dedicates 6 pages for the Finnish school and library system, including an interview with Riikka.

ミセス July 2009, ７月号

フィンランド

45 年前、ピアニストとしての将来を思い描いた舘野泉さんが目指したのは、ウィーンやパリではなく、北欧フィンランドでした。作曲家シベリウスが奏でた北欧の森の「静けさ」に導かれるように。イラストレーターの山本祐布子さんは、忘れ去られたものに命を吹き込むアーティスト、アヌ・トゥオミネンを訪ねて湖畔のサマーハウスへ。その他、北国の自然が作る美しいデザイン、建築、暮しと教育など、フィンランドの素顔をお届けします

Sayonara Old Faithful

She took us to places like Odawara, Disneyland, Finland Village, again, again, again, again and again, and Hakone.

She never let us down - in town, on the highway, and not even in the toughest conditions!


She had plenty of room to transport furniture or bicycles.

She had two extra seats to fit our friends to take them places like Disneyland with Grandma and Grandpa, Finland Village and Mt Fuji with Samuli's aunt and her family, Hakone with Grandma and Grandpa, fishing with Grandpa, Finland Village with Michael and Sonoko, or Hakone and Mt Fuji with Jonni and Mannu.


After 12 years and only 40 500 kilometers she is in very good shape to spend her retirement days most likely in Russia, Pakistan or some other exotic destination.


We will miss our Old Faithful Toyota Ipsum!

Muuttopuuhissa osa 2 - Moving out day 2

Kirjahylly purettu - Book self taken apart


Olohuone melkein pakattu - Living room almost packed


Auran huone melkein pakattu - Aura's room almost packed


Makuuhuone pakattu - Master bed room packed


Oskarin huone pakattu - Oskari's room packed


Vain keittiö ja kellari jäljellä - Only kitchen and basement are left

Muuttopuuhissa - Moving out

Olemme asuneet kohta neljä vuotta Tokiossa ja on aika palata kotiin. Muuttokuormaa alettiin pakata tänään, jotta se ehtii Suomeen ennen kuin koulut alkavat syksyllä.

We have been living in Tokyo for almost four years now and it is time to return to Finland. The moving company started packing today in order to get our belongings to Finland in time for the new school year in August.

Cash hand-out by Japanese parliament

Japan's parliament has passed legislation to give a cash hand-out to every resident in attempt to boost the recession-hit economy. Most people will get at least 12,000 yen, while children under 18 and people aged over 65 will get 20,000 yen as part of the scheme.

It was unclear to me if we foreign residents would receive this hand-out. Then, two weeks ago, I received a letter from the local government with instructions on how to apply for the "Supplementary Income Payments", and that included some Japanese peculiarities.

1) The cash hand-outs are managed by local governments, which means that for example each of the 23 wards in Tokyo manages them on their own. They design the forms, distribute them, set up a approval process and process the payments. I can not imagine how much extra work is being done if this is done in a bit different way in each of the 783 cities of Japan.

2) I need to verify my address, which the local government already had when sending me the application. My address was printed on the application, but I needed to hand write it the document AND to provide a copy of my alien registartion card which has the same address on it. In some parts of Tokyo also phone number, which means that the aplication forms are designed individually (refer to #1). They have my correct address, but I have to confirm it twice!

3) I need to fill in my bank account (which is actually the only information the local government did not have). And to verify that I need to provide "A copy of a bankbook page indicating the account holder, account number, financial institution and the branch of the account where the Supplementary Income Payments is to be deposited". To start with, I did not have bank book in Finland since mid 80's...

4) Everybody will get the cash hand-out. Even the prime minister.

I wonder who will have time to go trough all the copies submitted with the applications? There will be tens of millions of applications (1 per family), which means huge waste of paper and money on this process.

In Finland I would imagine that
1) similar process would be managed by KELA, The Social Insurance Institution of Finland, who would already have
2) the addresses (not needed) and
3) the bank account information of
4) families with children, students, uneployed, retired, disabled, and other people in need receiving social security payments - others might not need the cash hand-out.
(Or there might be a tax cut, which is slower to implement)


That would not work in Japan, where the people do not have, and will not have a social security number. Now, how would I take a copy which verifies my "computer-readable integrated circuit card" they plan to implement instead...


Anyway, we will be happy to receive the 64.000 yen (500 euro) cash hand-out and will spend it on local services or local products to boost the Japanese economy.

Auran kimonoprinsessa

Aura piirsi kimonoprinsessan, joka skannattiin, lähetettiin Satakunnan Kansaan ja julkaistiin heidän nettisivuillaan.

Strange News

The Metropolis Magazine always lists strange news of Japan (as seen as trough US eyes). This week one of them was

"A 69-year-old Finnish pianist was arrested for stealing ¥27,000 worth of items at a department store in Yokohama."

It is all too easy to laugh at a foreign culture - to avoid that I did some googling about funny news from Finland

Here are some of the best - we Finns sure are stupid!
:-(

http://stezz.blogspot.com/2008/09/funny-news-from-finland.html

http://simoniito.blogspot.com

And the best of all http://www.finlandforthought.net/: Nothing excites a Finn. Although he is very patriotic he cannot lightly rise to laughter or descend to tears ; his unruffled temperament is, perhaps, one of the chief characteristics of his strange nature. …… Mrs. Alex Tweedie, 1897!

Three years ago it seemed like apocalyptic times in Finland
http://rosapahkala.blogspot.com/2006/05/uutisia-suomesta.html

A visit to the Parliament House of Japan

I had the rare pleasure of visiting a member of Japanese Parliament the other day. I was invited by Itokazu Keiko san to discuss on my lecture trip to Okinawa in April. I had Watanabe san and Chiyonobu san from Gakken with me to support me. We had a short conversation on the important topics they want me to talk about in my lecture: Finnish education system and special education in particular. I'm very pleased that they are interested in that! Itokazu san was a charming lady and I look forward to meet her in Okinawa.

After the meeting the busy member of Parliament had to continue her work but her secretary offered us a lunch at the private Parliament cafeteria. They even had a special Parliament's bento meal there! I chose a sushi platter which was delicious.

After the lunch we had a chance to make a short tour around the huge building. Mr. secretary was kind enough to show us around. I was even allowed to take a few pictures...

What an interesting day!

Riikka

Ylös, ULOS ja ...

...iho sileäksi!

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd launched of the UL•OS brand of Men's Cosmedics* targeting healthy skin. The line of face and body care products formulated with middle-aged men in mind was launched with the introduction of five items in three formulations: skin lotion, skin milk, and skin cream.

*Cosmedics = Skin care products targeting healthy skin based on Otsuka Pharmaceutical's innovative principle of Cosmetics + Medicine


Jossain luki että kohde ryhmä on yli 40 vuotiaat miehet, jotka eivät juurikaan käytä ihonhoitotuotteita. Taidan kuitenkin pitäytyä Ylös, ulos ja lenkille! periaatteessa vielä puolen vuoden päästä.

S

Tokyo Olympics 2016?

Before predicting the future Olympic games


the Japanese should study a bit more history and geography.


Nothing to say about the recent history,


but...


Disneyland is in Anaheim, not in Los Angeles - why did they not choose Yokohama Landmark Tower as the symbol of 2016 games?


I do not thing there were any snowmen in Montreal in the middle of the summer. And Brandenburger Gate was still in Berlin, not in Munich.


I do not know about kangaroos in Melbourne...


but there definately are no wolves in Helsinki!


And there was no Disneyland even near Los Angeles in 1932, it was built starting 1954.


And I bet no moose walked the streets of Stockholm in 1912. But in 1908 some buses in London were still horse-drawn and the double decker looked quite different!


And actually 1906 summer games were also held (though they are not recognized).

I have to say I was upset about the wolves in Helsinki, but never thought I would find so many mistakes on the timeline. Graphical design must have been the main aim.

Ensi lumi satoi Tokioon

Kaksi viikkoa sitten Tokiossa oli 23'C lämpöaalto (täysin poikkeuksellinen).

Tänään satoi talven ensilumi Tokiossa. Ainakin meidän havaintojemme mukaan. Tarkemmin sanottuna satoi räntää, tai märkiä tiskirättejä, jotka sulivat pois maahan osuessaan.

Kaikki alkoi kahvikekkereistä, muumimukeista ja kuivakakusta

Jos kiinnostaa, niin käykää kurkkaamassa haastattelua, joka tehtiin tammikuussa Riikan käydessä Porissa. Aiheena hänen tekemänsä kirjat täällä Japanissa.
(Linkki on vanhentunut, meillä on pdf, jos haluat lukea jutun)



Satakunnan Kansa, the newspaper of Riikka's home town, published her interview on Wednesday. Again she made it to the front page!

Satellite for Personal Cosmos Photos

I was amazed by the news today.

"The Kansai Space Initiative, a non-profit organization set up in 2008 to promote the participation of local Japanese companies and citizens in the development of space, has come up with the idea of launching a tiny satellite equipped with an electric billboard and a camera so private messages can be photographed with Earth as the backdrop.

The KaSpI-1 would be a 50kg microsatellite, similar in size to the Sohla-1 microsatellite that was built by a group of companies in the Kansai area and is scheduled for launch on Wednesday."

Even if they are a non-profit organization, they need to get funding for this idea. I wonder where would they get that!

Read more about the topic in dailyme, KansaiWindow, Daily Yomiuri or in Japanese in the Kaspi website.

Obama speech book a big hit in Japan

Obama speech textbook has become a big hit in Japan.



The 95-page paperback features Obama's speeches in English from the 2004 Democratic National Convention and during the Democratic Party primaries, in which he defeated Hillary Clinton. They are accompanied by Japanese translations.

The 1,050 yen ($12) book, which includes a CD of the speeches, tops the bestseller list on bookseller Amazon's Japanese Website

"His speeches are so moving, and he also uses words such as 'yes, we can,' 'change' and 'hope' that even Japanese people can memorize,"

"In Japan, we don't have politicians who have such a positive influence. That's why we have to turn to a foreign president for someone in whom to place our hopes."

"Readers have sent in postcards saying that when they heard the speeches, they were so moved and cried even though they don't understand English very well."

Reuters

Links to Riikka's book

Riikka's book is getting quite nice publicity in Japan.

Amid concerns that declining academic abilities of children in Japan, there is increasing interest in the learning method of Finland produced a world-class achievement.

日本の子供の学力低下が懸念される中、世界トップ級の学力を生み出すフィンランドの学習法に関心が高まっている。「フィンランドメソッド（方式）」をうたう読書法や作文の書き方、算数ドリルといった学習関連本が相次いで出版され、教育関係者ばかりではなく、一般家庭にも普及し始めた。 (http://www.iza.ne.jp/ 2008/1/11)




This magazine promotes Riikka's two books. (Link in English)


Here is a collection of blogs and other links where it is mentioned - they are all in Japanese, but followed by an automatic translation to English by google.


ウィメンズブックストアゆう 子育て・教育
Women's book store ranks Riikka's book #4 in Parenting / Education category (out of 353 books!) (Link in English)

ユーモア、川柳、名言 フィンランドの教師は学歴が日本よりも高く、尊敬されている。給料は低くてもなり手が多い。
This blog comments that Teachers in Finland are respected and have higher education than in Japan. (Link in English)

とくとみぶろぐ 著者が最初にクラス担任になったときは異例の33人クラスだったそうです。
This guy says "Riikka's first class had 33 students, which is not unusual for a class. I was very surprised by that, I think of my elementary school class was 40." (Link in English)

創ぶろ So-Blog Books サポートチームとして、看護師、ソーシャルワーカーなどが、学校にいるのがうらやましい。
This blog says "The support team, nurses and social workers, are the envy of the school. ... Interestingly, this was read at a stretch." (Link in English)

岩辺泰吏の午後の歩き方 新書版で読みやすい本だ。沖永良部の旅の往復で読んだ。
This blog recommends the book as easy to read. "I read in a round-trip journey." (Link in English)

タカサタガマヤ フィンランドの教育力
Here is another blog, but I could not really follow the automatic translation.

日々燦々 － はぁ～、のんびり のんびり -
フィンランドニュースで、こんな本の紹介記事を見つけました。
まだ読んでないのですが、早速買って読んでみたいと思います。
もし読まれた方がいらっしゃいましたら、感想教えて下さい。
This blogger "saw the introduction of this book. I do not read it yet, I would like to buy and read it. If you read already please tell us feedback." (Link in English)

こんな本いかがっすかあ
書店従業員の読書日記
And finally the blog Oh yes sir I like this book - Reading Diary bookstore employees. (Link in English)