I love you – & inanimate objects

/ Mel_inHelsinki

While Finnish people do feel emotions, they don’t tend to express them as often as we do in New Zealand or other parts of the world.

eAhLrMy

Finnish Nightmares by Karoliina Korhonen

In fact, my Finnish friend told me she finds it over the top when foreigners express their love for inanimate objects like coffee, or a town they have only visited once.

sarjakuva matti finnish nightmares.jpg

Finnish Nightmares by Karoliina Korhonen

So, I’ve already told you that I love Kiasma and I’m sorry, but I’m going to say it again.

IMG_5412

Miko and I visited Helsinki’s museum of contemporary art on a cool and wet summers day recently and really enjoyed (loved?) the interactive exhibitions.

IMG_5331Happy Together by Choi Jeong Hwa runs until September and features colourful, tactile pieces for adults and kids to enjoy.

IMG_5278

IMG_5369

The works of Brazilian artist Ernesto Noa are so big you are encouraged to move inside them and to lie down in his giant crocheted hammocks.

IMG_5315IMG_5346

There’s also a room of scents, held in beautiful earthen jars. We had fun guessing and recoiling as we sniffed our way down the row.

IMG_5304

We spent a couple of hours looking around, which is quite good for my four-year old companion, before descending to the cafe on level one.

IMG_5355

I had my usual favourite, the Moroccan haloumi salad, but not before gushing to the waitress, ‘I love this salad. I think about it all the time when I’m not here.’

IMG_4206.JPG

To which she returned a small polite smile and no doubt wondered at my over the top confession of feelings for these inanimate objects.

Kiasma 

I was gifted a Museum Card a while back and recommend it for anyone interested in visiting museums. Pay 59€ once and receive free entry to 200 museums in Finland for one year. 

 

 

13 thoughts on “I love you – & inanimate objects”

  1. I’ve heard that Finnish people are a little reserved, but I tend to be a bit like that myself. Mika is growing so fast – reminds me of my own sons . . . now young men.

    Like

    Reply

    • Jonathan is also more like Finnish people & I’m learning the value of things like comfortable silence. ☺️ It’s true kids grow fast isn’t it? Hard to truly understand until you see your own

      Like

      Reply

  3. Thank you for the tour 🙂 My family is primarily English and German, but my husband’s is far more varied than mine…when I first met them, I was overwhelmed by the bear hugs and unrestrained emotional expressions and shear physicality of their laughter. Now, I LOVE it 🙂 (And I’ve become a real hugger, too!)

    Like

    Reply

    • That’s great! I loved reading this. I’m not hugging as much as I used to but still get away with things because I’m a foreigner. The best response to a hug is a warm embrace back – I bet your family love that in you.

      Like

      Reply

  4. Um… OK, I guess you know the city well enough by now so that you’ll… ahem… LOVE Signe Brander’s panoramas. She shot ’em between 1907 and 1913.

    The top two panoramas (IMO) are taken from the National Museum tower (“Kansallismuseon tornista”) and the Kallio Church tower (“Kallion kirkon tornista”). I recommend the full screen option.

    http://www.hel.fi/hel2/kaumuseo/panoraamat/

    😉

    Like

    Reply

  6. Oh no. I think I did this when I met up with an old penfriend on a stopover in Finland. And probably gushed how much I liked Helsinki…. they were probably bemused…..
    Anyhow, it was so interesting to read this, and will follow your adventures and blog now to read more.

    Like

    Reply

Your thoughts..